Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

True to Helena's word, the couple was late to the friends' pizza dinner that night. After slowly climbing the stairs in their home, they fell into each other and enjoyed expressing themselves physically. Myka admitted Helena's impromptu hiding in her office did make for an exciting afternoon. Although Myka wasn't quite sure what she had agreed to with the SEC.

Finally, it was time to get ready. Myka threw on a long sleeve white blouse and some jeans. Helena said she would meet her downstairs. She had remembered something she wrote in her book – about trying things you wouldn't ordinarily do for the one you loved. While Myka waited patiently in the hallway, Helena put on her outfit she had made especially for Myka.

"What the….?" Is all Myka could say as Helena came down the stairs in an over-sized t-shirt tied in a knot to the side with the mascot of the University of Colorado, and worn with tight black pants. Myka pursed her lips at Helena's slightly awkward gait and noticed the flats that adorned her feet. "You look …..great," Myka said and had to ask where Helena got the idea.

"Well, you love your alma mater t-shirt and I love you in your alma mater t-shirt, so I thought I would get one," Helena said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Truth be told, it took Helena several minutes to feel comfortable in the one-hundred percent less than soft cotton top that didn't hug her. She asked the closet intern to explain what the fascination was with this type of apparel.

"They're comfortable," was her first try, but Helena explained it most certainly was not.

"They show school spirit," was the second explanation, but Helena explained that she would think a sizable donation would show that better.

"You wear it to make a statement," was the intern's last and final attempt.

That answer seemed to make sense. This was a statement about what Helena would do for Myka. Helena was as graceful in casual clothes as most people were in 4 inch heels and a black cocktail dress – not very.

But Myka loved her for doing it.

"Whoa, Dude," Claudia said when the couple finally arrived.

"Do not call me that," is all Helena said as she followed Myka into her former residence.

Myka loved watching Helena relax and interact with their friends socially. Helena loved to watch Myka laugh.

They hadn't been the only ones late that night. The hosts were also slightly delayed. When Claudia shared that she marched into Helena's office to defend Eileen, she worried her lover would be upset. Instead, Eileen listened carefully to the story – knowing fully well how far out of the comfort zone Claudia traveled to deliver that message. She was so taken that her girlfriend would risk so much, that she tackled her to the bed with kisses, so overcome with being turned on by the bravery. Claudia was so surprised at Eileen's reaction to her chivalrous move, that she decided she was going to tell the construction workers who whistled at Eileen a thing or two.

Steve and Jack were in the kitchen when the host couple descended the stairs. Steve begged them to have to the dinner in the kitchen since he found the other rooms overwhelming in size. They gathered around the large circular kitchen table with plenty of room to spare. The pizzas arrived and the junk food decorated every available space. The only thing that was out of place was the tea kettle on the stove. Eileen knew that in spite of the menu, there would always be room for tea.

Helena broke the good news to Pete and he was speechless. She explained that she had every confidence that his invention could benefit the hearing challenged and that Bridget had been instructed to find backers for his device.

"I …don't know what to say," Pete said and couldn't help the tears well up in his eyes. "I couldn't have done it without you," he said, but Helena wouldn't hear of it.

"That's not true, Mr. Lattimer. That wonderful device was inside you all this time. You just needed to see it," Helena said.

"Yeah, but if it wasn't for you needing some…..," and everyone in the room looked at Pete and silently screamed SHUT UP, but of course, he didn't hear them. "…babysitting," he continued because he was excited and had shut down his filters. There was dead silence and Pete noticed everyone sitting back farther in their seats. "What?" he asked, because he hadn't been listening. Then he looked at Helena's expression and recoiled. "I…meant…serious…company," he tried and even Jane put her head in her hands. "Mrs. Frederic….," he added, meaning that she had told him to get the Lego in case of an emergency.

Helena had staged the whole security break that allowed Pete to bait her with the Lego to pay a debt. She wasn't going to give that up. "The fact that we enjoyed it so much made it a positive event for both of us," Helena said, smiling.

Of course, in her head she was yelling – "Babysitting, my arse!"

There was a collective sigh of relief as people let out their nervous laughs. The food was eaten, the beers imbibed, and stories were shared. Without a word exchanged, Eileen readied the tea at the exact moment Helena wanted it. She apologized for bothering Helena about work, but asked if she had time to see her on Monday and assured her it wasn't urgent. Helena replied that she always had time to see Eileen.

