Anna kicked her purse, sending it flying across the room. This was not good. Today of all days she should not - could not be scatterbrained and out of sorts.
"Fuckernuts!" she shouted for good measure, hoping the universe would feel her wrath.
There was a bang from the bathroom. Five second later, Elsa ran into the room, her hair half coiled and pinned on her head, the tail of her braid sticking out sideways. "What's wrong?"
Anna's mouth twitched. Elsa was looking her up and down, as if making sure all her limbs were still in the right place. Okay, that was adorable. Then she pouted. "I can't find my phone!"
Elsa stared at her for a moment, then shook her head. "And that was worth drop-kicking your purse across the room?" she asked calmly, looking at the various odds and ends now splayed around her bedroom.
"Made me feel better," Anna muttered petulantly, going to pick up the mess. She felt like the universe was against her this morning – first she'd stubbed her toe getting to the bathroom, then she'd discovered her period had started, and now she couldn't find her phone. Exactly what she needed the day of the final meeting before the board vote.
"You probably just left it at the office," Elsa said reasonably, moving to help with the mess.
"With my luck it will be be jamming a drawer and I will have to saw my desk in half to get it back. Why are you so calm this morning? Is it because you have a chainsaw?" Anna asked, trying to keep the huff out of her voice. She wasn't really in the mood to be reasonable.
Elsa shrugged. "It's not worth getting worked up over," she said. Anna stopped and stared at her. What had gotten into her? Had she somehow stolen all of Anna's cool while they were sleeping? Elsa laughed at the look on her face.
"What I say today doesn't really matter, does it?" she said, simply. "I've shown what I'm capable of – you've shown what I'm capable of. We did a good job and now it's out of our hands."
"Fine, be all objective," Anna said, still pouting, but she allowed Elsa to put her arms around her and rested against her. She took a deep breath. "You're right," she said. "I probably just left it at the office."
Anna fidgeted in her seat. They weren't in the board room this time – there were too many people to fit in there. It was an open meeting, and everyone who had an interest in whether or not Elsa would remain as CEO would be there. So they were in a small auditorium. Anna had taken a seat in the second row. She carefully laid out her tablet, a pack of gum, and her OlafBerry (she had yet to find her iPhone).
She was separated from Elsa, and that was making her anxious. What was with her today? Why couldn't she have gotten all calm, like Elsa had? She was sitting at the head of the room, chatting with a board member like she did this every day. Elsa was back in her crisp white suit and ruffled blue blouse, with the same killer shoes. It was the outfit she was wearing on that first day, Anna remembered. And she was still just as mind-blowingly attractive as she had been then. Anna smiled at the memory – she had wanted to ask Elsa out right then and there. The only thing she had changed was now her hair was down in her long brain instead of curled on her head, her bangs swept out of her eyes in a confident, impossibly sexy manner that was nearly enough to make Anna salivate all on its own.
"Mind if I sit here?"
Anna jumped, surprised out of her ogling of Elsa. She turned to see a short, portly man in a dark blue suit. It took her a moment to place him – Kai Anderson, the head of human resources. He was indicating to the empty seat next to her.
"Oh... uh... sure. Yes, of course." Smooth, Anna. Elsa had told her about Kai being her father's best friend. Not exactly the person she wanted to get caught thinking about Elsa in unvirtuous ways around.
"Thank you." He was giving her an odd look as he took his seat.
Act natural. There's no way he can guess that you and Elsa...
"Nervous?" he asked her.
"Oh... yeah. Really nervous." Dammit. "I mean, if Els... Ms. Arendelle looses her position, it's no good for me, right?" She laughed. No, wait. Not laughing. Come on, Anna, act normal.
"I'm sure she'll do just fine," Kai said, patting her hand. He was smiling gently, but his eyes were searching. It was like he guessed that there was more to her nerves than worry about losing her job.
She was starting to feel like she might as well have a sign on her forehead that said 'I'm screwing Elsa', and it was with a relieved smile that she noticed Hans take the seat in front of her.
"Hey," he said, noticing her. He took in her neatly arranged desk and her tense appearance. "Stop worrying," he said. "You two have got this in the bag."
