Consequences

"Have lunch with me," Helena implored after everyone had left.

"I have a lot of work to catch up on," Myka said and Helena knew she wouldn't really use that as an excuse.

"I'll talk to your boss," Helena teased.

"OK in that case, I'll be back soon," Myka said. She walked halfway to the door and caught the tea cup on the coffee table. She smiled devilishly and asked; "Was that your first good cup of tea in a week?"

Without hesitation, Helena answered – "God yes!" and then sucked in the air after her response. Myka turned and looked at her. Raised eyebrows told Helena she was caught. "I mean…it was…different."

"You are a terrible liar," Myka said staring at her.

"That was entrapment. I have lawyers who handle that for me," Helena said, recouping on her way back to her desk.

"Helena?" Myka said as she stood by the door. The CEO looked up. "Just for that, you're buying lunch."

"Then I'll be sure to get good tea," Helena said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Myka was surprised to see anyone from the meeting in the outer office, but Adelaide had been stalling in the waiting area on purpose. She gathered her papers and walked to the elevator right before Myka did. She smiled broadly and said hello to Myka as they waited.

"How was the trip?" Adelaide asked. She had met Myka only a few times before, but Myka recognized her.

"It was good, thank you," Myka said in a friendly tone. Apparently, everyone knew about their vacation, Myka thought.

"It's good to get away, especially this winter," the woman said as the door opened and they both stepped in.

"Yes," Myka agreed smiling.

"Have a good day, Ms. Bering," Adelaide added as the doors opened on the 16th floor. Myka wished her the same and got off.

"I'm not supposed to say this, but that woman gives me the hebejebes," Millie said, meeting Myka at the elevator and waited for the door to close. The assistant didn't know the scientist very well, but she gave Millie a bad vibe, and Millie was all about people's vibes.

Myka smiled and wondered how Millie knew she was getting off the elevator at that moment. "So, you might want to see this," Millie said, opening up the New York Post paper to page six – the celebrity gossip page. There was a picture of Helena and Myka the day they went to the mainland. Someone had snapped a picture at the moment Helena was telling Myka about the letters from Charles and they both had serious expressions on their faces. "Trouble in Paradise?" was the headline.

"That's ridiculous," Myka said and proceeded to go to her office.

"Oh I know it is, but I wanted you to see it before ….," Millie stopped and her eyes shot to the top of her head to indicate 'upstairs'.

"She never reads these papers," Myka said, going inside.

"Well, she's the only one then," Millie said to herself as she went back to her desk.

Myka was getting better at ignoring the stories that the papers printed, but it still bothered her how callous they could be. She was also grasping that the truth didn't necessarily matter to them. She was naturally familiar with the boundaries of the law for libel, but none had crossed them yet. In toughening up though, Myka started to forget that other people were taking these stories as the gospel truth. People who lived far away from New York.

Lunch that day was served in Helena's private dining area next to her office by her private chef. The entire staff had a cafeteria of prepared meals that they could choose from, but today the head cook was summoned to make a light lunch for Helena. Myka and she sat down to a salad of greens and tangerines wedges in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing, and watercress sandwiches and mineral water.

"I missed you," Helena said as they ate their light fare.

"I did too," Myka said.

"It was nice to be away with you," Helena said, taking Myka's hand in hers.

"It really was," Myka said wishing they could spend the afternoon together. The work was keeping her busy, but she longed to be back in their townhouse together.

Shortly after they finished lunch, Helena's intercom beeped. "Ms. Wells, Detective Tierney is here to see you," announced Eileen.

"Why is CJ here?" Myka asked, getting ready to leave.

"I wanted to talk to her about whatever is going on with Mr. Lattimer," Helena explained.

"Helena, you know this is none of our business," Myka said, using the plural pronoun to soften the news.

"The head of my security team is unhappy. That makes it my business," Helena said because that was her logic.

"We can't interfere in people's personal lives though, can we?" Myka asked, and it wasn't so much a question as a suggestion.

"You can't, of course," Helena said as gently as she could.

"But you…," Myka tried again.

"Will get to the bottom of this," Helena completed the sentence.

"And if you find out that – it's just not meant to be…?" Myka asked.

"Then we can expect Mr. Lattimer to make a recovery," Helena answered. She didn't mind explaining these things to Myka in the least.

If there was anyone who could handle themselves with Helena, it was Jane and so Myka decided to leave it at that. She kissed Helena goodbye and asked her to go easy on the detective.

"That is her choice," Helena said as she went into the private bathroom.

