Author's Note: Just a quick note we have deleted chapter 6, making the story have one less chapter. As a result chapter 6 is now 7. 7 is now 8. 8 would be 9. 9 would 10 and 10 would be 11. Chapter 10 is new but an email was not sent because we changed chapter numbers. For that reason both chapters 10 AND 11 are new chapters so please go back and read 10 as well as this one. Thanks.

Chapter 11: Daily Life

Arnold Shortman was at his internship. He was in the worst mood possible after what Helga did last night. His mood was not improved as he quickly filed various folders and labelled things to got into their correct cabinets. It was hardly a challenging task that required a lot of mental capacity. Normally he wouldn't have minded it but now all he could think of was Helga with Sid. The thought of them together like that. Thankfully Helga had slipped out earlier than him so he didn't have to see her this morning. Though what could be said at this point?

Thank god for Lila. At least she was honest and nice. His mood was improving a little as he thought of the amazing date he was going to have with Lila tonight. He was barely focusing, on his filework and had made a few glaring errors when Gerald came over to see him.

"Hey Arnold Man! Come over here for the announcement."

There was a crowd of people around Gerald. Gerald had said yesterday he had a big announcement to make to the whole team. He stood in front of a large board with a white cloth covering it. All were waiting to see what his big announcement was. Arnold joined the crowd,

"Without further ado I am please to announce that we are the first newspaper in Hillwood to break the Rhonda Lloyd story! This will definitely get us new readership!"

Gerald unveiled the paper to every one. Of course it was on the front page. There was a picture of Rhonda, sprawled out on some floor, only in her bra and underwear with a bottle of pills in her hand. The headline read: Hillwood's Perfect Socialite: Secrets of an Imperfect Life.

Arnold was absolutely enraged. Gerald was tarnishing her image just to sell more papers. Where did he even get this picture from? Arnold had to set this straight. He couldn't just sit by and let Gerald do this to their friend.

"Gerald." Arnold yelled in a demanding tone. He pulled Gerald by the arm, forcefully into his office. Arnold slammed the door behind them.

"Geez man what's wrong with you?"

"You know what's wrong Gerald. You spreading lies about our friend, days after her funeral!"

"What I wrote isn't a lie! I would never publish anything without credibility behind it. I have my sources."

"What sources Gerald? Sources that didn't even know Rhonda!"

"No Arnold! My source was Eugene okay."

"Eugene! Why would he release these awful pictures? That was going to be his wife!"

"Because he didn't want everyone to think Rhonda was innocent and he was the monster. It's my job to get out the truth. Whether you believe it or not Rhonda had issues man! I interviewed Eugene and he told me all of the dirt in their relationship. I owe it to Hillwood to reveal both sides of the story. Yes, she died when she was so young and successful but she wasn't innocent Arnold."

"It's still not right. You aren't telling both sides of the story Rhonda is dead and she'll never be able to defend herself."

"Listen, the sooner you learn that every story isn't black and white the better. You won't make it in this business always writing about the good, simple stories. Everyone has secrets, even Rhonda Perfect Wellington Lloyd."

Arnold let out a frustrated sigh and then angrily pushed all of the stuff off Gerald's desk. Everything fell to the floor with a big thump. He was just so tired of hearing about Rhonda. He didn't know what to believe. He knew one thing, this wasn't right.

"Well maybe I don't want this position anymore!"

"You're just gonna quit on me! This is the best opportunity you've got. You want to spend your life mixing drinks?"

"No Gerald I'm not quitting on you. You already quit on yourself and at least people are honest about who they're friends are at the bar. I'm out of here."

Arnold stormed off and was not looking back. He needed to blow off some steam and was not ready to tell Helga he quit his paid internship, but at least he still had his regular job at the bar. She would still be beyond pissed at him and tensions were already high between them. He hoped Lila was available to talk right now because he needed her positive energy right now.

"Hello, Lila? Do you think we can talk?"

~/~

Helga was supposed to be writing warning labels on baby cough syrup but instead she was googling Rhonda, reading everything she could find. She needed some sort of lead. Suddenly all these blogs surfaced with the same image of Rhonda half naked with a pill bottle in her hand.

Criminey! What was going on?

She clicked on a link and the story came up. Following the picture was an interview with Eugene:

Interviewer: I'm sorry for your loss man. Rhonda was a talent that will truly be missed,

Eugene: Yes. I'm still not over the fact that she's gone Gerald. The funeral happened so soon. It's crazy, everyone thinks I'm the bad guy, that I killed her.

I: So you're confirming that you didn't kill Rhonda?

E: I could never do that to her. To be honest she had more of a chance of killing herself than I ever did.

I: What does that mean?

E: Rhonda was a model as we all know and a very popular one at that. When I first met her she was battling an eating disorder. She was always judged. Always had to be perfect. The pressure was sometimes too much for her. She needed an escape. Plus, she had trouble sleeping. She replaced starving herself with self-medicating. She took lots of sleeping pills which she claimed were for her insomnia. When she was home I could make sure she was taking the proper amount but when she went to do shows and shoots in other places she would take too much and be out for days. The photo I have given you was taken by her manager the day after she did her famous Vogue shoot.

