Chapter 7 | Chemistry and Timing
Harold was beginning to feel depressed and concerned about his wife. It had been over a week since he saw her at Rhonda's party and although she called him every day like clockwork, their conversations were very short and concise. He even attempted to go visit her at her parents' house but whenever her mother answered the door, she would say that Patty was busy caring for her father and she would contact him when she was ready.
Harold's phone rang loudly and he struggled to reach over and pick it up.
"Hello?" Harold answered.
"Harold. It's me." A female's voice stated on the other end.
"Rhonda, I really can't be doing this. My wife-" Harold started to say before Rhonda interrupted him.
"It's not like that you buffoon. You need to get to Hillwood Memorial Hospital as soon as possible. Patty is in labor!" Rhonda informed him. Harold dropped his phone from shock. Was it really time already? He thought to himself. He thought that he would be prepared for when this moment arrived but suddenly his mind had a lot of questions and very few answers.
"Where the hell did my shoes go? Where is the baby's bag? Does Patty have her hospital bag? For the love of God where did I put the car seat?" Harold's mind raced.
Finally Harold arrived at Hillwood Memorial, very excited and nervous for the birth of his first child and happy to be by his wife's side. When he walked into the room, Patty was already prepped in a hospital gown, in the bed as nurses came in and out of the room to check Patty's vitals and to ensure that she her labor was progressing properly. He leaned in to give his wife a kiss on the forehead but she backed away. He tried to shake the action off as nerves.
"What are you doing here?" Harold harshly whispered to Rhonda.
"Patty and I are friends remember?" Rhonda responded, "Or at least we were."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Harold asked. Patty attempted to keep her breathing controlled despite the increase in labor pains and contractions as the time passed.
"Please—can we do this later!?" Patty pleaded before howling out in pain, "We have a baby to bring into the world."
After four hours of labor and twenty minutes of pushing, Patty gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. 10 lbs, 2 oz and 25 inches long! A tear fell from Harold's eyes when he held his firstborn son for the very first time. After some bonding time, the nurse came back into the room with a clipboard.
"Congratulations! Have we decided on a name yet?" The nurse asked the new parents.
"Chase Abraham Smith." Patty responded, holding the sleeping baby in her arms. The nurse jotted down the name before leaving the room.
"I thought we had agreed to hyphenate the baby's last name?" Harold responded, "I mean, if the baby is only going to get one of our last names, shouldn't it be our last name?"
"We were going to hyphenate his last name but we had reached that agreement before I saw you having sex with my best friend." Patty responded with the calmest voice she could muster. "Listen, our son was just born. I'm tired and I don't want to argue."
"I don't want to argue either Patty—I'm just—as little taken aback." Harold admitted.
"I just want you to know that I would never keep Chase away from you. You're his father and he's going to need you in his life." Patty stated firmly.
"Keep him away from me? What do you mean? It was a mistake—we can work this out." Harold pleaded but his words fell on deaf ears. He sighed in frustration. "You're confusing me!"
"I'm saying that I want a divorce." Patty responded before turning her attention to her newborn baby. Chase was her number one priority now and she wasn't going to let anyone or anything change that.
Arnold was seated across the table from Lila Sawyer, her auburn hair was curled into perfect loose ringlets, her emerald green maxi dress was low-cut, revealing a sprinkle of freckles across her chest and her hazel-green eyes were focused intently on him.
"So what made you come back to San Lorenzo, I bet it's ever so beautiful there." Lila asked, reaching across the table and holding the top of Arnold's hand.
"Oh you would love it there Lila, there's nothing like walking out your front door and seeing the sunrise behind an active volcano." Arnold reminisced, "With that being said, I mostly came back for college. Plus, it's very hot and humid in Central America, that's one thing that I won't miss."
"And you didn't leave anyone, how should I say it, special behind?" Lila asked, fluttering her deep hazel-green eyes in Arnold's direction.
"Are you asking if I have a girlfriend?" Arnold laughed, "No. Is there anyone that I should be worried about? There's been a lot of surprises around Hillwood as of late, should I be worried about your roommate?"
Arnold joked raising his eyebrow slightly.
"Oh heavens no!" Lila responded, "I mean, if I'm being perfectly honest with you—I did just get out of a relationship recently."
"Let me guess, my cousin Arnie?" Arnold joked, trying to lighten the mood. Lila let out a polite giggle. "I'm kidding—but seriously, any man would be lucky to have you."
"Oh Arnold, you've always been a perfect gentleman." Lila swooned.
Arnold and Lila walked through the park, their hands intertwined as they allowed the summer breeze to gently caress their faces and the moon and stars to illuminate their walk.
"I had ever so much fun tonight Arnold." Lila stated, fawning over Arnold.
"I had a really great time too Lila." Arnold responded as Lila leaned in for a kiss. Arnold stepped back slightly.
"What's wrong?" Lila questioned.
"I had a really fun time tonight, more fun than I've had in a very long time—I don't want to hurt your feelings but I don't want to lead you on either." Arnold admitted, causing Lila's face to fall.
"I'm ever so certain that this sounds familiar." Lila responded in a sad melodic tone of voice. "I'm just not that 'oh so special someone' you've been looking for, am I?"
"I'm afraid not—I'm really sorry." Arnold responded.
"Don't be sorry." Lila remarked, "If life has taught me anything, it's that you need both chemistry and timing—and since elementary school the two of us just haven't been able to get on the same page with either one." Lila laughed sadly.
