The characters do not belong to me. They belong to Craig B. and I borrow them from time to time.
Song lyrics are from "Just Missed the Train" by Kelly Clarkson. If you don't like the song...that's your issue.
Missed
Save it for a rainy day,
Oh can't you see me; I'm such a mess,
Trying to find my way.The room was dark, the only light coming from the streetlight just outside her room.
She sat on the floor across the room, her attention not wavering from the sleeping figure in her bed. She didn't move, for fear that she would wake him and then.
Then the questions would start.
Instead she sat there, in near darkness, her mind going back to several hours before when this started.
Crying in the park, it was getting dark,
I looked up, you were my sky.
She stood at the small bridge in the park, staring off into the lake reminiscing over her lost childhood. She'd just returned from college to attend her father's funeral. There were mostly clients, business partners, and people who wanted to be seen as an associate to the hometown mogul that was Robert Pataki. Then of course, there was her mother who sat through the whole funeral as if in a trance and her older sister who used the time to wail loudly and lament about how absolutely awful her life was.
She stood there, the silent rock to the Pataki family, or at least that's how the attendees saw it. It was she they went to talk with about her father after offering their condolences to the silent widow. She smiled, and shook hands, and took business cards. Everything her father would have done. How she had become something she'd fought so hard against in her childhood, she had never found out, but it seemed that at least in Hillwood she had become the female version of Robert Pataki. The go to woman, the one to discuss the more serious aspects of his businesses with.
For days afterward, while her mother and sister lay in bed and mourned, she took care of her father's affairs...all of them. She paid off the mistresses, she listened to the will and discussed with the lawyers about a trust fund for her mother and sister so they wouldn't lack for anything for the rest of their life. Her father was worth more than even she had imagined. She hashed over the small prints and legalities of her fathers business and how to best sell them off for the most amount of money.
With the business and the legal affairs in order, she had planned to head back to college and prepare for her last semester.
Until her mother stepped out of her room and spoke.
"Where are you going?"
She looked up from her packing towards her bedroom door. Her mother stood there, still in her nightgown, looking frail and withdrawn.
"I'm returning to college. Everything is in order here, you have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life."
Her mother stepped into the room. Her hand still holding onto the doorframe.
"Please stay. Just for another week. A couple of days at the most."
"You have Olga here. She can take care of you." After she takes care of herself. She thought. Her mother shook her head.
"I would really like you to stay Helga. Please. Just for a couple of days. Then you can return to college and never have to bothered with us again."
She sighed. Her mother had never asked for anything from her. Ever.
"All right. Three more days."
She frowned to herself, thinking about the conversation with her mother earlier that afternoon. And what she had agreed to.
The changes in her family.
The fact that her mother asked her for something after twenty years.
Her father's dirty secrets she made sure didn't come out and made double sure her mother never found out.
The entire deal of her father's funeral and the fact that as of yet, she hadn't once cried over his passing.
The next thing she knew she was holding onto the railing of the bridge for dear life as tears ran down her face. Laments for her life. Her father, her family, her lost childhood, and the people she chose to leave behind in search of a better life for herself. One that didn't involve the rest of her family.
The sun was setting, coloring everything red. Her shadow stretched over the lake. As she watched, another shadow joined hers, and she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry about your father."
She froze. Even the tears on her face stopped. She knew that voice, it still haunted her dreams. Glancing over, she spotted a blond man her age smiling at her sympathetically.
"Well, we all have to go sometime."
"I watched you dealing with the vultures. You handled yourself much better than anyone had dared hope. Much better than your sister."
She snorted. "How is it you always have the uncanny knack to find me wherever I am?' She asked, changing the subject.
He shrugged. "Not sure. Maybe I'm drawn to you."
"Not likely."
He frowned. "You still find it impossible that anyone could care for you?"
She shook her head. "No. Just that anyone would want to."
" Come on." He said. She frowned. "Come on where?"
"Let's walk. I know you. You've probably been at this bridge for hours. You need to walk, leave this place, take your mind off of the past couple of days."
Shrugging, she left the bridge and followed him. They walked in silence for a while, both lost in their thoughts.
"So." He started, breaking the silence. "Why didn't you look up anyone when you got back?"
"I wasn't planning to stay long. Just long enough for the funeral and to take care of Bob's estate. Besides," she added. "Other than Phoebe, I didn't really have close friends here."
