“Ms. Peabody, you’ve got a luncheon meeting with your mother today. Do you plan on keeping that appointment, or should I make other arrangements?”
Helena considered the question for a long moment before deciding. “Lily, let my mother know that unfortunately, I’ll need to cancel our lunch.”
“Shall I reschedule?”
“Not right now. Things are a bit…unpredictable at the moment.”
“Will that be all?”
“Yes. I’ll be by later this afternoon to pick up the materials you’ve gathered. Thank you, Lily,” Helena said, not waiting for a response before she hung up.
She shook her head as she pulled into traffic. There were members of her board who still challenged Helena‘s authority, even after she had achieved significant success on behalf of the Foundation. She realized that part of this was merely resistance to change. For more than 20 years, Peggy had done things a certain way, and Helena had a very different approach to almost everything. But part of her inability to gain the complete confidence of her governing body had to do with her own history with the organization.
Helena‘s first year as the Foundation’s president had been a bit rocky, and her relationship difficulties with and, ultimately, her divorce from Winnie impeded her ability to give her work the focus it needed. But since she and Tina broke up, she’d tried hard to improve, putting in exhaustingly long days and completely reducing her personal life to the time she spent with her children. And that investment had paid off. Her staff, the majority of her board, and even her mother, respected how she’d turned things around. Right now, however, there was something even more important that required her attention.
Helena leaned back against the headrest and thought about the past 24 hours. It was so completely inexplicable that she didn’t even know what to consider first. Her eyes welled up as she thought back to Tina, pushing small bits of food around on her plate that morning.
“Tina,” Helena had said lightly, “tell me about Alice. Does she still have that radio show?”
“The Chart,” Tina answered, a hint of a smile on her face. “Yes.”
“Does she still sound those annoying chimes?”
“That’s her trademark.” Tina speared a piece of cantaloupe with her fork, and put it in her mouth. With no small amount of difficulty, she chewed and, finally, swallowed.
“I know it’s hard, Darling. But it will get easier,” Helena said, resting her hand on Tina’s forearm.
Tina nodded, taking a deep, steadying breath.
“And Dana? I saw one of her matches on television. I was in a hotel room, God knows where, and there she was. She’s playing beautifully.”
“Yes. Her ranking just went up again.”
“I’m sure Subaru is pleased about that,” Helena said, nonchalantly cutting a blueberry muffin in two and putting half on Tina’s plate.
“Her rep is encouraging her to work with a writer on her autobiography. They’re thinking that since she’s really hot right now, she should make the most of it,” Tina said, breaking off a small bite of the muffin.
“I couldn’t agree more. She’s at the top of her game. Might as well reap the benefits.” Helena tried not to sag with relief as Tina chewed the bit of muffin and took a sip of juice. “Alice is a journalist of sorts, why doesn’t she co-author the book?”
“That’s exactly what Alice has been saying,” Tina offered, putting another tiny piece of muffin into her mouth.
“Well, you know what they say about great minds,” Helena nodded.
Tina swallowed hard and rested her hands on the table. “I don’t think I can eat any more right now,” she said quietly.
“That’s fine. You can try again later, right?”
“Right.”
Helena was glad she’d put the top down on her car. The wind was chilly but bracing, and she needed to clear her head. If she was committing herself to helping Tina, it wasn’t going to be a fleeting fancy. It was something that she would need to throw herself into selflessly. There were a lot of decisions to make, and some serious adjustments that she’d have to manage. But there was time for figuring that out. For now, all she wanted to do was get home and call her children.
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You write with so sensitivity and so truth in this story that it makes me believe there are still people with compassionate heart. Thank you
this is awesome, i hope you continue to post 2 in a day.
Well thank god Helena seems to have made it her mission to help Tina. I hope that she can also help both Bette and Tina find their way back to each other. Fantastic FFC….thanks
Very intruiging and wonderfully written story FFC! And thank you for posting 2 chapters today!
