That was probably not the right place to start off. I mean, the point was, that was not typical Elsa, so not a good first impression. “Good” as in “accurate”. It was good as far as I’m concerned. It practically gave me chills.

Mufasa Mufasa Mufasa 😜

So here’s what my first impression of her was. It was my first day at work, so I was in the break room going through a thick stack of new-hire paperwork. At the next table over is this beautiful woman sitting quietly and reading her Kobo. I never notice posture but she has great posture, you know? Oh, and she has thick blond hair in a braid, smooth pale skin you want to stroke just to see if it’s real - and by “you” I mean “me” - and is generally beautiful and perfect.

Now I’m trying not to notice, or stare, or anything. Partly because I promised myself I was focusing on college and not my love life - hey, a girl going to college to experiment with NOT having sex with a woman! - and partly not to be creepy. But I get afraid that ignoring her is creepy, too. So I say, “Hi, I’m new hire. I’m Anna,” and I put out my hand.

“Elsa,” says Elsa, and shakes my hand. And I realize I’m grinning an idiot and I hope she thinks it’s because I’m being friendly and not because her hand feels *so good*.

So I take my hand back and try to say something. I wave one of my braids at her. “Braid club!” Which is possibly the stupidest stupid I ever stupided. And I stupid A LOT.

And she did the most amazing thing. Well, the amazing stuff is what she didn’t do, which includes laughing, rolling her eyes, or freezing me out. She waved the tip of her braid back at me.

So I said, “I’m sorry. I act like a dork when I’m nervous. That is, more of a dork.”

She just let all that glide past and said, “I like your hair. Do you always wear it that way?”

“It’s my signature look. But I’m thinking of changing for something grown up. You know, college.”

“Please don’t,” she said.

“Um, okay,” I said, and - she’s not the demonstrative type, but I noticed this - she gave me a grateful little smile. Grateful! Like my stupid braids are important to her.

And she goes back to reading, I go back to filling out forms, and that’s it. Maybe I was reading into it, but it didn’t feel like she was withdrawing, or ignoring me. It felt like everything was okay, so why make a fuss? And I liked it.