AN:

Huh. Strangely, this chapter was harder to write than I expected. So I shortened it. There was supposed to be more fluff in the end, but now you'll have to wait until next time. (=^_~=)

Anyways, happy reading! (=^_^=)

xoxo MLE


Chapter 17

Glinda bid goodbye to her final client of the day and showed him to the exit. Upon returning to the meeting room, she quickly gathered the scattered documents and squared them up against the table. Rinsing out the used coffee cups, she cast a glance at the clock on the wall and sighed. There were a few minor adjustments that needed to be made to Mr. Flox's file, but if nothing else popped up, she'd be free to leave in about one hour's time.

She couldn't wait to get back home, eat a few bites of whatever she might be able to find in the fridge and retire to bed super early. One thing was for sure: she wouldn't participate in any more crazy work-around-the-clock projects for a while. She was completely and utterly exhausted, more so than she'd realised the night before. No, the full extent of her fatigue hadn't hit her until she went back to work this morning, and it was absolutely killing her. The annoying side effect of achieving a goal she'd been hyper focused on for some time, she guessed.

Every now and then, she'd found herself distracted, wondering how Elphaba was coping, and it was definitely the last thing she needed. If she ever wanted to see her comfy bed again, she couldn't allow anything to interfere with her productivity. So she did her best to push any other concerns aside. After all, Elphaba deserved zero sympathy for taking on as much responsibility as she had. And besides, her weird short sleeper condition surely would have made it easier on her than Glinda. That being said, she wasn't entirely heartless. Maybe later she could spare a moment to shoot her a text and ask anyway, simply to be nice. Or maybe now; it would only take a second or so.

She chuckled to herself and shook her head. Was she already experiencing withdrawal symptoms? If so, how would she survive the entire rest of the week without seeing her Elphie? What a hopeless case she was!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a dynamic knock on the frame of the open door. Surprised, she reeled around and, recognising the person looking at her, her eyes grew wide.

"Hi, Glinda," he said, an easy smile playing on his lips.

"Mr Chuffrey," she replied stiffly, her throat dry. It took a clock-tick before she could add, "I didn't realise we had an appointment today?"

Dumbfounded, she watched him as he brushed past her and entered the room just as if he owned it. He placed his briefcase on the table and casually leaned against it.

"My dad," he said, eyes fixed on hers, "told me that he passed my number on to your mother. Not like you needed it, since you've already got it on file. But you still haven't called or texted."

"So you stalk me at work?" she asked, rather incredulous.

"I am your client."

"Which is part of the reason why I think that this is a terrible idea."

Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she made sure nobody was around to overhear their exchange. She considered closing the door, but decided that it might be safer to keep it open.

He chuckled quietly.

"But in the end, it would still make your life a lot easier, wouldn't it? If you just gave us a chance, I promise I'd make it worth your while."

Glinda stared back at him blankly, finding it hard to believe his audacity. He tried to change his approach and offered her what must have been meant to be a sympathetic smile, yet to her it came across as rather patronising.

"Look, I've heard through the grapevine that you find this whole relationship stuff… difficult. Your mother seems very concerned."

"It's none of your business," Glinda managed to grind out, but he shook his head.

"I'm willing to take it slow. All I'm asking for at this point is a couple of dates. We should get to know each other. Properly, without parental oversight. If we hit it off, I can even change advisors if that's what you want."

What she really wanted was to close the door on him and never see him again. This conversation was like watching a car crash. She'd seen this coming from the very moment that Nikidik had told her about Chuffrey's request for his matters to be transferred into her care. From the very beginning, she'd known that his true motive was entirely unrelated to their business relationship. What she hadn't anticipated, however, was for him to make his move so quickly. Obviously, their private re-introduction had eroded his boundaries much faster than expected.

She mulled over her answer, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. Some part of her tried to argue that it might be easier to give in and grant his wish. One or, at most, two dates wouldn't be too bad, and after that, she could easily say that it wasn't working for her, right? A different, wiser, voice warned her that this decision could lead her down a very slippery slope, giving him more power over her and undermining her resolve. In the end, it was neither that won out. When she finally decided to decline, it was out of pure defiance.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not interested," she said with as much conviction as she could muster. She tried to be steadfast and hold his gaze, but struggled.

