Chapter Eleven
A big decision was about to be made tonight, a decision that was years in the making. It was a decision that would shape the future of these two girls' lives from here on out, and after a lot of soul searching, and long conversations, the couple were about to make their final decision.
This was it, today was the day Elsa put in her application to North Mountain University.
Anna had sent in her own applications to both North Mountain and Arendelle U, she had sent in the latter first even though she already knew that she would go with her girlfriend to NMU. Now she was just helping Elsa with her own application. They discussed their future many times over the past few weeks, and while Elsa still wasn't sure what she would do degree-wise, she at least knew that going to a college was her best bet to truly figure out where she was going to go next in life.
North Mountain University wasn't Anna's first choice. After going on a tour to both schools, reading through their curriculums, and personally contacting culinary professors at each school, she was still certain that Arendelle University was the better option. But she decided that staying with Elsa, having a future with her, was more important.
Anna sat at Elsa's dining room table scrolling through the rest of Elsa's application essay to check for any grammar or spelling mistakes, noting that it was nearly unblemished and amazingly thorough. Elsa had a knack for words, she always had. "Remind me again why you needed me to read through this? It's pretty much perfect, Elsa.", she asked.
"It's not perfect! But it will be once you work your magic on it.", Elsa replied from her kitchen. "And how in the hell are we already out of milk?", she muttered to herself.
"Magic? Please, judging by this essay, if anyone has magic it's you."
"You can turn raw eggs and flour into something people would gladly pay hundreds of dollars for, if that's not magic then I don't know what is." Elsa continued to peer into the fridge, hoping that if she looked hard enough something she actually wanted to eat would appear. She sighed and slammed the fridge door shut, causing three folded pieces of paper to flutter to the ground in front of her. Elsa picked them out of their descent, waved away the thin layers of dust, and eyed the papers curiously. The first page had her name on it, and it was dated two years ago, but they didn't look very familiar. It was only until she started to read through the first few sentences that she realized the treasure she had stumbled upon.
"Yeah funny story about that, turns out that baking skills don't translate very well when it comes to writing essays. I'm serious Elsa, this essay looks fine, better than fine actually. NMU would be a fool not to take you in." Anna waited for Elsa to quip back but no response came.
"Elsa?" Still no answer. She got up out of the chair and walked towards the kitchen, only to see the blonde looking through the old papers with a dumbfounded expression on her face, as if she had just found the cure to cancer on top of her fridge. "Elsa, what's up?"
Elsa looked at Anna, and then back to the papers, and then back at Anna again with her expression unchanged. "This is my essay…", she said breathlessly, "This is my essay from freshmen year, remember the one I wrote about me wanting to be a CEO?"
Anna blinked, trying to remember back to two years ago. "I…kinda remember it, yeah. What about it?"
"Anna, there's…a lot of things here that I forgot I wrote. I was so motivated to become a CEO and suddenly I wasn't, but reading through this is making me realize that that determination isn't all gone." There was a brightness in Elsa's eyes and in her smile that Anna hadn't seen before, it looked great on her but at the same time it made Anna anxious to see where Elsa was going with this. "Anna…ever since we started dating you're the only one I ever thought about; I'm starting to realize that that's why it's been so hard for me to know what I want to do after high school, because all this time I just cared about being with you."
She excitedly pointed to the essay, "But reading this, and realizing who I was and what I wanted before we were together, I finally remember what I want to do with my life. I want to be a CEO!"
Anna wanted nothing more than to be fully supportive and excited for Elsa, but the anxiety was still there. So when she replied with "Elsa, that's great! I'm so happy for you!", she said so with a weariness that couldn't be contained.
Elsa picked up on it right away, she set paper down on the kitchen counter and looked at her girlfriend concerned, "Anna what's wrong? No offense, but you don't sound very happy for me."
"No I am, I really am! It's just…", Anna sighed. "…what does that mean for us?" Anna felt that she had reason to be nervous, Elsa did sound like she was setting off on a new plan that didn't sound like Anna had any room in. If that was the case, she just wanted to be told now instead of figuring it out later.
"What does it mean for us?" It took a second for Elsa to realize what Anna was really asking, and once she did she laughed. "Anna, it means that when we go to NMU, we're both going to know exactly what we're doing there. It means that I finally know what my dream is: to become a CEO, and to do it with you at my side."
"You mean that?"
Elsa looked at the overly concerned redhead with amusement and endearment, and she kissed her as a means of showing her that she was speaking the truth. "Of course I mean it. You're gonna be the best damn baker in the world, and I'll be the one writing your checks…probably."
