Aftermath (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
Irene waited for Myka outside Helena's office. They both shared a light laugh when they overheard Helena say to Eileen – "If anything about this tea has changed, I'm going to shoot you."
"Myka, I wanted to talk with you," Irene said as they returned to the 16th floor. "I don't want you think that I'm just making things up for Helena to do."
"No, I know she asked you to ….," Myka said, and then wasn't sure how to correctly state what Helena had done. "She wants you to be…more…uhm….."
"Yes, she does and I understand it," Irene said, saving Myka the trouble.
"You do?" Myka asked, as they walked into the lawyer's office so they could talk. "Of course you do."
"I admit, it took me a few minutes. But Myka, that's not why I am going to strongly encourage her to do this yoga and meditation," Irene said, sitting down in a chair by Myka's desk.
"No?" Myka asked. Just when she thought she understood their relationship, something came along to surprise her.
"Oh heavens no! Myka, I thought about what she did this morning. She marched over there because I met with her competitor, and I worry she'll want to see Mr. Martino tomorrow," Irene shared.
"I told her I wouldn't stop her," Myka said, biting her lip, worried that was a mistake.
Irene let out a soft chuckle. "As if either of us could stop that force of nature if she got it in her head to do something. Well, perhaps you could," Irene smiled. "But I realized, Myka, that Helena will go to great lengths to protect us – even if we don't need it. As she proved this morning, she just has to think we need it and she's off."
"She is very …..," Myka smiled and got lost in the tingling sensation that erupted inside her when she thought of how sexy Helena was when she was her Knightress in ….
"Myka?" Irene called a third time, bringing the lawyer slowly out of that dream. Myka blushed and Irene let out a sigh to think she was talking to part of the problem, not part of the solution.
"Sorry, I get….," Myka said, the color rising in her cheeks as she took a paper and fanned herself. "Is it warm in here?" she laughed, self-consciously.
"Not on this side of the desk. Myka, I realized that if Helena is like this with us, what will she be like with …..," and Irene stopped to make sure she had the woman's full attention. "Children."
"Oh, Helena is very protective of …..." Myka affirmed and then noticed the look in Irene's eyes. She wasn't talking about just any children. "Oooohhhh…..," Myka finally let out. "You mean….,"
"Exactly. If we don't help her now, one day she'll be terrorizing schools and playgrounds. She'll be banned from the PTA meetings, soccer fields, oh, and piano recitals. I don't know about you, but I can only put out so many fires in a day," Irene said, tired by just the thought of what her day would look like then.
"I see your point," Myka said, getting a very clear image of what Helena on wheels would be like. "Do you think this will help?"
"Probably not," Irene said, truthfully, "But it is worth a try. I believe Helena does take in what you say to her and on occasion, what I say."
Myka laughed out loud. "Are you kidding? She didn't touch her phone the entire honeymoon and I swear it was because she heard your voice in her head."
"Well, I would hope you did plenty to keep her busy," Irene laughed and then quickly cleared her throat to get back to the topic at hand.
"We make a good team, Irene," Myka said, smiling because she knew how much Irene cared for her wife.
"We certainly do," Irene said, getting up and giving Myka a hug before she left.
Upstairs, Helena was enjoying her cup of tea that was exactly as she expected it to be. "Oh thank the gods," she said as the warm liquid slipped over her lips.
"Are you going to see Sam Martino tomorrow?" Eileen asked because it was the next logical step after visiting Ted Grayson.
Helena looked up at the woman who had done a fine job of handling things in her absence. Helena thought back to a time when the protégé cowered in her presence. Now, the young woman stood there, confidently. If the CEO did act on her impulse to see Sam, she wondered what message it would give Eileen? Helena motioned for Eileen to sit down.
"Miss Sullivan, you demonstrated remarkable skill in handling the projects I left you in charge of. I am neither surprised nor impressed," Helena said and watched as Eileen's expression deflated. "Because …," her boss said, waiting for her to make eye contact. "I knew you could do it." Eileen's eyes brightened again instantly. "What did impress me was the way you handled the Grayson-Martino issue. I'm not sure I would have even thought to approach it quite the way you did," Helena continued her soliloquy with sincerity. "It seems to have worked so far, so I applaud your clear thinking in the matter."
Helena's faith in someone was like a shot of adrenaline. Eileen stood up and thanked Helena for giving her the opportunity. "I will always do what's best for Wells Corp in these matters," Eileen said and quickly added, "And you."
"Of course you will, my dear. You're a Wells," Helena said, smiling.
"And a Sullivan," Eileen added and there was no apologetic tone in her voice.
Helena looked up and saw the look in Eileen's light eyes. She was definite and secure in what she said.
"Indeed you are," Helena said and turned back to her work. She wondered if that wasn't the Sullivan part that helped her young charge handle the matter so calmly after all.
