#untold secrets

[telekenetic-evil]

*there’s a knock on his door*

“Zyra?”

"Come in"

[Zyra moves her hair over their eyes and sitting up on his bed.]

[rubypomegranates]

“Being in a relationship will inevitably offer up uncertainty, risk, and challenges. Find someone who is willing and able to come up with creative solutions as issues arise and takes leaps for you when called for."

Ali Wong "Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life”

[orihara-infobroker]

Susuharai

Neon Demons Chapter 36: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14519490/chapters/46582483

[shadowystudentdazethings]

I live in a world where people like to jump to conclusions and state facts without any consent, as if they are always right, and now i am just so tired of correcting them.

[imfrozentrash]

Frozen AU: “Untold Secrets” Part Five

| Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four |

Author’s Note: Sorry for the late upload!  I’ve been busy with school things... It’s terrible, I hate it. Anyways, enjoy!

Unknown to Joy, Hans has a history with Arandelle Industries. As he keeps his true occupation a secret, Joy is hiding something as well. All the characters are, actually. Read the damn title. 

"Ms. Elsa!" Joy gasps and quickly steps out of Hans' hold. He looks over at her and sadly puts his hands to his side. Looking over at his competing C.E.O. he doesn't look pleased and stuffs his hands in his pockets, turning to her. They share a glare with each other. "What are you doing here?" Joy anxiously asks, moving hair behind her ear. "It's late. You should be home by now, ma'am," she suggests politely.

"Ms. Johnson do you know what time it is?" Elsa asks, obviously not hearing her intern's concern and moves closer to the two as her heels echo in the empty building. She struts over with hands on her hips with irritation. "I simply came here because I forgot a few files that I need to take home for reviewing. My sister," Elsa glares at the man in the room and he blankly stares back. "Insisted on helping me so I came back to get more paperwork,"

Joy, unaware of their tension, replies, "That's very kind of you, Ms. Elsa," she smiles shyly. "I'm sorry but I just finished cleaning at this hour. And I was just on my way," she hurriedly shifts by Hans, grabbing her coat and book bag.

"Ms. Johnson, are you aware of our company's policies regarding relationships between employees?" Joy stops in her tracks and blushes deeply. "Mr. Westergaard is no different. Although he has no affiliation with Arendelle Industries as my employee, I expect professional behavior nonetheless Ms. Johnson.

I am disappointed in you. I expect you to be more professional around here, even after hours," Joy looks down and nods her head in shame. "This is not high school Ms. Johnson but I will discuss the consequences of your actions tomorrow afternoon,"

"Yes, ma'am." Hans looks at Joy curiously with frustration. He looks over at Elsa and she stares blankly at him.

"Elsa, honestly, there's no-"

"Mr. Westergaard this does not concern you; only my intern and me," he grows furious with her but holds in his anger. "Ms. Johnson, go home now. It's late," without at word to either of them, Joy hurriedly walks down the hall and distant sounds of her crying fades as she exits the building.

"Seriously Elsa?"

"She only needs to do her job, Hans. Not to be given any distractions," she explains calmly as she walks over to her office. Hans follows behind her. "And quite honestly, you're not exactly helping her,"

"Yeah, says the one who made her stay here all night just because you ordered her to clean a desk. Why do you care about her personal relationships anyway? What are you, her big sister?"

Elsa turns and goes through her filing cabinet. "She sleeps on the job. Honestly, I don't even know how much longer she can keep this up. I'm not exactly allowed to fire her, even though I would in an instant,"

"She's trying the best she can, you realize that, right?"

"So is everyone else around her Hans," Elsa grabs the file she needs and closes the cabinet. She turns around and replies, "But you don't see me belittling her, now do you?" she smirks with her smartass remark and walks past him. Hans rolls his eyes and follows her again.

