AN. Wicked Is My Life- interesting theory, but Elphaba's song is not Defying Gravity. I was intrigued by that idea, though!
Three
Elphaba had made sure to arrive in Shiz a month before the semester began, hoping that would give her enough time to find a job and get some work in so that she hopefully wouldn't have to touch her savings for books and could instead save that precious money for her bills.
It was two days after she'd moved in that she set out early one morning, a stack of resumes and references in her bag. It had taken her that long to thoroughly scrub the entire apartment, or as she had already taken to calling it, the "crapartment"- said with affection, of course.
Elphaba walked the short distance into town and entered the first restaurant she saw.
"Excuse me, could I see the manager please?" she asked the girl at the counter.
The girl looked startled. "Uh, sure. Mrs Derona? Someone to see you!" she called out towards the kitchens.
A moment later, a tall, thin business-like woman came into view. When she saw Elphaba, she stopped and stared abruptly.
"Can I help you?" she asked stiffly.
Elphaba was slightly taken aback by her cold tone. "Hello, I was wondering if you had any part-time jobs open at the moment or in the near future?"
The woman stared at her for a moment. "No, we're not hiring."
Elphaba nodded. "Ok. Could I leave you with a copy of my resume in case any jobs open up?"
The woman raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so. You're not usual the kind of girl we hire here. Please leave immediately."
Elphaba was stunned. "What does that mean?" she demanded sharply.
The woman looked at her dismissively, and Elphaba flushed slightly.
"My dear, you're green. You'll put my customers off their food. Now, kindly leave before I call the authorities."
Elphaba was completely stunned. "Call the authorities? On what grounds?" she demanded. "I haven't done anything wrong!"
The woman's face remained hard and cold. "Leave. Now. I won't tell you again, girl."
Elphaba was furious, and embarrassed. She wanted to argue, but she didn't doubt that the woman actually would call the authorities. Trembling slightly, she left.
When she got outside, she actually had to stop and lean against the wall. The woman's reaction had been completely unexpected.
Although even in the Emerald City, her skin was considered an abnormality, she'd never been subjected to such a cold and cruel treatment. Here, she noticed fully for the first time, everyone stared at her as though… there was something seriously wrong with her.
As Elphaba stood there, a woman came down the street, leading a small child by the hand, who couldn't be more than four. When the child noticed Elphaba, the little boy tugged at his mother's skirt and pointed at Elphaba. When his mother looked up to see what he was pointing to and saw Elphaba, she stopped dead in her tracks, before lifting the boy onto her hip and crossing to the other side of the road.
Elphaba felt as though she'd been slapped. Yes, she had green skin. She wasn't sure why, and she knew it was abnormal and disgustified; but was she really that despicable that she should be avoided as though it were contagious?
Elphaba tried to keep hope that not all people in Shiz would be this way; there were just some people who were more small-minded than others. But the next three places she went to looking for work all had the same reaction as the first woman.
The fifth place insisted they weren't hiring, despite the "Help Wanted" sign Elphaba had clearly seen in the window, and the sixth place refused to even let her in the door. Restaurants, bookstores, dress salons… they were all the same.
Dejected, and more than a little worried about finding work now and what she would do for money, Elphaba kept walking through the town, looking for anyone that might hire her. By the second day, she'd exhausted all possibilities in the main roads and was reduced to the many side streets of the town, getting further and further away from the campus. That afternoon, she was walking down a little side road, when she paused uncertainly outside an old, beautiful dark building. It seemed empty, but on a whim and feeling desperate, Elphaba pushed open the door and entered. It was dimly lit but the architecture and design was just as beautiful on the inside as the outside.
There were a few people inside, but it was mostly empty and Elphaba hesitated in the foyer. It didn't look like this place did enough business to hire her, even if she wasn't apparently a freak. She turned to leave, just about to give up and try again tomorrow, when she accidentally knocked over a plant as she turned to leave, and it fell, smashing to the ground.
"Crap!" she hissed, hastily dropping to the ground to pick up the large pot… or what remained of it. Soil and bits of pottery littered the ground.
"Hello?"
Elphaba jumped up in alarm and turned to face the voice that had spoken. A man rounded the counter and stopped when he saw Elphaba standing there. His eyes flickered between her, the plant and the mess on the ground.
"I'm so sorry," she apologised immediately. "I was just leaving and… it was an accident, I promise. If you want me to pay for the pot, I can," she offered, although internally she was balking at having to touch her limited funds more than she already had.
"Did you want to eat here?" the man asked cautiously, stepping forward.
"No, a-although I'm sure the food's lovely," she stammered quickly. "I- I just came in… never mind. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make a mess."