Anna returned the smile he gave her and forced herself to sit back as Mr. Hargreaves took the podium. He was right. Everything would be fine.
She shouldn't have worried – various people presented the same speeches that she had heard before in the meetings. A few employees got up to put in their two cents. The reactions to Elsa's improvements were overwhelmingly positive.
Elsa, of course, was perfect. She was more relaxed than Anna had ever seen her at work, and she remembered every point of the speech they had prepared. Next to her, Kai was glowing with pride. Anna knew how he felt.
She noticed Mr. Weselton, sitting at the front of the room. He looked very unhappy, and hadn't made a bad pun all evening. She felt bad for him, almost. After all, he had almost as much at stake as Elsa did. Though, she supposed, he would probably feel better when he had the multi-billion dollar payment that was his compensation for his company.
"Before me move onto the question and answer portion," Mr. Hargreaves said finally, "is there anyone else who thinks they have something of import to say?"
Import? Wow, way to sound pompous, Mr. Hargreaves, Anna thought as she contained an eyeroll.
Hans stood up. Anna gave him a curious look and he smiled back reassuringly.
"What's up?" she asked quietly. He shook his head then turned his attention to the room, waiting for everyone to notice him. The room quieted slowly, those at the front of the room noticing him first then slowly spreading backwards.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the board, shareholders, employees of Arendelle Corp.," he said, formally. Anna leaned back in her chair. She flashed a quick smile at Elsa. She hadn't expected Hans to speak on their behalf, but it was a nice gesture and certainly couldn't hurt their efforts. Elsa was frowning slightly.
"We have certainly been presented with excellent arguments for both sides, and I know you are all considering the information available to you carefully. We have searched for a complete picture on what kind of leader Ms. Arendelle is for the company and I must say that what we have seen so far is certainly promising.
"I would be remiss, then, if I did not share with you some information that has very recently come to my attention."
At the head of the table, Elsa was fidgeting, twisting her hands together. What was wrong with her? She'd been fine throughout the rest of the meeting. Hans was smiling calmly, like he had practiced these words, and knew what he was going to say was important.
"As we all know, the standards set for a business leader are high, and rightfully so. They are public figures, the face of the company, the decision maker and the one who makes the big bucks -" Anna giggled into her palm at this. Yeah, that was one way of putting it. "It would then be of greatest importance if a corporate leader was discovered doing anything - untowards. Either on her own time or, heaven forbid, on the companies time."
Elsa's sharp intake of breath was audible through the room. She had gone as pale as a ghost and was staring at Hans in horror. What was going on? Hans had smiled at her - had reassured her that everything was okay. Why had the atmosphere of the room gone so cold? Why was Elsa so scared?
"I have such information," he said, pulling a blue iPhone out of his breast pocket.
"That's my phone." Anna only realised she had spoken into the deathly quiet room when everyone turned to look at her. Hans smiled. I know, the smile said.
"The date of the last meeting of the last board meeting with Ms. Arendelle was Monday, May 19th at 8:45am until 11am," Hans said calmly. He walked over to the projection unit, picking up a cable.
He couldn't be doing what his every action said he was doing. He couldn't. Anna's mind felt like it had stopped. She couldn't think, because there was no possible way that this could be happening.
He plugged the phone into the projector. The messages from Monday came up for the entire room to see. Dated and timed for when they had been in the meeting, Elsa's name at the top of the screen.
You remember when you did my hair for the Weselton party?
Yeah. You sounded like you were going to have an orgasm.
Well... maybe I was.
Really?
If you tug my hair, I will be be putty in your hands.
I like that idea.
Well, maybe you should give it a shot when I get back to the office. ;)
Oh god. that winking smilie. Everyone was looking at that winking smilie that was only ever meant to be seen by Elsa.
People were muttering to each other. People were staring at her. People were staring at Elsa.
"Is that..." next to her Kai was looking between her and Elsa, shock all over his face. She couldn't meet his eyes. A sick feeling was growing in her stomach.
Her eyes sought out Elsa. Elsa had gone from white to green, her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach. She wasn't looking at Anna. She wasn't looking at anyone. She was staring at nothing, terror encapsulating her from the world.
