Thanks for reading so far. This story will probably be about 5 chapters. Here's number 2. Let me know what you think!
Myka pulled over to the side of a silent, dusty, road to watch the sunrise. She had been driving aimlessly for several hours, not focussed enough to decide where she was going. It wasn't until she stopped the car that she finally wiped away the tears that were still streaming down her face. Stationary, on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere South Dakota, she finally allowed herself to think about what was happening. She had kissed Pete, told him that she loved him. But why? Because Steve said she did? Because of her face in that memory? Because she was scared of losing the Warehouse and everyone in it? Maybe it was all of these things put together. But it was a lie, she didn't mean it. Helena. It was Helena who made her stomach flip circles; who made her smile just by thinking about her; who she missed like a dull, constant, ache. But Helena was living in Wisconsin, all settled down with a job and a new girlfriend - apparently it wasn't serious, but Myka still didn't like it. She clearly didn't feel the same way about Myka as Myka did about her. Except there were times, when they still worked together, that Myka really thought there might be something between them, that Helena might feel the same spark that she did. But then she disappeared, found herself a 'normal' life. Myka could never giver her that.
Helena was startled awake when her cell phone rang at 6:30am. She rolled over, rubbing her eyes and looked to see who was calling at such a ridiculous hour. Myka. Her heart skipped a beat, it must be something serious for Myka to be calling so early. She simultaneously answered the phone and switched on the lamp, blinking to adjust her eyes to the brightness. "Myka?" she said drowsily, "is everything ok?" She was jolted into alertness when she heard a clear sob on the other end of the phone. "Myka?" she asked again, full of concern as she twisted to sit on the edge of her bed. She could hear Myka crying. "Shhh, shhh," she said into the phone, not sure what to say, "Calm down. It's ok. Breathe! Tell me what happened."
"Helena," whimpered Myka, "I messed up." Then she dissolved back into hysterical, hiccupping, tears. Helena felt like crying for her, this wasn't some big artifact-y mess where the world was in danger and they needed to save the day; this was Myka scared and upset.
"Ok Myka, where are you?" she said, sounding calm despite the worry in her gut.
"Urm...a gas station," said Myka, her voice wobbling, "Kind of near Sioux Falls I think." Helena thought for a moment.
"Are you ok to drive?" she asked. Myka said that she was. "Ok then, shall we meet in Minneapolis. I'll text you the address of a café and we'll talk. How about that?" she suggested softly.
"Ok," said Myka quietly, her crying seemed to have subsided for now.
"Promise me you'll drive carefully. Stop for a rest if you need to. Ok?"
"Yeah." Myka whispered sadly, "I'll see you soon."
"In a couple of hours," added Helena before hanging up the phone. Her stomach felt peculiar, she was worried about Myka driving all that way if she was upset, but she quickly shoved a few bits and pieces into a bag, used her phone to send an email to her boss saying that she wouldn't be coming in to work, then she jumped the car.
The Warehouse team were not feeling their sunniest. They were shelving and writing reports in almost complete silence; the sound of Claudia tapping away on the computer keyboard. At one point Pete threw down his pen angrily and stormed out of the office towards the stacks. Claudia got up to follow him, but Steve told her to wait, to give him a moment. Twenty minutes later when Pete still hadn't returned, Claudia saved the file she was working on and went to find him. It didn't take her long, she went straight to the Pete-Cave and found him there, slouching in the old brown armchair, repeatedly bouncing a ball off the wall. He didn't look up when Claudia came in. "What?" he asked furiously, bouncing the ball so hard that it veered off and crashed into the drum kit making a catastrophic series of bangs and crashed. Pete stared at the collapsed kit, tears streaming down his face. Claudia sighed heavily and sat down on a beanbag without saying anything.
"She's gone," said Pete tearfully after a few seconds of silence, "She's really gone." Claudia looked down at the floor, completely unsure of what to say.
"Not forever," she said, "We all know what it's like to need a break from this place."
"I don't think it's the Warehouse, Myka loves this place. It's me," he sighed, scuffing his foot along the floor angrily. "She kissed me, she told me that she loved me, and then she left. That's all there is too it." He sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true."
Myka sat in the small Minneapolis coffee shop, biting her lip and twisting her hair. She'd ordered herself a coffee because she was rather exhausted, but she hadn't drunk any of it, she had been subconsciously shredding a paper napkin into a little pile on the table, waiting nervously for Helena to arrive. She wasn't really sure what she was going to say to her, she kept thinking and rethinking the possibilities, but she knew that in the end she wouldn't have much control over what she said, she was known for blabbering a little when she was upset. She was getting a few funny looks from the other patrons and the staff; a tired looking woman with red puffy eyes sitting alone and not drinking anything, but she forgot all of that the moment that Helena walked through the door. She stood up and wrapped her arms tightly around her friend, breathing in her comforting smell. Helena rubbed her back reassuringly, but this just made Myka start crying again. She sobbed into Helena's shoulder, her breathing out of control. Helena could feel the desperation in Myka's tight hold. She continued rubbing her back softly for a few minutes, then she gently lifted Myka's chin so that they were facing each other. She saw Myka's eyes, red and puffy; her face, pale and blotchy. What had happened to make her this upset?
