Author's Note:Hi, everybody! This is another story that popped into my mind on a whim and I just had to get it started before I left. Needless to say, Frozen is one of my favorite movies of all time and I've had countless ideas about fanfictions for it. The reason I'm writing this one is because I might be able to have it finished before I disappear to Georgia for fourteen weeks and I just needed to write and Elsanna pairing. Here's to hoping you all like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen in any way, shape, or form. This is a work of pure enjoyment and nothing else.
Promotion
Anna cranked the wheel to left, guiding her light green VW Beetle into its new parking spot on the side of the building, the small car looking even smaller due to the ridiculous size of the parking space. She placed it into park and turned the key back to its farthest setting, killing the engine but keeping the radio on and speakers on so she could continue listening to the music currently playing via auxiliary cable from her phone. Leaning back in her seat, she let out a loud yawn and stretched her arms and legs out as much as she could within the small confines of the cabin. Looking to the right, she could see sunlight beginning to leak through the trees as the sun just barely peaked out from below the horizon.
'Damn, I am so not a morning person.' She thought to herself as she picked up the large cup to her right and took a long sip of her café mocha, shivering pleasurably as the chocolaty caffeine drink warmed her insides. Exhaling softly, she glanced over to the clock and sighed in frustration upon seeing that she still had ten minutes until the store's employee entrance was opened. She was unused to the fact that traffic was virtually non-existent in the early morning, so much so that she arrived here much sooner than usual. Sighing, she leaned further back into her seat and took another sip from her cup.
"I'm not even supposed to be here." She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and recalling the events of the past two weeks.
"Hey, Anna!" A familiar voice yelled to her from outside the employee lounge. She tore her eyes off of last night's rerun of American Ninja Warrior to see her best friend, Kristoff, striding over to her with his hand in the air.
"What is it, Kris," She asked. "Cause it better be important. The Catanzaro run's about to come up and, wait…shouldn't you be on the floor right now anyway?"
"I ran out of price tags for the printer and had to grab a new roll." He said, pulling out a new roll of tag paper for emphasis. "Anyway, that's not important. What is important is that I just overheard who they're replacing Weaseltown with."
Anna's back straightened and ears perked at that. There had been rumors circulating all month that Weselton wasn't going to be with the store much longer. They had only been confirmed just yesterday when the small, toupee`-wearing man had announced it to all the present staff.
"Wait. Don't you mean who he's being replaced by?"
"Nope." Kristoff said smugly, crossing his arms. "That speech Store Manager Hairpiece gave yesterday was just an attempt to save face. He isn't leaving of his own accord, Executive is full-out replacing him!"
"Serves him right." Anna huffed. "He's a horrible store manager anyway. So who is it?"
"The Ice Queen." He said simply, containing his smirk. Anna, on the other hand, almost fell out of her seat at the news.
"You gotta' be shittin' me." She said, eyes as wide as saucers.
"Nope. They're really sending her here."
"Damn." Anna said, running a hand over her head. Everyone knew who the Ice Queen was. Elsa Arendelle, the prodigy of Oakens Inc., an expert store manager who was sent to failing branches to try and pull them out of the mud; which theirs had definitely begun sinking into a long time ago. She had a reputation within the company for having a cold-hearted demeanor that was border-line reclusive, so much so that some in the journalism world had ventured to speculate that she was a high-functioning autistic. The only reputation she held that overshadowed that was the fact that none of the stores she had ever been sent to had failed; in fact, most of them had downright prospered after she arrived. Because of all that, her name was more recognized than the CEO's; which was unbelievable since it was his damn name in gigantic letters on the front of the store!
"I know. Crazy to think she's actually coming here." Kristoff said, before looking down at his watch and jumping slightly. "Shit, I need to run or my DM's gonna' start looking for me. Bye!"
Anna watched him go as he left the lounge with a small smile on her face. That smile disappeared as he turned the corner and disappeared down the hallway. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she was currently working on her resignation letter. They were both each other's best friend in the store and it was going to kill him when he learned she was going to be leaving. She was going to have to see his hurt face eventually, but she was hoping to put that off for as long as possible.
