Be Careful What You Ask For

Irene didn't bat an eye when Pete delivered the new and improve android to her door that night. "Helena said I should come here," Sui explained as Bandit barked, but then became very friendly.

'I know her from somewhere,' he thought as he ran between her legs.

Pete watched in amazement as Sui explained to Irene how he made the change to experience life as a woman. Irene simply nodded her head, and invited her in.

Very little surprised the woman anymore.

Irene made tea and she and her guest sat at the table. "Helena was very pleased," the android shared.

"She has every reason to be. You're an amazing…," and Irene hesitated because the usual terms to describe the entity didn't fit. "…woman."

Sui smiled and felt comfort in how Irene made her feel. So comfortable in fact, that Sui felt she could ask Irene anything …..and did until the wee hours of the morning.

At the Townhouse, the same morning brought a repeat awakening like the day before; Helena was blissful in waking up, Myka was restless without explanation.

"There you are," Helena said, her voice still lilting with the excitement of the playful night before. Maybe it was the recent events that helped Myka step out of her comfort zone last night, but whatever it was, Helena loved it.

"There you are," Myka responded as was their trademark. "How do you feel?"

"I feel exquisitely wonderful. That …whole thing was …..deliciously enjoyable," Helena said, curling under Myka's open arm.

"Maybe I should do that more often," Myka laughed and Helena's arched brow all but begged her yes!

Myka walked slowly down the stairs, blaming her lethargy on the previous evening she and Helena had. She thought maybe she had a bad dream, but couldn't remember it. For the second time, she attributed what really was going to other causes.

"We need to figure out what to do with these," Myka said of the boxes who had outstayed their welcome.

"I'll get Irene on that," Helena said, giving her answer for everything she didn't want to be bothered with.

The crowds near Wells Corp were nothing new and that morning, people were calling out to Myka. The couple didn't notice the long single line of people until they entered the building.

"Ms. Wells, these people say they're here to see you…about the position?" the day security man said to Helena.

"Me? Don't be ridiculous," Helena said until he showed her the flyer. The invitation was opened to only the first 50 respondents. Claudia didn't want the world showing up. "Oh, bloody hell," Helena murmured.

"Who are those people?" Myka asked after Helena told the guard to send them up to the 16th floor where they should line up in and around the hallway.

"Apparently, those are the people willing to date Irene, in spite of the fact that I thought we were very honest in her profile," Helena said amazed.

"Helena, did you put her profile….. on a dating site? When? When did you do this?" Myka said, feeling like this got out of control very quickly.

"When you were in the ladies room," Helena said as if the answer should be obvious.

"Helena, I think …we…better talk to Irene," Myka said, gently pulling Helena off the elevator with her. She wasn't facing the woman alone.

"Fine," Helena relented and there was Irene approaching them when they got off on Myka's floor.

"Helena, you cannot deliver every problem you have to my doorstep. Now, I didn't mind having Sui spend the night, but she had incessant questions. Now, she might only need a short time to recharge, but I need my sleep," Irene said, and only then said hello to the women.

The elevator doors opened and people started to follow Sandy to form a single file down the hallway.

"Who is that?" Irene asked.

"I should have included cranky under the section describe yourself. That would have cut down the number," Helena said to no one in particular.

"Irene," Myka said, drawing the woman in closer to her and away from the people who were in a single file now. "We…have something," she continued hesitating.

Helena couldn't understand why Myka was slow to share the good news. "While you were sleeping the night away, dear woman, we were solving yet another one of your infinite problems," Helena announced proudly and Myka wanted to give Helena all the credit.

Irene looked at Myka who seemed nervous and Helena who seemed quite pleased with herself. Only one of those things bothered her.

"She didn't clone me, did she?" Irene asked because it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

"Check back after you go through the applicants because if my suspicions are right, it might be our only alternatives to finding you a companion," Helena said back.

Irene understood the word applicants and how it might relate to her, but she got stuck on the word companion. "Can you interpret what she just said?" she asked Myka.

Helena threw her hands up in the air. "We'll be lucky if there's anyone left."

Millie watched in fascination as the women tried to all get on the same page. "If only they had those interpreter headsets like at the UN," she thought.

"What are you talking about?" Irene asked when Myka failed to provide any insight. "And who were those people?"

