Chapter 35 – An Arrangement Of Sorts
~~~~August 27, 1893~~~~
The sight was a marvel, over 100 thousand bulbs illuminating 600 acres of fairground as brightly as if it were mid-afternoon.
All because of him.
The moment she had heard of his success, she knew she had to come, had to see his brilliance in action, and it was spellbinding.
Helen Magnus walked through the grounds of the World's Fair, her eyes blinking with the spectacle of color, light, music and culture; it was amazing. There was likely to never be an event such as this ever again, not like this, not with such magic.
She entered into the Electrical Exhibit. There were switchboards, displays of whirring and spinning technology, producing steam or sparks, and motion.
She recognized the weasel, Edison, promoting his so-called superior direct current. He captured a small audience before him, they watched, standing in awe of his words. Helen watched and listened, scoffing at his propaganda and slander of her dear friend.
Had it really been three years since she last saw him? She nearly blushed with the memory. Their last encounter had been…interesting. Nikola had proposed an experiment, she had been inclined to participate, things had heated up between the exponentially, then…
A loud voice broke from her thoughts. She knew that accent in a heartbeat and spun to its source. He always did know how to make an entrance.
Lightning was crackling from his fingertips, shooting into the air and then dissipating like a puff of smoke. The small audience Edison had managed to gather slowly edged away to the grand display Tesla was making.
Nikola was never good at explaining his genius, but he was a master at showing it.
Helen slowly made her way through the crowd, making sure to keep her head low. She didn't want him to spot her until she was ready.
Nikola started picking participants, Helen watched as his gentle hands escorted a giggly woman on to the platform. That woman had no idea the beauty of those hands, those masterful hands. Helen remembered them fully, the way they slid along her curves, soft and purposeful.
He whispered instructions into the woman's ear, his trimmed mustache moving ever so slightly with the curl of his lips, lips that had the power to command passion, and bruising heat, then softly kiss it away into bliss.
The woman took his hand, as per his instructions, and in the other she held a light bulb, like the many that lit up the entire room. Without the use of wires, or anything else for that matter, the light bulb lit up in the woman's hands, a collective gasp resounding from the audience.
The evening wore on; Tesla continued his demonstrations. Helen stayed glued to the spot, like most of the crowd, fixated on this sorcerer. She, of course, was thinking about something completely different.
Eventually, he bowed gracefully, sending out one last crack of lightning for good measure. The onlookers applauded in bewilderment then dwindling off to look at other exhibits.
Helen stayed where she was. A few (female) stragglers approached Nikola, giggling furiously. These types of women had always flustered Nikola, they were loud and came in packs, with wily fingers that threatened to reach out and ruin his suit jacket.
Helen sniggered watching him try to delicately tell them he was busy and wanted nothing to do with him.
She decided she would help him get out of this tough spot, just this once. For the first time that evening, she lifted her head to reveal her face under her large and feather hat, and met his gaze. In his eyes he saw all the discomfort and fear melt away as his mind registered the beautiful woman in front of him. He politely excused himself from the group of gabby girls and made his way over to her smoothly, a look of disbelief and amusement in his eyes.
"Helen?" he smiled slightly as he approached her. "You're here, I'd wondered if you'd come."
"Well, when one of your dearest friends wins the bid to light up the entire World's Fair, it's only decent to come and marvel at his triumph," she smiled back at him, allowing him to lift her hand up to his lips and kiss the top lightly, the gesture sending a small chill down her spine.
"And…" he chided smugly, a small twinkle in his eye.
"It's fantastic Nikola, absolutely fantastic," she adored the way his eyes lit up as she spoke, despite his smug grin.
"Have you seen Edison scowling all night?" Nikola smirked, whispering to her, pointing to the sour-faced American subtly. "The man is thinking he should've killed me when he had the chance. Then I was just a thorn, but now, I'm a veritable thorn bush, choking off any chance of his DC current from thriving."
Helen rolled her eyes slightly.
"Please, don't remind me, I worry enough about you as it is," the words slipped out of her mouth before she realized their meaning. Nikola grinned insufferably. "I mean the man literally tried to kill you with that bloody chair."
"You worry about me?" he looked even more smug. "You shouldn't Helen, afterall, I am a vampire."
"Only part, and even then, the Christians found a way to kill them off centuries ago. You are only immortal to a point, Nikola," she sighed.
"What are the chances of big old potato head Edison finding that method," shrugged Nikola effortlessly.
