First update of the New Year! I hope y'all have survived the fireworks, the drinking and the eating, and are still around to read all the crazy little things that I write! May this year be a good one for everyone! Want to make my year a good one? Here's a little secret: I really enjoy getting reviews! :)
However she had gotten herself into this situation, Anna couldn't tell. Really, she couldn't. She hadn't the foggiest idea.
Okay, who was she trying to kid? Of course she knew how she had gotten here.
It was all out of her hands, really. Her idiot friends were to blame for the impending disaster of awkwardness that was incoming.
See, they had decided, for whatever reason, that Anna was lonely. It was a ridiculous notion, really. She had loads and loads of friends. She was surrounded by them at practically every point in time, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was loved and liked by everyone she encountered.
Sure, she didn't have a boyfriend, but what did that matter? She'd never really given the matter any thought, let alone having been bothered by it. A girl didn't need a boyfriend to be happy, after all, right?
Well, apparently her two self-designated best friends disagreed. Rapunzel had been over the moon when she and Eugene – ahem, sorry, Flynn – finally got together, and now it was apparently time for Anna to be in that same state of happiness.
And then there was Kristoff, the giant lughead that knew absolutely nothing about women, but really just wanted the very best for Anna at any given time. So, obviously, he agreed with Rapunzel, and not with Anna. Because that made sense. According to them.
Anna was inclined to disagree, but her friends wouldn't hear a single word about it. They were dead-set on finding Anna a boyfriend. And it didn't care how much or how often Anna spluttered that, really, they didn't have to. Or shouldn't. They were her best friends, and so they were entitled to ignore her whenever she 'didn't make sense.'
Apparently.
So that was why she was now sitting here, at a table for two in the far corner of a drinking and dining establishment with a fancy French name, wearing a fancy dress, and feeling wholly out of place. Honestly, she couldn't even pronounce the name of the place, and she hadn't gathered the courage to take a peek at the menu.
But hey, Rapunzel had assured her that her date wanted to take her here, and that he would be paying. So really, what was she complaining about? That is, other than being set-up for a blind-date.
Who, by the way, still wasn't here, and was by now almost fifteen minutes too late. Talk about rude. Anna decided to wait five more minutes before deciding she had been stood up. She really hoped she hadn't been stood up. That would be so embarrassing.
"Excuse me? Is this seat taken?" a female voice sounded from behind, sounding rather coy.
Anna turned her head, her jaw immediately falling to the floor as she took in the stranger – presumably her blind date – who was absolutely nothing short of an angel. Or a goddess. Or… both, even. Long platinum blonde hair cascading down her back, brilliantly blue eyes, full lips stretched in a playful grin. She was absolutely perfect, even before Anna's eyes left her face and she realize her body was, impossibly, even more perfect.
Maybe.
"N-no, of course not," she managed to mumble in reply, feeling nothing but awe at the presence of this woman, and the elegant ease with which she took the seat opposite Anna.
She clearly needed to have a word with Rapunzel after tonight. Because, yeah, it wasn't entirely impossible that, one drunken night, she might have confessed that she might have some interest in her own sex. But to spring something like this on her because of it was just not fair!
"So," the stranger smiled easily. "What's a lovely woman like you doing, sitting here all alone?"
"Waiting," Anna smiled in return, not in the least annoyed by her date's tardiness anymore.
"Oh? For what?" the blonde replied, faking surprise and curiosity.
"For you, of course," Anna immediately replied, not missing a beat.
Her reply made the blonde's lips stretch into a slightly wider smile, and Anna was starting to think that this whole blind-date thing might not have been such a bad idea after all. Maybe, she would even thank Rapunzel and Kristoff tomorrow.
"Well, I am here now…" the blonde smiled. "My name's Elsa, by the by, in case you were wondering…"
"Anna," she replied automatically, even though Rapunzel would probably have told Elsa with whom she would be meeting. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, I do think the pleasure is all mine," Elsa said, taking Anna's hand and pressing her lips against the redhead's knuckles in a cheesy display of romance that nearly made Anna melt off of her chair. "How about we order something to drink? My treat, of course."
"Well," Anna answered with a chuckle, "I'd be a fool to pass up free drinks in a place like this… It's not like I could ever afford this on a normal day."
The waiter, who clearly possessed some form of sixth sense, immediately appeared at their table, causing a short lull in their conversation while they both ordered their choices of wine.
"So, Anna, what do you do when you're not here, waiting for me?" Elsa asked with a coy smile and a raised eyebrow.