"How is Phoebe?"
She shrugged again. "Don't know. We drifted apart about a month after she got settled into her dorms at MIT. Lack of things in common anymore."
He nodded. "Gerald left for Florida State and we haven't exactly been writing weekly either."
"Why are you still here?"
A large yawn interrupted his answer. She smiled as he grinned sheepishly at her.
"Sorry. I don't get much sleep these days. My grandparents." He explained. "I'm taking care of both of them. My grandmother's dementia had finally taken over completely and my grandfather just stays in his room and plays checkers with himself."
It was her turn to be sympathetic. "I'm sorry."
"Don't' be. They took care of me for so long it's only fair I return the favor."
"At the expense of your life?"
"You came back to take over for a family you claimed for years to hate."
"Point taken." As they turned the corner, she took the opportunity to really look at him. His face was lined with worry haggard from too many sleepless nights.
"When was the last time you got an entire nights sleep?" She asked. He glanced over at her, and then frowned in thought.
"Um. I think one night last year. I had to leave town on business and Susie watched them for me. I slept all night like a baby."
"Why don't you call someone to watch them?" He shook his head. "They're my responsibility."
"And what happens to them if you pass out from exhaustion?" She asked. "You look ready to drop now. Listen; let me make a call to a friend in town. She can get a nurse for tonight."
"That's pointless. And I can't afford nursing care."
She looked at him. "Did I say you were paying for it, football head? I can more than afford to pay for it tonight."
"Helga. This is ridiculous. I can't let you do this…" his protests were halted by her hand on his arm. He looked up at her.
"Arnold. Just once, let me do something for you." She said, her tone soft. He searched her face then finally nodded.
They had walked back to the old boarding house, where she had made some calls. An hour later, a young nurse knocked on the door, giving the two of them a warm smile.
"Go on." She said after the introductions were made and the explanations were given. "I have the cell number if there's an emergency. I'll be here tomorrow when you return."
"Tomorrow?" He started, as she pushed him out the door. Once the door had shut, he turned to her, his brows furrowed.
"I can't stay out until tomorrow morning. What if something happens?"
"The nurse has my number, we'll rush back over here. For tonight, you are going to get a decent night's sleep. You look like you're about to drop and it isn't going to do your grandparents any good if you end up in the hospital with exhaustion." She held up a finger. "No arguments."
Leading him back down the block towards her mother's house, they made small talk, until he slowly grew to tired to do anything except walk. She unlocked the door, and motioned him into the silent house. Feeling brave, she took his hand and led him up the stairs and into her old bedroom. Opening the door, she ushered him in and he headed straight for the bed, pausing only to take his shoes off.
She watched as he deposited himself onto the bed, his eyes closing the moment his head touched the pillow. She waited a moment, just to make sure he was really asleep. Buried feelings rushed back up to the surface so fast she almost stumbled. For years, she watched him, sometimes even watching him sleep in his own room. And now, here he was in her room, in her bed, sound asleep. Close enough to touch. Creeping quietly towards the bed, she grabbed the covers and gently placed them over him.
He didn't move.
She watched him sleep, her fingers itching to touch him. Tentively, she reached out, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead. Still he didn't move.
Smiling softly, she hesitantly leaned in, catching the scent of soap and aftershave.
"Sleep well, Arnold." She whispered. Biting her lip, she bent down, gently brushing her lips against his.
Lifting back a bit, her eyes widened as she looked into his open green eyes. She froze, not sure what to do. Slowly his eyes closed again and there was a hint of a smile on his face.
Shaken, she quietly rushed away form him, away from the temptation, choosing instead to lean up against the wall and wait for sunlight.
So go on and sleep darling,
Why don't you pretend we were just a dream?
It's cool, baby, doesn't matter anyway.
The first light of dawn peered through her window and with it new fears came. Did he remember? Did he think it was a dream? What would he say, if he said anything?
A stirring in her bed, jostled her from her thoughts and she froze again, her gaze intent on the person in her bed.
He sat up, scratching his head and stretching, looking around the room as he yawned. He stopped in mid stretch, his gaze frozen on the room. Lowering his hands, he turned his gaze towards her. Their eyes locked for what seemed to be a long time. She could see everything in his eyes and she knew he remembered. Then he did the one thing she hadn't expected. He smiled.
And she smiled back.