Two months later Arnold came home to find a big envelope on the table and Lila sitting there waiting for him.
"My lawyer wanted to give it to you, but I figured it would be best if I did it," she told him, handing him the envelope. "I owe our marriage that much at least."
He looked at her, then opened the envelope.
Divorce papers.
He almost breathed a sigh a relief, and that's truly how he felt. Finally, one of them had gotten the guts to file. He put the papers down and signed where he needed to.
"I'm sorry it ended this way," Arnold said.
"Yeah," Lila agreed. "Me too."
They were both quiet, until finally Lila picked up the papers and put them in the envelope.
"I can go stay with my dad," she said.
"No, it's alright," Arnold said. "I was thinking of going to catch up with Phoebe anyway."
Lila just nodded.
"Do you want to keep the apartment?" Arnold asked. Lila looked around, then shook her head. "Alright, I'll let the landlord know we're handing in our notice."
…...
Lila felt so desolate and alone. She had always been with someone, anyone, since high school. Since then she'd only gone two months without having a boyfriend, and that was just the first two months of school. The rest of the time she had already moved on before leaving her boyfriend. But this had been different. As sad as the marriage had turned out to be, she just couldn't find it in her to cheat. Arnold was a good husband, when he was around to be one. But . . .
It was an ill fit.
She knew Arnold had become unhappy in the marriage as well, but was relieved to know he hadn't cheated on her at all. In a way she was glad it had ended this way. There was no lying and no cheating, and it was amicable and easy. How many divorcees could say that?
…...
Phoebe found Helga sitting Christopher's room, hugging a shirt.
"I can still smell him," she said, tears in her eyes.
"Helga, I think it's time to maybe pack these things away," Phoebe suggested.
Helga shook her head. "Not yet."
Phoebe heard the doorbell and left to go answer it to see who it was. She was surprised to see Arnold standing there.
"Hey," he said. "Just thought I'd stop by and see how things are going."
"Oh, um I don't know if now is a good time," Phoebe said, looking back up the stairs.
"Is there a problem?" Arnold asked.
Phoebe debated with herself wether or not to let him in and tell him.
"He can come in, Phoebe. It's rude to keep people waiting in the cold," Helga said, coming down the stairs.
Phoebe stepped aside and tentatively, Arnold stepped in.
Helga was wearing jeans and a red shirt. Her hair was loose and messy. She didn't look like she had brushed it today . . . or maybe for a few days. She walked into the lounge and sat down on the couch and stared out the bay windows.
"It's such a nice day," she said. "We should go to the park . . ."
Arnold looked at Phoebe, who looked back at him and shook her head.
"How's Lila?" she suddenly asked.
"Uh, she's good," he answered. Helga smirked at him.
"You always were a terrible liar," she said. "Kieran was good, when he needed to be, but he could never lie to me. And Christopher . . . He lied once when he broke a glass bowl. He did it right in front of me and when I asked him what he had done, he said nothing," Helga laughed a little. "He'd cut two toes on the top. He was just learning . . ."
"Well, I think tonight calls for pizza, my shout," Arnold said. He saw Helga tilt her head, then frown.
"You and Lila aren't together?" she asked.
Arnold's jaw dropped.
"What?" he asked, stunned. How did she know that?
"A little bird told me," she said. "You can sleep in the guest room downstairs if you want. Would be nice to have a man around the house again, eh Pheebs?"
Phoebe looked over at Arnold, who had paled slightly. So it was true? Were he and Lila not together?
"How did she know that?" Arnold asked. "Has Lila been here?"
Phoebe shook her head.
"Then how did she know?"
"I don't know how she does it, Arnold, she just does," Phoebe said. "So what happened?"
Arnold shrugged.
"She couldn't handle the life as the wife of a doctor I guess," he said. "It just fizzled, and was starting to turn toxic. Neither of us were happy, so we agreed that it was best to get out while we still could."
"Fair enough," Phoebe said. When the phone rang she answered it. Arnold saw her look Arnold's way a couple of times.
"Okay, see you soon. Bye," she hung up the phone and released a breath. "That was Scott. He will be joining us tonight."
"Okay, cool," Arnold said. "Should I let Helga know?"
Phoebe shrugged, so Arnold left.
"Scott is joining us tonight," Arnold said.
Helga sighed. "They can just go out tonight," she snapped.
"Pardon?" Arnold asked.
"Phoebe and Scott. I told him today he could take her out because we would have a guest staying with us who could make sure I didn't drown myself in the kitchen sink or something," Helga said, crossing her arms. "And I'll let them both know that your happy to baby-sit me tonight, so they can go off and do what lovers are meant to do, which isn't look after a fully grown woman!"
"Phoebe's just worried about you," Arnold said.
"Everyone's worried about me," Helga snapped.
"Should we be?" Arnold asked.
Helga remained quiet and turned her face away from him, to stare at the wall.
"Look out for her . . ." Kieran's voice seemed to whisper in his ear.
"How long do you need a room for?" Helga suddenly asked.
"Just til I find somewhere else," Arnold said. Helga nodded.
"Long commute to work," she told him.
"I have a lot of time owing to me, so I'm taking a month off," he said. "Will be easier to find a place too, if I'm not working non-stop."
Helga nodded and sighed. "No mushrooms."
"Gottacha," Arnold said, going to call to order pizza. "What about Phoebe?"
"No ants!" she called out.
