It was with a bit of wariness and trepidation that Arnold found himself stepping downstairs towards the kitchen. Arnold wasn't normally one to be overly concerned with fear of the unknown, but this was an exception he was only to willing to make. Helga was cooking. And he wasn't exactly sure what that meant. Given the rocky start that morning, he didn't put it completely past his wife to seek revenge. And yet, she had seemed so emotional only a few minutes ago. Arnold just couldn't figure out why Helga seemed to think this was so important. Why of all the people in the universe she would've wanted to do this with him. Helga Pataki was not the romantic type, she never had been in all the years he had known her. Throughout high school, she had seemed to resist the few advances that had been made upon her, thrusting herself into the world of the school paper. Helga certainly hadn't been someone that he'd kept tabs on, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her around any of the hangouts with anyone on her arm, or even when they would pass in the school hallway, for that matter. Helga had always been rather plain, and neither her features nor her personality had softened much in their adolescent years. But she wasn't outright unattractive. She did have a nice smile. A very nice smile. The boy to girl ratio was such that there were very few people who went through high school unmatched. Clearly, Helga had been single by choice. But why? Perhaps it was worth asking her when an opportunity presented itself.
As Arnold reached the bottom of the staircase, he took a moment to listen to the sounds of the usual boarding house banter. Entering the kitchen, he could hear the sound of something sizzling in a pan on the stove. Helga stood over the flame, one of her better smiles on her face as she coaxed her creation into breakfast, he assumed. He moved closer to the range and found that Helga was paying rapt attention to some eggs, while there was bacon frying in a smaller pan. "Smells good." He smiled, looking at his wife.
Helga spared him a quick glance, then swirled the egg pan around a few times. "I used to cook breakfast for Bob and myself whenever Olga wasn't around. I'm pretty good at this."
"I thought you said you hated your father?" Arnold asked.
"I do, sometimes. Often." Helga amended immediately. "But I guess at the end of the day, there's no escaping the fact that he's my father, even if he isn't a very good one."
"I'm sorry that you two don't get along."
"So am I." Helga's eyes took on a far-off look, as though she were reflecting. With all the hardship Helga usually visited on him, sometimes it was easy to lose sight of the fact that she had plenty going on in her own life. Arnold briefly wondered if this was what had made her so difficult and aggressive in her childhood, a girl lashing out with pain in a vain attempt to displace the pain she was constantly being steeped in at home. For a reason he didn't quite understand himself, Arnold reached for her left hand. The move seemed to bring Helga out of her reverie, and she smacked his hand with her spatula.
"Hey!" Arnold yelled, rubbing his sore hand.
"Huh!" Helga blinked twice, coming back to her senses and seeing her injured husband. "Arnold! Oh, geez, I'm sorry!"
"What did you hit me for!"
"Reflex." Helga said sheepishly.
"Reflex?"
"Bob used to try and snatch pieces of bacon before they were thoroughly cooked. The guy's crazy for meat." Helga shook her head. "Did I burn you?"
"I'll live." Arnold sighed, ripping a paper towel from the dispenser hanging on the wall.
Helga gave him an uneasy look. "I'll bring this over when you're done. Sit down."
Phil laughed as he watched his somewhat dejected grandson take a seat opposite him at the table. "Oooh, she got ya good, didn't she Short Man?"
"I guess I should no better than to approach a woman who's slaving over a hot stove."
"Darn tootin'!" Phile agreed with the observation. "Y'know, Arnold, your Grandma used to be quite the cook back when we were young. I can tell you, she really took that saying about the way to a man's heart being through his stomach seriously. I don't know if I've ever eaten better in my life than when the two of us were newlyweds."
"How long ago was that, Gramps?" Ernie asked, spooning some of the cereal into his mouth.
"Not as far back as your rent is." Phil muttered. Ernie wisely chose not to say anything else. "She's a good woman, Arnold. Don't let her get away."
"I don't really have much choice." Arnold sighed, tugging slightly at the ring on his finger.
"Damn straight you don't!" Helga laughed, sounding considerably more jolly than she had moments before. She approached the table carrying a plate with several slices of toast, all sliced diagonally. Eat up boys, I'll have the rest of the meal up momentarily." Helga grinned. Arnold didn't wait to be asked twice, hunger was a powerful force. Arnold had barely finished his first slice when Helga approached the table with her eggs, doling out portions to her husband, her grandfather-in-law, and herself. She repeated the process with the bacon, then departed the table one last time to fetch some forks and the pot of coffee she had been brewing.
