"Would you like to come with me when I go see Christine's mother about letting her visit more often?" Elijah asked Selina.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Selina asked. "Cause in the spirit of learning to trust, I'm thinking about following your example and letting you go alone."
"Are you?" Elijah asked. "Why? I personally think that's unwise, but you may do what you wish."
"No, if you want me to come, I'll come," Selina assured him. "Does she really worry you that much?"
"She's very persistent," Elijah admitted. "At least she was last time. Maybe being with Jack has cooled her off a bit."
"I doubt it," Selina replied. "If she's set on you, it'll take more than just simply having another man around to change her mind." She paused. "You know, I might come with you after all."
"I thought you'd say that and I admit that I don't blame you, but can you at least try to be civil?" Elijah requested of her. "I know that Renee's place in all this is not exactly ideal for you, and I will also agree that she can be somewhat catty and more than willing to goad you into a fight…but take the high road, please. If you can't do it for her, do it for me."
"All right," Selina sighed. "I can't promise anything, but for your sake, I'll try to be nice to Renee. But if she starts something with me first, I can't be held accountable for what I may do."
"Well, you can always be held accountable," Elijah replied. "And you should be. But as I myself don't always take the high road when my relationships are threatened, if Renee is openly trying to start trouble, I promise I won't chide you too much if you retaliate."
"Really?" Selina smiled. "That's one of the sweetest things you've ever said to me."
"Remember though, it's only if she's trying to start trouble with you," Elijah reminded her as they headed to the car. "You starting trouble with her without any sort of provocation doesn't count."
"So…the fact that she exists doesn't count as provocation?" Selina wanted to know.
"No," Elijah replied flatly, taking her hand and leading her to his car. "I'm sorry to say that it doesn't."
"All right," Selina huffed. "Let's just get this stupid business over with. She knows we're coming, right?"
"She knows we're coming," Elijah confirmed, starting the car and heading to Renee and Christine's apartment building.
"Well, this is embarrassing," Renee said when she led both Elijah and Selina into the tiny apartment and Selina saw two place settings, including glasses of wine, set out at the kitchen table. "When Christine told me that you had agreed to come and talk to me about visiting time, I assumed you'd be coming alone, Elijah."
"Well, that's a dumb thing for you to assume, Renee," Selina spat as she tried to hold on to her temper. "Do you honestly think I'd be dumb enough to let him come here alone when it's clear you want to get your hands on him? And he said he told you we were both coming. There's no chance I'm letting him alone near you ever!"
"You already did it once," Renee pointed out. "It could always happen again."
"What about poor Jack?" Selina cried. "What makes you think you can see him and then sniff around Elijah behind his back?"
Renee chuckled. "Jack's a good man but he's really simple, don't you think? A nice diversion, but not good enough for the long haul."
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way about such a nice man, but even so, there's not a chance in hell you're getting my husband! I know I've already said this lots of times, but that's necessary since it doesn't seem to have penetrated that thick skull of yours. But I'd be more than happy to pound it in there!" Selina yelled while Elijah grabbed her arm so she couldn't rush Renee and rip her throat out.
"You said you were gonna be nice," Elijah reminded her via a whisper in her ear.
"I did," Selina agreed. "But you said I could fight back when provoked, and you can't say that wasn't provocation."
"It wasn't," Elijah replied. "Now let's all just calm down, do what we came to do as fast as we can, and then go home."
"Fine," Selina sighed. "Whatever."
"You should have some of the wine," Renee encouraged Elijah as he and Selina both took seats at the table. "I know it's probably not as fancy as you're used to, but it's pretty good."
Although he didn't really want to drink anything Renee offered him, Elijah took a polite sip of the red wine, and tried not to gag. It really wasn't the good stuff, but given Renee's financial circumstances, he couldn't say he was surprised.
"Good?" Renee asked.
"Sure," Elijah got out. "But I would prefer not to drink just now, if you don't mind."
"Oh, all right," Renee sighed, reaching for the glass and also ostentatiously brushing Elijah's hand with hers while Selina tried to look away and not let Renee see how much that small action affected her. "I guess I just get to have this whole bottle for myself."
"Now, about Christine…" Elijah said. "That's what we're here about, after all."
"Yes," Renee nodded. "She's around here somewhere. Let's make her part of this.
"What a sensible thing to do, letting Christine have a say in something that will affect her life," Selina smiled as Renee got up to look for her daughter.
A few minutes later, Christine came into join them. "Ms. Mikaelson? Mr. Mikaelson? What are you doing here?" She asked.
"They came to talk to me about getting more visitation," Renee told her. "If you want it, that is."
"Of course I want it!" Christine replied. "I would love it."
"Well, how much more would you want?" Renee asked.
"I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience," Christine replied. "So…let's make it a three day weekend and have me come Fridays too."
"Christine, you're not an inconvenience at all," Elijah assured her. "We love having you at our house. You can be there as often as you'd like."
