Chapter 28

A/N: Do me a favor if you could. Listen to "Strangers Again" by Against the Current, and then read Chapter 26, and then tell me that doesn't sound at least 80% like Elsa's situation. Also, listen to the song because it's a good song.

In terms of cleanliness and upright clientele, the Last Stop wouldn't be anyone's first choice for a bar, which made it the perfect place for a discrete meeting. This watering hole in South Arendelle had seen better days, the foundation had peeled away year after year, leaving the building a sickly gray color, with the flickering neon sign it's only form of vibrancy. It's clientele consisted of dock workers, old men trying to remember their glory days, and the occasional biker gang. If you wanted to go somewhere where no one cared who you were, this was the place to be.

Even so, Elsa took every precaution before coming here. She wiped off all her makeup, changed into an unassuming pair of sweatpants and a black hoodie, and made Marshall circle around the place a few times just to make sure they weren't being tailed.

She had been in the public eye for far too long today, and wanted just a couple hours of invisibility. Besides, the more people noticed her, the less productive this meeting with Mr. Arendelle was going to be.

The annoyingly dim lighting was still enough for Elsa to find the gentleman, wearing a wrinkled white shirt and an untangled tie, sitting at the wooden bar with a bottle of scotch ¾ full. She sidestepped the heavily depressed and inebriated patrons before sliding on to a faded leather barstool. The bartender, a surly man with an eyepatch and goatee was listlessly wiping down a glass, and asked her for her order.

"Whiskey, leave the bottle." she replied without hesitation.

The bartender grunted and brought her a scratched-up glass and a full bottle of whiskey. To her left, tMr. Arendelle chuckled, "I see someone finally opened their gift."

Elsa smiled and poured the light-brown liquor into her cup, "Don't get too excited, old man, it tasted like crap." She took a sip and felt that familiar burning sensation in her throat, although it didn't sting as much this time. Maybe she was getting used to the taste, or maybe this bottle wasn't as strong as the one she downed in her depressed stupor a couple months ago.

Wow, had it really only been a couple months?

Seeing right through her lie, the wily man poured another drink for himself and gestured it towards Elsa, "I told you, guessing people's drink of choice is my superpower. And the minute I saw you, I knew you were a whiskey girl." He downed his drink in one gulp, and let out a satisfied sigh, "Nice getup, by the way, totally doesn't make you look like a college senior."

Elsa frowned, "I was going to the gym after this anyway."

"After downing half a bottle of whiskey? Yeah, tell me how that works out."

"I'm not gonna drink…" Elsa sighed, poured one more drink, and pushed the bottle away, "It's been a rough day."

Mr. Arendelle nodded; with 20+ years of experience at ArenCorp under his belt, of course he understood what Elsa was going through. "So, you finally met Hans Westerguard. He's not what you'd call a...people person, is he?"

"Oh I think he's definitely a people person…" Elsa paused to down her drink, "...and that's the scary thing. I'm convinced he could put five stores out of business tomorrow, and all he'd have to do is put on that perfect, sickening smile of his and no one would know. He's dangerous, Adrien."

"Hey, code names only." Mr. Arendelle warned her, shifting his eyes towards the half-conscious barflies.

Ms. Andersen rolled her eyes, "You and your weird freaking rules, Clyde."

The former CEO of ArenCorp had taken a liking to the young businesswoman when she became regional manager, and after seeing her uncanny knack for foresight and intense drive to make a name for herself. Through periodic meetings across five set meeting places, they struck up a pseudo-internship. After only a few meetings in, Elsa could tell that Adrien was trying to groom her to be the next CEO, but wanted to keep things under wraps so as to not be accused of blatant favoritism. As a result, she abided in his ridiculous rules so as to keep learning all she could from one of the greatest minds in the business world.

No one knew about these meetings- although the board members had their suspicions- and he wanted to keep it that way.

"But yes, I agree with you. I have seen many people in this industry who will do whatever it takes to get to the top." She tipped her half-empty glass towards Elsa, "Case in point. However, I've only seen a handful of cases like Mr. Westerguard. I have a couple theories as to how he's gotten this far, and none of them are good."

