"I wonder where Elsa is." Anna tapped her cell phone screen vigorously because this was the first time she couldn't reach her sister. She had tried calling her many times and she had also sent messages but to no avail. She even doubted that any of her messages had reached her sister.
"She's not answering any of my calls." She said again, and this time she got the attention of her mother who was sitting across from her at the small bar inside her bungalow.
"What do you need her for, Dear? Maybe I can help." Iduna asked softly. She knew how close her two daughters were, and she understood why her youngest could be a little upset when she couldn't hear from her sister. And she also knew how dependent Anna was on Elsa.
Anna stared at her mother for a moment before finally shrugging her shoulders.
"No, I just... wanted to check on her." Said Anna, getting serious with her cell phone again.
"Anna?" Suddenly, Agnarr appeared already in a suit. Apparently he was ready for the rehearsal dinner which would be held in a few hours.
"Dad?" Anna asked, for some reason a feeling of worry filled her heart because by looking at her father's expression, he came to see her because something was wrong. "What is it?"
"You arranged the orders for the rehearsal dinner?" Agnarr asked, standing next to his wife who could also guess that what he was about to say was a problem that somehow had to happen at this time.
"No, Kristoff did. Why?" And seeing her father take a deep breath, Anna's heart began to beat wildly.
"Well, there's been some confusion. The caterers are here now, and apparently, the vegan dinners... are chicken." Said Agnarr, thinking that there was no better and more polite way to say it than to say it directly even though that would definitely upset his daughter.
"What?! Kristoff was supposed to handle this!" Anna's voice was high pitched while Iduna grimaced at the thought of chicken as dinner for the vegan guests.
"Maybe you can give him a call-"
"I have been trying to text him for over an hour! There's no answer." Anna cut Iduna off. Cold sweat started to flow down her back thinking about how to solve this problem. But mostly, she started to get angry and disappointed because her future husband was so unreliable even on their wedding day.
Her attention was diverted when Ariel arrived carrying a paper bag that looked like a wedding gift from a guest.
"Ariel, have you seen Kristoff?" She asked, holding her breath, already prepared for whatever answer Ariel might give.
Ariel put the gift on the table and wondered why the atmosphere in the room feels different. She could feel the anger starting to radiate from Anna's face. "I saw him with the other groomsmen back at the Commodore Club. I'm sure he'll be back soon-"
"Unbelievable!" Anna threw her hands in the air almost throwing her cell phone up to the ceiling and started breathing rapidly, a sign that she was starting to panic.
"Anna, Anna... big breaths. In... and out..." Iduna tried to calm her daughter by guiding her to take a deep breath. Although slowly, Anna began to follow her deep and long breathing guide, and she thought that all of this would be easier if Elsa was here now. Where is Elsa now?
"Enjoying some of the wedding perks?" Jack asked, watching Elsa solemnly looking up at the sky, champagne glasses in their hands.
Jack was happy because it seemed like Elsa was enjoying this picnic. Previously, as soon as Elsa agreed to the idea of exploring the resort with him, the two of them went straight to the kitchen and grabbed sandwiches, snacks, a bottle of champagne, and some pieces of fruit.
Jack gave the idea of bringing cake too but Elsa glared at him and argued that they had already brought enough calories. And with a fake sullen face, Jack finally gave in and the two of them immediately went to a picnic spot near a small lake where a pair of ducks were swimming on a date.
"Think I'm starting to get the hang of it." Elsa answered, smiling even though she didn't look away from the sky.
Jack followed Elsa's gaze and when he saw the clouds, a question popped into his head. "What do you think that cloud looks like right there?"
Elsa squinted and stared at the cloud that Jack was referring to. Giggling, she waved her hand as it was an easy question. "Oh, obviously, it's a kidney."
"No, obviously, it's a gavel." Jack said confidently, making Elsa chuckle and shake her head.
"Everyone sees the world through their own filter. To cows, all they see is grass." Said Elsa, moving her hand referring to the expanse of green grass in front of them.
Jack thought for a moment and found that what Elsa said was true. So he raised his glass and said loudly, "that's true. To the cows, then."
Elsa laughed and raised her glass too. "To the cows."
After sipping champagne, the two fell into a calming silence. Elsa then looked at Jack and wondered how someone could leave a man who cared so much to others and even though she just realized it now, she thought Jack was a fun and loving person, to be with someone else. And because of that, she could say that Jack's ex-fiancé was someone who was at lost and was probably stupid.