Anna stood up. She had to go to her. She had to make this better. Kai grabbed her arm, pulling her back into her seat.
"Don't," he said quietly, his arm surprisingly strong for an older man.
"This, sadly, is not all." Hans' voice cut through the murmur of the room like a knife. Anna ripped her eyes from Elsa to look back at him. He looked happy. Pleased with himself. Her hands balled into fists. He pulled out his phone.
"No." Elsa's voiced cracked as she watched him. The only response was a smile as he plugged it in.
"This was recorded shortly after that meeting," Hans informed the room. He tapped the play button, sending sound through the speakers.
"Testing, testing, one two three."
"That's really what you're going to put on there?"
"Hush. I've always wanted to be in show business. I'm siiiiinging in the raiiiin..."
"Oh, God, give me that."
She didn't laugh. She was too shocked to laugh. But many people did chuckle at the voices of Olaf and Marshmallow coming through the speakers.
"What the hell?" Hans said. He stopped the recording and poked furiously at his phone. "This is the recording! I checked it this morning!"
He turned a furious gaze on Anna, as if she had done him wrong.
He slammed the phone down on the table and you could hear it crack. "It's of no consequence," he snarled. All semblance of nicety was gone from him. "I still have the damned texts."
The room was dead silent again, everyone staring at her, Elsa or Hans. Elsa was still sitting there, her arms wrapped tightly against her stomach
"I knew it!" It was nothing more than a screech, and Anna had to whip around to find the source. Mr. Weselton, was on his feet, pointing at Elsa with a look of absolute loathing. "Gays and fornicators! Utter depravity!"
The silence of the room was broken. Everyone was talking at once. The tumult overwhelmed Anna's senses. She tried to stand again, but Kai still had a grip on her. Mr. Hargreaves was shouting, trying to get everyone to calm down.
And in the middle of it all was Elsa. She looked more lost than a child. There were tears in her eyes and Mr. Weselton was continuing to screech at her.
She leapt to her feet, and bolted from the room.
"Will everyone SHUT UP!" Silence settled like a shockwave over the room at the sound of Mr. Hargreaves voice. Mr. Hargreaves didn't seem to know what to say. He fiddled with his tie, clearly uncomfortable. "Well... that is certainly... I mean... unexpected..."
"I demand that that whore is fired at once!" Weselton howled. His toupee had gone askew on his head and he was red in the face from anger. His assistants were gently holding him back. "I will not have my company run by some disgusting-"
"Mr. Weselton." There was a sharp tone in Mr. Hargreaves voice. Weselton's mouth clamped shut, apparently aware that he had said too much. Anna was thankful for that. If Weselton had said one more word like that, she would probably try to rip out his small intestines through his mouth. Hargreaves nodded curtly. "If there are no other pressing issues-" he let the implied question hang for a moment, "then this meeting is adjourned. Members of the board, Mr. Weselton, please gather in the board room at once."
Anna stared at the board. This was bad. This was very, very, bad. She didn't notice that Kai had released her until he spoke. "I think you should go find Elsa," he said softly.
She nodded, not even looking at him. Yes. That was what she needed to do. She grabbed her purse and ran from the room, not caring as she shoved people out of her way.
Hans caught up with her as she was punching the button on the elevator repeatedly.
"I know you did something to that recording."
She whirled around. It took less that a second for the numb panic to be replaced by rage as she looked at him.
"Excuse me?" Hans was smiling at her, the anger from the board room hidden back under that mask. The mask that she hadn't even known was there. Idiot, Anna. "Let me get this straight. I did something to the recording you illegally made of me and Elsa through subterfuge and... and being a fucking asshole?!"
Not as suave as she wanted it to be, but Hans was continuing to smile at her. Where once she had melted at the sight of those dimples now she had the urge to punch the look off of his face.
"That's rich, coming from someone who's been dallying on company time."
Dallying? "You Evil-"
"Evil?" Hans laughed. "What are you, five?"
"Oh, let me guess, Darth Vader," she snapped. She punched the button for the elevator. She didn't have time for this. "There is no good and evil, there is only power?"
