Authors Notes:
Hi everyone, this is my first fanfic. As listed it's based off Frozen. Names have been changed slightly but you'll figure them out. This story is complete at around 65k words so I'll be posting new chapters fairly regularly. Thanks in advance for any reviews. Hope you like it.
Chapter One.
Switching Seats
Chris was staring out the window when she spoke to him.
"Sir, your ticket?"
He didn't seem to notice her at first.
"Sir," she called again.
"What? Oh, sorry. Kind of lost myself there," he chuckled embarrassingly and held out his ticket.
The woman at the desk laughed at him. "Not even on the plane and you're already on vacation. Sounds like you need it." She scanned the ticket and handed it back, gesturing for him to head down the hall.
"Yeah, seems like." He laughed. Chris glanced at her name tag and smiled at her. "Thank you, Gwen."
"Enjoy your flight." Gwen smiled back.
Chris made his way down the gangway hall that connected to his plane where he was met by one of the pilots and a crew member who greeted the boarding passengers. They were welcoming the people in front of Chris and directing them onboard to their seats.
As he was waiting his turn, a woman with a small child came up behind him. Chris glanced back at the little boy with his mother. He must have been around three or four years old. He held his mothers hand, swinging it back and forth. Chris smiled at the innocence of the child.
"Welcome aboard sir." The pilot spoke.
"Thank you." Chris responded, stepping up. He handed his ticked to the steward who held his hand out.
"D-4, window seat on the right, sir." He held out his hand to direct Chris and gave him back his ticket.
Chris nodded and made his way in. After finding his seat, he stowed his laptop and carry-on-bag beneath him before sitting down to relax. "First class." He sighed to himself closing his eyes. "That never happens to me." He'd bought an economy ticket but the flight was overbooked and somehow he got bumped. Bumped to first class! "My lucky day he thought." Then he opened his eyes to the person who had sat down next to him.
It was the child, and he was already upset and whining. "Just great!" Chris thought sarcastically to himself. One of the three banes of flying. Stinky people, snoring people, and screaming children. He knew there'd be a catch to getting a first class seat.
He looked at the little boy and had pity on him. "Are you ok?" He asked the boy with a friendly smile.
The boy ignored him and began to cry, wanting his mother. His mother was sitting across the isle, one row foreword. She was looking back and trying to calm the boy. Chris never understood why they would split up parents and their children on a flight. The attendants always sorted things out, but it seemed like a thing that should have been sorted when the tickets were sold. Not after boarding when it became everyone's problem.
Chris was about to offer his seat to the mother as she came over to calm the boy, but he didn't get the chance. When she stood up from her seat, so did a young woman who had been sitting at the window beside her.
They exchanged seats and the young woman came to sit beside Chris. He was impressed with her. She was a very attractive woman, close to his age, maybe a little younger, around twenty seven. She had a slim build and wore a very well tailored black business suit with skirt, nylons, heels and a turquoise blouse under snuggly tailored jacket that flared at her waist. Her reddish blond hair was woven into braids circling her head.
She turned and smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Anne." She held out a well manicured hand with small delicately fabricated silver ring on her index finger. It matched the delicate silver necklace she wore around her neck. She spoke with a subtle European accent.
"Chris." He responded shaking her hand. Her skin was soft and smooth. Then he saw her eyes. They were pale blue like glacial ice. They were striking. He got lost in those eyes for half a second before snapping himself out it. She didn't seem to notice.
"You beat me to it." Chris nodded to the woman with the child.
"Pardon?" Anne questioned looking back at him.
"I was about to offer my seat to them but you beat me to it." He answered casually.
"Too slow, I'm afraid." She smiled. She leaned over, putting her hand bag at her feet before reclining in her seat. "He's a cute kid isn't he?" She watched the little boy play in his seat who was quite content now sitting with his mother.
"Yeah," he paused, "do you have kids?"
"No," she sighed with a far away look. "No kids, no husband, sadly I'm alone." She gave and exaggerated sigh and laughed.
"What? No family at all?" He questioned.
"Oh, I have a sister. That's where I'm heading in a round about way. When we land, I'm spending a few days in Oslo visiting some friends, then heading home to her. And you?"
"About the same I guess. My job makes having a social life outside of work a little hard. So do you live in Norway?" He asked.
