Chapter Text
The sky was still dark as Elphaba pulled her keys from her pocket and fumbled with them before unlocking the door to the shop. It had taken her a while to adjust to working in the early mornings and break the bad habit of staying up well past midnight. Now when her alarm went off in the morning, she didn’t hit the “snooze” button (and she rarely let out a groan of displeasure), she just rolled out of bed and got started with her day.
She had been working at Western Skies Roasters for over a year now. It used to be her regular study spot but after striking up an unlikely friendship with the shop owner, Alistar, he offered her a job as a barista when she’d commented one day about how busy it was. Elphaba knew nothing of coffee (in fact, she didn’t even like it; she’d always been a tea drinker) but after Alistar promised he’d teach her the ins-and-outs of becoming a barista, she accepted the offer. She could definitely use the money, and although she enjoyed her books and studying, it was probably best that she spent some of her time doing things other than schoolwork.
Elphaba found that she quite enjoyed the job. Naturally she dealt with stares and snide remarks from patrons when she first started, but as annoying as it was, it was nothing new to her. It helped that Alistar couldn’t care less about her green skin and had no qualms about throwing people out who were disrespectful to her. Eventually, the regular customers warmed up to her, and some of them had even made the tiniest bit of effort to get to know her. Now, she could pull a shot of espresso like it was nobody’s business. She was also quick and efficient with her work. “The perfect employee,” Alistar called her proudly.
But things were about to change at the shop. It was still really busy, which meant Alistar was spending more time there and less time at home with his wife and young children. After weeks of crunching numbers, he had finally decided that they had enough money to hire another barista to take some of the load off, and he asked Elphaba if she would be willing to train whoever he hired. She begrudgingly agreed. Being honest with herself, she didn’t really want to. She preferred working alone, and she had a tendency to clash with most people she met. To be fair, most of the time it wasn’t her fault; they were too preoccupied with her skin to have a real conversation with her.
So, in preparation, this morning she had come in earlier than usual to get ready to teach her new coworker the ropes. She knew nothing about the girl, named Galinda, other than what Alistar told her, which wasn’t much: “She’s well-mannered and a beauty. She said she loves coffee, and I just got this gut feeling that she’d be a perfect fit.” She wanted to give him a hard time about that, but he did offer Elphaba a job when he knew hardly anything about her. They decided together that today would be spent teaching Galinda how to use the till, and then they’d go from there.
After her prep work was complete, Elphaba tidied around the shop to kill some time while she waited for her new coworker. As she filled the napkin dispenser on the counter, she was startled by the sound of someone pulling at the locked door. She looked over at the clock, there was still well over an hour until the shop opened, and the new girl wasn’t supposed to start for another twenty minutes. There was a short woman standing on the outside, looking down at the handle confusedly. Elphaba had barely turned towards the door before the girl outside made another attempt to come in.
Elphaba began to walk over to the door, and she took in the small figure she could see through the glass. The girl (she was young) was blonde and incredibly well-dressed, with a designer handbag hanging on her arm, phone in hand, and she was wearing heels. Elphaba rolled her eyes. This ditz probably didn’t read the “closed” sign, she thought.
Elphaba made eye contact with the girl outside and pointed at the sign with their hours listed on it, hoping to make her point without opening the door. The girl glanced at the sign, cocked her head in confusion, and then looked back to Elphaba before pointing at the door handle.
Annoyed, Elphaba unlocked the door and opened it just enough to be able to stick her head out.
“We don’t open until 7,” Elphaba tried to hide the irritation in her voice.
“I know!” the blonde responded cheerily, “It’s my first day!”
“What?” Elphaba responded.
She couldn’t hide her shock. This girl did not look like the type who needed a part time job at a coffee shop. She looked like she should be at the mall. Or getting her hair done. Not here.
“Oh, did I get my days mixed up?” the blonde asked. “I swear Alistar told me today…”
“N-no,” Elphaba responded. “You aren’t mixed up. My apologies. I just wasn’t expecting…you.”
“Wait, so he didn’t tell you I was coming today?” Galinda asked, confused.
Elphaba continued to take in the girl standing in front of her. She was put together perfectly, there was no other way to put it. Her loose blonde curls sat just right and her make up looked pristine, but she didn’t need much, it was clear she was naturally beautiful. Her nails were freshly manicured, too. French tips.
“He did. It’s just a little early,” Elphaba lied. There’s no polite way to say “You look too rich to be working here” to somebody.
“I didn’t realize it was a bad thing to get to work early,” Galinda responded. “Can I come in now?”
Embarrassed, Elphaba stepped back and fully opened the door. Galinda strode in, confident as ever. It only took a moment for her to get a good look at the person who had just let her inside.
“You’re green,” she commented, looking surprised.
“I am.”
Elphaba braced herself for more questions, or a look of disgust, but neither came. Galinda raised her eyebrows as if she had just realized something.
“You go to Shiz! I’ve heard people talk about you! Honestly, I didn’t think you existed, considering I’d never seen you around before and I’m everywhere . But here you are, in the flesh!”
