Labor of Love
Myka didn't ask Helena about the phone calls even when her curiosity pushed at her. She knew Helena would tell her when she was ready. There was little time before the next night when a small gathering of Myka's friends were invited to dinner at the townhouse. Helena was correct – everyone showed up out of their deep respect for and liking for Myka.
Tracy was a little surprised there were no celebrities there; as surely the gossip columns made it sound like Helena was on the A-List of social gatherings in New York. But this was for Myka – so Tracy assumed Myka didn't know any of them well enough yet. Instead, Tracy was surrounded by some of the people whom she met at Wells Corp, as well as some new people she didn't know. When she was at the buffet table, Eileen was there next to her.
"You were right, Miss Sullivan. I did get to spend time with Ms. Wells and my sister. You're very perceptive for your age," Tracy complimented her.
"Thank you, but I knew it wouldn't be hard for you to see it. Those two are just meant to be together," Eileen said - and looked over in her boss' direction.
So did Tracy - and what both of them saw were two women in love – stealing glances at one another across the room. They watched as Helena excuse herself when Myka was free, so she could stand next to her and whisper something that made Myka blush and smile. Myka pushed Helena's hair back off her shoulder as she continued to talk. It was easy to see how the lovers' eyes were locked onto each other, as if there were no one else in the room.
"Let me give you some advice," Jane said as she came up behind Tracy in the line. The detective had seen how Tracy looked at what was happening across the room. The cop was putting some food on a plate when she shared; - "Don't go comparing your marriage to those two. It will only depress you. Instead, learn from them and then try to do the best you can." Jane didn't wait around for Tracy's response – she was busy getting two plates of food and bringing one back to Pete.
Jane's presence didn't go unnoticed, nor did Pete's upbeat demeanor as a result of her attendance. "Detective Tierney, I see our little talk did you some good," Helena said later when they both met up.
"Our talk? Did me good?" Jane asked, always amazed at Helena's display of ego. "Oh yes, it was eye-opening."
"Yes, well I had hoped so. As was your suggestion about the similarity between a loved one's ancillary associations and luggage," Helena pointed out.
"One's who and what?" Jane had to decipher that before she laughed. "Oh good, I'm glad you liked that," Jane said.
"I've extrapolated it to a variation of themes, if you will," Helena said, smiling to herself. She was referring to the idea that Myka would take Irene off her hands when she was annoying the Brit.
"Why am I not surprised? How is that again?" Jane asked. In spite of her own high IQ, Jane had trouble understanding her hostess a lot of the time. It wasn't even the accent Jane struggled with. It was the way Helena looked at things that always took her a minute.
"Well, everyone has baggage, Detective Tierney. And I've never known a person who only has one bag, so it makes sense to me that you make the decision several times. Do you want to accept the large luggage, but not the overnight bag? And how many suitcases do you want to accept? It would seem with Mr. Lattimer's close-knit circle of friends, your arms will be full," Helena surmised.
"I think I got the heaviest one taken care of," Jane said, making a direct reference to the woman she was speaking with.
"Good," Helena answered, unsure of what the woman meant. Jane excused herself and sat back down on the couch with Pete. Now that Jane had her own appreciation of who Helena was, she didn't find it so annoying when Pete talked about her and Myka so much. She was beginning to respect, if not totally understand, his admiration.
Irene approached Helena, bringing the tea Eileen had made. "I see you're playing very nicely with everyone, including the detective," she said, handing the tea to Helena. Very little Helena did went unnoticed by the maternal figure.
"I am not entirely sure what you mean by that. I am always a gracious hostess, but of course you know that," Helena said.
"I think it was very nice of you to put this together for Myka and her sister," Irene said - and just the mention of her name made Helena search the room for Myka. As soon as her gaze fell upon her, she smiled.
"Thank you," Helena said - because that is the response you give to a compliment – when your mind is on something else.
