I don't own the rights to the characters associated with Hey Arnold!

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Arnold wiped a hand across his foggy mirror. His face was slightly red from the steam of the shower. He turned side to side, searching for blemishes.

"Alright, Shortman," he mumbled to himself. "You will walk into this interview and land this job. It will be the first step towards your dream job!" Arnold turned on the faucet and wet his hands then brought them to his face.

"You will impress the hell out of the interviewer," soapy hands rubbed across his chiseled face and glided through his golden beard as he washed his face.

"You," he pointed at his reflection as sudsy droplets fell from his fingertips. "Got this!" Suddenly, the bathroom door burst open. Arnold's heart was racing in surprise.

"Get out the damn bathroom, boy!" His best friend and roommate yelled angrily.

"Ok, Gerald, I'm almost done. You didn't have to kick the door down like that." Arnold replied sheepishly as he rinsed the soap from his face.

"Bruh, you have been talking to yourself for 30 minutes. We all have shit to do today and unless you want me to take a big ass shit on your bed, get the hell out of the bathroom, white boy!"

Gerald's mouth was set in a deep grimace as he stared at Arnold. He loved his dense friend and wouldn't trade him for the world, but he pissed him off now and again.

The two shared a two-bedroom apartment that they rented after reuniting after college. Gerald missed his friend dearly and was over the moon when Jamie-O told him about the vacancy in his building. He and Arnold had been looking for somewhere to call their own and couldn't afford anywhere. This place was newly renovated and in an up and coming neighborhood so the rent was in their price range. They had lived together for the past four years.

"Ok, ok," Arnold held his hands up defensively. "I'm done, I'm leaving now." He pushed past him and entered his decently sized bedroom. Arnold pulled open the curtain to reveal the huge industrial picture window behind it. Arnold loved the view from his room. Much of Hillwood had been gentrified, so the skyline was ever-changing. The biggest building in the distance currently held Arnold's attention.

"I'm coming baby." He whispered eyeing the gleaming building.

Helga G. Pataki was a force to be reckoned with. Always has been. She graduated from bullying the kids in her class to being the highest-paid editorial chief in the city with a mini-army under her as her staff. She has worked for Yonder Publishing for four and a half years and had climbed the ladder fast. She didn't sleep with a single person to get to where she was. She just commanded authority and it helped that she was damned good at her job. The higher-ups were so impressed with her, that they offered her a seat on the board when she reached ten years, guaranteed. The companies profits rose exponentially from her keen eye to spot a best seller. Not only could she sniff out a winner, she knew when an author had multiple titles in them, so she found the company consistent talent.

"Life is good," she whispered as she propped up her Christian Louboutin red bottoms on her gold-lined glass desk. She loved her life and could imagine it getting any better than it was. Her mother, Miriam has been sober for ten years and was overcompensating her affections to make up for her years of neglect. Her father, Bob, left the family when she was in 8th grade and she hadn't heard from him since. She wasn't sad when he left, but the opposite. He was a dark shadow in her life that she didn't realize was there until it moved on. This is the only reason her mom was able to stop drinking. Without his constant verbal, and sometimes physical abuse, she didn't need to drown herself in booze. Life improved significantly for her after this.

"Excuse me, Ms. Pataki," a flamboyant voice rang over her intercom.

"Yes, Georgie," she replied never bothering to open her eyes from her early morning meditation.

"The interview team wants you to sit in on this morning's interviews, darling."

"Why?" she asked dryly.

"I'm not sure, Suga. Do you want me to ask?" he waited patiently for her to respond as she contemplated.

"No, it's fine. I'll be out in a sec." Reluctantly, she gingerly placed her feet on the ground and opened her eyes to the early morning sunlight dancing cross her white carpeted floors. She smiled again at her office. Her corner office faced the river and had two huge floors to ceiling windows that allowed plenty of sunlight in.

She stretched her body once she reached said windows. A wall to ceiling mirror hung to the right of her. She looked admiringly at her reflection. Gone was the unibrow of legend and was replaced with two well-arched eyebrows. Her lips were full and supple. So was her breast. She was a late bloomer and had bee stings for much of high school. Then, over the summer from 11th to 12 grade, she went from an A cup to a D, seemingly overnight. Her body was well-toned from intensive and disciplined workouts. She carried an hourglass figure, something she inherited from the Pataki side of the family. Olga often expressed how jealous she was that Helga had an ass and she didn't.

Helga pulled down the front of her blazer and walked towards her office door.

