Chapter 17: Choices

On the other side of town…

A beautiful woman had just arrived home from her day at work. She was an assistant to the top lawyer at Pembroke's and things were going well for her. As she put the key in the door she let her hair down from its bun and shook it out. It felt good to let her hair down after a long day.

The darkness from her home wasn't out of the ordinary. She often spent long nights at the office with her boss so she was used to getting home late. What was unusual was that her German Sheppard, Bess didn't meet her at the door like she usually did to greet her. She threw off her heels next to the door and hit the lights. Something didn't feel right.

"Beeeeeeess! Momma's home," she yelled as she hit the corner and turned into the kitchen. She eyed her water bowl and saw it was still full. She hadn't left her outside again had she?

"Bess," he called again starting to get worried. She ran upstairs to the bedroom. Sometimes she liked to curled up under her bed and sleep there. When she arrived in her bedroom she was in for a rude awakening.

The bedroom door was slightly ajar, which was strange because she always closed it. When she pressed the door open she was met with a gruesome scene. There was blood smeared on the walls and a pool of blood right by the foot of her bed. She was shaking as she followed the blood trail into her adjoining bathroom. There was her beloved dog Bess dead in her white bathtub.

"OH MY GOD!"

Her neck had been snapped and sliced open so she died in absolute agony. The woman kneeled over the bathtub with tears running down her face. Blood was now smeared on her dainty hands.

"Hello Patricia!" A deep voice came from behind her and she jumped.

"Did you do this? Oh my god! Who are you? What do you want?"

"You work for Frankie now? We've been waiting here all day for you. Your dog wasn't very welcoming unfortunately."

"I-I don't know anything. I just work at the firm with him. You already took my dog. Please just leave!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry. We can't do that. We know you discovered some questionable files. You know far too much and now you have to go!"

The figure descended upon the defenseless girl. It was all over before she could even let out a scream.

~/~

They ended up heading back to his apartment. Helga didn't want to go home just yet and considering her car was just towed she wouldn't be able to drive herself home anyway. As soon as Sid opened the door helga shoved passed him and plopped down on his couch.

"Well hello to you too Helga. How was your day Sid? Oh THANKS for asking Helga! My day was long and dangerous like usual." Sid joked, joining her on the couch. He was such an ass. Helga only rolled her eyes at that statement.

"You have any booze Sid? I need a stiff one."

"You know as a cop I can't give alcohol to a minor." Sid joked again flashing her a smile.

"Jesus Sid I am 24 years old! I'm a big girl and can handle my liquor!"

Sid stood up and headed to the kitchen. He pulled the bottle of Fireball Whiskey from the freezer and filled two glasses with ice.

"I was joking. I'm well aware of your age Helga. You showed me your license when I pulled you over remember," Sid filled up one glass to the brim with whiskey and stopped before he filled the second, "Do you want a chaser with this whiskey? It tastes good with apple juice like apple pie."

"Just fill it with whiskey. What do you think? I am some little sissy girl? I am Helga G. Pataki and I can out drink even you Officer Sid!"

"As fun as getting plastered with you would be that's not the best idea," Sid walked back over to the couch and handed her the drink, "What's going on though? You rushed over here. Is there a problem? Did someone try to hurt you?"

Helga took a gulp of her drink. The burn felt satisfying as the cold liquid went down her throat. She needed this, after the long week she's had. Helga had never been much of drink due to her mother's alcoholism but in college she drank quite a lot due to stress. She builded up quite a tolerance in college and was surprised after all this time she wasn't tipsy from just the one glass.

"Arnold's being a total jerk. He quit his job without telling me. Now I have to pick up the slack for the rent. He's so stuck up Lila's perfect ass he won't believe anything I try to tell him. I want to move out. That'll teach him to skip out on the rent ever again."

"Helga, come on you don't have to be all tough with me. He hurt you. Its okay if you open up." Sid put his glass down and wrapped his arm around Helga's shoulder. He allowed her to rest her head on own shoulder. Helga immediately felt at ease.

"I'm tired of arguing with him, Sid. I can't believe he's choosing her when we've been friends since we were kids. He thinks I'm crazy. Hell, maybe he's right."

"You aren't crazy. He's the crazy one." Sid consoled,bringing her head to his chest. Helga's mouth went dry. She reached for her drink and took another large gulp.

"Is Harold going to be okay? You guys are still going to be partners, right? I remember when you, him, and Stinky would get in all kinds of trouble at PS 118." She didn't add outloud that she thought they were all idiots, especially Harold.

"He'll be fine. He's still fat though," Sid said.

Helga made a confused face. Harold was twice the size of Sid in muscle mass alone. Fat was nowhere in sight for him. At least that's what he looked like on her television screen. The camera did tend to add weight to a person though. Maybe Harold wasn't as bulky as he looked.

"He may be buff and built like a bodybuilder on the outside but he's still the same fat, insecure kid. He has a stash of Mr. Fudgy Bars in the cruiser and by stash I mean the cases you buy from a bulk store. I can't complain though. One thing that HAS changed is his loyalty. He's not the same backstabbing bully he used to be. I can honestly say, I trust Harold with my life when we're on duty."

"It's good to have people you can trust. I can't even trust my own roommate."

"You can always trust me." He whispered into her ear. There eyes locked in a moment of silence. Sid tilted Helga's head up and crashed his lips onto hers. At first Helga was tense, but Sid's hands on her back made her relax. Their lips moved against each others in desperation and in need.

Criminy, Sid was kissing her. Sid, the Kid was kissing her and she didn't hate it. Somehow though it still felt weird, like kissing an old friend and not knowing that it was them at the time.

Sid pulled back and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry if that was too forward. We, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Right now she wasn't sure what she wanted, but she took a chance and kissed Sid once again and was able forgot about everything. She became lost in his arms as nothing else began to matter, not Arnold, not Phoebe, not even Rhonda's murder. All that mattered was what felt right in the moment and for now that was Sid.

Author's Note: Things are heating up. Any thoughts?