After that, the news of the Ice Queen's imminent arrival spread like wildfire and reactions ranged from nervousness to outright fear of the legendary figure. Other than that, nothing interesting happened until the day of her actual arrival the next week. Weselton gave a small goodbye speech the day before, filled with the usual bullshit about how 'it was an honor to work with you all' and 'I'm going to remember my experiences forever'.
She wasn't scheduled the actual day she arrived, but some people who weren't scheduled to work that came in anyway so they could hear what the Queen would say. According to them, and Kris, her introduction was smaller and more banal than Weselton's goodbye…if that were at all possible. She merely gave a small greeting, her name, and how she was going to enjoy working with them all before giving a goodbye and disappearing into her new office. Past that, she lived up to her reclusive reputation and nobody really saw her after that, other that the assistant managers of course. It wasn't until Friday that the entire boat was rocked hard enough to send everybody to the asses.
It was ten minutes until the store closed down for the night and Anna was putting CD's back in their regular places, occupying time until she could clock out when she felt a tap her shoulder. Turning around, she saw it was her blue-clad Assistant Manager for that quarter, Gene.
"Hey Anna, could I talk with you for a minute in the back before you leave?" He asked. Even though he was originally from India, his American accent was flawless and his voice sounded amazingly like Robin Williams, which had been the cause of many amusing impressions.
"Sure Gene." She said. "Let me just get something from my locker first, okay?"
"Of course, just meet me in my office. The door will be open." He said, before walking off. She followed him for a bit before reaching the backroom and turning right for the lockers while he turned left. She quickly opened it and grabbed her hoodie and purse. Donning them, she reached back in and pulled out the sealed envelope that carried her resignation letter. She then closed her locker and made her way back towards Gene's office. The door was open just as he said it would be, but she knocked softly anyway before entering. Gene had his back towards her and looked to be typing up and email.
"Go ahead and take a seat while I finish this up." He said without turning around. Starting to feel slightly nervous she grabbed the only other seat in the room, a high-backed leather roller with armrests much like Gene's. She fiddled with the envelope as he finished up the email and clicked the 'Send' button. Closing the screen, he spun around to face her and his eyes immediately fell upon the envelope she was playing with.
"Is that what I think it is?" He asked simply.
"Yeah." Anna said, scratching the back of her head nervously. "I mean, I have talked to you about quitting before and I wasn't like I was planning to stay here forever. It's not like I don't enjoy working her though! Well, I mean, I don't particularly enjoy it…but it's not the worst job I've ever had either! I really like working with most, um, some of the people here…and you! You're great to work with! It just that the pay really isn't enough and I kind of need money to live, you know? Wait, of course you know people need money to live; you've been alive a lot longer than I have so of course you know that…not that you're old, or anything! You're still young-looking…I mean young! You're still a young guy! I'm rambling aren't I? I'm just going to shut up now and let you talk." She finished, looking down at the floor and turning beet-red in embarrassment.
"Well, thank you for the compliment…I think." Gene said, used to Anna's ramblings after being subject to them for the past few months. "As for that resignation, though, you might want to hold on for a while longer."
"What?" Anna asked, looking up at him with a questioning expression. "Why?"
"Because," He said, folding his hands on his lap. "You're being promoted to Department Manager."
Anna sighed again, looking over to her glove box which still held the resignation letter she never turned in. She hadn't been the only one to have her life turned upside-down over the weekend. Judging from Facebook, Twitter, and word-of-mouth, at least half of the people she worked with had been told that they were no longer employees on that day; whether it be face-to-face or over emails/phone calls. After that the store had been closed for the entire weekend for some mysterious reason.
'Probably to give people like me some time to acclimate.' She thought to herself as she turned to car fully off and removed the key before getting out. Apparently, a good portion of the department managers had been amongst those who were relieved of duty which lead to many unexpected promotions like the one she had received. Upon returning home that night she found an email detailing her new responsibilities as Department Manager, the new days and hours she worked, and here new pay; the last one being the reason why she was now walking to the employee entrance without a resignation letter in hand.
