My apologies for confusing (and upsetting) some of you - due to the ill-written ending - it sounded as if Jack was back. He's not. He gave someone else Tommy Boy's private phone number.
And I'd like to apologize in advance if the song that I took this title from gets stuck in your head the way it is stuck in mine. (day...by ...day).
And thank you to QLB for suggesting what a real casual outfit might look like. I needed Claudia to help with that and she will.
Getting to Know You
When Eileen was finishing up her work, Claudia stopped in to see if she wanted to join them for drinks. Eileen was more than happy to and called her mother to say she would be late. She put the IPad down on the desk with the outfit that she had ordered for Helena that afternoon.
"A little fancy for work, don't you think?" Claudia said.
"Oh that's not for me. I was trying to help Ms. Wells dress casual for her dinner date, and I think I failed," Eileen confessed.
"You are one walking guilt machine. How did you fail?" Claudia asked.
"Well, I thought my casual was too casual and so I thought I'd start by taking it down a few notches by showing her the camouflage look, but she wanted the blouse, the shoes, the bag," Eileen said getting in the elevator with her wiser friend.
"Dude, Helena does not do casual. We are so going to have to get her an outfit for your walking tea tour. Chucks! Yes, green chucks, and a hoodie. And an "I heart NYC" t-shirt," Claudia screamed.
"Oh my gawd, she would look great in that, but we could never get her to do that," Eileen said.
"We can't, but I know someone who could get her to get a belly button ring and a tattoo in the same sitting," Claudia schemed. "Let's go plan her outfit!"
"A Yankees cap!" Eileen squealed because it would look so good on her boss.
"What was that music I heard when I entered?" Helena wondered out loud.
It reminded Myka that she had been blasting "Getting to Know You," from the Broadway musical on an old stereo that she brought with her. She had silenced it when she went to answer the door.
"Do you know the King and I?" Myka asked.
"I think you mean the Kind and me, darling. Yes, I know you," Helena answered sweetly. "Now of which King do you speak?"
Myka's face broke into a wide grin. "You are incredibly adorable, do you know that – even when you're correcting my grammar."
"I know a great deal about myself, but that's not an adjective I would use," Helena said. "Oh, but I guess Ms. Sullivan's behavior is that of adoring, so then it would stand to reason I would be - adorable," the literary genius parsed out.
Myka's grin turned to laughter at the literal analysis. "Oh yes, she adores you. Of that I have no doubt," Myka said.
"And you, Myka Bering?" Helena asked slowly putting the wine glass to her lips and sipping.
"And me what, Helena Wells?" Myka asked coyly.
"Do you adore me?" Helena answered.
"Long before I met you," Myka answered and went into the kitchen to bring out a plate of toasted bread with a dab of bruschetta on each.
"That's not fair. You adored my writing, my creativity, my literary genius, my linguistic scope. You adored me as a man. Now you know the real me – the brilliant entrepreneur, the forefront inventor and scientist, the woman," HG all but pouted.
Myka shook her head slightly. "I adore your modesty," Myka laughed, but Helena scoffed.
"I've spoken only truths and yet you impugn my integrity," Helena said faking her annoyance.
"You're right. If there is one thing you are very honest about, it is about yourself," Myka said continuing the tease, but it gave Helena pause. Was that true?
Helena stared at Myka as she thought about that question. It wasn't that she had lied about anything, but she hadn't told her everything yet either. There was a difference, Helena concluded.
"You mean the musical with the score by Rogers and Hammerstein. It is based on the 1944 novel - Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. She wrote the story based on the memoirs of Anna Leonowens who was governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. Something, I am pleased to say, that was before my time," Helena laughed.
Myka didn't mean to stare, but she couldn't help it. She always prized intelligence and here she was, standing with one of the brightest people the world had ever seen. Helena was the real deal, the whole package and Myka marveled that she could even hold a conversation with her.
"What are you doing with me?" Myka said, not out of insecurity so much as wonder.
Oh the answers that flashed through the Time Traveler's mind. She lowered her head, took a sip of wine and through those naturally thick eyelashes asked; "Whatever do you mean?"
It brought Myka back from contemplation. "Nothing," Myka smiled and offered Helena some of the appetizer.
"So what is it about your meal that makes it ala Bering?" Helena asked as she followed Myka into the kitchen when she went to check on the meal.
"An old family secret ingredient," Myka said stirring the sauce in a large pot on the stove. "Here taste," she said as she put a little on a clean wooden spoon and offered it to Helena. "Be careful, it might be hot," Myka said and Helena's eyes started to smolder with interpretation.
Helena leaned in and opened her mouth slightly for Myka to feed her. There was only so much suppression Helena could do. Myka put the spoon on Helena's bottom lip and waited for her to take it in. The Brit put her hand on Myka's wrist and gently and slowly pushed the spoon into her mouth. She was too busy staring at Myka's eyes to notice temperature. "It's delicious," she said finally swallowing.
"Oh good! I'm so glad you like it," Myka said pleased. She pulled the spoon back - and a little bit of the sauce fell down onto Helena's white blouse. "Oh Helena, I'm so sorry," Myka said and ran quickly to the refrigerator for club soda and a dishtowel.
Helena assured her it was okay and not to bother because she could see how upset Myka was, but stopped talking when her host shoved her hand into her blouse to hold the material out as she rubbed the stain with the club soda soaked towel.
"This should do the trick," Myka said too concerned about the stain on the expensive blouse to realize the back of her hand was now pressing into Helena's left breast.