Lila shifted uncomfortably side to side before leaning in and giving Arnold a kiss on the cheek. She firmly grasped his forearm.
"Good night, maybe we can have lunch sometime—as friends." Lila quipped, giving him a wistful smile before heading up the stairs of her apartment building.
Once again, Arnold was left alone in the night with his thoughts, and a certain someone just couldn't stop popping into them.
"Pataki, there will be time for daydreaming when you're running your own publishing company, but right now you're on my clock so I'm going to need for you to step your game up!" Helga's supervisor, Brian Shipley barged into her cubicle and bellowed, "I need those emails responded to by noon. Also, we've got an author coming in to pitch a new book idea and I think it would be an excellent idea for you to be there and take notes. The memo should be on your desk."
"Alright, I've got it Mr. Shipley. Right on it." Helga forced a smile and responded through gritted teeth. She was extremely thankful when lunch time rolled around and she was able to get out of the office for some fresh air. Once outside she pulled her phone out of her purse.
Football Head: Coffee just isn't the same without you. (10:32 am)
Football Head: Can I buy you a cup after work as a peace offering? (10:33 am)
Helga was torn between wanting to stay mad and forgiving him. If she was perfectly honest with herself, she really did miss him a lot the past two days.
Thoughts of Helga kept popping back and forth into Arnold's head. He knew that she was angry, but he was hoping that he would be better to talk things out with her in person. Against his best instincts he texted Helga trying his best to be patient as he waited for a response. Finally he heard a text tone alerting him to a new message.
Helga Pataki: What's in it for me? (12:11 pm)
Football Head: I already told you, coffee. (12:12 pm)
Helga Pataki: Hmmmmm (12:13 pm)
Football Head: I'll throw in a Danish. (12:15 pm)
Helga rolled her eyes as she took another bite of her sandwich before responding again.
Helga Pataki: Fine, I'll meet you after work. 5:45, don't be late bucko. (12:20 pm)
"You know, you asked me to have lunch with you and you're ignoring me—no wonder you're having girl problems." Gerald chuckled at his friend who had been completely enveloped in his phone for the past ten minutes, he'd barely looked up to acknowledge him.
"Sorry, things have been kind of tense between me and Helga but she said agreed to meet me for coffee." Arnold admitted.
"Seriously?" Gerald asked, raising an eyebrow, "You know Helga's got a boyfriend right."
"Gerald, it's not like that." Arnold responded, his voice wavering slightly.
"You're a bold kid Arnold, a bold kid, just don't do anything I wouldn't do." Gerald offered as a piece of advice.
Helga walked into the coffee shop at 6:00 pm, practically running from her office to the coffee shop. When she walked through the door, she half expected Arnold to have left in frustration already. The small café was surprisingly packed for a Monday evening. She looked around the tables and didn't see Arnold at first glance. Finally, she spotted him sitting comfortably on the couch near the back window—two drinks in front of him.
"I'm sorry that I'm late—my meeting ran long!" Helga responded breathlessly, her long blonde hair was slightly disheveled and she was carrying her heels in her hands.
"Don't apologize, it's alright." Arnold reassured her. "I ordered your coffee already, medium white mocha with a pump of raspberry, extra whipped cream?"
Helga was taken aback at the fact that he memorized her drink order.
"Yeah, yeah—thanks, I guess." Helga responded, trying to carry on the facade of being angry. "So, what, Lila doesn't like coffee or something?"
"Helga—can we not do this?" Arnold asked, "We're adults, can we act like it?"
Helga rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee, there was a short lull of silence.
"I just wanted to know how your date with Lila went, I mean—we're friends aren't we? That's what friends are supposed to do." Helga remarked with a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"Lila and I have a lot in common but both the timing and the chemistry is off." Arnold stated honestly, looking into Helga's bright blue eyes.
"Alright and what's that supposed to mean?" Helga responded.
"Just that sometimes the chemistry can be right—but the timing can be all wrong." Arnold calmly remarked shooting a glare towards Helga before taking a sip of coffee.
"Oh, you mean like if someone pours out their ten year old heart, guts and soul and confesses their true feelings just to have them wave it off as it being in the heat of the moment?" Helga responded sarcastically.
"No, I mean more like when someone comes all the way to San Lorenzo with you to find your parents and you kiss them but you can't quite put into words how you feel because—hey, you're eleven, and they decide that they don't want to hear it anymore." Arnold remarked bitterly. Helga placed her coffee cup on the coffee table directly in front of their couch and looked Arnold dead in his green eyes.
"Or perhaps, just maybe you mean like when the boy you really kisses you in the middle of a foreign land and tells you, yeah he likes you—but oh yeah, he's staying there and doesn't know when he'll be back." Helga angrily replied. Arnold leaned in towards Helga, he was close enough that he could catch a whiff of her coconut shampoo.
"I'm pretty sure I mean that when you're finally starting to get along and have some semblance of a 'relationship' they just stop writing you out of the blue." Arnold snapped. Helga opened her mouth to respond but Arnold continued to speak before she had the chance to.
"I can't do this anymore." Arnold whispered, their faces were nearly nose to nose, he reached out his hand and pulled her close. His lips pursed, he leaned in to kiss Helga but she moved away slowly.
"I—I have a boyfriend." Helga struggled to get the words out. Arnold sighed heavily throwing his body against the back of the couch placing his hands on his face.
"See what I mean—chemistry but the timing fucking sucks." Arnold responded.