Then Jane caught Helena alone and thanked her for giving Pete the opportunity to discover his talents.

"I did nothing," Helena replied and then added, "…except settle a debt."

"No, Wells, you did much more than that," Jane insisted and was uncomfortable feeling such affection for the Brit. "You …," she swallowed hard, "….Inspired him – just by believing in him. Helena, Pete loves me- I don't doubt that for a minute. But in some ways, you will always be first in his heart," Jane confessed, having thought this all through on her own. Jane knew Pete would do anything for Helena.

"I do not wish to be…," Helena said, not sure this was true, and if it were, not certain she liked it.

"Helena, sometimes I think you don't get it. For all your bravado and self-confidence, I think sometimes you are unaware of what an influence you are – on all of them," Jane shared. "They are all – devoted to you."

Helena knew what a force she could be, but this was different. Jane was referring to her as a positive influence and Helena had never really stopped to think about that in quite this way.

"Well, thank you for saying so," Helena said, the walls suddenly closing in on her standing there with Jane.

"You're a piece of work, Helena," Jane said and laughed.

"My debt is paid," Helena reminded the detective.

"Trust me, no one knows about Myka's apprehension," Jane assured the Brit.

Up in Boston, Irene spoke frankly with Mary about the deal Helena struck with her. "She's not a woman to be messed with," Irene warned because her sister was used to being at the top of the academic heap.

"What happened that night, Irene?" Mary finally asked. She and Irene were sitting having tea, the quiet of the house surrounding them. Irene drew in a deep breath and told her sister the events of that night – how Helena was very sick and needed immediate care. Rather than tell Mary any details, she simply said Helena's immune system had been compromised.

What helped Mary to accept the particulars of that night was seeing Helena with Irene. There was a deep bond that resulted in an obvious protection between the two women.

"She told me not to waste anymore of my life without you in it," Mary confessed and Irene smiled because that is exactly how Helena would say it. "She said people like you are very rare."

Irene lowered her eyes at the compliment. She knew a thing or two about rare people.

Mary spent Sunday reflecting on the past week. She didn't want another life threatening episode to be what pulled her and Irene together. Still, she couldn't lower the wall completely and when Irene was leaving, Mary thanked her, but was very nonchalant.

She didn't cry until Irene was on the train home.

The first thing Irene did when she arrived back in Queens – after letting Bandit jump in her lap and slather her face with kisses – was to go through her backyard to her neighbor's house with a defrosted pound cake that she had baked. She always had a few on hand for such occasions. She apologized for her friend's intrusion and the man admitted he had never been so scared in his life. "And I've been to prison!" he reminded her.

He also said he was surprised the cops hadn't hauled her away with 'the other one'.

Irene apologized again and returned to the house. She shook her head and worried what Helena had gotten Myka into. There were no news reports – and surely there would be if Myka was arrested. "This ought to be good," Irene said as she readied her clothes for her return on Monday.

"You would seriously think the woman would call," Helena complained and Myka knew who she was talking about.

The buzzer went off because Helena was an easy target. "This is a sport of concentration," Myka pointed out as she took her fencing mask off. Once Helena was distracted, she just stood there.

"Pardon?" Helena said, unaware of losing. Yes, that distracted.

"Why don't you call her?" Myka said, knowing there was no sense in continuing.

"Why should I call her?" Helena said and Myka pointed out because she missed her. "Don't be ridiculous," Helena huffed as she threw her mask down, dropped her foil, and tore her jacket off.

"Oh yes, I'm totally off base," Myka said as Helena stamped her feet up the steps, saying how she had no clue where Myka got that idea from.

The closer it got to Irene's return, the more aware Helena became of her absence. Most friends might send flowers to welcome the one they missed back, but Helena wasn't most people. She arranged for a slightly different welcoming back surprise.

The next morning, Myka noticed that Helena seemed to be in a hurry and attributed it to wanting to see Irene. Helena was simply following Irene's advice – she had to get up pretty early to pull anything over on the experienced HR Director.

Irene looked up at the Wells Corp building and smiled. She felt as if she had been gone weeks, instead of days. The welcome from the staff as she entered made her feel good and no one seemed more enthusiastic than Sandy, her assistant.

"Welcome back, Irene," Sandy said, nervously looking over her shoulder at Irene's office.

