Glinda loved secrets. It started with her parents barely being around her, meaning she couldn't tell them anything; therefore, she would have secrets from them. When Ama Clutch would secretly allow her to do things that her parents would've forbidden, she would have secrets from them. Having secrets made her feel like she had control over her life. She loved having secrets, and was great at keeping other people's secrets.

Ama Clutch raised her and knew her better than she knew herself. She never had any secrets from her. Until now.

Glinda,

Please meet me in the library right after the matinee tomorrow.

E.

"I won't be coming home after the matinee tomorrow, Ama. I'm meeting a friend for tea," Glinda said on the carriage ride to the opera house.

Ama Clutch was surprised. Even though most of the dancers stayed at the opera house on two show days, Glinda always wanted to come home between shows and then return. But she was glad her young charge was socializing more. "Very well, Duckie."

Glinda nodded. She was surprised that she didn't feel guilty lying to Ama Clutch. Then again, she wasn't totally lying. She was meeting a potential friend, and hopefully, they'd share teatime.

She could tell Ama Clutch the identity of her new acquaintance. Who would Ama Clutch divulge the secret to? But the novelty of Elphaba made her want to keep it her little secret for a bit longer. She didn't see the harm in it, so why not? She deserved a bit of fun.

They reached the opera house and Glinda jumped down without waiting for the driver to assist her. She waved over her shoulder to her chaperone and hurried inside.

…

Elphaba lazily flipped through old music scores, humming the melodies to herself. The quietness of the library allowed her to reminisce on a past that felt simpler. She could go back to a time when her biggest responsibility was ensuring her younger sister's happiness; back to before she inherited not just the opera house, but all the complications that came with it.

She had always loved music. Something that she inherited from her mother, as everyone who knew the late Munchkin heir loved to tell her. Her memories of her mother were starting to fade, but she still had clear visualizations of her mother bringing her here to this very opera house. Their trips to the Emerald City were special, just the two of them, and every time they were there, her mother took her to see a performance. It wasn't until years after her death that Elphaba realized the trips to the City weren't solely to see a show, but to also see her mother's "special friend".

She never met her mother's "special friend" as a child. All she knew was that she would be left in the care of a very unwilling-to-babysit-her opera employee, who would dump her in the library and pick her up before her mother came to collect her. All she knew was that her mother wasn't to be disturbed. She would spend the time looking through all the papers in the library; studying the pictures like she understood what the words next to them meant, and soaking in the words like a sponge once she actually did. When she was finally picked up, she would leave with her mother and return to their large apartment in Strumpet Square, where she had her own room and had her mother all to herself.

She was pulled from her nostalgia by the clock chiming the hour. She seriously considered getting a softer clock, so every time it rang, it wouldn't be such a jarring contrast to the quiet, serene library atmosphere.

She put the book back in its proper spot and left the library. The evening performance would begin in half an hour. When she first inherited the opera house seven years ago, she didn't attend any of the performances. Being twenty years old, and inheriting a whole opera house and apartment from a man only known as your mother's "special friend" was daunting enough. She would only handle the paperwork from behind the scenes, and approve things that Madame Morrible would send to her. It wasn't until four years ago that she started attending the shows just to attend, and wasn't until last year that she began taking an active part in the productions, and an active interest in seeing the performances. She now attended at least twice a week, and now had a reason to enjoy going.

She had been drawn to Glinda's performances for a while. Even though she was in the chorus, doing the same moves as everyone else, she stood out to Elphaba. She didn't know what gave her the courage to start secretly sending flowers and requesting to get to know her, but she didn't regret it.

She waited until the lights went down and slipped through the curtain into her private box. Being the owner, she could've gotten more specialized attention, but wanted to stay hidden. She was never one to flaunt how much money she really had, and getting the best seats in the house all the time would prove that.

