Author's Note: I'd like to thank Houkanno Yuuhou for informing me about this plotline in his/her review of the first episode of fic. I'd also like to apologize for the lateness of updating this fic, because I was too preoccupied with 'Run'. In this story, Helga has some money problem and she has to work, and she landed a job at Arnold's boarding house after hours upon hours of job hunting. Consider her lucky, I guess. Well, here it is.
Legal junk: I don't own Hey Arnold, but Nickelodeon does and Mr. Craig Bartlett created it. But this fic belongs to me. Clear? Good.
Episode 6: Helga Gets a Job
I
Helga trudged boringly to her house after a long, tedious day at school. The can that she had been kicking continuously from five blocks away had a lot of dents on it due to her continuous kicking. At least today she wouldn't have to go to work since her employer insisted that she should take a day off, to – according to him, clear her head off for a while. She appreciated it, and felt that it was a compensation for her tiring day at school today. Approaching her house, she saw Harvey stood in front of the front door as he opened his bag and rummaged through it.
"Hi Harv." She greeted. "A little bit too late to deliver letters at this time of hour, don't you think?" she said jovially.
"Hey Helga." Harvey replied back, smiling, "There was a software glitch at the sorting system earlier today, and we had to restart the process all over again." He explained his unpunctuality to her, "So on behalf of the United States Postal Service, I apologize for any inconvenience that we may have caused. Oh and here are your letters."
Helga then took the letters from him and mouthed "Thanks," softly at him. She then shuffled the letters over, and found most them uninteresting. There was a collection of bills, a chain letter for Bob which he'd most likely going torch it with the stove, and an Avonne catalogue for Miriam, which Helga laughed a little inside her heart upon looking at it. The last letter caught her attention, as it was the most fascinating of them all. Arnold sent a letter to him. "Hey look at this man," Helga showed Harvey the letter, "I got another letter from Arnold."
Harvey took it from Helga and gazed it with a soft smile, "Oh man. It has been a long time now, hasn't it? This place has been kinda dull ever since he left to…" he looked at the stamp because he did not remember which country Arnold moved in to, "San Lorenzo." He then gave her the letter back.
"Yeah…" Helga replied weakly, beginning to miss him, but then she snapped back, "Ah, who cares about him anyway. I'm glad he's thousands of miles away from this place."
Harvey chuckled back, "Girl, I can't believe you still don't like him after all these years. You're not kids anymore, man. Give him a chance. He's just trying to be friendly. No need to be angry just because he likes to write letter to you." He then looked at his watch, "Ah, I've got to go. I still have eight more blocks to cover." Helga responded with a nod, and Harvey walked away from her house, "See ya later, Helga."
"Yeah… see ya." Helga waved weakly at him. "I'm not angry Harv… I'm actually very, very happy." She said softly to herself, as if she wanted to reply back to him. After a deep sigh, Helga went into her house and put all the letters except the one from Arnold next to the phone, where letters to the Patakis always end up after they were shoved into the mail slot at the door. Apparently none of the Patakis could stand letters lying about in front of the door. As Helga walked to her room, she tore the Arnold letter and began to read it.
Dear Helga,
Hi, it's me again, Arnold. I hope I'm not interrupting anything you're doing right now as you read this letter.
"Nah, I got all the free time that I want. Go on." She said with a smile, as if she wanted to tell him through the letter.
How are you? What have you been doing these past few weeks? Well, ultimately my questions won't be answered though, since you never reply to me.
"And I'm really sorry for that…" Helga said back with a dismal tone. "I guess… I'm just too weak…"
But still, I'll continue to write to you though, because that's what I do. You're my friend Helga.
Helga smiled broadly, hoping that someday the both of them will step out from the friend zone and into a more intimate relationship together. She walked into her room, put her backpack on the floor next to her bed and took a seat at her desk.
And as a friend, I'm going to tell you what has happened to me in these past few days. As of right now, I'm starting my new job at the local airport with the United Nations as my employer. Not that I'm in a dire need of a job though, it's just a volunteer work to kill time here. My job prescription is to load and unload cargo on and off of an airplane and into trucks so they could send them to the needy. Sounds boring, isn't it? And it's kind of eerie too, considering that I could remember doing something like this in a nightmare I had when I was nine. And I swear you have nothing to do with it.
