The More Things Change. Chapter 2.

[helebette]

Chapter 2.


Six Months Later…

“Helena, table six wants to substitute…”

“Tucker, it’s fine.” Helena swooped past her new manager and plunked three herbal teas on a table between them. “Our chef can deal.”

Dawn Denbo’s former lover, turned wannabe actress, turned failed porn star, had turned up on Helena’s doorstep two months previous, with nothing but a few dollars and a bruised eye. Helena hired her to run The Planet. Their only hiccup so far, was Tucker’s refusal to stand up to their head chef.

Kit was on vacation with her boyfriend, so Helena was working overtime at both businesses. She was exhausted from not only work, but from entertaining Tucker and her string of would-be lovers-all of whom wanted to include Helena in the mix when they dropped by the house.

At the end of their day shift, Tucker surprised an exhausted Helena in the back office. Helena lifted the other woman from her knees and kissed her soundly. “You don’t have to do that.” She muttered wearily.

“I want to.” Tucker smiled sweetly, unzipping Helena’s jeans.

After Tucker left, Helena called the first person who jumped into her mind. She didn’t think, until much later, about the jolt of guilt that accompanied her phone call to Bette Porter, moments after another woman fucked her.

She and Bette had been exchanging texts and phone calls about an absurd number of subjects for weeks now. Bette often called to pick Helena’s brain about New York contacts whose paths intersected through both women’s lives, or, even just about the best restaurants across the country. They discussed Helena and Kit’s businesses just as often. Bette still chuckled over Helena’s move to take away Dawn Denbo’s club.

“Helena Peabody for Bette Porter,” Helena smiled into her phone, amused at the formalities of Bette’s new job. Not only had the Porter/Preston gallery continued its successful run, but now Bette was the Director of a prestigious new amalgamated organization. After the Peabody Foundation pulled all support from the CAC, the center had been forced to combine forces with two other centers across the country. The new umbrella arts council (Shane had already made a number of jokes about the Umbrella Corporation which flew right over Helena’s head) was expanding every day. Directing the three centers meant that Bette travelled a lot-especially to New York where Tina and Angelica lived. On the upside, the Peabody Foundation had reaffirmed its support for the CAC which still made Bette laugh, now that none of the old players were around the center.

“Come over.” Were the only words Helena heard the moment Bette was on the phone. “I’m cooking.”

Helena grimaced and held the phone away from her ear.

Bette laughed and called Helena a few choice names.

“I have to work.” Helena yawned to emphasize her point. “Tonite is gay boy land, or whatever Kit set up. Come out for a drink then I’ll come back to yours.”

“I’ll be by to pick you up.” Bette decided after a moment.

Bette arrived at the club just after midnight, surprising Helena behind the bar and immediately demanding a martini. Helena smiled and tried to concentrate on her work, taking orders in rapid succession.

Finally, the rush died down. Helena slung a towel over her shoulder and leaned over to talk to her new customer.

“You’re late.” Helena shouted above the music. “You missed seeing me throw out two men for blatantly having sex in the middle of the dance floor. They told me that my club was anti-gay.” Her eyes flitted over Bette’s form, admiring Bette’s outfit. Bette pulled off the loud red wrap around dress by wearing little makeup and conservative pumps.

An hour later, Helena put a stop to another bout of ‘oral sex on the dance floor’ and decided to close the event early.

“Love is in the air.” Bette said with a shrug as they left the rest of the staff to clean up.

“Is that what you call it?” Helena suddenly felt annoyed with all of it. “Sex, sex, sex, it’s just all that anybody thinks about anymore.”

The look Bette gave her then was really odd, so Helena chose to ignore it.

“What would you prefer…” Bette started. She paused as Helena climbed into the car and then shook her head. “Never mind.” Bette said, so quietly that Helena could barely hear her.

It was late, but Bette threw together two Tanqueray and Tonics with extra lime and ice. Helena searched the fridge and pulled out the dinner Bette was going to provide earlier. It consisted of veggie stir-fry and some noodles, so Helena threw it all into a pan and spiced it up.

“You should really cook more often. For me, I mean.” Bette quipped from where she nursed her drink.

“Anytime,” Helena returned. She brushed by Bette on her way outside and held out a plate. Bette held her ground and they ended up standing really rather close. It was…nice, Helena realized. She breathed in and out with an odd sense of relief.

Their late, late snack was eaten quickly, though Helena wasn’t all that hungry and allowed Bette to eat most of her food straight off her plate.