"It's good to be back," Irene said, wondering what was going on. "Is there something …"

"Not some-thing. Some-one. Well, kind of a someone," Sandy said anxiously. "I didn't think it was a good idea and I tried to tell them, but she said was under strict orders…"

"Who is she?" Irene asked, starting at the beginning to get to the bottom of this.

"The woman…in charge…or the care taker. She looks like one of those Safari ride people in Disney World," Sandy said and pointed to Irene's office.

Just then, there was a loud screech and Irene clutched her heart and Sandy ran back to her desk. "She's kind of big."

Irene took a deep breath and went to her office door and opened it. She looked at the woman who was holding a banana and handing it to what was sitting in Irene's chair.

"She bought me…a monkey?" Irene said, her eyes widened.

"She's a chimpanzee," the caretaker pointed out and Irene didn't care. The adorable faced primate was munching on her banana and – from what Irene could tell – grinning.

"I am sorry if Eve disturbed anyone," the young warden dressed in khaki said. "We were told to bring her here first."

"First? Is she touring all of Wells?" Irene said, wondering how this happened.

"Oh gosh, no," laughed the blonde woman. "Eve is here for her checkup. Trust me; she does not like the City at all, so we only bring her in for checkups."

"Why?" Irene asked and the primate was busy pushing papers around on Irene's desk. An action that Irene frowned upon when it was adorable toddlers, let alone primates.

"Ms. Wells likes to make sure that Eve is maturing….," the woman started to say.

"As if she would even know what that was," Irene said under her breath. "What is she doing in my office?"

"Oh this," the caretaker said and blushed. "Ms. Wells insisted that you would want to meet her. She said you've been away and she thought Eve would be a…unique way to welcome you back."

"I bet she did. Well, it's a pleasure to meet ….Eve," Irene said as the chimp opened and closed Irene's desk drawers.

"She's usually better behaved," the caretaker said and tried to get Eve to climb up, but the chimp was too excited. She screeched and ran away, knocking the lamp off Irene's desk and pulling pillows off the couch.

The primate charged at Irene, but the woman stood there, arms crossed and glared at the animal. Eve stopped in her tracks and retreated until the caretaker took her hand.

"You're very good," the woman remarked. "I don't know if you know it, but your body language just conveyed to Eve that you weren't afraid and that you were in charge."

"It's my years as Ringmaster of this circus," Irene said and thanked the woman for bringing Eve.

Irene looked around her office, which looked as if it had been hit by…well, an animal on the loose.

"Do you want me to …straighten that up?" Sandy asked after gasping at what the office looked like.

"Oh no, thank you, Sandy. I always say – if you make a mess, you have to clean it up," Irene said and then heard Millie tell someone that Myka had just arrived.

"Myka? Is Helena with you?" Irene called down the hallway as she started to walk quickly.

"I love you," Helena yelled to Myka as she repeatedly pressed the close button on the elevator to make the door close.

"What did you...?" Myka was asking as Irene tried to get the door to reopen. "What did she?"

"Nothing she won't be back down to clean up," Irene promised as she waited for the other elevator.

"Welcome back?" Myka offered as Irene thanked her and went upstairs. "Do you …?" Myka asked Millie.

"Apparently, it's - bring your own chimp to work day," Millie said and shrugged.

Helena moved quickly past Sui who had to repeat that Bridget was there for their meeting.

"Bridget!" Helena said, happy that there would be witnesses. Irene never made a scene in front of people. "Do come in…and quickly."

Bridget looked at Sui, but was unable to ask the dozen questions that ran through her head. She quickened her pace when Helena waved her in. Bridget rolled her eyes and held the door when Helena went to close it. Helena looked and saw the gray haired woman, carrying a portfolio and pocketbook slowly walking in.

"I'm Grace, Ms. Wells, nice to meet you," is how the gravelly voiced secretary introduced herself. "Wow, you really are good looking."

Helena stared at the woman, then at Bridget who smiled. The elevator door opened and poor Grace was pulled inside, the door shutting behind her. "Welcome, Grace."

"Do you have a program that can assess mental disorders?" Irene grunted at Sui, who assured her that he did not.

"I can, however, make valid conclusions based on behavior and facial expressions. And right now, yours is telling me that you are very upset."

"Bloody brilliant," Irene said without realizing whose words she just borrowed. She knocked loudly on the door. She wasn't sure who the elderly woman was, but she hoped she didn't have a weak heart.

"Impeccable timing as always, Ms. Cummings," Helena said and just then Irene opened the doorway and stood there. She had hoped to find Helena alone.

