AN: I'm back with another Frozen story before the Thanksgiving one. This time, it's a Retail!AU (trying my hand at that after Canon!AU, Modern!AU, stories set in the main canon and using the OUAT continuity and a High School!AU). Frozen isn't owned by me.
The alarm clock rang and Anna's hand shot out of the covers and smacked it, turning it off in an instant. It was one of those days where it was the same basic routine: get up, get ready and go to work. It wasn't that Anna actually hated working in retail, it was more the fact she hated that it was the only job she could get even though she had to admit it was better than working in fast food. One of her friends admitted that working in fast food was a lot harder than it looked so getting a retail job was a lot easier. But that's not the core of the story here. The story actually opens on a typical workday for Anna but what happened this one particular day was about to shake up her usual routine forever. "I wondered if you could help me?" a voice called to Anna. She stopped what she was doing, turned around and saw what she thought was an angel standing there. But, nope, it wasn't an angel. It was just your average costumer. "I said I wondered if you could help me", the customer said. Anna, despite the intial lovestruck fever, assumed her professionalism at once.
"Yes, and what is it you're looking for, ma'am?" she asked.
"I'm not actually looking for anything to shop. I'm actually looking for a professional opinon on these two dresses", the shopper indictated the two dresses she was holding, explaining that she had tried both of them on and couldn't decide which one to get, which was a shame because she had a wedding to get to and this was a last minute shopping kind of thing, further adding that she got the offer to serve as a bridesmaid today in fact.
"Well, why don't you model them for me and I'll make my decision based on that", Anna offered. The shopper, understanding what Anna was getting at, held out both dresses in front of her and did some posing. "I actually like the blue one. It brings out your eyes", she said. The shopper blushed and put the other dress away, taking Anna's advice.
"Thank you", the shopper said and went to get rung up. Anna had a dreamy look in her eyes as she went about her shift. The mysterious shopper never came back to the store again and Anna probably assumed she was at the wedding she said she was going to. She'd have to get information on the shopper and who she was later on.
"Anna, how can you be sure you're in love with a shopper whom you know nothing about?" Kristoff inquired in the break room, having took notice of Anna's dreamy look once the shopper had left.
"It's true love!"
"Anna, THIS is reality! Besides, you only met her once!"
"Kristoff, it's not like she's our manager or something!" It's true. Their previous manager had left and the store was currently searching for a new one but the legal ramifications of pursuing a relationship with your own boss were huge, compared to pursuing a relationship with a customer. The thought never crossed Anna's mind whether or not the shopper was in a relationship or not, which WAS possible. Eventually, she put the thought out of her mind and completed her shift.
Next day, the shopper didn't come into the store, leaving Anna going through her shift apparently dejected. Having that mysterious shopper in yesterday was the highlight of her otherwise boring day to the point where she would zone out and visualize the shopper in place of the other shoppers who asked her for assisstance. After her shift ended, her lead summoned her to the break room for a chat. "Anna, I've noticed you've been zoning out on the floor a lot today. You wanna tell me what's the problem?" the lead asked.
"You can't fire someone because they're in love, right?" Anna inquired back.
"If it's an relationship with an upper staff member, yes, we have to do it to save face. Why that question though?" the lead inquired again.
"I fell in love", Anna said simply.
"You fell in love? THAT'S what this was all about? Cupid hit you with one of his arrows finally?" the lead said through giggles but eventually got her composure back. Anna explained about the mysterious shopper from yesterday and now, she just can't get her off her mind, saying that's what was impeding her work progress. "Relax, Anna, it happens. I sometimes catch myself humming 'Sing Sweet Nightingale' when doing my rounds around the store. I will say this though, try to keep your zoning off to a minimum, otherwise, if I see you zone off again, I may have to write you up and I don't wanna have to do that", the lead said.
"Thanks for understanding my predicament", Anna said.
"No problem", the lead said.
Since Anna had the day off, she decided to try and find out about the mysterious shopper from a day ago. Only problem is that she didn't know her name or anything about her. Employees were always instructed to maintain neutral relationships with customers, even if it's a family member. The only clue she had was that Sinclair Boutique located right next to their own humble Bibbidi-Boppity Fashions. "It couldn't be", she said to herself. As the puzzles began falling into place, Anna punched Sinclair Boutique into the search engine on her laptop and discovered that Sinclair Boutique was founded by reowned fashion designer Idun Sinclair as a family business a couple years ago, before their own store. Anna & Kristoff knew of the Sinclair fashion line but never really partook in any of that bollick. To Kristoff, the Sinclair family were just a bunch of stuck-up solictiates and fashionistas who lived the high lifestyle and to be honest, he was right. He wouldn't be caught dead walking into that place, because he said so himself. Anna also discovered when reading the history of the boutique online that Idun's daughter Elsa Sinclair is expected to inherit the business if the surviving sister dies. "That couldn't be Elsa Sinclair, could it?" she asked.
"You serious?" Kristoff asked. Anna had told him her suspicions that the mysterious shopper was Elsa Sinclair.
