Chapter 1
Elsa stood outside the large oak door of her father's office. Even closed she could still hear muffled arguing coming from the other side. It was well past the time when her meeting was supposed to start. This delay wasn't unusual, just frustrating.
Her father had been the town mayor for over 20 years. She had spent nearly her entire life in this old building and now she worked there as a member of the town's council.
While she waited, she watched a fluorescent bulb flicker in the corner at just the right speed that it was hard to ignore. Her father was too cheap to have it fixed. Everything in this stuffy building was old and outdated. There was a time the halls hustled and bustled with council and committee members, interns, and business leaders. Now the halls were nearly empty, a victim of her father's aggressive budget cuts.
Finally, the door opened with a bang. An older, stocky man with bushy muttonchops that connected to a mustache, stomped out. Elsa knew to be the town's fire chief, Oaken. His face was red and his brow furrowed, fists clenched at his sides. Yet, he saw her and paused.
"Councilwoman, happy holidays, keep warm out there yeah?" he said, dipping his head and offering a smile before putting his thick fur-lined hat on. He continued down the hallway towards the exit.
"My beautiful daughter! Come in!" The Mayor called through the open door.
"Mr. Mayor, I wish you wouldn't call me that while we are at work." Elsa closed the door behind her and sat down.
The Mayor chuckled and moved a few stacks of paperwork on his desk. He insisted on having everything printed out and placed in front of him.
"What was Chief Oaken doing here?" Elsa asked as she opened her notebook.
The Mayor sighed. "The budget again, he says they don't have enough money for new equipment or something of the lot - despite us paying for a new truck."
"Well, their previous engine was so old, it was a miracle it still ran."
"Ha! They hardly use it! Nothing ever happens in this town because we're a bunch of smart people who don't burn down our houses!" The Mayor was starting to get heated. "The most these firefighters do is save some cats from trees, or put wear-and-tear on their equipment going to other towns to help THEIR idiotic citizens."
"Father, I don't think that's fair. The fire department is a great asset to our community." Elsa dropped the formalities in an effort to calm him. She had heard this rant about the fire department countless times; it usually ended with her father breaking something in his office.
"Great asset, ha! More like a great pain in the ass. Waste of money and space, the lot of them!" He slammed his fist onto the desk, causing Elsa to jump at the sound. "And now Chief Oaken wants to send an inspector to check our smoke detectors and fire extinguishers since we're at the end of the year? Damn waste of time and money!"
Everything was always money with him. He hated spending more than he absolutely had to. He had purchased the cheapest stick pens for the town hall, he provided no other office supplies, the closet where notepads and post-its should be - used to be - has been barren for years.
When her parents had divorced and her mother left, she didn't press Elsa's father for any money because she knew it wasn't worth the fight. 'You have to pick your battles my dear' she had said before running off to California. Elsa was never mad at her, she just hoped she was doing well and was happy. She had stayed with her father both an obligation to him and to this small town that she loved dearly.
"Why do they even need oxygen tanks anyway? Just breathe in, there's your damn oxygen!" The Mayor hollered to no one in particular.
"So, you wanted to speak with me?" she said, quickly changing the subject.
"Right, of course." He smoothed his suit that was older than she was. "Have you thought more about what we talked about?"
He was referring to the talk they had recently about his desire for Elsa to run for mayor once his term was up next Fall. It was hard to picture herself in her father's place, he left big shoes to fill. She didn't want to say any words that might disappoint him, so she simply shook her head.
"I think it's the right decision," he continued, "your whole life has led to this, you handle council meetings beautifully. Snowybrooke hardly deserves you but they would be lucky to have you!" He pointed directly at her, it made Elsa feel small and she dared a glance down to the blank sheet of paper open in her notebook.
Her father leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach, his eyes staring at the ceiling but somehow far off. "Just think of my legacy. Longest running mayor steps down for his only daughter to continue his work to better his town. What a headline that would be in that god-forsaken newspaper."
Over an hour later, Elsa was walking back to her office when she spotted a young woman carrying a thick folder. She was dressed in a uniform and hat, dark slacks, a double-breasted coat with two rows of large gold buttons going down the front, and a single gold stripe at the end of each sleeve. Under the coat was a white shirt and tie. She looked like a firefighter in formal dress, but Elsa had never seen her before. The woman was also lacking any badge or patches like Elsa had seen on Chief Oaken. Maybe she just still had firefighters on her mind.
She was facing away from Elsa by the time the councilwoman approached her. Whoever she was, she was obviously lost.
"Excuse me," Elsa said as she approached.
The woman turned. She had a face covered in freckles and kind blue eyes. "Hello!" She removed her hat and tucked it under her arm, revealing blazing copper hair pulled into a tight bun.
Elsa lost her train of thought for a moment before she recovered. "Do you need assistance?"
"Thank you for asking. I do actually, I'm Lieutenant Daniels, with the fire department, the chief sent me here." She shifted her folder, balancing it and her hat in one arm, and reached out her other hand to shake.
Elsa took her hand. The Lieutenant's grip was firm and her hands were rough. "I'm councilwoman Elsa Arendelle. You said Chief Oaken sent you?" The woman must be the inspector her father mentioned earlier.