Anna scoffed, but didn't say anything.
"You and I are gonna run this city, and we're gonna do it together."
Elsa tried to shake that particular memory from her mind, trying instead to focus on not flipping this damn table over, grabbing this redhead by the shoulders, and getting the answers that she wanted.
…wow, okay that was…a little aggressive.
As far as opening lines go, commenting on the inner machinations of a cash register wasn't the best; it also wasn't the worst, but it certainly wasn't the best. Elsa needed a way to get Anna's attention, though, and that's how she got it.
However, they were both now caught in a spiraling sense of awkwardness and aggravation that engulfed them and rendered them unable to get the next appropriate word in. All they could do was stare at each other, Anna looking like she had seen a ghost and Elsa looking like she'd rather be a ghost, so she could she just fade away instead of suffering through this.
After all the bravado, the determination, the confidence she mustered just walking over here, Elsa was finally realizing the stupidity of coming over here without a plan. What she wanted to say, and what she had to say, were at war in her mind. The stalemate that occurred had kept her from speaking.
She knew that intimidating someone who was technically her employee would brutally damage her reputation, and it would most likely make Anna less, not more, inclined to answer her. All she could reasonably do was start off casually and somehow ramp the conversation up in a short amount of time.
Apparently, Anna had the same idea.
"How are you?", both women said at the exact same time, making this even more awkward than before.
The two were silent once again, but time was not on Elsa's side, and so she took it upon herself to break the tension. She cleared her throat and put her hands behind her back, "I trust that business has been going well, Ms. Dawson."
Anan regretted letting Elsa be the one to start the conversation as soon as she addressed her as "Ms. Dawson". It guaranteed that nothing real was going to come out of her flawless lips. But if that's the game Elsa wanted to play, if they were going to try and fake professionalism and pretend there wasn't something else underneath the surface, then Anna would do the same. Even if she wasn't as good as the literal CEO.
"Business has been…fine, thank you for asking Els-Ms. Andersen. Thank you for having us.", Anna replied politely.
"I'm glad to hear that." Elsa said, dismissing Anna's pretend gratitude. "The Arendelle Festival is all about boosting the revenue of local businesses, hopefully the both of you have been doing just that. The end of the month isn't that far off."
Anna was now both intrigued and anxious. Was Elsa about to address the elephant in the room? She decided to test the waters, "Me and Rapunzel are very aware of that, but trust me when I say that we're gonna get your money." Unfortunately, Anna had no idea how to continue being a legitimate professional.
Her completely unsubtle remark seemed to take Elsa by surprise, however, judging by the furrowing of her brow and how she opened her mouth to speak but didn't.
Elsa coughed, "Well, uh…that's also good to hear. We have high standards here at ArenCorp and…I'm sure that…how much for something to eat?"
Anna knew now that she had no idea what was going on anymore. At first it seemed like Elsa just wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, and now it seemed like they were going to be…ugh, it just didn't make sense anymore. Regardless, Anna continued to play along, even though she still didn't know what she truly wanted to say to Elsa. "Well this isn't…really a restaurant. I mean we've got a menu so I guess it might be, but you kinda just tell me what you want and if it's not up here I can get it from the back."
"Oh…cool.", Elsa scanned the display cases- did she really just say "cool"?- and pointed to one in particular. "I'll take that chocolate chip cookie right there, it looks good."
"Sure, coming right up.", Anna said as she got to work grabbing a cookie for Elsa instead of clearing the air and saying…whatever it is she wanted to say.
Elsa hated herself for letting it come to this. Despite her feelings, she did actually want to warn Anna about SIBC, then somehow transition this into having the conversation they should have had years ago, but she got cold feet at the worst possible time and instead decided to act like things were perfectly fine. She had dug herself into a pretty big hole, she even said cool.
As Anna went to grab the cookie from the display case, put it into a paper bag with the bakery logo stamped on the front, all that Elsa could think was, "I don't want this damn cookie."
And as Anna struggled with the cash register and punched in the code to make a transaction, all that Elsa could think was, "I really don't want this damn cookie."
And as Anna finally succeeded in making the transaction, and awkwardly handed her the cookie, all Elsa could think as she took a bite without trying to make eye contact was, "I don't want this damn, delicious cookie."
It had been years since she'd had one of Anna's baked goods, she hated that she loved every bite of it. Worst of all was that- whether it was on purpose or not- Anna looked at her with that same expectant look she would always have whenever Elsa taste-tested any of her batches.
