Chapter 8: Attraction and Frustration

Arnold sat around their apartment, feeling increasingly frustrated.

It was past 12 o'clock and Helga still hadn't come back. He had tried calling her but Helga had turned off her phone so she was completely unreachable. He had eaten cold pizza from the other night and tried to distract himself with some watching television, but his thoughts kept drifting to his absent roommate.

When his cell phone finally rang, he felt a wave of relief rushing through him.

He hoped it was Helga calling to tell him not to worry or some other snarky comment that let him know she was fine without actually forgiving him after their fights the past two nights. Not that he cared about their fight anymore, he just wanted to know Helga was safe.

"Hello?" Arnold said urgently.

"Hi Arnold," a sweet girlish voice replied on the other line.

For the first time in his life, he felt disappointed it was Lila, not Helga.

"Oh Hey Lila."

Lila laughed. She had a light, tinkling laugh, not at all like Helga's huskier, brusque laugh.

"Did you forget me from last night?" Lila giggled.

Arnold scratched at his neck, feeling guilty. "Of course not Lila. Actually I meant to call you to apologize. I'm sorry about what happened at the funeral, we both drank too much and-"

Lila interrupted him, "You don't need to apologize Arnold. I have no regrets."

"You don't?" He knew he felt a bit embarrassed they'd used Rhonda's funeral as an excuse to get smackered up.

Lila giggled, "No, of course not. I know it was a bit naughty to kiss you at Rhonda's funeral but I've just been ever so regretful since I turned you down years ago. When I saw you again, I realized what an awful mistake I had made."

"Yeah, we all make mistakes. Sometimes I wonder how things could've turned out differently..." For some reason he thought of Helga, whom he had ignored in high school.

"Well you know what they say, there's no time like the present!"

Arnold smiled sadly, "I guess you're right."

He changed the topic. "Hey can you believe what happened today downtown?"

"I know! I can't believe something like this could happen in Hillwood! I had to shut my eyes when I heard they'd taken hostages. I was so scared."

"Helga's upset about it too," Arnold frowned as he stared at their empty apartment, "Of course she doesn't handle these things as well as you do."

Lila's tone changed, "Oh?"

"Helga's still taking Rhonda's death pretty bad, you could say she's grieving."

"I'm so sorry Arnold. I heard what happened to Helga at the funeral, they say Helga got thrown out for putting on Rhonda's clothes! The poor girl sounds obsessed with Rhonda, almost like she wants to become Rhonda! I've been ever so worried," Lila said with almost motherly concern for Helga and Arnold was genuinely impressed. Arnold felt as if someone finally understood him.

"I've been worried about Helga too! And you're right, Helga has become obsessed by Rhonda ever since her murder. Do you know what she told me today?"

"What?"

"She accused me of having an affair with Rhonda!"

"I could never believe that of you Arnold! You are much too much of a gentleman to have affairs, let alone with Rhonda, Rhonda only went out with millionaires!" Lila's voice changed tones, "What else did Helga say about Rhonda?"

"I can't remember, but it was very odd. Truthfully, I didn't understand what Helga was going on about," Arnold sighed in frustration.

'Maybe I should have a girl to girl chat with Helga?"

"You're sweet, Lila but I'm not sure Helga would appreciate that. Helga doesn't take sympathy too well, she always wants to appear strong..." he stared at Helga's pink coat which hung by the door.

"Well, if Helga talks anymore about Rhonda, tell me and we can discuss it. I know several of Hillwood's best psychiatrists that could help her!"

"That's a good idea. Maybe we can meet and talk about it."

Lila laughed, "Why don't you come over right now?"

"Right now?" he stammered.

"Yeah, my place. I live downtown," Lila said, "I'll give you directions."

Arnold stared very hard at the clock which was quickly approaching midnight then at Helga's pink coat by the door. He sighed heavily in frustration, "I'm sorry Lila, I wish I could but I have this thing with Helga..."

Any other woman would've gotten jealous at the mention of another woman but Lila could not be more understanding.

"Don't worry about it. I know you and Helga are roommates. If you can't make it tonight, I can see you tomorrow."

"Great. You're the best Lila."

"Goodnight Arnold."

~/~

'What the hell am I doing?' Helga thought as she brushed her hair back.

Helga stood outside the door to Sid's third storey condo mentally debating with herself whether to knock at his door or leave. Her fingers dug nervously at the strap of her purse.'Criminey what am I really doing here? It's 9pm, after hours, alone at his home. Sure I'm not done up like a tart, in fact I'm still wearing my work clothes. Still he could get the wrong idea...'

Too late.

Sid opened the door without his shirt on. Helga tried her best not to stare but failed catastrophically. Sid wasn't lying when he said he worked out five times a week.

Sid grinned from ear to ear, "Can't get enough of me, can you?"

Suddenly all the worry she previously had for Sid's safety during the hostage situation disappeared. She punched him in the arm.

"Yeah right, get a grip! You know I'm only here because I want to discuss the case, OFFICER Sid!" she scowled though she knew her face was red.

"Sid or Sidney is fine," he corrected with a smile.

Helga quirked her eyebrows, not sure what he was playing at, "What happened to Officer Sid?"

"I'm off duty so it's just Sid you're talking to now," he winked at her, "so I can be as unprofessional as you want me to be."

Helga's face was as red as a tomato by now but she managed to splutter,"Ugh! Spare me Sid before you make me sick! And why aren't you wearing a shirt, is this how you spend your time unprofessionally?! Because I'm pretty sure you can't even get into a decent restaurant without a shirt on!"

