Rocket to the Moon
Chapter Nineteen
Old Hillwood and Blabbing
. . .
He walked into next room and as he had supposed it was a gallery, a room with no sofas or seats of any type but counters, tables, paintings and decoration that showed-off sophistication. The last room of that wing was completely different. It was also a social room but this one was more inviting. It was an all-panel room with cozy couches and warm illumination. He headed for the French doors at the end of the place and hesitated. Taking another swig of his beer and he looked outside. Central Park was a few blocks away though it couldn't be seen because of the buildings. From this height everything looked so calm. His sight flew from one place to the next, trying to make out buildings and places he knew.
. . .
"Boo!"
A tangible shiver ran from the back of his neck.
"Holy shit!" Arnold jumped out of his skin. She laughed quietly. Mumbling in his ear seemed to have taking him by surprise.
Then he laughed nervously, leaning over. "Jesus Helga, you almost make me cry!"
"That was the intention." She stuck out her tongue at him and walked ahead with a mocking smile. Opening the French doors she stepped outside, to the balcony. He followed her. She caressed the shiny leaf bushes she had in there. She was proud of them.
"This place is so cool!" by the corner of her eye she saw Arnold touching the plants too.
"Yeah, it is." She breathed deeply the cold October air "Sometimes I regret giving up smoking only to have an excuse to be here more frequently."
"I didn't know you smoked." He said turning to see her.
"Come on, Arnold," she elbowed him. "You know nothing about us anymore."
"Mmm." He laughed softly "Well, I guess you can still enjoy a drink or two over here."
"Drinks are just not the same, but anyway…" she raised her drink in the air. Arnold's bottle clinked with her glass.
"Where's Rhonda?" he asked. Helga was sipping from her drink. After swallowing she replied.
"She's on the phone," she raised his eyes to look at him and a playful grin appeared on her face. "Got a booty call. I'm afraid she's gonna ditch out on us."
"What?!" he seemed to freeze.
"I'm kidding!" Geez Arnold! You're so gullible," she mocked him. "What are you afraid of?"
"She's not leaving, right?"
"Of course not." Helga scoffed to herself. It seemed that ole football head had become some kind of Don Juan. He'd just tried to hit on her in the kitchen and now was oh-so worried about Rhonda leaving early. Besides, one shouldn't forget he had a steady girlfriend. 'Don't ever trust the quiet ones', she reminded herself. "She'd been looking forward to this reunion the entire month." She added.
"Yeah, me too. It'd be a shame to end it soon."
Helga nodded, turning her sight to look ahead. He did the same.
"So Park Avenue, huh?" his voice reached her after a long silence.
"Excuse me?" she turned to see him. Seemed that Football Head liked close contact; he was too close again. She exhaled. She was happy to realize the boy wasn't that short anymore; she had to raise her sight to look at him in the eye; two inches or so, which wasn't bad. He seemed he also noticed because he turned down to see her barefoot. She wiggled her toes. He smiled.
"You told me the other day you lived in Chelsea… and here we are… at Midtown."
"Oh, that," she smirked "Well, Arnold. I remember you as a nice guy and all, but I didn't know you anymore. I wasn't going to tell you everything about me that easily."
"Fair," he nodded. "It's a nice place." His head pointed inwards. Helga followed his sight.
"Yeah, it is." She suspired but didn't add anything else, unlike Rhonda, who told him the whole story.
"It seems that you were right. About me not knowing anything about you anymore," he spoke again "And half of what I thought I knew now I realize I was mistaken." He ended.
"Like living at Chelsea?" She asked.
"Or having a dog." He smirked "I saw you at the park the other day, walking a dog. A Shih Tzu."
She smiled. "Prince is not mine. It's Luke's. I guess you already met him." She touched the tip of his nose "But if it makes you happy, I have a cat."
"I wonder what other things I think I know about you and I'm actually mistaken…" he leaned his side on the rail and turned to her. His eyes looked at her intently, as if he wanted to figure out everything about her. She smirked and opened big her eyes, holding his sight and playing along. Who the Football Head thought he was? The Great Arnoldini?
. . .