She did not fail, however, to notice the way his brows rose so high they cast deep furrows on his forehead.

"Sheesh. Never met a girl that's so hard to sway. What in Oz do you want me to do? Get water from the moon?"

"I'm not playing hard to get," Glinda snapped back at him. "Is it really that impossible for you comprehend that not every female on this planet will ultimately succumb to your charm?"

Those words seemed to rub him (or his ego) rather the wrong way and anger began to show on his handsome features.

"Well, you seemed amicable enough that night," he scoffed, slamming one hand on the table.

Glinda flinched at the sound. She swallowed hard and took a step back without noticing. His expression softened at that. He averted his eyes and his grip on the edge of the table tightened as he appeared to try and channel is frustration where it would seem less threatening.

"I told you," she said, her voice quiet, but firm and clear. "Even then. We had an agreement and that was all it was."

"It was a silly charade," he huffed. "But surely you must have realised after I put up with this nonsense, that I'm an okay guy." A small, mirthless laugh escaped his lips. "I thought you would have changed your mind."

She shook her head.

"I have not. And I won't. I hope you can accept that and move on."

"Are you frigging gay or something?" he growled, making her stomach drop.

She cared relatively little about his opinion, but the fact that he was at least loosely connected to her mother was enough to scare the shit out of her. She had not yet decided how to handle her parents if her relationship with Elphaba were to actually work out long term. Until its feasibility and viability were confirmed beyond doubt, however, there was no need to unnecessarily complicate her situation by telling them that she had any interest in girls at all. If he were to out her, she could deny it, of course, but her track record spoke strongly against her. She'd probably be left with exactly two choices: to either acknowledge her bisexuality or tell them about being ace. Naturally, she wasn't keen on either.

Shutting her eyes and pinching the bride of her nose, she tried to compose herself. She had to deal with this delicately or disaster might ensue. On the other hand, she could not delay her answer too long, or he would see his suspicions confirmed. When she was ready, she looked him straight in the eyes and cocked her head.

"Well, this conversation has taken a rather unprofessional turn," she said coolly. "Don't you think?"

She studied him carefully, but other than the narrowing of his gaze, there was no reply. Hoping she was on the right track, she continued.

"This really is not the place for private arguments and accusations. Anyone passing by could easily overhear this."

Almost as on cue, she caught sight of Dayae approaching the conference room. She waved in passing before disappearing in the direction of the main office, her heels echoing though the corridor. Tentatively, Glinda returned the wave. Exhaling sharply, she directed her attention back towards her supposed client.

"Now, if you have any genuine concerns or questions regarding your accounts, I'll be happy to help. Otherwise, I'll have to respectfully ask you to leave the building. If need be, I'll call my supervisor to assist."

He worked his jaw, contemplating his options. At last, he scoffed.

"Of course I have," he said with a shrug. "Why else would I be here, right?"


Still a little shaken, Glinda stood by the large window of the conference room, watching Chuffrey leave the building. The very moment he was out of sight, she stuffed her laptop, her files and her pens in her bag and dashed out of the door. It no longer mattered that some of her work would be left undone; getting out of there was all she could think of. She met Nikidik in the hallway and didn't even try to explain herself. It was close enough to five, and a simple 'See you tomorrow' had to suffice for once.

On the tram, she pulled out her phone and began to type a message for Fiyero, but half way through, she pressed the delete button and watched it all disappear again, character by character. She continued to stare at the display until the screen turned black.

Back at her flat, Crope opened the door just before she could insert her key into the lock.

"Oh, you're back early, sweetie," he chortled. After a quick look at her, he frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she sighed, brushing a stray strand out of her face. "Just exhausted."

He nodded.

"You're on your way to the theatre?" she asked.

"Yup. It's audition time, baby!"

His excitement was too infectious to leave her cold, and she couldn't help but grin.

"You've got this," she assured her friend, patting his upper arm and giving him a quick peck on the cheek.

Bolstered by her confidence in him, he puffed up his chest, saluted and spun around on his heel.