"Yeah? Care to enlighten me?" Elsa asked, eager for any information she could use against Hans.

Mr. Arendelle put up his right index finger. "The first theory is that he's merely a figurehead as someone else in the shadows does all the work for him. Maybe even multiple people, all in agreement that Mr. Westerguard gives them the best public image. However, considering that he got his start in the Southern Isles, and knowing the iron grip the Westerguard family has on that island, that theory doesn't hold too much weight."

"Couldn't his family be the people behind the scenes, and using him as their figurehead?" Elsa reasoned.

"I thought of that too, but considering his father's...self-righteous personality, and the fact that he pretty much owns half the Southern Isles, he'd want to see to the family's expansion into Arendelle himself. And from what we do know from his countless interviews, this seems to be a solo venture for Hans."

"Hmm, okay...well what's the second theory?"

Mr. Arendelle put up another finger, "The second theory is that Hans isn't as squeaky clean as everyone thinks he is."

Elsa looked at him unamused; of course he wasn't squeaky clean, everybody knew that. She opened her mouth to reply.

"I know, you've already gathered that much." Adrien continued before she could speak, "What I mean is that the biggest reason he's had so much success is because he's been making sure that there's no competition to begin with. If you don't play ball, he makes sure to break your legs so you can never play again." He sighed, "And I wish I meant that metaphorically."

"Wait...so, you're suspecting foul play? Like some mafia style beatdowns to get people to comply to his demands?"

He nodded, "I've seen something like this once before, back when I was on a business trip to Agrabah. The man I was making a deal with drunkenly told me that he would send these 'special enforcers' to shops that were late on payments or didn't want to pay a 'protection fee'. Left a lot of broken bones and burnt down homes in his wake. Don't worry, he was fired soon after I left...I may or may not have had a hand in that."

Elsa wrung her hands, laying flat on the faded wooden bar counter, together as the former CEO forewarned her, "And you think Hans is capable of getting to that level of brutality?"

"Honestly? He might already be there."

Well crap.

Elsa resisted the urge to grab the whiskey bottle again, despite her nerves going into overdrive. Who exactly was she dealing with?

"That doesn't...sound good." She said, not even trying to feign confidence. "What do you suggest I do then?"

Adrien poured another drink and scratched his unkept beard, "The best thing you can do is the one thing no one has been able to: defy him. You need to defy his expectations, show him that you're better than him, smarter than him, and when he swings at you- metaphorically speaking, obviously- you won't flinch."

He paused to take a drink, "Aggression makes people sloppy, but it also makes them dangerous. He will keep expanding Corona, snatching up contracts, and forcing people's hands to make a deal, until the only place left to conquer is ArenCorp. You need to make sure that doesn't happen. And you gotta do it fast."

Elsa nodded, most of what he told her she already knew, but it was nice to know that her suspicions were confirmed by someone else. Now came the hard part, figuring out how to put away Hans, this volatile maniac, before he hurt anyone else, before he hurt her company.

The task ahead made her feel uneasy, and she needed some time to clear her head after everything that happened today. "Thanks for this, A...Clyde. These meetings always help a lot." she said as she fished a few dollar bills out of her pocket and placed them on the counter.

"Any time." Adrien replied. He took another drink as Elsa walked behind him, and laughed to himself a little before she got too far. "By the way, I saw the press conference. Good call to not tell them anything about your secret girlfriend."

Elsa frowned, "She's not my secret...ugh, you suck."

In terms of cleanliness and upright clientele, the Grease Trap wouldn't be anyone's first choice for a restaurant, let alone a food truck; which made it the perfect place to grab a super late dinner without worrying about someone noticing you. The loud, yellow truck, illuminated under the lights of the gas station it was parked in, was a popular spot in South Arendelle for college students, mean drunks, and people that just wanted something cheap and greasy. Anna fit one of those criteria, and Hannah- who dragged her here- fit another one.

As Hannah ordered for the both of them, Anna sat on the hood of Rapunzel's car and looked cautiously at everyone there. So far, only two people recognized her and gave her dirty looks, the rest either didn't know her or didn't care. Had it not been for the occasional camera flash off in the distance, Anna would have enjoyed this moment of near anonymity.

