Hello! I know there are some loose ends that people are wondering about, and I hope to devote the next chapter (or the one after that) to tying up some of them (Who the strangers are, what do they want, Claudia and Eileen).

Many thanks to everyone reading along and to those who shared your posts. Always appreciate you taking the time and, of course, your input.

Cheers.

Private Lessons

Helena played nonchalantly with the button on her blouse as she and Myka walked to the elevator. Once a playful game was started, the Brit liked to see it through. She turned to her wife, leaning over just a bit to make sure Myka could get the view she wanted, and said in a breathy tone; "I do hope you'll have time to give me some ….privates lessons, Professor Bering."

In spite of how nervous Helena's public display of …well, anything, made Myka, her reaction was always a mix of exhilaration and fear of being caught. 'THIS!' she thought to herself, - 'is what being one of the cool kids must have been like'.

"Ms. Wells," she said, playing along as the elevator door opened and they got in, - "….are you trying to seduce me?" Myka's borrowed famous line was barely above a whisper as she also prayed no one was within earshot. There wasn't a question that Myka could ask that Helena didn't match with a quick retort.

"Oh, Professor…..," she said, purposely staring innocently at Myka, "….I'm not ….trying to seduce you. I am seducing you." Helena had taken Myka's index finger and now ran it down the length of her neck to her cleavage. She giggled as she watched Myka's pupils dilate instantly.

While such seductive banter came naturally to Helena, it sometimes slowed Myka down to a crawl. On any given day, if Myka hoped to hold her own, she had to really be on her game to match Helena's forte.

Today wasn't one of those days.

Helena savored the delicious torture she witnessed her wife going through. Myka's eyes couldn't pull away from the spot where her finger had trailed and her mouth was opened, but no sound came out. Myka was caught in the tantalizing web of seduction and Helena reveled in it. She knew very well how wonderful it felt.

"I…will…(swallows)….see…(clears throat)…you….uhm.….(forgets how to form complete sentences)….." Myka stammered.

"Later?" Helena guessed correctly.

"Yes," Myka said, nodding her head and keeping her gaze on the objects of her desire.

"I look forward to it," Helena said, smiling as the doors opened on Myka's floor. "Will you be okay; Professor Bering ….or would you like me to come to your office now?"

There was nothing that caused Helena to refrain from keeping the charade up, even the presence of people who now stood outside the elevator. Myka could feel the weight of their stare. She had lost this round and her wife knew it. But Myka's brain – bright as she was – had trouble recovering from such intense distraction. She attributed this to the lack of blood available for cogent thought – as it surged to other parts of her body. "Yes," she coughed, trying to appear business like and serious – two things very hard to do with Helena smirking victory at her.

"Ms. Bering?" Millie said, rushing up to her boss' side. One look at the woman's expression told her everything she wanted to know. "Oh, sorry. Do you ….?" She started to ask as she tilted her head towards Helena. "…you know, want to finish?"

That was icing on the cake for Helena who was now laughing out loud.

"What?" Myka asked, shocked that the tete a tete was so transparent.

"I'll just wait…," Millie said, very nonchalantly and walked back to her desk.

Ordinarily, an elevator door would beep if it were kept open this long, but ever since Helena warned …well, more like threatened the stationary engineers, hers didn't.

"Darling, do not be surprised. Our love is apparent to the world," Helena said softly, easing Myka's mind. It made Myka smile.

Being bold pushed Myka right out of her comfort zone, but nothing was more soothing than Helena's assurances. Still, the blush in Myka's face remained for a long time.

"I'll see you soon," she smiled to Helena.

"Don't be a stranger," Helena said and that's when her wife remembered that she wanted to tell her about the man in the high school auditorium. She stood there deep in thought as the elevator door closed.

"Where do I know him from?" Myka said out loud, trying to place the stranger's face.

Helena was just happy not to have to explain why the two 'new' students in Myka's class left in a daze. She was perfectly within her right, she told herself on the way to her office, to defend Myka.

The epitome of Helena's conscience was standing right there when the elevator door opened. Irene Frederic was on her way back to her own office when Helena misinterpreted her reason for being there.

"And I would do it again!" Helena stated vehemently to Irene who stared for a second and then nodded her head.

"Of course you would, dear," Irene said, getting back on the elevator as if she had been privy to the inner machinations of Helena's mind. "Oh, Helena, do you want me to ….," Irene asked remembering why she was there.

"I certainly do not! I am more than capable…," Helena protested, giving away her guilt.

"Okay then," Irene said, as the door closed. She was late for a meeting.

If Helena had given the exchange any thought, she would have realized that Irene hadn't really asked, nor accused her of anything and therefore, the answer was unnecessary. But Helena wasn't thinking about that. She was thinking of how she could get through the work day without being completely distracted by her wife.

Helena walked to the reception area desk for her messages. She looked at the hand handing her the papers and pulled back. She took a deep breath and sighed. She was all for Sui learning life through the lens of different human forms, but she had asked for him to let her know when it was going to happen.

"If you wanted to know what life was like for a septuagenarian, Mr. Generis, I daresay you could have just asked Mrs. Frederic," Helena said, laughing at her own joke.