"See you later tonight," he called as he strode down the stairs.

Glinda closed the door and leaned against it, releasing a long breath. The smile on her lips had waned again. Her tired eyes searched the room, her ears strained for any noise. According to the usual schedule, Tibbett shouldn't be back from his university club thing for another hour or two, and all her senses seemed to confirm that she was indeed alone in the apartment.

She pushed herself off from the door and slowly shuffled over to the kitchen. There was chocolate pudding in the fridge, exactly what she needed right now. She took the entire one litre container as it was, plus a big spoon, and flopped down on the couch. Hopefully, she wouldn't forget to buy a replacement later. The disappearance of such a big tub would probably not go unnoticed for long.

The first scoop full of pudding was delicious and soothing. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the rich goodness melting in her mouth. It hat tiny chips of dark chocolate in it, which made it so much better than the plain version. She needed more chocolate chips in her life. Buying a whole bag and just adding them to all of her comfort foods seemed like a mighty good idea. Who knows, it may even increase effectiveness by a couple of percentiles.

She swallowed and licked her lips before reaching for her phone. Her earlier urge to talk to Fiyero reared its head again. She was still reluctant, unsure whether it would be alright to burden him any more than she already had. Only recently, he'd helped her to overcome her mummy-issues, and the whole Elphaba business was still ongoing. She couldn't expect him to commiserate with her over yet another mini drama in her life.

Browsing through her social media instead, she dipped the spoon back into the pudding for another load of saccharine antidepressant. Photos of old friends popped up. She couldn't remember when she'd last spoken to them, but they didn't look like they had changed at all. Had she? Her world certainly had. After all, she was working towards a romantic relationship with someone who was both green and a girl, and her circle of acquaintances had shrunk to a group of no more than a handful of people. Which was strangely okay with her. The only real drawback was that her problems were now real problems, and nobody she hung out with these days would distract her with brainless gossip and beauty advice.

And she totally needed to talk to Fiyero about Chuffrey, because distressing reminders of today's incident were still bothering her, even though she'd tried so hard to think of something else for the past fifteen minutes.

She closed all other apps with one swipe and picked Fiyero's name from the contact list. She could do this. She needed to do this, for her own sanity

The phone rang once, twice. Maybe she should hang up.

"Hey Glin, what's up?"

Hearing his voice, she froze. It was definitely too late to hang up, but the words that had been burning on her tongue until just a second ago had suddenly vanished from her brain and would not come back. She rubbed her forehead and scolded her pathetic self. She needed to come up with an excuse for her call and quick, lest her perceptive friend figure out that she was in some kind of trouble.

"Oh yes, hey," she replied at last, putting on her best smile so it would ring through her voice. "Sorry, Crope just distracted me." She laughed slightly and imagined him rolling his eyes. "Just letting you know that I'm gonna take you to the movies on Wednesday, and I won't take no for an answer."


"Wow," that was pretty awesome," Fiyero enthused as they left The Dark Tomorrow and the cinema behind them. "You don't seem too impressed?" he guessed after not receiving the response he'd expected.

She shrugged, gazing straight ahead, a pensive expression on her face.

"It wasn't bad."

"Not bad?" he repeated and pursed his lips. "Are you okay Glin?"

She forced herself to look up to him and smiled.

"I'm still getting there, but doing better already."

It wasn't a lie, only she was thinking about a very different reason for her misery than he did.

"So you haven't made much progress with Elphaba yet?"

"I've made tremendous progress," she corrected him.

"I suppose that's a matter of perspective," chuckled Fiyero. "But you haven't told her yet, have you?"

She stopped in her tracks and stared at him like he was a mad man.

"Do you think I'm that crazy or are you the crazy one?" she demanded.

He bit his lip, thinking over his approach. After a clock-tick, he smiled at her kindly and gingerly reached for her hand to take it in his. With a small nod and a little tug, he persuaded her to walk with him.

They reached a little coffee shop, and he pulled her inside.

"I don't think you're ready to go home yet," he explained as he guided her to a quiet corner.