Elphaba wasn’t surprised by Galinda’s comment, she knew people talked about her at school. Honestly, why wouldn’t they? She’d never seen Galinda around campus before, either. Granted, she didn’t socialize much (at all) and she spent most of her time in the library if she wasn’t in class.
“You do go to Shiz…right?”
Elphaba felt mortified when she realized she hadn’t responded yet.
“Yeah, I do,” she stammered.
“And your name is?” Galinda asked after a few awkward moments.
“Elphaba,” she said as an embarrassed blush crept across her cheeks. What was with this girl being able to fluster her so easily?
“Well, Elphaba, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Galinda Upland, of the Upper Uplands.” She flashed another toothy grin. “Is there somewhere I can keep my stuff while I work?”
“Uh, yeah, I’ll show you.”
Elphaba waved for Galinda to follow her to the back. As they walked together, she realized that the blonde hadn’t actually said anything negative at all about the color of her skin, even though she had expected her to.
Once Galinda put her bag away, Elphaba asked her to log her start time before explaining what their day would entail; Galinda would be taking orders and working the till, while Elphaba made the drinks.
“When will I be making the drinks?” Galinda asked excitedly, eyeballing the espresso machine.
“Not today,” Elphaba replied flatly. Even though she had become more of a morning person now, she couldn’t understand how Galinda was so bubbly this early.
Galinda pouted but nodded her head and watched as Elphaba began to explain how to work the registers. After a short while, she noticed Galinda was just nodding along quietly. She hadn’t said or asked a thing.
“Do you have any questions? Don’t you need to write anything down?”
“It’s a cash register. I think I’ve got it.”
For some reason, that response irritated Elphaba, and she found herself speeding through the rest of her instructions as a result.
“And you know how to make change?” she asked the blonde.
Galinda scoffed and rolled her eyes as she responded, “I’m the last person you need to worry about when it comes to money. Yes, I know how.”
Elphaba rolled her eyes back at Galinda, then turned their attention to the menu. Thankfully it was quite simple which should make it easier for Galinda to take orders.
“So…any questions?” Elphaba asked when she was finished with her spiel.
“I’ll ask if I have any, but I’m good for now,” Galinda replied. Then she looked at the clock. “Oh! It’s almost seven! I need to go to the bathroom and freshen up!”
“Freshen up?” Elphaba asked, confused.
“My makeup?” Galinda said it as if it was a question, like Elphaba should have known what she was talking about. She also couldn’t help but wonder how Galinda already needed to freshen up, when the day had barely started.
“The shop is opening in just a few minutes. We need to be ready, there are always people waiting outside. Plus, you’ve only been here for an hour.”
“It’ll only take a clock tick!” Galinda sing-songed as she scurried to the bathroom, heels click-clacking away.
Elphaba shook her head as she finished the final preparations before she unlocked the door. What did Alistar see in this girl? Sure, she was pretty, but Elphaba was already bracing herself for the mistakes she was sure her new coworker was going to make. She was almost certainly going to have to remake a few things, and probably stop what she’s doing constantly to go answer all the questions Galinda would inevitably have when she could have just asked them earlier.
To her credit, Galinda reappeared shortly, fresh lip gloss applied. Elphaba grabbed a black apron from under the counter and tossed it towards her.
“Here. We have to wear these. It’ll protect your clothes.”
Galinda was holding the apron at arms length as she examined it, with a slight look of disgust on her face.
“Do I really have to wear this? It’s hideodeous.”
Elphaba couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“Yes, you have to. Also, heels? Next time wear something non-slip.”
“I am perfectly fine in these,” Galinda responded easily.
“Well, they aren’t safe for work. You could fall.”
“Trust me, I have plenty of experience walking in these. I won’t slip or fall. I appreciate the concern, though.”
Elphaba could have just left it at that, but the way this girl was arguing with her was just plain irritating. She couldn’t help but snap back.
“They’re out of dress code,” Elphaba responded. Being honest, there wasn’t really a “dress code” set by Alistar. But she felt confident that he would want Galinda to wear something non-slip while working, and those heels definitely weren’t. Plus, Elphaba could already tell how much Galinda would hate being forced to wear non-fashionable shoes. She internally chuckled at the thought.
“Dress code? Alistar never told me of such a thing, he just said ‘come as you are, my dear!’ so that’s exactly what I did!” Galinda huffed. “Hmm, that just won’t do. The apron or the shoes. I’ll have to have a talk with him,” Galinda responded.
Elphaba raised her eyebrow and chuckled. Sure, she thought, have a talk with our boss about his own rules. I’m sure that will go over well.
“You need to wear something so the customers know you work here and you’re not some random woman behind the counter.” Elphaba knew that was a weak reason, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say at that moment.
“Why would some random woman be back here, Elphaba? They’ll know I work here because I’m back here. Also, it’s seven now, should we unlock the door?”
Resigning herself to defeat, Elphaba simply nodded and went to the front door to unlock it. A few customers trickled in, and Elphaba slipped back behind the counter, preparing herself for what was sure to be a long day.
