#kacij2019

“No!  Thank god.”  Kristoff laughed at Anna’s antics.  He watched her fall back walking next to him and scroll through her phone at the list of names she had.  After rattling off some more, each with the same response, Anna finally gave in. “Okay, one hint.  Please!”  She lifted her index finger as emphasis.  “That’s all. I’ll never ask for anything else.”

Kristoff shook his head. “Nope.  No way.”

“But why?” she whined.

“You’ll figure it out.”

“Exactly my point!” Anna threw her arms up in exasperation. “Kris,” she said using the nickname that only she was allowed to use, “how long have we known each other?”

“Ever since you showed up at my dad’s garage with that beater of a car.”

“Hey,” Anna stopped to jab her finger at Kristoff’s arm.  “Not a word about Steve, do you hear me?  That car got me through my first job out of college.”

“Yeah, because of all the work I did on it for you the last two years.   That poor thing limped its way to the junkyard.”

“Shhhh, the wound is fresh. I’m still not over giving that car up.” Anna wrapped her arms around Kristoff’s much larger one.  “I will be forever grateful for all that you did for me.  And to think.  We never would have been friends if it wasn’t for that car!  Yay for Steve!”

She leaned her head against him and the contact made every muscle in Kristoff’s body tense up at once. Anna looked up at him with a curious expression.   “Everything okay?”

He quickly snapped out of it, clearing his throat, but purposely looking only at the intersection ahead of them. “…yeah.  I’m fine.”

Thankfully Anna seemed more focused on this whole name nonsense to question him anymore.  Not losing a beat, she picked right back up. “So about that hint?”

“What about it?”

“Like I was saying, we’ve known each other for two years now and you’ve never told me your middle name.”

“So why the curiosity now?”

“Because!  I want to know!  Why does there have to be a reason?”

“Well technically…” Kristoff stopped himself, knowing that conversation would get him nowhere.  “Look, no one knows my middle name.  So can we drop it?”

Anna stomped ahead. “Ugh, what is the big deal?  Come on, one hint!  You only have to tell me if I guess it.”

“No.”

“Please.”

“I said no.”

Anna jumped in front of Kristoff and faced him, causing him to almost trip in his haste not to bowl over her.  She laid her hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks instantly.  Kristoff’s head shot down fixated on her hand as his heart nearly jumped out of his chest.  When he finally tore his gaze away, only to be met with her pleading eyes, his mouth damned near betrayed him on the spot.  

“Please,” Anna said softly.

He threw his head back, accepting the partial defeat.  “Fine. What’ll it be?”

Anna thought for a second before coming up with her answer. “First letter.”

“Yeah, no.”

“Alright.  One letter- any part of the name.”

“Fair enough.   A.”

Anna reached up both her hands to his face and studied him. Kristoff watched her head tilt to the side, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.  He was fighting back all his urges to tug it free and bend down to kiss her right there on the sidewalk in front of everyone.

“Do I want to know what you’re doing?” He asked.

“Just sizing you up with this new bit of information.  Gotta see what fits you.”

“You aren’t going to guess it.”

The blue of Anna’s eyes sparkled as she gave him a sly smile.  “Wanna bet?”

He offered her a smirk in return.  “What’s the stakes?”

Anna let go of his face and went back to walking.  “Let’s see. Alright.  Ten tries and when I get it, then you have to take me to that play I’ve been talking about.”

“I’m already going with you.”

“Yes, but you have to wear a suit and smile the whole time and I’ll wear my dress that’s extra twirly and we will take pictures and look so very fancy.”

“Says the woman wearing my sweatshirt that’s three times to big on her,” Kristoff snorted.

“We are just going to see a movie and I am dressed for the occasion.  So what do you want if I don’t guess it?”

“All my sweatshirts back”

“Kris!”

“Okay.  You can keep that one.  But I want the other ones back.”

“Fine.  This is my favorite anyway.”  Anna went up and kissed Kristoff’s cheek.  He would have stayed frozen on that spot in the middle of the sidewalk if she hadn’t tugged on his hand pulling him along and out of his thoughts.

---

“So, how did it go?” Sven was sitting on the edge of the couch, leaning forward with his hands clasped together.  