"Screw them." Hannah said, joining her on the hood with two white paper bags. "They're just jealous cause your life is way more interesting than theirs. Here, they didn't have any pineapple so I hope a regular burger is fine."

Anna grabbed her bag and immediately unwrapped the burger inside, "It's more than fine, thanks for this, Hannah." Today had been a busier day than usual and she barely had time to eat, plus the thought of eating in front of so many cameras didn't sit well with her. She took a bite and groaned, "Uh muh gush, is suh guh!"

Hannah laughed, "I told you, the Grease Trap never disappoints, except for when Sleazy Kyle's working." She took a bite out of her own burger, but swallowed it first before continuing her thought. "And even then, as long as you ignore his gross comments, you still get one of the best burgers in town."

The two ate in silence, save for the blaring generator, and the obese food truck workers yelling out orders, and the camera flash off in the distance from the lone paparazzi that followed them here. Maybe it was the hunger, or the overwhelming, delicious smell of meat and smoke, or both, but it was one of the best meals Anna had ever eaten. True to its name, however, it was also one of the greasiest; after downing her burger and fries with impressive speed, she felt like taking a shower.

Once she used a forest's worth of napkins to wipe her hands, she spoke again, "How does Elsa cope with all these people watching her all the time? Like ick, it feels so sleazy."

Hannah shrugged, fishing into her bag for any stray fries, "Honestly, she just kinda pretends they're not there. She doesn't even look in their direction, or answer any of their questions, she just keeps walking. It's a little cool to see sometimes, especially when someone asks her a super personal question, or when some weirdo asks for her hair or something."

"People ask for her hair?!"

"Yup, I've seen a lot of weird shit working for her." Hannah reached into her bag to grab more fries, and then looked down at it disappointingly when it wouldn't cough up any more. She crumpled up the bag and sighed, "I guess I gotta be prepared to see more of that starting tomorrow."

Anna nodded, the main reason Hannah brought her here tonight was to celebrate getting her internship back. And with the semester ending in a month, she desperately needed those last couple hours. "You excited?" she asked.

The brunette looked down, running her hands along the forest green hood, "I'm...not sure. I mean it was really nice hearing Elsa apologize to me, let alone rehire me- and I want to believe that things will be different now, but there's still like this awkwardness and tension there. You understand, right?"

"Of course I do." Anna replied, she understood that better than anybody.

"Plus, the way things ended between us...I don't know if we can just move past that."

"Hey, me and Elsa dated for four years until I broke her heart, and now we're...well I think we're okay, at least. I'm sure you two can work through whatever happened just as well." Anna said optimistically, trying to also reassure herself that she and Elsa were fine. After all, it had only been a day since they decided to not be strangers anymore. As far as Anna knew, Elsa may have changed her mind about that.

What she wouldn't give to have some way of contacting her…

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Hannah said hopefully, "Maybe I'm just blowing things out of proportion. Besides, even if things go down the toilet right away, I just need to work there for a couple more days, and I'll meet my hour requirements, and all I have to focus on is graduating."

She tossed her paper bag into a nearby trash can, and watched as it bounced on the rim before falling inside. Anna did the same, and smirked when it swished right in.

"Show off." Hannah muttered, "Anyway, enough about me and Elsa. Let's talk about you and Elsa."

A camera flashed at that exact moment, perfectly capturing the dumbfounded look on Anna's face. As she blinked away the bright spots behind her eyes, she stammered out her response, "Ah, wh-whu...you...whatcha mean by that?"

Hannah raised her eyebrow, but didn't say anything about Anna's reaction, "I mean you told me that you and Elsa were gonna start talking again, did you already start? You guys stay on the phone for hours like a couple of teenage girls?"

Anna laughed as if she was amused Hannah's joke, but really it was to shake off the nerves. "It's only been a day. And I don't…" she trailed off.

Hannah leaned in closer, "You kinda mumbled that last part. What did you say, Anna?"

"I said…" Anna sighed, "I said I don't actually know how to contact her."

"Uh, what do you mean?"