"I beg your pardon?" the woman said, slightly surprised the CEO of a company would be so bold as to mention age.

Helena looked at the entity. "How did you get the exoskeleton material to wrinkle like that?" she asked, walking around the desk and staring down into the face of the woman who was wide eyed. Helena reached out and rubbed the furrowed cheek.

"What are you…?" the woman asked, but was interrupted.

"Are you wearing those dreadfully thick lenses because you've adjusted you eyesight to match the decaying process of the body?" Helena asked and then saw what appeared like tears welling in the grayish eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, thinking Sui's emotional response program was set to hypersensitive. "I should have said aging. Either way, bravo! But let's make this a quick rendezvous with old age, Mr. Generis. We have a lot of work to do."

With that, the stunned woman watched as the callous CEO walked into her office. Only that morning, Mrs. Frederic had asked her if she was available for a temp assignment with the Executive, and warned her it could be challenging work. She thought Irene meant that Helena was demanding, not insensitive. Within minutes, she told Irene the story and refused to work with someone who was so heartless!

Irene could not fathom Helena being that unsympathetic and set out to find out what had happened.

"I don't mind that she can't pronounce a simple name like Sue," the woman said to Irene when she was explaining what was going on. Of course, because Helena thought it was her android in transformation, she called the woman "Sui".

"Sue, I promise you, Ms. Wells had no idea. She thought you were …..You see, Mr. Generis ….," Irene started and then didn't know where to go with it. Not everyone in the company knew of Sui's origins.

"He likes to dress up as a woman?" Sue asked because what other explanation could there be.

"He enjoys…," Irene hesitated, thinking on her feet. "….exploring life through various ….personas," she finally decided on.

"And Helena thought he was dressed up as me?" Sue asked, trying to put this together.

"He's very good… with make-up," Irene said, convincingly.

If anyone else gave Sue this explanation, she wouldn't have believed it. But she believed Irene Frederic. "I still think she should apologize for her choice of words. She described me as…..," the woman tried to share, but tears welled up again …."Decaying."

"Oh, Sue, I am sorry. Ms. Wells is …a …..scientist at heart and I fear she sees you…..us….in biomedical terms," Irene laughed nervously.

There weren't enough hours in the day for the paperwork she'd have to complete if Sue decided to sue.

"Let me talk to her and ….I'm sure we can straighten this right out," Irene said as she walked quickly into Helena's office and closed the door. She even picked up Helena's coat on the way over to her desk.

"This is my entire fault," Irene blurted out because she should never have taken Helena at her word not to introduce them.

"Oh, I'm sure it is," Helena agreed, without even looking out. She never missed an opportunity of something being Irene's fault.

"I should have warned you," Irene said, taking a seat.

"What you should have done was remind Mr. Generis that I do not like to be surprised by his persona non grata," Helena said and the raised her head to laugh at her own pun. "I guess it is important to see how life treats the elderly, but as I explained to him, he has such a wonderful resource in you for that," Helena poked her friend. This time, Helena's laugh was even heartier. She was on a roll!

"Yes, my fault entirely," Irene said which was music to Helena's ears. "However, can we talk about how you were a little rough before….," Irene said.

Helena's head jerked up immediately as she completely misconstrued the intent of Irene's dialogue and thought she had found out about the two students. "I will be as rough as I like when dealing with matters like that," Helena declared.

"I think an apology from you would go a long way if you could do it in person ….," Irene suggested.

"The hell I will! If I ever see them again, I will bang more than their heads together!" Helena declared, throwing her Monte Blanc pen down on the desk.

"You banged her head? Tell me you didn't touch her," Irene pleaded, unable to make sense of what Helena was confessing.

"Her head? What? Whose head are you talking about?" Helena asked.

"Whose heads are you talking about?" Irene asked, finally getting that they were talking about two different offenses.

Even Helena finally caught on that they weren't on the same page, although she didn't particularly want Irene on the page of her latest assault. "You're talking about a woman," Helena deduced when she finally thought about Irene's choice of words.

"Yes, and you're not," Irene pointed out. "I'm talking about the woman who is sitting outside," Irene explained.

"Oh, yes, well….I hope he changes back soon. I don't have the patience to deal with two slow people around here," Helena said, taking another jab at Irene.

"Helena, I should have made it perfectly clear to you that Mr. Generis is not here today," Irene said clearly.

"You mean he is, but he's in a different form. It's okay, I asked him to inform me directly. It's not really your fault, even though it pains me to say that," Helena said glibly.

"No, Helena, He's not here. Not in a metaphysical sense. In reality. He's downstairs with Claudia for a full day of …..tech spa treatment ….or whatever she calls it," Irene explained.

"You mean…?" Helena asked slowly.

"She's a real person," Irene said. "And I apologize. I should have made that perfectly clear to you before."

"Yes, yes…that might have been helpful," Helena said. "Well, do tell her I apologize."

"You described her as…decaying. I think it would greatly help if you …please…apologize in person," Irene practically begged her boss.

Another person might be horrified at talking to another person like that, but Helena just stared at Irene, enjoying the guilty woman's confession. "You know none of this would have happened…..," she prompted Irene.

