Well here it is, chapter 4. I'm sorry it took a bit to post, I was having a bit of a writers block. But I hope what I came up with is to your liking. R&R and enjoy:) btw I was kind of tired when I wrote some of this so I'm sorry fr any mistakes I looked over.

Office space Chapter 4

My alarm went off, startling me from sleep. Ugh, another day of work. So glad today was Friday, I thought to myself. When I went to hop out of bed I froze, my face turning blood red. There is...no way..in hell...this is happening. Arnold stirred and opened his eyes.

"Morning Helga." I stared at him, my eyes wide as saucers. How could he not realize where his hand was!? Then something inside his brain clicked, and his eyes slowly, fearfully, traveled down to my chest, where the palm of his hand rested... inside my tank top. On my bare breast. Could things get any worse... "Oh...my..um" He slowly removed his hand, blushing furiously. " You, uh, can have the shower first. I'll make breakfast."

Arnold's pov (won't happen very often in the story. But it will happen)

As Helga showered, I grabbed random things out of the cabinets, hoping they were breakfast related. How could I have possibly done that? To Helga no less! I decided to just make simple bagels with cream cheese and orange juice. I mean yeah, i've been lusting after the gil since the first day I showed up at her apartment. Seeing her standing there in a simple tank top and pink sofie shorts with her long blonde hair pulled back out of her face. She was the picture of naturally beauty, long blonde hair, aquamarine blue eyes and pale flawless skin. It was going to be very, very hard to resist her. And she didn't even know how appetizing she could look sometimes. I shook my head and rummaged through the fridge fr something along with the bagels. I cringed at the thought of her actually trying to get my attention. I would be in deep shit, not being able to last a minute.

Helga's pov

I climbed out of the shower, having enjoyed the distraction the hot water provided. I shook my head at myself. Cool down Helga. It was just an accident. But what could he possibly be dreaming about to cause him to do that in the first place? Don't dwell on it now. We got to go to work. I sighed and slipped into my gray skirt, pale pink blouse, and gray jacket. When I was out, I glanced over and noticed Arnold rummaging through the fridge. "If your worried about making something other than that, you don't have to. Half the time on my own I wouldn't eat breakfast at all." The second he bumped his head on a shelf, I knew I had to tease him just a little. "You, uh, OK? You seem a bit...flustered." His face flushed a bright red, and he rubbed the back of his neck.

"No, no. I'm perfectly fine." Grinning, I launched up onto the counter next to him, and rubbed my foot up and don his leg. Totally innocent of course. And don't ask me where the confidence came from, because I have absolutely no idea. I grinned when his face paled and he cleared his throat. Seems I do have an affect on the boy.

"Are you sure, there hair boy?" He nodded but stayed put. I continued to rub his leg lightly, while I grabbed my bagel and took a small bite. He took his own and ate slowly, trying to keep his composure I assume.

"Yepp. Totally sure."

I nodded. "Mm hm. Sure." Hoping of the counter, I quickly finished eating. "Right, let's go Hairboy. We got work to do." Suddenly my phone dinged with a text message. I paled. Stupid bitch. Should have minded your own business. It was an unknown number shaking off the uneasy feeling, I forced myself to forget about it. Halfway through the day, my phone dinged with another text message. Stifling my fear, I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. You better watch your back. And your boyfriends. You wont last through today. Should have stuck to your usual stories huh? I jumped up and ran over to Phoebe. "Pheebs, look at this." Without a word she grabbed my cell phone and glanced through the two messages. She gasped, somehow getting Arnold's attention.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I frowned getting more nervous. "Look at the text messages."

He stayed silent for a minute, his face getting pale. "Helga, do you think Mosley will let us go home early today? I need to do some research on this."

I thought for a minute then nodded. "Yeah, just give me a minute." I walked over to Mosley's office. "Hey Mosley. Me and Arnold gotta go home. I just started my period, and I don't have my tampons, and I'm his ride. Oh and i've got major headache and could crack and kill you all in a matter of minutes so mayb-

"Go home, Pataki. That's just too much information." Smiling in triumph, we finally made our way home, with a promise to update to Phoebe, as soon as possible. I was nervous and jittery. The phone number was unknown, so I had no idea how they got my number in the first place. And it was quite obvious he was talking about my latest article in The Hillwood Tribute. But why did they care? I didn't target anyone in particular, so what was all this about? Did they feel threatened?

