Chapter Three: Let's Twist Again

"Hey, Gerald," said Arnold at the High School reunion. "Did you catch a glimpse at Helga?"

"Helga Pataki?" He replied.

"Yeah…"

"Yup."

"Doesn't she look so…different?"

"Very different. I mean, at first when I saw her I didn't believe it really was her," said Gerald. "It was like she was an ugly duckling or something, turned into a princess." He pointed to her as she stood near the punch bowl while being surrounded by men.

"Yeah…" Arnold looked at her again. Her hair nice and silky, and smile so perfect made him melt. It didn't look like she wore make-up. Not like the other girls. Not like Lila. She really did become a swan from her former ugly duckling self. "Do you think I should've stayed with her?"

Gerald looked at Arnold in a "what are you talkin' about, Willis?" kind of look. "Why are you asking this?"

"It's just that," Arnold put out his hand. "I suddenly don't remember why I ended our relationship."

"Oh…that's tough, man."

"Do you remember?"

Gerald shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "It was too long ago." He scratched his large hair. "Besides, Arnold, why do you care? You're going to get married!"

"You're right, Gerald."

"Of course I'm right, Arnold. And you ARE going to invite me to the wedding, right?"

"Yeah. You're gonna be my best man. And I think I'm going to invite just some new friends and,"

"What ever you do, don't invite Helga."

"Why not?"

"Your life will be ruined. Nothing could be worse than having your ex, that you still like, attend your wedding."

"Chh," Arnold scoffed. "I don't still like her. As a friend, sure. But not as, you know."

Gerald nodded slowly. "Sure, man."

"Really!"

"You just keep thinking that, okay Arnold?"

***

It was two days after the reunion and Helga was back in New York. Just lying on her sofa, deciding whether or not to call. "C'mon Helga, think! Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Helga got up and paced around the phone. Thinking about what she would say to Arnold. "Hey, I decided to call after you said…", "Hey, how ya doin?" Nothing seemed to be working very well. She took in a deep breath and reached for the phone.

Suddenly it rang and she jumped back. "Eerg…" She picked it up and cleared her throat. "Hello?"

"Hi, Miss Pataki?"

"Yes. This is she…"

"Could you please hold the line? Mr. Mercer would like to speak to you." The receptionist said.

"Oh. Okay." What would Mr. Mercer want with me?  Helga thought. Mr. Mercer was her Editor and was also assistant editor for a popular womens' magazine called "Venus". The magazine was popular for its articles about love and fashion.

"Helga?" He said from the other line.

"Yes?"

"How are you coming along…are you paying your bills and such?" He asked.

"Well, I'm getting along. Certainly can't buy myself any extra things like when my books just came out." Helga said. "Why?"

"Because, there's this job opening for the magazine and I think it's right up your alley. It's for a love column. You know, you'll write about it – experience it. There's no difference between that and your poems."

"I don't know…"

"Trust me, Helga. You know you want this job. It pays very well too. Just think about it and call me. I'll set up an interview date for you."

"Sure, Mr. Mercer."

"And, Helga?"

"Yeah?"

"I really do want you to consider this opportunity."

"Okay," she mumbled and hung up and let out her breath. "Sounds like a good offer. But what kind of love have I experienced? Nothing. No true love at least…And how would I express myself? I don't think anyone would be interested in poems or anything."

Helga shook her head. "Forget about it, Helga. Your main goal at this moment is to call Arnold!" She stomped her foot and picked up the phone and quickly dialed the number.

The phone rang once…

Twice…

"Hello? This is Mr Arnold's office," said Connie. "How may I help you?"

"Is he in? Can I talk to him?" Helga asked apprehensively.

"Sure. May I ask who's calling?"

"Helga. Helga Pataki."

"One moment please." Then some hold music went on. Arnold sure has it made, Helga thought.

"Sir, there's a call for you on line one."

"Who is it?" Arnold asked through the speaker.

"A lady named Helga Pataki."

"Alright." Arnold pressed the blue number one and picked up the receiver. "Hey, Helga?"

"Hi, Arnold," said Helga in a startled tone.

"So I see you've found the guts to call me after all," he chuckled.

"Oh you know. I've always had the guts. It's just what we talk about that scares me."

There was an awkward silence.

"How are things?"

"Fine. Just dandy…and yourself?"

"Good. Pretty damn good."

"Good to hear. So…um…Lila's still gone?"

"Yup all the way until June third." There was a pause. "Why don't you come over, Helga?"

"To your office?"

"Yeah. I think that's a much better way to catch up than on the phone." Did I really say that? No, No, I'm not in love with Helga. We're just friends.

"Um…sure. How do you get there?" Helga asked.