"Gee, Helga, maybe you should've taken a job as a waitress." Arnold observed as she poured them each a mug of coffee. "I think you've got a knack for it."
"I had a job as a waitress. I just didn't get paid for it. This is what I had to do every holiday since I was twelve. At least Olga took care of the cooking. But I was always the one that had to fetch everything. I can't remember the last time I had a hot Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, unless of course you count nuking it." Helga shrugged, finally sitting down and wasting no time in shoveling some of the food into her mouth before all the heat dissipated. None of the men were sure what to say to that, so they wisely said nothing. It was Phil who finally broke the silence, knowing he couldn't put off what he had to say any longer.
"You know, I'm proud of you two. I've always wanted this day to come for you, Arnold. I guess I never expected it to happen so soon, but hey, I'm ninety years old! I'm just happy I'm still here to see it!" Phil chuckled. "And you, young lady. I may not know all that much about you, but I can tell already that you'll make a fine wife. You now your way around a kitchen, you know how to put my grandson in his place, and I can tell just by looking at you that you really love him."
"You can?" Helga sputtered, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. "Well, I. . ." She turned to look at her husband, suddenly feeling much bolder than usual. "Yeah, I guess I do. I've always loved Arnold."
"I'm sure you have." Phil smiled. "And I know that he's in good hands."
"If I have my way, he'll be in much more than my hands." She smirked.
"Helga!" Arnold blushed furiously at her use of such a blatant innuendo, while eating no less.
"Ho ho ho, she's a feisty one Arnold! You'd better watch yourself around her or you're gonna find yourself in trouble!"
"Who says he isn't?" Helga winked, pressing her advantage.
"You know, you two make it awfully hard for me to say this, but I think the time has come. Arnold? Helga? You'll always be welcome in our home. But I'm afraid I've got no choice but to evict you two."
"Evict us!" Arnold started choking. What was his grandfather thinking? "Why! Grandpa, what did we do?"
"Nothing." Grandpa shook his head. "I'm not sore with you, Short Man. But this is no place to raise a family. You two deserve better, and you need more than this. I'm sorry, Arnold, but if I keep letting you stay here, I wouldn't be doing you any favors. You need to have your own place."
"But we can't just pack up and leave!" Arnold protested.
"Well of course not, don't be silly. The rest of the boarders and I will help you!"
"Hey, speak for yourself Gramps!" Ernie piped up, suddenly a lot less interested in his meal than the new proceedings.
"You'll help or I'll start charging interest on the back rent you owe me." Grandpa stared him down.
"Sooooooo. . ." Ernie trailed off. "How's tomorrow sound for you two?" He turned to the newlyweds.
"We'll never find a place in our price range." Arnold stood up and started pacing.
"Arnold." Helga interrupted, but her husband ignored her.
"We may have to move to a completely different neighborhood. We'll never be able to see our friends!"
"Arnold. . ."
"What am I possibly going to tell Gerald!"
"Arnold!" Helga finally yelled, causing the boy to stop.
"What?"
"I already have a place."
"You're joking." Arnold practically choked.
Helga shook her head. "I like to think ahead. I put a deposit on it about two weeks ago. It'll be perfect for us honey, just wait until you see it!"
Immediately, Arnold's mind began running through the possibilities of what it would be like to live with Helga—without any other boarders as a buffer. "I need to sit down." Arnold stated, stumbling into his chair.
"Well, this sounds perfect." Phil clasped his hands together. "So when do we get to see this place?"
"How about after breakfast?" Helga winked. Phil readily agreed. Arnold began to worry that his earlier, uneasy feeling wasn't so unfounded after all.
