Let's Give it a Year

Chapter 1

It had been 20 years since that day when Hiccup and Astrid had first met, however, it had also been the last day Hiccup and Astrid had met. After their meeting with one another, Thorald had relocated to another part of town and lost contact with Stoick for a long time until 5 years ago.

5 years ago, Thorald returned to Berk and met up with Stoick in a desperate state and was in need of a job. Recently, his company had filed for bankruptcy and Thorald was in dire need of a job and steady income to keep his family afloat. Stoick was more than happy to give his old friend a job and offered him a position as his Chief Operating Officer.

In this position, Thorald quickly worked his way up the ranks and when Hiccup finished his education and took over as COO, Thorald was quickly promoted to CEO of the company and in charge of many important roles and functions of the company. However, all decisions had to be run by Stoick, and his son, before they were approved and pushed forward.

"What does that half-wit, dumb troll think he's doing?" Hiccup muttered to himself as he looked over Thorald's requests for investment ideas that had landed upon his desk that morning.

Hiccup was being taught by his father about the proper way to run a company, meaning that he had many of the chores that his father had, as well as the roles that his job title required him to do. However, occasionally Stoick would request that Hiccup join him in one of his many, boring board meetings and learn more about the detailed workings of his company.

Which led him up to reading a ridiculous request from Thorald on the agenda for the meeting that day.

"Sir?" A petite voice called out from the door into his office.

As Hiccup looked up, he met eyes with a bright-faced, black-haired woman peeking in through the gap in the door that she had made. Her face wasn't heavily made up, but it was obvious that she was wearing make-up, she had bold, thick eyeliner that accentuated her brown eyes and intricately braided hair that hung over her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered at him as she entered his office properly, standing with her hands rested upon her stomach and a bright, flirtatious smile spread over her features.

This was Heather, Hiccup's assistant, and she was desperately and obviously in love with Hiccup. However, Hiccup had no interest in her whatsoever as he never found her particularly attractive or pretty in any sense of those words.

"What is it, Heather?" Hiccup asked coldly, his face not lighting up at her presence in his office. Heather had to momentarily steady herself from his cold stare and emotionless voice before she cleared her throat to speak again.

"Ummm, sir. You have that meeting today, with your father and the board?" Heather reminded him. Hiccup let out an annoyed sigh at her words and collapsed back into his seat, allowing the chair to spin contemplatively as Hiccup looked up to the ceiling whilst letting out a bored sigh.

"Okay, Heather. Is that now?" Hiccup asked, his eyes not daring to look her way as he dreaded her answer.

"Yes, sir." Heather smiled devilishly, walking up towards Hiccup's desk in a sultry way. "Unless you had something else in mind?" She flirted, leaning on Hiccup's desk in a seductive way.

But it was a trick unlikely to work on Hiccup, who paid her advances no mind as he packed up his things.

"I'll be going then, are you to join me?" He asked, wondering why Heather had gotten so close to his desk as he looked up from his work, with a briefcase in hand. Heather lowered her head and stood up straight, her hands rested in her lap as she stood in front of Hiccup's desk.

"No, sir. I have other matters to attend to."

With a heavy sigh and annoyed grunt, Hiccup rose from his seat and straightened his suit with a proud and sharp tug. He quickly grabbed the documents from his desk and gave them an extra glance over, the action made him roll his eyes before standing up straight. Looking over at Heather, he gave her a sharp and confident nod, earning a small smile and a shy gesture from her as he exited his office.

Upon exiting the office, Hiccup looked down at his watch and noticed the time. 5 minutes. Taking in a deep breath, Hiccup opened up the file in his hand and began giving it another glance over, making sure his theory was correct and he could make a valid argument against the request that Thorald was planning to make.

As he rounded another corner in the office, something collided into his chest spilling a hot, scaling liquid all over him, but luckily missing the important documents in his hand. A yelp and grunt from someone caused Hiccup's eyes to cast up from the papers and look down at the person who had bumped into him, as they had landed upon the ground in front of him. Hiccup gave them a scathing look and gritted his teeth in frustration.

His suit was ruined and now was stained in the brown liquid, which was presumably coffee based upon its smell, and he had no time to rush to the bathroom and clean himself up. The woman who was sat on the floor in front of him looked even more furious and upset than him, her eyes casting him a cold gaze that almost made him flinch in shock, but he remained composed as he gazed at her figure upon the floor.

"Watch where you're going next time!" Hiccup told the woman sternly, his gaze cold as he gave her figure a look up and down in disgust.

"I wasn't the only one!" She yelled, jumping up to her feet and standing in front of Hiccup with an accusing glare. "You should watch where you're going and apologise to me!"

Her eyes stared at him furiously, their ocean blue colour momentarily distracting Hiccup for a moment as he found them oddly attractive, especially due to her heightened emotions at that moment. Hiccup also noted that she had beautiful blonde hair that was braided and resting over her shoulder but had the odd stray hair peeking out from the confines of the intricate ties. However, her words wounded his pride slightly and Hiccup straightened himself before leaning in closely, causing the woman to step back suddenly from his closeness.

"Excuse me. But why should I apologise when I'm the one who got coffee spilt on by someone who wasn't looking where they were going? Probably daydreaming about flirting with your boss as you were taking him his cup of coffee. How is this my fault?" Hiccup asked sternly, his voice low and intimidating as to not draw too much attention their way.

However, due to Hiccup's status in the company, every employee within their vicinity was watching every moment of their encounter.

"Well then, I apologise. I didn't realise that you had your head stuck so far up your own ass that you couldn't see where you were going. You're right, it was my fault. I do apologise." And with that, the woman gathered up the spilt coffee and disappeared down another corridor leaving Hiccup alone with a coffee-stained suit.

"Did she just..." Hiccup watched her figure disappear, and couldn't help the small chuckle escape his mouth as he replayed her words in his head. "Oh, coffee girl. You've got no idea who you just insulted, do you?" He muttered to himself before looking at his watch and rushing over to the meeting room where he was now running late.

As he rushed into the meeting room, his father looked over him as though he had just been dragged through a hedge backwards, with his pants down. When Hiccup sat down beside him, Stoick leaned over to his son with a confused look and a stern, scolding voice.

"What the hell have you been doing? Why do you look such a disgrace?" Stoick scolded, whispering to his son as the last few stragglers entered the meeting - also running late.

"I'm sorry. Had an incident in the hallway with an assistant, she wasn't looking where she was going and bumped into me, spilling the coffee she had all over me." Hiccup explained as he grabbed a couple of tissues off the desk and attempted to pat his shirt dry and save what little whiteness was left on his shirt. Stoick chuckled under his breath, noticing the slight amusement and attraction beneath Hiccup's eye.

"Was she pretty?" He asked, catching Hiccup off-guard slightly. Hiccup paused his pat-down and thought back for a moment, honestly checking his mind for her face and smiled to himself.

"Beautiful." He smiled but shook his head. "But, too self-righteous and rude for me I think."

"You never know," Stoick added, watching as the last member sat himself down. "Disagreement and hatred can make for the best attraction sometimes."