"Yes, I need to uh, get these papers filled out? Or turned in? I'm here with papers, where do I go?" Lieutenant Daniels asked, moving her folder back to her other hand so she wasn't holding it awkwardly. She was definitely the inspector, Elsa could give her directions or she could simply walk her through the building, which would be faster and reduce the risk of her father seeing yet another firefighter today.
"I can show you, do you have a pen?"
"Oh uh, no I thought one would be provided."
"Not a problem, here take mine." Elsa handed the other woman her fountain pen without thinking. Realizing only after the Lieutenant took it that she never shared that pen with anyone, more so a stranger. Her father had berated her for buying that pen and she thus kept it close. Refusing to lose and prove him correct. She bit her lip and walked forward. "We'll start with the closest fire extinguisher and work our way around."
"Okay?" The Lieutenant replied, seeming confused. She must not be used to being escorted.
"I hope you don't mind, some of them are in strange places, and it's easier if I just show you." Elsa started walking in a direction that took them further away from The Mayor's office.
"The fire extinguishers you mean?"
"Yes, and the smoke detectors too, right? You need to check both if I understood correctly."
Elsa stopped in front of a cabinet in the hallway, some plant sat on top for decoration. She bent over to open the bottom. "There is an extinguisher in here, I'll let you check." She stood up and stepped aside.
The Lieutenant didn't move for a moment. Her blue eyes had a far-off look as if she was processing something. Elsa cleared her throat and it seemed to snap the other woman back to reality.
She knelt down in one smooth fluid motion, her hat still tucked under her arm. And quickly checked the tag attached to the fire extinguisher before standing again and turning to Elsa. "Uh yes, thank you, all those things need to be checked if you don't mind showing me. I don't want to take up too much of your time though."
"Not a problem, Lieutenant Daniels, you've actually chosen the perfect time - my afternoon is clear today."
"By the way, you can call me Anna," she said as she knelt to look at the tag on the extinguisher.
"Well Anna, you can just call me Elsa if you would like to go by first names."
Anna stood and looked at her. "Where to next, Mrs. Arendelle?"
"It's just Ms. Arendelle, I'm not married, and as I said, Elsa is fine. Do you need to write anything down by the way?" Elsa asked.
"Oh, right, writing something down." Anna put her hat back on her head and opened her folder. She thumbed through some pages and pulled one out. She flipped it over to the blank side and wrote 'plant stand - expired'
The two of them continued down the hall, stopping every now and then, going in and out of empty offices. It was the holiday season and most people had decided to go home for the day or take extended lunch breaks. Elsa, who normally shut herself in her office, found herself oddly enjoying this time with the fire inspector.
"So if you're not married, do you have a boyfriend?" Anna asked.
"That's a little forward, don't you think?"
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to make small talk." Anna blushed and busied herself with writing something.
Elsa laughed. "It's fine, and no I don't, I'm single, much to my father's dismay. But what makes that man happy lately anyway?"
"I'm single too!" Anna nearly shouted then snapped her mouth shut so suddenly that Elsa could hear her teeth hit. She then turned to look at the alarm on the wall before saying, more quietly, "I'm sorry about your dad."
Elsa shrugged even though the other woman couldn't see her. "When your dad's the mayor, what are you going to do?"
"What does being the mayor have to do with… wait, your dad's The Mayor? That's awesome!"
"You didn't know that?" Elsa asked, leading them into the breakroom, which was, of course, empty.
"No, I'm new here, that's why I came to town hall today."
"Ah, that makes sense. I guess you inspectors work for the state huh? Well, welcome to the town of Snowybrooke!"
"Inspector?" Anna asked, confused.
"Is that not what your job is called? Forgive me; my father said an inspector was coming, perhaps he used the wrong term." Elsa didn't go into any further details about her father's blind rage towards the fire department. It wouldn't even phase her if he had used the wrong term. She just hoped it wouldn't offend the lieutenant.
Anna had been writing down another note, she stopped and looked up slowly. "You think I'm the fire marshal?"
"A fire marshal! My apologies. Come on there's one more extinguisher over here." The councilwoman moved towards the wall outside her father's office. His door was open and the lights off. For once Elsa was thankful he took extended breaks in the afternoon.
"Is that why you spent all afternoon leading me around?"
"Yes, of course. I know it's unusual, I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes."
"I see," Anna replied, she fiddled with a button on her coat. "You didn't step on anyone's toes, I enjoyed the company."
"When can we expect the report by the way?"
"I'll stop by tomorrow with my report. Can I give it to you?" Anna asked, her voice getting deeper for some reason.
Elsa found it kind of cute and she smiled. "Here take my cell number, in case I'm not in my office." She took her own pen from Anna and scribbled her number on the corner of Anna's sheet before handing Anna the pen back.
Anna smiled at her, "I'll see you tomorrow, Elsa."
And as the copper-haired woman pocketed Elsa's pen and stepped out into the world. Elsa felt something shift inside of her. She stood there, glued to the spot, and watched Anna's uniform stand out against the snow as she walked towards her car. Right before she got in, she turned and looked back at the building. Elsa felt like she was looking right at her, but she knew Anna couldn't see her from that distance, right?