Chapter Twenty-Seven

A/N: I've been getting a lot of encouraging reviews and stuff on the recent chapters, and again I just wanna say thank you to everyone that's been reading it. If you've been with me since I published Chapter One, or just started, your kind words mean a lot. I'd reply, but I'm lazy and also FF makes replying to reviews all weird and convoluted.

If you have any questions or anything like that, feel free to send me a PM through here (or Reddit, I go by the same name there). I used to have a tumblr, but that failed miserably, so if you send me anything there I guarantee I'll never see it.

Anyway, back to the pantsuits.

Hey Elsa,

I've been thinking a lot about your offer to come back and be your assistant, and I've decided that I'm gonna take it. I mean, we both know that I have like a million reasons not to come back, but I have to think about my future, and a failed internship at one of the most prestigious companies in the world won't look good on my resume. I'd like to return, provided we can put all the nastiness behind us. Our relationship wasn't built on the best of terms, and I'm not saying I want to go back to what we were- because I definitely don't- but at the very least I want us to get to a point where you don't criticize me for everything I do, and I don't complain about you on Twitter (you'll never find the account, don't bother). Anyway yeah, I'd like to come back and work off those last few internship hours, so just let me know when you get this email.

Oh, and also, we can't go back to doing you know what. It wasn't healthy, and honestly your apartment is depressing.

When Elsa finished reading the email, she couldn't help but smile. Not because she was glad that Hannah accepted her offer to return, but because despite everything that happened between them, she realized that she missed the young assistant. All the sarcasm, the snarky comments about clients either of them couldn't stand, the fact that she did everything Elsa asked her with no question, even the tacky décor of her now-bare desk. Admittedly, she was the reason they had such a terrible relationship, but this was her chance to fix it.

Elsa had been doing a lot of fixing recently.

She leaned back in her chair, trying to figure out how to respond. This wasn't the most pressing piece of agenda she had today, but it was up there, along with holding the press conference about the article, setting up her appointment with Mr. Arendelle, and, most dauntingly, meeting with the Corona International CEO.

For the past couple days, she had been getting any information she could about the man. And there was a lot. Surprisingly, he also went to North Mountain University, but only for a year until he dropped out to work full-time at Southern Isles Baking Company as a supervisor- a birthday gift from his dad, and a classic case of nepotism.

His career paralleled Elsa's a surprising amount. He also wanted to prove himself in the business world, and blazed his way up the ranks until he was in charge of the entire company. Under his tutelage, they became the number one bakery in the country, and a household name even here in Arendelle. Now, assumingly finished doing all he could at SIBC, he used his clout, and amazing skills of negotiation, to become the new head of Corona International, taking advantage of the rumors floating around of Kai's retirement.

There were a lot of exceptional candidates, ones with more experience than he had, but shockingly he was given the position.

Much of his career had gone like this; unexpected promotions and last-second business acquisitions were the norm with him, and people chalked it up to his drive, commitment, and influence. That didn't, however, explain the outcome of those that opposed him along the way.

Businesses that refused to make deals with SIBC mysteriously closed shop not long after, the people up for the same promotions he was would drop out of the running or quit the company entirely, a prominent candidate for the Corona CEO position had lost all of his earnings overnight.

So yes, he was a figure fitted from head to toe with commendations, but also one marred in controversy. No one could agree on how he got everything that came to him, all they could agree on was that whatever he wanted, he got.

Knowing all this should have made Elsa nervous, but ever since she'd put on the ArenCorp crown, she'd been dealing with people just like him. She would be cautious, but remind him that if he was thinking of stepping into her territory, that he'd better tread lightly. What did make her nervous, however, was the pang of familiarity that came over her from her research.

She vaguely remembered seeing him in one of her classes during her first year at North Mountain, and it also stated that he'd gone to Arendelle High for a couple years or so. She knew for sure that she'd seen that grin he'd plaster on for every photo and interview before, and his voice made her recoil slightly, as if her mind was thinking back to an unpleasant, yet hazy memory.

Even his name was familiar, although she didn't know why: Hans Westerguard.

The reason was on the tip of her tongue, and she figured that everything wouldn't click until the meeting was underway. And speak of the devil, her desk phone started to beep loudly, interrupting her thoughts and tearing her eyes away from the computer screen. A familiar, more pleasant voice came through the phone speakers.

"Ms. Andersen, the Corona CEO is here to see you."

Elsa pressed a button on the phone, "Thank you, Sheila. Send him up, please." The old receptionist thankfully took the offer for her job back as well, although it did take a personal, face-to-face apology and an exceptional pay raise.

She rose from her chair and readied herself in a familiar position: hands folded behind her, and looking out her massive window. Arendelle was quiet this afternoon, the sun at its peak bringing the warmth that only the middle of May could; reason number one of many as to why spring was her favorite holiday. The people down below looked like ants, enjoying life and all the opportunities and splendor the town had to offer.