"I'm a student at Arendelle U," Anna replied easily, bracing herself for the follow-up question.
"I see… And what, dare I ask, do you study?"
Anna took a deep breath, preparing her response. "I'm an art major." Cue the laughing. Everyone always laughed at art majors, because, honestly, what possible career could you have with an art major.
But the laughing never came, and instead Elsa released a thoughtful murmur. "I see. Any ideas on what you want to do later?"
Anna was still trying to get over the lack of laughing, but managed to reply after a few seconds of stunned silence. "Uh, not really… yet. I really enjoy painting and drawing, but everyone keeps telling me I'm an idiot for pursuing a career in the arts, because it's silly to think I'll be good enough to actually make something of my life… At least, that's what my father told me."
"There's nothing silly about following your dreams," Elsa responded with a small shake of her head. "It's the amount of determination and faith in yourself that will decide whether you'll be successful or not. But no one ever achieved anything by giving up before they started."
"Exactly!" Anna replied immediately, a little louder than necessary and loud enough to startle the waiter that was placing their glasses on the table. "That's what I keep telling people. Well, not in those words exactly… I'm not as… eloquent as you seem to be."
"Maybe you just over-estimate my eloquence," the blonde smiled, taking a sip from her wine.
"Maybe," Anna conceded, "but I doubt it. So, what is it you spend all your time doing?"
"I graduated in architecture last year, and now work at a firm downtown."
"An architect, huh? I bet that pays nicely," Anna smiled mischievously. "Guess I know where to go when my profession in the arts doesn't work out." Feeling a little bolder than usual – and she hadn't even had wine yet, mind you – she added a wink, delighting at the small blush spreading across Elsa's face.
"I'll make sure to have some money ready to help you out if need be," she smiled, fidgeting with the menu. "Are you, by any chance, hungry enough to share dinner? I'll pay, of course…"
"Free drinks and free food? My, I must be dreaming," Anna teased, taking her own menu. "I'd love to have dinner with you, really, but I haven't the foggiest idea what any of these words mean…" she admitted shyly.
"That's alright," Elsa smiled. "If you tell me what kinds of food you like, I can order for you?"
"I think I'd really like that," Anna admitted. "I'm not overly fond of fish, or dishes with too much spices added, but other than that, I'm not really picky…"
Elsa hummed thoughtfully for a moment. "I'd go with number twenty-two, if I were you, then. Meat and vegetable stew. Simple and delicious. Goes well with the wine you're having too."
"Awesome, I'll have that, then. Thanks…"
"You're very welcome, Anna," Elsa smiled, closing her own menu and waving a waiter over. The blonde ordered for the both of them, firing off a series of non-English words in rapid succession that made Anna's head at once spin because of the speed and drown because of the inherent sexiness of Elsa speaking… French, Italian, Spanish? Whatever. That.
Conversation briefly turned to the subject of family and friends, but they were soon interrupted by the waiter, who placed their orders in front of them and left them alone again with a small bow, which looked really ridiculous if you asked Anna, but at the same time it made her feel like royalty, so really, she wasn't complaining.
From there on out, conversation was a bit of an issue for Anna. The food was really too good not to scarf it all down like a barbaric madman, but she was relatively certain Elsa would prefer it if she were to respond every now and again, and speaking with a mouth-full of food was never charming or wise.
So she spent most of her time carefully calculating when she could take a bite without it resulting in an awkward display of her lack of etiquette. And that was not something Anna was used to doing, which was probably why Elsa noticed her struggle.
"You're overthinking this whole eating and talking thing, Anna," she laughed lightly. "Honestly, I can wait a little while for your answer if you're still eating when I'm done talking. It's no big deal. If it makes it easier on you, I can even postpone all the talking until you're done."
Anna vigorously shook her head, swallowing a bite of her food. "No, no. I like hearing you talk. Listening to you talking. You can talk all you want, and maybe I'll just listen for a while and ask tons of questions later?"
Elsa nodded with a small smile, immediately firing off in a lengthy story that started about her hobbies, moved on to her favourite holiday destinations, then discussed why she thought books were superior to movies, before giving a detailed description of one of her professors and moving on to describe her idea of a perfect lazy Sunday.
And Anna positively clung to every word the blonde spilled, filing all of the gained information away for future reference, because she was certain that there were some nuggets of info in there that could come in handy if Elsa agreed to a second date with her. Which Anna, at this point, really hoped she would. Because, if Elsa said no, Anna would never give this whole dating thing another shot ever again.