Anna would always experiment with her formulas- tweaking the amount of baking soda she used, setting the oven at different temperatures than before, etc.- and every time she would ask Elsa how that certain batch tasted, she would always give her honest opinion. She would tell Anna if they tasted a little burnt, or just a little more bitter than before, sometimes she would even say that Anna should stop tweaking the formula because she had gotten it down perfectly (of course, whenever Elsa would say that Anna would go ahead and make a new modified batch anyway). This time, however, as Elsa finished her cookie, all she said was "It's…good."
And she could see it in Anna's eyes, she could see that Anna was thinking back to the exact same memories, back to the comments of old, back to…before. She could see the shadow of disappointment behind those emerald eyes, even if it was only for a second. "Thank you.", was all Anna could say.
After swallowing her food, Elsa decided to ditch any pretense and finally start saying what she came here to say. She was running out of time, and needed to get actual prepared words out of her lips before she retreated back into her bitterness and accomplished nothing out of this encounter.
"Why'd you do it?"
The word suddenly got a lot smaller for Anna; she wasn't sure if she had heard Elsa correctly. Did she just ask Anna the one question she was waiting, eagerly and anxiously, to hear?
And then, as Anna shuffled out of her failed façade as a consummate professional, and willed herself to answer, she realized that she had no idea why she was so eager to hear that. It meant digging through the skeletons in her closet and pulling out the biggest, most wedged in one, and finally coming clean to not only Elsa, but to herself.
Why in the world did she think she was prepared for this?
The short answer was that she didn't. So instead of answering Elsa straight away, Anna decided to stall. She let out the fakest cough she could and stuttered out "Wh-what?"
But by the look in Elsa's eyes, one she had been all-too-familiar with before, she knew that this was a woman on a mission, a woman determined to get an answer one way or another. "You heard me, Anna."
Anna. She had heard her name come out of the mouths of hundreds of people before, but no one said it like Elsa did. No one said it in a way that sounded like they had rehearsed it to perfection, no one said it in a way that made her this breathless, hopeless, and helpless. Anna knew she was in trouble, and took one cautious step away from the table. "I…hardly think this is the right place or time to talk about this."
"Then when will it be the right time and place? It's been four years, Anna, and the fact that we keep running into each other like this…it can't be a coincidence. Aren't you tired of lying to yourself? Because I know I am."
This wasn't good, when this finally happened Anna was hoping she would have more control than this, a stupid idea in hindsight. She backed away from the table completely and walked over to the other side of the booth. "I…Elsa I want to tell you, but I just-"
"You just what?", Elsa quickly made her way to where Anna was like a fox encircling a rabbit that strayed too far from its burrowing grounds. "You just can't? You can't tell me why you did what you did? Do you think the truth will hurt me? Because I'm telling you it won't, nothing you can say could hurt more than…"
There it was, the opportunity Anna needed to gain some leverage, it was short and fleeting but still better than nothing. Deciding not to waste any time, she pressed further, "More than what, Elsa?"
Elsa. She had heard her name come out of the mouths of thousands of people before, but no one said it like Anna did. No one said it in a way that made it seem like she was the only one in the world who mattered. No one said it in a way that made her feel empowered, safe…and helpless. Elsa knew that she had given up a bit of leverage in…whatever was going on between them right now, and regretted it completely.
Once again, her emotions had gotten the best of her, made her reckless, and made her say things she didn't mean to. Once again, she was paying for it. Why couldn't she just stick to only warning her about SIBC?
"More than what, Elsa?", Anna asked her with a genuine look of concern.
Elsa had to look away, it sickened her that after all that had happened between them, Anna would still show her emotions like concern. There was no way she would tell Anna that nothing she said would hurt her more than the four years of not knowing a damn thing, that would be giving up too much leverage; and if she was going to get the information she needed, then she had to have as much of that as possible.
Instead she backtracked, tried to bring the conversation around to how it started. "Why'd you do it, Anna?", she repeated.
Anna knew what she was doing, she knew that Elsa wasn't going to disclose anything else, so she had two options: she could either continue to question Elsa further and possibly drive her farther away than before, or concede defeat and finally answer the question.
And even though she knew it was wrong, Anna chose the former.
She shook her head, "No…that's not…you don't get to do that, Elsa. You don't get to clam up just as we're about to finally get this all out in the open."
"Gee that's a little rich coming from you, don't you think?", Elsa bit back right away. "You telling me to explain myself when I've been waiting for an explanation for so long. No more running, Anna, you're gonna tell me why you did what you did. And you're gonna tell me now."