Helena traced her finger over the rim of her glass. She was quiet for a long time but finally asked, “How’s Tina?”

Bette shrugged. ” I really don’t want to talk about her.” She paused. “We slept together when I was in New York two weeks ago.”

Helena felt her stomach swoop. “How was that?” She put on a blank expression.

Bette’s eyes were piercing. “Good. Weird. She thinks that I not only cheated on her but also that I murdered somebody to keep her from finding out that I cheated. So, even though Tina loves me, she still thinks that I’m a murderer and a cheat. I realized all of this, all over again. I left our bed to sleep on the couch and then I got our daughter up, fed her breakfast, kissed her goodbye, and took the first plane I could back here.”

Helena kept her voice light. “You’re not moving back in with Tina, then?”

Bette actually smiled. ”No…” Her eyes flitted to the side watching Helena’s face relax. “What about Tucker? Are you still having orgies with her and her assorted friends?”

“Noooooooo.” Helena sighed happily and slid back on the couch. “Now that she has a new place, I think we’ll go back to being just friends. Besides, she does great work at The Planet and I can’t afford any drama there.”

“You did a really nice thing for her.” Bette slid back as well until their eyes were level.

“Yeah, well. Ummmm…” Helena shielded her eyes with her hand. “Anyhow, thank god she’s at least obsessed with safe sex. Honestly, I’ve had a few sleepless nights. I’ve been tested for everything under the sun, but all those ‘orgies’ as you call them, felt more like rubber and latex fetish parties anyway….so…yeah...”

“TMI.” Bette laughed. She looked pleased though. Helena wondered for a moment if Bette had intended on asking about the very subject.

“I’m going to be celibate for a while.” Helena decided. She missed the disappointed and then confused expressions that flitted across Bette’s face.

“Good, well, you should take some time for you.” Bette said.

“At least a few weeks, yes.” Helena nodded decisively and smirked at Bette’s laughter.

It was 3am before they finally called it a night. Helena had no idea how she was managing to burn the candle at both ends like she did, but she felt oddly energized most days.
Bette leaned in and kissed Helena on the cheek, lingering there momentarily.

“Goodnight.” Helena smiled and patted Bette’s arm. Her fingers tingled where they met Bette’s skin.

Helena only managed four hours sleep, but she still dreamed deeply. In her dreams, Bette kept explaining all of the plants in her backyard. Bette also held Helena’s hand and swung it back and forth while they discussed the medicinal uses of an errant weed. By the time Helena woke up, she felt not only confused but strangely lonely. She dismissed it as a by-product of losing her amorous roommate.

The next day found Helena regretting her routine. She awoke with a sniffle and a headache and pumped herself up with as many drugs and vitamins as she could.

Still, arriving at The Planet at 8am, meant that Helena had time for breakfast with Bette. And, as it turned out, they were joined by a special guest.

“Mummy!” Helena couldn’t help but squeal. Peggy often surprised Helena in L.A. these days, but without the usual badgering and put-downs that once characterized their relationship.

Bette looked on, amused, as Helena crushed Peggy in a hug. Bette’s amusement turned to surprise when Peggy grabbed her in a hug as well. “Oh, ok then.” Bette smiled, pulling out a chair.

“My two favorite people in the whole world.” Peggy said with a wave. “How are you my darlings? Bellini? I’ll have one.” Peggy swiveled in her chair, giving Helena a chance to text Tucker frantically with a request for immediate attention. Tucker had Peggy’s drink on the table in minutes and gave Helena a wink.

Helena missed Bette’s glare aimed at Tucker. Peggy, on the other hand, did not miss the look. The older woman choked on her drink after the first sip and tried desperately to contain her laughter.

“Lesbians.” Peggy muttered to herself. “The most incestuous people I know.”

“What?” Helena really hadn’t heard her, but Bette had, and shot Peggy a stricken look.

“Nothing, darling. Do tell me. How are my grandchildren?” Peggy switched subjects, hoping for news.

“Winnie is arranging to meet me in New York.” Helena lit up when she delivered the news. “It’s been three months. I cannot wait.”

“May I join you?” Peggy asked politely. She rolled her eyes as Bette and Helena stared at her. “Well?” Peggy usually just did what she wanted, so this was unexpected.

“Of course.” Helena said, in total awe.

“I’ll be there as well.” Bette added. “I have business to attend to. If either of you have time for drinks-or a play date with Angie-let me know.”