Helga turned and smiled at him. "Well, you heard the girl!" Helga got up and wandered into the hall. Arnold could hear a door open then slam.
"Hey, can I get two large pizzas, um, meat lovers and Deluxe, no ants or mushrooms," he said.
Phoebe walked in.
"Uh, no, this isn't a joke. My friend just said she didn't want ants on her pizza, I figured it was just a nickname for anchovies or something."
Phoebe burst out laughing.
"Okay, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you had ant problems . . . Oh, well that's good that you don't anymore . . . Okay, thankyou. Ten minutes, okay, bye."
Phoebe continued laughing.
"That was embarrassing," Arnold said, looking down at the phone.
"Oh, but funny from where I'm standing," Phoebe said. "Where's Helga?"
"Oh, um, she was in the hallway-"
Phoebe dashed out of the room and into the hallway calling for Helga.
"In here!" she called out from the spare room. Arnold followed Phoebe down to the spare room. Helga had just finished making the bed for him.
"Enjoy your stay," Helga said then breezed out of the room, Phoebe close on her heels, until the doorbell went and she opened it to let Scott in.
"Arnold has ordered pizza," Phoebe explained. Scott looked up to see Arnold standing there. "He's having marital problems, and needs a place to stay. So Helga has offered him a room here."
Scott nodded, then looked in to where Helga was now fussing over the fire. Arnold followed his stare, then went to help her.
"Here, let me," he said. "Thankyou for making my bed."
"No problem," she said, getting up and letting him finish the fire. "Well, as you can see, I have a baby sitter, so you two can go and have a night off."
"Helga-"
"It's fine, Phoebe," Arnold said. "I don't mind."
Phoebe looked at Arnold, and she felt Scott tense next to her. She looked up at him.
"Well, I suppose . . ."
"Go!" Helga yelled, walking up and pushing her out the door. "I'll be fine, I promise."
…...
They ate pizza and talked.
"So what made you marry Lila?" Helga finally asked. Arnold was quiet and thoughtful for a moment.
"Honestly? I don't know," he admitted. "I guess because . . ."
"Because?"
"I guess because the girl who I wanted to marry was married to someone else, so I settled for second best?" he guessed.
"Oh, that sucks," she said, stuffing pizza in her face.
"What about you? What made you fall in love with Kieran?" he asked.
Helga's eyes went misty.
"Everything, Arnold," she said. "His laugh and smile, his grumpy-pants face. He had an awesome sense of humour, flirty and fun, his eyes . . . Like melted chocolate . . . I could have drowned in them for the rest of my life . . ."
Arnold looked at her, regretting his questions. Not so much because of the feelings it was bringing out in him, from deep in his sub conscious, but because of the sudden change in Helga's mood.
The chatter stopped after that, and they finished eating in silence. They watched a movie, not saying a word unless necessary.
"I'm tired," Helga said, getting up suddenly. "I'm going to bed."
"Okay," Arnold said, not sure what to do. Did he follow her?
Helga left the room and he watched as she went upstairs. Taking out his phone he sent a quick text to Phoebe.
'We're almost home anyway' she replied.
Arnold sighed and turned off the T.V. he had lost interest himself, so went to go have a shower. Because the downstairs "bathroom" consisted only of a toilet, he had to go upstairs to use the shower. He got his stuff together and made his way up. All the bedroom doors were closed, but as he walked past the one that had been Christopher's, he stopped. He could hear Helga talking. Walking over he very quietly opened the door and peeked in.
She was sitting in a chair next to his bed, reading a book aloud. Arnold frowned. Especially when he noticed that there looked to be some type of doll in the bed.
He pulled back and quietly closed the door.
What had the last couple of months been like for Helga? And Kieran?
Had Kieran known all this was going on? Even if he had, what could he have done?
Does Phoebe know she does this? He continued into the bathroom and locked the door behind him.
Was what he'd just seen a normal process of grief? Or was there something else wrong here?
…...
Arnold went out back to explore the yard and was surprised to find a swimming pool. He could see the yard was a big one, and in the back was a raised cubby house with a ladder and slide. He walked back there to see what else he could find. A few fruit trees, bearing no fruit, and a vegetable patch, well hidden. He walked over to the cubby house and looked inside. A few toy cars were in there as well as some crayons, paints and paper with a small plastic table.
Arnold walked away. Looking at the house he saw Helga come out with a load of washing. He stopped and observed her, and frowned when he saw she was hanging up kids clothes and single bed sheets. Had she finally cleaned up her son's room? He quietly walked towards her and said hi.
She completely ignored him, and kept hanging up washing. He just went inside to see Phoebe sitting with a cup of coffee.
"She doesn't seem to be getting any better," Phoebe said, sighing "She woke up in the middle of the night and started stripping the bed and taking clothes out of the drawers, telling me she was sorry she woke me, but Christopher had an accident."
"Yeah, I saw her hanging out some clothes just now," Arnold said. Phoebe shook her head.
"It's been happening since his death. Even Kieran was worried about her, but he wasn't well enough to do anything," Phoebe said. "She needs to get better soon. Or she's going to end up-"
They both looked over at the phone that had started to ring, cutting Phoebe's sentence short.
Arnold went over to answer it.
"Hello, Michaels residence," he answered. Phoebe held back a small laugh.
"Yes, this is he," he said, frowning. Phoebe watched as his face changed to one of shock, sorrow and horror.
"When?" he demanded. "No, I will be right there, thankyou."
He didn't even say anything as he rushed out the door.
…...