I’m totally with Pandora again. Get them talking. Please post again soon.
*sigh*
Love both chapters ffc!! Helena is slowly winning me over!! As you said in the last chapter, some people learn from their mistakes, others don’t!! The proof is in the pudding!! Helena is doing it, by her actions, putting Tina’s needs ahead of her own, as well as, being her daily care-taker~ without caring what’s in it for her~ it’s truly beautiful….her ability to empathize with Tina’s situation is proof, to me, that she has changed for the better….this is just what Tina needs right now!! Thanks FFC!!
Nice job humanizing Helena, something that’s rarely done in fanfic. Now, if B and T can potentially move into each other’s orbits without a serious implosion or explosion on a galactic scale.
Surely if Bette seen Tina in this state, that everyone else see’s then maybe she would help her
Nice to have you back ffc, reading your writing is always a pleasure. Even when confronted with this intense new storyline you have concocted. I have to say from pass experience with your writing that you seem to particulary focus on Tina, at least that was the case in Comfort Enough and a few other stories I have read that you wrote, so I would expect that if and when you decide to have Bette make an re-entrance it would only benefit Tina. I have to say I can totally sympathize with the emotions shared by some that Helena has learned from her mistakes, but I have to also say that Helena did not loose her child Bette and Tina did. So if we are all quick to say Bette didn’t learn from her mistakes why aren’t we saying Tina hasn’t either. Is it becuase in the back of our minds Bette isn’t and wasn’t Angelica’s birth mother so her grief pales in comparison to Tina’s? Well I would like to say I’m happy that Tina has someone to guide her back to a place where she can begin to find some peace, but if this was real life we would be looking at two people who are truely grieving in their own separate ways, and possibly just can not provide the support that they both would need from each other. A fact that is certainly in accordance with the world we inhabit.
SN~ Sorry bout that~I didn’t mean to imply that because Bette isn’t the birth mother she isn’t grieving in her own way or her emotions are “less” important than Tina’s~ I am simply responding to what was written in the previous chapter, “After Bette’s Herculean efforts to win Tina back, what sense did it possibly make for her to walk away now, when they needed each other most? Hadn’t they learned anything about their own responses to tragedy from all that they’d been through together? Was Bette still so surprised that Tina wanted someone who could remain emotionally open and available to her, especially during the hardest times? ” That’s all…They (B & T ~ the couple) didn’t learn that they have to communicate their feelings openly and honestly to each other…not bottle them up ….its what lead to their breakup in the first place…that’s why i believe they didn’t learn from their mistakes …and helena has…hope that clarifies…peace…
I admit it; it’s hard for me to like Helena, but since she is doing something so selfless; gotta admire that. Will she (you) surprise us and even be nice to Bette and guide Tina back to Bette because even she feels they belong together? Or is this a strictly Tina/Helena storyline?Great story – very sad when a child dies before their parents.Thanks for sharing your story.
i hope Hel has no motives for helping Tina..i wld very much like to believe you that Helena has changed…post soon:)
even though helena seems sincere i don’t understand why tina find it so easy to talk to her and not to bette…but maybe helena will help bette and tina get back together…what is your intentions?
Thanks for another great chapter so quickly. What a treat! I’m not convinced that Helena’s actions are entirely selfless and Tina needs professional help.Where oh where is the one Tina needs the most.
