Work Text:
May 17th, 1939
It was her day, Helena thought as she looked at herself in the mirror, she had - finally- been invited to a gala with New York's high society, and yes, it was more likely than not that, that dreadful woman would also be there, but not even that could make her any less excited. "Magda, my sapphire earrings from the first best box.", She screamed at her maid in the other room. "Yes, Madame!", She heard her scream back. She watched as Magda entered the room holding a black velvet box, "Here you go Madame", she said as she placed the box on the table in front of her, "Thank you, Magda". She put the earrings on as Magda smoothed her dark slicked back hair. "You look beautiful Madame", she said putting the hairbrush down. Helena smiled at her.
She got up from her chair, moving towards the full body mirror on the corner of her room. She was pleased with the view. She smoothed down her long blue skirt as she grabbed her purse and told herself she was beautiful, as she was used to doing every time she left the house.
She looked at the big building as her drive parked the car and opened the door for her. "Thank you, Martin", she said taking his hand to help her get out of the car. She looked up at the building once again before going up the stairs.
A waiter showed her to her table, the room beautifully decorated made the art lover in her screech in delight, she didn't let it show of course. To everyone there she was Helena Rubinstein, a giant in her industry, visionary, she'd like to keep it that way.
She greeted the people seated at her table, a rush of relief washing over her as she saw… the other one, sitting on the other side of the room, as far away from her as humanly possible given the size of the room, she chose to completely ignore her presence, it was her day, she was going to enjoy this night.
Helena was having the time of her life, happily eating her dinner and chatting to the people at her table, making sure to keep her voice lower than usual given the people she was surrounded by. She was taken by surprise when a waiter tapped her on the shoulder telling her there was someone on the phone for her, she had no idea who could it be. "It seems to be important Madame", the waiter insisted. "Excuse me" she said as she got up and followed the young man to the phone.
She picked up the phone from the desk it was on, "Could I take it?" She asked the waiter, "Of course", she smiled as she thanked him and made her way to the corridor near the bathrooms.
She heard her husband's voice as she took the phone to her ear, anxiety and dread washing over her. "Artchil, what do y-", he cut her off, her blood boiling. "Helena I need money", he said harshly, "Artchil I can't send you more money, I've told you I'm not paying your bills anymore", she said in an annoyed tone. "Fucking Devil woman, make yourself useful for one in your damn life, obbey your husband as you should and send me the damn money", he screamed at her. She heard a woman's voice before that line went silent, her heart dropping, tears filling up her eyes. She leaned against the wall, she refused to let herself cry over the way he treated her yet again, she would not do it, not again. She wasn't strong enough today, she broke down, she let herself cry just this once, she couldn't take it, it was supposed to be her day and he ruined it yet again.
"Madame Rubinstein?" She heard a soft voice calling her. She straightened up her back and dryed her tears away.
May 17th, 1939
Elizabeth hated this, specially today, all the interactions with the high society tired her. Yes, she did ask for it, it was what she wanted, but it tired her nonetheless. She missed Bessie more than usual today, Tommy and her had a fight over silly things again, she just wanted her touch her again, she missed her kisses and her sweet laugh. She shook her thoughts away as her maid came into the room. "Jackson is ready for you ma'am", "Thank you Harriet, I'll be right down" she smiled.
She looked at herself in the mirror once again as she got up and put her lipstick on her purse.
She fiddled with her the bracelet Bessie had given her years ago, it brought her comfort, it made her feel as if she was still there. Her thoughts were interrupted as her driver opened the door and offered his hand, which she didn't take, she never did.
She went up the stairs that she and gone up multiple times at this point, a waiter showed her the way to her table as usual, today was a different place though, she has written a note to the hosts of the Gala earlier that week asking to be seated as far away as possible from… her, she was glad to see she had gotten there before Helena had. She smiled at the people seated at her table, greeting them with a warm hello as she sat down.