“Play dates all around then.” Peggy quipped, laughing at her own joke, though it flew over both Bette and Helena’s heads. Tucker walked by just at that moment and laughed as well.

“Play dates…ok.” Helena shrugged, exchanging confused looks with Bette. “I do have someone to meet there as well.” She averted her eyes then, and stirred her tea.

Peggy’s lips quirked in a bemused smile. “Yes, I heard. Your little tax evader is back,?”

“How did you…” Helena’s neck snapped painfully as her head shot up.

“What tax…” Bette looked confused and then suddenly got it. “Dusty?” She looked oddly stricken. “She’s back in the country?”

“My daughter had Dusty’s record expunged.” Peggy spoke thoughtfully, watching Bette’s face carefully. “Dusty is a free woman. Free, even, to return to Los Angeles.”

“We’re not…I mean, we’re just friends.” Helena muttered.

“As you are friends with half of Los Angeles’ lesbian community, from what I hear.” Peggy smirked and held up a hand when Helena tried to protest. Peggy’s eyes then flitted to Bette.

An awkward silence befell the table. Then Bette muttered something about work and gave both women a strained smile before leaving.

“Mother, what did you do that for?” Helena asked, honestly confused. “What interest do you have in embarrassing me in front of Bette Porter?”

Peggy sighed and grimaced at her daughter. “My darling, you are not as sharp as I once thought you were.”

Helena was about to ask what the hell that meant, when her phone rang. It was Kit, asking about an order of mangos from a guy named Theo. Helena confirmed the shipment’s time and promised to indeed put the order straight into the massive fridge. By the time she was finished speaking to Kit, Peggy was onto other subjects. Namely, her latest bizarre retirement adventure-tightrope walking in Madrid with circus performers.

“What else?” Helena asked, feigning interest. She felt queasy from their interaction with Bette. Downright nervous. Still, her mother was an interesting, if rather strange woman. Helena tried to forget the morning and just enjoy Peggy’s company.

By 6pm, Helena was equally exhilarated and exhausted from a full day at The Planet. She rushed home, tore off her clothes, and dove, completely naked, into her pool. The water was delicious. She dove around like a sea mammal for a long time, not noticing that her phone was buzzing repeatedly.

When Helena finally checked her messages, she had to rush right back into the house to put on clothes. Bette was on her way. Helena had only a few minutes to throw on old jeans and a t-shirt before Bette let herself in the front door.

“Hey…” Helena grinned, leaning against the staircase. Her simple attempt at a greeting were cut off by Bette’s ranting.

“It’s fucking hot out there.” Bette fumed. “And Doug Parsons is a fucking asshole. Do you know him? He has destroyed our chances at expanding into Chicago. He told the E.D. of the largest gallery in the city to go and fuck herself. He also called her a slut. Who does that?” She tore at the thin red blouse beneath an already discarded thin white suit jacket.

Helena fought the urge, at first, to tell Bette to calm down. Then the heat and her own long day got the better of Helena…

“Bette Porter, we are in the midst of a heat wave and I have spent the day wrestling with mangos and irate deliver men named Jim who should have been named Theo and who attempted to swindle me out of a deal your sister made. You cannot storm into my house and start screaming at me. I’ll speak with Doug. I know him personally. And I’ll accompany you to Chicago. Now calm down and jump in the pool.” Helena willed her shaking voice to steady. “You need to cool off.” She added with a defiant nod.

Bette halted in her rant and frowned. Then she burst into laughter and brushed by Helena, stripping to her bra and leaping into the water with her suit pants on.

Helena walked outside as well. “Do you want dinner?” She asked, watching as Bette peeled off the remainder of her clothing under water. “Or a towel?”

“Let’s order in.” Bette leaned back and dunked her hair back into the water. The arch of her back left Helena with a more-than-generous view of Bette’s cleavage. It was oddly shocking. As though Helena hadn’t seen another woman’s breasts before…

Helena bit her lip and looked shyly out to the ocean beyond her property. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t already caught glimpses of Bette from time to time as well. They had been spending a lot of time in one another’s pools, and skinny dipping wasn’t an infrequent occurrence.

“Um, ok, That sounds good. I’ll get you a towel.” Helena smiled, refusing to meet Bette’s eyes. When she returned with a dark blue sarong instead, she had to avert her eyes again while Bette leapt out of the water and stood totally naked for a few seconds before covering herself with the material.

“Hey.” Bette spoke softly, putting a cool hand on Helena’s forearm. “You all right?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Cuban?” Helena choked out.