Arnold told her the directions. "Then up to the eight floor."

"When should I go?"

"Tomorrow. Come tomorrow at five. We'll eat dinner, and I'll take you to a game."

"A game? What kind of game?"

"Basketball. I own the Knicks. Tomorrow night at 7:30, they're playing against the Magic."

"You own a basketball team too? Wow…you lucky dog."

Arnold chuckled. "Yeah. Well, you don't have to wear anything too fancy. We won't be going to a black tie resteraunt or anything."

"Sounds good to me."

"See you then."

"Okay, Arnold."

"Bye…" Arnold slowly hung up. What he is doing isn't against the law. It's just that he's meeting with an old…old…flame. All he's doing is making her feel better and more comfortable around him. Yeah. After all, for the record…he didn't break up with her. "They" broke up. Well, maybe Arnold did have a little input into what happened.

All Arnold can say about their relationship is that : People are cruel and he was one of them.

The next day, Helga wore some black dress pants and a purple tanktop with a jean jacket and took a taxi to Arnold's office.

"Whoa,"said Helga as she got out of the yellow cab and stepped on the asphalt in front of the large building. "This is huge."

She walked in through one of the revolving doors and was in a big lobby with a floor of black marble. Clients were rushing in and out, people in black suits walking everywhere. Helga walked up to the big desk with women with headphones on. Two guards were standing at the edges of the desk.

"Hello, Ma'am, may I help you?" A girl with black hair asked.

"Um, yeah. Can you tell Mr. Arnold that I'm coming up?"

"Sure thing. Do you have an appointment with him?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Okay. Floor eight, and Connie will show you to his office."

"Thank you." Helga walked to the elevator and pressed the eight. There were lots of company names listed on the elevator. Marcus and Bradely was the biggest.

In no time, Helga was at floor number eight. There was a big desk in front of the elevator. A girl was sitting behind it, typing on the computer with headphones.

"Yeah, Hi," Helga said, knocking on the desk counter.

"Oh, Hi." Connie said, getting up. "I'm Connie, and you must be…"

"Helga," she interjected.

"Great. Right on time. Mr Arnold was expecting you." She smiled. "Come this way please." Connie leaded her down the hall and to a glass door. "By the way, I love your pants."

"Thanks," said Helga, walking in. She closed the door behind her. "Hey, Arnold…"

She noticed that Arnold's office was big. Huge. The size of her bedroom. There was a large chesnut bookshelf, posters on the white wall and a big glass window at the other side. "Nice place…"

Arnold got up and took off his sunglasses. "Thanks."

"I like the desk too." She looked at the polished chesnut finish and his flat screen computer. Everything neatly in its place. "So, you own this place?"

"Sure do. Mister Marcus died last year and Bradely retired. So, here I am!"

"Do you always wear an armani suit?" Helga asked, looking at Arnold's black suit.

"Not always. This is Gucci." He chuckled. "C'mon, Helga. I'll show you around."

Arnold walked her out his office door and showed her around. "My company is in this floor and floor seven. Entirely."

"Wow, that's huge."

"Yes it is. We make lots of money. The seventh floor is mainly the lower employees…but there are still supervisors there. Most of our work goes on there."

"Cool…"

"Here's our main conference room." Arnold pointed out to a glass room. "Where I meet with all the supervisors and people with ideas." He lead her to another room. "And this is our show room."

"Very luxurious."

"Yup. Our clients sit around there…"

"What's that TV for?"

"It's for video conferences. Whenever I'm out of town, and we need to meet."

"Oh. Where have you been before?"

"Tokyo, China, Europe…"

"Europe? Wow. That's amazing," Helga awed.

"Yeah, it's really beautiful."

"Did you take Lila there?"

"Nah, I just felt like being there myself…I mean, after all, it is pretty hard to stay with her 24/7."

Helga nodded slowly.

After showing her around some more, Helga and Arnold both got hungry. "Man, Arnold…I'm getting kinda hungry. Where are we going for dinner?"

"It's a surprise." He winked. "Let's go." He walked to Connie and told her to memo all his calls.

They got in Arnold's new silver Mercedez convertable and drove off somewhere Helga had a vague idea of. "This is a nice car, Arnold."

"Thanks. I have another. A lexus. I drive that around when Lila's at home. She thinks my convertible is too dangerous."

Helga laughed. "What kind of car does she drive then?"

"She just gets rides from me."

"Oh…"

"What about you? You have a car?"

"Nah…I have no where to go really. I can just walk everywhere. Or just take a cab."

"You enjoy simple things, kinda?"

"Well, I just can't afford a car. I have great things in my loft. It's just that after my book, the money didn't roll in quite as much as before."