Irene smiled when she saw her boss visually preoccupied. What a magnificent change she saw in Helena, and all born out of finding her true One. Only Irene could stand next to Helena in total silence and not feel the pressure to say something, but rather enjoy witnessing what was in front of her – Helena in love.
Bridget practically ran at Myka to say hello when she arrived. Never shy, the woman shook Tracy's hand and apologized for not meeting her sooner. "I've heard so many wonderful things about you," she said because she was sure Myka said something nice about her.
Myka caught Helena's eye and excused herself. She didn't like to ignore people, but there was only so much admiring from afar she could do before needing a dose of Chanel and English accent. Bridget had no trouble mingling and asked Tracy how she liked New York.
"It's been…interesting," the younger Bering summed it up. "How do you know my sister?" Tracy inquired.
"I hit on her before I knew she was madly in love," Bridget said unabashedly.
"You're gay?" Tracy asked, feeling like everyone in the room was.
"Yes I am," Bridget answered unflustered.
"Is everyone gay in New York?" Tracy asked exasperated.
"Let me get this one," Pete said, unable to control the puffing out of his chest muscles.
"You? Your girlfriend tried to pick me up," Tracy said about her misconstruing Jane's inquiry.
"It was like - I couldn't resist all the charm," Jane said sardonically.
Bridget fist bumped the detective who never cracked a smile. Bridget's date, Sarah approached the group. "Everyone, this is Sarah Styles," she said as she introduced the fashion designer.
"Oh my …you look like my sister," Tracy said. Sarah looked over at Myka who was standing next to Helena again.
"I'd kill to look that good all the time," the woman who did bear a striking resemblance to Myka said. The designer fretted over her looks constantly and was fortunate to have wound up with a woman who never tired of assuring her of her beauty.
The more Tracy met the people at the party, the more she struggled with the situation in front of her. She didn't understand it. She wanted to be happy for Myka and she felt better now that she saw her, but it still left many questions unanswered. Tracy wrestled with the fact that Myka, who she once thought possessed no social skills, wound up to be the center of attention at a fancy dinner party in New York. Tracy also worried that she and her sister would never have the life she had imagined - the two of them married, with kids, living next to one another in Colorado.
There was no chance of that happening now.
"I really thought things would be different," Tracy shared with Myka later that night as she packed.
"How so?" Myka asked. Tired from the dinner party, she was hoping there was a short answer because all she wanted to do was to be in bed …..with Helena. Maybe it was the constant reminder of what she used to be like when she was with Tracy, but Myka needed to be with the person who made her feel whole.
"I thought Kevin and I, and you and Sa..someone would be married and live near each other and raise our kids together," Tracy said and the sadness was evident in her voice.
"Tracy," Myka said, pulling her sister to sit down. "I was never going to do that. I was never going to marry Sam and settle down in Colorado. I know it's what you wanted, but it's not what I wanted. I never did."
"Oh!" Tracy said, and she really was surprised that it wasn't Myka's dream. "Well, as confusing as this whole thing is Myka, it is good to see you so happy."
"Thank you, Tracy, I really am. Now, I want you to go home to Kevin and listen to him, Tracy- don't just hear him ok? Listen," Myka said gently.
Myka kissed her sister goodnight and her heart lifted as soon as she closed the door behind her. She thought about how wonderful Helena had been throughout Tracy's stay. She opened the door to their bedroom and smiled as soon she caught sight of Helena reclining in the bed.
"There you are," Myka said as she slipped under the covers and leaned up on her elbow next to Helena.
"There you are," Helena replied - as had become their custom to repeat each others greeting.
"Thank you for tonight and for everything with my sister," Myka said, placing her index finger on Helena's bottom lip and tracing it before leaning in to kiss her.
"You're quite welcome. Is she all set to return?" Helena asked, putting Myka's finger back where it was on her lip.
"Yes, I think so. She'll find a job I hope and things will settle down," Myka guessed.
"Myka, I have been thinking. Suppose I …," Helena started to say when Myka pushed her finger down on Helena's lip, much to the Brit's surprise.
