It was late evening, moon rising high over the Pacific, and Elsa found herself curled up as comfortable as she could get on a squared-off white leather couch, smoky grey throw aimlessly draped around her waist, as she went back and forth between reading a book about neuroscience and a text conversation with Anna about their next rendezvous.
The room was one of the most pleasant in the strange house; one Elsa felt most at ease in with its soft white light from a cluster of overhead Japanese lanterns and a three-piece photograph of some unknown suspension bridge that hung nicely against a divider wall. It was also a room Hans rarely frequented and provided an oasis for Elsa when she was stuck at home with him during nights and weekends.
Elsa: I can drive now. No epilepsy, remember? I want to see you again.
Anna: I just saw you this morning, silly.
Elsa: Yes, and it's Friday, which means it's officially the weekend.
Anna: Come over to my place tomorrow. I got a new closet organizer and you can help me install it.
Elsa: Sounds good, can't wait.
Anna: Me neither. Sweet dreams.
"Elsa?" The blonde's head lifted in surprise as Hans headed into the room, quickly deleting the conversation from her phone with a speedy swipe of her thumb.
"Yes," she replied cordially, taking note of how timidly he was approaching her, like he'd break if she spoke too loudly. His hands were nervously tucked into the back pockets of a pair of jeans she figured he must have changed into after work. Bright auburn hair fell into his line of vision, helping to hide the dispirited look clouding his sad green eyes.
"I wanted to know if you want to go out to breakfast tomorrow, just you and me. There's a great place just down the way on the beach that you used to love. Or we can go to an entirely new place. I haven't spent much time with you is all, and it's because I've been trying to give you some space." He swallowed thickly and let a hopeful smile hang on his face as Elsa shifted her eyes away from him, aware of the dilemma she suddenly found herself in. There was only one of her and choosing between spending time with Hans or Anna wasn't really a competition. She wanted to be with Anna but it made her feel guilty when she had to lie to Hans' face.
"I-," she hesitated, catching his smile already pressing into a frown. "I already told Kristoff I would come by the shop, now that I can drive. I need to do more than just wander around this house all day. Having my career come back to me would really give me a sense of purpose." It was a true statement; Elsa really did want her confectionary skills to come back to her very badly, but it was entirely untrue in that she wasn't going to Forever Chocolate at all that weekend.
"Oh. Perhaps Sunday then? Or do you have plans then too?"
"Sunday sounds fine. Only, can we go for lunch? I'm not a big eater in the morning." Hans bit down on his bottom lip, eyes downcast to the floor as he languidly nodded his head. She just kept changing on him. "Or was I?"
"You used to make breakfast for us all the time. Told me it was your favorite meal." Something terrible pricked his eyes every time he thought about old Elsa. It was like she was dead, and he was talking to her twin, giving up on any hope that he'd ever see her again as he knew her. "It's okay. We'll go for lunch. Change is good. I'm not going to get hung up on whether it's breakfast, lunch, or brunch. It's about being with you, right?"
His optimistic chortle brightened her face, feeling like he was accepting her for, perhaps, the first time. Even over something as simple as lunch. "Right," she echoed blithely.
"What are you reading?" He asked curiously and came to stand beside her, eyes scanning over the text of the open book perched on the flat expanse of the armrest.
"Neuroscience. I want to know more about what's happening."
"You still love to read," He murmured.
"Always!" She chirped back. Were they having some sort of a moment?
"You're like a sponge. Always thirsting for knowledge, about anything and everything."
"I like fiction too," Her charisma finally revealed itself to him from behind her icy facade.
"You were the only woman I'd ever met that owned the entire works of Shakespeare and actually read it."
"Because I love Shakespeare," Elsa affirmed lightheartedly, eyes lighting up the way he loved so much.
"Twelfth Night?" He asked with a knowing smirk.
Elsa paused and blinked up at Hans who was now lowering himself to crouch beside her, heart stilling in the silence.
"My favorite."
Hans turned to the bookshelf behind him, skimming the backs of the books with searching fingers until he found the small paperback he was looking for, and pulled it from its place.
Twelfth Night, she read as he placed it into her hands, mouth opening at the gesture as her wide crystal blue eyes met with his.
"I didn't want to tell you… but this was the place you came to read, a lot. I'd find you here just like this, wrapped up warm with a book in your hands."
