"Smells good."
The shower had been nice, but that didn't make me feel any less out of place in that house. So my entry into the kitchen was slow and tentative.
"I've melted chocolate nougat on some cookies to make a kind of… cake?"
The look of that mix of puffed rice chocolate thing was intimidating, but for some reason, I was itching to taste it.
"You know it's not Christmas yet, don't you?"
"Of course I do! The Christmas experiment has to be riskier."
I pursed my lips in an effort to contain my laughter. Something about that girl made spending the holidays in company not seem so terrible.
"You know what?" she asked as she served the… cake? on plates and indicated me to sit in front of one of them. "You surprised me a lot yesterday."
"Me? Why?"
"Elsa talks a lot about you, you know? Almost as much as about her beloved Antarctica."
I raised an eyebrow. I didn't expect Elsa to really go to the trouble of wasting her saliva talking about someone as boring as me.
"She's always told me that you are very shy and withdrawn and, honestly, I pictured you more insecure. But yesterday you came here and ran the whole situation like a king himself. And not only that, but I also saw how you teased my sister. I didn't think there was anyone in this world with the courage to challenge her icy gaze more than me."
"Not a big deal. Elsa's attitude is all facade. Deep down, she's just a teddy bear."
"I know it. But people don't usually get that deep. They only see how scary and beautiful she is."
"Well, at least you and I know the truth. This way, she won't be alone."
"Do you like her?"
"Of course. She's a good person."
"Yeah… Not what I was talking about. Are you in love with her?"
"With Elsa? No way!"
"Why? She's pretty perfect."
"She is too much like me. If we do well, it is because we are like a photocopy of each other. Except for the physique thing, of course… She couldn't balance with my nose."
Anna burst out laughing with her mouth full and a huge grin crossed my face in a way I couldn't remember ever sensing.
"If we were to fall in love, the world would explode; I have no doubt."
"Well, not that she was going to be interested anyway…"
"I know."
"You do?"
"Uh-huh."
"Oh. I didn't think she had told anyone."
"And she didn't. She's just too obvious."
"An observant man, then."
Anna started licking the chocolate off her fingers and a lump settled in my throat.
"No… not so much."
"Well, I was impressed that someone as shy as she said you are showed such self-confidence, anyway."
"I got confidence in myself. It is others that I don't trust."
"Uhh! Such an ugly declaration…!"
"Maybe," I said shrugging.
"Not even Elsa?"
"Hm… I would trust her with my life, but not with my heart."
'What's in the chocolate? Why did I just blurt out that cheesy thing as if it were nothing?'
Anna stared at me as if trying to decipher my thoughts and I fled her gaze by stuffing a piece of that surprisingly delicious experiment into my mouth.
"So yeah, you are shy," she responded to my reaction while sweetly giggling.
"This is pretty good," I said struggling to divert attention from myself.
"I know. I mean, I couldn't fail, you know? They are cookies and nougat."
"Good point."
"So are you a rock lover too?"
"I think so, yeah."
"What's so exciting about it?"
"Nothing at all."
"Just what I thought. And… why do you like them then?"
"Because there is nothing exciting about them, I guess."
"What?"
"I don't know. I've never thought about why I like them, but… I think I just like how stable and easy to understand they are. They are like a balanced family."
"I don't get it."
"You know, they have always been there; they know incredible stories; they will never be lacking and they can leave scars for life, but they won't judge nor deceive you, they are… predictable. I guess that's it."
Anna got up, walked around the table, and stood next to me as I followed her with my eyes. Then, she raised a tender hand and placed it on my cheek, stealing my breath.
"God… You've been very hurt, don't you?"
Those words echoed in my head strongly making me feel invaded by a mixture of feelings of exposure and vulnerability with warmth and protection. I couldn't find words. I could only lose myself in her gaze; in how it pierced my soul without bothering to knock on the door. Time began to pass very, very slowly, and I would have sworn it had stopped if it weren't for the ticking of the wall clock hanging above the kitchen door.
