INTEGRITY (by Gary Dodd)
Irene Frederic woke early the next day, but still wasn't up earlier than her roommate. He left her a note saying he had walked Bandit, made her coffee and was on his way to the office. He had sent the departmental updates to Helena and expected that she would want to meet with everyone later that day. He was already at the office making sure everything was in order when Irene got up.
Andrew was waiting outside for Irene to take her to work. Steve was waiting at the Penthouse for Eileen and Claudia, and Pete was at the airport waiting for the brides to arrive. Helena and Myka had a nice return flight, sitting next to one another and holding hands.
"I will miss you today," Helena said, leaning into Myka.
"Remember, I will be on the floor beneath you," Myka smiled.
"Actually, that image will get me through the day rather nicely," Helena said, making Myka laugh.
When Pete saw the plane arrive, he texted everyone at the office. "They're back!" In spite of Helena's sweet fatigue, she looked ready to take on the world as she descended the steps of her jet.
Back at Wells Corp, staff members were rushing around in the hallways, making sure everything was in place. They knew what it was like when their CEO returned from a vacation. Helena usually found it necessary to make sure there was no mistaking who was in charge. They had all come to accept it as Wells Corp's version of the post- vacation twenty-four hour bug – Helena going viral when she first came back.
Irene was quite confident that it would be a smooth transition for everyone after getting a text from Eileen that she was ready to prepare Helena's tea. Then Irene stepped off the elevator onto the 17th floor and faced her first problem. Sui Generis was missing – and in his place was apparently a temporary staff member that Irene had never seen before.
"Excuse me?" Irene said, walking faster than usual to his desk.
"Good morning, Mrs. Frederic. Everything is in order," the unfamiliar man said to her.
"The hell it is," Irene said, knowing Helena would not appreciate having a stranger at her front desk. "Where is Mr. Generis?" she asked urgently.
Helena was the very definition of a place for everything and everything in its place when it suited her.
"Mrs. Frederic?" the man said as he stood up. Irene was certain she had never seen the man who appeared to be in his late twenties, with chestnut brown skin with light eyes. He wore a white shirt and dark blue suit that hugged his body like a candy wrapper. Irene wondered how someone better suited for the runway, found his way to this desk.
"You cannot be here," Irene said. "No, no, no," she repeated because the text that said they were nearby.
"Mrs. Frederic, it is I," the man said and Irene looked around to see where she could stuff him before the doors opened. "I am Sui, Mrs. Frederic."
The woman stopped in her tracks. She frowned and stared at the man whose voice now sounded familiar, but shared no other similarity with the android. "I am changing," he announced proudly.
"Change back!" the woman said, not even sure she believed this was her companion.
"I wanted to be more like you," he said and now Irene stared wide-eyed at him.
"Oh my!" Irene said, her mouth dropping open. Her phone vibrated to signal she should be downstairs. "Don't move. Don't…do ..anything."
Sui nodded his head and went back to answering the phone. Irene made her way to the elevator and went down to the lobby to greet Helena and Myka.
The press was waiting for Helena and Myka at the Wells Corp building. They had been fooled once; they weren't going to let it happen again. "How was the honeymoon?" someone shouted and both women said it was wonderful. They walked in and greeted the security guards and staff who were welcoming them back.
"Now darling," Helena said as they walked towards Irene, "…don't be dismayed if I sound a little assertive with the staff this morning. There are some issues that I have to take care of. Things that happened in my absence that concern me."
Myka looked at Helena who had spent the car ride from the airport reading her updates. "Helena, you know I trust your decisions to handle things as you see fit," Myka said.
"Welcome back!" Irene said and hugged Helena and then Myka. "You look wonderful!" she said and walked them to the elevator.
"How are you, Irene?" Myka asked and Irene told her she couldn't be better.
"I trust everything is set up?" Helena asked of the meeting with the Directors.
"Of course. Now, how was the honeymoon?" Irene asked enthusiastically and Myka relayed what a wonderful time they had.
Helena was bemused as to why Myka couldn't see through this façade that Irene was putting on. She could tell from the woman's tone something was up. She would have to educate Myka in the ways of Irene.
The doors opened on the 16th floor and Helena leaned over to kiss Myka. "I will see you later," Myka said and they heard the sound of Millie shrieking her hello and racing towards Myka.