"So here you are!" Rhonda haughty voice reached them, "Guys, you don't have to go hide behind doors to get dirty. If you want to be alone you only have to say it."
Helga puffed.
"Yeah, right!" Helga stepped inside and Arnold followed again, closing the doors. "How was that?" she asked in low voice. Arnold was surprised to see Helga lessened her usual scorn and was nice to her friend.
"You know him." Rhonda grumbled and shrugged her small shoulders. "I don't know why I bother taking the call."
"We wouldn't be girls." Helga said sparingly, walking towards the living room along Rhonda. Arnold fell behind and pretended admire the sculptures in the other room to give them space.
It was a good idea. They started talking in low voice about what they thought Arnold didn't know a thing about. He was still kinda upset; he'd been expecting to make Helga spit her relationship with Henry. But thinking twice what could be the point? Helga coming clean made no difference. Rhonda's words left no doubts. He fought back the queasy feeling inside him. What was his problem? He exhaled
The boy raised his sight and couldn't help but observe them carefully. They were so similar and so different and at the same; two beautiful women reaching their thirties and living in NY who had a lot in common. Ambitions, dreams, success…. But at the same time they were the same old little girls from Hillwood, and had their own particular personality each. One of them was once a raw wannabe socialite and the other a rude and unladylike bully. Both of them seemed to have gained depth as they got older; wisdom… and sophistication. Regarding the looks, they were both tall, had the body of a model and wore designer clothes; only that one of them was a radiant blonde with blue eyes and the other a stunning raven haired with dark grey eyes; the dream of every man in the world. Arnold smiled remembering Claire's words. He had two girls to himself tonight, if only platonically. He should be enjoying the moment, which was probably everything he was ever got to get from them.
. . . .
Old Hillwood came back as topic with full force. Rhonda laughed watching Helga's cracking a laugh when she listened to Arnold.
"An okay town?" she made a pause to recover her breathe after laughing hard "Are you serious? Come on, Arnold! Don't let your love for your hometown make you blind. Hillwood was a freak town."
"Freak town? That's a harsh, Helga!" he complained, maybe too loud. How many beers had he had, she wondered; seemed that Arnold couldn't hold his liquor. Rhonda drew a small smile on her face. "Rhonda, what do you think?"
"It was a dump!" she supported Helga. The girls shared a knowing smile.
"Come on! It wasn't that bad!"
"Admit it Arnold!" Helga grinned "It was lousy."
"It's just like the next town."
"Alright, I admit that there surely are worst places to live, but our Hillwood wasn't precisely pretty." Rhonda conceded.
"Maybe you two have accustomed to prettier places now, and you've forgotten it was in fact, fine."
"It wasn't nice. It might be 'cool'…" Helga elbowed Rhonda.
"For an artistic type like you, I'd accept 'nice'." Rhonda offered "We had a hell of a childhood in there, but that doesn't mean it was pretty."
Arnold shook his head as he took another swig of his beer. "I can't believe you guys."
"You remember all those freaks? Pigeon Man, Monkey Man…?" Helga started.
"Stoop Kid?" Rhonda added.
"Oh God! The Sewer King. Ugh…. All those thugs making their deals at every corner?"
"Prostitutes…" Rhonda wrinkled her nose.
"The guys counterfeiting pennies at Elk Island. God! Could they be more stupid?!"
The three of them laughed.
"Oh, my God! Principal Wartz…" Helga went on.
"Principal Wartz?" Arnold asked.
"Do you remember him? His desk drawers full with toys. I mean little kid's toys?"
"Weird,"
"I never got to see his drawers" Arnold said turning slowly his head to look at her. "You mean you two broke in to the Principal office?" he asked.
"Too much information. You're exposing yourself, homie." Rhonda said in low falsely warning voice.
"Oh, big deal!" Helga snorted "As if Arnold were going to rat on us. Who cares now anyway? Besides, is not as if he'd ever rat on someone, right? Remember that mooning episode and Arnold didn't spill the beans?"
Rhonda saw Arnold opening big his eyes. He had surely forgotten about it.
"Full moon…" he mumbled as to himself "I endured four weeks of detention, and never gave Sid, Stinky or Harold away."
"Well, everybody has their flaws." She mumbled.