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Hello, Strangers! By Ginger Foutley
So I thought this was shaping up to be a good vacation. Well, remember that little coffee house I was coming to you from last week? Surprise, I'm still there! I wish I could say it's because the coffee is that good. But it's not. Well, okay, it is pretty good, but no quite worth ruining my little working vacation over. I'm just unlucky, that's all. I woke up in the middle of the night on my last night here with the heaves. Seriously bad ones. My chest still hurts when I laugh or breather too deep! And I got all the fun stuff with it. Aches, pains, chills, nausea, all the good stuff. I'd never spent such intimate time with a toilet before, and I think I made it worse on myself with anxiety. There wasn't anyone to take care of me. No mom. No Darren. No Robert. Not even Carl was here to help me. I've never been this alone before. There's always been someone there for me when I'm down. But I guess I have to step out of my safety zone sometime. I can't spend my whole life wondering what I might become, I have to go out there and become it. Truth to tell, I'm a little disappointed in the way I handled this. I look back on my reaction now and have to wonder if I'm being whiny. I can't depend on everyone to take care of me. And I'm not normally a person who dumps her needs on others. So why did I spend most of the last week going between my bed and the bathroom, wishing that someone was here? I was about ready to save myself bald by the end! My hair actually hurt, especially when I tried to tie it back with scrunchies. And when I let it hang loose, it would get in my way whenever I was sick. And I couldn't even shower because the warm water made me nauseous. Taking a long bath may have been the best part of getting better. I didn't know that being clean could feel so good! I gave myself two extra days to make sure I had fully recovered. I had half-expected to get sick again last night and start the process all over again. But it seems that I'm fine. And I'll be taking off after I finish this week's column. I've got my Triple-A card at the ready and I plan on exploring some roads less traveled as I head back south. I might have to come back this way to see Maine when the summer comes. But I think that I've seen enough movies in my time that I know better than to head that far north during the winter without a four wheel drive. I'm not that rugged!
This coffee house seems a different in the morning. A little less magic, a little more reality. The sun's shining in through the window, and water is dripping down as the snow melts. You can see a lot of icicles coming from the overhang at the front door. There's a girl roughly my age behind the counter, organizing things for the lunchtime rush, no doubt. There isn't anyone else in here but an elderly man and myself. No live entertainment. But all the smells are still here. Coffee beans, spices, flavors, the oven's baking a variety of homemade treats for the people who will run in on their lunch hour, probably with an armload of lattes and cappuccinos and espressos and plain old joe in all its blends, once the word gets out that they're making a coffee run. That sort of thing is hard to keep quiet! But I haven't had a lot of experience with that, so maybe I'm not the right one to be talking about that. I haven't exactly done much in the way of real jobs. When I was in high school, I worked in the local library some weeknights and on the weekend. Talk about the perfect job; I always had my Friday and Saturday nights free! Plenty of time for dating and hanging with my friends and just being me. Plus I never had a tough time doing research papers. The head librarian would let me lock up as long as I promised not to make a mess. So I might've been a little bleary eyed at school from time to time. But I always got my papers done ahead of schedule, and I got the marks to prove that my system worked. Lucky High School was good to me. I miss it, no matter how many times I swore to myself that I never would while I was there. It just goes to show you the kind of crazy, mixed up world we live in. How much time do we spend looking backwards, asking ourselves how we managed to get here? And sometimes, there is no clear answer. Life comes together as some sort of crazy tapestry that doesn't make complete sense. But maybe we shouldn't think about it so hard. Let the patterns come naturally, instead of trying to impose our will on them. Maybe that's what makes real beauty. But I guess if we all did what came naturally, the world would be crazy. I mean, crazier than it already is. I've gotten a bit crazy myself from time to time, no question about that. Gone overboard with a few of my courses. Let some of my crushes get a little out of hand. But hey, I was young and I did dumb things. It was all part of my training. Now that I'm an adult. . .I still do dumb stuff. I guess that I can't change who I am. But if I changed, you might not want to read my column anymore, so maybe that isn't such a bad thing.
You know, this coffee is pretty good. I think I'm going to buy some of this blend to take with me for the rest of my journey. A little of the old caffeine might be just the pepper-upper I need during those long drives. I want to go places I've never been, see stuff I didn't know was out there. Part of that whole "live the journey" mentality I've been trying to cultivate. So next week, who knows? But I'm sure that it'll be an adventure! When is it not!
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Historian's Note: The following scene takes place the morning following Rhonda's graduation party
Gerald sat on a porch swing in the Lloyd garden, looking a bit dazed from the night's events. He took some comfort as the party's hostess sat down next to him, proffering a cup of coffee.
"Watching the sunrise?" Rhonda asked. "It's been awhile since I've been up early enough to appreciate it. Usually I'm a bit too busy in the bathroom, making myself look presentable."
"Well, I'd certainly say that it's worth it." Gerald smirked, taking the coffee mug and drinking deep. "Thanks."
"Still no news about Arnold, is there?" Rhonda asked.
"None." Gerald shook his head. "I don't get it. Helga should've checked back in with us by now."
"Do you think something could've happened?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Gerald sighed in frustration. "I hate this. It's like there's nothing we can do. We don't even know which hospital Helga took him to! And none of them will give me any information over the phone, I've tried."