"All I'm saying is that you can at least give her a break, and it's not exactly right to-"

"How about this Hans?" she raises her voice and folds her arms across her chest. "You don't tell me how to run my employees and I'll do the same to yours. You're a C.E.O, aren't you? So why don't you start acting like one? You didn't even tell her that you're a C.E.O, nonetheless the one that I'm constantly trying to handle. So why don't you stop playing admirer with my intern and get over it? I'm sure you would be doing all of us a favor," she glares at him in a specific way, understanding at what she's hinting at.

"My relations with who I chose does not concern you anymore Elsa. I understand what I did back then so why don't you get over it?" Elsa stays silent, not sure how to respond. Hans snatches his coat off of Joy's desk. "Have a good night, Ms. Arandelle," he marches past her and leaves her in her own building.

"Make sure to study for next week's midterm. It's 40% of your grade. Thank you, you're all dismissed," the students start packing their things and leave the lecture hall. Joy slugs out of her chair and slumps out of the classroom, down the stairs and out into the quad. She makes a quick stop to the local coffee cart and orders a strong dark coffee. Then, she excuses herself to the nearest restroom to change into her work attire. As she fixes her dress suit, her phone rings. Looking at the caller I.D. it's Elsa. She takes a deep breath and answers cheerfully.

"Hello?"

"It's almost noon Ms. Johnson. I hope you did not forget the meeting you and I have in half an hour,"

"Of course not ma'am. My classes for the day just ended and I'm hoping in my car right now," she quickly grabs her things off the bathroom counter and wastes no time to the parking structure. "I'll be right there,"

"Don't waste my time, Ms. Johnson," and with that, her boss ends the call. Joy jumps in her car and speeds downtown to Arandelle Industries.

Realizing that the parking structure is filled all the way to the top floor, she has to go across the street and fill another parking meter. Well, there goes this week's supply of ramen. Parking in front of a building, she hastily grabs her things and reaches for her wallet. Quickly looking for loose change, she comes to no avail. She only had a $20 bill and the meter obviously only accepts change.

"Are you kidding me?" Joy groans in annoyance. She threw her wallet in her bag and frantically looks for any coins randomly placed in her bag.

"Please, allow me," she looks up and sees Hans leaning against the meter with a sly grin and a handful of coins. Joy chuckles and shakes her head.

"Honestly, Hans. You don't need to do that. I'm fine," Hans shrugs his shoulders then calmly places the coins in the meter, allowing for six-hour parking.

"Don't worry I'll refill it when I see it go past the limit,"

"Hans," Joy laughs cutely. "Thank you. You saved me. Again,"

"What can I say? I am a prince charming, if I do say so myself," Joy playfully smacks him with her book bag and they laugh with each other. "Look, Joy. I'm really sorry about what happened last night with Elsa. And you shouldn't have taken the blame like that. You know that it was my fault coming into the office in the first place,"

"Arguing with her would only make it worse. I have a conference with her in a few minutes so I better get going," she adjusts her book bag on her shoulders and walks towards the crosswalk. Hans wastes no time following her. "I can walk across the street on my own, thank you," she grins up at him as she pressed the button and waits for the cars to pass by.

"At least let me take you out so I can make it up to you," Hans insists, gently touching her forearm. Joy looks up at him softly. "Come on, you can't have me waiting forever, Joy. Do you realize how long ago our walk in the park was?"

"You mean our first date?" Joy smirks, raising an eyebrow. She stands there and contemplates the thought of going on a date with the someone as charming as Hans. He smiles innocently and Joy can't help but chuckle at his dorky grin. She quickly grabs her notepad and scribbles on it.

"Call me when you're done with your shift. Then, I'll tell you my answer," he takes it from her and sees her phone number attached to it. Smiling from ear to ear, he looks up at her but sees her already crossing the street. She looks over her shoulder, smiles flirtatiously, then struts down the street into Arandelle Industries. With a quite celebration to himself, he walks back up to his office.