"Desperate people will try anything," she looked over to Edison's booth, as he attempted again to attract an audience to his lies, this time with much less success.
"I think he's occupied for the moment at trying to discredit me, I don't think you have anything to worry about," he took her hand, causing another involuntary shiver to crawl up her arm and throughout her body.
"Come, have a drink with me," Nikola offered.
Helen eyed him suspiciously, last time he as her out for a drink he ended up pouring half of it down between her…
"Alright," she agreed, looping her arm with his and allowing him to escort her around the fairgrounds.
"I've missed you," he leant over and whispered to her as they walked.
"Did you now? I would've thought you'd have been too busy," she said teasingly, though inside her something twinged hopefully.
"Can you believe it has been three years? You haven't aged a day," he teased back.
Helen scoffed.
"Neither have you, though I'm pretty sure your mustache is getting bigger," she reached over and twirled it with her fingers, "I really do wish you'd shave it of, you look so much more handsome without it."
Nikola did not respond but grinned even more smugly at the fact she considered him handsome at all.
"How's Rose?" Helen changed the subject abruptly.
"Oh, good, she's married now," Nikola shrugged simply.
"To yo-"
"Oh no, not to me," he shook his head quickly.
"Really?" Helen was slightly shocked. He nodded.
"Some rich theatre enthusiast who promised her a life of ease as long as she was married to him and still on the stage. She couldn't refuse, it was exactly what she wanted," he sighed.
"How did you feel about it?" she asked.
"Oh, we had stopped seeing each other…like that…long before then. I attended the wedding, it was very nice, free wine…she's very happy now. We keep in contact; unfortunately she could not attend the fair. She is playing Ophelia in Hamlet."
Helen felt somewhat relieved that Nikola and the actress had went their different ways, though she was not sure why. She had never really liked his relationship with the woman, it seemed so barbaric, a physical romance instead of an emotional, or even the prospect of having no intention to take it further than that. Of course, she had accepted the same offer from him.
"How about you? How are the boys?" Nikola asked.
"Nigel is in love, with some dancer named Carla, I don't suspect it will last very long, and James, well, James is James, no real change there."
Nikola chuckled dryly.
"Still working for Scotland yard, I presume," she nodded. "And your father?"
"He sends us gifts from all the places he goes to, he just recently sent us a new form of iodine from his base in South Africa, but he hasn't been home in a long while," sighed Helen sadly.
Nikola halted and looked at her, lifting her chin to look at him.
"I'm glad you came," he said softly.
Her eyes darted momentarily to his lips, she still remembered that night, three years ago, when he had offered her a night, no strings, no promises, just him and a bottle of wine.
It had come so close, so close to something she couldn't handle.
Nikola lifted up her skirts, pinning them to her hip with one hand, his other hand slowly pulling her stockings down her legs. The pad of his thumb grazed over her skin lightly, leaving a small tingling sensation in its wake. There was something exciting about what he was going to do, something she hadn't realized she yearned for until he had asked.
The remnants of their last experiment were still marked on her thigh, and his hot breath against her leg sent shivers up her spine. The hairs of his mustache tickled her skin, only increasing the sensation throughout her, she remembered the last time he'd had his lips there, certainly for different intentions, or at least she had thought so at the time. Since then he had not paid any particular attention to that spot, not until he had reminded her just moments ago.
His lips grazed across a particularly sensitive spot and she gasped in surprise at the sense memory of his teeth in her thigh, the tingling sensation rolling up her leg around her gut and down into her…she would not be hesitant to feel it again that was for sure. Her relief was not given as she felt his hand release her hip and the fabric of her skirts flop against her skin. She opened her eyes to his wide, smug grin, still kneeling before her as an earnest supplicant…turns out not so earnest.
He took the bottle she still held gripped in her tight fist, lifted it up to his lips, winked, and then drink a long slow draught from it, just to tease. She hadn't the patience for this. She felt an anger boil within her, and before she could comprehend she growled and pressed her hands firmly into his chest, knocking him off balance. He flew backwards, his back hitting the floor, choking on a fragment of unswallowed wine lodged in his throat from the shock of her sudden forcefulness.
Now, it was her turn. She lifted her skirts enough so they would stay out of her way and straddled him, noting the spilt wine on his face. She took it as her prerogative to clean off the remnants before continuing, it would be such a shame to waste even a drop of such a fine vintage.
The sounds of his strained groans under her only fueled her passions, till she couldn't resist anymore and covered his mouth with hers in a hot, open mouthed, alcohol infused kiss. She could taste the wine off his tongue as surely as he could taste hers.