That brought a new round of jokes. The three of them laughed remembering Sid getting obsessive about germs; Curly snapping about being the ball monitor; and Phoebe, the always proper nice and brainy girl, becoming a power-hungry tyrant when it was her turn to be the hall monitor.
"I remember also when you wore that ugly t-shirt that read "Curly's girl" Helga said.
"Argh!" Rhonda grumbled. "Yeah, and you two bunch of hypocrites." She added "I remember all of you feeling sorry for the whacko only because he was 'heartbroken' after I dumped him." she made quotation marks in the air.
"You dumped him at the cafeteria!" Helga said "In front of the Entire. School. Population."
"That was pretty cruel, Rhonda." Arnold agreed.
"Oh, shut up! You never got to know the rest of the story." Rhonda complained.
"You remember when Curly freed all the animals of the zoo?" He went on ignoring their commentaries.
"Poor twisted little freak."
"Yeah, I remember. Why would he do that?" She frowned.
"He was mad at you because you put him in the geek list and didn't invite him to your so called 'Cool Party." Helga remembered.
"Gawd! The Cool Party! What a fiasco!" The three of them snickered again.
They remained silent for a while probably recalling the details of the event until Rhonda spoke again.
"Remember the gipsy stand? Madame Blanche?" she asked "You know Curly once went to get a 'Love Potion' and the guy followed me for days, trying to trick me into drinking it!" she whined. She stopped realizing both, Arnold and Helga, stirred uncomfortable in their seats and her grimace turned into a grin. "What is it? You got a Love Potion too?"
Helga seemed to think for a moment but then spoke resolutely.
"Well, I actually went to get an 'Anti-Love Potion" she said "I wanted to fell out of love with…" she puffed pointing with her chin to the blond seated at her right. Arnold threw her a tender smile. If she didn't know better the dark haired girl daresay he was smitten. She sighed. It was a shame. All these years later. All those wasted years. She took air again. Now it wasn't possible. So far she knew Arnold was practically engaged to his girlfriend; and Helga…
"I actually went on Friday the 13th to get a good luck charm so I could get over Wolfgang's curse." Arnold nice and deep voice brought her back from her reverie.
"Wolfgang!" Helga cried "I had forgotten about that loser! You guys remember the longest Monday all those years ago?"
"The Trash Can Day!"
"Yuck!" Rhonda made a face. "I still can feel the smell!"
"Did they catch you Helga?" Arnold asked "I saw them catching Rhonda after they broke into Park's safehouse, and they finally reached me and Gerald after we were led directly to Wolfgang by Mike the Weasel, but I never knew if they got to caught you"
"Mike the Weasel?" Helga asked skeptic "What in the hell were you doing hanging around with Mike the Weasel on Trash Can Day?"
"He was supposedly 'helping' us." Arnold looked down. Helga raised her eyes to the ceiling in disbelief. Rhonda snorted.
"There's a reason why they called him 'The Weasel', don't you think?" she asked.
" I knew it right then" Arnold had the decency to look embarrassed. How… innocent… could someone be? Rhonda snorted turning to Helga expecting the blonde would trash Arnold for his stupidity, but for a strange reason it seemed Helga wouldn't mock him this time and she was left to shake her head and wonder if love was in the air again.
Could it be? The raven haired girl sighed. She seriously doubted it. Helga didn't just fall in love; she obsessed over the guy in turn and right now her mind was no vacant. She turned to see Helga recalling when Wolfgang and Ludwig made them play a game to see who the biggest bully in the block was. That made her recall a juicy gossip that she learned recently.
. . .
"Do you know those guys live together?" Arnold turned to see Rhonda straightening in her seat, ready to start a new round of gossiping.
"Who?" Helga asked, raising her sight.
"Who are we talking about? Ludwig and Wolfgang of course!" she rolled her eyes "Sure you remember them, always the big machos doing macho stuff, right? Well, last thing I heard was that they were buying a new dryer machine because the old one didn't match their washing machine"
"Huh?" it was he who asked now. He was lost. He saw Helga's frown growing; clearly confused. He was expecting a neck slap after telling the way he'd been tricked by Mike the Weasel but Rhonda seemed to have moved on with the conversation.