I furthered the plot a little bit, I think. I have a really weird upcoming plot to this, just letting you all know. (if there’s anyone actually reading this.) If there is, thank you so much! ♡

[imfrozentrash]

Frozen AU: “Untold Secrets” Part Three

Joy strives to get by everyday intern responsibilities. However, she doesn’t uphold Elsa’s expectations. Why? Well, unknown to her, Joy fantasizes about a certain “department manager” of an unknown corporate company. As for Hans, he strives to keep his true occupation a secret for the sake of the woman he’s falling head over heels for. But why?

"Thank you so much Joy!" Sarah, her co-worker, exclaims as she gives her a hug. Joy is startled by the generous gesture but smiles and hugs her back. "The website is back running again. I don't know how you're able to do it so quickly,"

"Those few computer classes last semester actually pays off every once in a while," Joy smiles as she straightens her blazer all smug.

"Remind me that we need to go out for lunch sometime. You're always so busy with school work that you barely have time to socialize with anyone in the office," her co-worker smiles in sympathy as she packs away her laptop.

"Hey, when you're working for Elsa, you barely have any time for yourself anymore," she chuckles, half jokingly.

"She really needs to learn how to be less harsh on you," Sarah admits. "Elsa is a great person. She just doesn't know when to turn off her 'responsibility switch' and to relax every now and then," she swings her bag around her shoulder and pushes in her desk chair. "But you'll do just fine. Don't be afraid to ask for help, okay?"

"Thank you, Sarah. I really appreciate it,"

"Have a goodnight, Joy. See you tomorrow," Joy is left alone with a quite office. She sighs and walks back to her messy desk. Looking up at the wall clock, it was almost 10 o'clock at night. Her workspace reflected her life right now, a total mess. I'll get to cleaning it, eventually...

Joy is usually the one last to leave the office, so she is able to close up everything. Oh crap. Joy roughly scratches her head in frustration. My exam is at the end of this week. Well, I'm fucked. Joy collects her things, the keys to the building then exit the main entrance.

Stepping out of the front doors, she stops in her tracks when she felt something was missing.

"Looking for this?" Joy quickly turns around and sees Hans standing there with her bike all fixed and repaired.

"You fixed it for me?" she smiles, walking closer to him.

"Well, Sitron gave me a helping hand. But yes," he smiles proudly and adorable. "I've fixed it for you,"

Joy offers a small laugh. "Well, be sure to tell Sitron I said thank you," Hans hands over her bicycle and smiles when she sees her happy to have it. "By the way, where is he? Isn't he suppose to drive you home?"

"I allow him to leave earlier before me. He has a family so it would be wrong of me to keep him after business hours," Joy smiles in awe. "Which begs me the question, what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be home by now?"

"Well, Ms. Elsa has her regulations and I simply must follow. Let's put it that way," she says bitterly.

"Are you kidding me?" Hans says in frustration. "She needs to stop doing that," Joy looks over curiously.

"You know an awful lot about my boss..." Joy observes. "Do you guys know each other, by any chance?"

"You know what? I'll drop you off at home. Come on,"

"Excuse me?"

"It's already night time and we're in downtown L.A. There's no way you're bike riding home,"

"I've been doing it for quite a while now, thank you. Only when I'm short on gas money..." she mumbles under her breath. "What would make tonight any different?"

"Would you just come on?" he asks impatiently. "Seriously, it's not safe," Hans pulls out his car keys and clicks it, opening his automatic trunk. "I'll help you with your bike," Joy sighs loudly, blowing on her bangs and hands over her bike. Hans smirks and helps load her bike in the back of his car. Just as Joy was about to step up the front seat, Hans opens the door for her.

"You do that a lot, don't you?" she smirks. Hans smiles back and bows a little.

"After you, m'lady," Joy rolls her eyes and climbs in the front seat.

