Title: Ten Things I Hate About You - Part three
Author: Akane "Bunny" Tendo
E-mail: Akane_Bunny_Tendo@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13
AN - WARNING!!! WARNING!!! **This fic is meant for the adult audience, it is not intended for viewers younger than 13 years of age. ** WARNING!!! WARNING!!! Also, the characters, as you'll see in the later portion of this section, are more sensitive, emotionally. And please remember that just because Helga does not end up with Arnold in the BEGINNING does not necessarily mean that will be the outcome of this story. That's it, enjoy!! ;)
*indicates further explanation below
~*Ten Things I Hate About You*~
Blue eyes clashed with cold, hazel eyes as the two "combatants" sat by face-to-face, each giving the other a look-over from head to toe. One eying the other with a fierce coldness, the other with both uncertainty and indifference; in a way it was a battle. The only sound cascading throughout the room was the constant ticking of the renaissance clock on the far left side of the room.
Roaming her eyes over the doctor before her, she was everything Helga expected out of this posh psychologist. Golden blond hair tied up in the back with just a few tendrils slipping down the sides to accentuate her long, round facial features. A pinched up nose rested between her cold, saucer-like hazel eyes. She didn't have to look to see the expensive uniform she was draped in, neither the jewelry hanging from her neck. Though looking over once more, seeing how intricately placed was her make-up over her facial features, as if she had needed it there, she stopped with one thought. "…to hide something?" She thought out loud without so much as a care for the person hearing it.
Looking over the child before her, she too had a few glimpses and observations of her own. Seeing her eyes roam over her face, knowing exactly what it was she was focusing on, she knew. "…to hide something?" she heard her say. "Why of course," she answered back nonchalantly, if not cold. "Everyone has something to hide, do they not?" Turning towards the right corner of her desk, she opened a drawer, pulling out a fairly large clipboard.
"Ahhh… so this is the part of the 'conversation' where you ask me when was the last time you thought of killing another person or yourself? Is that it?" She asked with an amused smirk.
"Haughty, aren't we?" Asked the doctor as she brought her pen and clipboard to rest against her desk. "Well, seeing as you know our procedures, where then young lady would you like us to start?" She asked, placing a smile on her face.
"Oh, don't you pull that young lady crap with me!" she started with an indignant humph. "You doctors are all alike." She said as she fixed her posture and began her general imitation of the person before her. Feigning holding a clipboard in one hand, coffee mug in the other, she looked past the doctor with a sense of indifference before speaking. "So, how was your life like…" a brief pause here while looking down at her imaginative clipboard, "Helen, was it? Oh, yes, yes… I see it now. Helga… Helga Pataki." She corrected herself, again looking back up through the doctor. "Go ahead and tell me about your life. Be sure to include anything disastrous that's happened over the recent years. After all, it's not everyday that everyone is capable of measuring up to my grand stature…"
"Enough!" yelled out Dr. D. in exasperation. "This is getting too far," she thought as she gripped the handlebars of her chair. "Have you come here for help or to imitate and make a mockery of all psychologists alike?!" She yelled, looking harshly towards the girl before her. "You think I spend all this time in here just to hear you indignant patients rant on restlessly about the harsh reality of my work? Wake up! You came here for help and I'm willing to give it to you, but not until I get the background I need. I may be cold, but that's what has left me capable of sustaining my existence in this petty, pathetic little thing we call life! So don't waste my time young lady!" she said biting out each word. Sighing, she sat back and crossed her legs.
Helga could only sit there in complete shock though that did not hide the steam erupting from every crevice of her body. Young lady… mockery… indignant… Each word beat out loudly like a drum towards her. "The nerve of that callous half-breed!" she thought with malice. "Just who the hell do you think you are, you cold beast?!" she shouted jumping out of her seat. "Have you any idea what hell I've been through?! Have you? Here you are sitting in luxury, not a d%#n care in the world. You don't know the hurt I've been through. How could you possibly know? How…" she went on, her fists clenching at her sides, shaking uncontrollably with rage.
A sigh erupted from the doctor as she looked on with a ghastly face. "Don't make references to things you don't know, my child," she stated with a longing look on her face, only to be covered by the coldness that was there before. "Maybe… we've gotten off on the wrong foot," she said, looking on ahead.
Helga allowed herself to calm down a tad before sitting down in the chair, not looking at all pleased with the situation at hand. "Wrong foot is right," she spat out.
Ignoring her statement, Dr. D. allowed herself to sit back and ponder on about the young girl before her. "You remind me a lot of myself when I was younger," she mused smiling.
"And just what are you implying?" asked Helga indignantly. "But of course, if you mean I'll have this posh lifestyle of yours," she began with a look of great thought and a smile at the edge of her lips. "…then I suppose I'm not as bad off as I thought I was."
Dr. D. could only laugh on in amusement. "So much like myself," she thought happily for once. "This could be very interesting indeed," she thought on. "Well, someone has to take the first step, I suppose," she thought, fingering her chin slightly. "Tell me Helga. What has gotten to you so much as for you to have this frigid attitude of yours?"
"Frigid?" she asked with humph.
"You know," carried on the doctor, ignoring the look of denial on her face. "I used to be just like you, still am actually. Not that I'm always pleased with my indifference towards the outside world. Though I must say, this job has made me amused in more ways than one," she said motioning her eyes over to her surroundings. Seeing the amused smirk on the girl's face, she continued. "But to do that, I had to face many fears and torments within my life. I suffered many a great turmoil to get where I am now. And I'm not simply speaking of my job status.