The very room she'd stumbled upon, all on her own, turned out to be a repeated behavior from her past, and for the first time, she felt a part of her feel at home. There was familiarity and comfort in connecting with her old self again. She wanted to embrace old Elsa, but without having to sacrifice who she was at the moment in turn.
"See, I'm not so bad," Hans said softly. He could feel a kernel of trust growing between them. Something he hoped, with time and patience, could flourish beyond this mundane repartee that had developed instead. It was a small step, but progress that made his heart leap for joy at the chance she may just come back to him after all.
"It looks good," Anna affirmed with a hearty nod of her head, arms crossed as she admired the job well done on her closet. Elsa had done most of the work. Anna learned very quickly that Elsa was one of those people who took the time to actually read the directions and also had a knack for assembling complicated organization systems. "I never realized how many pairs of shoes I owned until I could see them all at once. Maybe I won't have to rush to work so often now that I can find everything."
Elsa smiled happily from the edge of the bed and gazed at the crisp clean lines of Anna's new perfectly organized closet. The bed dipped towards the redhead as Anna sat down beside her, admiring the slender nape of Elsa's bare neck. But Elsa was lost in a daydream, imagining Anna in each of her cute outfits, and was completely missing the cues Anna was sending out via flirty eyes, wanting to move away from building and more towards bonding.
A black lace-trimmed skirt hanging in the front of the closet was the subject of Elsa's next reverie, but she shot back into reality when a pair of wandering lips graced the slope of her neck. Anna grinned in delight when she felt a pleasant hum vibrate under Elsa's translucent skin, affirming she now had her undivided attention. She continued kissing upward, following alongside a quivering tendon, and stopped to nibble at Elsa's incredibly soft ear lobe, eliciting more breathy giggles from the blonde until she cupped Anna's face with a single hand and guided it to her velvety red lips. They fell onto the bed like the crash of strategically placed dominos, Elsa landing on top of Anna and immediately crushing their lips together more firmly.
For once, they weren't in the uncomfortable awkwardness of a car or out in public, and the allure of a nice, soft bed was too irresistible. Their mouths worked together in harmony, kneading breathless sighs of want and airy expression of bliss out of each other. This was the first time they'd been able to lie together, or on each other for that matter. Anna's smaller, warmer body felt sublime under Elsa's slight frame. Hands searched for an even closer connection, Elsa's finding the curve of Anna's face and holding it against the force of her kisses, soft and tender yet purposeful and passionate. Anna's fingers found the hem of Elsa's shirt and pulled it up to her ribs before stopping herself.
"This okay?" Anna puffed quickly, breaking the kiss.
Elsa didn't even reply and sat straight up with her arms stretched high like a diver about to take flight, allowing Anna to peel the garment off in one swift motion before returning to the solace of soft peach lips.
"Stop, go back. I want to look at you," Anna cooed, moony-eyed and very much wanting to get a better view of the body she'd been dying to see for weeks now.
Caught up in her haste, Elsa mindfully slowed herself down and sat back on Anna's hips, feeling a tad bashful as she towered over the awe-struck redhead. Elsa tried to hide how abashed she was, nervously biting her lip and swooping her platinum hair over her crown and shoulders, as if was she was completely unaware how beautiful she was.
Anna's eyes were drawn to the bright blue bra acting like the electric glow that leads a moth to its flame, filled to capacity with ample creamy breasts. A slender torso poured into shapely hips, and a plentiful backside smothered in skin-tight jeans. Ethereal locks the color of moonbeams streamed downed Elsa's back. Flashes of glacier blue flickered behind impossibly long lashes. Lips with perfectly painted lines shimmered like the rarest of rubies. But the most beguiling feature of all was the modesty Elsa wore on her face. She was beautiful, unattainably so, but she wasn't vain or vapid to any degree.
"You're gorgeous," Anna gushed in amazement. The first time she'd seen Elsa in the hospital, she knew she was radiant, but it was only skin deep. Elsa's heart, her love, and her genuine spirit made her shine more brilliantly than those first few days as a near-lifeless body, unconscious to the world.
The itch to touch was overpowering, not waiting another moment to allow her hands to cruise over Elsa's nymph-like body, baby-soft and shuddering under Anna's caresses. Her fingers grazed over the silken cups of Elsa's bra, embracing the vastness of the voluptuous mounds they held within them.
