Lessons Learned

It took the Genius only a few minutes to mix Myka's message with Irene's words and come up with her plan. Helena didn't need to demonstrate her rightful place in the company, but she usually did it with such flair, it was tempting not too. Helena's methodical mind had the plan in place before Myka was back in her office.

She didn't need people lining up to see her; she would go to them.

First stop, Eileen's office.

Helena walked in and, in spite of the meeting going on, she announced she had something to say. Eileen went to give her the seat at the head of the table, but Helena insisted she stay seated. Helena then looked at the woman to Eileen's left who leaped up and offered hers.

"Miss Sullivan did tell me about the projects that are rolling out. Great job. I take it the others are on track?" Helena asked, looking around at everyone.

This was a different tone than Eileen heard a short while ago. This was Helena in charge and Eileen wondered what had transpired since they talked.

"We're behind schedule on the family robot because data from test groups indicate that they don't want a dog robot and although they like the idea of the personal assistant android, the idea of a life like one freaks them out," Eileen reported and showed Helena the data report.

"People cite concerns over their ….feelings….about the entities," a senior developer on the team said.

The team had been struggling with how to design a robot that people would actually accept. So far, if it wasn't round and cleaning the floor, people didn't trust it. This was a joint effort between the team of engineers and the IT department. Helena looked around for her IT Director.

"Where is Ms. Donovan?" she asked Eileen.

"She's unable to make it to this meeting," Eileen shared.

It took Helena all of a minute to offer a solution. "Make the prototype a toy. Something that children of different ages would desire. We started with the wrong generation," she pointed out to Eileen. "While we all agree this is the way of the future, not everyone wants to embrace that. So bring it to their homes in a more agreeable form – dolls, playmates, build your own robot kits," Helena said.

"But those things are already out there," a brave person pointed out.

Helena stared at the person hard. "What is your name?" she asked and he answered quickly. "Mr. Leeds, if I were in charge of this team, I would fire you," the CEO said truthfully and everyone at the table immediately pulled back out of the line of sight.

"But it's the truth," he protested.

"Yes, and fortunately for you, Miss Sullivan appreciates the truth. I detest lack of vision, Mr. Leeds. Do not tell me that 'those things' are already out there. Your job is to imagine ours differently. If I build one of those robots, will it help me with homework? Will it provide real life experience in dealing with situations? For instance, if you had one and had rehearsed what you were going to say, I dare say a Wells machine would have warned you of the consequence," Helena smiled smugly.

Eileen watched her mentor as she handled the discussion and wondered if she would ever be that smooth? "So we should set the stage?" Eileen asked, getting Helena's point. They had used the wrong age in the consumer group.

Helena smiled because she knew her protégé understood – and quickly. "We are the future, are we not?" the CEO asked.

Eileen smiled and nodded her head. In minutes, Helena did what would have taken days – maybe weeks – for the team to figure out.

"Good job," the CEO said to them as she took her leave. She could hear Eileen speak with renewed vigor as they discussed how to proceed.

"How are you doing, Mr. Generis?" Helena asked as she wondered where the crowd that had been in her waiting room was.

"I am feeling better, now that you're back," he said, having analyzed his own emotions. "I believe that you add a very positive energy to this place when you are here and that – like everyone else – I respond to that."

"Well, thank you for sharing that. Where is Mrs. Frederic?" she inquired.

"Mrs. Frederic is in a meeting at the moment," Sui said.

"Is she?" Helena said mulling over what had happened before.

"She won't be done for another hour or so," Sui said, looking at Irene's schedule.

"Tsk," Helena said, thinking how wasteful that was. "I bet I could do it in ten," she decided as she got on the elevator to demonstrate what she meant.

Irene was wading through the list of issues in her conference room when Helena literally burst onto the scene. She liked to make an entrance. Half the people jumped, including the woman whose back was to her.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she said close to Irene's ear. "I did so well this morning, I thought I'd give it another go."

"Don't you have contracts and reports to look at?" Irene asked.

"I don't mind," Helena said, missing the point. "Besides, I'm very good at this…..stuff."

No one had any idea what their boss was referring to and no one dared ask.

"Well," Irene began as Helena took her place at the other end of the table. "We were just hearing from Engineering that there are six completed projects and they're in need of overtime hours to get the shipments out on time."

This was practically another language to Helena, but she didn't dare let on. She also didn't know the first thing about this, but that wouldn't stop her giving her opinion.