“The play?  It was fine.”  Kristoff crossed the room and laid his jacket over the chair.

“No, you idiot.  How did she react when you told her?  What did she say?  Its late, so I take it went well?”

Kristoff flopped down in the chair. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “She didn’t say anything.”

“What do you mean she didn’t… good god man, you didn’t tell her?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.  “It didn’t…

“Seem like the right time… yeah, yeah.  Like I haven’t heard that before.  Tonight was the perfect time!  You even got dressed up in that suit.  I didn’t know you even had one.”

“Shocking isn’t it that I am capable of owning one suit?”

Sven shook off Kristoff’s comment.  “All I’m saying is you better do it soon or its really going to be too late.  I’ve known you’ve liked her for at least six months now, which means you’ve liked her a lot longer than that.  Probably since you first met her seeing that you actually talked to her outside of work.”

“Yeah, well, you know.”

“No I don’t.  Just go for it bud, before it’s late.  What’s the worst that can happen?  No wait.  Don’t answer that.”  Sven sat back on the couch.   “All I’m saying is life is too short.  Ask her out for god’s sake.  So what if she says no?  At least you know then.  And it doesn’t matter because she is going to say yes because it’s obvious she likes you anyway.”

“No, it’s not.”

“My friend.  You are great at a lot of things, but the one thing you cannot do is read women.”

“Oh, like you’re some kind of expert?” Kristoff scoffed.

Sven held out his finger. “One, she actually seems to like being around you.  Two, she asks you to do things with her all the time.”

“As a friend.”

“Shut it.  I’m not done.  Three, when we’ve all been out, she’s always talking about you or asking me things about you when you are out of earshot.  Four- pay attention because this is the most important one.  She has a look on her face when she watches you leave a room.  And you should see her when you come back.  It’s the same dopey look you have when you see her.”

Kristoff threw his hands up. “Well there you go.  Absolute proof.”

“You know I’m right. Deny it all you want, but it’s true. What’s the problem anyway?  For real?”

“I…I guess it’s not as much as her telling me she’s not interested as it is the possibility of her not wanting to see me again after I told her.  I’d rather have her in my life the way it is now and deal with it than not at all.”

Sven offered Kristoff a sympathetic smile.  “I get it.” He stood up and went to walk out of the room.  “But don’t forget that’s not the only possible outcome.  It could end up so much better.”

“Thanks.”

Kristoff’s phone dinged after Sven walked out.  He pulled it out and saw a picture from earlier in the night of him and Anna.  A huge grin came over his face.

‘Thought you might want this’

‘Yes, thanks’

‘You need to wear a suit more often.  It looks good on you’

‘Nah, you can’t beat jeans, but I’ll consider it for you. BTW, you looked beautiful’

Kristoff stared at his phone watching the bubble of dots.  It was taking too long for her to respond.  Why did he have to be so awkward around her about this all the time; never having the guts to say anything in front of her and putting his foot in his mouth on a stupid text.  

Finally, her response came up.

‘Thank you.  That means a lot coming from you’

Kristoff put his phone down, but heard it ding again.

‘Oh, since the play is done, I decided I get to guess again. What about these…  ‘Markus? Johan?, Andreas?’

‘Not even close.  Good night, Anna.  Go to bed’

“Good night!’

----

“Hey red, how’s it going?” Sven slid into the chair next to Anna at the table Anna was sitting at.

Anna lit up. “Great!  Thanks for inviting me.”

“Sure.  It’s a Friday afternoon, the weather’s great.  Perfect to sit outside at a beer garden and have a few.  We all cut out early at work.  Glad to see you and Kristoff could do the same.  Speaking of, where’s your partner in crime?”

Anna pointed across the courtyard.  “Cornered over there having to talk to someone.  I think it’s one of his clients from the shop.”

Sven followed her gaze and chuckled at how uncomfortable Kristoff looked.  He looked back at Anna.  She was still fixated on Kristoff.

He cleared his throat. “So, you two have been hanging out a lot lately.”

“What?   …Oh, yes!” she said when she registered what Sven said.  “It’s been fun.”

“Figure out his middle name yet?”