Why had she waited so long to do this?
Helen snapped out of the memory, looking back into Nikola's sharp blue eyes.
"I couldn't very well miss this success, this was no small feat, you deserve recognition, and someone to celebrate with," she smiled at him and he smiled back, obviously satisfied with her answer.
He eyed her for a moment, wondering if there was a double meaning behind her words. He decided there was none, but just for fun…
"You missed me as well didn't you? You wanted to see if my offer still stand," he smirked, gauging her reaction.
"What offer?" she tried to act appalled but he saw her cheeks flush slightly.
"My offer to settle your base desires with a bottle of wine and a night of passion," he whispered in her ear, not willing to attract any stray ears into this conversation.
Helen rolled her eyes.
"Nikola, please," she sighed.
"It's all right Helen, you don't have to act on these urges, it's just sweet that you thought of me," he teased and she felt a familiar sense of anger in her.
"You are so bloody arrogant to think that I-" she blurted out hotly.
"Helen, Helen, I'm just teasing," he took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb over the top.
"Well, I don't think it's very funny," she glared at him, now feeling embarrassed.
"I apologize, can you forgive me?" he gave her a look she could only describe as being akin to that of a puppy asking for a cuddle.
"Fine, just this once though, next time I will most certainly hit you," she let out a frustrated sigh; sometimes he could be so infuriating.
He smiled and linked their arms together again, continuing to walk her through the grounds of the fair. He would occasionally point up to the rows of lights and explain to her the mechanics of the design; she loved this side of him, the passionate ingenious side of him. He did not bring up any more of their past dalliances, which was she was grateful for, though she was painfully aware of the heat she felt from his hand, and the way his eyes would subtly try to steal a glance at her as he talked.
Eventually he brought her to the outskirts of the fair where is tent was, it acted as his dressing room, a suitcase on a table filled with three extra suits, in case of mishaps, or just in case he spent the whole night entertaining the masses. It was certainly a commodity to have such a luxury at a fair; the dirty ground was covered by a thick carpet, there was a neatly made cot in the corner, a small rack of wine for his personal use, and a lighted vanity so he could look his best before appearing in front of the crowd. A dolled up circus dressing room was what it was, and he was the ringleader.
He escorted her to a chair, pulled out two clean wine glasses and began to pour one of the bottles of wine.
"My payment for my work here at the fair, all I asked for was my own private quarters on the fairgrounds, away from the folly," he explained, though she hadn't exactly voiced the question.
"It's very nice," she said quietly.
"It's nothing much, but it is peaceful. A good place just to sit back and have a drink with a beautiful lady," he handed her one of the glasses then sat down in the chair across from her, leaning back in it heavily and crossing one leg over the other, his hand holding the wine glass coming up to rest just by his face while the other sat comfortably on his lap.
"You flatter me, Nikola," she sighed, taking a hesitant sip from her wine.
"It's not flattery, just a simple fact, Helen, you are a very attractive woman, always have been, you'd have to be a fool not to notice it," he shrugged, taking a generous sip form his glass.
"As you keep telling me," she mentally cursed herself for bringing up that subject once again.
Nikola smiled slightly, looking at her with dangerous eyes. He didn't reply but took another sip of wine and pretended to stare off into the distance.
"It's marvelous isn't it? The lights," he gestured out the wide-open flaps of his tent to the cacophony of light coming from the fair in the distance. "I swear some nights I just sit here and stare."
Helen looked at him; almost unnerved by the way he was acting.
"What do you want, Nikola?" she asked, without thinking. She put the glass down on the small table and leaned forward as if to study him. "What is it you want from me? Why did you bring me here?"
He slowly looked at her and drank another sip.
"I want to finish what we started," the look in his eyes spoke a million words, and Helen shuddered as her mind shot back to three years ago.
The kiss was searing hot, and he rolled them over so it was her back pressed into the cold wood floors instead of his. His hands slid up her legs to her thigh as he kissed a sloppy trail from her lips to her clavicle. Her hands grasped handfuls of hair at the back of his head, the wine and grease causing it to stick straight up on end.
He groaned slightly as she lifted a knee slightly, causing a friction between their bodies. Helen took the initiative and spun them around almost violently, kneeing him in the gut on the way down. He let out a breathy gasp that turned into a chuckle.
"Oh Helen, I never knew you could be so rough," he sat up slightly. "I like it."
"Oh just shut up," she growled and shoved him back down.