I pulled into the parking garage and we silently made our way to our apartment. When Arnold stopped me from going into the bathroom, I stared at him surprised. And then I realized that I was shaking. Hard. "Helga, it's OK. Everything will be fine. I wont let anyone hurt you. I promise."

I frowned. Me? I wasn't worried about me. "Me? I'm not worried about me Hairboy!" I began pacing, pulling away from him. " They threatened you too! Somehow they've seen you with me! "

"Helga!," He gripped my shoulders forcing me to a stop in front of him. I was breathing hard, body still shaking just a bit. "DO you want me to teach you how to protect yourself?"

I froze. "You know how to?"

he laughed lightly, still gripping my arms lightly but not in a tight grip like fashion. More of an endearing fashion. "I learned karate from grandma remember? And after college, I went and learned other basic forms of protection."

"Like what?" I was intrigued by this new development. I already knew about the karate, but I had no idea he pursued different areas too. I also made a mental note to ask him about school later.

"Like Tai Chi, which we would start out with since it teaches you how to be fluid in your movements. And then there's Ju Jitsu." I thought about it for a minute, also reveling in the fact that he hadn't let go yet.

"I think that would be good. Get my mind of those stupid text messages."

Arnold gasped. "I almost forgot what we came home to do in the first place. Before we get started I need to call up a friend, OK? In the mean time I want you to dress in something flexible and breathable and begin stretching. And stretch everything OK?" I nodded and went to grab my typical jogging outfit. It consisted of pink body fitting pants and a black thick strap tank top with a pink strip down the side.

I began stretching, doing the basics, reaching for my toes and stretching my back and arms. A few minutes later, Arnold came back with a satisfied smile.

"OK, I got a friend working on where the texts came from, so for now you can't use your phone since it's plugged in to the computer. James is working on it wirelessly from his house, so don't freak if you see the laptop doing things on its own OK?" I didn't even want to know how he did that, also something I would ask the story for later, so I simply nodded and continued stretching. Not three minutes later Arnold was back, wearing basketball shorts and a skintight sleeveless under armor shirt, that made me drool like a dog. Criminy, that boy is ripped.

"What the hell have you been doing? Your muscles have muscles!" He just blushed and began stretching.

"Just odd jobs I did for college, and the Tai Chi, and Ju Jitsu. It keeps you in shape. OK, I don't need to stretch much, so give me a minute and we will begin OK? I think we will end up doing this three or four times a week. This isn't something you wanna overload yourself with so we will start off easy OK?" I nodded and spread my legs to reach for my toes again. "OK, first things first. What is Tai Chi? It's a style that teaches you more of the self defense forms. It can be used for defense, to better your health, or even stress management. Tai Chi can be called a form of mediation since the moves themselves are more fluid than anything. Tai Chi is also about Balance. Yin and Yang. Dark and Light. Simple things actually, like to the earth there is the heavens. To the female there is male, and to the cold there is hot. You see?" I nodded eagerly. This was actually quite interesting. I had heard the concept of Yin and Yang before , but I had never really known where it had come from. As he went on with the lesson, soon showing me basic forms and movements, my body began to relax, my heart rate slowing down to a steady and controlled rhythm. This was actually quite calming, and something I knew I would enjoy doing more often. Now I know that actually learning self defense wouldn't come till much later, but I was very thankful he had offered to show me this.

Just a few days later, I began to realize that I was a much calmer and coordinated person. How that happened in just a few days, I don't really know. And then Arnold gave me the news I was half expecting.

"He doesn't know where the text came from. I'm sorry, Helga. If he can't find it, then I doubt anyone can. He's one of the best." I shook my head in defeat.

"I don't know what to do. I mean, all I can think of is to wait." I glanced around the apartment, hoping he wouldn't see the tears of frustration in my eyes. I didn't know what to do. I had expected for Arnold's friend to be able to pull through. I was counting on it, in fact. Right as I was about to turn into another round of pacing, strong arms wrapped around me, locking my arms against my chest. This made the tears fall, and I had yet to fully understand why I was even crying this much. I'm Helga G. Pataki for cripes sake. I don't cry this much.