"Why can't they do it in the allotted time?" Helena asked. That's when Irene suspected her one hour meeting would take four.

"The managers cannot meet the ….deadlines….without the additional hours," Irene explained. She was hoping to spark Helena's memory that she was in fact the one who had imposed the target dates.

"I dare say if we told them I could have ten workers here in an hour that could get it done might help motivate them," Helena said forgetting that the HR Department didn't approve of the use of threats.

"Oh God," Irene moaned as she folded her hands and leaned forward. "With all due respect to our esteemed CEO," Irene said and Helena didn't think she was being sincere, "…it would cost more to replace the ten staff members than it would to actually pay the overtime cost."

There was dead silence as everyone's head turned to look at their guest as she thought about that. Helena valued getting people to do what they were supposed to do and cared less about how you got them to do it. Apparently, Irene disagreed. Helena understood she was relatively new at this, and figured she'd defer to Irene….this once.

"What about you?" she asked the person next to her. The woman, who didn't expect to be called on, jumped and started to shuffle papers quickly.

"Well," the thirty-something stalled until she found the page she was looking for. "The lab assistants are complaining that the lab coats are too warm."

"What the bloody hell?" Helena asked and went on to the next person. "You!"

"The chefs in the dining hall are receiving objections about the menu," the dining hall representative said.

"Objections? What the hell would I do about that?" Helena asked and pointed to the next person.

"We're having an HR issue?" the man asked more than stated because he was intimidated by the chief executive's presence.

"Oh, you do?" Helena asked, thinking she had finally struck gold. "Do tell." Finally, something she knew she would be good at solving.

"Well," he said hesitantly and looked down at Irene.

"Don't look at her! I asked the question," Helena snapped and he jumped. "You can say whatever it is. I'm sure Mrs. Frederic doesn't mind. We're practically a team now," Helena shared and the one most surprised by the statement was Irene.

"Oh, this ought to be good," the Director said, pushing back in her chair.

"Well, there are reports of a …rodent issue and some of the workers are … squeamish …and didn't want to work until we could assure them …that it was taken care of," he said.

Again with the rodents? Helena thought and slapped her forehead. "This is your issue?" Helena asked incredulously, glaring at the man. He didn't realized he was being chastised for being redundant.

"Ye-ess," he answered.

"This is the issue you came here to discuss? That you work with a bunch of scaredy cats? What are we supposed to do? Tell them to take off until the extermination takes place?" Helena asked in succession. The more annoyed she got, the thicker her accent became.

"I…..wasn't….," he tried to explain, but the CEO was having none of his explanation.

"What are you here for?" the woman in charge asked another staff member.

The woman swallowed hard and leaned forward. Irene had wished that Helena hadn't selected her, but she couldn't get Helena's attention. "There was a HR complaint from one of our scientists that I felt needed to be addressed immediately," the woman said and she tried to clear her throat to continue.

Helena waved her hand at her to please complete her thoughts. "Finally, something of urgency. What is it?" she asked, but the woman hesitated.

"It's no wonder your meetings take so long when no one is forthcoming," Helena complained.

"Itwasaboutyou," coughed the woman into her hand.

Helena turned to the woman, retreated in her seat, and looked straight down the table at Irene, who didn't seem flustered at all. "And what is your issue? Too many negative ions in the air? This is what you do?" the Genius asked confused by the content of the meeting.

"Helena, these are the types of issues that HR handles," Irene explained and watched as the Genius tried to process that she had made a mistake.

"This is what you do in….. HR meetings?" Helena asked, wondering why Irene would put up with such nonsense as people's feelings about rats.

"Could I have a moment alone with Ms. Wells?" Irene asked, and chairs were pushed out as people tried to get out first. "Not what you expected?

"Are all your meetings like this?" Helena asked, scowling.

"People like to be heard, Helena," Irene explained.

"Bloody waste of time. Afraid of working because a rodent might be underfoot. Lab coats that are too warm! What's next? Not enough nap time?" she exaggerated.

"It's all part of Human Resources, Helena. It's what we do. We listen to people and decide what appropriate action, if any, needs to be taken," Irene explained of her life's work.

"But there's so much complaining and whining," the boss whined. "I don't know how you put up with it, really," Helena said.

"It's my forte, I guess," Irene answered. "It doesn't bother me when people carry on." She was fully aware that the present company had no idea it included her.

Helena had her fill. She was tired of hearing people share their every whim and wanted to get back to making executive decisions. "Well, you can have it!"