"Okay, I think we're almost there," Hans said, not taking his eyes off of the road. "Sorry, it took a while. Even late at night, there's L.A traffic," he chuckles under his breath. "But not a little detour can hurt, right?" All that he hears is the soft hum of the tires rolling on the street. "Joy?" he quickly looks to his side and smiles to himself, focusing back on the road. "Long day at work huh?" He is answered with no response. Hans sighs softly and continues down the road.

Another twenty minutes or so, Hans' GPS system told him that he made it to Joy's apartment.

"Joy?" Hans whispers softly. She is still fast asleep. He didn't want to disturb her but he couldn't just leave her in the car and drive to his house. He gently sets his hand on her shoulder. "Joy?" he said a little louder. Trying his best not to startle her too much, he shakes her shoulder as softly as he could. "Joy,"

With a deep inhale and prop up of her head, Joy slowly opens her eyes and scans the area. "You fell asleep on the ride here. Is this your apartment?" Without any words exchanged, she looks out her window then back at Hans and nods softly, her eyes gently closing. Hans can't help but chuckle. He gets out of the driver's seat, goes around, and opens the passenger door. Joy doesn't move. "Joy?" he asks, peeking his head in the car. She is asleep again. "Come on," he smiles.

Without opening her eyes, she unbuckles her seat belt. But then she starts to fall out of the car, losing support. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hans quickly rushes to her side and catches the intern before she fell. Hans looks down and blushes when he sees her fast asleep in his arms. "Come on Joy, help me out here," he smiles, carrying her out of the car and helps her to her feet. She is limp but stays standing, leaning in Hans' embrace. Smiling to himself, Hans closes the door with his foot and walks to her apartment.

"It's the one to the right," she mumbles, not opening her eyes. Hans lets out a small laugh and follows her instructed directions. As Hans approaches the door, Joy shifts on her own feet and rumbles through her bag for her keys. Hans rushes back to his car and unloads Joy's bike. Pushing it to her doorstep, he leans it against the wall. As Joy opens the door, she is left standing there, looking up at the young business man, not walking inside. Hans looks down and smiles as he sees her trying to keep her eyes open with her cheeks glowing pink.

"Have a good night, okay?" he asks, gently placing his hand under her forearm for support. "You've worked hard today, you deserve the rest," Joy just stares blankly at him. "Joy?" Without any explanation, she pulls him in her apartment.

"Whoa!" he stumbles through the front door and Joy closes the door behind him. Quickly, Hans looks behind him, sees the door is in fact shut, then back at the tired intern, he stares in shock and surprise. "Um... Joy?" She silently walks up to him and places her hands on the front of his suit. As heat crept up to her face, she gently closed her eyes as he felt his hands come around her waist. "Joy..."

Thank you for your support! (Whomever you might be ♡)

Another update in a couple of days!

Any questions/comments/concerns? My inbox is always open! ♡

[imfrozentrash]

Frozen AU: “Untold Secrets” (Part 1)

Hans Westergaard is a lead manager of one of his family companies. He is currently living the traditional hard working, busy, and highly occupied lifestyles of the financially successful. He struggles to make his father proud and is in competition to with his 12 older brothers, who are managers and CEOs of the other family companies. They all compete for their father's approval, respect, and love. As Hans is hard working and accustomed to the busy lifestyle, will he uphold his family's name when a distraction comes into his life?

"...in just an hour, we will be landing in Los Angeles, California. Thank you for your patience,"

Without taking his eyes off of his papers scattered on the desk, Hans sighs softly and tiredly under his breath. There is no way he can be distracted now when he has yet another deadline to meet when he gets off the plane. With endless hours of signatures on contracts, filling out approvals, and scheduling appointments, Hans finishes with ten minutes to spare. With a sudden drop of his pen, Hans falls back in his seat and sighs loudly as he blows on his hair.

"Finally," he reaches for his champagne glass and takes a sip. "Done." Glancing out of the window, he can already see his home city's buildings as the aircraft descends from the sky. I'm so tired... he thought to himself as he gulped down the last of his drink.