He left briefly to order a caramel iced coffee and a toffee nut frappe. Nobody knew as well as Fiyero what foods, snacks or drinks she liked best. Nobody knew as well as he that allowing herself to love someone like Elphaba was only the first hurdle.

"I can't just blatantly expose my heart and lay it to her feet without knowing what the most likely outcome will be," she blurted the moment he sat down and pushed the frappe her way.

He paused, then nodded.

"I understand. But remember what you told me about Elphaba?"

Frowning, she tilted her head.

"I don't know what you're driving at," she said somewhat impatiently, shaking her head, pulse increasing by the second. "I told you a lot of things, I suppose."

He reached for her hand again, giving it a light squeeze.

"Calm down. Deep breaths. I'm not trying to corner you or something. Just trying to explain something."

She did as he'd ordered, then took a big sip of her drink.

Once she seemed sufficiently composed, he continued, still holding her hand.

"You said the best thing about Elphaba was that she understands asexuality, that you don't need to explain yourself, stuff like that."

"Yes," Glinda said softly and swallowed.

"That's lovely. It really is. But now you're pretty much telling me that you want to wait for her to make the first move, to prove that she's into you as much as you are into her. Don't tell me you don't see the problem."

Well, she did now, she thought, and averted her eyes, blinking rapidly.

"Glin," he whispered with some urgency, letting go of her hand but leaning closer. "By all accounts, this girl isn't going to touch you with a ten foot pole unless you explicitly tell her that it would be okay. Regardless of her feelings, you'll be waiting for her forever if you don't take this in your own hands."

"There must be another way!" She crossed her arms in frustration. "I know romantic subtlety isn't my strongest suit, but—"

"Well, that's a bit of an understatement," Fiyero interrupted, looking at her empathetically.

She changed the topic after that. For a second, he seemed unwilling to let it go, but when she threatened to leave, he had no other choice.

It took them an hour to finish their drinks, and when they finally walked out of the coffee shop, they were followed by annoyed glances from the staff. Fiyero walked her to her stop and they hugged before she got on.

"I just want you to be happy," he whispered in her ear, and she sighed.

"I know."

"You've got to be happy for both of us," he told her seriously, but she laughed.

"Your happiness may not depend on a partner, but that doesn't mean you can't be happy. It's your job to find that happiness, not mine. I don't really need that extra pressure, on my shoulders you know?"

He nodded in defeat. She could be right, too. Sometimes at least.


She typed 'ways to show someone you're interested in them' into Scry Search. Before she ventured to check out her results, she carefully leaned back in her office chair, making sure the coast was clear. Nobody seemed to be looking her way, so she went ahead and clicked on the first link that popped up. Oz, she felt so incredibly ridiculous. Asking the internet for dating advice was something for teenagers, not mature women in their mid-twenties. Yet here she was, sitting in the middle of an office, surrounded by her co-workers, with two and a half more hours to go before Elphie would come to pick her up. And she was desperate.

Fiyero was right to some degree. Perhaps telling Elphaba outright was impossible for her, but if she didn't want to die alone, Glinda needed to find an effective way to give her crush clear signals that any advances from her side would not be unwelcome. And since none of this came naturally to her, she simply would have to study up. Flirting 101. She needed to ace this or face eternal loneliness.

Number one: Write them a love note. She rolled her eyes. If she wanted to be that obvious, she might as well say it out loud. Not helpful. Next!

Number two: Remember little details. Yeah, okay. That wasn't really too hard. Elphaba's favourite colours were purple and black—even better, a really dark purple. She didn't have a favourite book, but particularly enjoyed publications on Animal biology. Unfortunately, she doubted that any of this knowledge would really help tipping Elphaba off.

Number three: spend time together. Ha! If it was that easy, she and Elphaba would practically be married by now!

Number four: Body language. "Nothing indicates romantic interest more than physical touch," she read out in a low voice and her stomach coiled. Her tolerance level for touching or being touched was pretty low, unless she was already extremely familiar with that person. Fiyero was absolutely fine, Crope and Tibbett were sort of okay. Her reaction was particularly bad when she sensed any sensual motivation behind the contact, or if she herself felt a particular way about the boy or girl in question. In Elphaba's case… well, she'd tried it before. And it had been ridiculously hard and there was no way that Elphaba hadn't noticed how stiff she'd acted. There was nothing romantic about behaving this way. If anything, it would make Elphaba question why she was suddenly being all weird, and any attraction she might possibly be feeling right now would most likely dissipate.