As if someone had been reading her mind, she heard a whistling noise from behind her. "That certainly is one hell of a view."

Elsa turned around, a brown-haired man with an appraising gaze was leaning on the door with his hands in his pocket. He had on a maroon suit vest just a shade darker than her door, and a white undershirt with the sleeves rolled up, along with black dress pants, dark wing tipped shoes, and a gold chain hanging from his left pocket. "Mr. Westerguard, I presume?"

He smiled, and leaned off the door to walk towards Elsa, "Please, call me Hans." Once he got near enough, he stuck his right hand out towards her, there was a silver ring that went knuckle to knuckle on his middle finger, with a finely-cut ruby in the center.

Tentatively, Elsa reciprocated the handshake. His hand was soft, but his grip was firm. A bit too firm, she thought, typical power move. "Please sit down, Mr. Westerguard." she replied, maintaining control.

Hans' eyes showed amusement, and it irked Elsa. She knew him somehow, and she would find out the reason by the end of this meeting. "I'd be delighted to…Ms. Andersen." he replied, playing along.

The first pawns had been moved along the proverbial chessboard, the two CEO's sat down on opposite sides of Elsa's desk, dozens of strategies circling around their mind. Elsa folded her hands on the desk and leaned forward, making her next move, "I must admit, when I was told that you had ended our partnership, I was…surprised. I'm curious, why did you do it?"

Hans shrugged, "I would have told you at the hotel, but apparently you were preoccupied. According to your board members, you were- how do I put this? You were 'taking care of an urgent ArenCorp matter'. Huh, I wonder what that was."

His smile grew more cheeky and arrogant, and Elsa didn't know whether to be more offended at the lack of professionalism in his answer, or the fact that he was now leaning back in his chair with his arms folded back across his head, as if to say he couldn't care less what the answer was.

Instead of taking the bait, Elsa decided to play the part of the professional for both of them, "I apologize for my absence, but now that you're here, I hope to show that I do respect your time, and maybe mend some fences? Has ArenCorp slighted you in any way, Mr. Westerguard? Is that the reason for your actions?"

"Hmm…" Hans looked off to the side, lips pursed as if he were deep in thought. Once he grasped his answer from whatever corner of his mind he had journeyed to, the smile returned, and he looked at Elsa like he was about to make a move that would take half her pieces off the board, "How about this? You tell me what sort of business you were attending to, and I'll tell you why I cut ties with you and yours. Sound like a good deal?"

Elsa looked at him quizzically, "I…hardly see how that's fair, and I don't think my personal business is of any concern to you."

"And mine is?"

"These are two completely different circumstances." Elsa argued, losing the last bits of patience she had left, "My actions only affected myself, while yours affected the future of ArenCorp and Corona."

Hans let out a small, pity laugh, "I assure you, Ms. Andersen, the future of Corona is in good hands. It's ArenCorp's future that you need to worry yourself about." When Elsa didn't answer, and instead just looked at him cautiously, he continued, "Now come on, just humor me for a second, won't you? Tell me what you were up to at the hotel, and I'll tell you what I was up to at the hotel. I bet we could learn a lot from each other."

"Was that a threat?" Elsa asked, her words slowing to emphasize her predatory side aching to come out.

"What? Me saying that we could learn a lot from each other?"

Her hands gripped tighter against each other, "You know that's not what I meant. Do you mean to become an enemy of ArenCorp? Is that why you ended the partnership?"

Another laugh, this time louder and more amused; it was clear that he was enjoying toying with Elsa, and had no intentions of taking this meeting seriously. Which perplexed her even more, why in the world did Hans make this meeting then? "Wow, you are really jumping the gun here. Again, this meeting can go a lot smoother if you just answered my question."

Elsa was actively resisting the urge to reach over and slap him in his smug face. "And I already told you I wouldn't, so why don't you drop this arrogant, self-righteous attitude and we can actually get some work done."

"Why are you being so defensive right now, Elsa? I mean after all…" Hans looked at her deviously, and turned the tables with one toothy grin, "…you're not gonna tell me anything I don't already know."

The silence around them grew thicker, and the tension was strong enough to crush diamonds. If looks could kill, the one Elsa gave Hans now would have put him and his next five descendants six feet under. "What exactly do you mean by that?" she said, almost growled.

With his expression unchanged, Hans said slyly, "Oh, I think you know exactly what I mean."

And she did.

"You bastard." she said through gritted teeth, "Flynn was working for you this entire time."

"Flynn? Oh, you mean Eugene, I almost forgot about the name change. Yeah, he did a pretty damn good job there up until the end; reading all those text messages you sent him were so entertaining, made for a better read than the morning paper, at least." Hans got out of his chair and walked towards the window, adopting the stance that Elsa had when he first walked in. "I noticed you rehired the receptionist though, that's a real bummer. Eh, I guess we can't win them all."