"Good morning, Ms. Pataki," George, her faithful assistant greeted her upon opening the door.

"Good morning, Georgie," she pushed past him and headed straight for the elevators. He trotted behind her. She whined through a sea of cubicles and nodded as a wave of employees bid her good morning as she passed them. Her walk was confident and powerful.

"What position are they interviewing for?" She asked once the elevator doors closed and they began to descend. George slid his fingers across the Ipad in his hand and handed Helga coffee with the other.

"It looks like they are looking to fill the graphic design position," He chimed as the elevator dinged. A group of people stood eager to enter the elevator but stayed still once they saw Helga.

"After you, Ms. Pataki," a nervous-looking man mumbled making way for her as she exited the elevator. She smirked as she and George walked through the crowd of people towards the conference room.

"Helga, glad you could make it," Thomas held out his hand for her as she entered the room.

"No problem Tom," she grabbed his hand and shook it firmly. Thomas was the owner and CEO and the man that helped her ascend so quickly. Helga was his protege.

"I know you usually don't deal with hiring and whatnot, but I want you to get some experience and see if these people are any good. Your sense of discernment is unmatched, young lady!" He gushed as he pulled out a seat for her. The interviewers all nodded their hello as she sat down.

"Ok, sounds great, thanks for asking me to come. I'll just observe." She replied. George sat near the entrance in her line of sight in case she needed him.

"Ok," a portly black woman stated. "Let's get started. We have," she began to flip through some file folders in front of her. "Five applicants."

"Send in the first one," Thomas waved to his assist.

Arnold couldn't stop shaking his leg as the first three people walked out of the conference room looking defeated. He knew he was good enough to land the job, but their faces were ghostly. He was the last one to arrive and would be the last to get interviewed. He felt his palm sweating and whipped his hands across his slacks. His phone buzzed against his thigh.

Calm down! He read and laughed. Gerald was a good friend and knew him entirely too well. Before he could put his phone back in his pocket, it buzzed again with a message from his mom.

I'm so proud of you! Just be yourself and I'm sure they will love you! Dad says hi! Arnold smiled to himself. He was used to having his parents being around by now, but it was so strange to get used to it when they first returned from San Lorenzo. They followed him everywhere. At first, he loved it, but that soon changed very quickly. It didn't help that he was a moody preteen boy. They fought a lot for the first few years, but soon they settled into a routine that worked for everyone. They were still overprotective of their adult son, but they gave him space to live his life.

Arnold looked up once he returned his phone to his pocket. The receptionist waved at him and bit on her pen seductively. He smiled at her. She had tried to get his attention since he walked in. Arnold knew he was an attractive guy, and use this to his advantage fully in college. Now that he was in the real world, he didn't do random hookups as much. He soon learned that that can quickly backfire.

The small desk phone began to ring bringing him back to the present. The redheaded girl picked up her phone without taking her eyes from him. "They're ready for you," she cooed. "I hope you get it. I would love to see more of you." She eyed him like a cat in heat as he moved past her towards the conference room door.

"Mr. Shortman," Thomas droned as Arnold walked through the door. Helga's eyes had glazed over and was staring at the floor when Arnold walked in.

"Oh, my," George whispered as Arnold shook the interviewer's hands. He watched as Arnold's eyes landed on Helga. George was disappointed to see the blond devil ogled his boss. 'Damn, he's straight,' he thought as he returned his attention to his Ipad.

"Hi everyone," Arnold said ripping his attention away from the very attractive woman in the corner. "I'm Arnold Shortman." Helga's head shot up and stared at the boy, now man, from her childhood. George made a mental note to grill her about this during their after-work debriefings. She visibly shrank into her seat.

"Nice to meet you, young man," Thomas replied. He waved his hand towards Helga. "This is one of our most brilliant chief editors," he started.

"I have to pee," Helga blurted before he could finish. She excused herself and ran out of the room with George in toe.

She beelined for the closest bathroom. George entered with her. A few women were talking in the mirror when the two entered. They stared at George in shock.

"Get out," he demanded. They gathered their things and exited. George locked the door behind them.

"Who is the chiseled jawline we just ran away from," He sang as he walked towards her.

"Oh my gosh, I can't breath." Helga began pulling at her blazer. Her temperature was steadily rising.

"Calm down HP." He dabbed a wet cloth across her redding face. "Please calm down, I need the tea on Prince Charming. You are absolutely having a fit, girl." He clapped, giddy with excitement.