"Yes." She smiled. "And you? Are you from New York?"
"No, just here on a short business conference. I have some meetings with our research council in Oslo," Chris checked his watch, "tomorrow and the next couple days, then I'm free for some R'n'R."
"And you? What do you do?" He looked at Anne.
"Oh, I dabble a little in fashion, textiles and the markets pertaining to them. There was a fashion conference in New York this week that I attended." She smiled politely and then looked away to organize something in her carry-on bag.
Chris settled back in his chair looking out the window at the activity on the ramp. Tugs and refuelling trucks were zipping about, rampies busied themselves everywhere loading and unloading cargo and marshalling aircraft. As another airline taxied by, a little girl looking out her window caught his eye. She smiled and waved to him as she went by. Chris grinned and waved back chuckling. "How exciting it must be for a child to fly." He thought to himself. He'd been on more flights around the world than he could remember. The novelty had long since worn off and flights had become more of a nuisance to him now.
"Pardon me, would you care for a drink?" The stewardess held out a tray with flutes of champagne.
Anne reached out and took a glass, turned to Chris and held it out to him. "Thank you," he replied, taking the offered glass. More first class perks.
Anne took a second glass for herself, smiling at her server. "Thank you Jackie."
The stewardess smiled brightly back at her. "We'll be taxiing out for take off in about five minutes if you would care to get settled. Enjoy."
Chris sipped quietly for a few minutes and was enjoying the perks of first class, mostly the ability to stretch his legs out, when the captain came on the radio to welcome everyone and give his passenger preflight speech. Following that, the crew immediately went into their preflight safety briefing. As they rolled through their spiel, he wondered if there was really anyone left in the world who didn't know how to buckle a seatbelt or know to exit the plane through the doors.
Before they had finished the briefing, the plane taxied out to the runway. As they sat at the end of the runway, Anne turned to Chris, held up her glass and smiled, "Skol". She clinked their glasses together and was just taking a sip when the plane lurched forward spilling her champagne on her face and all down the front of her blouse.
Chris looked shocked. Anne looked surprised at first but then laughed embarrassingly at herself as she wiped her face with her napkin. He handed her his napkin but aside from that there was nothing to be done. They were on roll out and the flight attendants would be strapped in until they were in the air and levelled off. He fumbled around in one of the pockets of his brown cargo pants and found a mini packet of facial tissues and gave to her.
"Thank you." Anne responded, wiping her blouse. "Looks like I can't hold my liquor. Literally." She chuckled again, still looking embarrassed, as the planes wheels lifted off the runway.
She sighed after mopping up most of the champagne from her blouse and skirt. "Sometimes I just love flying. Where else can you be in close quarters with a group of strangers and embarrass the heck out of yourself?" She let out another sigh shaking her head as she dabbed her blouse with the tissues again.
"Elevators?" Chris offered.
Anne stopped and looked at him strangely for second before a sly smile crossed her face. "Speaking from experience or just observation?"
"A bit of both." He mused grinning back.
Anne looked up at Chris, a grin creeping across her face at his response, and wondered what embarrassing tales he had to tell.
A few other people noticed her predicament and chuckled along with her. An older woman across the aisle handed her a napkin and Anne graciously accepted continuing to dab her blouse dry.
"Are you okay?" Chris asked
"Yes, thank you. I'll be fine." She looked down at herself chuckling. "If this is the worst thing that happens on this flight I'll count myself lucky." She looked up at Chris and saw him smiling at her. "What?" She asked. "You think I'm a slob?"
Chris laughed at her and held up his hands in surrender. "Anne, if your a slob, I wish we could all be slobs just like you."
Anne looked at him quizzically.
Chris continued. "Its been a long time since I've met someone so cheerful and positive with life as you. Most people would be cursing after that."
"And what does that get them?" She smiled again. "Frustrated? Angry, and stressed over a spilled drink and some wet cloths? It not worth it. It's quite silly, really. So silly it's funny, and you can't help but laugh. And isn't laughter what the world needs most? If I could make the world happier by spilling a drink or two on me? Pour away." She got a funny look on her face and held up her hand looking more embarrassed. "Okay, wait, that came out wrong."
Chris just raised a questioning eyebrow at her.
