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Every Tourist Deserves to See the Louvre
Helena sat in the hotel room, the dial tone the only sound. Slowly, she lowered the phone, replacing it on the receiver. Dead. Helena Oxley was dead.
She remembered the crash, remembered the hospital and the physical therapy. She also remembered getting into a fight with her parents after the fact. They thought she needed more PT and to move back home, so she jerked in the other direction and moved to DC.
But Helena Oxley died in that crash.
Helena sank to the floor, breaths coming in fast and shaky. If Helena Oxley was dead, then who the hell was she? Was she really Emilie Agreste?
No. No, she didn't have any memories of a life as Emilie Agreste; she remembered being Helena Oxley, even if she was supposedly dead. She remembered working with Mariana and going to college at… somewhere and high school with her friend… someone.
"Shit!" Helena leaped up and took a swing at the phone, throwing it into the wall. Where were her memories from before the crash? The doctor had said she'd have some trouble remembering things from before, but this bad? Was the year between the crash and the move to DC even real?
Knock, knock.
Helena tore her eyes away from the broken phone, and she crossed the room to open the door. Standing there was Gabriel's assistant with a garment bag in hand, the one who had been there at the airport. The one who chased after Adrien when he ran off.
"Mme. Oxley, M. Agreste asked me to bring this by-"
"Am I Emilie, Mme. Sancoeur?"
If the woman was surprised by her outburst, she didn't let it show. "Well you certainly seemed determined to deny the possibility earlier…"
"But do you think I'm Emilie Agreste?" Helena asked again.
Nathalie took a deep breath and held out the bag. "I can't say for sure if you're Mme. Agreste, but I am sure I never told you my name."
Helena took a deep breath and accepted the bag, looking at Nathalie's hand instead of at her. "Right," she whispered. "Thanks, Nathalie."
Nathalie nodded slowly. "Any time. The shoes are in there, too."
"Thanks," Helena whispered again, closing the door softly. She leaned back against the door, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. Why the hell had she agreed to this in the first place? She had a flight back to DC tomorrow and, aside from a passing resemblance to Emilie, no connection to Gabriel… even if Helena Oxley wasn't a real person or was dead or whatever the hell was going on.
A sob escaped her, bubbling up from god-knows-where, and she sank down to the ground.
It took her hours to calm down enough to function, and by that time, she needed to get ready for the gala. She hadn't brought any makeup different than her usual mascara and neutral eyeshadow, and she hadn't even thought about bringing anything to do her hair- her manager had mentioned something about the differing voltages frying anything she brought.
As a result, she just pulled her hair back in a simple bun and pinned the flyaways back as best she could, and she didn't bother changing her makeup at all, just reapplying what she'd rubbed off earlier.
She walked over to the garment bag laying over the couch, still not knowing what it looked like inside. "Alright, Gabriel, let's see how good of a designer you are," she sighed, pulling at the zipper.
Sapphire blue with diamonds on the corset-like bodice and dotted across the skirt, floor-length and flowing with enough room for her to move and a sheer layer atop it. There were no straps, but she knew it would fit perfectly. She picked up the shoes, admiring the golden heels, also relatively simple but still classy.
Helena couldn't help but smile, tears coming to her eyes. She'd never had the chance to wear anything like this, and she probably never would again. Maybe she could just… enjoy tonight. She took a deep breath, her resolve settling into firm determination.
Knock, knock, knock.
Helena opened the door, hoping she hadn't just revealed her mixed excitement and anxiety over the situation. Gabriel stood there with a necklace in his hand.
"Hi," she breathed.
"Hi." Gabriel hesitated, clearing his throat nervously. "I, uh, I got you this." He held up the necklace, revealing it to be a silver heart pendant.
Helena smiled, turning around. "Could you put it on me?"
She saw Gabriel lower the necklace in front of her, then felt his hands at the base of her neck as he clasped it. She turned back around, not sure how to continue. "I love it," she said. "Thank you."
Gabriel offered his arm. "Shall we go?"
Helena slipped her hand in the crook of his arm, a soft blush appearing on her cheeks. Her heart fluttered and butterflies filled her stomach. She hadn't felt this way since- ever. She'd never felt this way before.
They made it downstairs to the limo Gabriel had waiting, and Helena slid in. "This is… this is intense," she finally said as Gabriel closed the door.
He frowned at that. "Would you rather not go?" he asked. "Just say the word, and we can go somewhere else or you can go back up to your room or-"
"Not that," Helena said with a breathy laugh. "Just the dress and the necklace and the limo. I'm not used to any of this. And I know you only invited me because I remind you of Emilie, but it really means a lot to me to be able to live like this, even if it's just for the night. I'm like Cinderella."
Gabriel's frown changed a little bit- still a frown, definitely, but with a different emotion behind it. "You don't live well?" he asked.
Helena scoffed and shook her head. "I wouldn't say I live poorly, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it's totally different from this. I share- shared- a two bedroom apartment with three other people, and I had to sell out my lease to someone else to get enough money to come here. All of my belongings fit in a locker at the hotel I work at, and I spend my days scrubbing toilets and getting talked down to by self-important guests. I mean, there are good things in my life, too, I'm not discounting those, but this is like a fairy tale to me. Something that only happens in stories."
