Chapter five

Shhh

Anna wiped the sweat from her brow as she crossed the parking lot. The newly paved asphalt radiated heat as she walked towards the theater. It had cooled down a little from the absolute sauna that was the midday heart, but it was still crazy hot.

Looks like Elsa made the right call on this one.

She had suggested to Elsa that they both ride to the theater in the same car, but Elsa had instead opted to take the bus, as there was a stop right outside the theater. Now Anna was sweating, while her sister would no doubt be cool as ice.

Oh well, Anna thought as she reached the door. Just another lesson to learn for future dates.

Scanning through the crowd, Anna quickly picked out the platinum blonde, sitting at a table with a bucket of popcorn and two sodas and made her way toward her. Elsa spotted her as she approached and gave a small wave. Anna forced her way through the crowd and, upon reaching her, greeted her with a hug.

Elsa hugged her back, but in a restrained manner. As someone on their second date would naturally do. Okay, another lesson.

Anna ended the hug and coughed awkwardly. "Miss Schneider," she said.

Elsa chuckled. "Please, call me Elsa," she said. She looked Anna up and down. "You look good," she said.

"Thanks," Anna said. "You look…" She took in Elsa's outfit – a green hoodie and jeans. "…cold?" she finished.

"Oh, I always overdress here," Elsa explained. "They turn up the AC super high in the theaters, especially in the summer."

"Oh. Good thinking," Anna said, pulling on one of the straps of her tank top self-consciously.

I knew that, too. It just didn't occur to me when I was getting ready. She always thinks this stuff though better than me.

"Well, don't worry," Anna said. "I don't get cold easily."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Anna smirked. "Yes, really, Elsa, and since we just started dating a couple days ago, I'm sure you don't have any memories that would tell you otherwise!"

Elsa laughed. "Okay, okay," she said. She pulled a pair of tickets out of her pocket and handed one to her. "Shall we be off, then?"

"Sure thing," Anna said. She grabbed the popcorn and her soda, and the two of them headed for the theater. "So what's this movie about, anyway?" she asked.

Elsa launched into a well-prepared explanation. "Well, it's about an Indian farmer who discovers his farm is right above an oil deposit, but then the Indian mob tries to muscle in on it, so he has to fight to defend his home while his sister is…"

Anna listened raptly, leaning into Elsa as she explained. The description seemed to veer through various genres, from action to suspense to romance – all genres Anna enjoyed. She took a sip of her soda, and was pleasantly surprised by the taste of cherry.

She knows just what I like.

xxxxxxx

Explosions rang out across the screen, so powerful they seemed to shake the whole theater. Or maybe that was just her shaking.

Anna wrapped her arms around herself, rubbing her hands up and down her arms to coax some warmth back into them. On-screen, a man jumped out of a moving car, covered in flames. She envied him.

She hadn't remembered the theater being this cold. Did they really need to turn up the AC this high, just because it was summer? Her body was still covered in sweat, which had now cooled and which now further chilled her.

She looked around. A few other people were shivering, but nowhere near as much as her. Then again, nobody else was wearing the same miniskirt and tank top she was. And she'd thought she was being so clever, preparing for the hot weather like this.

She heard a soft rustling to her left. She turned, and saw Elsa shedding her hoodie. She pulled it over her head, bending forward to avoid blocking the view of the people behind her, and then handed it to Anna, holding it out in front of her.

Anna smiled. "Oh, Elsa," she whispered. "You don't have to-"

"Shhh," Elsa whispered, holding a finger to her lips. Lips that were pressed into a warm smile.

Anna nodded and donned the hoodie, feeling emotion welling up inside her. The hoodie was warm, doubly so for having just been on her sister, but it was nothing compared to the warmth that was now radiating from her.

You've always got my back, sis. Always.

When Mom and Dad had started leaving together, Elsa had taken it upon herself to become Anna Caretaker In Chief. She'd gone everywhere with her, to movies, amusement parks – everywhere. Even when she went off to college, she insisted on coming back up to visit every month. At the time, that had seemed excessive to Anna. Now, however, being right by her side, Anna realized that it hadn't been nearly enough.

She pulled the hoodie's drawstrings, closing the hope around her face. It was incredibly high quality, and so soft and plush. It was like being hugged by Elsa, albeit softly. It even smelled like her. And…

She sniffed.

Perfume?

Confusion eked its way into her mind.

Yeah, that's definitely perfume. Chanel #3, I think. Why would she wear perfume for just a simple trip to the movies?

She didn't let it bother her too much. It was probably just another lesson. Elsa Schneider wears perfume on every date, and so should I.

With that mystery solved, she leaned back in her seat and allowed herself to once again focus on the movie, the popcorn, and the wonderful woman seated beside her.

xxxxxxx

"We want our oil, Jahlil," the mob boss said, leaning forward and splaying his hands on the table.

Jahlil leaned back in his chair, confident but alert. "It is not yours," he said. "This is my land. I bought it, I built this property, for fifteen years I have worked on it."

The boss's composure faltered a notch. "Do not speak to me of hard work, boy," he said. "I have spent my whole life building this family, the family which you have so callously killed."

Anna leaned forward in her chair, starting raptly at the screen. She could hear her heart beating away in her chest, so loudly that she thought the people around her might tell her to quiet it.

At lunch today, Anna had researched Bollywood movies to try and figure out what she was in store for. She'd seen dozens of conflicting reports – Bollywood movies were cheesy, they were tonally inconsistent, bombastic, overlong, and so much more. She could now add one more description to that list – they were compelling as hell. Elsa had, once again, made the perfect call for her. As if that was any surprise.

The boss reached into his pocket, and Anna clutched her armrests. Well, the right one, at least. There was something on top of the left armrest.

Elsa jumped, the sudden contact breaking her out of her trance. It seemed she, too, had been enraptured by the story. She turned to Anna, whose mouth opened, apology on the tip of her tongue.

She smiled. "Shhh," she said, pressing a finger to her lips again. She turned her right hand over and clasped Anna's in hers.

Anna was electrified. She shivered as she felt the goosebumps pop up along her arm. And she had no idea why.

We're just holding hands. We've held hands before – including last night.

Yet, somehow, this time felt different. More…intense.

Kristoff had never held her hand like this before. At their movie, he had kept one hand in his lap and held his other along the back of her seat, inches away from touching her, and he had stayed like that for the entire movie. She had surmised that the intention was for him to move his arm closer to her with each dramatic moment that played out onscreen until he was fully embracing her, but he had never done so, and she didn't really have a problem with that. He, on the other hand, had only taken her to one movie, and He hadn't been able to keep His hands off of her. That was right about the time she had started to feel uncomfortable around him. But this felt…just right. Not too much contact, and not too little.

Hang on, a voice in her head said. This is Elsa we're talking about – your sister. And here you are, comparing her to your previous dates, as if this was a real date itself. I think you're starting to get lost in the emotion of this, just like Punzie warned.

Meanwhile, on the screen, the boss had withdrawn his hand, revealing that he had only been grabbing a cigarette and a lighter. The whole audience released a collective held breath. Jahlil, however, hadn't moved a muscle.

"Such bravery, such confidence," the boss said. "Lesser men would praise you for that. But your confidence comes from your inexperience, your childlike naivete. If you knew the real gravity of the situation, of how close you are to losing everything you hold dear, you would be shaking in your shoes."

As Jahlil replied with some snarky retort, the voice returned. What about you, Anna? Do you understand your situation properly? Are you aware of what will happen to your relationship with your sister if you screw something up?

And Anna replied, Shhh.