That fire that always kindled in their presence licked at Anna's palms. The lion within her wanted to dive into the great beyond, shed her fair lover of her clothes, and worship every inch of her body. But Anna resisted, muted her urges, and kept things slow. The clock was always ticking against them. Whether it was during an hour-long session or waiting for Hans to snatch Elsa back away from her. She just never got enough time with Elsa.
The hurry to let this exploration blossom into an afternoon of unending lovemaking was mutual, even after only one official date. Anna tried to yield her pace, prudently kissing up the center of Elsa's slim torso, each brush of her lips lancing the blonde with a burning heat that stretched from her heart to her loins. Elsa had to have more, and the wait was insufferable.
Soon, Anna was rid of her shirt and after Elsa filled her hands with a taste of the redhead's perky round breasts, bound so nicely in a lacy pink bra, she sandwiched their bodies together and couldn't fight the urge to roll her hips into Anna's. She'd never even been with a woman before, and it was almost shocking how her body naturally responded.
A flash of want rolled through Elsa's core, but she took the time to stop and admire the beauty beneath her. Her fingers combed through Anna's reams of thick copper locks, so soft and long, as she admired its luster. Her fingers then wandered over thoroughly flushed cheeks, Valentine-red and sore from smiling. Shockingly bright topaz eyes flicked up to Elsa, so obviously filled with desire. Every inch of Anna was touched by arousal. Her pupils were gorgeously black-blown and wide. Her cheeks and lips were pulsing with a deep shade of scarlet. Even the tips of her ears were dusted with wanton pink. Her hips sealed themselves to Elsa's, and every movement forced them closer together, making breathing nearly impossible. And though it was lustful, it was much more meaningful than just that.
With Elsa's eyes so dutifully fixed on Anna, she couldn't help but feel completely beloved and cherished under the blonde's entrancing gaze. They weren't just smitten with each other, and this had gone far beyond infatuation. They were in love. Heart and soul, mind and body. They belonged to each other.
Kissing resumed and, quickly enough, their hands brazened their pursuit, dipping below waistlines as breaths ascended into sensual moans. It was all happening a little too fast, and Anna knew she was about to cross a line she promised herself she wouldn't, and so she stopped it before it was too late.
"I don't want to have sex," Anna finally blurted, eyes squeezing shut at her admission.
"Why?" Elsa blinked in confusion as sadness glinted in her eyes.
"Not yet." Elsa lay next to Anna, replaying the last few moments in her head to pinpoint the exact moment of her fault as Anna fought to put her thoughts together. "I can't explain it. It's not that I don't want to. I do, so much. I mean, God, we'd be beautiful together. But…" Elsa's heart hung off the word, patiently waiting for the axe to fall. "I could get my hand slapped for having a relationship with a patient. I will, in fact, lose everything if I have a sexual relationship with a patient." It was the painful truth, the boundary which their relationship couldn't go beyond. At least for now.
Elsa's brows knitted together as she glanced around the room. "How would they know?"
"I would," Anna replied firmly. And it was clear. It wasn't a question of her love; it was a question of morals. She'd already put Anna in a precarious situation and would never attempt to push her further.
"I understand," nodding agreeably. "We'll wait. It's okay." The softest of fingers trailed over Anna's russet freckles, tracing the lines of her slight smile before brushing a thumb over her plump bottom lip.
"Just sex. Doesn't mean we can't have fun," Anna conveyed with a wink. The invitation was fully accepted, and Elsa resumed kissing the bridge of Anna's nose and forehead, flinging her head back to giggle happily. Anna kissed the arch of Elsa's throat, feeling the thrum of fluttery laughter escape against her lips.
Even without sex, they felt the exhilarating rush of euphoria. Anna didn't have to be the self-sacrificing woman she was in the other parts of her life. With Elsa, she could be free, loved without having to lose herself in the process. She could turn herself over to Elsa and not have to worry about everything relying solely on her. Love was a give and take. It meant having someone to hold her in return, without asking. Elsa's arms felt like home, where Anna was whole and at peace. And she wasn't lonely. Elsa's hands fit perfectly together with hers. Their kisses and soft touches were poetic, knowing exactly where each one's pleasure spots were merely by instinct, like they were made for each other.
In her room, Elsa was hers, not Hans' or anyone else's. She knew Elsa ached for only her.