"I asked you if you needed someone and you said you did. Didn't care if it were a man, a woman, an orangutan with a PhD," Helena said, her hands on her hips now.

"You're authorizing this?" Irene asked, thinking this was for additional staff. "It's only temporary," she said, meaning that once the workshops were done, they wouldn't need them.

"Have more faith in yourself. You're difficult, but the right person will be able to see it through," Helena smiled.

Irene left confused, but feeling grateful that Helena listened to what she had said about being short staffed. Or at least she thought she had. The woman was slightly taken aback by the large number of people. "Do you know where Ms. Wells got these candidates from?" she asked Sandy who admitted she didn't know. She shrugged her shoulders and asked the first applicant to come in.

"Do you…have a resume?" Irene asked.

"I let my personality speak for itself," the man said and Irene knew right away, this was going to be trouble.

"I find it helpful to see what kind of experience you've had," Irene pointed out.

"Oh, don't worry," the man said, shoving his thumbs in his waistband and pulling his pants up. "I have plenty of experience."

"What …position are you applying for?" Irene asked, hoping to weed out the ones looking for full time work.

"Hey, I've a very versatile lover. Whatever position works for you, I'm sure I can accommodate," the man said and Irene pulled back in her chair and clutched her chest.

"Excuse me?" she said, wide-eyed and confused.

"Whatever works for you," he said again, but this time he winked.

"Would you…excuse me…for just a moment," Irene said and asked the man to wait outside her office. Then she went to the line and asked the people in front what they were there for.

"I saw your profile on Sensational Seniors," a man said, who Irene noticed was holding a small bouquet of flowers. That reminded her of the flowers Myka sent her. Had Myka been a part of this?

"Walking along beaches at sunset, sipping Margaritas…," the next one said, quoting from Irene's profile.

"Into new experiences," …a 40-something year old woman said.

"Oh, dear God! What…is Sensational Seniors?" Irene asked and prayed they didn't confirm her fear that it was a dating sight. Wells Corp must have been hacked.

The woman moved up alongside Irene and showed her the webpage on her phone with Irene's picture and profile.

"There's been…there's been a mistake," Irene said and people started to complain. "I do apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. You see, my friends were trying to be helpful, but something has come up and I'm afraid I could be going away for a long time…," Irene said and looked directly at them.

"How long?" they questioned.

"Six to ten, depending on the judge," Irene said, because she wanted to strangle someone.

The crowd dispersed, except for one guy who promised to wait.

"Hey, Mrs. F, nice turnout. And that was just the first wave of happy contenders," Claudia said because Helena had given her the impression Irene knew all about this. "I wouldn't interview your dates on company time, thought. The HR Director is strict about that kind of stuff," the techie winked, poking her elbow at Irene.

"You did this?" Irene asked and her tone lacked anything that sounded remotely grateful.

"I…I….I….," Claudia stammered because she was realizing that Irene wasn't happy. She bit her lip and pointed up to indicate the culprit was on the floor above her.

Irene started to walk to the elevators, but had to make one stop first.

"Mom, I didn't wrestle him to the ground." Myka said to her mother who just heard about the story of Myka taking care of Ted Grayson.

"Myka, it's not ladylike to rough anyone up," Jeannie said, worried that the New York City lifestyle was corrupting her daughter as she always suspected it would.

"Mom, I handled it the way I saw fit, and I'd do it all over again the same way," Myka pushed back gently. "Ok, Mom, I love you, too. Say hi to daddy for me," Myka said and hung up.

She was feeling pretty good about the way she handled her parents. She could see the change in herself; how she didn't get upset by the things they misconstrued, and didn't feel guilty about not taking the advice they offered even when she didn't want it.

Yes, Myka was feeling very mature about that milestone as she looked out the window in her office.

Then she turned around and jumped as Irene stood there with her arms crossed and her brow furrowed.

Myka held onto the back of her chair as she steadied herself and tried to catch her breath, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "Oh, Irene! I didn't see you ….that was my mother…I was…on the phone."

"Let's go," Irene said and started walking back to the doorway.

"I'm sorry?" Myka said and was surprised at the directive. Usually Helena was in the room when she heard it.

"I want to get to the bottom of this and since you openly admitted your part by sending the flowers, I thought I'd save myself the time and meet with you both," Irene explained and it seemed like a rational idea to Myka.