If it were her, she would probably do things differently and she certainly wouldn't waste someone like Jack.
"Jack, I just want to say thank you." Elsa said suddenly, making Jack look at her with a confused frown.
"For what?"
"For reminding me to enjoy myself while I'm here."
Jack let out a silent 'ah' and smiled broadly. His efforts were not in vain. The lady next to him began to understand what it meant to have fun.
"You're welcome." He said. He then looked at Elsa, giving her a small smile. "Thank you, too."
And now it was Elsa's turn to frown in confusion. "For what?"
Jack averted his gaze and stared far ahead. "Well, I've spent the last three years splitting people apart. It's nice to actually play a small role in bringing people together. So thanks for roping me in."
They both laughed, feeling that a part of them had changed during their time together recently and they thought it was a good thing. Making them see things in a different light. And they actually loved it.
"And now that cloud looks like a bunny." Said Jack, pointing at a passing cloud with his champagne glass.
Elsa recognized the cloud and nodded in agreement. But then when she saw another wisp of cloud, she perked up and subconsciously grabbed Jack's arm and pulled him, clinging comfortably.
"Ooh! and that one looks like--"
"A heart!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time.
Elsa froze and then looked at Jack, who unexpectedly, smiled mischievously while wiggling his eyebrows, deliberately indicating that the two of them were almost hugging because she was still clinging comfortably in his arm.
"Oops, sorry. My fault! That is totally my fault." Elsa said, letting go of Jack's arm, unable to hide the sudden feeling of awkwardness. As for Jack, he just smiled and nodded.
"It is your fault." He joked, his heart twitching strangely seeing Elsa who was blushing red because of the small incident that had just happened.
"You know what? We should probably get to this rehearsal dinner." Elsa said, changing the subject. Unable to bear being stared at by Jack with that kind of gaze, she hurriedly busied herself looking for her cell phone in her pants pocket.
"I told my Mom I would set up the slideshow, and..." Elsa stopped talking and her eyes widened as she looked at her phone screen. "My phone is dead! My phone never dies!" She exclaimed, pressing the power button frantically.
"Hold on." Jack tried to calm Elsa, who was clearly starting to panic, but Elsa kept hitting the power button on her cellphone, hoping that her cellphone would suddenly turn on.
"What time do you have? What time?" Elsa finally asked, realizing her cell phone had run out of battery and wouldn't turn on unless she charged it.
Jack hurriedly took his cell phone out from his jeans pocket and looked at the time on the screen. "5:20. We kind of lost track of time."
"We're late! We're running late! We've got to go!" Elsa didn't think she would forget the time for that long. Therefore, she hurriedly put away her cell phone and immediately packed up their picnic items. Jack did the same thing. Both of them realized that they would be late for the rehearsal dinner if they didn't hurry up.
"Yes, we've got to go." Even though Jack felt guilty because the idea for the picnic was his, he felt that it was all worth it, because he and Elsa could spend time together without the hassle of wedding duties. And he didn't regret it one bit even if he had to miss the rehearsal dinner to be with this woman.
Her cell phone rang for who knows how many times. When she arrived at her bungalow, Elsa immediately charged her cellphone and then got ready. Took a quick shower, chose a dress and put it on without going in front of the mirror and just combed her hair so it wasn't messy. She didn't have time to do anything to her hair.
And when once again her cell phone rang, she grabbed one of her shoes and tried to put it on while removing the cell phone from its charger. Without even looking at the screen, she knew who was trying to call her.
"Anna? Forget? No! No, I'm coming down the hall right now! Yep!" She said, she grimaced feeling guilty for having to lie but she would try as quickly as possible to get to the place where the rehearsal dinner was being held.
"Oh, I know. I am so, so sorry that I missed the rehearsal, but no, I'm here. Yep, here I come." She grabbed her scarf, put her laptop in her bag, and was still trying to put on her other shoe while she talked on the phone.
And after the phone line was disconnected she ran out of the bungalow.
She just kept running and only slowed down to smile and nod when someone greeted her.
She was a master at wearing high heels, she could even run safely in them, but not when she had to climb stairs while still running in a hurry. She had to trip and make her shoe come off and fall down the steps. Too bad, she was not Cinderella.