And then Anna noticed Elsa kept doing this thing with her mouth. She'd noticed it on their date, but now, it was even more apparent. "Why do you keep biting the tip of your tongue like that?" Anna asked with a twist of her face.
"Because," Elsa rolled her eyes, mildly embarrassed by the truth. A blush painted her cheeks, but she hid it by lowering herself to pepper Anna's chest with kisses.
"Just tell me." Anna jiggled and tickled the giggling blonde until her sides couldn't take anymore.
"Alright! Alright!" quieting her infectious laughter. The room drifted into silence, blue against teal as eyes lovingly locked onto each other's gaze. "Because I'm trying to stop myself from saying I love you."
Color spilled from Anna's rosy cheeks, and she hummed contently in reply. "Why would you stop something as nice as that?"
Elsa heaved a weighty sigh. "Because it's too soon. Not even two months. That's so... sudden. Everything is so sudden, and it's so unlike me to fall for someone so hard but I can't help it. I mean I'm laughing at myself, wondering how I could feel this way. But then I look at you, and I remember why."
"I know what you mean. That's why it's called falling in love and not casually strolling into it." They smiled in the afternoon light, golden rays of a midday sun blanketing the room in a brilliant glow.
"My parents," Anna continued, Elsa nestled against her side. "They met and had me one year later. But my mom swore she was madly in love with my dad and knew he was the one. She still thinks he's the one," rolling her eyes with a light chortle.
"That's sweet. How long have they been together?" Elsa asked and tangled their fingers together, laying her head on Anna's chest as the sound of her heart thumped against her ear.
A beat or two passed, and it was like Anna was gone for a moment. "He left when I was two."
"Anna, I'm sorry," bringing a hand to her lips. "That was presumptuous of me."
"It's okay, really." Another beat passed, this one more naturally.
"Do you see him at all?"
"Not since the day he left."
"Do you remember him?"
"Yeah," Anna answered more upbeat. "Not much but enough. I think about him. What he's doing out there. If he's moved on. I have his red hair, and every time I look in the mirror, I think of him. And then I wonder if he does the same thing and thinks of me ever." Anna chewed her bottom lip as the memories poured in. "It's easy to blame him, but having a baby at 19 couldn't have been easy." She laughed, barely audible, but Elsa could see the emotional scar the abandonment had left on Anna. It just wasn't fair. This woman was the kindest, sweetest, and most giving person Elsa had ever known. She deserved the world and yet had been dealt such a difficult hand instead.
"You've had such a hard life for such a generous soul. The world is so unjust sometimes."
Anna drew in a pensive breath, slowly, making Elsa's head rise with her chest. "I had a patient once who had universal amnesia. Complete blank slate. He lost all memories of his father who had died young of cancer. He couldn't remember his own father at all… and I couldn't even work towards reuniting them because his father was gone. My memories might not all be good, but I'm thankful I at least have them."
"Your optimism is really a gift, you know that? I don't know anyone who could go through all that and become the positive ray of sunshine you are. No wonder you're a nurse. You care for people till the bitter end."
"Believe it or not, no one's ever said that to me before, in that way. I mean I know it, but it feels good to hear from someone else."
"Anna?" Elsa breathed, lifting herself over the redhead and hovering on teetering elbows.
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
"Elsa?" Sapphire eyes quirking in reply. "I love you too." Whether it was too soon or not, it didn't matter as the two cemented their love with a tender kiss. "Life is crazy. And if I've learned anything from my job, it's that you should tell people you love them before you lose the chance."
As the week rolled on, the two continued to sneak time together whenever possible. After work, Anna met up with Elsa at a coffee shop and they canoodled over ice-blended drinks and shared sweet kisses in the fading California sun as it drifted into the west.
Plans for a date to an art exhibition where well underway- Elsa's idea this time- and she was playing under the pretense of having dinner at her parent's house to elude Hans. It all seemed too simple and easier than it should have been. Things between Elsa and Anna were only getting more intense, and it had been a really long time since she'd regained a single memory beyond leaving college. The writing was on the wall for Anna, and it was only a matter of time before Elsa admitted things were headed in a very clear direction.
