"Say, Anna, what's this I overheard you saying that Elsa would be coming here soon?" Hans asked, not without purpose. Hans almost never did anything without some sort of ulterior motive, unbeknownst to the trembling girl in front of him.

Anna beamed at him. It wasn't often Hans stopped to talk to her, and she tried desperately to calm the butterflies in her stomach. Be cool, Anna. Be cool. "Elsa thought it'd be good if she had a small job for a bit to get her ah…" Anna rummaged through her mental word bank "re-accustomed to being around people." Who was she kidding. Although she never mentioned Elsa's depression explicitly to anyone besides Mr. and Mrs. Eriksen, it was the untold secret that everyone knew. She now blushed slightly, ashamed of her euphemism.

"That's great," Hans said, resting his chin on the palm of his hand leisurely. "When's she starting—do you know?"

Anna shrugged. "I already talked to Mr. Eriksen about it, err, your dad I mean, and he said she could come whenever she wanted. He's already drawn up all the paperwork—I guess he's been expecting this for a while," she ended brightly.

"Well give me a text when she comes. I haven't seen her ages," Hans ended nonchalantly, waving a lazy bye as he strode away to his father's office.

Anna furrowed her brow. That was strange. He had seemed excited about Elsa just a minute ago… Perhaps she had said something wrong? Or worse…boring? The ginger shook her head violently, feeling stupid for being so self-conscious. Oh, but weren't his eyes just gorgeous today? She sank into a familiar daydream, one where she was a princess and Hans her betrothed prince. It was not until the ringing of the reception phone that she was yanked out of her reverie.

Elsa bit her lip nervously, peering into the bathroom mirror of the apartment she shared with her younger sister. She had taken sleeping pills the other day to try and fall asleep beforeher usual curfew of 4 AM. Her dark circles had decreased dramatically, although still clearly noticeable. Will they ever go away, she wondered idly to herself while anxiously re-plaiting her hair into its braid for the umpteenth time.

Her first day at work. She wore the usual uniform of the hotel's female wait staff—a tidy blue apron, white collared button down, and a black skirt. Elsa had asked Mr. Eriksen to not let her have an office or reception position—I need something to do, she had pleaded. Sitting at a desk and waiting for calls would give her too much time to think. Mr. Eriksen had simply sighed deeply before phoning Olaf to ask if there could possibly be room for another waitress.

"It'll be hard work," Mr. Eriksen had warned, his mustachioed mouth twitching downwards in concern.

"That's perfect," she had reassured him firmly.

He had simply sighed again and squeezed her slim hand in his own meaty ones. His sudden display of sentiment almost brought Elsa to tears right in the office. She uttered a quick goodbye and saw herself out before locking herself in a nearby bathroom stall to sob quietly. I'm so dumb, she thought to herself, wiping her nose on a piece of toilet paper. I cry too much.

And here it was: the Big Day. Elsa walked in what she hoped was a confident manner into the living room and grabbed her purse.

"Ready?" Anna squeaked in excitement, polishing off the rest of her breakfast and dropping the dishes into the sink with a crash.

"Yeah. I'm ready."

They hopped on the bus headed towards the hotel. The familiar architecture brought a lump to Elsa's throat, but she fought it down fiercely. No crying today, she ordered herself. Over my dead body.

Waitressing wasn't so bad. Olaf had nearly smothered her to death with an overenthusiastic hug when he saw her.

"Oh, Elsa," he breathed, his eyes misty. "It's so good to see you again!" He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, and Elsa had to swerve a bit lest his bulbous nose hit her in the eye.

"It's good to see you too," Elsa smiled, arms wrapping tentatively around the man. Olaf had often let the sisters play in the kitchen—Not by the knives! Elsa remembered him shrieking—on slow days. He had always made sure to make two extra cookies, brownies, muffins, whatever sweet thing he was baking that day for them as well. When their parents had to bring them in early in the morning for whatever business they had, Olaf always made them oatmeal absolutely loaded with cream and sugar. "I've missed you," she said sincerely.

Olaf sniffed loudly, wiping his eyes, before turning Elsa around and looking at her from all angles. "My dear you're simply a skeleton!" he exclaimed.