Irene pressed the button to close the door as soon as Helena asked – "Can we fire her?"
"I'll get right on that," Irene said.
"Well, you're very compliant this morning," Helena said, stringing her friend along.
Irene turned and opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She simply didn't know where to begin to explain what Helena was about to witness.
"That's not an unbecoming look on you," Helena said of the HR Director's speechlessness as they walked off the elevator together.
"It is just so good to see you," Irene said and hugged the woman's shoulders, blocking her view of the front desk. But it was too late.
"It is good to see you, too, Irene. Who is that man?" Helena asked stopping and turning back. "Where is Mr. Generis?"
"Helena, now I ….," Irene started, but then realized she really didn't have anything to do with this. She stepped out of Helena's way. She took Helena's large bag from her.
"Welcome back, Ms. Wells," Sui said and Helena looked at him.
"Who are you?" she asked, not yet angry.
"It is I, Sui Generis," he said and Helena's head turned quickly to look at Mrs. Frederic.
"What…. did you do….. to him?" she asked quickly.
"Oh no, this ….he….came up with this on his own," Irene said, the day too young to tangle with her boss.
"What….?" Helena said, approaching the desk, but she wasn't sure what the question was.
"I spent a great deal of time with Mrs. Frederic, as you instructed," he started and now it was Helena who cast her gaze away from Irene. "She was most agreeable and not at all the way you had described how she would be," he continued and Helena put her hand up for him to stop. She could feel Irene's eyes on her now.
"Could we just get back to …..," Helena said and again she was unsure of the phrasing.
"I decided to become more like her," Sui summarized.
"You mean obstinate and annoying?" Helena asked, back on her game.
"Oh no, Mrs. Frederic is nothing of the sort," the android answered sincerely.
"OK," Helena said, taking in what occurred. "And you decided this on your own?" the Architect asked, feeling quite impressed.
"Yes," Sui said.
"Good," Helena said and turned back to Irene. "Here I was afraid you would get into his head. Instead, you got under his skin." With that, the CEO proceeded to her office.
When Helena was inside, Sui asked Irene when he should discuss the meditation schedule with his boss and Irene suggested he wait on that until later. She followed Helena into her office and said, - "It is good to have you back. You look wonderful."
"Thank you. I feel wonderful," Helena said, looking around her office. Something was out of place. She wished she had Myka's eidetic memory to make it easier.
"Have you had a chance to read the departmental updates?" Irene asked, putting the large bag on Helena's desk and taking out her tablet for her.
"You're rather nurse-maid-ish this morning," Helena said, suspiciously.
"What? No, I just know you have a lot to catch up on," Irene said, but Helena stood there with her arms crossed.
"Does your skittishness have anything to do with this?" Helena said, producing her phone. Irene looked down at the picture that she should have seen coming. A blocked number sent Helena a picture of Irene sitting at the table with Ted Grayson.
"That…..," Irene said, "…was the first thing I was going to discuss with you, so I would appreciate it if you would not cast those accusing eyes my way."
"I am all ears," Helena said as she sat down. She wasn't in the least bit worried and knew the picture was sent to rile her up, but it wasn't working. She kept looking around, trying to figure out what was wrong with her desk. Then she saw it. In the place of her Newton's Cradle – the five steel balls that she kept on the corner of her desk, was a gold circular metal gong in a frame.
"What ….is that?" Helena asked, her attention drawn to the new object.
"That?" Irene asked, unaware of its presence before now. "That ….is… we'll get back to that," Irene said.
"Did something happen in my absence that caused people to think they could take things upon themselves and act on them? Something that might have caused massive head traumas that would explain why people are meeting with my competitors and changing things in my office?" Helena said, and now she was serious.
"Which would you like me to explain first?" Irene said, sitting up straight in the chair.
"Let's start with the thing I am more concerned about," Helena said, pointing to the gong.
"Oh well, that was probably put there by Mr. Generis. He and I had a long discussion about ….some things and he was quite interested in sharing them with you, which he will do at some later date," Irene said and smiled.
"And this?" Helena said, showing Irene her phone.
"I asked Mr. Grayson to meet me last night," Irene started and Helena sat back in her chair.
"Yes, I can see that," Helena said.
"Helena, I will tell you everything, but please think before you act," Irene requested. Helena didn't answer. Irene explained what happened and that she went there to talk sense into the man. "I would suggest we have Claudia check all possible places your government employment information might be," Irene said. "He was looking for something."
