-H-
Oh, no, of all the people.
Helga froze, slumped in her seat, eyes forward, hoping to god she didn't hear who she thought she just heard.
"Helga? You remember me don't you?"
Helga turned her head slowly to the side, a smile on her face, "Of course I remember you, who could forget you?"
Lila smiled at Helga, getting up from her seat, and sat down right next to Helga. "So, why were you laughing so hard?"
Helga looked at the woman sitting next to her, with wide eyes. For some reason, she felt like Lila was some kind of wild animal. I wonder if she can smell Arnold on me or not…and if she does, I wonder if she goes for the jugular…
"Uhm," She said, straightening up and smoothing out her coat. "Just relieved I actually caught the train, I practically had to dive."
"Oh yes, I saw that," she said with a giggle. She crossed her legs and folded her hands on her knee, staring Helga down. "That was oh so impressive."
"Yeeeah, thanks," Helga replied, breaking her gaze with Lila. Sheesh, is she acting creepy or what! "So…what's new?"
"Oh I don't know if you're still in touch with Arnold Shortman or not," She said, shrugging her shoulders and looking down at her fingernails. "I know you're close with Phoebe and her husband Gerald still comes by every now and then. But anyways, we're engaged."
With that she held her left hand out to Helga, showing off the ring Arnold had bought her. Even though Helga knew that Arnold loved her, man did it hurt to see that ring on her finger. It was solid, silver and diamond proof that Arnold wasn't hers yet, and with a binding title like Fiancé, it was hard to imagine him ever leaving Lila for her. After all, he had had many chances over the years, yet here was this bitch, sitting here with a ring that should be hers.
"Wow," Helga said, pretending to be baffled. "That's…that's great to hear. I'm glad for you."
"Yes," She said, pulling her hand back and looking down at her ring lovingly. She turned her hand side to side, letting the light catch on the accent diamonds, a smirk across her face. "It's funny how some things work out, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Helga said, feeling like they were headed into some dangerous territory.
"Oh you know, I still remember that little secret you told me back in fourth grade" She said, scrunching up her nose in a knowing way with the word secret. Helga froze; they were most certainly headed into dangerous territory. "No hard feelings though, am I right?"
"Uh," Helga said, uneasy. "Right, no hard feelings."
"I was just in the neighborhood, and I saw your quant little bookshop," Lila said, not missing a beat in the conversation. "Quite a lovely sculpture in the front window, is it new?"
Shit
"Uh, yeah, Phoebe dropped it off," Helga said, lying on the spot. "She thought it fit pretty well, so she put it in the window."
Lila nodded but didn't say anything. They sat for a long time next to each other in silence, until the train slowed down at Helga's stop. She stood up to leave and to her surprise, Lila did too. She walked up to the road with Lila right behind her the whole time. When she reached the top of the stairs, she turned to say goodbye, but she couldn't get one word out before Lila spoke up again.
"It's just that," Lila said, glaring at Helga. "That's Arnold's sculpture, and he never said anything to me about giving it away to Phoebe, and he didn't say anything about Phoebe working at your book shop when for the most part she works at the recycling plant. So I'm just wondering why he would make a very specific sculpture for a book shop when that's not Phoebe's profession, it's yours."
"Are you trying to say something to me, Lila?" Helga said, getting heated. She was angry that Lila was following her, angry that she was drilling her so hard, and angry that her cover was practically blown. "Because if you have something you want to say, I suggest you say it, or get lost."
"What business do you have with him, Helga? What?" Lila said, getting in Helga's face. "That sculpture was for your bookshop, don't try to deny it. Why is he making you gifts of all things?"
"Please," Helga said, rolling her eyes. "Arnold and I have been friends for years, Lila, longer than you and him have even known each other, let alone have been dating. So what if he made a sculpture for my bookshop? He gave it to Gerald who gave it to Phoebe who gave it to me; you're seriously going to be pissed off about a gift that went through two other people to get to me?"
I've got to remind Arnold to add that lie to his arsenal later, Helga thought as the string of lies slid from her tongue. It was easy to throw them out now that she was angry. A little discomforting that she had to do so much lying and it wasn't even past noon yet, but still.
"And besides, in case you didn't notice, I'm already married," Helga said, pulling her gloves off and showing her own wedding band to a shocked Lila. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to walk home now to see my own husband, and you're bothering me. Goodbye Lila."
And with that, She turned on a heel and marched angrily towards her apartment building, pulling out her phone in the process and texting Arnold:
Just FYI, I ran into your fiancé on the subway. She saw your sculpture in my window, so the story is you gave it to Gerald who gave it to Phoebe. Idk if she talks to either of them, but if she does they may want to be in on this lie too.
She threw her phone in her purse, grabbed her keys, and headed up the stairs. She didn't think about what was waiting for her until she was right in front of the door. It was at that moment her heart jumped up into her throat as reality hit her like a ton of bricks. Her husband was in there, and he was pissed off. It was dangerous, and she was scared, but she put her key in the lock, took a deep breathe, and headed into hell.