"They moved together! Their close ones say they are 'confused' about their sexual identity…"
"Say what?!" Helga and him asked in unison and turned to see her.
Rhonda smiled proudly by having caught their full attention and proceeded to tell what Sheena had told her. Apparently Sheena worked at a department store. Arnold observed Rhonda as she retold the story in great detail. It was obvious she enjoyed this; it was almost as if she kept a mental record of every single data that reached her knowledge. She probably had a mental file of everybody she knew. Should people feel honored by being at her database? Arnold wondered how fat his own file would be.
"And Sheena says she heard Ludwig saying moving together was quite a discovery; and now they are decorating their new house in pastel" Arnold leaned back in his seat and laughed. Helga seemed to be as amused as him and Rhonda barely could keep at bay her excitement.
"Maybe the attraction was always there but it took its time to develop," the blonde retorted, standing up and walking towards the fireplace "Surely you both remember all that 'romance' when Ludwig came back from juvenile hall Ha!"
Arnold chortled, "Yeah, I remember."
"Man! The way they kept nudging at each other…" she stopped as she checked her cellphone. So it was the cause of all that buzzing.
"So you think it's something old?" Rhonda asked.
"It was odd, that's for sure." She retorted as she fumbled with her phone.
"We were nine years old kids" Arnold opined "Would never guessed what was really going on. Probably not even them knew."
"What was it?" Rhonda asked with a smirk. "A 'bromance' with benefits?"
Arnold shrugged.
"Oops!" Helga made a face when the phone started to buzz again. "I have to take this." She announced and disappeared behind a door.
Arnold turned to see Rhonda. Then pointing his head to the door he asked.
"Who could it be?" It was after midnight according to his watch.
"A booty call?" she chirped. The expression of her face was unique. Arnold chortled.
"What is it with you two and all those booty calls?" he asked. "Helga told the same about you earlier."
"The bitch!" Rhonda grumbled although she didn't seem annoyed "It's a private joke Arnold. Although," she wriggled her brows "…it's past midnight" she stopped right there, enjoying keeping him on tenterhooks.
"Do you know who it is or not?" he insisted. Rhonda snorted.
"I have an idea who could it be…" she spoke slowly.
"Mr. Mueller?" he asked. Rhonda fixed her dark eyes on him, but then she laughed, shrugging her shoulders.
"I can't say yes… and I can't say no. And yes… and no… and yes…" She went on chanting. Taking in her expression he couldn't make out the truth; he knew she could keep playing this game forever. Arnold exhaled. "What is with all this enquiring Arnold? Do you care about Helga?" her face changed to an expression that looked like pity.
"She's a beautiful woman" he said before he could stop himself.
"I'm not asking that; I have eyes." she smirked "I'll take that for a yes," she mumbled to herself turning around and walking to the table "Not that I blame you. Looks aside, she's also a great girl; has always been."
"Yeah, she is." He observed her taking a pinch of sushi.
"She's smart, so full of passion…" He nodded. "Sometimes I wish I had her wittiness. The way she speaks out her mind…" Rhonda paused as she took the tiny piece to her mouth.
He never thought he'd heard praises to Helga coming from another woman. If he didn't know better he'd think Rhonda was up to something. Trying to make Helga look perfect to his eyes, maybe. Arnold snorted; why she'd do that? He raised her sight to see Rhonda's face in the exact moment her sympathetic smile morphed into a smug "And here I was, thinking you were happy with your girlfriend,"
"Fuck!"
It was too late; he'd fallen in her trap. Rhonda Lloyd was going to make him spill the beans about her relationship with Claire; all the beans. Arnold exhaled resignedly. The way you do when you know you're fucked.
. . .
Question. – "How did you two meet?"
Answer: At a flea market."
Q. – "When?"
A. - "Almost five years ago."
Q. - "Was it love at first sight"
A. - "Nope."
They hadn't started a relationship right away. Arnold had been seeing someone else and Claire had a boyfriend too. They interchanged phone numbers due to their mutual interest in jazz vinyls.