Anna's throat grew dry as she found herself at a loss for words at the worst possible time. She wanted to argue against Elsa's accusations but found herself physically and realistically unable to do so. Because Elsa was right, she was running away from this, but the relentless pursuit from Elsa was making her less inclined to speak instead of more.
"Why did you do it, Anna?"
She felt trapped, no she was trapped. Trapped inside the confines of her booth, unable to escape; and sure she could just as easily duck underneath the tables and blend in with the festival crowd, but she knew that Elsa would find her. Elsa would always find her.
"Why did you do it?!"
The need to actually speak to Elsa and the need for her to just get away from all this was tearing her up. She looked at Elsa with pleading eyes, on the verge of tears even, just begging for some reprieve, but all she found in Elsa's eyes was a woman hell-bent on getting the answers she rightfully deserved. With her heart racing and her brain on overdrive, Anna opened her mouth to speak, hoping that some sort of divine force would take over and just speak for her.
"Ms. Andersen!"
But before that could happen, another saving grace came their way in the form of the family she had helped out before.
Elsa heard her name, her professional name, being called by an unfamiliar voice. She quickly wiped away the look on her face and turned away from the booth with the pseudo-genuine smile she practiced in the mirror every day.
In front of her stood a father carrying two overflowing bags, a daughter with muffin crumbs on her dress, and a mother with an apologetic look on her face. "So sorry to bother you…", the mother said, "but our daughter is a big fan of yours and if it wasn't any trouble we were wondering if she could get a picture with you."
At first Elsa was taken aback at the request, she had been asked to have her picture taken before, but never with a child. Being a young CEO obviously meant a lot of exposure, she had been interviewed by more magazines and talk shows than she could count, but she had no idea that she had reached the kind of celebrity status that warranted even children being fans of hers. It wasn't as if she was in movies or TV shows or anything, all she did was make corporate decisions all day and do paperwork, not exactly a glamorous job to have, and not one she expected children to aspire to be.
Did this make her a role model now? Because if that was the case, then…this kid probably needed to find a better one.
She would be crazy to say all this to a family, and especially to a child. So all she did was nod and say, "It's no problem at all."
"Oh thank you so much!", the mother replied excitedly. She took her daughter's hand and led her towards Elsa, wiping the crumbs off her dress. "Just stay right there honey, okay?"
As the parents fumbled for one of their phones, Elsa looked down at the little girl by her side, who was looking at her wide-eyed and excited like she was meeting a superhero. It felt a little weird, but if Elsa was being honest with herself it felt a little good too. She hadn't been looked at with that much genuine admiration in a long time.
"Alright honey, just look at the camera and smile!"
Elsa looked away from the little girl, folded her hands in front of her, and smiled politely. She waited for the mother to finish taking as many pictures as she wanted. Once she was done, Elsa loosened up her posture and the little girl walked back towards her family, still star-struck.
"Thank you once again for doing this for us, our daughter gets so excited everytime we see you on TV."
"Oh, well it's no problem at all. And I'm glad to hear that.", Elsa couldn't help the blush forming on her cheeks after hearing such unexpected flattery. And as much as she may have wanted to hear more, she regrettably had to make sure this conversation finished soon. She was still, after all, in the middle of something a bit more important. "It's so nice to know that I may have just taken a picture with the next CEO of ArenCorp."
Seeing the little girl's face light up, and hearing the parents let out a chuckle, Elsa knew that her amusing comment had hit the mark. "Well we should probably get going, thank you so much Ms. Andersen, for the festival and for the picture."
"It's my pleasure.", Elsa replied. As she waited for the family to walk away, she noticed a faint, familiar glimmer from one of the bags, and the unmistakable shine reflecting off a sapphire orb.
Elsa let out a sigh of relief and rolled her shoulders, ready to get back to her previous, scathing conversation from before.
But when she turned around towards the bakery booth, she found herself completely alone. Anna was nowhere to be found.
Anna stayed as silent as possible inside the back tent of the bakery, which was incredibly difficult amidst her own panicked breaths and the volunteers continuously asking if she was alright.
No, Anna was definitely not alright, her scorned lover was just behind the tent flap waiting for her to give her the answers she couldn't even say herself. The words were ninety-nine there, but it was that one percent that was holding her back. That one percent that told her she wasn't ready for the blowback, that one percent that said that if Elsa was acting like this without knowing the whole truth, imagine how she would act like once she did.
So instead of speaking to anyone or acknowledging that anyone else was inside this tent with her, she continued to try and catch her breath and pretend she was literally anywhere else, in a different time or place where she didn't have any problems, where she hadn't ruined everything.
