Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 15

"What was all that about? He never calls me 'princess' or 'sweetheart'..?" Astrid asked herself as she froze stunned in the elevator, watching Hiccup walk down the corridor before the doors to the elevator slowly closed.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, Astrid pressed the button to her floor and allowed the smooth motion of the elevator to calm her thoughts. She listened to the clunking sounds of the elevator as it smoothly ascended the building. The ride was only a few seconds long as Astrid's floor was only 3 floors above Hiccup's, but Astrid's racing thoughts made it feel longer.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened out onto her floor, the familiar corridor greeting her as she stepped into it and out of the elevator. Looking around, the floor seemed eerily quiet, as though no one was there apart from her. But glancing at her watch, Astrid noticed that she wasn't early, nor was she late.

"Where in Thor's name is everyone?" She asked no one as she looked around the corridor aimlessly. "I'm not late or anything? I don't think I'm early either. So, where are they all?" She didn't know what to do, standing dumbly in the corridor as she looked around in confusion.

However, after a second of standing there, she decided to brush off the unusual feeling and mysterious emptiness of the office floor and made her way over to her father's office. As she walked down the corridor, she could hear loud, muffled voices coming from further down the corridor. Perhaps there was a meeting that Astrid hadn't known about, and it made her wonder whether that was where everyone had gone.

Creeping closer to the door that had been left ajar, and the room that the voices were terminating from, Astrid leaned in closely to determine who was within. Listening closely, and carefully, Astrid recognised one of the voices in the room, but could not determine the other.

"Father?" Astrid asked herself quietly, trying not to alert the men to her presence outside the door. Continuing to listen, Astrid leaned closer to the door. "What are you doing in here?" Her voice was unnoticed by the people inside as she listened by the door.

"So, how many people on the board have you convinced to remove Stoick in the vote of no confidence?"

"Well, as you know there's about 20 on the board, and I have managed to sway 10. So, if there were to be a vote it would be split 50/50."

"Have you managed to convince Göbberand?"

"Gobber?"

"Yes, he is Stoick's most trusted advisor after all. If you could manage to convince him, I'd say that everyone else would follow suit. He's a real people person that man, much more so than Stoick. Everyone on the board loves Gobber."

"I haven't really thought about that. Perhaps I should organise a meeting with Gobber and try and persuade him to join."

"You're going to blackmail him?"

"Not at first I don't think... Maybe just some gentle persuasion. You know how convincing I can be sometimes..."

"If that doesn't succeed?"

"Well, if that fails..."

"Blackmail?"

"Now that's a harsh word for it. But, no... I don't think that would work for him. If he has had any scandals, I'm sure Stoick would've covered them up rather well. I also suspect he is an upstanding member of society, I don't want to be causing that much of a crisis."

"So, what will you do?"

"Perhaps I will just cause a happy accident..."

"You mean, happy for you, right?"