Shivering slightly at the biting early-winter air, she stuffed her hands deeper into the front pocket of her hoodie and waited for the door to open. Not ten seconds later, the lock unlatched and the door opened to the first of the overnight staff leaving for the morning. Nodding to a few that she knew, Anna quickly made her way inside and through the throng of the rest of the now off-duty overnight staff and towards her new locker. Looking back, she saw that nobody else was walking in her direction, meaning she was the only day-time employee here for now. Truthfully, she didn't have to arrive as early as she did. It was still an hour until the store opened for customers and it didn't take that long to open a department. Still, she had wanted to make a good impression since receiving a first-hand view of what the Ice Queen was willing to do.
Stuffing her hoodie and purse into her locker, she strode over to the time-punch and swiped her badge through the reader to clock in. Seeing the "TIME PUNCH ACCEPTED, DM ANNA" message, she clipped her badge to the collar of the purple polo she was wearing and made her way out to the floor. Straightening out her uniform as walked she failed to notice the body coming around the corner and ran straight into them, sending her to the ground with an "oomph".
"Oh my, are you okay?" a feminine voice said from above her.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Anna said, rubbing her backside before looking up at the person she collided with. "My ass is pret…!" Her sentence immediately cut off when she looked up at the woman standing above her. She was dressed in a dark-blue striped pantsuit with a purple silk tie, the colors contrasting with her flawless porcelain skin and platinum blonde hair done up in a tight bun. Her eyes were a striking ice-blue and there were a small number of pale freckles that ghosted across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. While all of that was stunning, the one thing that held Anna speechless was the ID badge on her lapel that read 'Elsa Arendelle. Store Manager."
"I'm sorry, your ass is what?" Elsa asked, looking down at her quizzically.
"Nothing!" Anna blurted out fearfully, realizing she had just said 'ass' to the Ice Queen herself. "It's nothing, my ass is perfectly fine…! I mean I'm perfectly fine. My ass has nothing to do with…gah! I'm going to shut up now." She finished, staring down at the ground as he face grew deeper and deeper shades of red; almost certain that she was about to fired right on the spot.
"Well, if you're perfectly fine I would suggest not staying on the ground for too long." Elsa's voice said. Anna looked up slowly to see a white hand reaching down to help her up. Blushing ridiculously, Anna took the offer and let herself be pulled off the floor with surprising strength. Now on her feet, she brushed out any wrinkles that had formed on her uniform before looking up at the woman in front of her.
"Thanks." She said nervously, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Sorry for running into you like that. I should've been looking where I was going."
"Nonsense." Elsa said. "It was as much my fault as yours. I hadn't expected anybody to be back here this early. It is good to see employees taking such an initiative."
"Thanks." Anna said again, scoring one up to good impressions. "I'm Anna, by the way."
"Ah, yes." Elsa said, glancing down to her ID badge. "You're the new Music Department Manager, aren't you?"
"Yep, although I'm not sure why. I mean, they were plenty of other people who could probably do a better job than I'm going to." Anna said, looking down at the floor.
"Preposterous." Elsa replied, making Anna look back up at her. "I wouldn't have given you the position if I thought someone else could do it better."
"Wait, you were the one promoted me!?" Anna said, her jaw almost dropping in disbelief.
"Absolutely." Elsa replied, her face not changing in the slightest. "You were clearly stood out as the best choice during my observations. Who did you think did it?"
"Well, honestly I thought Gene did…wait, you were observing us!?"
"Of course I was. What did you think I was doing all last week?"
"I don't know." Anna said, once again looking down and rubbing the back of her head. "Like, store-manager, business-type, uh, stuff." She said lamely.
"Well, I was doing that. But I was also observing all of the employees throughout the week to see who needed to be let go and who deserved to be promoted. And, even though Gene did recommend you for the promotion, I would've done it had he not."
"Really?" Anna asked, surprise etched deeply into her features.
"Really." Elsa replied. "From what I've seen you are a hard worker and dedicated to the tasks you are given. Speaking of which, you may want to begin opening up your department. I have a feeling it's going to be a busy day today."