Two hours had passed, two hours of useless conversations with people that didn't actually know or liked her, she couldn't think, she started feeling like she couldn't breathe, she desperately needed to be alone, at least for 5 minutes. "Excuse me", she spoke as she got up from her chair and headed to the bathroom.
She dismissed the woman standing on the corridor rushing to the open the door, until… she heard her quiet sobbs. She slowly walked back to look at her, -no… there's no way it was her, she thought backing away a little, when she thought about what Bessie would think about all this. She couldn't just see a woman crying, sobbing rather, and do nothing, even if she hated her could she? No… she was better than that. She gathered up all the courage she had and went back to where she was, "Madame Rubinstein?", She said softly, trying to not scare her. She watched as she straightened her back and dried her tears before turning to face her.
"Miss Arden?" Her tone was stern, but Elizabeth could hear the pain behind it, Helena was not ok.
There was something about seeing her enemy looking so helpless that was just painful, she was used to seeing her as a strong, independent, a mountain of a woman, never bothered. Seeing her so vulnerable made her feel helpless.
"Are you okay Madame?" She asked, a reluctance in her voice. "I'm perfectly fine, why the question?" She said quickly, her thick polish accent making her words sound they were one. "Well… you were crying, sobbing rath-", "Ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. Me, crying?. Please" she chuckled. All her words didn't mean a thing, Elizabeth could see it in her eyes, she felt helpless, she desperately be wanted a hug, she could see it.
Before Helena could protest she felt herself being dragged to the ladies room by her rival, she had no idea she was so strong, or maybe Helena was too weak because she didn't say a word until Elizabeth pushed her into the bathroom and closed the door behind them.
"What on earth do you think you're doing?", She screamed as she felt her nemesis's arms around her. Elizabeth Arden was… hugging her…WHAT THE FUCK?. She was shocked as she felt her body relax into her touch, putting her own arms around her slim waist and resting her head on she chest. She let herself cry.
Although she knew only about 5 minutes had gone by, it felt as if the world has stopped and they had been there for hours. She would never admit that she enjoyed whatever that was, she liked being touched by women, she understood it wasn't the same as her partners of course, this is her enemy we're talking about. She was hugging her though and she did not know what that meant. She felt Elizabeth pull away slightly, she quickly let go of her not making eye contact, she'd look at the floor, her shoes, but not at her. She cleared her throat, "I-...Um… thank you for that, it was nice of you.", "You're welcome" she said, a smile in her voice. "Are you not going to look at me now? You just sobbed into my arms, you know that right", Elizabeth joked. Helena looked at her, studying her face, she couldn't help but notice her eyes, she had beautiful eyes, it looked at if they could glow in the dark, they were so light. She watched as her eyes looked down at her lips and back at her eyes… was she- no, there's no way, she couldn't be, could she?. Helena felt her body tingle all over, she wanted to kiss her, what on earth was she thinking?. Her body was faster than she could control it, she touched Elizabeth's cheek softly, asking for permission, she felt her rival lean into her touch and that was all she needed to move forward. She pulled her in and kisses her softly, she felt Elizabeth relax into the kiss and caress her cheek while holding her by the waist. Helena pulled away as she gasped for air and looked up at the woman in front of her, she smiled at her, she felt all the butterflies in her stomach take flight, she gave her another quick peck and laughed. "We have to go back now, you go first". "Alright, alright, I'm going", she said heading to the door when Elizabeth pulled her for another kiss. Elizabeth felt Helena smile into the kiss and that made her heart skip a beat, "Ok, I really have to go remember?", She said, a cheeky smile decorating her face. "Fine, reapply your lipstick first, it's smudged", she chuckled softly brushing the tips of her fingers on the corners of her enemy's lips. "You too", Helena said pulling her lipstick out of her purse and applying on Elizabeth's lips.
"Goodbye Miss Arden", she turned winking at her. "Goodbye Madame Rubinstein", she smiled as she watched Helena close the door, leaving Elizabeth feeling like a sappy teenager… she wasn't complaining.
She checked her freshly applied lipstick and sighed happily as she reached for the door.