"So…every other week wouldn't be too much?" Christine asked.
Renee heard this and her jaw dropped a little. "Every other week?"
"Why not?" Christine asked her. "It'll give you freedom to bring guys home if you want. You'll have privacy then."
"Why don't you just admit the real reason you wanna leave?" Renee huffed. "You don't like living in a cramped apartment and would rather live in a big fancy house instead."
"Don't you dare fault me for that," Christine told her. "I remember how many rich guys you've been with over the years. If one of them said they wanted to marry you so you could move into a big fancy house, you'd take them up on it in a second." She then turned apologetically to Elijah and Selina. "That's not the sole reason I want more visiting time. I swear."
"We know," Elijah assured her.
Eventually, Renee agreed to let Christine go to Selina and Elijah's every other week. They then left, taking a happy Christine with them, and leaving Renee alone with her wine.
"School is even more intolerable now that you and I are together," Amanda huffed as she kicked the door of Viktor's car while they drove to school in the morning.
"Why?" Viktor asked. "Please explain it to me."
"Well, we can't go around being affectionate in the hallways, can we?" Amanda asked. "I'm just gonna have to sit at my desk while you teach and not let anyone know that we've kissed or that I've seen you in various states of undress. It's gonna be so hard!"
"I know," Viktor replied. "But what if…what if we had a code? Like, if I was at the blackboard and I said, 'I need you to look up here, Miss Mikaelson', that would mean I want to see more of your beautiful eyes. Or 'I'll need to see you after class, Miss Mikaelson' could mean I want a kiss before you leave."
Amanda smiled. "I get it. And if I were to say, 'I don't understand the assignment, Mr. Larson', it could mean I want to hear you say 'I love you' or that I want you to come over and put a hand on my arm or something. Do you think that's subtle enough?"
"I think so," Viktor replied. "Do you?"
"I'll try and make it be," Amanda replied. "It's still not enough, but it will have to do for now."
"And by the way, Astrid's happy about us," Viktor replied.
"Is that so?" Amanda smiled. "I thought she'd be horrified."
"No, she was horrified about Alexandra, not you," Viktor said. "She knows you're a good person who'll treat me well, and despite the age difference between you and I, that seems to be enough for her."
"Good," Amanda nodded. "I'll admit I was a bit nervous about seeing her now that you and I are together, but since you told me she's okay with it, I feel better now."
"I'm glad," Viktor replied, leaning over to kiss her quickly while they were paused at a stoplight. When they reached school, Amanda reluctantly said told him 'goodbye', and headed for math, sighing to herself about how much the day would drag on until it was time for her to see Viktor again.
"Miss Mikaelson, I need you to have your eyes on me, please," Viktor told Amanda firmly as he turned away from the chalkboard. As the other students laughed at her expense, Amanda was about to protest being singled out until she remembered her and Viktor's code. She looked up from intently staring at his butt and smiled. "Sorry about that, Mr. Larson," she said. "I'll pay better attention next time."
"Good," Viktor said after a few seconds of silence as he looked into her face. "See that you do." He then began lecturing, and just as Amanda was beginning to nod off from the soothing tone of his voice, he stopped lecturing and said that everyone needed to split up into groups of two and talk about any questions they might have. Some people were sick that day, so Amanda ended up not having a partner.
"It looks like you'll have to be with me," Viktor smiled.
"Good," Amanda nodded. "That's lucky. Cause I really don't understand the assignment, Mr. Larson." She and Viktor then went out into the hallway (cause there wasn't any more space for them with everyone moving their desks into pairs), and sat down on the carpet.
"Are we actually gonna talk about the assignment now?" Amanda asked. "Or what?"
"I don't see why we shouldn't," Viktor replied. "I know you're very intelligent and that schoolwork is never a problem for you, but…do you honestly have any questions?"
"Yeah," Amanda nodded. "Can you work on making your voice less soothing? It makes me sleepy."
"Well, what if I whispered the whole lecture against your earlobe?" Viktor asked. "Would you be more awake then?"
"Maybe," Amanda nodded. "Let's try it!"
To Amanda's surprise, he actually did what she asked and whispered the first couple of lines of his lecture with his lips right up against her ear. She definitely didn't fall asleep then. He even nibbled on her earlobe for a little bit before quickly pulling away to rein himself in.
"So…" he said, his cheeks coloring a little. "No more questions then?"
"None," Amanda shook her head. "But you'll still need to see me after class, right?"
"Yes," Viktor nodded. "I think I will." To her surprise, he kissed her quickly before they headed back inside and had a discussion about what they'd just talked about in pairs. Amanda sighed. She was bored again. The Great Depression was so much more interesting when it was being whispered against her earlobe.
Once everyone had packed up and left, Amanda, of course, stayed behind, coming up to Viktor's desk and leaning across it to give him a kiss. "I feel much better about this now that my father and Alexandra know," she said. "Don't you?"
"Yeah," Viktor smiled and came to give her a hug. "I do."