"Yes, um, ma'am. And thank you." Anna said, almost giving a mock salute before rethinking the idea. Elsa gave her a small smile and a nod before walking off to her office. Anna watched her go, eyes lingering for a little longer than was appropriate before shaking her head and turning around and making her way out onto the floor. Expecting the store to be the same as it had been when she left last week, she came to a complete stand-still in total shock at what she saw before her.
'So that's why it was closed all weekend.' She thought to herself as she looked out into what could only be described as an alien world. Before, the floor had been yellowing slightly from multiple years of use without a proper and thorough cleaning due to Weselton's stinginess. Now it was a shining, pristine white with a shimmering gloss that proved evidence of a brand-new cleaning and waxing. Many of the support pillars that had had flaking paint or rust spots had been cleaned and repainted and it was obvious that each of the fluorescent lights in the store had been replaced with top-of-the-line LEDs. Venturing out into the store, Anna could also tell that each and every one of the removable merchandise shelves had been replaced with newer, cleaner, undented shelves.
'This is ridiculous!' She thought herself as she made her way to the electronic employee message screen in her department. They were the only new thing Weselton had sprung for, realizing that adding them would reduce the amount of time he had to spend actually interacting with them.
'No wonder Elsa has such a record with reviving stores, this looks fucking awesome now! And who the hell was I even talking to? Everything I've heard about her depicted her as some sort of reclusive enigma that barely talked to people and worked them to the bone…but she was just downright friendly to me!? Maybe all those rumors are wrong?' Anna thought to herself, smiling as she swiped her badge to open the message screen and navigated through it to the duties for the day. Her smile dropped and all thoughts of misleading rumors fell out of her mind as she looked upon the mountain tasks that littered the screen. There was at least twice as many as she had ever seen before, all ranging from a complete reorganization of how the CDs were stocked to training the new employees coming in today…all of them assigned by Elsa.
"A feeling?" she said out loud, remembering what Elsa had said about it being a busy day. "She damn well had more than a feeling! How the hell am I supposed to do all of before we close today!? At least Fiona still here though, that'll help." She sighed, glad that one person in her department who knew how things were done hadn't gotten fired over the weekend. Inhaling deeply and thanking herself for the foresight to drink a large amount of caffeine before arriving, she set to work opening up the department and getting started on the tasks.
Before too long, the other department managers, most newly promoted, arrived and began opening their own departments; each one receiving a list of tasks as long as hers and bemoaning them just as she had done. Almost too soon, the store opened up for customers and people began walking up and down the aisles looking for things they either needed or wanted badly, slowing everybody down considerably. Anna could barely keep up, trying to get through as much of the tasks as possible while simultaneously trying train the new members of her department and stopping every two minutes to address customers and their various questions/issues. She ended up having to push the training onto Fiona so she could focus solely on the rest of her duties.
As the day went on, the list slowly began to grow smaller. Anna almost collapsed in relief when her lunch break came, swiping her badge and heading to the in-store Subway. She scarfed down a six-inch Spicy Italian cold-cut and a Barq's root beer before heading back to the lounge to enjoy whatever remained of her hour-long break. However much remained, though, it ended much too soon than she and she quickly made herself a coffee with Hot Cocoa mix and some refrigerated hazelnut creamer; gulping it down before clocking back in for the back half of her shift. Despite how hard she was working at it, a third of the list still remained uncompleted by the time her shift ended and she was forced to leave it to Fiona and the rest of the new recruits whose shifts hadn't ended yet to attempt to complete it.
The traffic on her way home was hell and by the time she got to her apartment her mind felt drained and she could barely find the motivation to turn on the TV before flopping down onto her couch in relief. She felt like going straight to sleep even though it was only about five twenty in the afternoon, but beat the feeling down knowing that doing so would just mess up her circadian rhythm and make her feel worse. Instead, she turned on her Xbox One and used the voice commands to get to Netflix, hoping to drown out all thoughts of her day, and especially her new store manager, in the seventh season of Doctor Who that she had yet to see. Little did she know, across the city, a certain blonde was trying to do the same thing to thoughts of her.