He went willingly this time, preventing the back of his skull from making contact with the floor.
The battle for dominance continued as they rolled along the floor, trying to one-up each other over and over again till their backs slammed into a wall. Nikola took this opportunity to haul her up into his arms, using his vampiric strength.
"That is quite enough of that," he panted heavily, looking at her with a hunger she couldn't quite describe but knew was matched in her own.
It took exactly three strides for him to get to the bed and drop her on it.
"I have wanted to see you like this from the moment I met you Helen," he said darkly, dropping to his knees kissing her legs again, each kiss going higher and higher till they grazed the edge of his marks, the sensation bringing her hands to his hair again. He took the hint and ran his tongue along the marks, enjoying her muffled groans. This woman was maddening. He nipped at the flesh with dull human teeth at first, the slight tug at his hair an encouragement to go on. His teeth retracted half way, lightly grazing the skin of her thigh, then replaced by his tongue again, the scent of wine emanated off her skin. He heard her voice in the back of his mind, incoherent but present, and it pushed him forward, his teeth fully realized, his hand sliding closer and closer, the points just about to break through and…
"Nikola, stop!" she cried, sitting up, throwing him off of her slightly. He was a bit dazed at the sudden change, and looked up at her.
A hand came up to her head, and she scrubbed it over face.
"I can't do this," she muttered. "I'm sorry."
Nikola felt his heart plummet all the way down to his shoes.
"Helen, I," he began but she cut him off.
"No, I-I can't do this," she waved her hand at him, scooting to the edge of the bed quickly and standing to retrieve her clothes.
"Can't do this here…or can't do this with me?" he asked, watching her.
Her eyes finally met his, their expression hard to read.
"I just-I just can't," she sighed, pulling on her dress.
"Let me help you," he sighed, and stood up, coming over to her.
"I don't need your help, I…" she snapped, then felt instantly ashamed for the outburst, realizing he was just trying to be a gentleman about this.
The look in his eyes floored her.
"Helen, it's ok, I promised you a night, no strings, take it or leave it," he said simply.
She nodded, he was right.
"Let me help you, Helen," he turned her around so he could help her with the ties at the back.
The tenderness of which he treated her was enough to make her burst out into tears, and he turned her around again to pull out a handkerchief and wipe them away.
"Why are you being like this to me?" she said through her sobs. "I thought you said no strings."
"Yes, but you are still my friend, despite my more than friendly attraction to you, but even so, I am not so callous as to not help a friend back into her gown, or spare a handkerchief when she is crying. I promised you a long time ago that I would never treat you like a whore, and I intend to uphold that."
"You said no promises either," she choked, burying her face in the cloth.
"That was before, this is now, forget all of that," he took her hands in his. "Helen, I'm sorry, I pushed you into this…"
"No, it's alright, I'm fine…I'm just…I don't know what's wrong with me," she looked at him with bleary eyes.
He pulled her into a warm hug.
"Helen, there is nothing wrong with you…you're just…there is nothing wrong with you," he sighed holding her gently.
Again, the lust, the desire, everything he had accused her of feeling, that he had admitted he felt, it came back, slowly at first. The scent of the wine off his skin brought her nose to the crook of his neck, the sticky remnants intriguing her to kiss the skin there, gently at first then opting her to leave a wider, openmouthed kisses. She felt his body stiffen, whether with desire, or with confusion, she couldn't tell, but it only served to make her want him more.
"Uh, Helen…what are you…"
She pulled away and looked at him, her eyes now hungry.
"I want you, I can't stop!" she growled, grabbing a fistful of his undershirt and slamming him up against the wall.
She kissed him, hungrily this time, pressing herself into him, feeling every nerve in his body firing against her touch. It was power, it was dominance; it was affection, affection she didn't know she needed until she saw it in his eyes.
He responded quickly, hands coming up around her waist, this was more consuming than their previous activities had been, then it had been a game, now it was a need. It was her need. She needed him to give her something that had been taken away from her so abruptly that it scarred her.
She pulled away again, wide-eyed, fearfully, as if she'd just kissed a dragon, or something equally as large and terrifying. Her cheeks turned red, her hands fumbled in the air, and her mind raced. Nikola kept his back firmly against the wall, unsure if he should move, afraid that any movement was likely to scare her off. His breathing was labored and ragged, his hair was unruly, the look in his eyes that of unbridled passion.
She couldn't deal with this right now, his offer was too good, too perfect. She didn't deserve such a deal in life, not from him.