"What did you tell him?" Helena asked.
"I told him you worked for the Internal Revenue Service," Irene explained and Helena scrunched up her face to express her distaste.
"Taxes? You told him I worked in …..accounting?" Helena asked.
"Well, I was going to go with secret government archives, but I thought that would only heighten his interest," Irene said flatly.
There was a light knock on the door and in walked Eileen, carrying a tray with Helena's tea. "Welcome back, Ms. Wells," Eileen said enthusiastically.
"Thank you, Miss Sullivan," Helena said as the young woman set the tray down and placed the cup in front of Helena.
"Oh, this is good," Helena said, taking her first sip. "Thank you for sharing your tea brewing with Mrs. Bering-Wells. She did splendidly," Helena said and Eileen smiled.
"Everything else okay, Miss Sullivan?" Helena said and Irene knew that tone immediately. She wasn't sure how, but Helena knew about Eileen going to see Sam.
Eileen looked at Irene – thinking now might be a good time to tell Helena about her DC excursion. Just then, there was a loud knock and Claudia burst through the door. "Did you tell her? Boss, before you do anything like … you know, like …kill the woman I love, I just want to say that it was my decision, too, and if you should be upset with anyone, it should be me because ….. oh, because I tracked him to DC and told her exactly where to go," Claudia said in one breath.
Irene shook her head and Eileen froze in her place. This wasn't the way she intended on updating Helena. But she did smile to think Claudia burst in to save her.
"DC, Miss Sullivan?" Helena said and waited.
"I…went … to see Mr. Martino," Eileen said. "…The tracer we…I…injected in him…..showed that he was at Mr. Grayson's apartment. We spent the week waiting to see if anything transpired between them. Finally, I decided that perhaps if I talked to Mr. Martino….," Eileen said.
"So you went to Washington?" Helena asked. "And did he listen?" Helena never stopped sipping her tea, which Irene took as a good sign. It meant that Helena was neither surprised nor angry.
"Ms. Wells," Eileen said and moved in a little closer, "….I do believe Mr. Martino does not want to upset Ms. Bering or cause her any more aggravation."
"He really seemed to listen," Claudia said, moving to stand next to Eileen.
Helena looked at Eileen and Claudia and then to Irene. "So, in my absence, you ….," she said, looking at Irene, "…try to talk sense into my competitor, and you…," she now looked at the young couple standing, "…travel to DC to talk to the insane ex-boyfriend of my wife."
Helena's summation was accurate and she didn't sound angry, but still, no one was breathing. "They had your best interest at heart," Irene said, in case her younger fellow staff members needed defending.
"Of that I have no doubt. I hope your efforts prove fruitful in both cases. Apparently, you have more faith in these men being reasonable than I do," Helena said. "Thank you for doing what you felt the situation called for."
"Really?" Claudia exclaimed with excitement. "That's it? You're not upset? You're not …going to scare us or kill us or lecture us or…," she ranted as her anxiety took over. Eileen pulled her gently to her side again. "I mean," the techie said, calming down. "We're good?"
Helena stared for a brief time at her. "Yes, we're good. Now, could you all hang up your ninja suits and do the jobs you were actually hired to do?"
"Yes!" Claudia said, grabbing Eileen and leaving. Helena looked at Irene exasperated. "I am back fifteen minutes and already my first three, make that four, encounters have been irritating."
"It will only get better from here, I promise," Irene said, getting up and taking her leave.
"Oh you can count on that," Helena said when Irene closed the door. She reached over and grabbed her cell phone. "Mr. Lattimer, please get the car and bring it to the back. It is imperative that no one sees you leave or find out where you are going. Can you do that? Good."
Helena walked into the small apartment to go to the private elevator so that no one would know she was leaving. Only as the door closed did she notice that there were brightly colored mats located in the middle of the floor. She had no time to figure out what they were doing there, or who had put them there.
Helena left the building without any staff members seeing her. She had instructed Sui that she did not wish to be disturbed and to not allow anyone in.
"Where to, boss?" Pete said, having made it there without discovery.
"Ted Grayson's office," Helena said, reapplying her lipstick and smiling when Pete stared back at her worried.
To see Sui's new appearance, visit Pinterest - ManhattaniteNYC - to see.