"Irene! Welcome back. I believe you know Ms. Cummings and her associate, Grace," Helena said, smiling from the safety of the other side of the conference table.

"Helena," Irene said slowly.

"Ms. Cummings and I are in a meeting. Perhaps Mr. Sui can help you," Helena offered.

"On no, this is something only you can take care of. I'll wait…for as long as it takes," Irene said and took a seat at the conference table.

"This won't take long," Grace said and Irene looked at her boss and grinned.

Bridget had so much to say and it was killing her to have to write out only the highlights of her many thoughts. She watched Helena and was surprised that she detected nervousness. It was so rare. The banker wrote her message down and showed the white board to the group.

"Don't be silly, Bridget, you can speak," Helena offered because she needed this meeting to go on for a while. At least until the steam stopped coming out of Irene's ears.

"No, she can't talk, Grace explained. "We're going to a doctor after this." Bridget's eyes grew wide and she shook her head. "Yes, I made an appointment. Dr. Phillips is very nice. You'll like him."

Bridget never backed down from a bet and once made, she always kept her end of the bargain. She wrote on her white board the good news about the book.

"You came all the way here to tell me you found a publisher for my book? And for that you needed an entourage?" Helena asked incredulously.

"She likes to close deals. Always in a hurry this one," Grace said with worry in her voice.

"You wrote a book?" Irene asked incredulously.

"I had a couple of hours to kill," Helena said, haughtily.

"Amazing with all you had to do, you had time to organize my return party," Irene said, making her point.

"No trouble at all," Helena said, feeling safe with bystanders.

"What's wrong with your voice?" Irene asked suspiciously. Bridget grabbed her throat and shook her head to indicate she couldn't speak.

"Laryngitis? Oh, that's too bad," Helena said and Bridget immediately knew she was on the receiving end of Helena's taunt.

"She insisted she needed to come here," Grace said and it had been a ploy to escape the office. But like the best laid plans, Bridget's didn't play out the way she intended them to.

"Bridget met with several publishers, Helena, and thinks she's found the perfect one," Grace said, having seen what the proposal looked like.

"And did she lose her sense of direction along with her voice?" Helena asked, wondering why the woman was with her.

The older woman shook her head as if it were a serious question. "Miss Cummings is dealing with another issue," Grace shared and Bridget shook her head vehemently.

"You really do know how to keep up your end of a bet," Helena laughed.

"Oh, so you know?" Grace said and then whispered – "With all due respect, Miss Wells, it's no laughing matter."

"What isn't?" Irene said, because she could tell the assistant was concerned.

"Bridget's gambling problem!" the secretary said. "I came with her today. I was afraid she'd buy lottery tickets or something." Then she turned to Irene and said – "We're getting her help."

"She…has a …gambling problem? Are you certain?" Helena asked, thinking having this woman as a secretary just eclipsed having Irene as an HR Director in terms of trouble

"How did you come to that?" Irene asked because she was beginning to think the circus was putting up another tent.

"She told me. She can't talk... about her betting problem. If you ask me, I think the laryngitis is psychosomatic, but one thing at a time," Grace whispered to Irene in a loud voice.

"They gave her to me," Bridget typed furiously into her phone to text Helena. She didn't want this on a whiteboard. "They thought it would break me because I was the only woman there. I was determined to keep her come hell or high water. Both came and went and I still have her."

"I completely empathize," Helena said, thinking her 'Grace' happen to be in the room, too. Except Helena's 'Grace' was as sharp as a whip.

"Don't even go there, Helena" Irene warned, even though she couldn't see the text exchange. She may not have been able to read what Bridget wrote, but she could read Helena like a book.

'So, the publishers want to meet with you and then the editing will begin,' Bridget wrote on the board and Helena laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous. There will be no editing," she said, and meant it. "It's perfect."

"Very modest, this one," Grace said, elbowing Irene. Maybe Grace wasn't so bad after all. "Well, we have to go," the secretary said and Helena knew what that meant.

"I think I would like to hear more about ….," Helena said, but Irene interrupted her.

"They have to go, Helena. And besides, you have an appointment…," Irene said, looking at her watch. "Right now."

"With whom?" Helena demanded.

"Destiny," Irene smiled and shook Grace's hand and practically pulled her towards the door as she commended her on what a good job she was doing helping Bridget.

"Shoot me," Bridget wrote on the whiteboard.

"Trust me, if I thought it would buy me time, I would," Helena replied.