Myka walked out into Helena's office and greeted Jane. The detective didn't look happy, although with Jane it was hard to tell a good mood from a bad. Her emotional states ran the gamut from A to B; annoyed to bothered. Her greeting indicated she was both that day. "Is her highness in there?" she asked after asking Myka how she was.

"Yes, she's freshening up. How are you Jane?" Myka asked. Myka was one of those people who could ask that question in a tone that made you want to tell her the truth. Except Jane was so used to being out of touch with her feelings, she couldn't answer.

"Alright," she answered. "How was your vacation?"

"Nice, thanks," Myka said.

Finally, Helena returned to her office. "Detective Tierney, thank you for coming," Helena said.

"Not like I had a choice," Jane said.

Myka took that as her cue to leave them alone and did. "Maybe you want to bring her more tea," is all she said to Eileen when she got outside. It was the only thing Myka could think of that might help.

Myka didn't want to deter Helena since she knew she had the best of intentions. She thought Helena was overstepping a boundary, but maybe Jane would take it as she meant it –as a kind gesture to help her out. Or maybe all hell would break loose. Either way, Myka's money was on Helena.

"Please sit down," Helena said to Jane as she sat down behind her desk. This was going to be a short meeting, and Helena saw no reason to make it more comfortable than this. "Are you well, Detective?" Helena asked on the outside chance there was a medical excuse.

"Yes, thank you. And you?" Jane asked.

"Couldn't be better," Helena answered. "Detective, it has come to my attention that you and Mr. Lattimer might be having trouble."

"Wait? What?" Jane asked. When Eileen made the appointment, she explained that she didn't have any idea what the purpose of the meeting was. Jane knew that refusing a meeting with Helena would only lead to more aggravation at work. Helena was revered by the NYPD and the Mayor. One bad word from the CEO and Jane's job could be hellish again. "That's personal," Jane said.

"Yes, I know, but I thought perhaps it would benefit you to talk to someone about what is preventing you from seeing what an opportunity Mr. Lattimer presents you with."

"This is a little over the line here," Jane said back.

"Detective, my head of security for some reason is not happy with what I perceive to be a break in your relationship. Now he had all week, but apparently he is still pining for your affections. So, I thought it would be good for you to talk it through or do whatever you need to do so that you can once again, commence the romance," Helena said and it was starting to sound more like an order than a suggestion.

"Again, Ms. Wells, this is a private matter," Jane said.

"Yes, of course it is. I am however, proposing that you will not find a better man than Pete Lattimer, especially given your difficult nature. Therefore, it would behoove you to work out whatever you perceive to be the issue," Helena said directly.

Jane stared at the woman who was speaking to her. She truly wasn't sure what her response should be. She felt angry for being there; insulted that Helena would poke her nose in her business, and yet, she couldn't help but admire that Helena would go to such lengths for Pete. Maybe it was the strong understanding of solidarity that police officers have for one another that allowed Jane to entertain the thought that Helena's heart was in the right place – even if she was leaping over a boundary.

"OK, thanks. Are we done here?" Jane said, rising from her seat.

"I do hope so," Helena said, feeling she had done her part; the rest was up to Jane.

Jane looked at Helena from the other side of the chair she was just sitting in. She wasn't sure what to do next, but while the officer may have lacked tact, she did have a sense of humor. "Maybe you're right, Ms. Wells. Maybe I need to get in touch with what is going on."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that, Detective Tierney," Helena said, happy the cop was catching on so quickly.

"I'll tell you what. I'm going to give this some thought, and when I come up with what's bothering me, I'll call you. We can talk things over," Jane said knowing what the response was going to be.

"Pardon? No, no, I am by no means encouraging you to express your feelings to me," Helena clarified, but Jane was ignoring her on purpose.

"I'm glad we had this little chat, Ms. Wells," Jane said standing in the doorway. "I'll talk to you soon." Jane closed the door as Helena's protests rushed on the other side. Jane could still hear Helena trying to explain that she did not want to be the person the cop called.

"She's a piece of work, your boss," Jane said to Eileen as the assistant rose from her seat. "OK, take it easy," the cop added when Eileen gave her a look. "Forgot who I was talking to…," she said getting on the elevator. She smiled on purpose and waved to Helena who was in her office doorway, trying to explain she did not mean herself when she suggested Jane talk to someone.

"Please do not pass through any calls from Detective Tierney," Helena instructed Eileen.

"What should I do if she calls?" Eileen asked. Helena had to think about that, but only momentarily.

"Give her to Ms. Bering," Helena said. Myka was good at talking about feelings with people.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Many thanks for all your posts and questions.