When Myka had calmed down slightly, Helena fetched herself a coffee and, after a second thought, bought two bear claws because she guessed that Myka would be hungry. She pushed one of them in front of Myka who looked at it uncertainly for a second, then took a big bite, smiled, and devoured it quickly. Helena smiled as she watched her eat, she slowly ate her own breakfast in silence. She giggled slightly because Myka had a few crumbs stuck to the side of her mouth. Helena leaned forward and used one finger to carefully brush them away. Myka blushed, but tried to hide it by draining the rest of her coffee in one go. Then she yawned heavily, rubbing her tired eyes. "Have you been up all night?" Helena asked sympathetically. Myka nodded wearily, and then her face dropped as she remembered everything that had happened. Helena saw the sadness and distress wash over Myka's face. "Come on then," Helena stood up and tucked her chair back under the table, "Let's find a hotel so that you can get some rest." Myka looked at her, unsure, then stood up, picked up her bag, and followed Helena. She was in a complete daze while Helena found a room in a small hotel a couple of streets away. She was miles away as Helena guided her to their room. As soon as she saw the big, white bed she collapsed immediately onto it and fell asleep within seconds.
Helena smiled a little when she saw that Myka had fallen asleep. It was good, she clearly needed some rest. Plus she looked beautiful when she slept; so peaceful. Helena checked her cell phone for the time, and she discovered three missed calls and 4 texts. She listened to the voicemail messages first.
"Good morning Baby. Wake up and answer your door. I'm outside with coffee. I'm really sorry that we fought last night. I'm an idiot."
"Baby? You're not answering the door so I'm assuming you've gone into work early. Text me to let me know. Please don't be mad about last night. Can I take you for lunch later?. Or breakfast if you've been working all night? I'm sorry babe."
"Helena. I called you're office and they said there's been an emergency? Are you ok? Why aren't you calling me back? I'm really sorry that we argued. It was stupid. I didn't mean the things I said. I love you. Please call me!"
She read the texts and they all said similar things to the voicemails. They were all from Giselle, her girlfriend. She looked at Myka sleeping peacefully, then at her phone, then back at Myka. 'My friend needs me. H' she typed, then she put her phone on silent, and put it back in her bag. She wasn't quite sure what else she wanted to say to Giselle yet. They'd had a massive argument last night, she couldn't even remember what it was about. Helena yawned. She was tired too, more from the amount of driving and worrying she'd already done this morning than the lack of sleep. She glanced around the room, deciding that the hard wooden chair she was sitting in was too uncomfortable to nap in, but the only room she'd been able to book at such short notice was a double. So she slipped off her shoes and her jacket and climbed onto the bed and closed her eyes. She was a little startled when she felt Myka snuggle up to her, tucking her head under Helena's chin. She wasn't complaining though, she liked the feel of Myka's heartbeat and the sound of her breath. It was calming; comforting.
Myka was utterly disorientated when she woke up and found herself in an unfamiliar room. She realised that she was curled up with another person, it was Helena. She sighed. This must be a dream then. Still, the rise and fall of Helena's chest as she slept, mesmerised her, she just couldn't take her eyes away. It took a few minutes for her brain to get into gear, then she remembered everything that had happened. The Warehouse almost moving, her revelation to Pete, realising that she had been wrong, calling Helena. Then this wasn't a dream! She really was in bed with this woman. Wow! She took a deep breath, savouring the time wrapped up with Helena. But then she climbed out of the bed, as carefully and quietly as she could. She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked terrible. It was clear that she had been crying, her eyes were red and there were tear streaks down her cheeks. She splashed her face with water, using the complimentary soap to wash away the dirt and weariness. She went back into the bedroom to fetch her hairbrush to tame the tangled mess that she called her hair. "Morning," she heard from behind her as rummaged through her bag. She whipped her head around. Helena was sitting up, resting on the headboard, smiling blearily. "You got some sleep then?" she asked. Myka nodded.
"So did you I see," she said as she clambered back onto the bed, hairbrush in hand. Helena held out her hand, asking for the hairbrush. Myka handed it to her then Helena gestured for her to turn around. Myka sat with her back to Helena, whose legs were either side of her. Helena took a lock of Myka's hair and started brushing it, carefully as not hurt her, but enough to get out the tangled knots. Myka relaxed as Helena repeated the reassuring, repetitive rhythm. "So," said Helena cautiously, "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
They both stayed silent for a while as Helena brushed Myka's hair; Myka trying to work out what to say, Helena just waiting for Myka to say something. She was patient, allowing Myka all the time she needed, it must have been something serious for her to be so upset. Myka took a deep breath. "I did something really stupid. I said something even more stupid!" she said solemnly. Helena stayed silent, still brushing away the knots, anticipating the rest of the story. "The Warehouse might be moving. We thought it was imminent, but now we think it might take a while. But it was a pretty stressful day, emotions were running high. We were all contributing our defining moments to the round table." She stopped and took another deep breath. She was glad that she wasn't looking at Helena, this was hard enough to say as it is. "I... well... Pete was upset so he had gone off somewhere, but the rest of us watched my moment, and Steve said that it looked like...well...it...I...it looked like I loved Pete." She squeezed her eyes closed, trying not to cry. "And I was just all caught up in it all. I don't know what I was thinking." Her breathing was ragged and uneven. Helena placed one hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "I kissed Pete. I told him that I loved him." She sighed, placing her hand on top of Helena's for moral support. "You should have seen his face Helena, he was so happy. I can't believe I did that to him." She shook her head at herself. "I think I've broke his heart." This was the last straw and she burst back into tears, sobbing into her hands. Helena held her tightly, allowing her to break down, safe in her arms.
Helena allowed Myka to cry for as long as she needed to, stroking her back. She tried to keep her own breathing stable so that hopefully Myka would copy it. Eventually her tears subsided, her breathing normalised and she looked up at Helena, silently begging for a response, a comment, an opinion. But Helena didn't know what to say. She moved around so that she could look into Myka's eyes; they were full of regret and humiliation. Helena took a deep slow breath, then, without thinking about it in case she changed her mind, she leaned in and kissed her. Myka was startled for a second, but then she kissed her back, deeply and passionately, entangling her hands in Helena's soft, silky hair.