"Need help?"

Startled, Glinda released a small squeal at the sudden sensation of Yolona's hands on her shoulders.

Breathing heavily, one hand resting on her heart, she scanned the office, but most of the desks were unoccupied now. From a far corner of the room, a guy called Peeta stared at them. Glinda closed her laptop and slowly swivelled her chair around to face Yolona. At least she had the decency to look a little apologetic.

"I didn't know you were so jumpy," she giggled mildly, finally letting go of Glinda's shoulders.

"I—I don't do well with unexpected touching," admitted Glinda, still too dazed to consider whether this was something she wanted to be widely known.

"Oh, okay," her colleague nodded. "I'll try to keep this in mind."

She grabbed the closest chair and dragged it next to Glinda's. Grinning broadly, she rested her head on her propped up arm.

"So who's the lucky bastard?" she asked with a wink.

"Huh?" Glinda's brain still hadn't resumed full, normal function.

"I just assumed there was a certain someone you're doing all this research for?"

"Oh." She swallowed, then chuckled nervously. "No, I'm not… researching. I was just bored."

According to Yolona's expression, her lie was anything but convincing.

"You don't do this sort of stuff at work," she laughed.

"Yeah, I know," replied Glinda sheepishly. "I won't do it again."

"No," said her colleague, shaking her head in amusement. "That's not what I meant, silly. I tried to say that you don't usually do this. You're too disciplined for that. Little miss perfect."

"I resent that," Glinda retorted, the hint of a smile on her lips.

"So?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Yolona studied her with pursed lips. Eventually, she heaved a dramatic sigh and pushed herself to her feet.

"Fine, fine. I'll mind my own business. But here's a pro tip for you: if you want to keep your secrets, you have to learn to be a tad less, well, conspicuous."

With that she walked off. Glinda followed her with her eyes until she disappeared through the door, then melted onto her desk. Sweet Lurline, how much more embarrassing would this get before it got better? At least it hadn't been Nikidik who'd caught her.

Her phone buzzed, and she listlessly reached for it.

'Sorry, stuck at work. Surprise crisis meeting. Feel free to come to my place. Shell will let you in.'

"Crap," she murmured and dropped her phone back on the table.

She was okay with taking the tram to Elphaba's house, but the thought of being alone with her brother was not in the least enticing. Then again, they'd hardly interacted at all. Maybe she shouldn't judge the guy before properly knowing him.


She'd stayed behind at work for more than half an hour to shorten the time that she would have to deal with Shell on her own. Yet now she was here, sitting in Elphaba's drawing room, having tea with him. He'd been civil with her so far, she had to give him that. Still, they were far from being compassionate fellows in misery, despite their shared orientation. In fact, they could hardly be more different from one another.

"You come here quite a lot, don't you?" he asked at one point, taking a bite of his biscuit. His brown eyes studied her relentlessly, and despite his reasonably decent attempt at feigning nonchalance, Glinda could tell that his expression was guarded.

There was something about the way he looked at people. Or possibly, it was only her. At any rate, she didn't like it. Why did it seem like he disapproved of her life choices more than almost anybody else? Well, frankly speaking, she felt the same way about his. But at least, she realised that it was a shortcoming of hers and consequently tried her best to not let it show.

"I do," she finally replied curtly, focusing on her cup as if she'd otherwise run the risk of spilling the entirety of its contents. She still had some hope that this conversation would simply peter out if she sufficiently demonstrated her unwillingness to answer.

Which, of course, it didn't.

"Are you sleeping with my sister?" was his follow-up question, simple and unvarnished.

Immediately, her eyes jumped up to meet his. Her hand shook slightly, causing some of the tea to spill after all.

"Excuse me?" was all she managed to say.

Unfortunately, he was not inclined to apologise or move on. If anything, his gaze only intensified.