When she first stepped in, it was silent. The house looked normal, everything in its place, the sun pouring in the windows; perfectly fine. She set her bag down and threw her keys on the table, the sound alerting Jason to her presence, who showed up in the doorway to their bedroom, arms crossed and leaning on the frame. She paused for a moment, afraid of what he was going to do, before she slowly slid her coat off her shoulders, her eyes locked on his, looking for some sign of anger in his eyes.
When he didn't move, she made her way across the living room and sat at her window. She stared at him a moment longer, until he moved into the livingroom, sitting at the couch and turning on the tv without a single word to her. They stayed that way for hours, her sitting and reading, him watching random shows, without a single word exchanged between them. She couldn't tell if he was angry or not, and she didn't dare test him. It wasn't until the sun had started to set that he got up and walked into the kitchen.
After a few minutes, Helga looked up, a look of disbelief on her face. She smelled coffee… Jason never made the coffee, so she was shocked to say the least, when she made her way to the kitchen and saw two mugs sitting there, steaming. He sat down at the little table and picked up his mug, taking a deep draw from it before setting it down, moving the ceramic mug in a tight circle on the table, swirling its contents. "We need to talk."
Helga sat down opposite him and took the coffee in her hands but not taking a sip. She was nervous and it felt like her throat was closing up; there was no way she could down even a drop of the liquid.
"So, I called Phoebe," Jason said, rubbing his thumb along the rim of the mug. He was quiet and calm, which scared Helga. "She said you were over there…so I guess first I should apologize…"
"Oh," Helga said, startled. She hadn't heard him apologize to her in such a long time, it was shocking to hear. "It's…it's alright I…suppose."
She stood, dumb-founded and dazed, and turned to head to the window, when she felt Jason's hand on her arm. She flinched, expecting pain, and recoiled away from him. However, he touched her gently and gestured back to the chair. "There's something else…"
"What?" She asked, not sure what was coming next.
"It's just," Jason sighed. He took a deep breathe, then spilled his guts rapid fire. "I'm ten years older than you, and we've been married for a while now, and it feels like we're not going anywhere in our relationship any more, and I think we need a change, and Gerald and Phoebe being where they are in their marriage got me thinking…"
"Jason," Helga said, perplexed. "What's wrong? What are you trying to say?"
"Well, I don't know, Helga," He said, withdrawing his hand and pulling his fingers through his hair. "Maybe it's time we take the next step, you know?"
"No," She said in response, brow furrowed, confused. What was he getting at?
"No you don't want to take the next step, or no you don't know what I'm talking about?" Jason said, an edge to his voice like a low rumbling thunder; a warning of a storm. When Helga didn't answer, fearing a fight, he got angry. "Jesus Helga, I'm…I'm trying to talk about maybe starting a family and you're sitting over there not helping at all."
An electric current burst through her body, jolting her heart. She couldn't breathe, nor say anything in response for a solid minute. Start a family? He's got to be out of his mind!
"Um," She said, putting her hand on her head, trying to think of what she could possibly say in this situation. Her thoughts raced. Should she tell him? Oh, yeah, that'd go over well, what would I say? She thought silently. Hey, Jason, I don't want to have a family with you, ever. Why? Oh maybe because you beat the crap out of me every day and I don't want to raise a kid like me? Or, even better, because I'm in love with someone else, and have been for my entire life, and I've been cheating on you with him for practically our entire marriage!
"Helga?" Jason's voice snapped her out of her own head, and she looked up at him, startled. "Did you hear me?"
"No, I heard you," She said, looking around the kitchen. Her heart fluttered and her face was warm; she suddenly felt trapped in her own home. "Um, yeah…yeah no, I…I mean…I mean I heard you, yes."
Jason muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'you've got to be kidding me'. He got to his feet and grabbed the two mugs from the table, yanking Helga's straight out of her hand. "Look, I'm just saying Phoebe and Gerald haven't been married nearly as long as we have, and yet they're doing what normal married people do."
"Who says we have to be normal?" Helga said quietly. "I mean, don't you think that's a silly reason to do this?"
"No," Jason said, leaning on the counter and folding his arms. "I don't. Plus, I'm 35 years old. I'm not going to want to do this forever, so if you want kids it's now or never, so you better make up your mind quickly."
"Jason, please," she said, standing up. "This is a really big thing, it's not something I can just decide on the spot like that. I mean, criminy, I haven't even thought about it until just now! It's not exactly high on my list of things to do right now, you know?"
"Yeah well, it's high on my list right now," Jason said, pushing past her and going into the living room. He flopped down on the couch and turned on the t.v. Helga, angry, marched in after him and stood right in front of the television, arms crossed. Jason glared at her. "Move your ass, or I'll move it for you."