Seeing the confused look on the girl's face, she continued. "What I'm saying, Helga, is that I have hurt in more ways that you can count or even perceive. I was very young when I first gave myself away - very young indeed. I didn't know how I could ever face the outside world with the secrets I hid." Seeing the girl looking at her with complete interest now, she continued. "I was only 16 when I met the man of my dreams. He was in his late thirties," she said but was interrupted by Helga's stunned gasp and questioning gaze. "Old, yes. But my parents never really cared much. I suppose you could say it was expected of me. A young, naïve girl like me, always out for adventure, always curious what was really behind the enclosed wall of my home-life. The time I spent with him is a time I much, to this day, regret with all my being.
"I was alone. Not in the sense that there was no one around me, or I had no friends, but… just solemnly alone. He was my light. The person I knew would get me out of my troubles, towards what I needed in life. Or at least, that was what he told me at the time. He'd always lavish me with money and expensive gifts. In return, it was my body he would always find his way back to. I was so young at the time. So young that," at this, she took a stray intake of breath. "…I didn't even see it coming. It was when I was with child that I was finally awakened to what life really was. After the news of the pregnancy, I never saw him again. Not so much as a goodbye. I did, however, receive a grand check in the mail several weeks later with a note. For the baby was the only thing written. After that… I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whom to turn to. Sure there was the money, but… was that enough? Was it ever enough?" she asked not expecting an answer. "I knew there was no way I could raise a baby on my own. And the thought of a nanny had never crossed my mind at the time. I knew the way they treated children not of their own. I couldn't bare it.
"To have my family hear of this news at this time of my life… with me at such a young age. This would be unbearable. I had nowhere to turn to. No person I could go to and talk this through with. No one to tell me everything would be okay… eventually. Several days later, I made my decision. A decision that put me in the hospital for weeks, a decision that brought about the end of the life form inside me and almost myself. It's a day I will never forget. From that day forward, I vowed to myself, never again would I ever let anyone inside, inside my heart. The pain, the unbearable pain… it was just too much. I went on with my life without a care in the world, indifferent to those around me - a cold shell with not an ounce of care for mankind. It certainly has helped, don't you think? Nice life, stout living, a wonderful job. I suppose you could say it was a good learning experience for me, not one I'd like to relive though." She ended this with a pondering look.
"So, that is my life. Has that tempted you enough? Or do you need me to tell you how it felt to have my life ripped away from me all my years?" she asked to the stunned girl.
"N… no… she said as she finally looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. "I guess… I guess I never thought," she said, not daring her mind to continue with the sentence.
"Sometimes life is hard, but we get by. The first step in all this is to recognize your faults, the missed steps in your life, and proceed from there. But you cannot do that until you are first able to look yourself in the mirror and accept them all… know that the world is not over with a simple crack of the whip. To know that it's only just begun."
Outside the waiting room, Phoebe was getting more impatient by the minute. "Should I go in," she asked herself. Another part of her mind told her that everything would be just fine, but still she was not sure. She had been sitting there for the last 10 minutes listening to nothing but a heated battle emanating from the inside of Dr. Düsterheit's office. Then, without as much as a minute, there was complete silence.
"Is there something you need, Miss. Hyerdahl," asked Dianne as she saw her approaching the office door.
Stopping her approach, she turned to look at the young secretary before answering, "no, nothing at all Dianne. I was just going to check up on them. I'm just worried about my friend and…" at this, she looks somewhat doubtful. "…well, you know how Dr. Düsterheit is."
"…." Was Dianne's first reaction before smiling knowingly. "Yes, of course. Who could miss," she said before bringing her hand up to cover a giggle about to erupt. Soon they both found themselves giggles helplessly before Phoebe took off towards the office door yet again.
Opening the door slightly, she called out, "excuse me Dr…"
"Don't you imbeciles know how to knock?!" Began Dr. Düsterheit before recognizing her visitor as Phoebe Hyerdahl. "Oh, Phoebe, it's you. Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, no… nothing doctor. I just came in to check up on my friend." She said almost worried.
"We're doing quite fine, Hyerdahl. Now, if you don't mind…" she said before excusing her.
Looking towards Helga, she saw her non-verbal, everything's fine, and was on her way. "Maybe I was right from the beginning after all," she thought as she left the office. "They both need each other."
Inside the room, a vast silence fell upon them yet again. There was a mental battle raging on within Helga's mind. Here was this doctor, apparently cold and short-tempered, yet… behind this façade of bitterness to anything living, was a hurt and pained individual much like herself in many ways. And yet, she was opening herself up to her, for what? Why, she of all people? "Why?" she suddenly asked. At the doctor's questioning gaze, she continued, "why are you telling me this? Why ruin your barrier now?"
The doctor looked skeptical for a while before finally speaking. "Ruin?" she asked as if it had never even crossed her mind. "Ruining anything would be the last thing on my mind now. At most, I think I'd be helping you, Helga. I see a lot in you that reminds me of myself and I don't want to see you making the same mistake. Nor do I want to see you a cold, indignant, old witch as I am today later on in your life. So please, now that I've opened up to you… will you give me the benefit of the doubt… at least grow to trust me?" she asked looking somewhat hopeful.
"I suppose I could," she answered looking somewhat doubtful. "But… do you really think it…" she said with a sign of sorrow.
"It only gets better, Helga… with help… It only gets better."
End part three
Stay tuned for the next chapter of this continuing story
* I really distaste giving away too much, but… alas… next chapter, we find out what happened between Helga and Arnold… why did he go for (sorry, surprise) and more importantly, why did Helga give up her love for him and move on to Derek? So many questions all in need of answers.
* Again, this is a first draft, so… I always leave the editing for later. Oy! J And short, but… a girl can only type for so long. J