Chapter Twenty-Two

The Grand Arendelle Hotel towered over the western side of the city, with its thirty floors reaching high into the sky- boasting a gorgeous view in all directions- and the large, golden visible from miles away. It had a massive, gated pool and spa area, two fitness centers on the first and fifteenth floors, numerous conference rooms, and an extravagant ballroom with hardwood flooring, an arched, marble ceiling, and painted ivory with splashes of purple and green.

Tonight, that ballroom- along with the kitchen, and two of the conference rooms- would be host to the "Helping Hands Biennial", the official name of the party for the employees of ArenCorp and Corona International to celebrate their partnership. Corona was one of Arendelle's neighboring cities, and with the hotel in West Arendelle being so close to the border, it made for the perfect middle ground for both sides, and furthered the spirit of compromise and camaraderie. Special banners were made that merged the logos of both companies, like two sigils of neighboring kingdoms, with a tri-color design of purple, gold, and green, and they were hung all across the ballroom.

These three colors were also important parts of the dress code for every employee, no matter where they worked; going all out wasn't a requirement, but whatever they wore needed to at least be accentuated with one or all of the three colors. Instead of dreading this requirement, the employees actually enjoyed the change of pace from the stuffy dress codes of typical "office parties", and embraced the color palate.

This joyful, party of consummate professionals felt like a welcoming, soberer, Mardi Gras celebration.

And Elsa didn't feel joyful, welcomed, or professional.

All the faces she saw as she walked into the hotel lobby, so inviting and content with their night, turned into confusion and poorly masked disapproval once they saw the dress and who was wearing it. More than once did she overhear someone question her validity and tact as a CEO. She felt exposed, placed under a microscope, and wanted to get this night over with as fast as possible, or at the very least distract herself from her impending tasks.

Both proved nearly impossible, as she couldn't escape the pleasantries, the polite smiles and sickening amounts of small talk that she had to commit to with everyone she saw- ignoring the "subtle" glances at her chest from the men and the slightly upturned noses from the women- and the opening speech she had to give at the beginning of the party, the most generic one she had given since the festival.

Elsa was grateful to finally have all eyes off her for the time being once she finished her speech and everyone went back to their own affairs. She turned on the tracker on her phone, feeling the steady pulsing in her hand, and boldly stepped onto the ballroom floor to continue the small talk; ignoring the sideways glances, ignoring the snarky comments, and ignoring the timeframe she was operating under.

But soon, she felt as if she was drowning in an ocean of "Hello's", and "Great party, Ms. Andersen's", and the lifeguard was her blackmailer, taunting her at shore as they slowly pulled the life preserver away. The only thing she could do was wade through the conversations, not get discouraged by the lack of direction from the tracker, and hold on to her steadily declining hope.

Anna knew that she had more than just serving desserts to worry about tonight, and she knew that amidst the festivities was a vat of tension threatening to boil over in the next few hours, and yet she couldn't help but be swept up by the pageantry of the Helping Hands Biennial.

She was always a big sucker for parties and extravagant events like this; as a kid, when she wasn't dreaming of being a baker, she dreamt that she was a princess who had parties every week in her honor. "Princess Anna of Arendelle", she would say in an exaggerated, regal voice as she descended the staircase of her childhood home.

From the live band on stage playing a familiar jazz waltz, to the large banners that looked ripe for climbing, to the intermingling aromas of the different foods prepared by chefs from all over Arendelle and Corona, she was the closest she'd ever been to her dream.

But as the kitchen door closed, and the picture faded from view, she snapped back into reality.

Her reality.

On the bright side, her reality included her other dream. The kitchen of the Grand Arendelle Hotel was nothing to scoff at; it was double, maybe triple, the size of her bakery and she and her staff stayed out of the way of the other staff well enough, and carved out their own corner of the kitchen. Once situated, it was all work and no play, wanting to ensure that the guests would fully satiate their sweet tooth.

And while Anna was still eternally grateful for the opportunity to be here…

"Hey, Anna, you alright?"

Anna shook her head, and nodded at Hannah, who was holding a tray of chocolates and eyeing her wearily. "Yeah…yeah I'm doing okay."

"Well don't get too distracted, alright? We've got a job to do." Hannah replied before heading out the door, letting Anna get another quick glance at the ballroom.

After overhearing Flynn's plan, Anna relied on Hannah for more information, wanting to make sense of everything she heard. After merciless prodding, Hannah told her everything that she knew; about the first email that Elsa got, about the video, about all the things that Elsa was forced to do, and how the whole ordeal was what finally caused Hannah to leave. It was revealing to say the least, and it honestly left Anna with more questions than answers; but by the end of the conversation it was clear what they had to do, what she had to do.