Grunting, Elsa went back down the stairs and got her shoe.
When she arrived at the dinner venue, someone was giving a speech. She quickly scanned the room and managed to find Anna who was sitting at the same table with Kristoff, her parents and... Jack.
As soon as she approached the table, Jack was the first to notice her arrival. The two shared a knowing look but when she caught Jack was trying to suppress a mocking smile for making it there first, she glared at him as if to say, 'don't you dare talk'.
Suddenly Jack's smile disappeared and he tried to look away. But when Elsa looked away, he cleared his throat to cover his laughter.
"Hi!" Elsa patted Anna on the shoulder and when Anna turned to look at her, there was a moment of relief that radiated from her face even though afterwards an aura of stress enveloped her again.
"Where have you been?!" Anna asked, but Elsa didn't answer right away. She actually motioned for Anna to follow her.
"I am so sorry. I lost track of time." Said Elsa as soon as the two of them were at the table where Elsa would use the laptop for the slideshow.
"This rehearsal dinner, I mean, it's a disaster! Do you know that the vegan dinners are chicken? And Elsa, where have you been?! I couldn't reach you all afternoon." Anna shouted, she looked like she was almost crying and Elsa couldn't bear to see it.
Elsa grabbed her sister's hand, she couldn't possibly say that she went on a picnic with Jack and lost track of time. She decided not to answer that.
"Just take a deep breath." She said instead. She reassured her sister by gently squeezing her hand. "That's right. That's good... and relax."
"Now, go sit down. I'm going to get this fancy video out, going to entertain everybody." Elsa said after seeing her sister calm down, pointing to her laptop bag. And just like that, Anna's composure was again, lost.
"Kristoff's responsibility was the presentation! How could you be the one who made it?!" Anna exclaimed, she couldn't help but think that it wasn't just the vegan dinners that Kristoff had messed up but he had also thrown the responsibility of making the presentation onto her sister.
Elsa cursed under her breath, she didn't know that there were still problems going on and, they were related to her future brother-in-law. What really happened?
But she tried to stay calm, for her sister's sake.
"I can explain... but later. You go sit down, okay?" Elsa persuaded, slightly pushing Anna to return to her seat. And after Anna finally obeyed her words, she then put down her bag and took out her laptop.
And as soon as Anna sat down in her seat, she wasted no time and asked her future husband. She couldn't just let Kristoff abdicate his responsibilities and make Elsa do it.
"Kristoff, why did you pass the presentation on to Elsa?" She asked, her tone asking Kristoff to tell the truth, or he would be in trouble.
Hearing that question, Kristoff seemed stunned for a moment, in a bad way. But he quickly regained his expression and smiled broadly.
"Honey, relax, okay? She's got it, and you've got dessert coming. It's going to be great." Said Kristoff, kissing Anna on the cheek, leaving no room for argument because suddenly, someone cleared their throat and it turned out to be Iduna who was already on the podium and holding the microphone.
"Um... Hello, everybody. I'd like to welcome you all here, and, uh... before we have dessert, I'd just like to say how grateful I am that we are all here to celebrate the happy couple... Anna and Kristoff." Iduna stopped for a moment because the guests applauded loudly, except maybe the vegan guests.
And after the guests had calmed down, Iduna continued.
"And I have a very special treat for you, courtesy of the wonderful technical assistance of our multitalented Maid of Honor, my eldest daughter, Elsa, some beautiful moments and tender memories from the happy couple's lives, for your viewing pleasure... "
Iduna stopped because the giant television screen next to her still wasn't showing the video in question. She looked at Elsa meaningfully, but now when she paid her attention to Elsa, she realized that her daughter was a little confused staring at the laptop screen.
As for Elsa, as soon as her laptop turned on, because of her rush a moment ago, she frowned as she stared at her messy desktop. If previously she felt proud of her messy desktop, this time though, she wondered why she didn't organize her desktop before.
She tried to remember the name of Anna's presentation file she made, but all she could remember was something-slideshow. Meanwhile there were dozens of files which were also named something-slideshow.
Trying her luck, because everyone was waiting and curious, and also because her mother had asked her to immediately show the slideshow, Elsa clicked on one of the files.
"Uh... "
The slideshow did not show up.
"Els?" Iduna called, hoping that everything was okay because from where she was standing she could only see her daughter's back, who was still looking seriously at the laptop screen.