One night when Hans got held up at the office, Elsa found herself in Anna's bed- nothing too risqué- just some cuddling and talking about Anna's workday. Somewhere between complaining about the lunch in the cafeteria and a house visit Anna had made, their lips found each other and fingers laced together as the conversation turned into some intimate time. It felt amazingly good to be so in love, but there was something also very wrong that didn't sit well with Anna. And she could feel it every time they held hands like this. Her fingers would nestle down into the webbing of Elsa's fingers and suddenly be prevented from a complete fit by a band of white gold. This time, she just couldn't take it anymore and broke the kiss with an anguished grunt.
"What's wrong?" Elsa queried, turmoil washing over her features as Anna put some distance between the two of them.
Anna licked her lips, staring at the printed yellow flowers on her duvet, and let out a disheartened breath. "I didn't want to have to talk about this, but you know that things are going really well between us."
That threw Elsa for a loop because what Anna was saying and the tone she was using didn't match at all.
"Yeah, and," Elsa encouraged.
"And so, it's hard to kiss you and be with you when you're wearing that." Her aqua eyes darted straight to the massive rock on Elsa's left hand, frustration flickering behind her gaze.
"This?" Holding up her hand like she'd forgotten the bobble was even there. In truth, she did forget it was there most of the time.
"Yes, that!" Anna replied sharply and pointed to the thorn in their relationship's side. "That belongs to him. It means you belong to him."
"I don't belong to him," Elsa countered, appalled by the thought. "Whose bed am I in?"
Anna begrudgingly nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, but whose bed will you be sleeping in tonight?"
Hans'.
They both knew the answer to the question without having to say it out loud. Cerulean eyes lowered to the wretched ring as she slowly came to understand how it must have seemed like a band of ownership to Anna. It may have been at one point in time, but for Elsa, it was merely something she wore to keep up appearances. To keep people from asking questions, especially her mother. But what it was really doing was driving a wedge between her and Anna- the person she longed to be with most.
Anna continued, "And whether you remember it or not, you two used to have sex in that bed. There's a history there. It's all just... getting to be too much." Anna felt like she needed to move, so she jumped up to look out the window instead of trying to fight her eyes from glaring at the infernal ring around her lover's finger.
"Anna, I don't love him. How many times do I have to tell you?"
She'd heard Elsa say it before, nearly every time they were together. But as Anna looked out across the hazy orange sky, stars emerging through the thick shades of violet and navy, her heart refused to remain silent any longer.
She turned from the window, arms crossed in front herself with her beautiful full lips pressed into a trembling line. "Then why are you still with him? It's getting to the point where you're stuck. I can't bring back any more memories, and I'm starting to think that being with me has something to do with it. Is he still trying to get you to like him?" She put her nurse's hat on.
"Sort of," the blonde replied reluctantly. She'd neglected to tell Anna how he'd taken her out for lunch last Sunday, and how it had been rather nice compared to his previous attempts. That didn't mean she loved him, but she couldn't shake off the guilt she felt by giving him the brush-off.
Anna proceeded and sat back on the bed next to a somber Elsa, laying her hand on top of the blonde's and clutching it in her own.
"And I know you're not doing anything with him, but I don't want to have to share you anymore. I don't want to have to sneak around with you. I want to fall asleep next to you and wake up to your smiling face in the morning. I want to make breakfast together and do laundry together. Normal things couples do. Things people who love each other do." The sadness in her voice was palpable, and it pained Elsa to hear. "And I want..." Anna stopped, closing her eyes as she tucked her lips into her mouth, trying to keep the words from coming out because they would only make her want it more.
Elsa waited but Anna held strong. "Want what?" Elsa pressed.
And then Anna caved. "I want to have sex with you. It's my own rule, and I'm sticking to it, but I want to be with you. I love you. Do you not feel the same about me?"
"Are you crazy? Of course I feel the same way about you. Of course I want to have sex with you."
"Then what is stopping us from doing what needs to be done?!" Anna yelled, not meaning for things to escalate to this level, but it had been festering for a while now. "We're approaching a crossroads, Elsa. What do you want?" The question pierced straight into Elsa's chest, head dropping as she pressed a hand to her tensing forehead.
"It's not that easy," she whispered, voice hollow and shaky.
"Why not?"
"Because Anna. My family expects me to give this a shot."
"By this you mean him?" And Elsa covered her face with her hands like an ostrich unsuccessfully trying to hide with its head in the sand before she defeatedly nodded. "So you're telling me you're still thinking you'll remember something and what? Leave me and go get married?" Anna was sounding more than angry at this point, and she really had every reason to be.