"Mr. Westergaard?" Hans looks up and sees the flight attendant next to him with an open champagne bottle. "Would you like more to drink?" she smiles politely in a soft tone.

"Yes, thank you," he smiles tiredly and reaches out his glass. She pours it halfway and steps back, bowing politely before she walks back to the front of the plane. Hans sips his drink from time to time as he organizes his papers back in his folders, tucking them away in his shoulder bag.

"Attention passengers," the pilot announces. "We will be landing in a few minutes, so please take your seats and fasten your seat belts. Thank you for flying with us today."

"Ah, Mr. Westergaard. Welcome back," Hans meets with his chauffeur, Sitron, outside of the airport baggage claim. As Sitron takes his boss' luggage, he leads the way to the car a few paces away. Hans is already on his phone, answering any unopened emails and messages. They walk and, Sitron opening the door, Hans hops in the back of the car. After loading his bags, Sitron pulls out of the curb and starts driving to Los Angeles' Westergaard Inc.

After a few replies back, Hans locks his phone and sighs again, falling his head back on the headrest. "Long business trip, I assume?"

"Just like usual Tron, just like usual," Hans mumbles and grabs for a new bottle of water behind his seat. "International neighboring corporations are so difficult to negotiate with these days... I barely get to sign deals with them anymore because they're so hard headed. But I just do what has to be done..." He looks up at the driver's rearview mirror and sees his reflection. Hans just realizes how exhausted he looks; gray circles under his eyes and his hair a bit out of place. "I look like a mess,"

"Nonsense," Sitron chuckles. "Just take a nap until we get to the company. It will be another hour drive or so,"

"I suppose... I just have to be ready for this next meeting in two hours. Let's hope we can-"

"Look out!" Sitron shouts, breaking hard on breaks, sending Hans forward but saved by his seatbelt. Hans looks up in shock and nervousness. "Oh no," Sitron quickly turns on his hazard lights and unbuckles his seatbelt. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no..." he mumbles to himself, quickly getting out of the car.

"Sitron!" Hans calls out. The car door slams shut. Hans grunts in frustration and quickly follows him. "What happ-" he is cut short of his thought and stares at the accident. A woman laid on her side, groaning in pain with her bicycle toppled to the side, wheels still turning. A few papers are scattered from her open shoulder bag. "Oh my goodness! We are so sorry!" With quick instincts, Hans rushed to the lady's side. "Ms? Are you alright?"

With a groan and hand pressed to the side of her head, the woman painfully opens her eyes. "What do you think? Of course, I'm-" she looks up at the mysterious man and stares. "Um..."

"Ma'am?" Hans starts to show concern and worry. "Sitron!" he snaps his head back at his assistant. "Call an ambulance!"

"No!" the woman protests and sits up easily. The two men look at her astonished. "Re-Really, I'm okay," she smiles a bit to brighten up the mood. "My chauffeur just ran into you with my car!" Hans said as if what he was saying couldn't be any more clear. When he sees the woman trying to stand, he offers his assistance.

"No, seriously I'm okay. I'm great, actually," she looks at him with the slightest hint of blush and smiles timidly. Hans notices and does a low chuckle under his breath as he shakes his head.

"Well," he shrugs his shoulders and smiles tenderly. "Thank goodness," sighs in relief. The two lock in each others' eyes for a few moments before Hans snaps out of it. "Oh um..." he clears his throat and offers a hand out to her. "Hans Westergaard,"

"Joy Johnson," she smiles and shakes his hand professionally. The way her arm is angled made her shoulder bag fall from her shoulder, making her paper documents fall out all over the side of the road. "Oh, oh no!" she quickly got to her knees and tries to gather them all together. Hans and Sitron kneels and offers their assistance. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I would do if I lost these papers,"

"It's no trouble at all," Hans reassures. As the papers were all collected, Hans realizes the professional yet eye-catching business suit Joy is wearing. "Say, you weren't on your way downtown by any chance, were you?"