She flustered to grab her coat and hat and purse from the pile she had left them in on the floor.
Without a word, and without looking him in the eye she ran out of the apartment, down the stairs and outside to hail a cab.
He didn't go after her, and he knew by the time he would be able to pry himself from the wall she'd be on the next boat back to England. Away from him.
The night rolled by in an endless haze until the sunlight streamed in, and the door opened. Rose stepped in and smiled bemusedly at him.
My god, was it the afternoon already?
He looked at her and pulled himself off the wall.
"What are you doing here?" he moved away, cleaning his apartment slowly as an excuse not to look her in the eye.
"We had plans for lunch, remember?" she held her hands in front of her as she spoke.
"Oh right, that," he mutered.
"When you didn't show up I decided to come and check to see if you were left out in the dumps or still reaping the nights benefits…when I did not hear you in the throes of passion I decided to risk all and barge in, I found you against the wall," she continued, noting how he tensed ever so slightly. "Things not go well, I presume."
"It went fine, we had lunch, snogged a bit, then she ran like a horse on fire out of here, not much to tell…do you still want to get lunch?" he said quickly and she laughed.
"You're deflecting, how'd it go?" she said more firmly.
"As I said, we came close, but I said something, or she found something that scared her off…rather suddenly, it's all a bit of a blur to be honest," he shrugged.
"So you didn't…"
"No, but I got close," he sighed.
"Closer than you got before," she added.
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then I'd call it a success, we should go and get lunch to celebrate," she clapped her hands and immediately marched over to his boudoir and pulled open it's doors.
"I'm a mess," he looked down at himself with disgust. His undershirt was stretched and wrinkled, his hair was all over the place, his pants crumpled, ripped, and stained with wine.
"I noticed," she pulled out some fresh clothes and handed them to him. "I suggest you clean up before we got out."
He sneered at her.
"You're too kind," he rolled his eyes.
"I'll start a bath for you, you smell like a wine cellar," she moved with inhuman speed to the washroom. "If you could get a fire going so I can heat up the water that would be de-lightful!"
He groaned, why'd she have to be here in his hour of pained misery?
"I don't hear you moving, Nikki, it's going to be supper time before we have you properly cleaned up and I'm afraid I have dinner plans," she came out of the washroom and leaned against the door frame.
He looked at her.
"Maybe we should schedule lunch for another time," he offered.
"Ridiculous, I didn't get all dressed up for nothing, Nikki," she teased and went over to him. She placed her hands on his chest and kissed his cheek gently. "Write to her, let her know that you have no hard feelings, ask her to write you back. If she does then you won't have wasted a bottle of wine for naught, and, depending on the message she writes back, it isn't over my friend, it will take some time, but if what you're telling me is true she is on fire for you as well, she just doesn't know how to handle it, that is your way in Nikki."
He nodded in submission. She was right afterall; she had been right about the whole thing.
"So, what did you have in mind for lunch?" he looked her in the eyes, for the first time since she had walked in.
"I think we can skip lunch for now, I see you've still got some pent up…frustrations from last night's interlude…can't let them go to waste can we?" her eyes darted down for a brief second then crawled back to his with a devious grin.
"I could use someone to help me clean myself," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"Hmmm, agreed, so I suggest we get on that hot water," she pulled out of his arms and pushed him in the direction of the fireplace.
Nikola looked at Helen challengingly.
"You can deny it all you want but there was something in you that night, and it intrigues me," Nikola's eyes registered the way she looked down, recalling the memory of their night together. "I can offer you no strings Helen, no promises, just like before."
"Can you?" she stood up, slowly walking towards him. "You've had these feelings for quite some time now, how can you offer no strings when you clearly want more?"
"I'll take whatever you can give me, see, our Victorian upbringing has raised us with this notion that every feeling has to mean something, it doesn't. The forbidden fruit can be tasted Helen, you just have to want it enough," he took another sip from his glass, his eyes never leaving hers.
"So, if I agree to this little tryst you will be able to keep it from becoming something real?" she challenged him, moving closer.
"You know I can, I've done it before," he said confidently.
"This affair will never leave the bed?" she stood in front of him now, a sense of power she didn't know she had controlling her.
"My, Helen, you have changed in three years, haven't you?" he smirked.
"I don't want a lover, Nikola, I don't want to be courted, no gifts, no dinners, no letters, not even cuddling, I just want the physical, can you handle that?" she challenged again.
"Yes," he said without hesitation.
