Chapter 3

Helga stood in front of Arnold, neither saying a word for almost five minutes straight, before Phoebe cleared her throat loudly. Having been snapped out of her trance by her friend's pseudo-phlegm, Helga managed an awkward smile and said, "Hey, Footba- Arnold. How are you doing?"

Arnold smiled back, his smile as cool as hers was shaky. "Fine. You?" Helga racked her brain for something clever and witty to say. "Uhhh...good" was all she could come up with.

Phoebe stood there, unsure of what to say. Finally, she decided to leave the two alone so they could work out their issues together. After making up some excuse about needing to be back at the hotel with Gerald, she hugged her two friends and left them. The two adults remained silent towards each other until Helga broke the ice.

"Look, I've gotta go in and get some stuff, so if you don't mind—" Helga began.

"Oh, no problem, Helga. I'll help you."

(A few hours later)

"Well, that's the last box", Helga said, setting the large cardboard object in the back of her car. "Listen, thanks for helping me, Arnold. It really went a lot faster with your help."

It was true. For the past hour and a half, Helga and Arnold had carried box after box of poetry out to the car, talking almost the whole time. They had even taken a couple of breaks just so they could sit in the kitchen and drink coffee with each other. Bob and Miriam were gone for the day, so they'd been alone in the house. Helga had to admit it'd been nice to be alone with Arnold after all the years of silence between them.

Now they stood by the car, silent once again, neither wanting to go their separate ways again. Arnold had really loved talking with Helga all day and was reluctant to see her go. All day, there had been no insults, no taunts, no cutting remarks directed at him. They hadn't even brought up the past. Which was one of the reasons Arnold wanted—no, needed—to see her again. He wanted to have the chance to sit down with her, just the two of them, and talk about what happened all those years ago. True, they had been alone today, but he hated to spoil their fairly high-spirited reunion with talk of their unpleasant last days together. No, he had wanted to keep the mood light, for he hadn't been sure if he would ever see her again. But now he knew that he absolutely had to see her again. No matter what.

"Well, dude, it's been a blast, but I gotta get on the road", Helga said, not showing the slightest bit of emotion. That was Helga for you. Whenever she felt the slightest emotion that made her seem vulnerable, she tried to cover it with casualty or toughness.

"Helga, don't go. I…I want to spend more time with you. Y'know, talk a little more", Arnold said. Helga considered reminding him that they had talked all day, but didn't because she knew what he really meant.

"How about we go out for dinner tonight?" Arnold suggested. "You can get a hotel room and stay in town for a couple more days. We'll start off with dinner tonight, and then we can spend a couple more days with each other…if that's what you want."

It was what Helga wanted more than anything else. She opened her mouth to say so, but stopped herself quickly. She still wanted to at least appear as the strong one in this non-existent relationship that threatened to take root between them. Putting her hand over her mouth, she faked a yawn.

"Sure, Arnold. Whatever works for ya. I'll getta room, we'll go out, sounds fucking fantastic", she said.

Arnold inwardly winced, but not at any sarcasm he perceived. He winced because today, Helga had seemed so open. Now she was pretending to not care. He was wise to her game. He wished that for once, she would open up to him and stay that way. He didn't want her to change who she was. God knew he loved that smart-ass, overly cynical, you-only-wish-you-had-me side of her. But sometimes, he wanted to see a bit less of that and more of that emotional, loving, downright beautiful person he knew she could be, when given the right moment.

"Okay, great. How about the new Italian restaurant 'Vincenzo's?'" Arnold said. "You do still like Italian food don't you?"

"Yeah, I love it. Okay then. I'll meet you there at say….7:00?"

"Seven's good. I'll be at the table reserved under my last name."

Hmmm, his last name, huh? That'll only be the bloody mystery of the Sphinx to figure out, Helga joke with herself. She had learned his last name years ago, but still had to comment about its elusiveness now and then; even if the comment was just to herself.

"Great. Wouldn't miss dinner with you for the whole fucking world", Helga said, hopping into her car. Arnold sighed and rolled his eyes at her too-awesomely-bad persona. Yeah, they were adults, and they could use whatever language they preferred, but he knew that so much of her "badness" was still a persona.

Helga waved goodbye and drove away, leaving Arnold alone with his thoughts. Checking his watch, he realized he only had four hours to prepare for his dinner with Helga tonight. He jogged back home, anticipating the evening that lay before him.