A month later and Helga still hadn't heard back from Arnold. She couldn't help but feel a bit hurt, and said as much in a letter and email to him. She claimed it was going to be the last letter and email she wrote to him. She poured all her anger and frustration out into them.

Though it wasn't all his fault.

Olga and Steven had arranged for a tutor. She couldn't understand it!

"The closest school is so far away, Helga, it just makes more sense for you to be schooled here," Olga claimed. Steven nodded. Helga had never realised just how much she actually liked having other teenagers around her.

Then there was the silent battle going on between her sister and Steven. She would sometimes overhear their heated, whispered arguments. Olga appeared to be holding out on him. He made accusations, she fired back and there would be doors slammed. Helga acted as though she didn't notice, but she did. Steven would leave early to go to work, and often came back late. Helga wondered if he were having an affair.

That was proven wrong when one night one of his workers phoned looking for Olga. Olga had gone to one of her friends places. Helga had had to go find Colin, the driver, and accompanied him for the drive to pick Steven up. Apparently he had hosted some overseas investors, and after they left had a celebratory drink. And then another and another. One of his workers had found him almost passed out drunk on the floor of his office. Colin shook his head.

"Third time this week," he'd muttered then went in to get Steven. Helga stepped out of the car and stretched her legs. The manor had become a prison. A luxurious one for sure, but one nonetheless. It was so isolated. Not long afterwards, Colin came out carrying an almost unconscious Steven. Colin motioned for her to hop back in the car, and she did after the opening the door for Colin. "Thank you."

Helga just nodded and went around to the other side and got in. Steven looked at her confused for a moment, before seemingly to recognize her.

'Helga! What are you doing here? Where's that wretched sister of yours?" he asked, before falling sideways, his head landing in her lap.

"She's with friends tonight," Helga told him, looking down at him. He just nodded with his eyes closed. A few minutes later she realized he was asleep as soft snores came from him. She looked up to see Colin looking back at them. Helga shrugged and Colin shook his head. "I thought he was having an affair."

"Oh he is, with the bottle," Colin told her, shaking his head. "He's too young to be doing this to himself."

Something else Helga had noticed so far during her stay was that the servants didn't seem to like Olga much, nor she them. Then again, Helga herself hadn't been too impressed. Olga spent a lot of time away from the home. She always had a girl weekend to go away on, sometimes overseas. She could sometimes be gone for a week at a time. In the interim she was left alone with Steven. They were so different and had nothing to really talk about so dinners were always awkward after they had finished telling each other what had happened in their day. Helga went nowhere and saw no one and he just went to and from work. They had already gotten to know each other well: favourite movies, sports, books. In fact books and sports were probably the only thing they really had in common. Steven was surprised at how many and what she had read. Sometimes they got into in depth discussions about a book they read. They had agreed to read the same book at the same time and talk about it.

That was how bored they both were.

The drive home was silent, and once they arrived Helga offered to help Colin take Steven inside. She remembered having to help her dad do this on occasion with her mother. Colin looked surprised when she managed to hold a fair share of Steven's weight.

"Years of playing baseball," Helga explained.

"Oh, Steven likes baseball," Colin told him. "He used to play in high school. Had a lot of promise, but with his parents deaths . . ."

Colin didn't need to finish explaining. Obviously Steven had put his dreams and aspirations on hold to take over the family business. For the first time since she had met him, she felt genuinely sorry for him.

. . . . . .

Helga smirked at him when he shuffled into the dining room the next morning.

"How's the head?" she asked him. He shot her a glare and dropped into a chair. "Not good then?"

"Just coffee this morning, Cally please," he said to the maid. She nodded and left to get him a coffee. Helga was still getting used to having someone run around after her. She had always had to do things herself. Steven was very used to it. Looking at him now she realised she actually couldn't recall a moment of ever seeing him in the kitchen.

"Do you even know how to feed yourself? Like, if Cally died tomorrow, would you survive?" she asked.

"Of course, I have you here," he shot back at her, smiling. Helga scoffed and went back to eating her toast.

"I feel sorry for you already," she told him.

"Your cooking can't be that bad," he said, smiling to Cally as she placed his coffee in front of him.

"Oh, I can cook," she said. "I just don't like the clean up."

Silence fell between them as he drank his coffee and she finished her toast.

"So, what are you up to on this lovely Saturday morning?" he asked suddenly.

Helga thought for a moment. "Swimming I guess, then maybe read and listen to music. Not much else to do around here."

"How about you and I take a trip into the city and see a movie?" he suggested.

Helga perked up instantly. "Really?"

"Yeah, I need to take some time off, but I don't want to hang around the house. And I figured you must be getting bored by now," he said, downing the last of his coffee. "Go get changed and I'll meet you at the car in thirty."

