Arnold sat nervously at the table at Chez Paris, flipping through his menu and repeatedly checking his pocket watch. It was pointless to go through the menu as much as he did for he already knew what he was getting. There was only one thing at Chez Paris that he liked and that was the steak tartar, as it was the closest thing to a burger he could get there and he wasn't really into their fancy French food anyways. Glancing out the window, he saw Gerald sitting at the bench who looked over at him and shot him an encouraging thumbs up. He returned the gesture and turned to face the empty chair directly in front of him. He reminisced about his first date two years ago with Kathleen in an effort to stave off his nerves.
The date had gone incredibly well. Kathleen and him had talked the entire night away as she shared stories of her adventures in the hospital and homeless shelter as a volunteer and he had shared his own thoughts about the world and his optimistic vision of it. The entire time during the date Arnold had admired Kathleen's long, curly brown hair that cascaded over her smooth, mocha skin. She had worn a navy blue dress that had gone down to her knees and a silver necklace with a simple heart shaped charm on it. He had thought back then that he wanted nothing more than to gaze forever into her luscious chocolate brown eyes as they both worked to make the world a better place. After Chez Paris, the two had walked to Kathleen's home where they shared their second kiss before Kathleen headed inside, leaving Arnold on the front porch with a goofy smile.
After the break up, Arnold had had difficulty trying to figure out where things went wrong. He knew that things had definitely gotten bad after his grandmother's passing, what with his depression and Kathleen's inability to support him. In his prior deep thinking sessions, Arnold had recalled the memory of a date they'd had shortly before Gertie died. They had gone to Slausen's for ice cream on a Monday evening, something they had done every week since they started dating, and even though they made polite conversation, Arnold remembered thinking that everything felt dull and routine. He had been beginning to feel like they were in a rut. This realization that their relationship was already on a downhill run prior to his loss had made the breakup easier to deal with.
Arnold glanced down at his pocket watch again then out the window. Immediately his mouth dropped and he found it difficult to breathe. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A young blonde haired woman in a light pink dress and a bow had just turned around and taken off at a run in the opposite direction with Gerald hot on her trail. He had only managed to catch a glimpse of a side her face, but it was all he needed to get his heart racing with the hope that the mystery had finally been solved. Could it be that Gerald had in fact found Cecile? Gerald certainly knew about the girl, having been there himself when it was revealed that Cecile was, in fact, an imposter. Arnold attempted to unbutton his top shirt button in an effort to make it easier to breathe, but it was in vain as his palms had become too sweaty to handle this seemingly simple task. He placed his hands on the table to steady himself as he began to feel a little dizzy from the excitement of it all. A big smile crossed his face as a small laugh escaped from him. He couldn't help it, he was just so happy that tonight he would finally get to see Cecile again!
"Can I help you, sir?" Arnold whipped his head around to face the waiter, who was eyeing him with a look of disdain and mild confusion. It didn't take long for Arnold to recognize that his waiter was Jacques, the same waiter he had had during that fateful meeting seven years ago and on his first date with Kathleen. "I am Ja-"
"I know who you are!" cut off Arnold. "The fates really must be on my side tonight", he thought as he chuckled.
"Oh, oh yes. I've had you several times before. Good, you've saved me an introduction. By the way, if you try to order le hamburger again, I will force feed you the chopped liver that the chef has prepared tonight. Trust me, not even Listerine will get rid of the abhorrent taste. Now, what may I get you to drink, sir?" Jacques took out his notepad and clicked his pen, shooting Arnold a warning look.
"Heh, yea don't worry I won't try to order that," said Arnold as he gave Jacques a nervous smile. "Uh, I'll just have a Yahoo soda for now."
"Very good, sir. I shall return once your lady friend arrives." Jacques then turned and walked away with his nose pointed upward in a snobby way. Arnold shook his head as he laughed again. Some people never changed.
He looked out the window and was slightly dismayed when he saw no one out there. For the millionth time he pulled out his pocket watch and saw that the time now read 7:15. Had she gotten cold feet? It would certainly explain why she had run away. Arnold sighed as he picked up the menu and leafed through it slowly, his mind mulling over all the possible reasons why Cecile had run off so abruptly.
Several minutes later, Arnold perked up when he heard a soft and familiar voice say, "I'm here meeting someone, can you help me find them? He's got blonde hair and-" Arnold leapt up and grabbed the rose he had brought, nearly knocking his chair over in the process, and rushed around the planter at the entrance. He came to an abrupt stop once he saw her. Stunned, he could do nothing but let out a barely audible, "Wow." Yes, this was indeed the Cecile he remembered, just more grown up. Her dress was absolutely gorgeous as it perfectly showed off her feminine curves that she had grown into and flowed graciously down to her knees. Her wavy blonde hair partially covered her face and her blue eyes glistened in the light of the restaurant.
He felt as though he was in a dream as he never believed in a million years that he was going to see her again. For a while, he had been somewhat convinced that the night itself had been a dream seeing as how wonderful it had been. Now though, in this moment, he knew that he was no longer dreaming. His reality was now better than any dream he had ever had. There was something puzzling about her though as he gazed at her. She appeared slightly apprehensive and scared, afraid that one wrong move would set off a cataclysmic reaction of catastrophic proportions. "Hey Arnold," she softly whispered with a weak smile.
Arnold got a goofy grin and replied, "Hey Ce-" It was in that moment that Helga brushed back her hair to reveal her full face. The color drained from Arnold's face and he suddenly felt very light headed and woozy. Next thing he knew, he stumbled and was falling to the ground with the world fading to black around him. The last thing he remembered was his name frantically being called out before he gave into the darkness that enshrouded him.
A/N: Sorry it took several days to update! I just could not for the life of me get in a writing mood and seriously didn't want to write when I wasn't in the mood to write. That would just lead to a meh piece of work. Thanks for the continued support, feedback, and love for this story! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! 3