"Yeah, right." Helga scoffed, smiling. She imagined Arnold's nightmare would be something like her being the Queen of All Cosmos and ordered Arnold to roll things up and put them on the sky or into a warehouse or something.
My dad told me about this job, and advised me to take it. It's nice to know that I'm giving a helping hand to help this country. Before this, I usually followed my dad to the excavation site and learn a thing or two about the Green-Eyed People or just being a slacker at the house. Speaking of jobs, I heard from Gerald that you just started working at the boarding house, is it true? When I heard it from him for the first time, I was in disbelief. No offence, but it's hard to imagine you helping my grandparents out. Still, it's good to hear that they finally have a helping hand, considering age is taking a toll on their health. Thank you so much Helga for helping them out.
"You're welcome." Helga replied softly, smiling.
So before I say goodbye, I would like to give you some pointers to make your life easier there: 1) If the boarders, especially Mr. Kokoshka told you that they have no money to pay the rent for a specific month, tell them that they only have a week to settle their rent, or the rent will be doubled – and it will be doubled on the next consecutive week, and so far, so forth. 2) I think you've noticed it, but we don't put cleaning tools in the broom closet. Mops, brooms and whatever are being kept in the laundry room next to washing machine #3. And finally, 3) Be on time for lunch/dinner et cetera! The boarding house has this unwritten rule that everyone must be at the dining table or nobody will get to eat.
Helga then opened her laptop and looked at her download that she started it this morning. It was halfway done.
I hope all these would be beneficial to you, as I have done my best to inform you regarding it. Thank you for reading Helga.
Yours truly,
Arnold.
Helga then placed the letter next to her laptop as she opened her web browser. The first thing she did was checking her email, and to her surprise, there were ten unread letters, twice than the average quota that she received in a day. She decided not to read them but instead, clicked on the 'Compose Mail' link to begin writing a reply to Arnold, even though she knew she wouldn't actually reply to him anyway.
Hello fellow friend called Arnold,
I just got your letter, and to tell ya the truth, I'm happy that you've written to me. So I see the old Football Head is up to his old hijinks huh? Helping people out without being asked? Typical of you man. Not that I'm complaining though since that is one of your traits that people like about you. To answer your question, yeah, I am working with your grandparents right now but unlike you, I need the money. Your grandparents are awfully nice to give me this job with adequate pay to boot. I actually just started early this month, back when I was desperate in search for cash. I can remember it vividly, it was…
II
"Money I owe Phoebe…" Helga said to herself as she counted her spending whilst writing them on a piece of paper, "And some stuff I owe Olga… Oh crud! I'm still in the red." She threw her pen on her desk in aggravation that her money still wasn't enough to pay her debts. After taking long, deep breath, she threw her body back to the chair and stared at the ceiling, thinking where she could get some money. As she thought, she could hear someone walking past her room. She turned around and saw Bob.
Should she take the gamble and asked him nicely to raise her allowance?
"Oh man, I can't believe it!" he said happily as he took a seat in front of the TV, armed with the remote control. "They're showing the season finale of 'Misplaced' today! Now I'm going to know what's going to happen to Sawyer!" After minutes of watching it, and during the scene where the airplane crash survivors were eating corn, he remembered something, and immediately smacked his forehead, "Oh crud! How could I forget popcorn! And now I'm going to miss the good part!" with extreme annoyance, he reluctantly got up from his seat and walked away from the TV while still looking at it.
"Hey dad…"
Bob turned around, and saw Helga holding a bowl of popcorn, a bag of potato chips, and two bottles of Yahoos while grinning broadly at him. He smiled at her, and said, "Gee, thanks Helga!" he grabbed them all from her, and walked back to his seat as Helga followed him from behind, "I didn't know you're so—" Bob suddenly stopped, noticing something peculiar about Helga's sudden kindness. "Hey… what are you trying to pull?"