"Yes, had I not listened to you and had taken the time to explain," Irene concurred.

"I would have known she was a real person…," Helena said, belaboring the point.

"And you would have been charming as ever. I know, Helena. This is all my fault," Irene said ….again….because she knew how much Helena enjoyed it.

"I never would have made her cry," Helena pointed out.

"Yes, I'm sure you feel as awful as I do…," Irene said, getting up from the chair, hoping Helena would do the same.

"Well, not as awful as you do because it really isn't my fault," Helena clarified as she got up, but didn't move.

"It's astounding how razor sharp your focus is when it's another's culpability we're discussing," Irene mentioned.

"Not another's. Yours," Helena said immediately.

"Of course," Irene said, knowing there was no rushing this.

"Well, it's just that …..she's out there ….," Helena dragged on.

"Excellent point, Helena. Just excellent," Irene conceded because she was afraid the injured party would leave by the time Helena stopped enjoying herself.

"Did you apologize to her?" Helena wondered out loud.

"Yes, yes I did, but I'd be more than happy to demonstrated exactly how it's done if you want," Irene said and bit her lip. One did not keep Helena on the hook for too long when she was winning.

"No, no, I can manage. However, should the occasion ever arise where I must grovel…," Helena said, walking past Irene. "….I know where to find an experienced person."

Irene endured the harmless slings of Helena's arrows because she understood there was more at stake here than her pride. Irene's experience of having children also gave her the advantage of knowing how to bite her tongue.

Helena marched victoriously to the door of her office and flung it opened in dramatic style. It was done to catch the attention of anyone who might be there. The insulted woman stood up, ready for the next wave of the CEO.

"What is your name?" she said when she reached the desk.

"Sue Mason, Ms. Wells," the woman said and Helena could see that she really had been upset.

"Ms. Mason, I do apologize. I was not informed of the change at the desk and I erroneously confused you for the ever changing assistant who usually is here," Helena began.

"Yes, Mrs. Frederic explained that there was some confusion because he's….theatrical?" Sue said, hoping that wasn't an offensive word.

"Indeed he is. But let's not quibble about logistics. Had Mrs. Frederic taken the time to explain this to me, the entire ugly incident would have been avoided," Helena surmised.

"I distinctly heard Mrs. Frederic before she left and you refused her offer," the older woman said, making sure Helena understood she was not easily persuaded.

Helena didn't turn, but she could sense the smug look on her friend's face. "Well, I did and she didn't, and here we are. I was under the wrong impression, I said some unpleasant things that I didn't mean personally and I do apologize," Helena tried again.

The woman stared at Helena through the thick lenses of her glasses trying to decide if she were sincere. Helena didn't care for the heaviness of the exchange because the silence was giving her time to remember exactly what she said.

"I really am sorry," the Brit added and it was enough to convince the wounded worker.

"I accept your apology," Sue said and extended her hand to Helena.

"Oh," Helena said, because in her mind, so rare was an apology from her that of course the woman would take it. "Yes, thank you," Helena said, shaking the woman's hand.

The temp worker went back to work, the burden removed from her shoulders by the CEO's apology.

Helena walked Irene to the elevator. "Happy?" she asked as if this had all been for the HR Director.

"For a woman with so little experience in the act of contrition, I'd say you did very well, Helena," Irene said.

"I have so little experience because there is so little for me to ask forgiveness for," Helena quipped.

"So …the two people…whose heads …you….," Irene asked, motioning her hands together to indicate the assault. "…does Myka know about that?"

The Myka card! Of all the things the HR Director could do in jest retaliation, mentioning Myka was the ace up her sleeve.

"Don't be ridiculous. There is no need for Mrs. Bering-Wells to be concerned about two men who insulted her right in her class," Helena spilled.

"So it was her students you assaulted?" Irene asked, pressing the button for the elevator. "What did they do exactly?"

Had she said they were students? Helena wondered. Damn, this woman! "They indicated they wondered what it would be like to touch her. No one insults my wife," Helena said vehemently.

"No, I know, and I don't blame you for taking such action," Irene said and Helena uttered 'Good' even though she didn't mean it. "Of course, Myka might be worried about…students…being handled like that….. in her class…and what….that might mean," Irene pointed out.

The HR Director wondered if Myka would worry, as she just had with the employee, about what action the students might take. The tables of guilt had turned and were pointing now in Helena's direction.

"I …they wouldn't dare….Myka doesn't even ….," Helena blurted out, unable to fathom how swiftly they got from Irene's guilt to hers.

"It's okay, Helena. I won't say a word, you know that," Irene assured her as she stepped into the elevator. "But when Myka does find out, Helena? You know where to find me when you're ready for those groveling lessons."

The door closed before Helena could even come up with a retort which came out like a loud grunt. "URRRGGGG! That woman!" Helena shouted and now caught the expression on the assistant's face.

"Sorry, sorry…." Helena said, not wanting any more trouble from anyone.

She walked back into her office, vowing not to come out for the rest of the day.

Which is why Helena never saw the men come to her floor and ask to meet with Eileen Sullivan.