"He'll pull through, Gerald. I know he will." Rhonda nodded.
"You would think I'd know that. He's my best friend. But I can't stop thinking about him, like he's in some kind of trouble."
"I know my Arnold. He'll be okay. He always is." Rhonda smiled, trying to brighten the mood a bit.
"I've got to tell you, he just hasn't been the same ever since you broke up with him. I really thought that you to had it."
"So did I. God, how I wanted us to."
"So why aren't you together now?"
"I'm afraid that my parents didn't see things the same way." Rhonda sighed.
"I can't believe that you two let them do this to you." Gerald protested. "Isn't love worth it?"
"Try to understand, Gerald. As much as I love Arnold. As much as I enjoy fantasize about going around the world with him, never being apart. . .sometimes, even bearing his children. . ."
"Say what!" Gerald spit his coffee out of his mouth, choking.
"I'm just not ready for it. I'm not at a point in my life where I'm willing to risk everything. Even for love. I wish I were. I wish the two of us could just run off together. But this is my home, my life. May you'll consider me a coward, but I don't want to give that up. I like who I am, Gerald."
"Yeah, I guess it would be a bit unreasonable for you both to just change your lives like that. Now that I think about it, if you had run off together, I'd probably be going into some kind of tirade about how foolish you two were acting."
"Damned if we do, damned if we don't." Rhonda placed her hands on her knees, draining the rest of her coffee rather quickly. Considering that she had just spent the night playing hostess to her class and worrying over Arnold, she didn't feel very tired at all.
"Hey, Gerald?"
"Yeah?" The black boy asked.
"Thanks for staying with me last night."
Gerald indicated it was no big deal with a wave of his hand. "Don't mention it."
"It's a little hard not to." Rhonda smiled. "You were very gallant. Say, whatever happened to Phoebe?"
"She went home. I wasn't very good company." Gerald sighed.
"She'll forgive you. She loves you, you know."
"I know." He nodded. "She's better than I deserve."
"Everyone feels that way when they're in love. That they don't deserve the person they have. I wouldn't be too surprised if Phoebe feels the same way about you."
"You really think so?"
"I'd definitely bet on it. Come on, Gerald. I'm putting you to bed."
"I'm not tired. I want to wait until I hear some news about Arnold."
"I do too, but if we both don't get some sleep, we won't be able to do anything when we do hear about Arnold."
Gerald exhaled, conceding her point. "Okay. Maybe you're right. I probably should get home."
"I called your folks, told them you're staying in my guest room."
"You did?"
Rhonda nodded. "I think the two of us should stick together for now. We both care about Arnold more than anyone else, we're both connected to him. Please, stay. I don't want to be alone right now."
Gerald looked into her eyes and made his decision.
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Courtney Gripling sat upright in her booth, curiously studying the sports-centered décor, which showcased teams from local high school and colleges. Deirdre sat across from her, her legs crossed and he new high heels dangling precariously from her feet.
"What did you say they call this place again, Deirdre?" Courtney asked, still gazing at her surroundings."
"Applebee's." Deirdre explained. "It's another restaurant in a long line of restaurants that, well, are pretty much the same."
"You mean to say that there are these, ah, Applebee's restaurants all over the place?"
"Not quite all over." Deirdre shook her head. "There are Friday's, Tuesday's, Hops, Ninety-Nines. . ."
"Deirdre, you're losing me here."
"I'm sorry!" The brunette quickly began backpedaling, trying to think of a way she could explain this concept to her boss. "Okay, let me try again. There are lots of restaurants, right?"
"Certainly. And I've always made it a habit of eating in the very best."
"Well, picture some of your favorite places in your head."
"You're going to make me nostalgic. . ." Courtney trailed off, her mind clearly focused on her favorite restaurant already.
"Now. Of all the restaurants you've eaten in, do they all have similar décor?"
"Well, yes, now that I think about it, I suppose they do."
"And what about the menus? Do they all serve the same dishes?"
"Now that you mention it, the menus do have a lot in common."
Deirdre's eyes lit up, and she had to resist the urge to clap her hands. "Well it's the same thing here! In our class, we have lots of restaurants, and they serve the same kinds of foods and have the same kind of decoration!"
"You mean the difference between this Applebee's and, ah, one of those other places you mentioned, is like the difference between Chez Pierre and Rodique's?"
"Exactly!" Deirdre exclaimed, not really knowing either place Courtney was referring to but certain that the blonde had gotten the idea.