Anna groaned. “Noooo.  He won’t tell me and its driving me crazy.  You don’t know it do you?”

“No.  Have you tried his parents?  They may be the only ones that know.”

“I did actually!’

“You did?”

“Yes.  I stopped by the shop the other day and his mother was there.  I asked her and you know what she said?  That she didn’t name him so she wasn’t going to be the one to tell.”  Anna’s face morphed into concern.  “Do you think it bothers him that I ask?  He’s been so open about being adopted, but he never talks about his birth parents.”

“Don’t worry about it. If it bothered him, he’d tell you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sven didn’t hesitate as he watched Kristoff sit down.  “Oh, I just found out Anna met your parents.  Sounds like things are getting serious.”

Kristoff’s entire face burned.  He prayed the ruddiness in his cheeks from his beer hid the flush that he was certain had spread down to his neck.  He scrambled to pick up his beer bottle to only to find it empty.  He had to resorted to feigning disinterest by looking out to the street and shrugging.  “You know Ma’s there all the time.”

Sven just grinned at him, out of Anna’s vision.

“Looks like we could use another round,” Anna said.  “It’s taking forever with the crowd to get a server at the tables.  I’ll go up to the bar and grab the next round.”

Kristoff went to stand to say he’d go, but Anna insisted.  He watched her shimmy past the crowded tables over to the outside bar.

“You are saying something tonight.”  Sven was leaning over the table, his arms outstretched with his finger tapping the table for emphasis.  “It’s perfect.  Great night. Everyone’s having a good time. She’s already met your parents…”

“Sven…”

“Tonight.”

“I don’t think...”

“Stop thinking and just do it.  Before something happens and you regret waiting for so long.”

Two bottles slammed down on the table.  Kristoff sneered at the server.  “We didn’t order these.”

“You may not have, but your friend over there did.” He nodded his head to the direction of the bar. “She asked if I could bring them over to you.  Looks like she got a little busy.”

Sven and Kristoff looked over towards the bar.  Anna was still over there but there was a guy next to her, talking with her and leaning entirely too close to her as far as Kristoff was concerned.  Anna must have caught him staring because she waved at him with a big smile on her face.  All he could do was offer a quick wave back then turn away and sink into his chair.

Kristoff spent the next twenty minutes sulking, trying to ignore Sven and his lecture about it not being too late.  He kept stealing glances over at Anna, only for her to catch him and he’d quickly look away.  He wondered if he could make a quick exit without her noticing.

“Here,” Anna said when she came back to the table, placing three beers down.  “Sorry I was gone so long.  I thought another round was in order.”

“Good talk?” Sven asked.

Anna shrugged, reached for her beer and looked at Kristoff.  “I was thinking that since I lost the first bet about your middle name, that I should have a chance to redeem myself.  How about another wager?   I even have a few new ideas for names that fit you.  Let me tell you!  Wait, where did I put my phone?  I left it at the table when I went to get our drinks.”  

She looked around, finally rummaging in her purse for it.  That’s when Kristoff noticed the phone number scribbled on the napkin by Anna. Kristoff’s head started to spin. Of course she had gotten that guys number.  Why else would she have been talking to him that long?  Sven had been right all along.  He had screwed up waiting so long and now it didn’t matter what he felt about her.

“Aha!”  Anna pulled her phone out of her person triumphantly. “Just a second.  Here.  Ok, what about Arn? Or Markas? Or Aksel?  You look like a Aksel.  I think I deserve another clue this…”

“I don’t want to play.”

Anna stopped, looking over at Kristoff.  “Why?”

“Because I don’t. It’s a dumb game and I’m done playing along anymore.”  Kristoff took a long swig of his beer and slammed it down on the table.  

“Oh,” Anna said.  

There was a heavy silence between the three of them.  Anna shrunk in her seat, picking at the label of her beer bottle.  “Did I do something?”

“What? No.”

“Then why are you so upset with me.”

“I’m not…”  Kristoff took a long breath.  “You didn’t do anything wrong.   It’s all me.”  He stood up from his seat.  “I’m going to go home.”

“What?” Sven exclaimed. “No way!  Sit your ass back down.”

“No I’m good.  I’ll see you later.”