"I have to tell Elsa about this, I have to tell Elsa who's blackmailing her." Anna declared.

"How are you going to do that? And how are you going to make her believe you?" Hannah asked.

"I'll…talk to her at the party. It'll be the next best opportunity I've got aside from going straight up to her office and telling her, and I've got no time for that." Anna fiddled with the mug of hot chocolate in her hands, biting her lip. "And she'll- I mean she'll have to believe me, right? As far as she knows, I know nothing about this, so she has no reason not to trust me."

" I mean, given your history…"

Anna rolled her eyes, "Look, her job is on the line, which means that my job is on the line, and Rapunzel's. Which means that this problem is now my problem too, so if Elsa doesn't believe me…then I'll just have to make her."

Hannah looked away, pursing her lips. There was nothing but silence between the two for a few seconds, until finally Hannah sighed, "Well…you seem pretty set on this plan, but if you're gonna do this then you'll need help."

Masquerading as a caterer- although still being paid for the job by Anna- Hannah tasked herself with being Anna's eyes in the ballroom. Since Anna would be needed in the kitchen for the majority of the night, she couldn't spend a lot of time searching for Elsa herself, so Hannah being out there would be a big help. When she got word of Elsa's location, Anna would rush out of the kitchen and make a beeline for her.

The waiting made Anna grow restless, however- it was already bad enough that both of her friends were out there and she wasn't- and she poured all her energy into her work to distract herself.

"Riley, help me roll out some dough, our croissant supply is looking pretty flimsy." Anna slammed a ball of dough down onto her floury workstation, and flattened it out with her rolling pin.

Until Hannah found Elsa, Anna kept at it. After all, she had a job to do.

"This has been a wonderful party, Ms. Andersen. I've thoroughly enjoyed myself, every visit to Arendelle has always been a great experience."

"Thank you, sir, I'm glad that you've found the party to your liking."

"Yes, and I hope that it's not too out of line to say that you look absolutely stunning, tonight. For a second, I forgot I was talking to the CEO of ArenCorp and not, say, a runway model."

"Haha, thank you. I appreciate the compliment." Elsa replied, even though she knew it wasn't one.

Through a painted-on, courteous smile, Elsa ran the gauntlet of polite conversations and greetings, suffering through the seemingly hundreds of people complimenting the party and making a "tasteful" joke about her dress all in the same breath. Yet, with the bulk of the partygoers attended to and conversed with, she was still nowhere near close to finding her culprit.

For a while, she wondered if the tracker was defective, it'd be just her luck if it was. Every slight change in the cadence of the vibrations kept her hope alive, but she soon realized it may have just been her mind playing tricks on her. The tracker was vibrating pitifully slow, as it had been since the beginning of the night.

She took a much-needed break at the refreshments table to grab a glass of water, nod politely at anyone that made eye contact with her, glare at those who didn't do well to hide their wandering eyes, and rethink her plan. Clearly, walking all around the ballroom talking to everybody, and waiting for the vibrations to pick up, wasn't working; she needed to find the one person that had the most suspicion around them, she needed to find Hannah. And with the meeting in less than an hour, she needed to find her fast.

So far, Elsa hadn't seen any sight of her, but with this much needed time away from the mass of people, and the vantage point near the back of the ballroom, she could focus all her efforts on finding her.

She didn't see her near the band, who was taking a break as well; she didn't see her at any of the other plastic tables full of refreshments and desserts; she didn't see her talking up any of the rich guests from Corona either.

Then, as if fate was finally cutting her some slack, she locked eyes with a brunette from across the room in a caterer's uniform, picking up an empty metal tray. They only looked at each other for a second, but a second was all Elsa needed to know that she had found her.

Judging by the uniform, she must have come here with Anna, which meant the kitchen would be the one place Hannah would keep coming back to. Elsa needed to make her way there, and either settle the doubt in her mind, or finally confront her blackmailer.

But before she could take a step towards the kitchen, she was stopped by a jolly, booming voice calling out her name.

"Ah, Elsa, there you are!"

She turned around to see a man whose grin was as wide as the rest of his pear-shaped body, moseying his way with arms outstretched. He wore a plum-colored coat with gold buttons and cufflinks, a black vest underneath, and a snow-white cravat around his neck. To the general public, the jolly, good-natured man was known as Mr. Michelsen, but Elsa knew him by another name.

She smiled her first genuine smile of the night as she exchanged a polite hug with the man, noticing his ginger hair had thinned a bit more since she saw him last. "Kai, it's so good to see you again! I don't understand though, shouldn't you be getting ready for the meeting?"

