"It's really the only solution, Elsa," Weselton drawled condescendingly, polishing his eyeglasses.
"Well it shouldn't be," seethed the towheaded girl, her fists clenched tightly around her.
How could this have happened? Her parents' death had been so sudden, and although Elsa had been preparing to take over the Hotel Arendelle for all her life, she suddenly felt completely out of her depth.
"How many more times should we go over the finances until you finally understand that these measures are necessary?" the duke sighed.
His show of concern was not fooling the teenager. Weselton had always coveted the lucrative hotel and Elsa equated his presence, even as a child, as an ominous one. It was no secret that the chain of Duke Resorts ("We'll treat you like royalty!") across the country was failing due to shoddy management and the duke's penny-pinching ways. Elsa's parents were always kind to the elderly man out of respect and gratitude, for he had provided them with the money to start up their own hotel business many years ago for reasons utterly selfish, no doubt. As a result, since Weselton owned the most stock of Arendelle, he was ipso facto given sole ownership of the hotel until Elsa and her younger sister Anna were to come of age. Granted, the former Mr. and Mrs. Arendelle had not accounted for their untimely deaths, and if all had gone as planned, Elsa would have eventually ran the hotel after she had graduated from college.
"My parents did not start up this business simply for you to sell it to the highest bidder!" Elsa could hardly control her anger, the first emotion she had felt in days.
"Please, dear, you must learn to speak more gently lest you scare the boys away," Weselton said dismissively. He got up out of his chair and made towards the door, his ridiculous high-heeled boots clicking on the marble floor. "The truth of the matter is that although things may be dire now, you will have access to your assets once you come of age, and the same goes for Anna. Unfortunately, I simply do not have the time nor possess the effort it would take to run your parents' hotel. Therefore, I have made most logical decision and decided to sell it to Southern Isles. Of course you will receive part of the money—"
"And the rest goes right into your early retirement?" Elsa snapped and stood up suddenly. She grabbed the back of her chair for help as her knees were about to give way in shock and anger.
Weselton sniffed in annoyance. "You are an utterly ungrateful child and I wash my hands of you and your equally unfortunate sister." With those parting words, he left the room, his two bodyguards—the product of his paranoia—trailing behind him silently.
Once he left, Elsa sank to her knees on the cold marble of one of the many banquet rooms in the Arendelle Hotel. How would she explain this to Anna? How many times had she and her sister played in the lobby as children, imagining running the hotel themselves one day? Her parents had poured their entire lives and had sacrificed so much to build one of the most successful hotels in the country and to have it all taken away was almost unfathomable.
"Elsa?"
Anna crept into the room as quietly as she could—which is to say, not quietly at all. Her sister was curled up on the floor, so small that she almost didn't see her older sister. "Elsa, I just saw Weasel Town," her nose wrinkled in disgust, "leave. What's going on?"
Elsa straightened up slowly, pushing herself off the ground. She felt as though she would collapse at any minute "Things are going to be very different from now on, Anna."
"Good morning Mr. Eriksen," Anna chattered agreeably to the dignified-looking older man. He had a noticeable paunch, but he always stood straight and tall, his eyes clear and serious.
"Morning, Anna," he rumbled. "How's it been?" he asked absentmindedly, flipping through the Kingdom Gazette, one of the many newspapers adorning the stand by the reception desk.
"Busy," the sixteen year old rattled. "305 checked out but left an expensive dress in the closet so she's coming back later, the Diamond Suite has been booked for the week, and Kristoff—"
"Who?" Mr. Eriksen asked, his eyebrows furling in mild confusion.
"Oh, uh, the bellboy," Anna corrected, a pretty blush staining her freckled cheeks. "Kristoff had to chase out someone earlier who was causing a ruckus—"
"Not a guest, I hope," he queried, his mouth beginning to pull down into a slight frown.
Anna flinched. "No, no! Someone who had just wandered in and began to hassle—"
"Ah." Mr. Eriksen patted the ginger girl somewhat affectionately on the head, dismissing her conversation. "I'm going to make a couple of calls. Be a good girl."
"I will, Mr. Eriksen!" Anna called brightly, and without missing a beat, picked up the phone that was just beginning to ring.
"Yes, yes, uh-huh, sure, no I'm sorry that room is booked, but the next best is currently available. Uh-huh, okay, okay, and for how long? Thank you for your business!"
Anna hung up the phone and leaned back, heaving a huge sigh. It was still early, but the hotel was busier than ever. The holidays were always a busy time for Arendelle—Southern Isles—Anna mentally corrected herself, Hotel and Resort. It had been three years since her parents had passed away and although the pain had lessened with time, it still went against her nature to call the hotel by its new name. Andrew Eriksen was the new owner after Weselton had sold it to him at a fetching price. Furthermore, he had taken custody of the sisters after learning of their parents' deaths for which Anna was eternally grateful. What was another two when they had already thirteen? the generous man reasoned. Although he was kind enough, Anna could never quite warm up to him as much as she had with her own father.
After learning of her parents' death and the dissolution of the Hotel Arendelle, the Erisken boys were quick to make Anna feel like she had gained another family. Although they had extended their hands in friendship to Elsa as well, the older girl flat out refused to have anything to do with them. Elsa, who had previously done so well in school and had never missed a day in her life, began skipping school and making bad marks. It was a miracle she had even graduated. She overslept the day of her SATs and somehow neglected to apply to any universities. Her days now were spent in her bedroom with the door tightly shut. When she came out for meals she hardly spoke a word. Before she had turned eighteen the Eriksens had put her in therapy, and Elsa had subsequently been diagnosed with depression. However, since her eighteenth birthday, she had stopped going to her weekly counseling sessions and had poured the rest of her antidepressants down the toilet. Anna, although she was sixteen, was now working full time at the hotel as well as attending school to help with living expenses.
The Eriksens had been adamant about helping with the rent, but Anna had refused. "You've done enough," she told them, and it was true. They had given the sisters a home after they had lost theirs and that was more than enough. The couple had shaken their heads in dismay, but Anna was nothing but stubborn. Surely the poor girls' luck would change soon.