Glinda's mind went blank. References to sexual activity often made her blush beyond reason—she just couldn't help it—but for once, her face was drained of any blood. She felt cold and a little nauseous. The blatancy of his question, though somehow not entirely unexpected from him, hit her like a massive curveball.

"I'm not sleeping with anyone," she confessed. "Never have."

It was a candid answer that he did not deserve, but it was almost as though her lips moved against her will. Her eyes flickered back and forth between his face and her plate as she waited for his reaction.

He hummed thoughtfully. His face was stern. She understood that most overprotective siblings would have been relieved to hear such a response, but he looked rather disappointed to her.

At least his silence gave Glinda a chance to recover. As the warmth returned to her body, she hesitantly ventured a query of her own.

"Does she? Sleep with anyone at the moment?"

The moment she'd uttered the words, her stomach flip-flopped again. What in Oz had moved her to ask such an absurd question? Did she even want to know if that were the case? And why ask her brother? She blamed his evidently infectious frankness, but that was hardly an acceptable excuse.

He laughed. At least it looked like she'd managed to surprise him.

"I'm pretty sure she does, but we stopped talking about these things a while ago. At least in detail."

"So you interrogate me to find out more about your sister's sex life?" Glinda replied in disbelief. "That's… really creepy."

"No, you mistake my intent. I'm just trying to figure out who you are."

Glinda opened her mouth, not yet knowing what to say exactly, but then the sound of the shutting door echoed through the house.

"I'm home!" Elphaba's voice soon followed.

Pure relief washed over Glinda. Her eyes lingered on Shell for a moment longer, then she dashed for the hallway.

"Heeeeey!" she called as she walked through the door.

She'd never been more pleased to see Elphaba—and that said something.

Her joy was curbed somewhat when she noticed that her friend had not returned by herself as she'd somehow expected.

"Um, yeah," said Elphaba as she undid the laces of her boots. "We're not going to be alone tonight. I hope that's okay."

Unable to tell whether this quasi apology was directed towards her or Sarima, Glinda offered them a smile rather than an answer. Sarima kicked off her shoes and readjusted the strap of her leather satchel.

"Nice seeing you again, Glinda."

"Yeah, likewise."

Glinda hated admitting to herself that it was nothing but a polite fib. She didn't want to be this petty, but that was obviously beyond her control.

Elphaba walked up to her and briefly rested a hand on her shoulder in greeting.

"Sorry again for not picking you up."

"That's fine," replied Glinda, shrugging. "I only usually let you, because you insist."

And because is generally meant that they would have more time to spend together, but that was a reason she intended to keep to herself for the time being.

"I better get dinner going," Elphaba announced. "I trust you can entertain yourselves, ladies?"

The thought of being stuck in one room with Sarima and Shell at the same time made Glinda beyond uncomfortable. Though she doubted that he'd continue his earlier interrogation in another girl's presence, she was still worried that they might end up ganging up against her, if only in the most unintentional way.

"I can help!" she piped up and hurried after Elphaba.

She knew she'd be as good as useless in the kitchen, but at least she'd have some private time with the only person in this house she actually could stand. Elphaba quirked an eyebrow at her, but soon began to bombard her with instructions.

"You don't like Sarima much?" she asked after a while when the rice and the sauce were already on the stove, and there was nothing else left to do.

"She's nice, I guess. But I think she and Shell get on better without me. He also likes her more than me."

"Oh, so he's still here? I thought he would have left by now."

"You don't think he'll join us for dinner then?" Glinda wondered with a glint of hope in her voice that made Elphaba laugh.

"If he doesn't leave on his own, I'll call one of his ratty pals to come and get him. There. Does that make you feel better?"

Glinda blushed. Elphaba was joking, right?

Shell still hung around by the time they laid the table for dinner, but when Sarima asked, he mercifully declined the invitation, citing more exciting plans as an excuse. A friend picked him up a few minutes later on a bike.

Sarima proved harder to get rid of.

After their meal, they had wine and snacks. Elphaba and Sarima talked about work a lot, but Glinda mostly blamed herself. She found it ridiculously difficult to come up with any good topics or staries to contribute tonight.