The world passed all around her in a muted blur. Minutes passed, maybe even hours or days, she wasn't entirely sure. She stayed in her not-so-secluded corner until two hands on her shoulders shook her back to reality, Rapunzel's hands.
"Anna!", Rapunzel cried out. "Holy crap what happened to you? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Anna took a minute to remind herself of her surroundings; she had taken shelter below a table with a dwindling supply of donuts, and joining the group of concerned volunteers was Rapunzel and a new guy she had only seen once in passing talking to one of the volunteers. Slowly, Anna got up, wiping the dirt off her jeans and looked at her friend with eyes glazed over. "I…may as well have." she replied.
"What are you…oh…she finally came around here, huh?" Rapunzel's face changed from one of concern to one of what seemed like disappointment over how Anna handled the situation she knew she would have to face today.
"Who came around here?" the new guy asked curiously.
"It's uh…some girl that Anna was with a few years back, it was a messy breakup and all that, you know how it is." Rapunzel replied. Anna wanted to correct her, but felt it wasn't necessary, plus it would mean giving out information she hadn't even told her yet.
The man nodded and looked towards Anna, "So are you okay? I can go get one of the EMTs here to check you out."
Anna shook her head, "No thanks, I'll be fine. It's just…it still hurts a little bit, even now. I'm okay, really, and I'm ready to get back to work. We don't want the customers thinking we've closed up shop, right?"
Rapunzel didn't reply, she looked back at her new friend and then back at Anna like a doctor about to administer bad news. "That's kinda what we wanted to talk to you about."
Another jolt ran down Anna's spine, this one a bit more dulled and she wasn't sure whether that was because the first one was worse, or because it had already taken its toll before and she was less susceptive to the shock. "What happened? How long was I out? Is the festival already over?"
"No no, it's only been like ten minutes we're still okay.", Rapunzel reassured her before continuing. "But, well, you've heard of the Southern Isles Baking Company, right?"
"Of course I have, I used that panini press I bought from them back in college pretty much 24/7. Not sure what they have to do with us though."
"Well me and Flynn were walking around the festival a bit, and it turns out they have a booth set up today. It looked like they had just gotten here recently since they were still setting things up, but once they get rolling Anna…we're gonna be in big trouble. Everyone knows who they are, and they have like a whole kitchen set-up like they're hosting Iron Chef or something."
"That…", Anna took a second to let their new dilemma sink in. "…yeah that does sound like a problem. You're the business expert here, what do you think we should do?"
If there wasn't doubt in Rapunzel's eyes before, there definitely was now. She knew this uphill battle they were facing had just gotten a lot steeper. Still, behind the doubt Anna could see the gears turning in her friend's mind. "We just have to keep doing what we're doing, but also make sure that people know that this is a festival made to celebrate the local businesses of Arendelle. I'm not even sure how they even got a booth, but they did. We can't bash on their product because it's unfortunately really good and they just had that recent campaign to promote how organic they were, we need to let people know, though, that they can find that same quality right here in Arendelle."
"You really think our food is just as good as the SIBC?", Anna said wearily.
"Not as good, but better.", Rapunzel smiled. "The question is if you think our food's better than theirs. You're what makes this all work, remember? I can talk a big game, but in the end it's you who has to deliver."
"Gee thanks for not putting so much pressure on me.", Anna replied sarcastically. "But…you've got a point, and I do believe in us and what this place can be."
Rapunzel smiled and patted Anna's shoulder, "There's the Anna I know and love, now let's get out there and do what we do best."
"I can help too, by the way.", Flynn spoke up before they could open the curtain and return to the outside world. "I can already tell that you two have something special here, and I'd be kind of a jerk if I didn't lend you both a hand."
Rapunzel let go of Anna's shoulders and looked at Flynn with an admiration and infatuation that Anna had never seen from her friend before, it actually made her feel a bit happier in the process. "We'd love your help!" Rapunzel exclaimed without even consulting her partner, who honestly didn't mind in the slightest. "But how?"
Flynn winked and simply said "Just trust me." before walking out to do whatever it was he was going to do. At his exit, the rest of the volunteers continued working as well with an instilled sense of determination to help out in any way they could as well, leaving Anna and Rapunzel standing in front of the curtain awkwardly.
"Well that just kinda happened." Anna remarked. "So that's Flynn, huh?"
"Yup, that's Flynn.", Rapunzel replied dreamily. "Isn't he great?"