Elsa winced. Olaf was never one for subtlety. Her loss of weight, she knew, was unsightly. Her eating habits were awful. She was left alone for most of the day in the apartment and never ate anything until Anna came home for dinner. Elsa had learned to at least eat dinner in front of her sister because otherwise it resulted in the younger girl sobbing loudly about Elsa's state of being. "You're going to starve yourself to death!" she would wail, clutching at Elsa's shoulders. She simply wasn't hungry. More often than not it was difficult to feel anything at all.

Olaf began to busy himself, ladling out a steaming hot bowl of oatmeal for the girl. Topping it with plump raisins and cinnamon he handed it to her expectantly. "Eat up!" he said cheerily. "You've got a lot of work ahead of you!"

Elsa had learned a long time ago not to argue with the man. She smiled at him wearily and began to eat. It had been a long time since she had eaten any sort of breakfast.

Anna was cute, Hans thought to himself as she chattered incessantly away at him. Except for those freckles. They simply littered her face and shoulders. All he had asked was where Elsa was working, having received an enthusiastic text from Anna last night that Elsa would be coming to work the next day.

Anna: Hey Hans! How are you?! :) Elsa is going to be working tmrw! I'll be at the desk as usual haha!

Hans: Cool thx Anna.

Anna: No problem! :) :)

Hans had rolled his eyes at the texts. Did the girl not know the use of a simple period? Her desperation simply oozed from her like a toxin. Sometimes after a particularly long session of her yammering Hans felt the need to scrub down particularly well in the shower.

"Elsa's going to be with Olaf today! Mr. Eriksen put her on wait staff and she looked so cute in her uniform God I thought I was going to die when I saw her this morning? How long are you staying for? I feel like I don't see you around that much, uh, I mean uh I guess you're here as often as you need to be right?" Anna's nervous giggles grinded on Hans's ears.

Arranging his face into a genial expression, he chucked Anna's chin, causing her to blush all the way to the roots of her hair. "Thanks, Anna. I'll see you later."

"Bye Hans!" she called out loudly, her voice echoing through the lobby. He rolled his eyes yet again. If he stayed around her long enough he feared his eyes would someday just roll right onto the ground.

He passed that scruffy concierge on the way to the restaurant. Kristoff's blonde hair was sticking up in all directions—did the boy not own a comb?

"You better watch that attitude," Hans warned him softly as he strolled past. Kristoff had been scowling deeply, clearly unhappy about running into the Eriksen boy. He flinched at Hans' voice.

"Of course, Mr. Eriksen," he replied with as little poison as he could manage. Kristoff hated that smug look on his face, hated the way Anna was affected by him, and worst of all hated the way the doucheface treated Anna. Every time he graced the hotel with his presence it was all Anna talked about. Even when he wasn't around it was all Anna talked about. I feel like I know him better than his own mother, Kristoff thought resentfully, dragging a guest's luggage into the elevator more roughly than usual. Wonder what he's up to, looking so damn pleased with himself…

Elsa was wiping down a table, humming to herself contentedly. Waiting on people wasn't so bad. She enjoyed the snippets of conversation and she still managed to get enough alone time that she wasn't run off her feet. Breakfast was a continental buffet. All she had to do was lay out the food and replenish them as needed, along with showing guests their seats and busing their tables after they were done. It was simple work and Elsa was happy that she felt happy.

"Elsa," a voice came from behind her. Deep and honeylike.

She turned around. "Hans?" A tall boy stood behind her, his auburn hair brushed back becomingly. "I hardly recognized you!" she gulped.

He smiled. Nice teeth, she noted. "Yeah I've grown up some since you last saw me, I should hope," he added with what he hoped sounded like modesty.

Elsa smiled back. "Wow it's really good to see you." Am I doing small talk right? She thought to herself frantically. It had been so long.

"Same goes for you. You look great."

Elsa felt herself blushing and was subsequently hit with a pang of surprise and guilt. "Uh, thanks," she muttered, ducking her head embarrassedly. "Listen, I've got to get back to work," she said as more guests wandered in. Thankful for their presence, she waved bye to Hans and attended to them with slightly more gusto than needed.

Hans smiled to himself. Perhaps the older, richer sister wouldn't be so hard to sway after all.