"Just one second!" Elsa exclaimed, just raising her hand without turning around. She was still trying to remember the file name but somehow she started to panic.
Iduna could hear the panic in her daughter's words. She felt something was wrong, but remembering where she was now, where everyone could see her, she tried to remain calm.
"Just a small technical glitch. Just a moment." Said Iduna with a smile that looked awkward, because some of the guests seemed to be getting impatient and some even started whispering to the people next to them.
Elsa then tried clicking another file and waiting for it to load. She also heard the guests starting to get rowdy. Grimacing, she seemed to have forgotten how to be calm. This was a very important event for her sister and she couldn't ruin it.
"Hurry... come on... Ah!" The momentary relief that Elsa felt when the file was loading disappeared as soon as she found out what slideshow was playing on the screen.
"This tutorial will cover recent innovations in bunion treatment as well as..." It was a video of someone's leg being held by a doctor. People's murmurs grew louder, except for Aunt Millie who looked interested in the video.
Elsa realized that it was the wrong video. She hurriedly tried to close it but it wouldn't close.
"Why isn't it working?" Elsa was still trying to close the video but it seemed like her laptop was frozen because the video wouldn't stop. Now the video showed an x-ray image of a person's feet.
"...A bunion presents typically as a bony prominence from realignment of the joint at the base of the toes..."
"This is wrong, this is wrong." Elsa became increasingly panicked because the guests' murmurs grew louder, she could even hear someone 'boo-ing' loudly.
"Treatment of bunions may include rest, icing, and orthotics..."
Anna was about to cry, seeing the whole rehearsal dinner become a mess. Iduna's awkward smile disappeared, and she wanted to quickly get off the podium. Meanwhile Jack, who hadn't taken his eyes off Elsa from the start, felt he needed to do something. The video should stop immediately.
"I'll see if I can help her." He said to Agnarr next to him who was grimacing in horror seeing someone's strangely shaped toes on the screen.
"...More drastic measures include medication and surgery."
Jack walked over to Elsa and as soon as he reached her side, Elsa turned around, still with a panicked face.
"I clicked the wrong file!" Elsa exclaimed, still trying to close the video but to no avail.
"What happened?" Jack bent down and looked at the laptop screen carefully.
"Oh, my gosh. Oh. Oh... I clicked... I don't know! I'm... trying to..." Elsa stuttered trying to explain. At this time she didn't know why all this could happen. Why could she be this careless? At a very important event for her sister.
Jack was not a computer expert. But he was still a man who sometimes had quick ways to stop things. Even if by force. So he grabbed the cable connecting the laptop and television, and unplugged it. And finally the television screen went black.
"There, does it work?" Asked Jack, holding the cable high in the air.
"I think it worked." Elsa said, feeling really down because she had messed up the slideshow. She held her forehead and stared limply at her lap.
"Yeah." Said Jack, nodding slowly. He put the cable back and was about to say something whe he heard Kristoff screaming for Anna. Apparently the bride had left the building. While the guests were silent seeing what happened.
"Anna..!" Kristoff called loudly, but it was too late, Anna had disappeared behind the closed door. But of course he ran after her.
"It's not so bad, right?" Jack asked, trying to cheer up Elsa.
"It's so bad." Elsa muttered, of all the days, why did she have to make a mistake today? Everything was going smoothly before this, she was always able to solve problems. But now? She had succeeded in causing trouble.
"Somebody didn't notice." Jack glanced at Aunt Millie who was casually taking off her shoes and observing whether she had bunions or not.
"That was so bad. Everyone noticed." Elsa knew Jack was only trying to cheer her up, but she knew better that she had failed to carry out one wedding duty well.
"Anna, I am so sorry. This whole fiasco is all my fault. I should've planned more for my presentation." Elsa said, after Anna was willing to talk.
After leaving the rehearsal dinner, Anna locked herself in her bungalow and only an hour later did she want to come out. And that was because Elsa kept knocking on the door and asking her to open it.
"No, the presentation was Kristoff's responsibility, and the catering, and he failed at them both!" Anna explained, of course she couldn't be angry with Elsa because none of this would have happened if Kristoff had done his duties well.
"Hey... " Kristoff walked over followed by Jack from behind. His face conveyed various emotions, which Anna couldn't guess. But she still felt annoyed by what had happened, especially because of Kristoff's indifference to his duties.