The orchestra played and the curtain rose. Glinda was in the chorus, and Elphaba smiled at her. She knew the show well enough to be able to tune out everything that wasn't Glinda. It worked for around half an hour, then Elphaba stopped herself.

She was intrigued by Glinda, but now, she was becoming infatuated. She didn't know what brought on that strong emotion. They weren't even friends yet. They barely knew each other. Yet here she was, getting upset whenever Glinda left the stage. She had to control herself.

She watched the show normally, applauded with everyone else, and tried to take in the other design aspects of the show, rather than focus on one chorus girl. She would see her tomorrow. No use spoiling everything for herself now. As soon as the curtain lowered after bows, she slipped away before the rest of the audience began filing out of the auditorium.

She returned home late that night. As always, her apartment was quiet. She lived alone, sleeping in her mother's room, and her old room turned into a guest room for the guests she never invited. She went through the mail, tossing aside letters that she wanted to read later, but paused on a letter from Munchkinland. It was rare for her to receive a letter from her home province, and she knew who it was from without looking at the return address, and she also knew what they wanted.

And she couldn't give it to them. Not right now, anyway.

That letter joined the other discarded ones, and she poured herself a glass of water before heading off to bed.

"Hello, Glinda."

The blonde stopped in her tracks as she rounded the corner in the stacks, and her searching gaze rested on the green woman with a soft smile. "Hello, Elphaba." Her smile widened when she saw the tea service and finger foods set out on the small table, along with two ornate chairs.

"I take it you're hungry."

"Starved." She took a seat and Elphaba sat across from her. "Did you see the performance?"

"I normally don't attend matinees. I had paperwork to catch up on. But I attended last night. You were… graceful."

Glinda figured she wanted to say a different word, but didn't comment on it as she put a few finger sandwiches on her plate. "Thank you."

Elphaba poured herself some tea, paused, and then poured Glinda's. The blonde smiled and added her preferred fixings. "I assume this tea is for us to get to know each other."

"Yes. When did you start dancing?"

Glinda was perfectly fine with going first, and began planning her questions. "When I was around four. My parents enrolled me in lessons, not thinking I would want to make a career out of it."

"You started dancing here?"

"Oh, no. I'm from Frottica, but I was accepted as a student here when I was fourteen. Despite my parents' objections, I was invited to join the main company when I was eighteen."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three."

Elphaba curiously tilted her head. "Why would your parents object to you dancing?"

"My parents, specifically my mother, want me to marry sooner rather than later. She wanted me to get married instead of joining the company, but I convinced her to let me do this. But now, I can sense she's starting to get antsy."

"Do your parents see you perform?"

"No. They're still in Frottica. I'm here with my Ama in the townhouse my parents reluctantly purchased. She attends sometimes."

Elphaba hummed and grabbed a cookie. "Interesting."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Glinda gave her a pointed look.

Elphaba sighed. "I'm twenty-seven, originally from Munchkinland, but I do not discuss it… unless under duress."

She didn't want to put Elphaba under duress during their introductory meeting. "May I ask about -"

"If you were going to say my verdigris, then no." She realized how harsh that came out and cleared her throat, continuing softer. "I mean... I will just say that I was born this way, it's not contagious, and I didn't eat grass as a child."

Glinda breathed out a giggle, then realized it probably wasn't a joke that was meant to be laughed at. But she easily eased the conversation back. "Are you a performer, too?"

"No. But I enjoy it enough. I play a bit of piano, though."

Glinda chuckled. "I'd say you 'enjoy it enough' if you own the place. How did you become the opera house owner?"

"It was a… gift."

"This is quite a 'gift'."

"Well, I don't think 'inherited' is the right word, since the previous owner is still alive and well, but it's the closest. He was… a close friend of my mother's. When he retired seven years ago, he gave me the opera house and the old apartment my mother and I would stay in when we came here. He said it was because I was the "natural heir", but that's… a different story. I was almost an adult when I finally met him."