"Why, nothing dad." She replied with a fake smile, "Whatever makes you feel that way? It is wrong for a thoughtful daughter such as myself to shower her father with gratitude by bringing snacks for him to enjoy his favorite TV program?" acting was never Helga's forte. Not after the thing she went through during sixth grade, though.
Bob gazed at her perplexedly with an eyebrow lowered. After staring a Helga for a long time, which made her anxious and sweaty, he then finally understood why she was acting all weird at him, "Forget it Helga. I'm not raising your allowance."
"Oh crud… he knows my plan…" she thought to herself as she sighed in disappointment, "Aw come on dad! I REALLY need the money! Puh-leeeze…!"
"And to buy what Helga?" he asked back, "another one of those overpriced music player, isn't it? Or a cellphone maybe?"
"No, not exactly." Helga replied back. "Hmm… come to think of it," she looked up and put her hands on her chin, contemplating about acquiring a new Mp3 player. But, she shook her head and waved both of her hands as to say no, "No, no. C'mon dad, be a team player! I only ask for this once, and I won't ask for it again! C'mon, I really need the money!"
"No!" Bob replied back, issuing his final declaration to her. Helga was terribly disappointed as she looked at him with a sad, defeated gaze. Bob really hated that look since it made him all guilty and such. Helga then slowly walked away. Still, Bob still persisted with his decision, but it'd be the best if he offered his daughter with some advice, "Look Helga…" Bob called her back, and Helga's face brightened up. She thought Bob changed his mind, but actually he didn't. Bob then said, "When Olga was about your age—"
Terrific, not another Olga story again, Helga thought in annoyance as she rolled her eyes up. He really needed to stop comparing her with her sister.
"She too had some money problem like you. But unlike you, she didn't run to me whining to raise her allowance."
Helga was irritated. "Rub it in, would you?"
"Instead, she asked me how she can get some money, without your mom's or my help. So I told her, do like what I used to do."
"Pick pocketing?" Helga gave a random, yet sardonic guess.
"What?" he asked, "No! Although it does bring back memories." He then shook his head to snap back, "Uh, what I mean is, work from the ground up. Get a job."
"A job?" Helga replied horrifyingly.
"Yeah, a job." Bob nodded, "You know, "Labor, entering workforce, employment… stuff like that. C'mon Olga—"
"Helga." Helga corrected him back.
"Yeah, what I said. You're old enough to hold that kind of responsibility, girl. And I think it's high time for you to learn it."
III
Though disappointed and annoyed at first, Helga heeded to her dad's suggestion. She was inside her room now, contemplating which job should she take. She had listed a number of jobs on a piece of paper, which almost all of them sounded exciting for a person who will enter temporary workforce like herself. All of which would be then narrowed into one. Still, she was very pessimistic in regard of acquiring a job that would fit her well. It was at late night anyway and she decided to think about it later tomorrow. She hit the hay and went to sleep.
At school…
"How's the job hunting coming along, Helga?" Phoebe asked her as they headed out to the bus stop.
"I haven't started yet." Helga replied back as she unwrap a chewing gum, "I'm planning to head out to the mall and go job huntin' today, as in right now."
Phoebe was rather displeased upon hearing that, since it might jeopardize her plan, "which mall are you planning of going to?" she asked, hopefully it won't be the same mall she'd be going to.
"I don't know." Helga shrugged, chewing the gum, "Whichever suits me I guess."
"Oh…" Phoebe replied back, worried a bit. Hopefully the both of them wouldn't bump onto each other.
Helga stood in front of one of the most popular mall in town, a place known for its wretched hive of scum and villainy. She must remain cautious as there were some many freaks and bizarre people wander about in this congregation of capitalism. She walked in and began her job hunting, with her eyes wander around in search for a 'Help Wanted' sign in front of a store. She saw one in front of a 'Hot Subject' store, and scoffed at it. There were so many posers shopping in that establishment, that she was revolted at the thought of working there. And what the heck was emo Curly doing inside there? She asked herself as she looked at him with an eyebrow lowered.