The man continued to stare at her, and Elphaba cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I came to see if you had any part-time jobs for offer, but… I'm sorry. I'll just go."
Another voice chimed in before she could leave. "You're looking for a job?"
Elphaba looked behind the man and saw a woman come out from the office, she supposed it was.
"I- well, yes," she said faintly.
The woman came to a still as she really saw Elphaba for the first time. She said nothing and did nothing, she merely just looked at Elphaba silently.
Elphaba did nothing in return, waiting for the inevitable firm request to leave and not come back.
"Do you have any experience?" the woman asked abruptly.
Elphaba was stunned, that was the last thing she had expected to hear. She was so caught off guard, the speech she'd mentally prepared earlier to give to prospective employers was completely forgotten.
"I- I… I have a resume. Oh, and ref-references," she stammered hastily, digging through her bag to find the pieces of papers, which she handed to the woman with a shaky hand.
The woman read them and then handed them to the man, her husband, Elphaba presumed.
"You're going to Shiz?"
"Y-yes, ma'am, I am," Elphaba replied politely, her heart in her throat.
"Excuse us for a moment," the man spoke for the first time in a while.
Elphaba nodded wordlessly in agreement as they both retreated to the office. Despite how quiet and empty the restaurant was, she couldn't hear even a murmur of voices from the office, so there was nothing she could do except stand there awkwardly and wait for them to return.
It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, but it felt like hours to Elphaba as she stood there, looking at the broken pot and plant still lying on the floor at her feet. No one came in, but some of the lone diners in the room glanced over at her a few times in curiosity.
Finally, the couple returned.
"Please, have a seat," the man said brusquely, gesturing towards an empty table in the restaurant where the woman was already sitting down and making herself comfortable.
With a final guilty flicker towards the mess on the ground, Elphaba followed him and sat opposite them.
"So… Miss Elphaba Rozek…"
"Yes," Elphaba replied hesitantly, unsure if it were a question or not.
The woman sighed and looked directly at Elphaba. "My name is Idonea, and this is my husband Alun. You may call us Idonea and Alun. We do quite a bit of business when school is in session, many of the staff and students like to come here for meals on weeknights and weekends. We also own the OzDust Ballroom, perhaps you've seen it?"
Elphaba nodded. She had, but hadn't bothered going inside and asking for a job. It had seemed too big for her, but it had been on her "last resort" list of options which was her last hope after the side streets.
"If needed, you may be required to work there in addition to here on Friday nights and weekends," Alun spoke up. "Is that a problem?"
"No, sir," Elphaba answered quickly. She'd do almost anything for a job, she wasn't too picky.
"Do you know your schedule yet for classes?" he asked.
Elphaba nodded. "Yes, er… all day Monday and Wednesday, Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings. I don't have any classes on Thursdays."
She paused briefly, than blurted out, "I'm sorry- does this mean you're giving me a job?"
Alun glanced at his wife before answering. "We're giving you a trial period. For a month. And if things go well, we'll discuss the subject further then."
Elphaba understood what he wasn't saying, that the trial was not just for her, but to see how the customers and hence their business reacted to the employment of a strange green-skinned girl.
But a trial was a trial, she told herself. It was more than she'd gotten so far and she couldn't afford to be picky.
"Thank you," she said sincerely.
"We'll expect you here at eight am on Saturday morning," Idonea said and Elphaba nodded in understanding.
"You'll need to wear your hair up and dress in something appropriate. Anything black is fine."
Elphaba nodded again, thinking she'd have to touch her savings again to buy one or two work-appropriate dresses. The black wasn't an issue, but she'd need something presentable.
But she forced her mind back to the conversation as she realised Idonea was still talking. "We'll give you an apron when you arrive. And wear sensible shoes. That's all."
There was something in the woman's tone that told Elphaba it was time to go, and she half-rose awkwardly.
"I'll clean up the mess I made before I go," she said, gesturing towards the broken pot.
"Never mind that," Idonea smiled faintly. "Goodbye, Miss Elphaba."
Elphaba thought about offering her hand to shake, but wasn't sure how they'd respond, so didn't.
"Goodbye. And thank you," she said and hurriedly left the building.
She was half-way down the street before she turned to look at the building. There was a sign above the doorway that Elphaba hadn't noticed before- Identity, the name of the place she supposed.
It was fitting, she mused to herself as she made her way back to the "crapartment", that it would be the name of the place that gave her a job. Identity was something that Elphaba had struggled with her whole life, not just as an orphan, but as "the green girl." It made you who you were. She could tell why Idonea and Alun had chosen that name- it was such a beautiful old building, it did almost have its own identity.
She couldn't have imagined that it would play such a role in shaping her own identity however.