About a year later she called to invite him to a jazz show. Her friend, Brenda, stood her up. She was single by the way, he was kinda single too. The rest was easy to guess. They have fun together; had a lot of things in common. She moved to his place within the next year. They had had a very good time.
Arnold had to admit that Rhonda had a gift to take information out of people. She made it look as if talking about things you don't used to talk was the most natural thing in the world. Retelling this story made Arnold realize it was too predictable; they were too predictable. It was almost like if it was written in a book; Love for Dummies or something like that. As if it all had been a set-up? Had Claire planned it from the beginning? Because he didn't, that's for sure.
Well, long story short, here he was. Talking to the terrifying gossip queen who listened to him with her full attention; she was in her element; her eyes shone with a special glint. He almost could envision how she pulled out the fat file named Arnold and updated it. But strangely Arnold realized he was feeling at ease, uninhibited; and even when he was talking way more than he used to talk –ever; to anybody - he felt calm.
"And now that she's not receiving money from Mueller what happened to her plan?"
"Well, the success of Eyes for US called the attention. The wife of a councilman is trying to help them to take their plan to the city."
"That sounds like a great opportunity." Rhonda nodded half surprised "And this girl, Brenda, is still around?"
"Yeah, she is…. Sometimes I feel as if Claire is happier at her side than mine." He snorted.
Rhonda chortled "Why is that?"
"Don't listen to me," he added slowly. "It's just an impression." Friday night; old friends; beer… they were no good for his discretion.
"Maybe things have been cooling down between you two?" Arnold frowned "I mean, it's normal to certain point; and it's also obvious your relationship is far from perfect…"
"Hey," Arnold cut her off "That's not what I'm saying." He straightened in his seat.
"You're not saying it with words but that's what I hear."
"I don't think…"
"Shh shh shh" Rhonda dismissed him and went on "Besides, there's this little thing you have with Helga. You wouldn't be experiencing attraction to her if your actual relationships were healthy…"
"First of all, I'm not admitting anything. But don't tell Helga anyway…" Rhonda smiled a knowing smile. "And secondly,"
"I don't think it'd be necessary" she shrugged indifferently. "Nevertheless, I think you should think what you are doing in there. Maybe it's time to start questioning to where your relationship is going."
Arnold was about to shot an appropriate comeback but no voice left his mouth. He only exhaled long. Here it was; the truth slapping him right in the face. He breathed deeply again, and again, and again. And after a long minute he finally spoke.
"I know." He admitted dejectedly "I know we're far from perfect. I know something is happening, but I don't know what it is. Don't get me wrong. I love Claire…" Rhonda looked at him with sympathy "And I know she loves me too. I mean, I am conscious that there are some things happening in the background, but that doesn't mean we're going for a break up…"
"I understand…"
"And please don't think I'm a bad person. In fact, I think she's also experiencing…." He paused "Sometimes I feel like there's someone else."
If Arnold would put more attention to her, he'd realized Rhonda's eyes spark grew. "Why you say that?"
"Because she's…" he raised her eyes to look at her "She's been acting…"
"Strange?" she leaned forward.
"No strange, but different. She's more… passionate…" Arnold cheeks flushed and he lowered his sight "It's… weird."
"Weird?" Rhonda frown turned a wicked smile "What do you mean by weird? It's not nice? She didn't use to be like that?"
"We didn't use to be like that. We weren't bad either, only…"
"Oh, my God! She's getting dirty?!"
"No dirty! Maybe…"
"Naughty?"
Arnold hesitated before nodding his head; his cheeks were beet red by now. "It doesn't happen all the time, only in occasions… And I don't know what triggers it. We… we were okay… but lately… things are getting m…more intense? I've been thinking; it could be the age. We're getting old. I'm thirty-one now."
"You sure she's not making a cuckold of you?"
"Of course not!" he blinked with disbelief.
"You know - you could be cheating yourself…"
"But I'm not; I'm sure." He looked at her "I mean, just look at me, I'm not cheating on her even when I am…" he stopped abruptly.
"… In love with someone else?"
"I'm not in love…" he grumbled.
"Alright, - words!" she rolled her eyes "'had a crush' on someone else?"