"That was Voldemort." The elevator dinged as it reached the floor.
"Shut up," she snarled. She took a step forward.
He grabbed her arm.
"No. You want to blame me for this? Who was the one who texted Elsa? Who dragged her into her office and fucked her in her chair."
Anna's face went pale. He really had made a recording. He'd listened to them having...
He'd heard their cheesy roleplay!
Hans took her silence as shame, rather than the contemplation of ripping him a new one. "Fucking the boss at work? You're a little whore, aren't you? She's paying you to have sex with her, that's what it is."
"That's not... She's..." She turned around to look at him, wrenching her arm from his grasp. She was so angry she couldn't get the words out properly. How... what did he think he was doing?
"It's not what? You telling me you don't have a kinky lust for the boss-lady."
"I love her. She loves me. You know – or, I thought you knew that." She had told him everything. She'd told him about her crush, and Elsa's insecurities and weaknesses... she'd told him everything.
Hans laughed. "Really, how naive can you be Anna? You've been dating for what - two weeks?"
She flexed her fists, using every ounce of willpower to not punch Hans in the face. "Two months," she said through gritted teeth.
He laughed again. She gritted her teeth harder. "I thought you were an adult. This isn't a movie, Anna. Love doesn't work like that."
Anna was careful to keep her face composed. She couldn't let Hans know he'd hit a nerve. Would never let him know that he got to her.
But...
She was love – she knew she was in love. She'd never been more sure of anything in her life.
But Elsa... Elsa had never said it. Elsa was afraid of this, afraid of being out, afraid of what people would think.. And she was right to be so. Even if Anna had resented it, a little. Even if she wanted to be in a normal relationship and be able to just hold Elsa's hand whenever she wanted, she knew Elsa was right to keep things private.
And now Anna's carelessness had brought them this...
"You know," Hans continued. "I was expecting you to mess up when I gave you this job. You're a klutz, an idiot. You could never do anything right. When Elsa started to improve I was a little worried, but then you went and did this- Anna, you're amazing. No one could make a surer case for Elsa loosing her job than you. As admirable as your ambition is, sleeping your way up the corporate ladder does have its consequences."
She curled her hands into fists. Her blood was pounding in her ears. She couldn't believe she was hearing this.
"You expected me to mess up?" she hissed. Ms. Arendelle is currently looking for a PA, and something tells me that you – you are perfect for each other. That's what he'd said to her. Had he really been planning this? For her to ruin Elsa's job, right from the beginning?
He'd seen how incompetent she was, and he planned to use it. "Why?"
He gave a snort of derision. "Why do you think, Anna?" Her name was poison on his tongue. "When Mr. Arendelle started this business it was my grandfather that invested in him first. My family that helped build his empire. They were business partners in all but name.
"You'd think that would give me a chance. I worked hard for this company. I practically ran financing for that old fool, was at every meeting, every event. I worked my ass off for this company and he knew it. Then he dies and he names Elsa as his successor. Elsa?" His voice was choked with rage. "She can't even look another person in the eye properly and she's supposed to be CEO?
"The merger with Weselton changes the strangle-hold she had on this company. Weselton stock becomes Arendelle stock, and all of a sudden Elsa doesn't have a majority share anymore. Weselton is giving me a chance. There are twelve people between me and Elsa's job right now, I recon. I help him stay in charge of his company, and he makes me his successor. That means there's one. He's old – he'll die soon anyway. And then I can have the appointment that is rightfully mine."
She stared at him, anger and rage and confusion making it impossible to speak.
Hans smiled, a slimy pleased-with-himself smile that left Anna feeling filthy just by looking at it.
"Thanks for your help," he sneered. Her turned on his heel and walked away.
Okay, yeah, you were all right about Hans. Of course you were right. Happy now?
jk. I know you're not. Free healing hugs for all who need them.
Now, I need to go find Elsa. I think she needs that hug the most.
~Capt. Elfy
ps. If you go post on tumblr, or send me asks, try to keep out the spoilers for a few days or put them under a cut etc. We want everyone else to suffer as you have, right?