"Stop looking at me like that." She teased.
"Like what?" He laughed.
"Like your visualizing a bunch of men," she squinted at him, "or maybe women, pouring drinks down my shirt." She paused, "Oh damn, I walked into that didn't I?"
Chris began laughing again. "Yeah you did, but I have to admit, you certainly are entertaining. Can I travel with you again sometime?" He chuckled some more. "Here..." He offered her his glass in toast as hers was now empty. "To meeting new friends."
Anne looked at him more seriously, took the glass and sipped. She gave him a half smile and whispered, "Thank you," and handed back the glass.
After another minute or two there was an audible ding in the cabin and the 'Fasten Seat Belt' light went out. The stewardess, Jackie, immediately returned with a towel and a warm moist cloth. "I'm so sorry my dear. We're not allowed to get up during takeoff until the seatbelt light is out." She apologized.
"It's alright. I'll live." Anne joked. She looked up at Jackie with a smirk. "It was funny though, wasn't it?" She chuckled again.
The stewardess covered her mouth as she began to laugh. "I'm sorry." She tried to stifle her laugh. "You really are such a good sport about this. Do I dare bring you another drink?" She teased.
Anna laughed again. "Why not. It was funny the first time around. The second time should be hilarious."
Jackie grinned. "I'll be back in minute." She turned and left with a smile.
Anne wiped her face with the warm cloth, sighed and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
Chris looked out the window to see the ground had disappeared and was replaced with endless ocean as far as the eye could see. The sun was low on the horizon behind them, casting it's orange glow across the water.
It was a few minutes before Jackie returned with another champagne along with a stack of napkins. "Just in case." She winked. "Oh, and I spoke with the Captain, he said any food or drinks you want for the rest of the flight are on us. For both of you."
"All that just for spilling on myself?" Anna grinned back. She leaned in to Jackie and quietly asked, "What do I get if I spill on him?" She indicated to Chris.
"That depends," Jackie replied, "on whether you can get him to take his shirt off or not." She winked back as she turned and walked away.
Anne tried to hide her grin behind her champagne as she watched the stewardess walk away. She glanced at Chris out the corner of her eye and saw a touch of embarrassment on his face. He'd obviously heard them but was pretending not to have. She looked at him more closely for the first time. He was cute. Probably a few years older than herself, she thought. He wasn't a solidly built guy but he was slim, fit and she guessed around the same hight as herself. He had short wavy blonde hair and a couple days worth of facial stubble to match. He wore brown cargo pants and a long sleeve tan cotton shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, over a white tee shirt.
Chris noticed her looking. "What?"
"Sorry." She smiled looking a touch embarrassed at being caught looking. "Sometimes, to pass the time when I travel I like to play a games with myself. I look at people and try to size them up. See if I can figure them out. Who they are, what they do." She replied smugly.
"And?" He pressed feeling a little awkward that she had been watching him. He wondered what her motive was.
Anne grinned again trying to get over her embarrassment at being caught looking at him. But now she was on the spot to answer. She cleared her throat and turned a little to face him more. "You're outward appearance, makes you look outdoorsy and a little rugged, but you're attending some sort of research meeting which suggests university education, likely in science...maybe biology. But your hands look like the hands of someone who works with them. My guess is your a field researcher of some kind. The fact that you travel around the world makes it some kind of global study, maybe ocean related or migratory animal related. Am I getting close?"
Chris decided to be bold and put his hand on her fore arm and tried to look like he was concentrating. "Yeah, I think you're getting warm." He grinned, taking his hand back feeling a little awkward at his lame attempt at humour.
"Sorry, I'm being too forward." She answered.
"It's okay." He replied. "I don't mind really. It's a long flight and it's nice to talk to someone."
"Thank you." She replied.
In spite of spilling on herself, this woman was intimidating to Chris and it showed. At least he thought it did. She was young, pretty, and judging by her cloths she was successful. Which probably meant she was smart. That put her in a league that seemed far out of his reach. Possibly a league outside of his universe. If he could get through this flight without making a complete fool of himself he'd call it a success.
"What is it you do, that allows you to travel?" She inquired.