"Well why didn't you say so in the first place, Silly?" Courtney giggled. "And I must say, this place does have kind of a rustic charm. It's actually been a long time since I've had a nice dinner out. Winston usually takes care of dinner for me."
"I know that it's hard for you, Courtney." Deirdre sighed. "And I know that even after all this time, you're still not completely adjusted to living in the world that I come from. But I want to help you out!"
At first, Courtney didn't say anything in return, allowing herself to appear distracted by the menu. But at length, she had to face the truth. "You're just like Ginger, sometimes, you know that?"
"I am!" Deirdre asked, not quite seeing the connection.
"Yes. Don't worry, Deirdre. It's endearing. There's always been something very endearing about her. It's why I always wanted her to be my friend. She's got some kind of power to attract people. But I'll bet that you could tell me a lot more about Ginger then she's ever told me."
"I don't know, Courtney. Ginger and I haven't exactly gotten together in awhile. We've kind of gone in different directions in life."
"I'd still love to hear some stories." Courtney nodded.
"Well. . .all right. I remember this one time, we had gone on vacation. . ."
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"You know, Arnold, the way we girls see it is that maybe you aren't being aggressive enough." Rhonda smiled. She walked the distance back to her love, placing her hands on his shoulders and pushing. Arnold was forced to take a step backwards, two, three, before finally hitting the couch and falling backwards onto it. Rhonda immediately sat beside him, and Nadine hurried to fill the remaining cushion on his other side.
"How am I supposed to help that?" Arnold asked. "I'm not aggressive by nature, you know that."
"But maybe you need to be." Nadine nodded. "You know how Helga can be, Arnold. She needs you to push her back. It's what she really wants."
"Wouldn't that only make her more angry?"
Rhonda shook her head. "I'd bet you a sizeable chunk of my inheritance it would turn her on to no end."
"She was pretty turned on the last time I saw her." Arnold muttered.
"What!" Rhonda and Nadine asked in unison.
"Nothing." Arnold shook his head.
"Oh no." Rhonda started. "You can't just say something like that and then not tell the story behind it!"
"Well believe me, that's exactly what's going to happen." Arnold shook his head. "I tell you enough already, Rhonda."
"And I'm guessing there's still a lot more to this story that you're leaving out." Rhonda crossed her arms.
"I'm not leaving it out." Arnold explained. "I just haven't gotten to it yet."
Nadine seemed to empathize with the boy, trying to take the focus off of him. "Sometimes it can be hard to talk about ourselves, Rhonda. I know that I don't like to. Even after you can put some things behind you, it's never really over. You still have to confront the memories. You still have to face the hours at night where you don't have easy distractions. You still have guilt and doubt. You still have to get up every morning and know that none of them will ever be the same as they once were. And it will be that way for the rest of your life."
Arnold looked hard at his former girlfriend, knowing now that whatever she had been through, it was certainly a lot worse than she had been letting on when she first came back. Nadine met his gaze, and Arnold could see that she was trying to keep tears out of her eyes. What was it that Nadine had experienced? He wanted to reach out to her, but restrained himself. It would only make Rhonda upset, not to mention invite old feelings that he didn't want to confuse himself with in his current state. Arnold knew that there would probably be something left unresolved between himself and Nadine, but he had come to accept that. He was able to compartmentalize his feelings for the blonde, Accept the fact that things had turned out as they had for a reason and that nothing was going to change that. And perhaps it was better this way. He had enough female trouble already.
Rhonda, for her part, was staring intently at the boy she loved, silently wondering whether she was losing her ability to relate to him. Somehow, Rhonda suspected that if Arnold chose her over Helga, things still wouldn't be the same between them. They would never be like they were before she had so foolishly broken up with him back in April. Would they ever be again? "Why do we do this to each other?" Rhonda asked, not realizing that she had spoken aloud until both Arnold and Nadine looked at each other.
"Do what?" Arnold asked, looking at her intently.
Rhonda shook her head, focusing her thoughts. "Men and women. Why do we always seem to work so hard at hurting each other? Even when we don't mean to?"
"Maybe it's why we're so convoluted as a species." Nadine shuddered. "So many people malign the black widow for eating her mates? But don't we all do the same thing? Except we do it a little bit at a time. We do it with words, with action, with indifference. We dig at each other. We draw attention to one another's flaws. We kill each other slowly. So many marriages failing because people let the love die. I don't know. Maybe we're all just selfish."
"Sex over love?" Rhonda asked.