"Here drink this," He handed her a Fiji water from his stash. She gulped down the contents. It cooled her. She returned to her usual color.

"Arnold," she whispered.

"So who is he? An old boyfriend?"

"No," she answered firmly. "He's, um…" She ran her fingers through her hair. "I guess we're frienemies."

"Oh, this just keeps getting better."

Helga gave George an abbreviated version of her and Arnold's history, careful to leave out the bit about her being madly in love with him for most of her life. She hadn't thought about Arnold in years. The last time she saw him was the summer of their junior year in college. Although she didn't harbor feelings for him like she used to, Arnold got under her skin. She took time and dedication to build her reputation here as a stern and unwavering figure and one look from Arnold would ruin all of that.

"I don't even know why I'm panicking. He probably won't get the job anyway." She resolved.

"Helga, what happened there? You looked like you'd see a ghost." Thomas asked her upon her reentry to the conference room.

"I'm fine," she smiled weakly. "Did I miss the last interview?"

"Yes, what a great guy!" Thomas doated. Helga knew that look. It was the look everybody had once they met Arnold. She was doomed.

"I think we should go with the last one." Joan, the lead HR coordinator piped up.

"I agree," Jerry, the head of graphic design, said as he piled his papers together. "He really knew his stuff and was an amazing artist. Not to mention, his personality was amazing. I like him."

"Well," Thomas clapped his hands. "Let's go tell him."

"Wait, he's still here?" Helga asked mortified.

"Yeah, I wanted you to meet him. He reminds me of when I met you. Just a great fire under that kid." Helga gulped as Tom led her to the door. George looked at her sympathetically.

"Mr. Shortman," Tom called towards Arnold back. Helga pulled her face together and put up her defenses. She would be damned if she allowed this football headed freak to rattle her. She squared her shoulders and prepared to face him.

Arnold turned at the sound of his name. He noticed the man that interviewed him and the gorgeous woman from before. His vow of decency was quickly becoming a thing of the past. He had to know who she was and what she looked like naked. Not to mention how she sounded when she screamed his name. He flashed his million-dollar smile at her, intent on wooing her. That is until Tom said her name.

"Arnold, I would like to try this again. This is one of our chief editors, I think she's around your age too!" The older man winked at Arnold, which Helga rolled her eyes at. "This is Helga Pataki." She held her hand out and waited for him to take it. He did. The tips of his ears were burning red hot.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "You said her name is what?" he asked Thomas without letting Helga's hand go.

"Helga Pataki," Thomas beamed. "She's amazing!" Arnold dropped her hand as recognition dawned on him. It was her alright. She was ten times hotter, but it was her. He would recognize the scowl from anywhere.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Shortman." She said through gritted teeth. "So she is pretending not to know me. Fine, I'll play along.' He thought.

"Likewise," he narrowed his eyes at her. She returned the gesture.

"You know what," Thomas smiled between to two of them. " I have a splendid idea. Helga, dear, you have a team of people under you, so you can clear your schedule this week. I want you to mentor Mr. Shortman here." He smiled triumphantly.

"What," they sang in unison.

"Mr. Langley," Helga pleaded. "I'm an editor, not a graphic designer. I don't know the first thing about what he does."

"Pish posh," he waved his hand dismissively. "You are my shining star and I don't want you to worry about his graphic design stuff. Arnold here is nothing short of a genius when it comes to that. He needs to know how to survive here. You know editing might seem like a docile industry." He turned his attention to Arnold, who was trying very hard to hide the anger under a very strained smile. "But it can get downright vicious around her, son."

"What about all the authors I'm meeting with this week?" Helga tried again to weasel her way out of spending time with Arnold.

"Never mind them. Those wannabes are so desperate to see you, they will wait years if you tell them. A week won't hurt anybody. Anyway, my decision is final. I love being the boss," He pinched her cheek and patted Arnold on the shoulder as he pushed past them.

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A/N:

OMG, it has been a long time since I wrote fanfiction. Hey Arnold is one of my favorite childhood memories and I love the characters and their dynamics so much! I begin with a very poorly written fanfic back when I was in high school called Seven Day. Trust me, don't read it lol! Anyway, I wanted to grow the gang up a bit. More than most authors I've read have. I wanted to see what they were like as full adults and how they dealt with the many trails that life has thrown at them. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this first chapter. I hope to upload more as soon as possible. Please let me know what you think and if you find any grammatical errors!