Sven didn’t stop. “You’re leaving over that?”

“Over what?” Anna asked.

“Nothing,” Kristoff said before Sven could get a word out.  “And no it’s not because of that.”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s not.”

“Then tell her,” Sven challenged.  

“No.”  Kristoff looked at Anna.  “Have a good night, Anna.  I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Tell Anna,” Sven said again.  “Or I will.”

“Ok, this is getting ridiculous.  Tell me what?” Anna demanded.

“That he’s wanted to ask you out for the last six months.  At least.  But he’s been too chicken shit to do anything about it.  Then he sees you talk to one guy and freaks out about it.  That’s what!”

Anna’s eyes went wide. “Kris-“

Kristoff didn’t give her a chance to try to let him down easy.  He didn’t want to hear any kind words on how good of a friend he was to her. He glared at Sven.  “Thanks a lot.”

“Kristoff, wait!” Anna reached for Kristoff, but he was already heading for the exit.

---

Kristoff looked glanced back at her then back out to the pond.  He hadn’t gotten that far; too wound up to drive, Kristoff had settled for walking several blocks before stopping at the nearby park.  He just needed a little time to get his head on straight.  He hadn’t expected to be followed.

Anna approached slowly, coming up next to him and sitting down on the bench.  “Kristoff, I’m-“

He held up his hand and waived her off.  “Forget about it.  Forget about all of it.”

“But-“

“Please.”

Anna nodded and didn’t push for the moment.  They sat there in silence for a long time.  Anna picked at the laces of her shoes, trying to come up with something to say.

“Andrew.”

Kristoff’s voice cut through the silence, startling Anna.  “What?”

“My middle name… it’s Andrew.  My parents…well my mother told me when I was a boy that they had a hard time deciding what to name me.   I told you they were from Norway and they were worried about me fitting in.  Kristoff is a family name, so that’s where that comes from.  My father said to call me Kris if there was a problem, but my mother was still concerned.  Andrew was her idea.  She told me if I ever wanted to I could go by Andrew because it was my name.”

“But you never did.”

“No.  I was always proud of my name.  Then, when they died, it mattered even more to me.  I wouldn’t even let anyone call me Kris.  I know my parents loved me a lot to want to try to protect me.  It’s been that one thing that I still can just have with them.  That’s why I never told anyone.”

“You told me.”

“You’re really persistent.”

Anna slid her hand on top of Kristoff’s.  When he didn’t flinch away, she spoke.

“That number didn’t mean anything.”

“Anna, it’s okay.  I shouldn’t have acted like that.  You can see whoever you want.”

“No, listen.  You know when you waived back at me when I was at the bar.”

“Yes.”

“Well, you need to pay attention more.  I was trying to waive you over to come and save me.  But you just gave your little jealous wave back.  Then every time I’d catch your eye, you’d look away too quickly. You have no idea how pissed off I was at you.  I didn’t have my phone to tell you to come over.  I wanted you to save me from that jerk.”

Kristoff’s shoulders shook as he chuckled.  “Sorry.”

“But do you know what I really wanted?  To be able to look at that guy and point to you and tell him my boyfriend was sitting right over there.  Or even better, for you to come over and put your arm around me and scare guys like him away.”

“I guess I could… wait. Boyfriend?”

“Was what Sven said true?”

“What happens if I say yes?”

Anna squeezed Kristoff’s hand.  “I’ve never been good with the whole flirting thing.  I’ve been told I’m a disaster.  I’ve been burned with past relationships, but I liked you…almost from the beginning.  I just didn’t know what to do to let you know I felt that way.  I thought the more you got to know me, maybe you’d start to like me.  At least that’s what I hoped.”

“I think it worked.  I mean, you got me to get dressed up to go to the play.  My mom would never believe you if you told her.  You know, Sven called me an idiot for being afraid to talk to you.  He’s going to be so smug over this for a long time.”

“So it is true?”  Anna looked up at Kristoff with hopeful eyes.

“It is.  Has been for a long time.  You didn’t have to convince me of anything.  I would have done anything for you.”

Anna smiled as Kristoff turned his hand to lace his fingers with hers.  “So what do we do now?”