~ Chapter Four ~
The scene was like something out of a surrealist painting to Anna. There they were, in the simple surroundings of white tile and tannish metal stall walls, with the sound of the still-running toilet filling the air. Anna Mayberry, the literal nobody, and pop sensation Elsa, wearing a grey hoodie and yoga pants. Her black suede snapback was probably more expensive than Anna's entire wardrobe. She could see her own shocked expression reflected in the opaque sunglasses, and had a hard time blaming herself for wearing it.
This couldn't be happening. It wasn't. She was still asleep, and just having a very long, very vivid dream.
"S-sorry, you must have me confused with someone else," her idol said to her, turning away quickly toward the sink.
"No, I- I'm sorry, you don't want me bothering you," Anna followed up hastily, backing away as she began to wash her hands. "It... I'm sorry."
Elsa didn't respond. She did, however, grip the edge of the sink for a few seconds, not moving. Anna watched, body turned halfway toward the stalls but refusing to budge further. It felt like a private moment... but she couldn't shake her feeling from the night before. That intense worry that came from nowhere, but seemed too important to brush off.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Anna asked when it had been almost a minute.
"I'm fine."
"Really, I could call somebody for you if-"
"I'm FINE. Why does everyone keep asking me if..." Then she looked into the mirror again, at Anna's reflection. Stared at her until her freckles grew darker. "Wait... you're the fan from last night."
"What?! Oh... I mean, yeah, I was there. Great show! You were so on point, it was perfect, I..." But she didn't want to lose focus. "Anyway, yeah. If you say you're fine, then... you're fine."
Another long pause stretched on, even after the faucet had automatically shut itself off. They were both gazing at each other, seemingly waiting for the other person to react. Then Elsa seemed to startle from a trance, snatching at the paper towels.
"Thank you. I'm sorry I wasn't more personable afterward."
"You were great! I mean, the guy told us you were exhausted, I get it. Huge, long tour, so many shows! Who wouldn't be? I know I would be - not that I'd ever have that kind of thing happen to me. I can sing okay, but not like you, and I sure as HELL can't dance. Not even in a 'lame white girl dancing' kinda way! S-so being on stage like that, never gonna happen, I'll leave that up to you and your perfect legs."
The minute the last few words were out of her mouth, Anna could feel her throat closing up, straining to catch them and keep them from emerging... just seconds too late. Her pulse was speeding up, sweat breaking out at her temples, cheeks darkening further. This was stupid. SHE was stupid, and she should never have said anything to her at all. Shouldn't even have gone to the concert. Why did she think she could handle meeting her big celebrity crush? Why couldn't she THINK?!
But Elsa was laughing. It was a gentle, bemused laugh, though still vaguely uncomfortable. "Perfect legs? I appreciate that, but I don't see them that way."
"Are you kidding?" This time, she was able to get a handle on her tongue before she said something so gay it couldn't be unsaid. "Th-they're killer! Legs of the year, right there!"
"They're in yoga pants. You can't possibly tell-"
"Oh, my memory's pretty good," she cut her off, then slapped a hand over her mouth. "Shit, I didn't mean to interrupt, I'm sorry!"
Elsa snorted, throwing the paper towel away. "Don't worry so much. I'm just a person, and you're not the first to get so... flustered because I'm in SEEK." When Anna never responded, she eventually cleared her throat. "Did you come in here to do something?"
"What?" Then Anna winced, looking around self-consciously. "Oh, y-yeah, I did, I have to pee. Wait, you didn't need to know that! I didn't need to be specific, God!"
"It's fine," Elsa laughed, a hand raising to cover her mouth as she did so. Internally, Anna was squealing. "We all pee, I'm fairly sure. It was nice seeing you again."
"Thanks! Me too! I m-mean, you! Too!" Laughing nervously, she backed into the furthest stall away from Elsa and slid the lock closed.
'Great,' she thought at herself as she sank down on the plastic seat, head in her hands while she listened to the door open and close. 'I just made a complete assbutt of myself in front of the LAST person who I wanted to do that in front of! Why am I such a trainwreck?!'
For some reason, her nerves seemed to make the trip into the stall take much less time than usual. Soon after, she was flushing and exiting...
And Elsa was leaning against the wall, pinching the bridge of her nose with her eyes closed. She didn't quite look to be in mortal agony, but more of the same tiredness from the night before. Her breath was shallow, and her lips were parted very slightly. Anna tried to leave her be, but the sound of the sink running again seemed to startle Elsa out of whatever meditative state she had entered.
"Huh? Oh, you're still here."
"Me?" Anna asked. "Why are YOU still here?"
"Just... no reason." She stood and began to turn toward the door.