"Oh, well…you know…we just thought…," Myka – who was just crowned the Badass Princess of Manhattan, scurried to catch up to Irene on the elevator.

"She might be the Badass Princess," Millie said to herself as the elevator door closed, "But Mrs. F is the Queen,"

Sui announced them just as Irene was opening the door and going through. "My two favorite people," Helena said, getting up to greet them because she was still in the afterglow of last night's foreplay.

"I never thought I'd see the day when I had to figure out what both of you did," Irene said, pointing to the couch for both of them to sit down.

Myka tried to shake the feeling that was reminiscent of the one time she was called into the principal's office for passing a note. "This is ridiculous," she told herself and tried to calm down.

"Helena, those people that were here," Irene began. "They weren't here for a job."

"Do you notice most of our conversations center around …..you?" Helena pointed out, as she felt it was her duty.

"How did they get here?" Irene started her inquisition.

"You told Myka you were lonely, in need of companionship. Well, they are the dozens of people applying for the job - and God knows it is a job that requires multiple skill sets. So, start interviewing them to see which one fits your needs. But please, just pick one and get on with it. I've already devoted a great deal of time to this," Helena said, exasperated.

Irene had heard a great many things out the woman's mouth that she found unbelievable, but this was hard even for her. "These people were….applying to ….be…my companion?" Irene asked and looked at Myka first.

"Helena…we…may…have misinterpreted…," Myka started slowly, her throat getting dry.

"We did not, Myka! She told you and then she told me …clearly," Helena said defensively. "Don't give her an inch, darling, she'll take a yard."

Irene looked down at her watch and then realized it didn't matter that she didn't have time for charades. "Let's imagine, if we can, that I don't know what the two of you are talking about. If we can," Irene repeated.

"Do you see?" Helena said, because she often felt Myka didn't believe her when she complained about how obstinate Irene could be. "Your issue with being alone? Wanting a companion? You told Myka…. 'We all yearn for connection' and when I spoke to you, madam, you specifically said, and I quote – 'Helena, I desperately need someone, but I know there's no one out there'. Now if that isn't a cry for help, I don't know what is," the CEO said irked.

"You thought….?" Irene asked, looking first at Myka because she was more surprised at her. "You?"

Myka read the surprise expression in Irene's tone and felt embarrassed that they would do such a bad job at interpreting what she said. "This is really all my fault."

"Fault?" Helena exclaimed. "Oh no, we were helping. She came to us with a request and we took care of it. Now, did you pick someone?"

"I think we misinterpreted…," Myka said softly.

"Helena, when I was talking to Myka, I meant we all want connection to others; family, friends, lovers. I have that, sometimes more than I want," Irene said and Myka pulled her lips in not to laugh.

And then Irene did what she excelled at – she let Helena down gently.

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear, Helena. When you asked me about getting someone, I was so wrapped up in the workshops that I thought you meant additional help," Irene explained.

This didn't compute with the genius. She was certain she had been right. Even Myka was on her page.

"You know, I may not always be here at Wells Corp," Helena pointed out.

"And….," Irene inquired, not quite understanding the segue.

"And so you might get bored being retired and want to travel and need companionship," Helena pointed out.

"So when…you leave, I'll be retiring?" Irene questioned the equation out loud.

Helena frowned and shook her head as if to say….Duh! "Why would you….," Helena questioned because she felt the only reason Irene was there was because she was.

"So, you thought the answer to my future quandaries is on a site called, Sensational Seniors?" Irene asked.

"Well, yes," Helena said, as she thought about it. "You qualify as a senior …I think, and you believe you're sensational, of that I'm certain," the linguistic master reasoned out.

Myka watched as her wife jumped from the frying pan into the fire. Myka bowed her head knowing this was not going to end well for her wife, whose heart was in the right place, but whose mouth was going to mess things up. "This really was my fault, Irene. I mentioned it to Helena and so your subsequent conversation because confused."

"Thank you, Myka. No need to apologize. We straightened it out. But Helena makes a good point," Irene said, getting up. "My life is devoted to this place. Perhaps that's not such a good thing, and I should pursue other interests."

"There you go!" Helena said, pleased they taught Irene something new and feeling relieved.

Myka didn't share in that sentiment. She knew Irene well enough to know that she excelled at being subtle.

Even when it came to teaching Helena a lesson.