Helga jumped out of her chir and rushed up the stairs and to her room. Finally! She was getting away from here. Oh god, maybe she would see cute boys! Oh, hell, right now she'd settle for anyone. Even Sasqutch! She threw on her best pair of jeans, ran a brush quickly through her hair, grabbed a nice shirt, put on some lip gloss and fluffed out her hair. Her hair was her one vanity. It had been coveted by Rhonda, whose black hair only had depth with highlights. She slipped her shoes on and took off down the stairs, seeing that Steven was already waiting for her by the car.

"Looking good, Helga," he said, laughing as she dove into the car. He got in beside her. Today he was driving. Helga had never been in his personal car. It was a Jag. She settled in against the leather seats, looking over at him with a big smile. "Ready?"

"You betcha!" she said, looking ahead of her. He started the car up and they roared off. He was driving a little faster than nessersary she was sure, and she squealed when the top went down. Steven just laughed and drove a little faster. 'Olga would throw a fit!' Helga thought to herself smiling. "We need music!"

He looked over at her and smiled and turned on the music. Rock music came blasting through the speakers, and Steven laughed at the look of surprise on Helga's face. After she got over the shock she started to sing along, and laughed as she realised Steven was too.

This was already becoming the best day of her life since her parents had died!

. . .

They spent the whole day out. Steven had taken Helga into the city, and they had window shopped, eaten lunch, seen a movie, played some arcade games, and ate dinner at a fancy Italian resturant. She had been able to completely forget everything that had happened, and just relax and enjoy herself.

But when they got home, reality kicked in. Hard.

"Where were you two all day?" Olga's voice boomed down from the top of the stairs.

Both Steven and Helga looked up to see her standing there, glaring down at them. Helga frowned. Until recently she had never known her sister could frown.

"Helga and I took a drive into the city, ate out and saw a movie," Steven told her, turning to take Helga's coat from her. Fall was giving way to winter, and Helga hadn't grabbed a coat. Steven had bought her one while they were out. From a Preda store. Oh, Rhonda would have been so jealous!

"Well, why didn't you let me know you had that planned?" Olga demanded, coming down the stairs. "I would have loved to come. It could have been a family outing."

"You weren't home," Steven pointed out. "And it was spontanious. We didn't plan it at all."

Olga looked between the two of them, and Helga could see the doubt playing on Olga's face.

"Next time, we will properly plan something out," Steven reassured her.

"I have a headache anyway," Olga snapped, rubbing her temples and walking into the kitchen.

"Then go see a doctor," Steven told her. "These headaches have been going on long enough," he said, following her.

Helga stood, watching them go. It had been such a nice day, Steven had focused solely on her, no mention of her sister at all. But now that Olga was back in the frame, as per usual, Helga was forgotten. She sighed, taking off her shoes and making her way upstairs. She was going to have a nice hot bubble bath to warm up, then go to bed.

. . .

Helga tossed and turned but just couldn't sleep. Finally, she gave up and decided to wander down to the indoor pool and have a swim. She was full of nervous energy. She gathered her things, and made her way down through the huge house. It had a creepy, eerie feel about it. There was lighting in the hallway, which Helga thought was a bit odd. You wouldn't really need to leave your room. You had everything you needed, including a lounge and bathroom. Hell, Helga could live in her room! She finally made it to the indoor pool and quickly put on her swimsuit. She made a face. No matter how much she ate, she could just never gain a few pounds. Rhonda couldn't understand why Helga would want to, but Helga did. She looked down and could see her hip bones, and if she lifted her arms, you could easily see her ribs. Her breasts were not large, not even a D cup sadly. She would look perfect on a fashion runway, but that's not what she wanted. Sighing, knowing there wasn't much she could do to change the way she was, she stepped out, and dived into the warm water of the pool.

She had done about four laps when she heard someone else enter the water. She continued to the other end, and once there, looked behind her to see Steven making his way toward her. When he reached the end she was at, he looked at her and smiled.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked.

'He's gorgeous!' Helga thoguht. She looked away, fearing he could read her random thought. 'Stop it, Helga!'

"I couldn't sleep," she told him. "So I figured I should do something with my time."

"Fair enough," he said, looking at the other end of the pool, then suddenly taking off. Helga stayed where she was for a moment, admiring his physique as he moved through the water, before taking off herself. Now she had something else for her brain to think about. Her brother-in-law! What the hell was wrong with her? He was so much older than her, but so goddamn hot! Now she was getting angry with herself, and she put that into her strokes. Finally after a few more laps her frustration got the better of her, and she got out.

"Your finished?" she heard Steven call out.

"Yeah, I'm done," she called back. She wrapped her towel around her, not wanting him to see her scrawny frame. She was sporty, athletic and strong. But just couldn't get that shapely womanly figure. She must have just been standing there, dwelling on it, because the next thing she knew, he was right beside her.

"You alright?" he asked, touching her bare shoulder. It felt like electricity had come out of his fingers where he touched her, and travelled all over her body.

'Oh, shit!' she realized. Only one other person had been able to do that to her, and that was Arnold. And she had been in love with Arnold, which meant . . .

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," she said, taking off as fast as she could.

She just had to get away from him!