Chris snapped out of his wool gathering quickly. "Oh, uhh, I work for an independent wildlife organization that monitors patterns and changes in wildlife around the world. Their influences and effects. The data we collect goes to several other organizations for independent analysis and the results wind up going to various groups, governments, and sometimes even the UN. Basically anyone whose interested in assessing the state of our world environment and wants to know what's happening and how to change or protect it, can have access to it."
"So you're helping to protect the world?" She flashed a smile at him again.
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "Indirectly maybe." He found that he liked that smile and wished he could see more. He looked at her a little closer and tried to size her up as well. She was a bit of a mystery. If you looked hard at her she might only be twenty years old. She had a very youthful pretty face. But if you went by the way she dressed, acted, spoke, and carried herself you'd think she was a sophisticated thirty-five something. She was very bright. Her cloths looked expensive and well tailored. "That was obvious", he scolded himself. She's in fashion. She wore only a little makeup around her eyes and on her lips and didn't try to hide the freckles across her nose and cheeks. It gave her a look that was very refined but at the same time had an innocence that was very natural. She was beautiful. And that alone intimidated him.
She questioned him more on his job and they talked for a while on various subjects relating to it. She seemed interested in his thoughts and opinions of the various issues pertaining to them.
Chris was impressed by her knowledge of everything they discussed. She seemed much more informed about environmental issues in the world than most people. They discussed everything from birds of Antarctica to the polar bears of the Arctic and everything that walked, flew or swam in between. They talked about disappearing species of plants and wildlife around the world and their effects on the human populations. Not only did she have a firm grasp on environmental issues but also the involvement of various governments. For a woman involved in fashion, Chris was blown away.
He was staring at her hard when she finally stopped talking to notice. She looked at him questioningly. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No. More like too many things right." Chris squinted at her just a little. "Explain to me how a woman working in fashion is so incredibly knowledgeable about politics, environmental issues, and global economics."
She grinned a little sheepishly as her eyes evaded him. "Fashion has allowed me to travel. When I travel, I like to learn." She replied succinctly, looking back up into his eyes.
"Oh, I think there's more to it than that." Chris probed with a grin.
Ann flashed him that smile again. "A girl's allowed to have a few secrets, isn't she?
"I guess..." Chris chuckled to himself and accepted her answer for now, but he knew there was a lot more to this woman than she was letting on. One didn't become that well educated in world issues by hanging out at fashion shows. And given what he'd seen of her so far, he really wanted to spend the time with her to find out what secrets she had. She was fascinating.
Jackie interrupted then, with coffee, juice and muffins. Chris all but inhaled his muffin he was so hungry, but felt a little ashamed afterwords as he watched Anne from the corner of his eye. She delicately pulled her muffin piece by piece, smeared it with a dab of margarine and ate it with all the refinement and etiquette of someone having high tea with the Queen.
It made him feel a bit low class, but it wasn't her fault he conceded. He wasn't used to being around people with her level of refinement. He was also impressed by how fast she figured out his line of work but also a bit embarrassed that his lack of manners may have contributed to that conclusion. He decided it wasn't worth letting it bother him. He wondered what it was that made him feel so inadequate around her and yet every action and word she spoke was one of acceptance. His own insecurities were getting to him. Besides that, he noted, she had done several things now that had embarrassed herself, yet she plowed on with confidence and didn't let it get her down. She just rolled with it. He admired that about her. It wasn't so much that she had a strong sense of confidence as it was the ability to just accept the situation at hand, deal with it and not panic. He smiled to himself. This woman could teach him a few things and he thought he'd like to the time to learn from her.
Chris took a deep breath and let it out. He reached up to the monitor on the back of the seat in front of him and began flipping through the in-flight entertainment for distraction. The screen was glitchy and kept flickering as he cycled through the shows listed. A couple times it cut out completely and he had to restart. He thought of calling the attendant, Jackie, but what could she do? In the end he gave up and pulled out his laptop, setting it on the tray in front of him. He spent the next three quarters of an hour reviewing reports for work, and made sure a couple others of his own were complete, before deciding he wasn't in the mood to work and began flipping through files looking for a movie on his laptop to watch.
Chris scrolled through all the movies he had. He'd seen them all while on his last trip working in the field and hadn't had the time to add any new ones since he'd got back. Nothing seemed to strike his interest. Getting something new to watch would be a priority after his meeting tomorrow. After a minute or two of indecision, one title further down the list caught his eye and he hit "Enter".