Anna was still happy for her friend for finding a guy who made her glow with just a smile and a few choice words, but she also found it a bit strange. She just chalked that up to never seeing her friend act like this before, however, and conceded that it would take some getting used to if this went the distance. "So you ready to get back to work?", she said changing the subject.
Rapunzel snapped out of her trance, "Right! Work! We have a job to do, sorry." She rolled her shoulders and let out a deep breath, "Are you ready?"
That was a more loaded question than it had any business being, because Anna knew that saying yes meant she had to be more engaged and focused than she ever had been to fight for this bakery, to fight for their future. But she also knew that saying yes meant saying she was ready for whatever would happen for their bakery, for their future, and…for when Elsa inevitably found her again. What if she was still at their booth?
She didn't know if she was strong enough to open that curtain, all she knew was that she had to. So when Rapunzel asked her if she was ready, all she could do was push through all the doubts and fears in her mind, and say "Ready."
Elsa didn't stick around for too long after Anna's disappearing act, Hannah had come back to make sure they were on time to see the rest of the booths, and she figured that there was still time in the day to circle back to the bakery anyway.
She wandered around the rest of the festival with her assistant, who did most of the talking for them. Elsa just did her best to keep on a professional smile as to not arouse any suspicion by any of the festival-goers. Her thoughts, obviously, were still on the bakery, and unfortunately with Anna, but didn't want to bring any attention to herself.
After the adrenaline fell of, she wondered if she had handled that situation well. Someone could have seen them, and probably did. By all accounts, she should have handled that situation much better, but she just couldn't with Anna. After so long, she deserved to get some answers by any means possible.
For now, however, she needed to at least pay a little bit of attention to her surroundings instead of someone that shouldn't be so prevalent in her mind. After visiting a booth that exclusively sold carpets, she and Hannah were on the move again.
"We're making good time, only a few booths left that I feel you should definitely visit and then we'll be done.", Hannah remarked as she typed something on her tablet. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm fine.", Elsa replied monotonously.
Hannah, persistent and observant as she was, didn't find that answer convincing at all. "Are you sure? Because you usually don't tell me to go busy myself while you go do…whatever it is you went to do. And about that, is there something you're not telling me?"
"Hannah I don't pay you to bug me about my personal life.", Elsa said coldly. "Let's just keep going, you said we're almost done right?"
"Y-yeah…I did."
Elsa immediately regretted the harsh words she had said to Hannah, this whole Anna thing was messing with her mind too much. She wanted to tell Hannah that she was doing fine as her assistant, and that she herself was caught up in a big mess and was taking it out on her, but all she did instead was spit out a quick "I'm sorry."
Hannah didn't respond, and they continued to walk in silence until they found a booth that caught Elsa's eye, and she made her way over there without waiting for Hannah to realize where she was going.
Because her life wasn't already a big pile of crap, she realized that in her tirade against Anna she forgot to mention the fact that there was some unneeded competition here at the festival. And now, as she found herself at the front of the booth for the Southern Isles Baking Company, she realized just how big of a mistake she made.
The first thing she noticed about the booth was that it didn't have any of the signature Arendelle purple and green, the navy blue and crimson stood out mockingly as much as the name written in gold calligraphy. The front end was as large as an actual storefront, there was no need for tables to set the blue display cases on since they were tall enough to stand on their own, two cash registers were set at both ends of a wooden table and in the middle of them was a cookie decorating station for people to have their cookies customized with frosting and decorations.
She also noticed that they weren't even done setting up yet; the front end was mostly ready aside for the food being stacked into the display cases, but the massive back tent was still being stocked with not just food, but also high-end baking equipment to make even more food in case the truckload they brought wasn't enough. Apparently, they didn't understand the meaning of the word "overkill".
The workers wore navy blue polos with the gold logo stitched onto the left side and black pants, they all had plastered-on smiles like they got paid for how much teeth they showed. Everything about the set-up and the people made it look so fake, but they knew that everyone would buy their product anyway so they kept with the charade because it worked. It made Elsa's blood boil.
Everything about the Southern Isles conglomerate made her uneasy, business-wise they stood for all the things that she didn't. They made money at the sake of their integrity, they gave up on the idea of being real just to make a few more cents. Watching this scene unfold caused Elsa to unconsciously clench her fists like she was going to tear this temple down, and maybe she would have if someone hadn't noticed her standing there this whole time.
"Hey lady, you just gonna stand there the whole time?"