"Helena, you didn't …did you?" Myka asked, her suspicions taking over. Helena's dark eyes darted back and forth.
"I didn't what?" she asked through closed lips. Myka lifted her finger so Helena could speak. Myka was putting the conversations with Bridget together.
"You aren't trying to buy Tracy's company?" Myka asked - worried that this was that all the whispering was about.
"Buy…. her….. company? " Helena asked, her accent dripping with a poor imitation of shock. "Myka, I can't go around just… buying up companies."
If only she had been able to look Myka in the eye as she protested.
"They wouldn't sell?" Myka asked and she was so close that Helena knew she wouldn't get away with it. Black eyes flashed as Helena considered her chances of avoiding this line of questioning, and then she accepted her fate.
"No, apparently Mr. Burke wishes his sons to inherit his agency," Helena said, her voice tinged with intolerance.
"Helena!" Myka said and then looked into those dark pools …..and melted. "Oh Helena," Myka said as she put her head down on Helena's chest and hugged her. "You are just the most thoughtful person."
"Yes, well it didn't work," the results oriented business woman said. "So I told the very stubborn Mr. Burke that I would give him our account on the condition he hire Tracy back. He seemed more agreeable to that."
"You're going to use a marketing firm in Colorado?" Myka asked.
"We don't have to give them the whole account. We will give them one of our divisions," Helena said.
"Did they agree? To hire her back?" Myka asked.
"Yes, they're going to make her an offer tomorrow," Helena said.
"Helena, I want to check them out before you give them your money," Myka said. She knew Helena would have done some due diligence but considering how quickly this was all happening, she worried Helena could miss something haste.
"Not to worry, darling. I told them my lawyer would have to approve the deal after verifying their promises. Then we would try them for a trial period with one Tracy Bering-Benson in charge and then they could renegotiate the terms," Helena said. Myka smiled – of course even with very little time, Helena Wells was savvy.
"Did they question why you wanted her?" Myka asked.
"Really darling?" Helena gently scolded her for thinking someone would question what Helena wanted.
"You Helena Wells have been taking care of the Bering's for a very long time, haven't you?" Myka said, smiling and touching Helena's chin with her finger.
"Well, I can never thank them enough for giving me you, Myka Bering," Helena said, pulling Myka's head down to her chest and wrapping her arms around her.
Tracy's visit had been tiresome for Myka, but once again she realized – she could get through anything with Helena at her side. Shortly thereafter, Myka fell asleep in the warmth of Helena's arms.
In another part of town, at a restaurant in the Waldorf Astoria hotel, a man and woman sat across from each other at a small table, talking in hushed tones.
"Ms. Nathanson, you're offering me rumors with very little to substantiate them," Ted Grayson said to the young woman.
"Mr. Grayson, Helena Wells is attempting to make a large purchase, of that I have no doubt," the woman asserted confidently.
"Well, if you could get me the specifics, we might be able to barter something here. Without it, this is little more than a gossip session," Ted said, throwing his napkin down on the table.
"I'll get more information. There's a network of inner office people who I've uncovered and it's only a matter of time before they start talking about the details," Adelaide said. "Apparently, they know everything."
"Well, let's hope you get some details. I'm tiring of our empty meetings that give me nothing," Ted said bluntly. "And Ms. Nathanson?"
"Yes?" Adelaide said as she collected her things.
"Don't underestimate the woman you work for. If she finds out about you offering up secrets, there won't be a place for you to hide," Ted said - knowing fully well who he was dealing with.
I feel compelled to say something about the character - Tracy. She represents the misguided, misinformed person who feels she has everything figured out. She focuses on Myka because she feels Myka is and always has been 'worse off' socially and therefore, needed Tracy's help. So now she's adjusting to the fact that none of what she thought about her sister is real/true - - and that Myka doesn't need ANY of her help. In fact, it's the other way around now. She's not making a 180 degree turn in a few days - so the bias is still there. I wanted to write her as opening the door a little - out of love for Myka. I hope it worked.