"Oh dear, wanting to get rid of me already?" Mr. Michelsen chuckled, "Now don't you worry about me, I came to find you to prepare you for the meeting. But before we get down to business, you are going to help me find those chocolates everyone's been raving about all night. I've kept an eye out for every caterer here, but those sneaky devils continue to elude me. The chocolates, mind you, not the caterers. Come along now, Elsa."

"Me? Why do you need my help?" Elsa asked.

"Well you planned this party, didn't you? That means there's no bigger expert on tonight's affairs than you!" he replied as he entered the crowd.

Elsa wanted to say that just because she planned everything out didn't mean she had eyes everywhere and knew where everything would be at all times, especially the chocolate, but Mr. Michelsen said he wanted to prepare her for the meeting, and she knew better than to question the CEO of Corona International, and her favorite former professor. Even if that meant losing precious time trying to find Hannah.

In her bleak time at North Mountain, she could count the things that made her close to happy on one hand, and one of those things was being in Mr. Michelsen's class. He taught with such passion and knowledge that only came from years being a CEO, and despite it not being allowed, he always picked favorites, and Elsa was one of them. She credited a lot of what she learned from Kai, and he was one of the driving forces for her to pursue a job at ArenCorp and progress as fast as she did.

So, although she was in a bit of a rush, she also wanted to savor the time she had with, for all intents and purposes, her mentor before they had their meeting. Besides, there was something in his tone that made her think that what he had to say was terribly important.

"Kai, you said you wanted to prepare me for the meeting, what does that mean? I've been going over the talking points so much I've pretty much got them memorized; and besides, this is going to be an informal meeting anyway, right?"

"Elsa, I assure you I will answer all of your questions as soon as we find those chocolates. You know me and my sweet tooth." Kai grinned at Elsa, telling her to trust him, and also that this quest would go faster if she helped him.

Elsa shrugged and placed her focus on both following Kai and finding the chocolate. In no time at all, she spotted a tray of chocolates coming out of the kitchen, unfortunately not being carried out by Hannah, it looked like she wouldn't be able to kill two birds with one stone. Nonetheless, she tapped her former professor on the shoulder and pointed him towards the tray, and he lit up and nodded at her approvingly.

After taking almost half the tray for themselves, the pair found a spot in the lobby to sit and eat the chocolate. Elsa ate two and watched Kai eat the rest, she did admit that they were delicious- and she had a hunch as to who made them- and wanted to eat more, but she also wanted answers as soon as possible.

She checked her phone, which was vibrating less now that they were away from the ballroom, and frowned, "Again, Kai, it's so good to see you again, but we have to be at the meeting in a few minutes. Whatever you need to prepare me for…"

Kai wiped his mouth with a handkerchief in his breast pocket and smiled assuredly at Elsa, "Yes, what kind of teacher would I be if I didn't prepare my star pupil the best that I possibly could?" He took a breath, though, as if this next part would be hard to say, "I'm afraid that I won't be at the meeting with you, Elsa. It's only for the Board of Directors and CEOs of both companies…and I am neither."

Elsa blinked, trying to register what she was just told, "I…I'm sorry, what? I'm confused."

"It's not going to be made official until tomorrow, but I'm stepping down from my responsibilities as CEO of Corona International. I want to spend more time being a professor at North Mountain, and more time with Gerda and the kids."

"I don't understand." Elsa said, wringing her hands and looking at him in shock, "You always said that you loved having the best of both worlds, being a CEO and a professor."

"I did, I've loved every bit of my time with the company, but I've always loved teaching more and at my age if I don't pursue it full-time now, then I'm probably not going to get the chance again. The Board wasn't entirely happy with the decision, but I convinced them well enough that this was what was best for the company going forward as well. You'll be meeting my replacement tonight."

"But…" Elsa stopped herself, not knowing what else to say. She felt, somehow, betrayed by her professor. Maybe not by Kai specifically, but from the familiar feeling of a constant in her life being taken away from her again. She wanted to protest, tell him that he couldn't step down, but then she thought about it from his perspective. He had already lived the life, he was CEO of a major company for years, he was on top of the world for longer than Elsa had been alive.

He had already established his legacy, and Elsa was trying to see this whole situation from her perspective, as someone who had just begun to build her legacy. She was in position to judge.

"Well…I can't say I agree with this decision entirely…" Elsa finally continued, "…but it's your life, and you taught me pretty much everything I know. If you say that this is the right call, then I trust you."

Kai nodded, "I'm glad that you understand, Elsa. I wanted to let you know before the meeting so that you weren't blindsided."

"I appreciate that." Elsa had been blindsided enough for one lifetime.

He patted Elsa on the shoulder and grinned, "Now one more bit of advice for old time's sake, before I send you on your way."

