Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 16

Storming away from Hiccup's office, Astrid huffed out in frustration and anger as she made her way to the elevator. She needed some air. Stepping into the elevator, Astrid allowed herself to let out an enormous sigh of frustration that flowed through her gritted teeth like a hand dryer. Pressing the button for the ground floor, Astrid stood back from the door and leaned against the back wall of the elevator.

"That son of a half-troll! Rat eating! Munge bucket!" Astrid cursed aloud in the empty elevator, her words echoing around her in the tin can that slowly took her down to the ground floor.

Standing away from the back wall, Astrid gripped her hair, tugging on the ends in frustration and threw her arms about wildly as she yelled every name she could curse Hiccup with. The words flowed easily from her mouth as she instinctually found the perfect words to describe him at that moment.

"I hope Odin takes you to battle and has a Fenrir* rip you to shreds!" Astrid cursed again, tugging at the ends of her hairs again.

Astrid felt humiliated and betrayed, Hiccup's words repeating in her head like some addictive song as she stood impatiently in the elevator, waiting for it to open. Nothing could heal her broken ego, she felt as though she had insulted Hiccup in some way.

"No, he insulted me!" Astrid whisper-yelled to herself as she jabbed her finger into her chest as a sign to enunciated her point. It was her who was the one who felt insulted. "He embarrassed me like that in front of his self-righteous secretary and made me feel like I was wasting his time!"

The door of the elevator's pinged open, and the ground floor lobby was revealed to Astrid as she emerged from within the metal cuboid. Storming over to the entrance, marked by serval, large double glass doors, Astrid made her way over to them. Pushing with ferocious strength, Astrid pushed open the doors to the outside world.

As the soft breeze hit her face, its cool temperature rapidly decreasing her hot temper, Astrid found herself calming down almost instantly. Facing herself towards the sky, her head tilted back to absorb all of the sun's rays, she felt the heat upon her skin as the soft breeze cooled her down enough to stop her from collapsing from the heat.

"Astrid? Is that you?" A familiar, male voice called out to Astrid, causing her to look away from the sky in search of the voice's owner. Turning to her left, her eyes landed upon a figure she never thought she'd see again.

"Kristoff?" Astrid uttered the man's name as her eyes fell upon his figure.

There she saw the man who had been her best friend in high school, who had been there for her when she had had the biggest heartbreak of her life. The two of them were inseparable during high school, and even through college, and Astrid loved the guy with all of her heart. However, a few years ago, Kristoff had told her that he was moving away overseas and didn't know when he returned. They hadn't been in contact since the day he left.

"I thought you were in the U.S?" Astrid asked curiously, and slightly surprised.

Every word and sentence she wished to say to him became lodged in her throat, and instead, she was just awestruck that he was here. In the flesh. Standing before her like a magnificent painting. He had surely grown up since the last time she had seen him.

"I was. But I'm on vacation and I thought I'd come and visit you before I went back to my family. It's been a long time since we last met and I want all the details of your life since I left!" Kristoff said excitedly, bounding over to Astrid like an over-energetic puppy.

Astrid giggled at his behaviour, bringing her friend in for a warm and welcome hug. It had been a long time since they had been in each other's embrace, but as they hugged each other in front of the building that day, it felt as though they had never been apart.