Sid smirked, clearly enjoying every second of her obvious discomfort; he seemed to be an expert at making her blush.

"I didn't actually take my shirt off to impress you Helga. I was tending to a wound on my back before you arrived." He turned his back so she could see the large cut behind his shoulder blade.

A shred of the concern she felt for Sid earlier returned, "I thought you said you weren't hurt!"

"It's just a scrape. My fault really. While we we're dodging to get into the Pembroke building, I scraped my shoulder against cement."

Helga bit nervously at her lip, "What happened today? Why were people being held hostage at Phoebe's law firm?"

Sid sighed, "Why don't you come in and have a drink?"

"I'd rather not!"

"Well, I've had a long day, so excuse me if I need a shot of whiskey."

He went back into his house and she reluctantly followed him in. She was surprised to find he was neither a slob or had bad taste. Sid's condo was clean and sophisticated with large glass windows that overlooked the city.

"Hey, this place isn't too shabby," she said as she eyed the expensive leather furniture and pool table. It was a million times better than the apartment she and Arnold had.

"I try," he said from the other room, "When you come from nothing, you learn to appreciate simple comforts. Still it's not much."

"No. It's nice Sid, really. You've done well for yourself."

"Thanks."

She was relieved when he came back with his shirt on. He grabbed a pitcher of sangria off the counter and two cups.

"Are you sure you don't want a drink, Helga?"

Helga eyed the pitcher thirstily.

"Uh why not!" She was already at his home, late at night, and had seen him without his shirt on. How much awkward could it get? She needed something to calm her nerves.

"Thanks, this is good," she said as she took a big gulp and wiped her mouth, "So why were people being held hostage today?"

Sid laughed, "You don't waste any time to do you?"

"I'm just trying to make sense of this mess! First Rhonda, now hostages downtown, I feel like our whole city has gone crazy!"

He shook his head sadly, "What you're seeing is just the underbelly. Hillwood has always been this crazy but most of the shit that happens, happens behind closed doors."

"But I don't get it?! Why are these things happening?"

"Two words, Helga. Two words and then that's all I'm saying, so you can forget about asking me about Frankie or the hostages or anything more."

"What are those two words, Sid?" she asked impatiently.

"The Mafia."

The mafia? Did this mean Rhonda was killed by the mafia or that Frankie was a mafioso? A million questions swam through in her head.

"You have to tell me everything!"

Sid's face was completely humourless, almost angry, "No. Helga, I don't. And I'm not going to, you're getting way ahead of yourself. You're not a detective."

She was furious Sid was treating her with kid gloves and refusing to tell her anything important, "I need to know what's going on Sid! Rhonda was my friend," she said with more emotion than she intended, "and Phoebe works at the place that was held at gunpoint today!"

"She wasn't there."

"So she could've been there!" Helga spat, "Who's next, me?!"

"It will be you if you continue nosing around, dammit! Do you have any idea how dangerous the mafia is Helga? A guy can get killed for asking questions. You need to forget about Rhonda's murder and let me and Harold do our jobs."

"I can't do that!" Helga shouted, her voice threatening to break with emotion.

Sid realized how upset she was. He paused for a moment to let Helga collect herself. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and full of understanding as if she could tell him anything and he'd listen to her, "What's going on Helga? You seem upset."

"I'm not upset! I'm just angry!"

"Ok, so why are you angry?"

"Rhonda was murdered, what else would I be angry about?!" she shouted.

He stared her right in the eye. "Is that really true or are you focusing on Rhonda's murder to distract you from what's going on in your own life?"

"What are you a shrink now?!"

"No, I'm just concerned," he paused, "How's everything with you and the little man?"

"Arnold?"

He nodded.

"Arnold and I are NOT a couple!"

Sid smirked, as if pleased by her response, "You've said that before. Somehow I didn't believe you til now."

Helga was curious. "Why didn't you believe me until now?"

Sid smirk widened and Helga suddenly wished she hadn't asked.

"Just the way you stared at me when I didn't have my shirt on, it was like you've never seen a male body before."

Helga felt her face go red. She could die from embarrassment.

Abruptly she stood up and grabbed her purse off the table, she'd had just enough of Sid's teasing as she could take for an evening.

"I better go, Off- Sid, it's getting late!" she fumbled with her phone, pretending to be busy.

He stood up as well. "Sorry I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"You didn't embarrass me, Sidney!" she stamped her foot on the ground.

"Then why are you leaving?"

"Because I have to go! It's not like you've told me anything useful anyways and it's past 12 for pity's sake! I have to work tomorrow! Not everything is fun and games and sangria!" she tried to sound as angry and no-nonsense as possible, like a school teacher scolding someone. Which was rather ridiculous because she was red in the face.

Sid raised his hands in defense, "Fine, calm down. I'll walk you out. It's getting late for me too."

They walked downstairs together to her car and Sid chattered away about random topics like baseball. Thankfully he didn't try to tease her again. Because she didn't know how much more she could take.

"Goodbye Sid!" she said quickly as she got in her car and started the ignition.

"Goodnight Helga," he leaned against her car window, "You want to talk to me about anything, don't hesitate to call. Now stay safe and forget about the case, okay?"

She nodded her head just to get away from him. Though she had no absolutely no intention of stopping.

Author's Note: Uh oh looks like Arnold has competition and if he's not careful Helga could be stolen from him. He's too busy with Lila to notice anyway. You guys like Sid? He's such a great guy right? Anyone already rooting for Sid and Helga?