"Listen, pal," Helga said, fire burning up her insides. "You can't just spring me with a question like that and then act like I'm the bad guy for not answering right away. I bet you twenty bucks if I did the same thing you'd have a fit over it. If this is so high on your life priorities, why didn't you bring it up until just now, huh?"
Jason stood up, squaring off with her. "Well, you're never exactly around anymore, are you Helga?"
"Oh please," She said, rolling her eyes. "I'm around all the time. I come home from work every night and make you dinner, don't act like I'm never here."
"Yeah okay, we have dinner together, then you run off and do your own thing," He said, waving his hand in the air. "You go to Phoebes, you go get a coffee, you go sit at your stupid little window and write. Either way, we don't spend time together any more, and it's your fault."
"My fault?" She replied, practically screaming. "My fault. Of course it's my fault! Because you put so much effort into this relationship! Because you're such a great husband! Don't give me that crap, Jason."
Jason came around the coffee table and got in Helga's face, forcing her to take a step back. "Look, you selfish bitch, you're MY wife! Got that? You AGREED to marry me, and that means you're required to do some things for ME, got that?"
"Oh please," Helga said, taking a step forward, ready and willing to take Jason on. "The same could be said for YOU, Jason! You are MY husband! You owe ME just as much!"
She shoved Jason and he stumbled backwards, shock on his face. "If I don't want to have your kids, there's nothing you can do about it, got that? You've become such a fucking ASSHOLE! I wouldn't bring a kid into this world with you if my life depended on it!"
Jason had had enough. His hand met her face in a hard blow, knocking her off her feet. She fell to the floor with a bang, her hand on her throbbing cheek. She wiped her hand across her lip, staining her shirt with bright red blood. For a split second, she thought about the previous night; she thought about Arnold's hands on her face, in her hair. How softly he touched her, how he rested his head against hers, hands trembling, and said "you can be damn sure someone loves you." He had said it so many times before they fell asleep, constantly telling her he loved her, like he couldn't get enough of it. It was enough to give her the strength to fight back.
She stood up quickly and, without hesitation, in one fluid movement, landed a solid punch to Jason's face. She felt the impact and heard the air-splitting crack that told her she had broken his nose. Jason staggered backwards, hands over his face, screaming a string of profanities. Helga took this chance and ran for the door, but Jason was right behind her. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her backwards to the floor. She fell hard and her breathe left her momentarily, just long enough for Jason to gain control. He grabbed her by her blonde hair and dragged her across the now blood-spattered floor.
"You fucking BITCH!" He yelled, blood pouring out of his nose. "I'll get what I want from you, whether you like it or not!"
He grabbed her by her shoulders and yanked her to her feet. She struggled, and he hit her in the head repeatedly. She felt her body betraying her, giving up and becoming limp from the pain and trauma. Jason grabbed her by the neck, forcing her into their bedroom. He pushed her down on their bed and shut the door. He came over to her, kneeling on the bed and started to force the clothes off of his wife. Helga tried to fight back, flailing her arms and legs, trying to do anything to keep him off of her. He slapped her and pinned her hands down with one hand, while the other worked clumsily on the button of her pants.
Filled with panic, Helga did the only thing she could think, and started screaming as loud as she could. Jason stopped instantly and put his free hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her cries. Helga opened her mouth and bit the palm of his hand as hard as she could, feeling her teeth break the flesh. He yelled and ripped his hand away, blood pouring from the gouge. Helga took this opportunity to free her other hand and kicked Jason as hard as she could in the groin. He doubled over in pain and she ran for the door. She had just enough time to grab her bag off the floor before she fled the apartment.
She sprinted down the stairs, skipping two at a time just to get away. She burst out into the nearly empty street. They had been fighting for a long time, and she was unaware that it had gotten so late. She didn't take much time to think about this and started running down the road, just trying wanting to get away. It didn't matter where she went, she just needed to go. After a while, she realized Jason wasn't following her, and she slowed down to catch her breathe. She was covered in blood now; it surprised her that no one had stopped her yet, she must look like a hot mess, not that there were any people walking around this neck of the woods this late at night. She rummaged through her bag, but realized she didn't have her cell phone. She did, however, have a quarter.
She ran over to a payphone and inserted the change, dialing the first number that came to her mind.
"Hello?" Arnold's voice came from the other end. He sounded stressed out, unhappy even.
"Arnold," Helga said, and she realized her voice was shaking, half from fear and half with tears. "It's Helga."
"Hey," He said, anxiety in his voice. "Of course, I know it's you, what's wrong?"
"I need to meet you," she said, tears flowing freely now as she let the past few hours events wash over her. "Now, right now. It can't wait."
"I'm on my way," He said, and she could hear him rummaging around, grabbing a coat and keys. "Where?"
"Somewhere he won't find me." She said, her voice barely audible as she whispered fearfully into the phone, suddenly fearful that Jason may be nearby now.
"I've got the perfect place."