"So you won't be joining the Human Resource Department full time?" Irene asked, chuckling a little.

Helena wanted nothing more than to call Irene's bluff, but the thought of listening to any more incessant talking about minutia would drive her crazy. "I hear the woman in charge is a real pain in the arse," Helena said mockingly.

"Oh, she is, she is!" Irene confirmed. "But thankfully, she's on the 17th floor."

Helena shot Irene a stare as the older woman laughed at her own joke and got up to leave.

"I want the name of that scientist!" she yelled to Irene.

"All in due time, Helena. All in due time," Irene said, wanting to spare the man his life unless it was absolutely necessary not to.

There was only one place for Helena to go to lick her wounds – or have someone else tend to them.

Bridget Cummings was thrilled that Myka's assistant not only greeted her, but walked over and held Myka's door open when she arrived.

"Everything back to normal?" Bridget asked Millie.

"Better than ever," Millie shared as the investment banker walked inside. One look at her friend's incessant smiling told her the woman was right.

"Well, I had the corned beef on rye for lunch, but from the looks of it, I'd say Myka had the CEO Special," Bridget teased as soon as she got there. Millie burst out laughing and closed the door quickly.

"Well, look who's returned to the living," Bridget declared as she walked over to the couch and made herself comfortable. "Does this mean you and Helena made up? And by 'made up' I mean spent the weekend having wild sex to make up for three weeks of abstinence."

"We did," Myka admitted freely and lost herself in those memories. There was no use in denying it; the woman would get it out of her sooner or later.

"If only you could project those images that are making you smile like that, Bering," Bridget said and laughed.

"They're private," her shy friend scolded her.

Bridget was about to ask for details, but the door burst open and the cause of that smile on Myka's face came through it.

"Did you know what the Human Resource Department does? Did you know that if you have a complaint about …anything…the color ink in your pens…the draft that might come through your window…that Irene will listen to you?" Helena bellowed as she walked directly to Myka's desk and threw herself in a chair, seemingly unaware of the guest.

"You're back!" Bridget said and Helena glanced her way.

"I thought I could help them, but all they do is collect the misery and woes of the entire building I fear," the CEO said exasperated.

Bridget found Helena's mind fascinating and never missed an opportunity to see it up close. She got up and sat in the chair next to Helena and watched.

"You…wanted to help HR?" Myka asked slowing, wondering how that went over.

"Yes, but I couldn't stand it! Don't we have policies against whining all the time? How much of her day is spent on that?" Helena wondered out loud.

"I'm sure Irene knows which complaints are legitimate," Myka offered.

"No! I think she listens to them all. I think we pay her to listen to people complain and carry on all day long," Helena said, having given this a lot of thought… as she walked the few steps to her wife's office.

Bridget immediately saw the connection and bit her bottom lip hard because unlike Myka, things tended to just come out of her mouth. "She does seem very experienced," Bridget said and tried not to laugh at her own joke.

"I think she should stop immediately," Helena said, waving her arm as if making a new policy.

The whole topic became too tempting to the fun loving investment banker. "Wouldn't you miss her?" Bridget asked and Myka shot her friend a warning look.

Then Bridget learned something the hard way. Teasing Myka was one thing – it was a true expression of affection. Teasing Helena was poking a dangerous animal, hoping she would play along, instead of instinctively attacking.

"You wouldn't be insinuating anything, would you, Ms. Cummings?" Helena asked and turned to look at her.

Perhaps because Bridget had worked well with Helena, she had forgotten what Helena was like when she was not pleased. Helena's eyes locked onto the investment banker as they scowled from under perfectly shaped eyebrows that arched slightly.

"No! Not at all!" Bridget said, sitting back, taking her admonishment like a woman. "Good to see you back," she said, getting up. She was about to pat Helena on the back, but thought better of it and pulled her hand away. The woman smiled at Myka and left quickly.

Once safely outside, Bridget intuitively looked down at her hands, to see if there was any blood. Millie read the woman's expression perfectly.

"She's not Myka," she said and meant – you can't mess with her.

"Almost forgot that," Bridget said, glad to get out alive. She went to the elevator and pressed the button a few times, trying to will its arrival. When the doors opened, she nearly ran into Irene, who had been visiting the complaining scientist.

"Everything okay, Ms. Cummings?" Irene asked because it was rare to see the woman unnerved.

"Sure. Just survived a near death experience, that's all," Bridget said, happy to be one step closer to her exit.