"No- I," Elsa struggled, choking on her words under Anna's impatient eyes. "I don't know. I just don't want to upset anyone."
A forceful breath left Anna's chest as she let the nurse part of her brain assess the situation. "This doesn't make any sense. Unless, you have feelings for him."
"What?!" Elsa gasped, exasperated face popping out from behind her hands like a jack-in-the-box, but she wasn't smart enough to fool Anna.
"Which means you're remembering something. And you're not telling me." Elsa drew silent. This was Anna's specialty, and she was able to put the pieces together way faster than even Elsa herself. "At the club when we were dancing. Did you have a memory about Hans?"
"It was like you said. A ton of memories crashed down on me all at once. Nothing made sense."
Anna's eyes narrowed, telegraphing her seriousness as their eyes locked onto each other. "Did you or did you not see or hear Hans in any of those flashing memories?"
"I did."
"Then we have some decisions to make. And soon. This is all going to fall apart, and I'm in so deep, I don't think I can get out if we go beyond this." She felt like her heart was going to break in that moment. Elsa held all the cards, and Anna was out of moves. She knew they'd reach this point, but she didn't expect it to happen so soon. And neither one of them expected their love to take flight so quickly, so naturally.
"I'll think about it," Elsa said with a heavy sigh. "I have to think about how I'm going to explain this to everyone. I have so much pressure on me; you don't even understand. And he's a person, Anna. I don't love him. But I'm responsible for ending a two-year relationship, an engagement, a wedding, and the joining of our families that I know both of our parents want. I'm not that cruel, and I have to handle this delicately."
"Think about it then. But we can't keep doing this. We've reached that point we talked about. I can't give you more than this if you don't change something. And I really hate to have to put this on you, but we knew it was coming. I've already put my job on the line for you. Something's gotta give before it breaks us both."
"Let me think, please," Elsa pleaded. She didn't have to think about choosing Anna or Hans; that was easy. It was how she was going to untangle herself out of the familial mess. That was the real quagmire she had to dig herself out of. "The weekend is coming, and we can talk more about it then." Elsa stroked the back of her hand against Anna's delicate pink cheek, calming away any doubts that may have been seeping into her pretty head. She'd just begun to wrap her arms around Anna and hold her when her phone went off with a message from Hans that he was on his way home. Elsa groaned in frustration, always having to leave Anna when she just wanted to stay in her arms forever. "It's him. I have to get going. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted it to be like this. I never wanted you to have to feel like this. And I swear, I do love you. And I want this to work more than anything."
"I know. I'm just looking forward to the day when home doesn't mean to him and is with me."
Another Wednesday and the two women were finishing up their home session, minding their behavior as Hans was home the entire time. When the session was done, Elsa casually walked Anna to the door and bid her good afternoon, winking at the redhead as she skipped off to her car.
Elsa headed back upstairs and just missed Hans slip out the front door to catch up with Anna as she fumbled with her keys.
"Anna!" Hans called as he jogged up beside her car. "On Friday, I'm going to take Elsa up to Santa Barbara for the weekend, so there's no need for an appointment that day."
"Just the two of you?" Her finger quizzically wagging back and forth between Hans and the direction of the house.
"Yes."
Fuck.
"I'm sorry. I mean, that sounds lovely and all but...you're telling me that you're going to uproot her from the tiny bit of world she only feels halfway comfortable in, cut her off from her family, and take her to a place she can't remember for an entire weekend?" As if it was the worst idea ever and he just wasn't getting it.
"Yes," He confirmed with a solid grin.
"Does Elsa know about this?" Because we kind of have plans ourselves that don't include you.
"I plan to tell her over dinner." Hans acted like he was being the most romantic guy ever, but to Anna, he just looked like a fool. He clearly wasn't even thinking about Elsa or her well-being since he hadn't even told her about this little romantic romp out of town. That and there was a tiny voice shouting from way down deep inside her that really didn't want to go a whole three-day weekend without seeing Elsa, knowing she was going to be alone with Hans at some extravagant beach house instead of on her arm at the Hammer Museum on Saturday.
"This...not that it will matter to you, but it's against my professional advice." Anna firmly stood her ground, but Hans just grinned wider and took a step closer, leaning down to her level in a condescending manner.