Elsa looked to see one of the workers manning the cash register staring at her like she had something on her face. He was a chubby, middle-aged man with a bushy, black beard with a face perpetually stuck being as pissed off as possible, like an anti-Santa Claus. She wanted to fire back and remind this ignoramus about who she was, but she had to keep her cool, if not for her, then for her company. "I'm sorry, I just didn't expect any new arrivals to come this late to the festival. This is…quite a booth that you have set up here."
"Yeah well if you think this is big, you should see the HQ back home." He opened the register and counted the money inside. "So what are you, like the supervisor or something?"
"Uh, no actually. My name's Elsa Arendelle, I'm the CEO of ArenCorp.", she did her best to hide the smugness in her voice but couldn't contain all of it.
"Oh yeah now I remember, saw you a couple weeks ago on TV.", he looked up and sleazily eyed Elsa from top to bottom. "Lemme tell ya, you look even better in person."
"…thank you?", Elsa instinctively hugged herself to cover her clothed chest, finding anti-Sana Claus' gaze uncomfortable. "So, uh…who authorized your bakery to be here today?"
The man shrugged, "I'm just here so I can get paid, you think I know anything about any authorizing? All I know is the boss man gets a call early in the morning, and next thing I know I'm on a truck on my way to…what's this place called again?"
"Arendelle.", Hannah replied.
"Yeah, Aren…whatever. If I had my way, I'd be back home right now sleeping the day away, but a paycheck's a paycheck. I'm sure you know what that's like, right Ms. CEO?"
Elsa bit her tongue, she knew that nothing nice or professional would come out of her mouth if she spoke right now, so Hannah spoke for her. "You guys do know that this festival is meant to celebrate the local businesses here in Arendelle, right? Last time I checked, the Southern Isles Baking Company isn't anywhere near our city."
"Yeah and last time I checked I'll do anything for an extra payday.", the man quipped back. "Look if you've got any complaints, don't take them up to me I just work here. Talk to the manager if you want some answers."
It was then that Elsa noticed that amidst the sea of blue shirts preoccupied with unloading the truck and setting up the booth was a man in an Arendelle Festival shirt, with a baseball cap and jeans casually walking away from the crowd of people and towards the truck.
"And where is your manager?", Hannah asked.
"Back home.", the man let out a belly-rattling laugh like that was the funniest joke ever told. "Yeah it's his kid's birthday today, little guy's turning seven."
Elsa kept her attention shifting between the rude cashier and this new development unfolding just a few feet away from them. He looked vaguely familiar, but Elsa didn't know why, and there was something wrapped in a cloth in his right hand. He walked confidently and without suspicion, so no one stopped him as he got closer and closer to the truck.
"So then who's the one in charge today?"
"Well, that would be the assistant manager, but she's got some 'important business to attend to.' And then there's the supervisors, which would be me and some kid who just got promoted like a week ago. But I…don't think I saw him on the truck so I guess he's not on the clock today either.", he talked as if nothing in the world mattered but getting paid and going home. "Yeah so…huh, I guess I'm in charge."
The sheer inadequacy on display right in front of her made Elsa more pissed off than she had been before. At first, she wondered why the SIBC would tarnish their reputation by sending someone so incompetent at answering the simplest of questions, and then she realized that this festival was so below their radar that they didn't care for sending anyone even semi-decent at their job. Which is why she didn't say anything as the suspicious man, now next to the open driver-side door of the truck, unfolded the cloth to unveil a brick, hopped into the truck, and hop out as it started to roll forward.
"If you're the one in charge…", Elsa started, taking the reins back in this conversation, "…then why don't you know who authorized you guys to be here? I feel like your higher-ups should have at least told you that."
"Yeah well they didn't, all they said was to load a truck with some stuff we couldn't sell this week and go to this festival in Arendill."
"Arendelle."
"Whatever, my point is that you two are being a real big distraction right now. So if you excuse us, we gotta get to work-"
Suddenly he was interrupted as the truck crashed right through the fence and started rolling towards the intersection. Frantic volunteers and SIBC workers alike ran towards the runaway truck as its contents started to spill out onto the grass- baking equipment was being tossed around, cookies and donuts were knocked out of their boxes, and workers still in the back of truck bailed out.
And Elsa, once again, bit her tongue, not to keep from saying something crass, but to keep her from laughing. Because even though the truck may have hit someone, and even though it could crash into one of the buildings or into a car, it was still a wonderful sight to behold, a bit of karmic justice. Even the incompetent supervisor had ditched his station to run as fast as he could towards the truck.
Elsa looked at Hannah, who, just like the rest of the festivalgoers who had stopped in their tracks, stood slack-jawed and dumbfounded at the events that were unfolding. She patted her shoulder and walked away from the scene of the crime. "We should go.", she said without looking back.
