April 14, 1912 3:22 pm
Helen didn't bother with a swim cap. She slipped on her bathing suit and bathrobe. Helen tied on an overcoat, almost as an afterthought and headed to the Turkish bath.
The large sauna was in itself nothing special, but lavish decor and attention to detail made it look much fancier. The builders had used Moroccan tile mosaic and tinted glass to give the room an exotic Arabian knights look. Helen examined the doorway as she stepped through.
Her long blonde curls frizzed the moment she walked into the steam filled room, but she hardly cared. She slid off her overcoat and hung it on a wall hook then sat back with her eyes closed.
She felt like Scheherazade, out of the depths of time and into a magical oasis.
Have you ever noticed his eyes? Helen heard her younger self ask.
"Huhn?" Nikola closed the book he had been reading from. "Who miss Magnus?"
Helen laughed and rolled over into the grass. Nikola stayed in the middle of the blanket they had laid out.
"Call me Helen, Nikola. Even James and Nigel call me Helen; and I've known you a year longer."
"Three hundred zeventy nine days, two hours und fifteen minutez." Nikola answered automatically. "I've known you for three hundred zeventy nine..."
Helen looked up in time to see the Serbian blush.
She liked the time she spent alone with the younger man. He seemed more relaxed with just her. He let his guard down, let her see a softer more humbled nature.
"Zey tell me it iz not proper to call a lady by her virzt name. It iz Dizrezpectful."
Helen snorted. "And since when have you ever bothered with what's proper?" Nikola had defied convention since the day they had met.
"Zat iz different." he waved an impatient hand. "You dezerve rezpect!"
It was Helens turn to blush. She crawled back over to the blanket as the young genius buried his nose in the book of poems. She took his hand and watched him tense up. Belatedly, she remembered Nikola s fear of germs.
"If you respect me, Nikola. Call me Helen. Don't treat me any different than you do the others. I'm not 'the oxford woman'. I'm your friend."
Nikola smiled and slowly took her hand.
"I know ve are friendz. Zat iz vhy I rezpect you." Nikola smiled and went back to his book. Helen settled into the small patch of daises and let Nikola s voice wash over her.
Her mind was on Druitt. A friend James had introduced them to last month. He was tall with charming manners. Polite and soft spoken. He seemed to immediately believe in her. John was perhaps the first to look at her like she had real potential.
Helen felt someone close beside her and looked up to see Nikola in the grass beside her. "Miss Magnus?" He gave a shy vampiric smile. "Vhat are you zinking ov?"
Helen blushed and looked back to the flowers, choosing her words carefully.
"Do you remember James friend? Montague Druitt?" Helen asked carefully. "The one we met last month."
Nikola stiffened. "Yez. Vhat about him?"
"Well. He's quite smart." She watched the younger man carefully
"If you're impressed by rhetoric." Nikola snapped the head off a daisy.
"And he's strong... and studying medicine." Helen didn't dare mention handsome. "And he's eager to learn. Very forward thinking. He was telling me... Nikola do listen to this." She turned her Serbian friend to face her. "He was telling me about this groundbreaking new science. In medicine. Most doctors stick to tried and true methods- even clinging stubbornly to disproven old wives tales. I was thinking, we could use a fifth."
"Four ov uz are plenty." Nikola answered almost automatically. "Too many ov uz und ve attract attention!"
"But Nikola! He's Prefect!!" Helen gasped/
And he was. Tall and handsome. With a voice like butter melting over a crumpet. Montague John Druitt was silk and velvet in a world of starched cotton... and there was something else. Something almost dangerous that made Helen trembles all over.
He had kissed her hand when they met. The moment his lips touched her skin, she wished feverently it was her mouth he held with such tender lips.
"Steady Ms. Magnus." Helen felt a pair of hands on her shoulders before she could topple over. She looked into Nikola s concerned blue eyes and smiled.
"Were stuck Nikola. It isn't the math and it isn't the equations. It's something you can't fix. We need fresh eyes. Fresh eyes with medical training. John would be perfect. And we need a fifth."
Nikola looked at Helen carefully. Perhaps it was the first time he couldn't read her. But she saw concern and doubt in his eyes. She gave him a reassuring smile. "James will vouch for him. I know John can help."
Nikola held her face in his hands and nodded slowly. His answer was in Serbian. The first thing he had said to her when they met. The last thing he would later say as a human.
"I trust you, Helen"
Helen roused herself from the steam induced slumber state. The warmth was starting to make her head spin. She stood slowly and ducked out of the steam room. The cool evening air hit her as the sunset over the prow, sliding down into the sea. There would be no moon Helen turned from the heavens and went to change. A quick supper in the cafe and an evening in the library sounded appealing.