"Fortunately, I wasn't asking for your professional advice and was merely telling you that your services won't be needed Friday."
She huffed and gritted her teeth, but what more could she do?
"Fine, just… please, give her time and space to adjust. Be patient with her," Anna begged as Hans walked back to the door.
"I will. Thank you, and have a wonderful afternoon."
Ten on the dot Friday morning and Elsa came prancing down the stairs right on cue, hair swishing and bouncing as her luminant face beamed brighter the closer she got to the door.
"Elsa, there you are. I wanted to talk to you about something." Hans caught her by the arm and swung her around square-dance style over to his smiling face at the bottom of the stairs.
"Can it wait? Anna will be here any minute." She tried to turn and head towards the door, but Hans circled his arms around her waist like a vice so that he had her full attention. Though that didn't work because Elsa's head was still her neck craning towards the door.
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. She's not coming today."
"What? Why?" Elsa replied rather shocked.
"Because…." drawing out the surprise at a painstakingly slow pace, "I'm taking you up to my family's beach house in Santa Barbara for the weekend." His eyes grew wide and full of excitement, but when they met with Elsa's, she just looked royally pissed.
"Why? I don't want to do that," She whined sharply. A vacation with Hans was the last thing she wanted to do right now. It came at the expense of not seeing Anna that day, which really had her seeing red. She'd spent an hour doing her hair to look like a shampoo commercial for Anna, not Hans. They also had plans to go to the opening of the Kandinsky exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Westwood. She'd bought a new dress and everything. It was hiding in the back of her closet, along with a really beautiful necklace she'd bought for Anna.
As mad as she was, he was still able to take her hands in his and run his thumbs over the hills and valleys of her delicate knuckles, eyes filled with disappointment at her unexpected response.
"I just thought it would give us a chance to spend some more quality time together. We used to go to the beach house all time. Maybe it might bring something back. Either way, it would be nice for you to get to know me better. I feel like I've tried to make you come up to my level when I should be meeting you more where you're at. I mean, lunch went great last weekend. If we just got away and could be together... you might actually find something you like about me."
He sounded sincere, and in all honesty, the memory part sounded like a good idea in theory, but her heart kept repeating one thing. Anna.
"But Anna…" She lamented, staring back at the door with a pouty bottom lip.
"You'll see her Monday, and she doesn't normally come on the weekends anyway. I promise you'll have fun. I've already packed you a bag, and we can leave as soon as you're ready." Hans looped his arm around hers and started to lead them to the garage.
"O-Okay, just… give me a minute."
Obliging his fiancée, Hans went to fetch the car keys while Elsa dashed back upstairs to call Anna. Only she couldn't find her phone anywhere. Something about this whole thing didn't feel right, and she had to let Anna know what he was up to. She tore back the duvet and bed sheets, checked the charger, bathroom, and living room, but the infernal thing refused to show itself.
Where are you, phone?! I have to call Anna!
Down in the family room, Elsa was tossing the decorative couch pillows, adorned with hypnotic black and white patterns on them, furiously over her shoulder when Hans' voice scared the living daylights out of her.
"Looking for something?" He trilled just a few feet away from her. Elsa yelped and clutched her chest in fright.
"J-Just my phone."
"Oh, it's in my car. I put it with the rest of your things. Who are you trying to call?"
Think of something, quick!
"My mom. I just wanted to let her know where we were going." A plausible cover.
"Well, you don't have to because I told her yesterday. She, your father, and Anna are all aware. I even asked Anna for her permission." Finding that extremely hard to believe.
"She thought it was a great idea. Said it might be good for you to de-stress and get away from it all for a few days." Elsa scratched her head, bewildered at the odd series of events that had taken place over the past few minutes, when she felt Hans tug at her arm again. For whatever reason, he wasn't going let her out of this trip, and Elsa couldn't come up with an excuse fast enough.
"You ready?" His grin stretched wider as he inched her towards the car.
"Yeah, I guess." Still dazed, Elsa followed Hans and let him help her into the passenger seat.
This was happening. This was actually happening. She was about to spend two hours, alone, with Hans in the car, headed to a secluded beach house for three whole days on a weekend she had promised Anna they'd talk about their future over wine and impeccably gorgeous art. And it was all so coincidental that Elsa couldn't ignore the sinking feeling roiling in the pit of her stomach, watching as their house grew smaller in the Porsche's side view mirror.