As it turned out, Anna and Rapunzel didn't need to work too hard trying to elevate their bakery over Southern Isles'. An accident involving a runaway truck caused the SIBC to close shop before they could sell a single pastry, so customers came flocking to their booth by the baker's dozen. Rapunzel, being the consummate professional that she was, took on the challenge with great ease, and even Anna to her credit hung in there as well. Together they functioned like a well-oiled machine, selling baked goods left and right as the remaining hours of the day continued to tick down.
Before they knew it, the day was over. As she heard the final band on stage play their final song, Anna helped Rapunzel serve the remaining customers left who weren't at the stage. Elsa came on immediately after and gave the concluding speech to officially end the day; and much like at the beginning of the day, Anna didn't find herself near the stage at all even though the storeowners were supposed to be there to hear it. Rapunzel didn't go either, partially to help the volunteers load up the van but mostly so Anna would have someone to lean on if she couldn't handle Elsa's voice coming from the speakers.
The sun had barely set over the Arendelle skyline, purple and green flags waved in the twilight's breeze, the lights on the fairgrounds illuminated the area which allowed people to still see where they were going as they flooded out of another successful Arendelle Festival. Anna couldn't help but watch the people walk out with a content smile on her face, sure today started off rocky and just got worse as it went on, but just being done made her feel relieved, maybe even a tiny bit happy.
The crowd got smaller and smaller until it was barely a trickle walking towards the exit. Some waved at her, others recognized the bakery from earlier and thanked Anna for her service for the day, which worked to brighten her mood some more.
She felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and saw her partner in crime looking out at the crowd with her, a genuine look of happiness on her own face. "What a day, am I right?", Rapunzel asked.
Anna let out a chuckle, "Yeah you could say that. How are the volunteers?"
"They're doing okay, judging by their faces though they're probably pretty beat. Most of the stuff is packed in the van and ready to go."
"That's good to hear. I think without them we probably would have gone insane today.", Anna said, with the irony of that statement not being lost on her.
"Yeah…", Rapunzel added dismissively. "How are you holding up?"
Anna sighed, "I…" She didn't want to lie to her best friend, but she also didn't know how to answer that. The impending conversation with Elsa over what happened four years ago was on the horizon, and if today was any indication, she was nowhere near ready for that conversation. "…I'm getting there.", she finally decided to say.
Rapunzel hugged her tighter, saying without words that she would be there for her no matter what; Anna, also, had no words to express how grateful she was to have her by her side. "We should get going, tomorrow's another day."
"I'll be right there, I just wanna stay out here a little longer.", Anna said. "I won't be too long."
"No it's okay, take as much time as you need. I should probably call Flynn before we get out of here anyway.", Rapunzel let go of Anna and went back inside the tent, leaving Anna alone once again to reflect on everything that happened.
Even though, she realized, there was nothing more she could reflect on. In fact, she had done way too much reflecting, she had spent way too much time thinking over what she'd done and what she'd say. Maybe, just maybe, she was more ready for this conversation than she first thought. The burden was becoming too much to bear at this point anyway, she had carried it for four years now, and the shock of seeing Elsa was starting to wear off, even if it was just a tiny bit.
Perhaps it was time for her to finally grow a spine and realize that there was no more running from this, it was no longer a matter of her being ready or not, she just had to do it. She just had to talk to Elsa, tell her everything. And whether that be in two weeks or two months, this had to all be out in the open.
No matter how uneasy she felt, this had to happen, one way or the other. With one more sigh to herself she uncrossed her arms and walked away from the plastic table, taking one last look out towards the nearly empty fairground. She turned to walk back towards the tent…
"Anna."
She had only taken one step before being stopped by an all-too-familiar voice. Anna turned back around and, for an unprecedented second time today, found herself face to face with Elsa under a circumstance that felt both similar and different from their recent encounters. Similar in the sense that seeing Elsa caused her to suddenly be out of breath and her heart to race, but different in the sense that she actually knew what Elsa was here for and what she was going to say.
"No more running, and no more hiding.", Elsa said coldly, her face partially hidden under the cover of darkness. "You're going to tell me why you did what you did, and you're going to tell me now."
A/N: I should put like a reference page after every chapter because you have no idea how much crap I don't know before writing each one. Like I had no idea what a panini press was before this chapter. Anyway, I'll see you guys again in like three months when I finally write the big reveal of why Elsa has such a big stick up her butt. Prepare for disappointment.