The woman gasped in shock then glances down at her watch. "Oh no. Look at the time! My meeting is about to start soon! Um... I've got to go," she snugs her handbag closely as she reaches down for her bike. "I've really got to go," she starts to pedal off but falls once more, this time catching her balance. Looking down at the tires, the whole front of the bike is out of place.

"Please, may I offer a ride? It's the least we could do for you since we've run you over with our car," Hans smiles, stepping closely, already handling the bike.

"No, really that's alright..."

"Sitron, please stash this in the back," By command, he comes over and quickly loads it to the trunk. "It would be no trouble at all," Hans reassures, looking back at her with sincerity.

Joy smiles timidly and chuckles. "Thank you," Hans leads Joy to the car, opening the door for her. With a slight blush, she steps into the back seat and Hans closes the door shut. The two gentlemen climbing in after her, Sitron pulls out of the curb and continues through downtown Los Angeles.

"Which way are you heading, ma'am?" Sitron asks from the front, looking in the rear view mirror.

"Oh, Arendelle Industries please,"

"Oh, what a coincidence. Our buildings are nearby each other. We'll be there in no time,"

"Arendelle Industries?" Hans asks, looking up from his phone. "You don't happen to..." A cell phone ringtone broke off Hans' thought and Joy hurriedly searches for her phone in her bag.

"I'm so sorry, excuse me," she turns to her side and answers it. "Yes, this is-" Joy's body startles and Hans can clearly hear a loud and irritated voice from the other line. "Y-Yes ma'am, I understand I'm-" she is cut off by more yelling. "Well, you see, on my way there I was... Yes, I understand. I'm sorry ma'am... Right away miss... Again, I'm sorry..." and with that, Joy sadly ends the call.

"Everything alright?" Hans locks his phone and discards it for a moment.

"My boss is upset that I'm late, that's all," Joy chuckles, looking back at him with a sad smile. His eyes soften in sympathy. "She has a strict schedule. And, of course, as her intern, I'm thrown around the office like a rag doll."

"That's no way for Elsa to do that to you, even though you're her intern."

"Well, it's the job that I was given so I can't expect anything less," she sighs. "Wait," Joy pauses, looking up at Hans in confusion. "How did you know my boss' name?" Hans falls silent, searching for how to respond back.

"Ms. Johnson," Sitron speaks up from the awkward silence. "We've made it to your destination,"

Joy looks out the window and sees her workplace. "Oh thank you so much, sir! This really means a lot," she sighs happily, already gathering her things.

"It's the least I could have done. My sincere apologizes for earlier, ma'am,"

"No problem," she chuckles. Hans can't stop staring at her. "Thank you, have a good day!" she opens the door and steps out. She turns back to Hans and smiles softly, reaching her hand out to him. "Mr. Westergaard,"

"Ms. Johnson," he stutters and shakes her delicate hand. Joy smiles again and let's go. Hans breaks a little inside as he sees her run through the double doors of the company. Hans reaches over and closes the door, then Sitron continues a few more blocks down the street.

"Should have asked for her number," Sitron says calmly, focusing on the road.

"Oh be quiet," Hans blushes, going back to his phone.

"Smooth move mentioning Elsa to her," Hans freezes in the middle of his messaging. "The next time you see her, she's bound to ask about it again,"

"I'm not going to see her again," Hans says smartly, leaning back in his seat. Although he didn't want to admit to himself, he really did want to see Joy again.

"Then who's going to return her bike?" Hans' head perks up and looks at the back of the car with the beat up bike still there. "We've made it sir," and with that, Sitron parked in front of the building, already getting out and unloading his bags.

I’m sorry for not posting anything in a while! I just got done with Midterm Exams & now I’m on Spring Break!  ♡

I’ve been working on this multi-chapter AU for a while now & I really wanted to publish it. I hope it’s alright... Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for making it until the end!   ♡

[imfrozentrash]

Frozen AU: “Untold Secrets” Part Two

The young intern of Arendelle Industries struggles to balance her work at both the office and college campus simultaneously. What happens when a certain CEO distracts her from her duties?