“Cuban?” Bette looked utterly confused. “Oh, yeah, that sounds great.” Her hand stroked suddenly, soothing up and down Helena’s arm. “Listen, I’m sorry about before. And thank you.”

“Huh. Of course.” Helena felt something like an anvil in her stomach. Something was beginning to add up…all of her mother’s odd jokes that day…her own reaction at seeing Bette…Helena felt suddenly faint. The world greyed out for a moment, and then Bette’s arms were around her. Helena heard Bette tell her to sit down. Helena squeezed her thighs together as Bette’s arms and hands continued to sooth her. Bette’s lips pressed briefly to Helena’s neck.

And then, just as suddenly, they were three feet apart.

“I’ll call in the order.” Bette said quietly, looking as confused as she had that morning. “Sit out here and relax.”

Helena did just that. Except the ‘relax’ part was hard to accomplish. She spent a long time staring at the horizon and just trying to get a grip on whatever was happening all around her.

Four Months Later…

“Beatches!” Alice screamed at Helena, Bette, Kit and Max, seconds before she and Shane grabbed onto Helena and fell unceremoniously into Helena’s pool. Alice and Shane’s triumphant returns to the fold were accomplished on exactly the same day at exactly the same time. Shane’s SUV had rolled into Helena’s driveway seconds in front of the taxi carrying Alice and Tasha burst open.

“I’m not a bitch...nevermind.” Max disagreed faintly. He supposed that none of them were, so he just shook his head in confusion. His grin was genuine though.

Alice then swam to Bette and pulled her in as well. Tasha stayed the fuck out of it, hugging Max and Kit and laughing at Alice and the others.

“Jealous much?” Alice laughed, watching as Bette glared at Shane who was practically climbing Helena and kissing her. “I hear Helena’s become a real player.”

“Shut up Alice. You’re ruining the moment.” Bette kissed her friend on the cheek and hugged her close.

They ended up at The Hit club to celebrate after a ridiculously long celebratory dinner. Shane seemed fine with her new water-only and celibacy pacts (for at least four more months, she told a concerned Kit) but Alice seemed entirely determined to get shit faced. She, Shane and Helena danced like fools until the early hours. More than once, Helena glanced over at Bette and Kit, deep in conversation. Bette looked angry about something while Kit seemed to be trying to calm her sister down.

Which, somehow, was like a proverbial straw.

Helena was sick of it.

Sick of how controlling and angry and sad Bette could be, over the smallest of things. Helena just wanted her to be happy. To try to be happy, anyway. But it had been months and months, of hearing about Tina and every stupid problem that kept Bette from the things her friends and family wanted for her.

Helena found herself dragging Bette to the restroom.

“What?” Helena fumed. “What is your problem? Talk to me. Let me try to help, at the very least.”

Bette’s mouth fell open then clamped shut. Her face was a dangerous shade of red. “What were you doing? I mean…” the energy drained from her at once. “With Alice? And Shane?”

“Dancing.” Helena said quietly, utterly shocked. “I mean, weren’t you talking about Tina? With Kit? Nevermind.” She frowned in confusion and then found herself trying to explain. “To be honest, Bette, I’m just continuing the project of regaining and rebuilding my confidence. My base. My community. Our friends are back. I’m happy. That’s all.” She paused and stepped closer. “Even where Shane is concerned. Whatever jokes she keeps making about kissing me, once upon a time, I’m simply happy to see her out and about. That. Is. All.”

Bette nodded and stared at her feet. She was stiff as Helena’s arms slid around her waist, but soon relaxed into the offered hug. “Sorry. Sorry…” She muttered again and again against Helena’s hair.

“Ugh. Quit apologizing.” Helena murmured into her ear. For months now, they had been increasingly affectionate with one another. Helena wondered how far she might push things, now that Bette’s jealousy had become so incredibly obvious.

Alice burst in on them, just as Helena’s lips brushed across Bette’s cheek, aiming for her lips…

“Woah! Guys…uh…sorry to interrupt.” Alice stared. And stared. And then grinned. She barely sputtered out the words, “We’re leaving. Come on.” Before bursting into laughter and walking away. The door swung closed behind her.

“Helena we need to talk…” Bette started to say. Helena stepped back and shook her head.

“No way. No, just. I’m not rocking this boat. We’re good, right?” Helena could not hide the desperation from her voice. “We’re good? Ok. We’re leaving this at…this…”
Then Helena clamped a shaky hand over her forehead and rushed from the bathroom.