"I don't want another John, you understand?" she lifted her skirts up and lifted her leg up high enough to rest it on the edge of his chair, then slowly lowered herself on to his lip, letting her dress fall around her.
"Completely," his voice was strained and she liked it, she liked the power she had over him.
"If I am to accept your offer I have to know that my needs will be met, no strings, no attachments, and only on my terms," she ordered and he nodded his head.
"My offer stands, take it or leave it," he grunted slightly as she ground her hips against him, never had imagined that she would be like this. This aggressive Helen was new and different and exciting.
"Then we have an agreement, Nikola…take me," she whispered in his ear before kissing it hungrily. He snapped in to action and quickly placed the wine glass on the table and pulled the string on the flaps of the tent to give them their privacy. This moment he was going to keep for himself.
When he woke up he was lying in the cot, an empty space beside him, and he smirked when he heard her moving around the tent.
He sat up.
"Leaving so soon?" he leaned against one arm, tugging the sheets up to his chest.
"Yes," Helen spun to look at him. "As per our agreement, I have no need to stay."
"Of course, doesn't mean you have to hurry off though, we can have breakfast," she stated simply.
"I told you I don't…"
"I know what you said, you don't want to be courted, I am not trying to court you, be rest assured of that, I am merely inviting a friend out for a morning meal. Negating the previous night's activities," he shrugged and swung his legs over the bed. "We are still friends, are we not?"
Helen eyed him strangely, as if to read into some inner plan. Truth be told, he meant exactly what he was saying. If he learned anything from Rose it was that nothing had to change, it was merely different. But he was still Nikola and she was still Helen and they could continue to do whatever it was that they had done before.
She nodded her head finally.
"Alright, breakfast would be nice," she agreed.
Nikola smirked and headed over to his suitcase.
"Just give me a moment to change and then we can go," he dressed quickly into one of his clean suits, slicking his unruly hair back with a comb and then joining her at the tent entrance.
"First, you can take me back to my hotel, I did not have the luxury have having spare clothes with me this morning," she demanded.
"Even better," he smirked, she could already see the plans whirring in his mind of what they could to once they got there.
In truth, they excited her, this arrangement excited her, it was nothing like anything she'd ever been apart of before, with one of her closest friends no less. Last night had been wild, unbridled, like nothing she'd ever experienced before. It was like she wasn't herself, like he wasn't Nikola, and together - removed from themselves - came together in a way that set every nerve ending on fire.
He took her hand, not unlike any time he has ever done so before, he helped her into the cab, not unlike any gentleman would, to the public they were still friends, but behind closed doors she could have him anyway she wanted and leave right when it was over. There was a certain freedom in that, a freedom she has never really felt before. And for the first time in a long time she felt unattached, unmarked, not weighted down by anything or anyone.
It was an arrangement of sorts, but it was also a gift. He had given her a gift to be her independent self again, like she had been back in their early days at Oxford. Young, unattached, and free to cause trouble with whomever she pleased.
Somehow, she felt the trouble had already started.
~~~~Author's Notes~~~~
I can already see your jaws open. Yes, Magnus and Tesla in a friends with benefits agreement, be honest, you can so see it happening. Lately, I've been seeing it in the show, they've been hinting that Nikola and Helen have been more than just friends in times past. Not serious, hence the FWB tag, but you know that Nikola can't keep it like that for too long. It will be an on/off kind of thing, but I foresee it ending before the Worth Affair, but it will span at least three years, because seriously, it's a Nikola kind of number. So the next few chapters will play heavily on the fact that, yes, Nikola and Helen have slept or our sleeping with each other casually, so, fun for you guys. I hope you guys are on the same wavelength I am, at this point it's all hypothetical and me going they are hinting at something majorly, like the Chimera sneak peek, talking about something in Vienna, and the two shared a look, I'm totally thinking…yah, they made out.
I also hope this chapter clears up the confusion from last chapter…I did that on purpose as you can now presume, I wanted you guys to stew a bit with the did they, didn't they, ideas. Cause I'm loopy that way. I hope this answers all questions, and satisfies all the little mind squirrels out there.
Luckily Christmas break is upon us, and I can give you three weeks of some good steady writing, maybe finish a few stories…*ahem* vampandthebotanist! And get some more chapters written for this one and some others that I have yet to publish. But anyway, hope this wets your appetite until then, can't promise I will get a lot of writing done between now and Christmas break, theatre school is crazy!
Enjoy, Read and Review, and have a wonderful November!