"Yes, Thursday sounds perfect!" Joy smiles, quickly scribbling in her planner. "I'm sure she'll be glad to sponsor you. Thank you for calling, have a great day," she says cheerfully. "You too, bye bye!" hanging up the phone, Joy sighs loudly and slumps in her chair. I thought they'd never hang up. She shakes herself out of thought and tries to organize all of Elsa's appointments in order, so she will be able to inform her when she gets out of her meeting.

"Sounds like we've arranged an agreement,"

"So it appears to be. Thank you, sir. Have a good afternoon," Joy looks up from her piles of papers and sees Elsa exit the meeting room with another business attorney. They shake hands and go their separate ways. As Elsa approaches her, Joy is quick to her feet with her head down.

"Good afternoon, miss," Joy says softly.

"What are the next schedule appointments with the neighborhood companies?"

"Um..." Joy nervously searches for her planner as her boss stands over her, tapping her nails on the desk impatiently. "Tuesday evening with the manager of C'est La Vie Inc. would like to discuss a sponsorship with us. Wednesday morning you have a manager meeting with everyone in the company for an update on all stats and progress. And on Thursday Weaselton and Co. is interested in sharing a sponsorship with their new line of men's clothing," Joy said all too fast because her nerves are getting to her.

Elsa held a long pause and just stares at her. Joy timidly looks up from behind her planner. "Sounds good. Good job," she says quickly. "Sarah says that our main Website is acting up, care to take a look for me?"

"Yes, ma-"

"And please do get me more coffee. The usual. I'm running all out," "Yes, Ms. Els-"

"And I'm going to be out this evening for a meeting down the street. Apparently, a certain management is causing a fuss again. So I'm going down there myself," she snickers under her breath. Joy stays silent, waiting to see if she was done with her list of chores to do for her. Elsa stays silent.

"Understo-"

"And don't be late ever again," Elsa warns coldly. "You know me and my sister run a busy business and we have no time for college students to be slacking off in the simplistic of tasks," Joy bows her head down, feeling ashamed for her tardiness this morning. "That is all," and with that, Elsa walks into her office and slams the door, making Joy flinch. With a defeated sigh, she collapses in her chair.

"One iced coffee with two shots of espresso for Joy!"

"Yes, thank you!" Joy reaches in her pocket, tips the barista, then grabs the drink from her hand. "Have a nice day!" Looking down at her watch, she sees that she's, for once, ahead of her schedule. 

But not looking where she's going, she bumps into someone, almost spilling her boss's coffee. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where-"

"Hey, glad we bumped into each other again," Looking up, Joy smiles brightly when she is greeted by a charming Hans and a hot coffee in his hand.

"Hans!" she smiles then shyly at the ground. "I-I mean... Mr. Westergaard,"

"Please, no need of that Joy," Hans chuckles deeply that makes her blush. "I was just heading out. Care to walk with each other?" he offers politely. Joy nods softly without looking up at him and they walk out of the cafe. "I'm sorry if you were late this morning,"

"It's alright. Ms. Elsa is just strict about her schedule. I know she means well; she's just a proficient leader that she needs to make sure that everything is done on time,"

"Are you in any rush now?" Joy looks down at her watch again.

"Nope," she giggles. "Not this time,"

"Then follow me, let's go walk at the nearby park,"

"Although he's my intern and does most of my errands for me, I treat Sitron like one of my best friends. Because quite frankly, he really is. And I'm glad that I have both a professional and friendship relationship with him," Hans smiles.

"That sounds great..." Joy whispers under her breath. Hans hears her sadness but decides to pretend to not notice.

"So, you said you're in Grad School?"