I: So you're saying Rhonda Wellington Lloyd, your fiancee, was abusing prescription sleeping pills?

E: Yes, when she couldn't get them she would disappear for days. Sometimes she would make me claim I had trouble sleeping to get more from her doctor. Who knows what Rhonda did to get those pills? I believe the person that killed her could've been helping her.

I: Here's the story folks. Rhonda was not all innocent like we thought. This story coming directly from her would be husband's mouth.

What?! This couldn't have been true. Rhonda would never abuse drugs. This was insane! How dare Eugene throw Rhonda under the bus to save his own image! He was unbelievable. She couldn't read anymore without feeling the need to throw her computer out of the window.

Helga began typing the warning labels on her computer to have them ready for her boss. She had to do some sort of work today didn't she? It wasn't like the bills were going to stop coming and Arnold's little bar job was barely bringing enough money to pay the rent, let alone the water, electricity, food, and television bills. Thank God Gerald got him that paid internship. It saved them many months from not being able to have the lights on.

As Helga was typing her phone vibrated from receiving a text. It was from Sid.

I hope you have a great day Beautiful :) -S

No one had ever been this nice to her, except maybe Arnold. She found herself smiling at the words on the screen. Could she like Sid? What was she a little girl? Here she was getting happy over a text message from a guy… a guy who happened to make her libido rise higher than the Empire State Building. Sid was also useful. He could be a huge help to finding out what Rhonda was doing the night she died, since he was the lead investigator on the case.

Helga quickly texted back : Thanks. You too :).

This Sid thing was beginning to become a conflict for her but now with this stupid pictures surfacing of Rhonda passed out nearly in her birthday suit Helga definitely had more questions. Helga went back to typing her work, hoping to get home soon.

~/~

Sid was smiling at his phone gleefully. Meanwhile his partner, Detective Harold Berman was searching for fingerprints. They were at the Gates Hotel surveying the place where Rhonda took her last breath: Room 1214. It had been roped off with police tape for two weeks now. No one could get in or out of the room except the two investigators.

"Are you going to help or are you going to giggle at your phone like a girl?" Harold asked dusting off a glass. Sid quickly put his phone away in his pocket. This was the 6th time the two investigators had been at the scene of the crime. The room looked the same as the first time they walked in. The glass stray shards of glass from a wine glass on the floor, Rhonda's bed unmade, and the huge hole in the window that she fell out of, were all the same. Even Rhonda's pink nightie was still laid out on the dresser with candles on the nightstand and rose petals on the floor surrounding the bed.

"I don't see why we have to search for prints again. Nothing came up as a hit except Rhonda's. We even hit the door knobs, there's nothing left here Harold." Sid looked around the room again, surveying the area. Everything was literally exactly the same. Nothing out of the ordinary, except the glaringly obvious fact that Rhonda was planning for an intimate evening that night.

"Check the drawers or something Sidney." Harold ordered as he continued dusting the table for more fingerprints. Sid sighed, his feet lagging as he went to check the dressers yet another time. He swept through the drawers again; nothing but women's underwear and shirts in there like the last time. Sid let out an annoyed sighed and stepped back, scratching his beard.

"I'm starting to think we'll never get any clues here Harold. The drawers are clear."

"I'm sure we'll find something. New information about Rhonda resurfaces everyday. You read Gerald's story in today's paper."

"I saw it and I pitched it right in the trash. If she was so much of a pill popper why haven't we found a trace of benzodiazepine in this room?"

"Maybe she was here setting up a drop?"

"Clearly not! Who sets out candles and wine for their drug dealer Harold?! Jesus, don't tell me you believe what that criminal Eugene said! He's just throwing his dead wife's legacy under the bus to save his own ass."

Sid looked up once again. He noticed the stain on the wall. Dark stains on the wall were usually left by pieces of furniture pressed against the wall for long period of time. The dresser was about three centimeters pushed to the left of the shadow. Sid's eyes widened.

"Harold! You see this? The dresser someone moved it deliberately. The shadow on the wall is visible. We haven't moved this dresser have we?"

Harold came right over and the two men pushed the dresser aside. Sid kneeled down examining the carpet. Some of it was raised as if someone pulled it up and reupholstered it. Sid pulled out the pocket knife from his pocket and cut into the carpet so he could lift it up. There was something under it.

"Harold! Rhonda really did leave us a clue!" Sid picked up a thin orange, manila envelope. "Let's open this bad boy up and dust it for prints. We can log the new evidence back at the station."

Sid was finally happy a breakthrough in the Rhonda case had finally come along. Rhonda had given them a clue in plain sight. That meant she knew someone was after her, but the question was who? Sid would maybe soon find out.

Author's Note: Do you believe that Rhonda had a pill problem or do you think Eugene fabricated the story? Reviews always welcome. Thanks for reading!