Eileen left the office and ran into Claudia, who was pacing outside. "Are you okay?" Eileen asked, because it was obvious Claudia was quite nervous.
"Is she in a bad mood? I heard she was in a bad mood! Who comes back from their honeymoon in a bad mood? I mean, hasn't she straightened out enough people already? What did I do? She's mad because of what I said this morning," Claudia ranted.
Eileen took her girlfriend by the forearms and held her steady. "Deep breath," she instructed and Claudia did – after she realized you had to be breathing to take a deep one in. "Now, she was pleased with your updates in the Directors' meeting," she reminded the techie.
"Yes, but I think this is about….," Claudia said and looked around. "…something else."
"What else?" Eileen asked and Helena's door flew opened.
"Would any time today work for you, Ms. Donovan?" Helena asked and her tone wasn't pleasant. When Helena Wells asked to see you immediately, she meant it.
Claudia shut her eyes and actually let out a high pitched yelp. "Yes," she said, as Eileen assured her it would be okay. Helena just threw her head back, thinking it was par for the course today. Why couldn't people just ease back into things as easily as she did?
"Thank you for joining me," Helena said sardonically because she was, after all, the boss.
"I'm sorry. I was here, but I guess I was worried and Eileen told me not to be, but I thought maybe you were upset by the way I barged in this morning….," Claudia rambled.
"Breathe, Ms. Donovan, breathe," her boss said compassionately.
Claudia calmed down as soon as she heard Helena was calm. Almost. "Okay, okay," Claudia said collecting her thoughts.
"I just saw the news item about Ted Grayson after he was released from the hospital. He was insisting that he had proof and was going to play the video of our meeting this morning. And when he did…..," Helena said, tapping her keys to bring up the video and replay it.
Claudia watched as Ted Grayson angrily insisted this would prove to everyone what really happened when Helena Wells assaulted him. Then he pressed the keys on his laptop, which was open to the cameras. Instead of the replay of what he expected would be Helena threatening him, then pummeling him, the video of the Road Runner cartoon appeared. There on his screen, was the anvil falling on Wile E. Coyote. The expression on Ted's face was priceless, as he pressed the keys frantically, trying to make it stop.
"Was that your idea?" Helena asked and Claudia nodded her head, unsure of what Helena thought.
Helena looked back at the screen and pressed the resume button and watched as the Road Runner sped past his nemesis saying his famous tag line.
"Beep beep," Helena said, and broke out in laughter. "Bloody brilliant, Ms. Donovan. What is this?" the Time Traveler asked.
"Road Runner cartoons? You never saw…? No, of course you never saw them," Claudia said, and quickly brought up YouTube on Helena's screen and showed her another one.
Claudia watched in fascination as her boss watched the short clip intently. Of course Helena was familiar with animation, but had never indulged in the Saturday morning genre of cartoons. There was something about the iteration by the Road Runner that she found funny. The only thing missing, Claudia thought, were two bowls of surgery cereal.
"Great job, Ms. Donovan. I knew I could count on you," Helena said, still smiling over the silliness of the effective ploy.
"Thanks, boss," Claudia said, feeling a hundred times better walking out than she did walking in.
All because of Helena.
To say that Helena's first day back was jam-packed would be an understatement. She left work with Myka and headed uptown to the townhouse.
"Excellent work today, Mr. Lattimer," Helena said to Pete.
"It's good to have you back," Pete said, because like for many of the Wells staff, life was rather dull when Helena wasn't around.
"I think they missed you," Myka teased, opening Helena's coat when they got inside their home.
"I think they missed us," Helena corrected her, as Myka slowly allowed Helena's coat to fall off. "God, I missed you," Myka confessed, cupping Helena's jaw and kissing her sweetly.
"How could you miss…," the scientist tried to calculate since they had spent a great deal of the day together.
"Don't talk," Myka instructed as she ran her hands up Helena's thighs.
"You're very bossy, Mrs. Bering….ooooohhhh," Helena let out as Myka's hands pulled Helena's haute couture up over her hips. Fabric was easily pushed aside as Myka made no haste in finding the spot that made Helena moan and giggle all in one burst.
"And you have missed me," Myka said confidently as she leaned into Helena and captured her wave of moans.
Myka supported Helena as the ability to stand left her body. "Let's go upstairs…," Myka suggested when Helena regained her strength and started to pull Myka towards the stairs as the lawyer screamed with delight.
Inside the kitchen, Leena moved around preparing the meal as if nothing was going on. Finally, she heard the commotion of stomping feet going ungracefully up the stairs in a hurry and then the bang of the bedroom door as the newlyweds pulled at each other's clothes and fell into the sea of blankets on the bed.
"Newlyweds," Leena laughed as she wrapped up the dinner that could be warmed later at a moment's notice.