"Helga, please don't cry. It hurts to see you cry." He whispered this in my ear, and rubbed his hands slowly up and down my arms. "Please."

I slumped, forcing him to hold me up. I just didn't have the strength any longer. "I don't know what to do." My voice was barely above a low whisper. "I don't know why i'm even crying. I feel so helpless, I can't feel helpless."

"Oh Helga." I gasped when he swung my legs up and cradled me against his chest. Then he walked to the bed and sat crossed legged against the headboard. He placed me in his lap and layed my head against his should and began stroking my hair. I felt like a child who just woke up from a nightmare, but oddly enough, Arnold's ministrations were very comforting and a soon stopped the tears. "You are the strongest person I know. You have a fiery attitude, but your gentle and extremely talented. You don't people talk you down and you walk tall, proud of who you are and who you made yourself out to be." I blushed deeply. No one has ever said that about me. I wasn't sure what to say, but I knew I didn't want to move out of this spot. I was way to comfortable.

Smiling a little, I wrapped my arms around his neck and snuggled tighter. "Thank you."

His hand gripped my chin gently, and turned me to look at him. "Can I kiss you?" Slightly out of breath, I nodded. His lips lightly touched mine. I gasped through my nose and deepened the kiss, tracing my tongue along his lips, reveling in the taste. He instantly allowed me in. we kissed like this for quite some time, his arms wrapped around me, my arms wrapped around his neck.

We pulled apart, breathing deeply, both of our faces a light shade of red. "That...was fucking amazing..." Arnold laughed.

"Yes it was."

…...

I should have known that the peace wouldn't last. I should have known that him not tracing that text would be a bad Omen. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong between Arnold and I. It's that sneaky prick that's been texting me, throwing my confidence out of whack. Or I believe it's him anyways.

As Arnold and I were leaving the building, and heading to my car, Arnold had stopped to tie his shoe. And that's all the time it took. A black van screeched around the corner and pulled to a stop. The door slammed open, and all with in a few seconds, I was yanked in and knocked out cold. The last thing I heard was Arnold screaming for me at the top of his lungs.

…...

"Why didn't you leave it alone? Why did you have to write about it in the GOD DAMNED NEWSPAPER?! (A/N:apologies to anyone offended by that phrase. No disrespect meant)"

I groaned and tried to shift but something cold prevented me. What the hell? I tried to sit up at least, but chains locked me in a fetal position. "Huh?"

" I was just gonna leave it at those two families. I thought I was done, but nooo. Little miss journalist just had to go and write that fucking story. Now the police are that much closer to figuring out, that it was me." Jeez, who was this guy? He sounded like a lunatic, rambling like that.

"What the hell are you going on about?" I couldn't see a thing, so I didn't see the forceful kick to my stomach coming. I gagged, and began to tear up. " Criminy. Bastard."

"Whats worse, is that flake of a Jones, I hired to kill those people fucking is obsessed with money. You know what that means blondie?" I shook my head. Spittle rained down on my face as he screamed the answer in my face. "It means that because of you, the police are finally able to put out a reward fr information, and the slimy bastard is gonna rat me out! But you know what? I think i'm gonna keep you alive for a while. Make you pay for that article.

"Why? I never mentioned your name! Why would they think it was you?"

"Because! Those families used to work for me! Before I became the boss of Hillwood T- of another company! They are the reason my company tanked, and I want them to suffer. But I couldn't risk doing it myself, so I hired Jones to do it." I began shaking uncontrolably. So many thoughts were running around my brain confusing me. The only two I could grasp onto were 'why is he telling me this?' and 'Oh God, it's been Mosley this whole time. And he sent me to pay Jones for the job. I began to gag. It made sense. I had just seen the story not long after that little escapade. Oh God, I paid a killer...

Ok I know the ending is a bit cliff hangerish but I am super tired and running out of steam, so I figured I would stop where it made sense and didn't begin to sound like gibberish lol. Well hope you liked the chapter. R&R pretty please:)