Suddenly, and against all odds, Elsa's room door opened and that very white apparition began to walk ethereally down the hall towards the kitchen. Anna and I jumped up and ran to meet her.
"Elsa! What are you doing on your feet?!" Anna asked as she guided her sister by her shoulders to a chair.
"I'm tired of being in bed. And I have not vomited for more than five hours."
"Drink some serum in short sips and try to sleep. You will recover soo-…"
Anna's amused look made me realize that I was doing it again.
"…-ner. I'm sorry."
Both sisters laughed lightly and knowingly, and Anna handed Elsa the bottle with the serum.
"Here, your breakfast, sis."
"You two are eating nougat," Elsa protested making a pout.
"Someone has to eat hard to keep the house going."
"That is if the snow doesn't sink it. Sorry, Kristoff. I should have come alone."
"None of that. You just focus on resting and recovering."
Elsa gave me a tired smile, picked up her bottle, and turned back into the hall.
"What are you going to do?" Anna asked intrigued.
"Piss, may I? Or do I have to fill out a form?"
"Oh, help yourself."
Elsa disappeared through the bathroom door and Anna gave me a wide toothy grin.
"She feels better now."
After her visit to the bathroom, Elsa went back to bed and breakfast ended calmly.
"Erhm… I think it should clean up a bit. You... I don't know. You can… find something to read if you want or… put the TV on or… can I get you a puzzle?"
"No need," I said chuckling a little at her display of options. "I'll help clean up."
"Oh no, no way. You are a guest here, and guests don't clean."
"I'm not a guest, I am a hostage. And hostages also stain. I'll clean too."
Anna bit her lip again as she stared at me.
"How good is your cooking?"
"My guests have never complained."
"You never have guests, isn't it?"
A grimace was all she got for an answer.
"Okay. The kitchen is yours. I have no idea what I'm doing and Elsa probably can't eat anything right now."
"It's fine with me."
"But no more. Neither clean, nor tidy up, nor anything in that line. You only have permission to cook, rest, and enjoy."
"That's not fair. You don't have to carry everything else."
"My home, my rules. You take it or take it?"
"And what if I ignore you and start cleaning?"
"Then I'll undress you and tie you to the top of a tree out there," she replied crossing her arms with a confident smile.
"What makes you think you can move me?" I answered crossing my arms too.
"Yeah, you're right… Fine, I'll tie you to the bed while you sleep, undress you, and remove your body hair one by one with tweezers."
"Why do all your tortures go through undressing me?"
"Because it's easier that way… How else would I get to the hairs?"
'Do not answer. Nothing good can come out of here if this conversation continues like this.'
"Okay, I'll just cook."
"Yay!"
"But on one condition."
"Which one?"
"That you don't do more than you would if I weren't here. I don't want you to bother in cleaning more for me or stop doing the things you would."
A sweet smile covered her face again and my guts lurched.
"Deal."
"Thanks. Enough with your Christmas plans away ruined so that your plans at home get screwed up as well for my presence here."
"Oh! You don't have to worry about it. I had no plans outside. I always spend Christmas at home with Elsa. It's a family festivity, you know. Well, because of that and because my only two friends go on trips together every year around this time."
"And… haven't you ever wanted to go with them?"
"The whole Christmas being the third wheel? No thanks. Sven and Olaf are sweet together, but even I would get a sugar rush if I spent the holidays surrounded by their tireless flattery."
"Hm… So… What do you usually do on those days?"
"Well, the normal thing, I guess. Decorate, eat, put on music, give us gifts, watch movies…"
"Sounds good."
"And this year it will be better."
"Why?"
"Because there is you, obviously."
How many times could that woman short-circuit me in a few minutes?
"I… I'm going to see what I prepare for lunch today."
" ´kay, I'm going to clean up."
"Something you don't like to eat?"
"Elsa hates cucumbers."
"Elsa can't eat solid today."
"Oh… yeah." "What about you?"
"I can't handle Brussels sprouts. Apart from that, I eat everything."
"Got it. I'll keep it in mind."
"You?"
"Me what?"
"Is there something you don't like to eat?"
"Up till today… chocolate."