Elsa shot up out of her chair as well, but didn't move away from her desk. She was seething, but doing her best to rein it in; letting her emotions get the best of her never ended well. "I could have you arrested right now. One call, and you'll be joining your buddy Flynn, or Eugene, or whatever the hell his real name is, behind bars. You made a huge mistake coming here."

Hans shrugged, but didn't look her way, pretending to gaze longingly at the Arendelle skyline. "You could, but you'd run into the same problem you did before: lack of proof. If you think I'd come here unprepared, then you really don't know me. Although…judging by the lack of a warm welcome, I suspect you don't know me, do you? I'm honestly a little hurt, Elsa."

Here it was, her chance to scratch the itch that had been bothering her for the past couple days. And she'd be much more eager to figure out who Hans was, had he not just dropped this massive bombshell on her less than ten seconds ago. "And why exactly would I know you?"

He placed a hand on the glass, and Elsa made a mental note to have someone disinfect the entire window when this meeting was over. "Arendelle High lunchroom, ring any bells?"

"Maybe." she said harshly. Truth be told, she had repressed a lot of memories from high school for obvious reasons. And from what she did remember, not many exciting things happened to her at that lunchroom. Except for…wait…

"Well, do you remember me asking you out, and your girlfriend slapping me across the face?" As he spoke, his words became increasingly hostile.

"She wasn't my-" Elsa stopped herself, but only after regrettably letting those few words slip, and letting her guard down. She recomposed herself before speaking again, "I think I remember that, yes."

"Come on Elsa, you can just drop the whole 'Ice Queen' act, no one's falling for it." He smiled before muttering this next part, still loud enough for her to hear. "Especially after watching that video."

"So, what is this? Some long, convoluted scheme to get back at me for not dating you in high school? Are you seriously that petty?"

"A little bit, yeah. But no, this isn't about you rejecting me- I liked the redhead more anyway- I just figured that would help to jog your memory a little bit." Hans leaned on the glass and crossed his arms, finally looking at a seething Elsa, "Actually, my gripe with you comes from a much more recent event. I'm sure I don't have to remind you about the Arendelle Festival, and about the mix-up with the SIBC being there as a last-minute addition."

Elsa's glare was her response.

"We could have coexisted nicely at that festival, it would have been the start of a decent partnership between the Southern Isles and Arendelle, but that hope got thrown right out the window when Eugene crashed our truck off the festival grounds. When I got word about the incident, I was not happy, Elsa." Hans looked away, and for a second his expression changed, turning much darker than before. "And neither was father…"

"That was a festival meant to celebrate the local businesses of Arendelle, you had no business being there anyway. I'm sorry if we caused your company harm from that stunt, but if that's seriously what you're building this whole vendetta against me on, then you need to let it go."

The generic smirk was gone and replaced with a daunting frown, and he slowly advanced towards Elsa, hands behind his back. "Oh trust me, my vendetta against you goes much, much deeper than that. I have been following your career for some time now, seeing all the success that you've had, watching all my accomplishments pale in comparison to yours. I got a job at some lousy bakery, you got a job at ArenCorp; I became its CEO, and you were acquiring an overseas deal with Atlantis; I worked my ass off making SIBC a relevant company in my own city and trying to expand it, you were throwing fucking festivals and turning us into a joke. Every single time I took one step forward, you took five and walked all over me."

Hans was now face-to-face with Elsa, she could smell faint traces of liquor on his breath, "I was sick and tired of being stepped on, so I finally did something about it. Letting Eugene blackmail you wasn't the whole master plan, no that was just a means to humiliate you and keep you from seeing me step closer and closer into your territory. Now I'm here, seeing clearer than I ever have before."

At some point Elsa probably should have stepped away, but standing her ground was her way of saying that she would not be intimidated from this long-winded, slightly inebriated dirtbag. As a consequence, however, Hans was able to lean in close and whisper one final statement: "And it is one hell of a view."

Elsa finally felt that enough was enough, and pushed the CEO away, knocking away her chair in the process. She was expecting a crazed, almost psychotic look on his face, but instead he just looked…happy, almost euphoric. She didn't know if that was better or worse.

Deciding that she had gotten all the answers she needed, and wanting him out of her office immediately, she did her best to appear unfazed, and spoke calmly, "Thank you for your time, Mr. Westerguard, but I think it's time that you left."

The clearly disturbed man opened his mouth to speak, but then sighed and put his hands up in mock defeat instead. He made his way towards the door in silence, and Elsa thought that would be that; but just before he stepped out of the door, he looked back one more time, flashed that photogenic grin, and gave a foreboding farewell, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Andersen. I'm sure you'll be seeing me very soon."

The door closed. Hollow footsteps became softer and softer. The faint ding of the elevator sounded, and the metal slid open and shut.

Finally, Elsa was alone.

She waited another minute just to be sure, and then scrambled back to her desk, riffing through her drawers until she found her rubber ball and clutched it with both hands.

Once she caught her breath, she would do whatever it takes to bring this psychopath down.

A/N: I don't know how to play chess.