"Perfectly serious. Kristoff, It all fits! You man the doors to the store, did you see how she looked at the boutique before coming in here?" Anna inquired. Kristoff didn't want to admit it but his friend was right on the money. "Why would she choose us if the boutique could have supplied her with the dress she was looking for that day?" Anna inquired again. Kristoff thought about Anna's words and realized, in hindsight, that he did notice that the shopper, if she was indeed Elsa Sinclair, gave a somewhat disguisted look at the boutique before entering inside their own small shop.
"You know what, Anna? You might actually be right", he said. Now, since it was their day off, they had to wait to see if the shopper would appear at their store again. Hopefully, tomorrow, in fact.
Fortunately, tomorrow was when the shopper came back, looking for a specific person in general. "Is Anna working today?" she inquired to Kristoff.
"Yes but she's on the clock. You have to wait until one of two things happening: 1. she goes on break or 2. she completes her shift", he answered back.
"No problem, I can wait", the shopper said and made her way to the mini cafe positioned at the front of the store. She waited until Anna's break happened but Anna usually went off for lunch and never really used the in-store cafe, giving the shopper more hours to wait. The shopper conceded herself to wait until Anna's shift ended. Anna's shift ended at 5:00pm and after she clocked out, gathered her things and left the employee lounge, she walked past the cafe.
"Hey, Anna!" the shopper called. Anna stopped dead in her tracks and saw the person who called her name. It was her. The shopper from before.
"How did you know my name?"
"Nametag said Anna. I got a glimpse of it when I was in here last", she said.
"Oh. So what brings you back here?"
"I did some thinking and figured we could go on a friendly dinner and get to know each other as friends before we decide where we stand. Why? Because, I realized that I also fell in love when I saw you", the shopper said. Anna fiddled with her braids and accepted the offer, never telling the shopper her suspicion that she might be Elsa Sinclair, heiress to Sinclair Boutique. The shopper must have noticed Anna straining not to tell the shopper her suspicions because she also said, "Also, you are not to ask anything about me, my family or my line of work on this date. I will give you my name and that's it".
"Okay, so, you already know my name. What is it?" Anna asked.
"Elsa", the shopper responded. Anna wanted to add Sinclair but she remembered Elsa's demand that they not talk about her personal life in anyway, shape or form and respected it, feeling that Elsa would tell her when she was ready to.
The date itself went well to say the least, and in accordance to Elsa's demand, they spent most of the time talking about Anna. Anna told Elsa that her last name was Ludwig and she was working in retail to pay her way through school, which was better than fast food. A friend of hers actually got her the job at Bibbidi-Boppity Boutique. "Was that the big burly guy who mans the door?" Elsa inquired.
"Kristoff? Yep, he's the one who got me the job", Anna validated Elsa's statement. "So, enough about me? What about you?" she asked & Elsa realized what was about to happen & began to fear that Anna only accepted the date just so she could confront Elsa about her supposed connections to the Sinclair family.
"Anna, you promised we wouldn't talk about me on this date", Elsa said, trying to weasel herself out of it but she couldn't, Anna wouldn't let her. She already knew.
"True, but, I have a sinking suspicion you're Elsa Sinclair, heiress to Sinclair Boutique. I can't let that go until you tell me the truth", Anna said. Elsa realized her demand to keep her connections secret came too late thanks to the internet and with the understanding that Anna wasn't going to let it go until she got a straight answer, she conceded.
"All right, Anna, You got me, I am Elsa Sinclair, heiress to the Sinclair Boutique", Elsa admitted. "But, what I want to know is how? How did you figure it out?" she then inquired, genuinely curious.
"Well, It was on my day off and I never noticed it until now that we were located near Sinclair Boutique. I started thinking 'That couldn't be Elsa Sinclair, could it?' and so, I took a cyber trip into the internet and found the website and I read up on the history behind it. It said you were expected to take over the company when your surviving aunt dies or retires", Anna explained.
"I don't want to and if I do, I'm selling it. I'm not a fashionista like my mother, father or my aunts. Like the site said, Mother was always insistent on keeping the business in the family and from when I was four, I was prepped to take over the stupid company. By selling it, I could focus on what I want to do ", Elsa explained.
"What DO you want to do?"
"To build things", Elsa admitted.
"Oh. So, why did you choose our store instead of the boutique when you came in to get the dress for that wedding a couple days ago?" Anna inquired further.
"Think of it as a rebellion aganist my family", Elsa merely said and the issue was dropped after that. Fortunately, what happened following that mini-date was a stroke of luck: the surviving Sinclair sister decided to retire, having found the pressures of running a business in her old age so naturally, per the wishes of Idun, the business became Elsa's. However, in accordance to Elsa's own wishes, the owner of Bibbidi-Boppity Boutique had negoitated a possible sale of the business to which Elsa agreed to. And it all happened because of one question: "I wondered if you could help me?"
AN: That's It! That's It! References include: Cinderella (the store name, the owner is Fairy Godmother, the lead being Cinderella herself and the mention of "Sing Sweet Nightingale") & The Birds (the "I wondered if you could help me" exchange). The more subtle ones are How To Get Away With Murder (Elsa's family name being Sinclair as there's a character on the show with that last name) & Once Upon A Time (Idun having two sisters). R&R!