Anna had just finished her food and was preparing her onslaught of questions about the various subjects Elsa had been talking about, when she was rudely interrupted.
"Anna, right?" a voice sounded behind her. "Care to tell me what's going on here?"
Turning around in her seat, Anna found herself face to face with another unfairly good-looking person. The man was tall, dressed in a crisp suit with white gloves, and had a dreamy face with dreamy hair and … okay, his sideburns were just no, but no one's perfect.
"Sorry, but… do I know you?"
"I'm Hans. Rapunzel told me I had a date with you tonight, and then I walk in here, and I find you already having company…?"
Anna quickly checked her watch. "Well, Hans… Are you aware of the fact that you're almost an hour late?"
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. I had some important business to take care of before I could meet you here."
Hans, for all his good looks and charm, was apparently not someone who was in possession of a great deal of common sense, or tact.
"That… sort of implies that I am not important," Anna replied sharply.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that you're not important, but… You know what, I don't think it really matters, since you, clearly, already have company."
From the corner of her eye, Anna could see Elsa getting up. "I'm sorry, sir," she smiled politely. "I was not aware that Anna was… taken. I will be taking my leave now, I don't want anyone to get into any trouble."
"I think that would be best, yes," Hans smiled glibly.
Anna was no stranger to her mouth running away from her. Normally, it would do so in the absolute worst of ways possible, but this time, her mouth was an absolute life-saver.
"No, Elsa. Stay," she heard herself say, and she was more than a little surprised at the sheer authority her voice seemed to carry. It was enough to make the blonde stop mid-step, eyeing her and Hans warily.
"Anna, I really think I should just-"
"Please, Elsa, sit down? I really like you, and this is not how I want this night to end."
The blonde nodded, stepping back towards the table, lowering herself on her chair, and crossing her legs and arms in a perfect display of patience.
"Hans, listen. I don't doubt you're a great guy," she paused for a moment, wincing despite herself. "okay, actually, I do… But that's not the point. You see, the early bird catches the worm, and truth of the matter is that you're too late. I've had a great night with Elsa, and I'm planning to ask her on a second, real date before I go home tonight. And, let's face it… You're handsome, but Elsa… She's something else, y'know. A league of her own. I think that, if you had been on time for our blind date, you'd have me sufficiently dazzled with your looks, but as things are… you don't really stand a chance."
For a moment, it looked like Hans was going to object, opening his mouth and raising a single finger in front of Anna's face. Before any words came out, however, he closed his mouth again, lowered his finger, and nodded, more to himself than anyone else.
Just as soon as it had disappeared, his dazzling smile was back in place. "Well, I guess this is what I get for being late. Enjoy your night, ladies." And then, with another smile and a small wave, he was gone again.
"Well, that was awkward," Anna sighed as she took her seat across from Elsa again. "Sorry about that…"
"That's quite alright. Although, I am left wondering why you did not just tell me about your date in the first place," Elsa smiled, not unkindly.
"Truth be told, I thought you were my date," Anna smiled shyly.
Elsa chuckled lightly. "I assure you I'm never late for a date, Anna. Speaking of dates…"
"Yes?"
"I hear you plan to ask me on another one?" the blonde smirked with raised eyebrows.
"Oh… er… Yeah, you were totally not supposed to hear that. Um… right, well… Yeah. If you want to, of course, that is. I mean, I just thought… I'm actually not even sure this was a date? Because we were just having dinner. And er… Well, I thought it was a date, but you probably didn't… I should just… stop talking… now."
Elsa let out a string of unrestrained laughter. "Oh, Anna, how could I possibly not see this as a date? Sure, it wasn't a planned date, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a date nonetheless. So, I definitely think you should ask me on a second date."
"Well, since we've done the dinner-part of the traditional first date, how about we go and see a movie next?"
Elsa's smile grew a little wider as soon as Anna got the question out. "Let me know when, and I'll make sure to be free."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," Elsa smiled.
Anna turned to look out of the window for a moment, watching the people outside go about their day, snow gently falling from the dark sky. "How about tonight?"
Elsa seemed to be slightly taken aback for only a second, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a small notebook. "One moment, Anna…" She leafed through the little book for a few seconds, frowning, turning her eyes to the ceiling, and then nodding to herself. "I'll have to make a quick phone call, but other than that, I'm all yours."
"I like the sound of that," Anna smiled with a wink. "Shall we get out of here, then?"
"Let's."
