WHERE IS HELEN?

Chapter 12

   

It's never easy being the good guy, especially when it meant, not fighting to have the person you're deeply in love with. Sometimes you know that deep down, you will move heaven and earth to make him or her yours, and keep him or her happy for as long as the almighty will give you breathe. But that's where being the good guy comes in. There are sacrifices, like in Chris' case, being a man in front of Helen, and telling her "I'll be a good friend," when deep down, what your heart is craving for is not just friendship. If only people had the autocratic power to choose whom to love without the interference of the stubborn heart, we would not have to worry about the aftermath when we have been left behind to plot how we can be 'good' friends. Despite him not knowing her that much, from the first time he shook her hand and looked into her eyes at his birthday party, when Alex would not let her out of his sight, she had been the only female on his mind. Should he be the judge at a beauty contest and Helen be a contestant, he would crown her Mrs universe in 2019 and every year after that. In his sight, she was nothing less than the leading female angel in God's choir, and as to how this perfect creature hiding her identity under the name Helen, came to Gimmerton, he would like for it to remain a mystery and love her forever if she would give him the chance. Unfortunately for him, this angel in disguise, has her eyes on a target who happens to be his best friend. Whoever said that the forces of evil operating in this world were amateurs, was right. They could not tell what to leave untouched and what to detach even if their very existence depended on it. Look at him, for the first time in his playboy life, wanting to play for keeps, and the woman of his undreamed dreams, is in love with none other than his best friend another play boy? "Come on Helen, shine your eye." He'd whisper to himself whenever the thought of her pick comes to mind. Be it lust, or love at first sight, he could not tell, but his mind throned the latter every time a thought of her, catwalks the isle of his heart. But again, who needs to waste much time thinking of the differences between lust and love when they could just "feel it away?" As if it were easy. But he knew deep down that she wasn't interested in him in the same way. And he could not force her to feel the same as he did. Instead of letting his feelings get in the way of their friendship, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

        One evening, as Helen was finishing up her shift at the diner, he came in with a big smile on his face, amidst the tears he was forcefully trying to hide in order to be able to pull of the stunt he had spent days, pondering. "Hey, Helen! I have a surprise for you," he said, motioning for her to come over.

Helen stood awestricken to see him at the diner, like he never passed by in recent weeks to eat. She couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm. "What's the surprise?" she asked, curious as she drew apace.

"You couldn't guess it if I gave you a year, so here we go. I invited a friend who has been MIA to come and have dinner with us. I thought it would be nice for the three of us to sit down and talk, especially you two." Chris explained, gesturing towards the young man in a black t-shirt and a dark blue jean trouser, who was already making his way over to their table.

"Hi Helen." The person voiced, extending a hand. 

Helen's heart skipped a beat at how familiar the voice sounded. For what seemed like hours, she stood there, contemplating on whether or not to give him an elephant-sized hug for making himself scarce and causing her to miss him badly. 'Miss him badly', 'making himself scarce', why does anybody get a special treat for maltreating others emotionally even if it's indirectly?

As quickly as her heart leaped, she swallowed down all the excitement. Then mildly, she turned to look at him with a spurious smile on her face. "Hey, it's been a while" She replied her eyes sneaking to the left corner, ignoring the handshake but fidgeting with a napkin.

His eyes read the unfriendliness in the air, and quietly retired in gloom. "Ye-ah err... I apologize for all that, I-"

"You don't have to apologize, you owe me no such thing. I suppose I got comfortable of how close we became starting from the first day we met, forgetting you had a private life and not acknowledging the truth that people don't stay the same forever."

"Please, have a seat, both of you." Chris intersected.

"I kind of am in the middle of something here so... You two can-"

"Helen, please." Alex held her right hand as she tried to depart. Spontaneously, she felt a weird soothing energy rush through her body, starting from where he gripped. She seemed to have lost every vocabulary in her mind, or that the dictionary that her voice box fed on had gone missing, for she could not make up words to throw at him. A part of her, wanted him to not just hold her hand and stand there unproductively, it wanted more. More like him vehemently pulling her into a hug, and kissing her to break whatever curse or spell on her lips, making her want to spit out nothing but curses.

She gently freed herself, and turned to look at him. "I'm not mad at you Alex," she revealed. "I work here, and I'm supposed to be doing some packing right now. Maybe you should save whatever it is you want to say for later, that is, if there'll be a later when you want to talk to me and push me away like you've been. I'm kind of used to this new you, so... Keep it real, be yourself, don't let me change you." 

"Helen, I'm sorry." He apologized out loud. Old Memphis, who was watching a football game because there were no customers around, turned to look at what was going on. "There was a lot going on," Alex continued to explain. "It was difficult to take in, I didn't want to make you feel bad-"

"Do you have a tenuous knowledge of how bad it felt?" She inquired, tears had began to form around her eyes. "Before Chris, you were the only person I knew around here, and you spoke to me as if I had done something unforgivable. Maybe I did; maybe when I rushed to make friends with you cos I thought I didn't have to be alone was a mistake. If I had known that the person who looked so kind and beautiful-hearted would be a seasonal friend, I would have opted to be alone, Alex. If you came to apologize, it's fine, I made the mistake, I cling to people quickly. Thanks for pointing it out. Now if there's anything I can get you on the menu aside my time, please let me know, because like I said, I'm still at work." The tears that had inaugurated a gathering around her eyes, finally commenced a meander down her cheek by the time her clarification speech ended.

"I don't know what to say Helen, I acknowledge that I have done you harm, but I pray you find it in you to forgive me, I would really appreciate being given another chance at being called your friend. I swear I regret treating you like that. It was never my intention, but again, I was a coward and self-centered, I'm really sorry. Have a nice evening." He said, and turning to look at Chris, "Please take care of her for me." He added, Chris hugged him and read the tears that run down his cheeks.

"It's alright brother." Chris assured, as he let go of him, and watched him walk towards the entrance.

"Alex!" Helen called out to him, his fingers were slipped into the doorknob, and was milliseconds away from opening the door. "You're seriously going to leave again?" She asked racing to give him the hug she had been dying to get. "You're crazy, trust me you are."

Alex wrapped his arms around her tightly, and profusely, each one of the two patted the other's back.