Now visibly, Anna ran her hands through her red hair, and looked down, "I mean I can't call her because she changed her number, and she stopped using any social media years ago so I can't contact her through there, and she probably gets like a hundred emails a day so I don't wanna bug her through there, either. So, in conclusion, I have no way to contact her." She decided to leave out the part about relying on fate to bring them back into contact, just like it had brought them together so many times before.

You know, so she didn't sound like a lunatic.

Unfortunately, Hannah was already looking at her like she was a lunatic. "Anna, that's ridiculous."

"Yeah, well…" Anna said, not actually having anything to say as a rebuttal.

"First of all, she does have an Instagram, although it's private, she only posts about work, and she puts the most boring captions ever." Hannah rolled her eyes before continuing, "Second of all, she gets maybe half that amount of emails everyday, and I answer a lot of them. And third of all…"

She took her phone out of her pocket, "I have Elsa's new number. Like her personal number. Did you want it?"

Immediately, Anna opened her mouth to say of course, she absolutely wanted Elsa's new number. But then she realized that saying yes right away would make her sound desperate, so she, mid-thought, changed her response to no. But because of the mixed signals she was sending to her brain, while she was in the process of forming words out of her face, her actual response was something along the lines of "Oooaah….noooo…"

"I...I'm not sure what that was. Did you just say no?"

"No! I-I mean, I sorta did say no but I didn't really mean it, I was just trying to respond but I didn't know what to say, but my mouth wasn't communicating with my brain and she tried to take the wheel- yes, my mouth is a girl, so is my brain- and it just, you know, word...vomit…"

"Word vomit." Hannah repeated, letting Anna hear how ridiculous she sounded.

"Y...yes...word vomit." Anna shook her head, " Anyway, I don't know if I want her number. Like I wanna say yes, because it'll make this whole thing so much easier, but I don't wanna bug her so much. She's probably already got so much on her mind, and I don't know if she'll even have time to talk, and I'm sure she only gave you that number for emergencies, and I don't even know what to say and-"

"I just texted you her number."

"And I-I-you...you what?!"

Hannah put her phone back in her pocket and shrugged, "You weren't making any sense, you just kinda kept talking yourself out of it even though I could tell by the look on your face that you wanted it. Anna, you were eyeing my phone like it was a piece of steak."

"But-but you asked-"

"I know I asked if you wanted her number or not, but this is like your only chance to actually talk to her on a regular basis. No offense, and I say this out of love, but not taking her number would be the dumbest thing you've ever done."

Anna pouted, both from realizing that she was being way more obvious than she thought she was, and from the fact that she immediately thought of five more things she'd done that were way dumber than this. "Well, I still don't know what to say to her."

Hannah smacked her arm, not hard enough to bruise, but enough to try and get her thinking clearly, "Are you freaking kidding me?! I once saw you talk to a janitor for five minutes about ballroom dancing. And with all the history between you and Elsa, you're telling me you can't think of one thing to talk about? You could start by saying 'Hi', or ask how her day was, heck talk about the weather. I'm sure you can stretch that conversation for five minutes too."

"I mean, it wouldn't be that hard." she mumbled.

"Your problem isn't that you don't know how to get in touch with her, or that you don't know what to say, you're just super nervous about finally having a conversation with her that doesn't end in screaming or someone's feelings getting hurt."

Sometimes, Anna forgot that Hannah wasn't just a Communications major because it would get her a job anywhere once she graduated. This was one of those times. Everything the impossibly wise 21-year old told her was true, this was a path that Anna and Elsa hadn't been down in a while, and it was terrifying.

But despite the fear, despite the nervousness, Anna was determined to keep them from being strangers again; and she was going to hold on to that no matter what.

Anna stared at her phone, the text message from Hannah with Elsa's number on it was the only thing she could see on her lock screen. She let out a shaky breath, shaking off her nerves in the process, "You're right, I'm being an idiot. I just gotta talk to her, and I've already done that like a billion times."

Hannah clapped her hands together, "That's the spirit! Now…" She scooched closer towards Anna and looked at her eagerly, "...what are you gonna say to her?"