Arnold only shrugged his shoulders. He raised his head and saw the bottle in his hand. He should stop drinking. He needed to clear up his mind and keep his mouth shut. What he was doing? Blabbing his private life to no other than Rhonda Lloyd?
He got up, walked to the kitchen and brought a couple of Coca-Colas from the fridge.
"Yeah, maybe 'having a crush' is a better word," he said taking his seat again, feeling guilty and being incapable to stop himself. He offered her the other soda and Rhonda took it.
"Well, that's not a bad thing per se," she looked at him with a skeptic expression; probably wondering why he still was such a prude "I mean, you're a healthy man who feels attracted to a beautiful girl. Big deal! Do you really think you're the only one? You're gonna feel guilty now and are going to whip yourself when no one sees."
"That's not me, but…"
"Come on! You just said even Claire is having…"
"I'm not sure. It's just an impression. Maybe I want to believe it so I don't feel so guilty for being attracted to someone else…"
"Arnold! Just listen to yourself!" Rhonda stood, raising her voice. She came to seat by his side. "Do you think perfect romances exist?" she smirked. "It's people like me who made them up. It's nice to see them published. It's nice to read them and then lie down to have something to dream about. But they are not real. I don't think I know a single couple who had a happy, healthy relationship. Everybody is crazy. I, for instance, am in love with a married man who happens to have a sick relationship with his wife/ex-wife/ wife and soon to be ex-wife again, can you believe it? Me?" she puffed and rolled her eyes "There's this other guy; he claims he loves me and he'd do anything for me and sometimes I'm afraid he means it; which actually worries me to death. One of my best friends at work, his girlfriend is a meth head and he's still with her. Another one, his boyfriend beats the shit out of her every time he feels like it and…"
"Rhonda…"
"I know…" she nodded "Everybody has their secrets. And in the end of the day we all put up with all this some way, and we think we're normal. See? You're not half bad. And I also know what you think. You're not gonna leave Claire only because your eyes got distracted by certain blonde who used to worship the ground you walked on, right?"
"Exactly…"
"It's only a delusion. I understand you, Arnold. Believe me, I understand." she patted his shoulder.
Arnold nodded. "It is only a delusion." He said to himself.
They remained in silence for some time. Each one lost in their own contemplations. Every now and then Arnold could hear Helga's voice rising for a moment but then she went back to mumbles. He raised his questioning eyes to Rhonda
"That's another one with huge plights." She stated.
Arnold grumbled. He could only imagine. Even when people wouldn't peg her for a gold-digger, it didn't mean Helga had it easy, right? Being the girlfriend of an old man…
"Arnold…" Rhonda added after a pause. She'd been looking to the floor but then raised her sight to look at him in the eye "Look, you know I like you. You're my friend." She exhaled "And as my friend I think I should warn you. Helga…" she looked to the door behind him "she's unavailable. I think it's matter of time that they make it public."
. . .
Sorry again for the sudden cut. Next chapter is ready and I'll be posting it on Sunday. Promise. The delay was because I wanted to put it all together and took a couple of days to realize it wasn't possible. The tone in each one is different. As a present for your waiting I want to give you a few leads of what's coming:
Chapter 20. Still at Helga's place. It's Rhonda's turn to blab one of her secrets; which ends being not her personal secret by the way, but someone else's. Helga's moody when she comes back from her call.
Chapter 21. Helga is driving guests back to their homes. After dropping Rhonda off the ride takes a detour; an unpredicted decision that helps Helga and Arnold to develop a deeper bond.
Chapter 22. After a petty fight with Claire a couple of weeks later, Arnold goes out for a solo walk and finds himself knocking at Helga's door. He needed a friend to talk to. The 'ear' he finds inside wasn't the one he was expecting.
Chapter 23. Sunday late afternoon and he's on a date with Claire. Things hadn't been smooth lately between them. A walk, dinner and a show was the plan until he receives a call from one of his bosses. His help is required. What would be Claire reaction to the disruption?
Chapter 24. While being at a party with one or Claire's friends from the voluntaries' gang, Arnold stumbles upon a startling discovery that involves Helga.
I thinks that's all for now. I DON'T OWN HEY ARNOLD!
See you on Sunday
P. 07/03/2015.