Hesitantly, Gabriel took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Well it's happening now," he said, "to you." He gave her hand a squeeze. "What about those good things in your life? What are they?"
"My roommates, mostly," Helena replied. "We met working together at the hotel and realized that we'd be better off living together than we would be separate. Ever since then, we've only grown closer. Over the week, we pool a quarter of our tip money, and every Saturday night, we all hang out in the living room and drink cheap wine and talk about shitty guests. We vote on who dealt with the worst one, and the winner gets the extra money. It usually goes to groceries anyway, but it's a fun way to vent.
"And DC itself is so beautiful if you ignore the swamp smell and the politicians. If I have free time, I go spend an hour by the reflecting pool on my days off."
Gabriel smiled the entire time she spoke, her hand still in his. "I want to give you money to buy back your lease," he said when she finished.
Helena's jaw dropped. "Wha- no- Gabriel, I can't accept your money. I shouldn't have even accepted this dress; I know you're only doing this because of the Emilie thing."
"It's not because of the Emilie thing." Helena raised an eyebrow at him. "It's not just because of the Emilie thing. You're an incredible woman, Helena, and you have this light about you that I can't describe. You deserve so much more than what you have, and I knew you wouldn't accept a house-"
"A house?"
"-so I thought buying back your lease was a good compromise."
"Gabriel, we've known each other for two days and have talked three times including this!" Helena declared. "You're blinded by grief, and I'm taking advantage of it!"
"Maybe you're not taking enough advantage of it!"
"This isn't a game, Gabriel! I'm not going to suddenly turn into Emilie if you feed me a piece of the high life!"
"I'm not trying to, and it's not a game to me, either!"
The Gorilla lowered the privacy screen and grunted, and Helena realized the limo had stopped. She let out a huff of air she'd been holding onto in her anger, and she looked out the window.
"Are we seriously here already?"
Gabriel sighed. "Can we please continue this conversation later?" he begged. "I'd like a chance to better explain my side."
Helena hesitated, then gave a single nod. "Fine," she whispered. "But my flight leaves tomorrow."
Gabriel nodded, sorrow in his eyes, which then drifted down to their still-joined hands. A bright red blush fell over his cheeks, and he let her go.
The Gorilla took their silence to mean they were done and got out of the car, walking around to open the door. Gabriel slid out first, then held his hand for Helena. She followed suit, looking up at the pyramid of the Louvre towering over them. The flashing of paparazzi cameras barely registered in her mind under the overwhelming presence of the museum.
"You never told me the gala was here."
A small smile worked its way onto Gabriel's face. "Every tourist deserves to see the Louvre," he teased, like they hadn't been arguing less than a minute ago.
She received no less than two dozen comments on how she must have been related to Emilie. In the three and a half hours they spent there, all her anger at Gabriel melted away in favor of watching him handle people who wouldn't accept her response that no, she was not Emilie, and no, she was not related to her. He waited, letting her rebuke people three times on her own (and sometimes they did get the hint) before stepping in and basically telling whoever she was talking with to leave her the hell alone.
It was embarrassing to admit, but she admired it. And each time he directed someone away from her, he made to to comment on the fact that she'd said no or told them to leave her alone three times. All of this he managed while maintaining a professional demeanor.
"That was impressive," she said as they left the Louvre.
He smiled a bit. "Thank you," he replied. "Would you like to go back to the mansion or the hotel to continue our conversation?"
Her face fell; she'd forgotten about that. "How about your place?" she asked.
Gabriel nodded, then told the Gorilla where to go as they approached. The drive back was silent, as was the walk up to Gabriel's room- a walk that she led, she was loathe to notice. Gabriel didn't once try to turn her one way or the other, but soon enough, she found herself in a room with a king-sized bed and a few personal touches that told her the story of its inhabitants. Everything in there was pristine save a vanity that likely hadn't been touched in the past two years.
"I don't want to treat you like some Cinderella story, or like Emilie," Gabriel began. "You're not her, I know you're not, but I still like being around you. And I'm okay with you taking advantage of that, but I don't think you are because you feel it, too."
For a moment, Helena didn't respond, her eyes fixated on the vanity. Makeup and jewelry were scattered over it, and she could picture herself running late and lazily leaving an eyeshadow palette open there.
She tried not to think about how right Gabriel was, how she was starting to think she may actually be connected to Emilie somehow. He was nice, and if this turned out wrong, she would only hurt him.
"You won't hurt me."
Helena turned to look at Gabriel. "You a mind reader now?"
"Empath." He said it like it was a joke, but something gnawed at Helena telling her otherwise.
She walked up to him, until they were practically chest-to-chest, and she put her hands on his shoulders. Again, a little voice whispered in her head don't do it, don't do it, don't do it. Again, she did it anyways.
Slowly, Helena leaned in, giving Gabriel a soft kiss on the lips. Her head had been spinning all day, but kissing him was like coming home.
They pulled back, each gauging the other's reaction.
Gabriel cleared his throat nervously. "Can we, um, can we do that again?"
Helena nodded, then leaned in for another kiss, this one deeper and more passionate than the first. If the first felt like coming home, this one felt like getting thrown on a roller coaster filled with twists and turns and loop-di-loops. Her heart raced in her chest, and her skin felt like it was on fire.
They barely pulled apart long enough for Helena to whisper, "I need you," before she dove back in, and Gabriel was all too happy to oblige.