When Elphaba eventually left to use the toilet, Sarima moved from her spot on the couch to the armrest of Glinda's armchair. Glinda watched her warily, unsure what to expect.

"You're awefully quiet today," the Vinkun stated with an unnervingly charming smile on her lips. "You seemed more lively the last time we met."

Glinda licked her lips.

"Work's been tough this week."

"Is that so?" snickered Sarima. "Or am I intimidating you? I've been told that I can have this effect on people."

Maybe Sarima intended to be friendly, but to Glinda it seemed more like she was actually proud of her overpowering presence. Was she aware of her interest in Elphaba, but wanted the green girl for herself?

She stiffened when Sarima reached out to slowly stroke her blonde curls.

"You're adorable." She said, tilting her head and grinning. When Glinda shifted in her seat, obviously uncomfortable, her laughter rang out clear as a bell. "No worries, sweetie. Prim little princesses are not my type."

"You're a very touchy-feely kind of person, aren't you?" Glinda managed to say before swallowing hard.

"Am I?" Sarima questioned, amused. "Or are you just a little bit repressed? Loosen up girl, enjoy life!"

Then she got up and walked over to the other armchair where she had left her satchel.

"You're leaving?" Elphaba asked as she re-entered the room.

"Yup. It's getting late. My girlfriend won't drive me if I call her later than eleven. She works this weekend and has to get up early."

"Fair enough," agreed Elphaba.

Sarima turned to Glinda and gave an exaggerated wave.

"Until later, princess."

The blonde answered with a timid wave of her own before watching Elphaba escorting her to the door. She could hear their voices all the way from the hallway but was unable to make out any words. It took a while before the heavy quoxwood door opened and closed again, and her imagination ran wild as to what the two of them might be up to in the meantime.

Yes, Sarima had literally just said that she had a girlfriend, yet she didn't strike Glinda as the type who'd be satisfied with just one lover. More likely, she was either in an open relationship or just outright unfaithful.

By the time Elphaba finally returned, Glinda sat all bundled up, feet on the chair, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She hardly noticed when Elphaba stopped to stand beside her.

"You're not okay," she said gently.

Glinda blinked before looking up to her. Her cheeks grew hot from embarrassment.

"Did she make a move on you?" Elphaba probed with a frown, to which Glinda shook her head.

"I'm fine. Really. It was just so quiet, I sort of spaced out."

"Hm."

Elphaba seemed to hesitate for a moment, but in the end, she decided to sit back down on the couch.

"Are you tired?" she asked.

Glinda bit her lip.

"Yes," she admitted, then paused. She fiddled with her hands, let her eyes wander around the room before speaking again. "I don't want to go to bed yet though. Got any new documentaries you want to watch?"

Elphaba half shrugged, half nodded. She grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned on the TV.

"Do you—do you want to sit over here?" she said, patting the empty space right next to her.

The picture of Sarima, in the same spot, half draped over Elphaba was still fresh in Glinda's mind. Would Elphaba like her to be more like Sarima? Did she enjoy this sort of stuff? Or was there more going on between them than either of the girls had disclosed to her so far? Were they trying to spare her delicate feelings?

Well, if so, they were being stupid, for Glinda, now that she'd made up her mind, would not be deterred by possible eventualities. After emptying the rest of her wine to bolster her courage, she stood and padded over to the couch. Her insides were churning as she sat down besides Elphaba. Feeling those intense dark eyes on her did definitely not help. She chuckled nervously and glanced at her briefly, but made sure to quickly direct her attention towards the screen.

Elphaba selected a title.

"Is this one okay?" she wanted to know, but Glinda didn't really care.

"Sure," she replied as enthusiastically as she could.

Once she was sure that Elphaba was distracted by the program, she slowly eased herself in her friend's direction. Millimetre by millimetre, she scooched closer, until she was fully leaning against her shoulder. She was too nervous for it to feel nice, but at least she felt a bit of pride to offset the tingling discomfort that still surged through her body. She didn't dare to look anywhere else but the TV. If Elphaba was even the slightest bit weirded out, she'd rather not want to know.