She walked further deep into the mall and saw a 'Help Wanted' sign at an 'Avril Comb me with Fish' clothing store with employment details printed all over it. Though she liked the perks, but the wage wasn't good enough for her. And considering that Rhonda would always shop for clothes in this kind of store, she ultimately decided against it. Eventually, she reached a fancy and expensive looking coffee shop. She could see Coffee Boy, formerly known as Chocolate/Radish Boy having a good time sipping coffee with his female friend Campfire Lass – her moniker in grade school. Helga has no idea what people call her as of now. Given the busyness of the shop, Helga felt that it might be hard for her to cope with all of the customers. So she walked away.
Her quest for a job brought her to a computer store. She saw Eugene shopping at that place and was scared at the technical jargon that Eugene and the store employee exchanged. She was overwhelmed because she did not know what the heck they were talking about. So she walked away with haste. Various stores offered many jobs but Helga wasn't a least bit interested about it. She wouldn't want to work at a toy store since she was bad with kids. The video store would be nice, but the hours are a pain. And she couldn't find any jobs at the cinema since they didn't offer any. My word, she was picky. So with a disappointed sigh, she had no choice but to walk out of the mall. She could've sworn she saw Phoebe and Gerald walking hand to hand into a bookstore, but then she shrugged it off and decided to go home, since it getting dark outside.
In the middle of the bus journey, she thought of working at those family established stores lining up at Vine Street. Maybe asking for a job at a friendly establishment like those would enhance her luck. So she stopped the bus and proceeded to the said street, where Mr. Green's Butcher Shop and Mrs. Vitello flower shop resided. Upon reaching Mr. Green's butcher shop, she saw Harold walking out of the store and began sweeping the front. Helga could guess that there weren't any jobs available for her in that store, but she decided to test her luck anyway. "Yo Harold."
"Hey Helga. The store's closed. Come back tomorrow if you want to buy a salami or something." He replied back as he continued sweeping.
"No, it's not like that, man. I'm just wondering if Mr. Green could use some help."
Harold immediately stopped sweeping and looked at her quizzically. After a long pause, he began to snicker, "Are you saying that you want a job?" he pointed at her. Helga understood the unsightly expression emerging from his face, and then she decided to walk away, leaving him in disgust as she pushed him away.
"Move aside Harold! You don't have to mock me!"
"Ahahahaha!" Harold laughed at her, "Helga's going job hunting, and fails miserably at it! Ahahaha!"
Ignoring Harold's immature remarks, Helga then proceeded to Mrs. Vitello's.
"I'm sorry sweetie," Mrs. Vitello replied back as she watered her plants, "I would love to hire a helper, but I don't think I have enough money to support more than one worker."
"Oh, come on Mrs. Vitello. I really need the money!" Helga pleaded.
"I'm sorry honey. You just have to find someplace else." She gave Helga a smile.
In defeat, Helga replied back, "Yeah… thanks anyway…" she then walked away weakly from Mrs. Vitello, who couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. After the door was closed, Helga saw Arnold grandpa in front of the boarding house, sweeping the stoop while coughing a hacking cough uncontrollably.
"Ugh… curse this cough." He said, "It's bad enough I'm getting weaker each and everyday." Every one of his words could be heard by Helga clearly, "Oh I wish someone could help me with this…" he then went into the house back. The last sentence that he said made Helga extremely happy. Not only the outlook would be bright, but also she could work in one of the most revered place of them all. Arnold's house.
IV
The bell rang, which annoy Phil greatly. "Who the heck is crazy enough to visit us at this time of hour?" he yelled out, and forced himself to greet the person who rang the bell. "GET THE HE—" his angry yelled stopped all of the sudden upon seeing Helga, "—llo there… hey aren't you—"
"Yeah, Arnold's friend." Helga interjected. "So I couldn't help but to hear you need an extra hand around the place." She beamed at him.
"Hmm? When the heck I said that?" Phil asked her again.
"Just now, when you were outside sweeping the stoop." Helga replied back.
"Oh, oh that. Hey…" he looked at her back skeptically, "Were you eavesdropping on me?"
"No sir. I was merely overhearing you." She beamed at him again.
"Ooh, now that's different." He replied back, nodding. Then his expression changed and narrowed his eyes, "No." he sneered, and slammed the door.