—
Elphaba had to begrudgingly admit, Galinda was doing much better than she had expected. She took the orders with ease, and she knew exactly how to talk to each customer, engaging some in polite conversation and quickly taking the orders of others who seemed to be in a rush. Even some of the customers who were usually difficult to deal with were perfectly normal this morning. Galinda hadn’t bothered her with a single question about the register functions, either. Just as Galinda had said, everyone knew she worked there even though she wasn’t wearing an apron. Chalk up another tally on the losing column for Elphaba.
All in all, the day was going much better than expected. Still, Elphaba couldn’t help but be curious about her new coworker. She was a bit of an enigma. Why did some well-to-do blonde want to work at Western Skies? The job wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really gratifying, and the pay wasn’t all that great, either. Plus, you had to wake up at an ungodly hour and deal with snobby customers.
Galinda was handling everything so well that Elphaba began to wonder if she had worked a job like this one before. Her own first day was a disaster compared to this. She also was stuck with taking orders and managing the till while Alistar was at the bar. She understood the register functions but because she was clueless about coffee, she kept having to get clarification when taking orders, and that irritated the customers. Alistar did mention that Galinda loved coffee, so that was probably helping her. Still, it frustrated Elphaba that Galinda fit in seamlessly while it took herself days to get the hang of things.
They made it through the early morning rush, and when Elphaba glanced over to the counter she noticed the tip jar was already halfway filled. Typically it was barely filled halfway when she was finished with her shift, sometimes less than that. It didn’t really surprise her though, a pretty face was a surefire way to get good tips. Plus, they split the tips, so she benefited from it, too.
With no customers waiting on their drinks, Elphaba decided to make herself some tea. About halfway through she realized she should probably offer to make something for Galinda, too.
“Uh, do you want anything? To drink?”
Galinda turned towards her and practically gasped as she said “ Yes , oh my goodness, I’m dying. I need caffeine.”
Elphaba smirked, it seemed like the early morning was getting to Galinda now.
“What can I make you?”
“I’d like an iced honey vanilla latte with three shots of espresso. Please.” Galinda grinned after her request and Elphaba was struck by her pearly white teeth, and she couldn’t deny that her lone dimple was…cute. No wonder the tip jar was filling up so quickly. But three shots?
“Three shots? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure, that’s what I get every time!”
The longer she stared at Galinda, the less she was surprised that she always ordered three shots in her drinks. It matched her peppiness. Elphaba got to work on their drinks without further questioning. When she was finished, she slid a cup towards Galinda and took a sip of her own drink.
Galinda swiped the cup and immediately stuck a straw in and took a sip. She closed her eyes and made a satisfied “mmm” noise.
“This is perfect. It’s sooooo good. It’s like it’s reviving me. Thank you.”
Elphaba knew she had gotten pretty good at making drinks but nobody’s compliments for her craftsmanship had ever really mattered before. But this time she could feel a slight blush creep across her face after hearing Galinda’s words.
“You’re welcome,” she mumbled before turning to busy herself with cleaning a countertop that she had definitely already wiped down.
—
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Galinda did end up asking one question about the register, but otherwise she needed no help. Both girls were occupied in their work which didn’t leave much room for conversation between them. That afternoon, Alistar came in to relieve them of their duties.
“So, how did everything go?” he asked them both with a grin.
“It was just splendid!” Galinda replied, beaming.
Elphaba couldn’t really argue with that. She had expected Galinda to be terrible at this but she turned out to be a decent coworker, so far at least.
“She did well,” Elphaba told him honestly.
“I’m so happy to hear that,” he responded. “Galinda, do you mind sticking around for just a while longer while we set up your schedule? Elphaba, you’re free to go, you came in early today. I’ll text you if I have any questions.”
“Sounds good,” Elphaba responded. She gave them a quick wave before grabbing her bag and walking out the front door. She couldn’t lie, she was tired. She didn’t get that much sleep last night because she had nervous jitters, anxious about meeting another person and the likely prospect of having to deal with their attitude towards her skin color and bristly nature. She found herself feeling grateful that Galinda didn’t seem to be phased by it at all.
Elphaba lived in an apartment right outside of campus. It wasn’t that far from Western Skies, about a 15 minute walk. She didn’t own a car, so she either took the bus or walked. She hated dealing with the bus schedule, and she also hated feeling trapped with a bunch of people who would inevitably stare at her, so she usually chose to travel on foot. She used the time to decompress.
Once she got home, she shed her work clothes and put on a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt, then flung herself onto the couch. Right as she was grabbing one of her books, she felt her phone buzz. It was a message from Alistar.
Alistar G: Just wanted to let you know, I had a chat with Galinda. The heels are fine. She’s bringing in her own apron for her next shift. Thanks for everything today!
Elphaba scoffed. She couldn’t believe Galinda actually brought up the shoes to Alistar, and she really couldn’t believe that he allowed the blonde to get her way. She rolled her eyes before shooting off a quick “you’re welcome” in response.
She tossed her phone onto the coffee table and shook her head at the absurdity of her day, already wondering what her next shift would be like.