On screen, a yellow taxi rolled up to the curb of Tiffany's to the tune of "Moon River" and Audrey Hepburn stepped out looking glamorous in black dress and heels. It was one of his favourites. He had tried to watch it first night out on his last trip in the field but got teased rather harshly about it by some of his less than sensitive coworkers, for being a romance movie, so he'd shut it off and hadn't watched it since. On the plane though, he didn't care. He didn't know anyone on the plane and didn't have to live, breathe, and work with them in confined spaces for the next three months. Besides, he thought, the movie was a classic and Audrey was just plain gorgeous.
The movie had only just begun when he noticed the book Anne had been reading was in her lap and she was watching the screen intently. He pulled his ear buds out and hit pause. "Would you like to watch?"
Anne looked up with grin. "Do you mind? I don't mean to intrude."
"It's alright. It's hardly an inconvenience. Just plug in." Chris slid his laptop over, angling it so she could see better, and pointed out the second ear phone port.
Anne's grin turned to an excited smile as she reached down into her bag and pulled out her ear phones and plugged in.
Chris looked at her and couldn't help smiling back.
Before he hit 'Play' Anne caught his look. "What?" She questioned, suddenly feeling self conscious.
"Sorry. Just enjoying your look of excitement. You've seen it before, obviously?"
"Yes, a few times." Anne admitted with a timid smile. "My sister and I love watching old movies together. This is one of our favourites. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how many times I've seen it. It's just a film I love."
"Well that's one thing we've got." He smirked at her.
Catching the music reference, Anne began laughing at him. "Oh my god, that's so cheesy it's funny."
"Sorry I couldn't resist." He countered as he resumed the movie.
A little while into the movie, while Mr Yunioshi was protesting the noise from Ms. Golightly's apartment, the flight attendants came by serving hot food.
Both Chris and Anne continued to watch as they dug in to their food, both absorbed in the film. Neither took notice when the flight attendants took away the empty dishes but a little while later both accepted a glass of red wine to sip.
When the movie ended, Chris noted it was dark in the plane. It was dark outside. The crew had dimmed the lights and many of the passengers had settled in to sleep. Anne reclined in her seat with a very satisfied contented look. She looked up to Chris and smiled again. "Thank you." She whispered. "That one always gives me warm feelings."
"You're welcome. I don't often find people who like to watch these old films with me." He responded.
As Anne looked at him, she was overcome with a yawn. She covered her mouth and apologized afterwords, "Excuse me, I'm sorry Chris but I think I'd better get a little rest. I was struggling to stay awake towards the end."
"Yeah, me too." Was all he said. She settled back and closed her eyes. Chris put his laptop away, plugged his ear buds into his phone to put some music on and closed his eyes. Before he hit play, he could tell by her breathing that Anne was already sleeping peacefully.
It was maybe about a half hour later that he awoke to a nudge on his shoulder and opened his eyes. It was dark and quiet in the cabin and most people were sleeping by now. Anne had slumped over in her sleep and was resting her head on his shoulder. He didn't quite know what to do. On one hand he really didn't mind. She was pretty, and being this close he noticed she smelled good too. He wondered if she'd be offended in some way if she knew he didn't wake her. He decided he should probably lean her the other way but he wanted a pillow for her first, to support her head. Reaching up he pushed the call button and as Jackie returned he quietly requested a pillow and blanket.
Jackie smiled back and retrieved both items from the overhead. Chris quietly thanked her as he took the items. He set the pillow in his lap so he could spread the blanket out over Anne but as he did so, his shoulders shifted and Anne slid slowly down, lying her head on the pillow in his lap without waking. He chucked at the irony and humour if it. His plan had backfired.
Resigned, Chris laid the blanket on her and faced his next awkward problem. "There is a strange woman sleeping in my lap," he thought to himself. "Do I wake her or let her sleep? If I let her sleep will she be upset that I didn't wake her? Am I overthinking this and being silly about it all?" He honestly didn't know what to do about it. But again, he really didn't mind, he was just concerned about how she'd feel once she woke.
He decided finally to let her sleep. She'd probably wake up just enough to reposition and not notice anyway. Chris laid his head back and closed his eyes.