"Aw c'mon gramps, I really need the job!" Helga replied back, which could be heard vaguely by grandpa. Grandma then came into view, and walked up to him as she swept the floor.
"What's with the hullabaloo, Phil?" she asked.
"That weird girl with one eyebrow asked me if we could give her job!" Grandpa replied back. "What a crazy idea!"
Hmm… "Grandma replied, deep in thought, "Is it the girl that always gave Arnold a bad time?"
"Uh huh."
"I think you should give her a chance. I think there's more to it than just getting a job." She winked and clicked her tongue as she pointed to a picture of Arnold on the wall. Grandpa snickered softly and smiled at his wife.
"Where would I be without you, Pookie?"
"Probably worm chow by now." She then went into the kitchen, riding the broom like a horse.
Helga trudged disappointedly back home, feeling that she could never get a job now. But suddenly grandpa opened the door and shouted at her, "Hey you!" Helga turned around, "I guess you're the one who's crazy enough to get a job here. So come on in so we can discuss about your employment here." Helga was elated as she beamed at him. This job might be in her grasp as of now.
V
Helga and Grandpa Phil were inside the living room right now, seating near each other. She sat on the couch while Phil on an armchair. Grandpa had felt that this interview served only as formalities, not an actual interview, per se. It was just his way to get acquainted with her. "So uh… Miss Pataki, did I say it right?" he asked, and Helga nodded, "We usually don't employ workers here since running the boarding house is a family business… but I'll have to make you an exception since you're friends with the Football— I mean, Shortman." Helga smiled widely. Grandpa then continued, "Do you have any work experience prior to this?"
"None." Helga replied, "But I'm excellent at intimidating people, which is a good trait, considering the people in this house. Also, I have good people skills."
"True, true." Grandpa nodded, in accord with her, "What would you say your worst quality was?"
"Hmm…" Helga hummed to herself, as she put her fingers under her chin, whilst look upwards, contemplating carefully about the question. She could say a lot of stuff about herself, like unruly, rebellious and sometimes badly behaved but then again, if she said that then she could kiss the job goodbye. So the most viable answer was, "I would say that… I work too hard."
"Uh huh." Grandpa said, slightly surprised since he had expected something like unruly, rebellious and sometimes badly behaved as her answer. "So, if you feel my wife's cooking is horrible, what would you say?"
"I would compliment on her cooking, but I would also advise her to improve next time."
"No!" Grandpa replied angrily as she pointed at her, "You say in front of her face that her cooking stinks!"
"Ah…" Helga replied, "Dang! I was going to say that too!" she snapped her fingers.
Now, a serious question, "Okay, regarding your hours, do you want to work all day during the weekends only or on weekdays after school? Of course, your day is over after dinnertime."
"Wow!" Helga thought to herself cheerfully, "A job and free dinner provided by them each day? The perks are even better than the stores in the mall!" she then decided to take the weekday offer.
"Okay, how much do you expect to get paid?"
Helga was stunned. He actually decided to let her tell him how much she would like to be paid? This was too good to be true. "I don't know… 5.50 bucks an hour?" she gave a random shot.
"Fair enough." Grandpa nodded, and thusly made Helga happy. Although she kinda regretted it since she could ask for a higher pay. "Final question before I consider your employment and end the interview: Where do you see yourself in five years?"
"Hmm… in a college on the other side of the country or world?" Helga replied back.
"Close enough!" Grandpa replied, jumping out from his seat. He then extended his hands as to shake hands with her, "You're hired!"
"Thanks!" Helga too jumped up and shook his hand. "So I'll start tomorrow then?"
"Good timing too, since tomorrow is the time to collect the rent." Grandpa said, as he brought her to the kitchen, "So as we eat, we'll discuss about your job description and what are you going to do as an employee of this fine establishment." Helga saw Grandma making some finishing touches with her cooking. All the food on the table smells delicious.