"So Elsa did need help!" Anna blurted out immediately, not caring about Kristoff's greeting.
"I... was busy-"
"Doing what?! Hanging out with your groomsmen?!"
"No... I mean, technically, yes, but..."
"Look, Anna, I think you've got this all wrong." This time Jack interrupted, feeling the need to help his friend. "Kristoff has a really good reason for being away." He added.
Anna couldn't understand how Jack could defend Kristoff and for now she was still too annoyed to think further.
"Why does everybody keep making excuses for him?!" Anna asked in disbelief. She then left, and tried to find another place to calm down.
"Anna! Anna!" Kristoff rushed after Anna while Jack approached Elsa and stood beside her. He then put his hands in his trouser pockets and let out a long sigh.
"Huuft... Weddings, they... really bring out the best in people." Jack said quietly, looking sadly at the direction Anna and Kristoff had disappeared.
He then walked away leaving Elsa who felt even more guilty because she felt she could have done much better than this.
"This is not good. The bride has melted down. She's been upset with me all week. Maybe I should just tell her the truth?" Kristoff said, after he and Jack were in a quiet place and made sure that no one could hear their conversation.
"That is not a good idea." Jack said, shaking his head no.
"Okay, but should I be taking advice from a divorce attorney?"
"Funny. Kristoff, I'm your Best Man, and I'm your best friend. It's my advice."
"Honey, I am so sorry, but this will all be over tomorrow... in a good way!" Even though Elsa herself still felt down because of what had happened, she still tried to cheer up her sister when she took Anna back to her bungalow, later that night.
"I just don't think I can go through with this wedding." Anna said weakly, her hand grabbed the doorknob and her head bowed languidly.
"Oh, Anna, it'll be okay. Just go inside. Relax. I will check in on you later, okay?" Elsa knew that what was weighing on her sister's mind was how her future husband had behaved recently and she couldn't imagine Anna canceling the wedding because she felt that she no longer had faith in her future husband.
But still, she felt like she had a hand in this. If only she could do that slideshow better.
Elsa didn't feel tired or sleepy, didn't feel hungry or thirsty even though the last time she ate was when she went on a picnic with Jack this afternoon. She still kept wondering how she couldn't do better and how she could fix this.
Longing for fresh air, she came out of the club patio and walked back and forth in the resort yard area near the parking lot. But after a while, she saw Jack walking over. And from the look in his eyes she could guess what Jack was going to say and she already knew how she would answer.
"I took my eye off the ball." Elsa exclaimed before Jack could say anything.
"It's not so bad. It could have been a lot worse." Said Jack, concerned to see Elsa blaming herself so much.
"Yeah, yeah... I could have clicked on the nose job presentation." Said Elsa, tightening her scarf because the air was getting colder at night.
"And in my efforts to try and help everyone, I ended up ruining everything. I let down my sister, and you want to know the icing on the cake? I sabotaged any chance... any chance of that fellowship."
"Just a sec... the fellowship?" Jack interrupted, he didn't understand how this had anything to do with the fellowship Elsa was trying to get.
"Yeah! I didn't exactly wow Dr. Hastings with my organizational skills." Elsa answered, this kind of possibility kept appearing and everything that might be fine, this time she thought otherwise. That's what she did, overthinking everything.
"Elsa, I think this is all in your head. This has nothing to do with your qualifications!" Jack said seriously, he didn't want Elsa to think too badly about herself. What she did earlier was indeed a mistake, but that wasn't the end of everything.
"And you want to know the worst of it? I botched the wedding." She said again, not wanting to hear what Jack was trying to convince her.
Jack was increasingly confused because Elsa was talking back and forth, essentially blaming herself too much. He didn't want her to do that.
"Okay, look, it is wonderful how much you take care of everybody else, but I think..."
"Thank you..." Elsa interrupted, she knew that Jack was just trying to cheer her up but for now she still really felt down, and honestly she wanted a moment to be with her thoughts. But she also really appreciated Jack's presence because somehow, she felt comfortable when she was around him. She was so confused right now.
"And really, the silver lining in all of this is that you have just proven yourself to be a really great guy, and I..." Elsa's words were cut short when she suddenly heard the sound of a car door closing and when she turned her gaze towards where the sound came from, she was shocked beyond belief.
"Hans?!"
to be continued...