"Oh yeah. Those things happen often. Are you still writing poetry?"

"I guess I stopped. I really don't have much poetry left in me, I suppose. It's just that after what happened…I couldn't write much." She stared out the window.

Arnold glanced at her and cleared his throat. "I see."

"Yeah…But it's all right. There's this job opening in Venus magazine…and I'm considering going for it. It's just that I have no idea what I can write about that'll amuse everyone."

"Hmm…" Arnold thought aloud. "I can help you think. I'm good at that."

Helga smiled. "Thanks."

Arnold parked in a parking lot next to a big resteraunt with lights that spelled out "My Italy". It was a really high class resteraunt that didn't force you to dress up.

"Here we are. I just have to say…"

"I love this place!" Helga squealed as she got out of the car.

"You do?" Arnold asked surprised. They walked together to the front of the resteraunt.

"Yes. I come here as often as I can. I even know the chef."

"Me too! Chef Charlie, right?"

"Yes!" Helga replied happily. "Man, their food is awesome."

"I know. I decided that I might as well take you somewhere nice. Besides, Lila never liked this italian food much."

"Was it too classy for her?" Helga joked. Suddenly she clasped her hand on her mouth. "I'm sorry, Arnold…I didn't mean that."

"That's okay. It's sort-of true anyway. Never tried it. Never wanted to. So I hold all my meetings here."

"Mr. Arnold!" A tall thin man with a mustache exclaimed when Arnold and Helga walked in the door. "I see you're right on time again."

"Sure am. And I brought along a friend as I said too."

"Ah, Miss Pataki! Another favorite. Here, I have your table ready." He snapped his fingers and a hostess came and picked up two menus.

"This way please…"

As they walked to their table, they saw people dancing, and lots of filled tables. Like always, the place was packed.

They sat down at a booth. "Would you two like anything to drink?"

"A Bloody Mary,"said Helga.

"Make that two bloody maries. Non alcoholic," said Arnold.

"Yes sir." The girl walked away.

Helga smiled. "Oh it feels so good to be here with an old friend."

"It just feels good to be here."

In a snap, the waitress came with their drinks. "Pleased to see you again, Helga." She smiled and turned to Arnold. "Long time no see, Mr Arnold."

Arnold grinned. "Two months is far too long to have lived without this food, Judy."

"What have you been doing for the last two months then?"

"Living with the girl I'm going to spend the rest of my life with."

"Ooh, very interesting." Judy winked. "So what would you guys like to have? The usual?"

"Sure, why not?" Helga said, handing her the menu. "My usual fedachinni alfreddo."

"Angel hair?"

"You got it."

"And you?" She looked at Arnold. "The usual Lasagna?"

"Yes. With extra cheese and tomato sauce." Arnold smacked his lips. "Tell Chef Charlie I say Hi too and to come over."

Judy giggled. "Sure thing. He'll probably deliver your desserts." She walked away.

Helga looked up and around the room. "This place it beautiful, isn't it?"

"Very…very beautiful." Arnold smiled. "Like a dream…"

"Excuse me," a woman said.

Helga looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Aren't you Helga Pataki?" She interogated cautiously.

"Yes I am."

"Oh, Ms. Pataki, I'm a big fan of your poetry."

Helga chuckled. "Why thank you."

"In fact, I carry it with me everywhere. Your words are so unspeakable." She smiled. "Can I have an autograph?" She took out a pen and the poetry book from her purse.

The poetry book was big and thick with a good cover.

"What's your name?" Helga asked.

"Patty." Helga signed her book. "Here you go, Patty. Have fun." Helga winked.

"Thank you!" Patty walked away, reading what Helga wrote.

"You know, I've never read any of your poertry books."

"They're really great. I have a couple of volumes. One of my earlier writings, then one of when I was a teenager…in love and all. Then the last one was when I was heartbroken. I edited them all…and my latest one were just miscellaneous ones and some I didn't publish. So, they sell very well."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah…"

Then the live band played a really fast song. "Come on, Arnold. Let's dance."

"Dance?" He was flabbergasted. "Uh…I don't know, Helga."

"Yeah." She got up and pulled Arnold out of the booth as well.  "It'll be fun." She led him to the dance floor.

Helga began moving her arms and feet to the fast rhythm of the pounding music. Arnold chuckled. She was always in all the action at parties. Arnold put his hands on his waist and watched her dance. He was the only one on the dance floor who didn't dance.

"Arnold, dance!" Helga demanded. She took his hands and moved them around.

Arnold moved his arms and hips. Before he knew it, he was dancing with her. Just like old times. This was not something Lila would do. He enjoyed the rush he felt just to be dancing with Helga.