VI
After school, Helga immediately ran to the boarding house to start her new job as the new 'tenant-to-proprietor relations negotiator and household maintainer', an official term for her job title. She was looking forward to this job since it gave her opportunity to explore Arnold's house more, something that she wanted to ever since her stealthy ninja stint in the fourth grade. She rang the bell and Grandma opened the door. The old lady gave her a smile and replied, "Ah, I see the new tenant-to-proprietor relations negotiator and household maintainer is early today. Come on in." And she walked in, and walked alongside Grandma, and finally stopped in front of the kitchen's entry.
Grandma then assigned her very first duty, "Today is the day where we collect the rent. But since everybody is at their job right now – except for Oskar since he works at night, I want you to go to Arnold's room and clean it up."
Helga widened her eyes in shock. There was a mix of excitement and disgust began to develop in her heart. She was excited that she was allowed to enter Arnold's room on her first day, and disgusted that she had to clean it up. Grandma Gerthie then brought her to the laundry room and handed her a broom, mop, rag, duster, a bucket with cleaning chemicals in it and a sponge. As Helga struggled to balance all the cleaning items with her hands as she followed grandma to Arnold's room.
"We haven't given the room a good fix ever since he left for San Lorenzo." Grandma said with a smile. Helga on the other hand, was in horror. The door to Arnold's room creaked, and dust floated about in the room. It made Helga sneezed loudly and accidentally dropped all of the things she carried out from her hands. After the dust settled, she was absolutely horrified at the room's condition. Grandma opened the window for her and said, "Now I want every nook and cranny of the room to be cleaned and don't touch any of my grandson's knickknacks. We want to put some boxes from the attic in here since that darned place is nearly full. We should've done it earlier but we kept on procrastinating, until you showed up."
Helga gave a Grandma dry smile, starting to regret on taking this job already.
"Now after you finished, you're allowed to a half-hour break. Go and watch TV or something." Helga was sort of happy to hear that. "Okay now, start cleaning." Grandma then exited the room whilst air guitaring wildly.
She was all alone now in the room, but first she decided to explore it first. The very first thing she did was going through his drawers at the desk. As she expected, there was nothing inside, except for a remote control that controls all of the electronic equipments inside the room. She checked for batteries, only to find it empty. She then shrugged off and put it down. She then went to the bed sans mattress and sat on it. All of her memories about this room began to take place. She remembered the time that she had to stay overnight inside the revolving couch compartment just so she could murder the annoying parrot in cold blood. It was also the first time she saw Arnold undressed for bed, which excited her a lot. Then there was the time that she actually went through the vent shaft after acquiring taped recording of her confession, high on laughing gas – and only to land into Arnold's room with all of his friends present.
Helga laughed at the fond memories. She now realized that she was a very disturbed kid at that time. She then gazed warmly at the room, and imagined what Arnold did in his room in his spare time. The Arnold figment was seen writing stuff on the desk, faded away and emerged back at the revolving couch, where he lied down while listening to upbeat music. It then faded again and emerged next to her. The little boy Arnold then transformed into teenage Arnold and turned to look at her, "You really are enjoying this, aren't you, Helga?" the Arnold figment said with a smile.
The comment made by Arnold figment snapped her back to reality, and she shook her head violently. She got up, shrugged the imagination away and decided to start working. And there was a series of montage of her cleaning the room up, starting from the drawers at the bed, to the floor, on the desk, and finally, up at the skylight. The room was finally all sparkly clean. She, bringing along the cleaning tools, walked down wearily from the room and put them back inside the laundry room. She then went to the den and decided to watch TV. After an hour when she was nearly asleep, grandma called her and asked her to go to the kitchen. "I see you've done cleaning up the room?" Grandma asked upon seeing Helga entering the kitchen. She nodded wearily. "Didn't I also tell you that you could only have a half an hour break?"
Helga widened her eyes, "You're going to cut my pay because of it?"
Grandma shook her head, smiling, "Nothing like that, deary. But don't be doing that again. And don't abuse our trust."
Helga smiled back softly.
"Come here. I'm going to teach you how to bake."
Few hours later, when the day is getting dark and all of the tenants were back from home, Grandpa then asked her to collect the rent. Helga then smiled a devilish smile, and went to the first room – Ernie's room. "Hey Shorty, I'm here to collect the rent." She demanded with an intimidating tone.