Elsa's eyed him curiously, "What is it?"

He closed his eyes for a second and when he reopened them, his smile straightened out and he looked more grave and serious than before, "I have generally always been in agreement with the decisions that the Board of Directors have made, but the new CEO has made me…question that trust. I was in the room when they interviewed him, and on the surface, he was picture perfect, but I had this feeling about him that I couldn't shake, and it wasn't a good one. I fear that under his tutelage, Corona International may not be the same company you've been accustomed to."

She felt the weight of Kai's words fall into the pit of her stomach, and she matched his gaze as best as she could, waiting silently as he continued.

"Now I may be wrong- and for the sake of both Corona and Arendelle, I hope I am- but if I'm not? Then I fear that you're about to find yourself in the most daunting situation you've ever been in."

Elsa bit her tongue to keep from telling Kai that she was already there.

"Trust your instincts, Elsa, that is my final word of advice to you. You're smarter than you think you are, and it's your instincts that have gotten you this far. Above all else, trust your instincts."

She immediately took those words to heart, despite how obvious they may have seemed. Kai had never steered her wrong before, and her instincts right now were telling her that she was going to need this advice sooner rather than later. She hugged Kai one more time before standing up, "Thank you Kai, for everything."

Kai smiled, proud of his pupil, and stood up as well. "It has been my pleasure, Elsa. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back into the party and sending my compliments to the chefs. Especially the one who made these delightful chocolates."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate that."

He started to walk back to the ballroom, but suddenly stopped and turned around, "Before I forget, do you still have that red ball I gave you on the first day of class?"

Elsa beamed, "Of course I do."

As the minutes ticked by, and Hannah continued to come back to the kitchen without any news, Anna was growing more and more restless. She had poured so much of her energy into her work, that she was now baking excess food because she had nothing else to do.

To say that her employees were worried about her would be an understatement, but she wouldn't stop working no matter how much they told her to take a break. There would be time for a break once she had finished her job, and so far, she wasn't even close.

Fatigue was kicking in pretty hard, however, despite how much she had tried to ignore it. Anna was getting slower and slower over time, and she was in danger of getting reckless; her vision was narrowing, and all she could hear was the white noise of the kitchen and the sound of her breathing.

She didn't even hear Hannah call out to her until the brunette was at her side shaking her shoulders.

"Anna! Did you hear me? Are you alright?" Hannah asked, visibly worried.

Anna shook her head and took a second to recollect herself, loosening the painful grip she had on her rolling pin. "Y-yeah, I'm doing just fine. Did you find her?"

"Yes, that's what I've been trying to tell you for like a minute now. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Where is she?" Anna asked, ignoring her question.

"She was at the refreshments table, but last time I checked it looked like she was on the move."

Anna wiped her hands on her apron and untied it, setting it down on the workstation, "Then I've gotta get to her before she gets too far."

"W-wait! Shouldn't you sit for a minute first? Maybe drink some water?" Hannah said while trying to keep up with Anna.

"Water's for chumps." Anna said dismissively. Before she opened the door, she turned around to give one final bit of instruction to her employees, "If I'm not back in four minutes, make sure to take the cupcakes out of the oven."

The walk to the conference room was a short one, but Elsa made it as long as possible in order to collect her thoughts. After the bombshell dropped on her by Kai, she needed a couple moments to herself. Her initial plan was a total failure; the tracker wasn't any help at all, and the choice to follow Kai instead of Hannah kept her from confronting her only possible culprit.

Now, she had a big choice to make: Would she take the chance to try and find the blackmailer after the meeting? Or would she break off the partnership with Corona? And how would the new information she got from Kai play into her decision?

With no time at all until the meeting, and a lot of people waiting for her right through this door, she remembered the last piece of information she got from Kai. Right now, her instincts were telling her that she had to keep playing the game. This particular attempt at gaining the upper hand failed, but she had to keep hope that she would get another chance soon.

As much as it pained Elsa to keep giving in to their commands, she didn't know what else to do, she was out of time. She took a deep breath and steeled herself, ready to be the bearer of more bad news, and opened the door to the conference room.

Only for it to be closed again.

She thought, for a second that someone closed it from the inside, but then she saw the arm in front of her keeping it shut. An arm belonging to a disheveled, out of breath redhead with flour on her cheeks.

"Elsa…" Anna said, scooting over to put all her weight on the door, "…there's something I have to tell you."

A/N: Yeah, don't get used to these rapid-fire updates. With that being said, I hope you guys like the party because we're gonna be here for a little bit. So just enjoy yourselves, maybe get some lamb chops or bacon-wrapped figs. Or chocolate. I hear it's amazing.