"Fascinating," Glinda smiled, clearly more interested in the story than Elphaba was in telling it.

The green woman caught her interest. "It was a shock, to say the least. To be given this huge building and move here was… daunting."

"Does your mother still come to see the shows?"

She took a long sip of her drink. "My mother died when I was seven. She loved the opera, but good quality shows were few and far between in Munchkinland, so we came here at least three times a year. I stopped coming here after she died, until her friend contacted me years later. We formed a tentative relationship, mostly talking about my mother, and he gave me the opera house and our apartment… in her memory."

"Oh. I'm so sorry."

Elphaba shrugged, but no longer talked about her mother. "I never understood what was happening on stage, but the music and dancing fascinated me. Now that I'm older, I can understand and appreciate it more."

"How old were you? When you moved here, I mean."

"Twenty."

"That's a huge responsibility. A wonderful gift, but a huge responsibility."

"It was. But I was desperate to leave Munchkinland, so I took the first opportunity I was given."

"Why did you want to leave?"

Elphaba stiffened. "It's complicated."

"Oh. Was it hard… leaving your homeland?"

"It was hard leaving my younger sister and brother. And my father, I suppose, but to a much lesser extent. I suspected he was trying to find a way to rid himself of me for a while."

Glinda finished her tea and quickly thought of a way to get their conversation back on a happier track. "I'm an only child. I was rather lonely growing up."

"I would dream of having alone time growing up. I admit that moving here was a hard adjustment at first, and there were times were I considered going back. I never pictured myself here, but living in the Emerald City has been better for me." She lifted her chin and glanced at her. "You look like you want to ask me another question, but are fighting against it because I might not answer."

"I'm just… trying to figure something out."

"I might be able to help you figure it out if you ask me."

Glinda smirked. "Alright. Morrible said she has never seen you."

The green woman hummed. "Did she? I suppose she wishes she's never seen me. Was that what you wished to ask? Because it wasn't exactly a question."

"So, is it true?"

"No, it's not. But it was one of the conditions I insisted upon. As the Director, she needs to have meetings with me. But I'm not too fond of attention in excess. I didn't want everyone coming up to me at all hours, trying to get me to do things for them, begging for my attention and approval, and never having a moment to myself. No one, except her, and now you, knows who I am."

"That's why you never put your name on anything and always sneak around in the shadows?"

"Yes."

"That makes you sound like you're the Wizard, since no one ever sees him. He could walk among us, and we would all be none the wiser."

A flash of a shadow crossed Elphaba's face, but it was quickly gone before Glinda noticed. "Yes, well, I wanted to be mentioned as little as possible. Morrible's name and picture is attached to everything, so no one really cares who actually owns the opera house."

Glinda laughed and Elphaba had to smile. But it was quickly replaced with a frown when the clock chimed. "Oh. I have to…"

"I understand. You're busy. I should start getting ready for the show."

She smiled. "Thank you for joining me, Glinda. I'm glad we had this chance to talk."

"Me too. You are significantly less of an enigma now."

"I hope you haven't figured me out completely already." She stood and Glinda followed suit.

"No, but I like solving mysteries piece by piece," she giggled, standing on her toes to wrap her arms around the green woman.

Elphaba was surprised by the sudden physical contact. She was never the recipient of many hugs, so she had decided that it would be easier to dislike them. But she didn't dislike Glinda's hug, so she reciprocated the sentiment. Glinda's hair smelt of roses and lavender, and she snuck a quick, subtle inhale before Glinda gently pulled away.

"Thank you again, Elphaba." She flitted out, slipping through the library door and closing it behind her.

Elphaba stood rooted to her spot, still trying to process the hug. Slowly, her muscles relaxed, and she smiled, cleaning up the tea service.

She had way too many secrets, some of which she would allow into Glinda's guessing game and enjoy the fun of her figuring out, and others that would have to stay locked in the recesses of her mind for her protection.