"Oh, so you're the new girl the old man's been talking about? Yeah, yeah…" he then took his wallet out from his back pocket and rummaged through it, "And don't be calling me short, okay? Call me Ernie, or preferably, Mr. Potts. I'm kinda sensitive to it." he gave her the money.
Helga grabbed them from him and said with a snide smile, "Sure, whatever you say, Baldy." And Ernie went back into his room, crying.
"Hey Mr. Hyunh." Helga called him as she knocked the door. "Today's pay day. Cough up the cash."
There was no answer.
"C'mon Mr. Hyunh, this ain't cool. I know you're in there."
Still there was no answer.
Annoyed, Helga then shouted, "Listen up, man! I know where you live and where you sleep! I swear to everything holy that your mother will cry when she see what I've done to you!"
"Okay! Okay! I give up!" Mr. Hyunh surrendered in defeat, like the French, "Here! Here's the money!" he then slipped the money through the crack below the door. "Please, leave me alone!"
Helga then took the money away and walked away from the room, whistling happily.
"Ah, Mr. Kokoshka! I'm glad you're here. I'm here to collect the rent." Helga said.
"Oh… so you're the new girl that Grandma's been talking about. Well, it's like this… today's a… uh…" he stammered, "a… public holiday in my old country… where uh… we celebrate it by… not paying the rent… so uh… come back tomorrow okay? Eheheheheh…"
Not satisfied with the given excuse, Helga grabbed him by his shirt collar and demanded, "You're going to give me the rent now or else!" she said angrily through her clenched teeth.
In panic, Oskar shouted, "Help, Suzie help! This girl is scaring me! Please!"
"Oh, Oskar!" Suzie replied back in aggravation, "Just go and take care of the babies while I settle this matter over, okay?"
"Oh, thank you! Thank you Suzie!" And Oskar immediately rushed to his twin daughters.
Suzie just shook her head, in disappointment of her husband, "Well, at least he has a respectful job as a saxophonist in Harvey's jazz band now…" she then turned to Helga, "Oh, you must be Helga, right?" she then took the money out from her pocket, "Grandpa Phil talked about you yesterday, saying you'll be working here for a while?"
"Yep." Helga nodded, as she took the money away from her, "Man… it's hard to imagine for Arnold to put up with all of these antics back when he was here…"
"Well, he tried his best. And good luck with your job Helga." Suzie smiled at her.
"Yeah, thanks." Helga smiled back.
"Dinnertime everyone!" Gertie shouted from downstairs. And everyone in an orderly fashion went down to the kitchen. Grandpa was setting the table for them all whilst Grandma brought the main course to the table.
"So Helga…" Grandpa asked, "What are the spoils today?"
"Room has been cleaned, cake has been baked, and all of the tenants pay full in cash, no delays and no dumb excuses." She replied back as she gave Phil the money.
"Whoa, really?" Grandpa replied in surprise, "You're even better than Arnold. I think I'm gonna like you working here." He grinned.
VII
Hey, don't blame me because your grandparents like me more than you man, I'm just doing my job. Anyway, thanks for the extremely important pointers you've given to me. Rest assured, I will heed and remember them. And I hope the best of luck with your job at the airport as well. And thank you again for writing to me Arnold. It's good to hear from you again.
Your friendly neighborhood tenant-to-proprietor relations negotiator and household maintainer,
Helga.
And after Helga proofread her letter many times and was satisfied with its contents, she then clicked on the 'sent' button. But after waiting for a second or so, her impulses snapped her out and she realized what she had done. "Oh no. Ohno! Ohno! Ohno! Ohno! Ohno!" She widened her eyes in fear, and quickly clicked on the 'Stop' button repeatedly. But it was too late, and the email was already sent. "Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" she banged her head against the keyboard. But the damage was done, and she could only hope the email got lost inside the trillions of kilobauds worth of information on the internet. She never had the courage to write to Arnold, and because of this, she hoped that she didn't write anything offensive to him, and hoped that he would write to her again soon.
Done and done. Hopefully I will get this fic on track again, after significant delays. Thank you for reading and please leave a review.