Bzzt…bzzt..Her phone buzzed. Idina picked it up and looked at it. It was a message from Kristin.
Hey. Do you want to go shopping today? I could show you that place on Sixth Avenue
She looked around the empty apartment. She had just gotten home from rehearsal and Taye wasn't back yet. Frankly, she didn't want to talk to him after what happened last night. She'd assumed that Taye would come home and crawl into bed, saying how sorry he was and how much he loved her, but that was not the case. Idina lay in bed, the covers pulled up to her chest, staring at the ceiling. She heard the soft creeeaak of the front door being pushed open. She propped herself up, letting the covers fall. Light footsteps approached her. The door to their bedroom opened and Taye stepped in.
" Hey. Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I should have paid more attention to you," Idina started.
Silence. Taye slipped off his clothes, tossing them in a pile by the hamper, and put on his sweatpants. Taking off his glasses, he crept into bed and laid with his back to her.
"Taye, there's no need to be immature about this. I'm apologizing to you like an adult and I would expect you to do the same."
More silence.
She sighed, "Whatever," and plopped down on her pillow with her back to him.
The next morning wasn't much better. The sun shone in Idina's eyes as her alarm went off. She lazily reached over to her nightstand and slammed her hand on the button, still half asleep. Rubbing her eyes, she climbed out of her warm bed and put on her robe, which was in a heap on the floor.
She walked into the kitchen. Taye was putting coffee in a to-go cup, already dressed for work.
"Hey, baby," she said. She had forgotten that she was mad at him.
"Hey," he said, grabbing his coffee and striding quickly towards the door.
"Wait-" she called, "I really need to talk to you."
"I can't, I'm going to be late. I don't want to lose my job," he spat at her. Harsh. She moved away from the door where she was standing and walked towards him.
"Taye…"she put her hand on his shoulder.
He sighed, "I'm sorry Idina, I-I just have to go." He rushed out the door, leaving her standing alone in the kitchen, her hand still hovering mid-air.
She read the text again, rubbing her fingers over the key pad. Finally, she responded:
Sure, where do you want to meet? (Smiley face)
Almost immediately, Kristin replied:
Just meet me at the theater. I have a surprise.
Idina stood outside the Gershwin Theater, a brisk wind tugging at her scarf. She wondered when, and even if, Kristin would show up. She checked her phone every so often, out of impulse.
A big, black SUV pulled up to the curb, screeching to a halt right in front of Idina. The door unlocked and pushed itself outward, a pink arm latched on to the inside handle.
"Get in," Kristin demanded. Idina obliged.
She buckled her seat belt and smoothed her wind-blown hair. "So, where are we going?"
"I don't know yet, and if I did, I couldn't tell you."
"Are we going to that boutique on Sixth Avenue?"
"Um that place doesn't really exist. C'mon let's hurry it up, I want to get to this imaginary place and I want to get there now."
"What was that? Really, Kristin, tell me. Where are we going?"Idina glowered at Kristin teasingly, raising and lowering her eyebrows to make herself look more menacing.
"Stop. No, stop that, stop it," Kristin looked away, shielding her face with her hand. "It's too adorable, stop it."
"Adorable!" Idina exclaimed, "I was trying to look evil!"
"Well, you're about as evil as the Easter bunny in a devil costume, so keep trying, hon. Alright, let's get a move on!" She shifted the gear into Drive and they were off. The scenery rushed past the window, colors flying by and transforming in the blink of an eye. The beauty of New York in autumn astounded her. (It always did.) Idina marveled at the colorful trees (if she could find any) passing by. Kristin looked over at the passenger's seat and smiled.
They arrived at their destination, sliding up to the curb and (almost) successfully parallel parking.
"Where are we?" Idina asked.
"You'll see," said Krisin, grinning up at the store and then at Idina. It seemed that Kristin had made up her mind on where to go, and that this "imaginary" place they were going to wasn't so imaginary after all. Kristin grasped Idina's gloved hand and pulled her through the door, a little bell jingled to announce their entrance.
Green was the first word that came to mind when Idina entered the tiny shop. Green, green everywhere. It was like she was walking in a little Wicked wonderland. She spun around, admiring all the trinkets on the shelves: little plush witches, plates with quotes from the script, even tiny red slippers.
"What is this place?" Idina said in awe.
"A Wicked gift shop. It's the first of its kind. It popped up not so long after it was announced that the Gershwin would be putting it on."
Idina looked around, beaming. Her gaze fell on the back of the room, where, on a little green plaque, a quote was printed in small, swirling script.
To Idina, The first Elphaba. It may only be your second role on Broadway, but I'm sure it will be the best. ~Kristin
P.S. You'll always be the Elphie to my Glinda.
Idina glided up to the shelf on which it was placed. She brushed her thumb over the indented text, reading it once, twice, three times over. She looked up at Kristin, her eyes moist, a quivering smile on her face.
"Why did you do this?"
"Because….I wanted to let you know that you're special. That you are unique and gifted and just- wonderful."
Idina ran up to Kristin and embraced her in a tight hug, their arms entangled and Idina's head nuzzling up against Kristin's neck. Kristin dropped all feelings of unease and let the new, light feelings rush over her. She hugged her back, her inhibitions crumbling and falling to the ground, clenching Idina so tightly that they could hear each other's heart beats.
After a few more moments, Idina let go and said, "You know what, let's go back to my place. We'll have a party, but it will be just you and me." Kristin nodded her consent and dragged Idina back to the car, and they were off.
The popcorn bowl tipped over and the kernels tumbled to the ground.
"Your fault," Idina said to Kristin through bites of chocolate. They sat close together on the warm couch, cuddled in a blanket watching old movies from the '80s.
"Was not," Kristin retorted. "That was obviously you. Look how close your foot is to the bowl!" She nudged her playfully and demanded, "Go pick it up. I'm the guest."
"Fine," Idina said, fake-sighing. They giggled. Idina trudged out of the room and into the closet to get the vacuum. Kristin reached into the bag full of M&M's, trying to find her favorite color without actually looking in the bag. She pulled three out. Green, yellow, and brown. No blue. Dang. She reached in again. The doorknob jiggled. Her head jerked over to look at who was coming in. The key was still turning. She whipped her head back around to look at Idina, whose butt was sticking out of the closet, wagging, trying to elicit a response from Kristin. Kristin threw off the blanket and scrambled around to find her purse. Where did I put it? She found it under the blanket that she had just thrown off. She picked it up and sprinted towards the coat rack to grab her jacket.
A man in a fedora hat entered the room. Kristin guessed that this was Idina's husband. He looked over at her, perplexed. She waved.
"Hi, I'm Kristin Chenoweth, nice to meet you. Idina and I were just hanging out but, hey, look at the time; I have to go get dinner! So-bye…"
"Hi, I'm Taye Diggs. You could stay, if you want. We'd be happy to have you for dinner."
"Oh, that's sweet, it really is. I would love to, but I have to meet my agent. Yeah, sorry…maybe next time!" She shook his hand and scurried out the door, taking one last look at Idina, who had just emerged from the closet and looked confused. She shut the door behind her.
"Hi, Idina," he sighed. He seemed to like doing that. Maybe it was his new hobby, sighing. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday and this morning. I've had some time to think about how I acted, and I acted really immature. I shouldn't have blown-up on you like that. I was just having a bad day and I felt like no one would listen to me and- I should've realized that you were sad too. I'm just so sorry, Idina. I really am. Can you forgive me?"
She walked over to him and took him in her arms. "That was all I needed to hear," she mumbled.