"No, wait." Impulsively, Anna reached out and grasped her forearm. The way Elsa tensed all over made her instantly regret it, and she pulled her hand back. "I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that - I'm sorry."
"It's... okay," Elsa forced herself to say, though clearly she was on edge now. "Thank you for apologising."
"But you can't go yet. You're not okay."
"Excuse me?"
"Something's wrong. You act like you can barely move. I'm..." Her words were catching up to her, and she could hear how presumptuous they were, knew she was making another big mistake. "I can't let you go until I know you're going to make it all the way to your car or whatever without falling over."
Even behind the sunglasses, she could tell Elsa's expression had grown colder. "I'm fine. Listen, whoever you are - I appreciate your concern, but this is my business. Please do not stop me again."
"Okay. You're right, I... God, I'm really an idiot." Her eyes pricked with tears. She had made Elsa mad. She had made ELSA, the only person who mattered more than her family to her, whom she had never thought she would even speak to, mad. The wet handprint was still visible on Elsa's hoodie sleeve. This was the worst day of her life, and she wanted it to be over even though it had barely begun.
"You're worried. That's fine. But I can take care of..." Another deep breath, slower yet. "Of myself."
"Can you?"
"YES."
Anna's voice got so quiet she could barely hear it herself, heart pounding in her throat, the world pulsing and staring down at her from all angles, invisible eyes stabbing into her. "I just d-don't want anything bad to happen..."
"Nothing will. Goodbye."
But Elsa didn't leave. She turned to the door, put her hand on it, and took another of those bracing breaths. Anna needed to shut up; she NEEDED to.
She couldn't. Her parents had beaten into her that if you see someone needing help, you help them, even if they hate you for it. Period, no exceptions.
"Do you... need me to get you some medication?"
"Medication? No, I'm not on any." Elsa pulled at the door, but it only creaked open a few inches before Anna spoke again.
"What did you have for breakfast?"
This time, Elsa did turn back to glare at her again, her patience running out. "That's none of your business. I'm not giving you some story for your blog about what I ate for breakfast."
"You didn't have anything."
"What?!"
"Maybe I'm wrong!" Anna squeaked, pale as a sheet, legs so weak and head spinning so much that she knew she couldn't persist much more, no matter how strong her convictions. "J-just tell me you had something good, y-you don't even have to tell me wh-what it is, but tell me it was good, and... and I'll leave you alone forever. For the rest of my life, I won't even come to another concert, I'll just buy tickets and stay home."
Something about her random offer to buy tickets and stay home, which made no sense, seemed to prompt Elsa to stop and look at her. She didn't say anything, she merely watched Anna stand there for a moment, looked down slightly, then turned back to the door, pulling it open to leave.
"Say it," Anna said in a much quieter voice as they walked back into the main lobby of the restaurant. "Just say you had enough. I'll go, I promise."
"Stop," Elsa whispered, eyes wild as she looked around, heading for the front door now.
"I can't. I w-want to, and maybe I should, but I can't." People were beginning to stare, so she pushed the door open for Elsa to exit, and she did.
"Didn't you come in to order some coffee?" Elsa asked, hoping to get rid of her that way. But Anna was keeping pace. "Why are you doing this?!"
"Because if I let you go off when you can barely stand, I'll be the shittiest fan who ever existed!"
Finally, Elsa whirled to glare at her, having just taken out her phone; presumably to call a cab, or perhaps her personal driver. "I'm f..." She swooned where she stood, and Anna automatically caught her arm and hand before she could think about what she was doing - or who she was doing it for. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not. How much time do you have?"
"What? Oh... I don't... we should be on the road in thirty minutes."
"That's long enough. Come with me." When Elsa resisted, just enough to make it known but not truly enough to fight against Anna pulling her, she did stop. "Please?"
"Where are you taking me? I... listen, don't make me call the police!"
"There are plenty of police where we're going, if you'll just come. I promise, you can take my picture and message it to someone, whatever you want. But I promise before God and everybody I'm just trying to help."
The blonde stared at her for a few seconds. Anna was beginning to worry that she had somehow fallen asleep while standing up when she finally sighed, her shoulders drooping. "Fine. But I will take your picture, and I will send it to my agent. He's going to have you crucified upside-down if your intentions... are different than I believe they are."
"And how do you believe they are?" she asked automatically.
"I think you're trying to help me, no matter how bad I am at accepting it," Elsa muttered, almost to herself rather than to Anna. Then, louder, she said, "Lead the way."
Her smile both embarrassed and fierce at the same time, Anna Mayberry found herself leading the one and only Elsa over to her battered old Volvo. This was going to be an incredible story... that she could only tell Kristoff; no one else would believe her, anyway.
~ To Be Continued ~