Helena clenched her teeth and tried to breathe, but she was pretty sure she wasn't. The touch of Myka's skin on hers was titillating and she feared Myka would feel her heart pounding and stop. Myka's quick actions saved the blouse, but threw Helena into a spiral.
'I am not going to be able to watch spaghetti slide through those lips,' Helena thought to herself.
"There, I did it!" Myka said relieved that she got the stain out.
"Indeed you did," Helena said back and didn't mean the thorough cleaning.
"May I ask you a question," Myka asked completely unaware that her actions just made Helena speechless. Helena nodded her head instead.
"Why do you have a GPS locator in your….," Myka said and looked down at the area she meant.
"That…is a very good…question," Helena said taking a sip of wine to get her voice back. "You met some of the people I used to work with. My fear was that they might …demand my attendance at a future date…and as you can see, they don't take no for an answer. So I devised a subcutaneous tracker and asked Ms. Donovan to inject it."
"Oh," Myka responded. It did answer her question, yet she was still curious. "Do you think they would try to do that now? Or are they officially done with you?"
"I don't know if they are ever officially done with you, as you put it. They seem to have trouble acknowledging the tie is severed when you leave," Helena said. "Also, they get very upset when you take something out of the Warehouse," Helena said emphasizing the word 'out'.
"You mean like when we took you?" Myka asked, checking the bread warming in the oven.
"No, I mean when you remove an item that is logged into their computer as belonging there," Helena said and Myka noticed she was not looking her in the eye.
"Did you remove something?" Myka asked because she could tell that was sign of something.
"I took what belonged to me," Helena said.
"Well, if it belonged to you, why wouldn't they allow you to take it," Myka asked. This line of questioning was second nature to the lawyer. Myka was quickly learning that when an answer didn't flow rapidly from her friend, there was a really good reason.
"These are beautiful," Helena said of the Waterford stem glasses on the table set for two.
"You do know I have a law degree, yes? And that I was trained in how to get the answers I want, even from the most evasive witnesses. So avoiding my questions really won't do you any good," Myka said to the guilt ridden guest.
"Is that spaghetti done? I'm starving," Helena lied.
"You are a terrible liar. You better never be on the opposite side of me in court," Myka teasingly threatened.
"I may have …removed something …the last time we were there," Helena said.
"The last time? You mean the only time – the other day?" Myka asked, stirring the spaghetti in the boiling water.
"Yes," Helena said.
"You took something? When?" Myka wondered.
"When you told me not to come in with you when you spoke to the Regents. I went for a walk…into the Warehouse and took back the crystal from my Time Machine," Helena said.
"The crystal from your ….Time Machine. Of course," Myka said trying to grasp that. "Because it does not work …without it?"
"Yes," Helena said.
"And you …want it to work?" Myka asked fearful on the answer.
"No, I mean I don't plan on using it," Helena said and Myka let out a sigh of relief.
"But you wanted the crystal?" Myka asked.
"It's mine," Helena said explaining her motive.
"Yes, I guess technically it is and I'd have no problem proving that if we were talking about a bicycle that you had a receipt for," Myka said.
"Why would you have to substantiate anything?" Helena asked.
"Well, if you're right about the Regents not keen on losing any of their inventory, they might subpoena you to retrieve the item. It would be my job to prove that you are the rightful owner, and that they had possession on your behalf, but not ownership," Myka thought out.
"Ah," Helena said taking a bite of a crunchy bread stick. "I forgot that I now retain the best lawyer there is."
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Myka said putting her head back and allowing a cooked strand of spaghetti to slip through her lips to test its readiness.
"Oh, I'm counting on that," Helena said into her glass of wine as she drained it of its contents.
Myka readied the pasta and scooped two helpings of it onto two plates. Then she ladled some sauce and small meatballs onto the spaghetti. She placed the plates down on table that was set in the adjoining dining area. She gathered the bread and placed it in a small basket and brought in the freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
"I hope this isn't too high in calories for you," Myka said of the spread.
'I can think of ways to burn it off,' boomed in Helena's mind, but her mouth assured Myka it was fine.
"Helena," Myka said as she sat across the small table from her. "I was going to ask you to do something later after dinner. I don't know if you like to... do that sort of thing, but it's perfectly fine if you don't want to, ok?" Myka said and a long strand of pasta slipped between those lips making a smacking sound and making Myka laugh at the noise.
'That sort of thing?' Helena thought to herself. 'Yes I like to do that sort of thing. Oh God, let her sort of thing be my sort of thing,' Helena prayed as she smiled and said 'of course.'
Helena had told Pete that she would text him when…and she meant if…..she was ready to come home and that he shouldn't wait. He drove to meet up with Claudia, Steve, and Eileen at the bar on 34th Street. About an hour into their socializing, he got a text.
"Hey guys, I gotta go," he announced drinking the last of his Coke. "My mother wasn't supposed to be here until Friday night, but she just texted that she's in New York. Thanks for getting those tickets, Eileen," Pete said because the assistant had gotten him the best seats in the house.
"OK, and let me know if you want your Mom to come on the Tea Tour with Ms. Wells and Ms. Bering and me," Eileen said and Pete said he would ask her.
"Why not bring your mother?" Claudia asked after he left.
"Oh no, I don't think that would be a good idea. My parents have this awful idea about Ms. Wells cause I work late and all. Someday maybe," Eileen said as she said goodnight and went home, too.
"I'd marry that girl if she asked me to," Claudia said of the youth.
"Hell, I'd marry her if she asked me," Steve said.
Does that help at all? Love your feedback as always.