"Perhaps." Nadine nodded. "We do live in a society that makes sex seem so important. But I've only been in two real relationships in my life, including Sid now. Arnold and I never did it in high school. But I didn't feel like something is missing. Maybe it's just who we are as people, individually. Life and love are pretty cheap today." Nadine sat forward. "Arnold? Call her."
"Helga?"
"Yes. Call her now. Tell her the truth. Tell her what's really in your heart. Do for her what you've done for Rhonda. Tell Helga what it's like to be with Rhonda. Even if she doesn't want to hear it. She has to know everything there is to know about you. I think that the three of you have to go through this together."
"I don't know how to find her." Arnold shook his head. "She called me, but she blocks the Caller I.D."
"I'm trying to locate her." Rhonda added. "I've got someone working on it. We'll find her, Nadine."
"I'm afraid that if you don't do it soon, it might not make a difference." Nadine sighed. And suddenly, Arnold felt the pain of Helga's leaving him all over again.
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Author's Notes
And so, yet another chapter of the story draws to a close. I was a tad fortunate, being trapped with a Nor'Easter this weekend. It gave me a lot more time to write than I would've had otherwise. My new work schedule is not conducive to writing at all, so don't be surprised if the chapters start to get shorter than I've been able to provide in the past. It's not a lack of dedication on my part. Nevertheless, I still expect to be able to deliver something to you most weeks, so try not to fear too much.
It looks like some of my old readers are coming back. I told you all I was coming back! I just needed to spend some time with Ceremony Of Innocence and then give myself a much deserved vacation. Updating a story like this week in and week out isn't the easiest task in the world, you know. But I do the best that I can. I tend to fret every week about whether or not people will even enjoy this. Fortunately, my fears are usually unfounded. Maybe you just know what to expect from by now, I don't know. But just knowing that so many people come to read my story every week is reason enough for me to keep writing it. If there's one thing I hate, it's disappointing people. So I hope that you'll be staying. As you can see, I've got lots of good stuff in the works for this tale!
Let's look at some reviews…
Animefreak03, you're back for more, glad to see it! So you think that I'm evil, hmm? What makes me so evil? And I definitely want to explore a lot of possibilities. This story isn't about Arnold and Helga, or Arnold and Rhonda, or anyone else in particular. It's about people being people. In my experience, that is what makes a story worth reading. It's certainly what attracted me to the show in the first place. I'm glad that you're looking forward to more. I'll do my best not to disappoint!
Laurel, it's okay if you forgot that my story was out on Monday. Coincidentally, I was home sick that day as well! I woke up Monday morning at 5:30 with the heaves something fierce. The pattern of the chapters is pretty constant. I always open with Arnold and Helga for a reason. Firstly, because I know that's what people want to see more than anything, and I'm a big believer in giving the people what they want. Secondly, is because I often close the Arnold/Rhonda scenes with Arnold continuing his story, so it seems fitting to then jump into an Arnold/Helga scene. Even though Arnold's a little pre-occupied right now, I don't think people would like it if I stopped writing about Arnold and Helga, plus I have a lot of work to do with those two, so I'm keeping them going. With Nadine back in the picture, Arnold's life is certainly more complicated, but I suspect that he'll persevere as he always does. I'm glad to hear that you like Nadine's character so much. I have done flashback scenes with Arnold and Nadine as a couple. Check out Chapter 10, "The Way We Were" for one. I did another one in Chapter 15 where Arnold helps dye Nadine's hair. Chapter 10 was a big flashback chapter that got almost no reviews whatsoever. The readers just didn't like that one. I have a habit of reading my fanmail, so I promised never to do something like that again. I try to learn from my mistakes! And for the record, it would appear that you can catch The Weekenders on Toon Disney, Saturday and Sunday mornings at 6AM. Best set your VCR or DVR for that one. You've slipped on some insider information? Alright, who squealed! I let so few people know where I'm going with this in the first place!
Unfortunately, there isn't a whole lot I can do about it, but if I've got a squealer in my ranks, I'm going to do my damndest to ferret them out! I don't want things ruined for everyone out there, it's always much more fun to wait and see! Anyway, you guys know the drill. I'll be back in 7 days like I always am. I think. Try to miss me while I'm gone. In the meantime, you know how to reach me. But in case you forgot, you can send your questions, comments, compliments, complaints, love letters, death threats, marriage proposals, and ransom demands to:
Lord Malachite
02/13/06
3:25AM, EST
E-mail: Asukaphile26
