The Assistant Chapter 6, Section 2 Summary

  • Frank grows impatient with the kissing and the waiting and the walking. He wants Helen completely.
  • In his mind, he plots how to get her alone in his room.
  • He's moody, and Helen notices.
  • Helen makes it clear to Frank that she's not ready for sex. She wants to wait until she knows she loves him, perhaps even after she's married to him, if that happens.
  • Frank tries to act like he wasn't asking for sex, but it's not convincing.
  • A couple days later it's raining. Helen tells Frank that if Nick and Tessie go to the movies, she can come to his room.
  • Ida decides to rest her sore feet instead of going down to help Morris in the store, so Helen can't sneak into Frank's room undetected.
  • She goes down herself so Frank will hear her footsteps and know there's a hitch.
  • Restless, Ida comes downstairs. Helen makes it look like she's leaving the building to hang with Betty Pearl, but she secretly goes up to Frank's room.
  • Helen is uneasy, having lied to her mother.
  • They kiss. Oooooooh.
  • Frank tries to proceed beyond kissing, but Helen indicates no.
  • He's upset and asks her if she's a virgin.
  • She says she's not.
  • He says she acts like one.
  • Helen tells him she regrets having had sex before and wants the next time to be with someone she knows she really loves.
  • Frank wishes he had better control of himself, more self-discipline.
  • They kiss some more.
  • Later, Nick and Tessie return to their room. Their bed creaks.
  • Helen feels bad for Frank, but Frank doesn't seem bothered by the noises.
  • Frank carries Helen down the steps and they go for a walk in the rain.
  • After Ida hears Helen return, she goes to sleep.