heythere: my post was no more a personal response to your post or anybody else’s in particular. It was made in general reference to the overall responses I have read both from ppl that feel that Bette needs to be involved and those like yourself that feel Helena really is what Tina needs at this point and of course to the story. But I think we can all agree that those questions although very accurate were voiced by Helena and the mere fact that she said, hadn’t they which means Bette & Tina learned anything from they past experiences, leads me to believe that Bette should not be Tina’s saviour at this point, they should be each others saviour. From what I have read they tried, they both did and it just didn’t work. They both gave up on each other not Bette more than Tina or Tina more than Bette. I know we would all like to see Tina as the damsel in distress waiting for the knight(female version of course) to ride up on stallion and save her and I guess maybe that scenario fits with our idea of Bette & Tina or Helena & Tina for that matter. For me personally Helena will never be that impartial when it comes to Bette & Tina and we will never stop thinking that Bette should burden everything instead of them doing it together, ultimately the way it should be. Helena might have learned from her mistakes which I can surely see but like I said she wasn’t the one that lost her child. You would be surprised to see how all sense of being quickly disappears when tragedy such as this strikes. There was no need for a clarification I did not take your post or any other made for that matter personally, like I said in my prior post I am fully aware of ffc mo and am willingly coming along for the ride. It’s a shame that this site offers such a one dimenstional form of communication, at least I think I have personally never gone further than the fanfic page, it would have been nice to be able to discuss some of the situations we are confronted with in la la land (fanfic). and like you put it peace……..
Hooray for Helena helping out! I’m so anxious to see what happens when Bette gets drawn back into the storyline.
I, for one am glad that Helena is there and it doesnt seem like she has any moives other than to help Tina. I may be in the minority, but I never felt that Tina needed any “knight in shining armor”. I always felt that she was the strongest in the B&T relationship. I, for one am glad that there is a story where the focus is on Tina, because even on the show, the B&T relationsip is mostly about Bette. Of Course Bette is grieving too but I’m glad that this particular story is about Tina, so far.
Good chapter. Well Helena is nice and help Tina and I agree with pandora007 and let see what’s next, thanks!
This is a very fine story, ffc. Thanks for writing it.
You’re really redeeming Helena. She’s a true ally, assisting a friend in need who cannot care for herself at the present moment. Helena is taking center stage in a positive way. This is the Helena we saw at the beach in the show, whose sincere love for her children influenced Tina to call Bette and include her in Angelica’s life. This must be the Helena that Tina saw most often. Tina wouldn’t have spent time with a complete harridan, not even to spite Bette. Fanficchick, we can count on you to spin the canon, giving us a richer version, ala ‘Comfort Enough’. Scriptwriting 101, if anyone over at Showtime is listening. Thank you!
Wow, this is a great story, something I particularly like is Helena and her involvement in the story. Now I know that lots of people out there did not like Helena in Season 2, but I have to say, given the storylines of S2, at least Helena always brought some excitement to the scene. I also, although most of my friends disagree with me, think that she really cared for Tina, so I can totally see this storyline. The problem with Bette is that she is so self absorbed and although I really do want to like her, sometimes it is just so hard. Recently, I was watching some of season one and I said thank god that they got Jennifer Beals, perky Alex from Flashdance, to play the role of Bette, because otherwise, I think Bette could have easily come off as a not very likeable character. The fact that most people, myself certainly included, want to like JB makes us want to like Bette.
So sad but so good. Thank you.
Forgive me for not commenting sooner, but I was away from the site for a few days and voila! 7 chapters. Your enviable production is surpassed only by your skill at storytelling and dialogue. I’m thrilled to have you writing a new story for us, but the subject matter took me by surprise. Recently, I attended a funeral for a four month old baby and Tina’s line, “She went to sleep and she didn’t wake up.” was particularly poignant to me.I think Seahurst is correct, though, there is no one better to guide us through this material.Thanks for writing.
Wow Helena’s really changed a lot. It’s extremely generous of her to take it upon herself to take care of Tina and nurse her back to health. Shane really is Yoda.
Lovely…
great chapter…thank you~
i dont know what to think but it seems that Helena have a heart..and i hope she think that the only way to help Tina is try to make her and Bette talk again..post soon thanks
I just read the last one and here’s another. Thanks!
Since Helena is here to help Tina, bring in Peggy to help Bette-Peabody’s to the rescue. I learned to like Tina with Helena.