"Yeah, the semester is almost done. I'm about wrapping up my last two years there. It's crazy how fast everything is happening," she chuckles, looking down at the almost room temperature iced coffee for her boss. "Having this intern job is all I have to my name, in terms of money. My rent is going through the roof and I'm drowning in student loans... Life is a bit rough right now,"

"No siblings or parents to help you out?" Hans instantly regrets asking because he knows it's too personal. Keeping her head down, she shakes her head in response. "I'm sorry Joy, I didn't mean..."

"It's alright, you didn't know," she reassures, but he could tell she is still upset. The two of them continue walking then decides to take a seat on a bench.

"I know how you feel," he chuckles, sipping the last of his coffee. "My family isn't exactly easy on me either. Trying to be on top of things when in competition with my brothers, hasn't been exactly my forte lately,"

"Then why do you keep doing it if it's not making you happy?" she asks, leaning closer in curiosity and sincerity.

Hans looks over and smiles sadly. "Because I thought it would make my father proud of me. All my life I've been shut out by everyone in my family. I thought to be mature at an early age as of right now, would show them all that I'm capable of upholding to their standards," he sighs and throws away his empty cup at the nearby trash can. "But I guess it's not doing me any good,"

"From what I hear," Joy scoots closer and places her hand on his shoulder, leaning in so they locked eye contact. Hans looks up in surprise but doesn't turn away. "I think Hans Westergaard is great. And despite his family being blind from that, he's very successful in whatever he's doing right now," she smiles softly. Hans grows speechless and stares into her eyes. He's lost for words when he sees the Spring breeze flow through her long brown hair and the sunlight hitting the top of her head from the beautiful sunny day. He's about to lean in closer when his cell phone rings.

"Oh um..." he scoots away from her, creating a bigger distance. Reaching into his coat pocket he looks at the caller I.D. It's Elsa. "I'm sorry, I have to take this," Joy nods respectfully and turns away, allowing Hans some space. He gets up and walks away paces away from her. He answers the phone call. "Hello?"

"Look, I am through with your company's complaints with my employees. Mine are just as hard working, if not, more than yours so they do not deserve the criticism from you,"

Hans sighs in annoyance. "I'm not saying anything. It's them,"

"Despite what our companies have gone through in the past, can we please just come to a compromise already? I'm getting tired of this nonsense for too long," she sounds exhausted.

"I'd thought you'd never come to your senses," he smirks.

Elsa sighs in frustration. "I'll come by your office in an hour. Or at least until my intern finally comes back with my coffee. Honestly, how do you deal with yours? Mine is so off the clock lately,"

Hans was about to make a smart remark but decides against it. "See you in an hour," and with that, he ends the call. Hans walks back to the bench where Joy is patiently waiting.

"Is everything okay?" she asks politely.

"Yeah, everything's fine," he smiles, offering her a hand. "So I guess that means that our date is coming to a close sooner than we expected,"

Joy accepts his hand and stands closer than she thought. Then, she pauses and looks up at him with a shy smile. "Did you say, our date?" Hans is lost for words and doesn't respond. "Was this a date? Like our first date?"

"Um..." Hans stutters on his words. "Well, hey! Look at the time!" he laughs nervously and takes the lead. "It sure is getting late, so we better get going before Elsa has a fit again," Joy walks next to him silently before she starts to laugh. Hans blushes and stays quite, feeling embarrassed yet happy to hear Joy's laughter.

Thank you for making it thus far! I appreciate your reading, regardless of a number of notes my creations might get or not. ♡

Also, since I always thought this when reading other creators’ work, I thought I would let you know this! Do not worry about this multi-chapter AU being incomplete. Since my fanfictions take a little longer than expected to be published, I make sure I complete it to the best that I can. So I stick to a personal schedule of when to publish them.

Becuase I know how it feels to stop reading an unfinished piece of work you really enjoy! ♡

So, thank you & look for another update in a few days!

Any questions/comments/concerns? My inbox is always open! ♡