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The scene looked cozy and relaxing. A handsome man and beautiful woman, sitting at a table with baked goods and wine, smiling at each other. The background was charming. He was pouring wine into her glass, she had just set a pair of pastel macarons on a plate in front of him.
"They look wonderful, Helen. They'll pair very well with the Moscato." he said, still smiling.
"Then you should try them instead of talking about them." she invited, giving him a flirty smile in return.
They knocked their wine glasses together and each sipped before turning to the pastries on their plates.
It was only a few seconds after they had each finished one that anything else was said.
"Cut! That's a wrap!"
As soon as those words were said and the camera was turned off, both of their smiles vanished. They moved away from each other, as if they couldn't stand being close for another moment.
The man, Nikola Tesla, picked his glass back up and knocked back the rest of his wine. Then he picked up the other glass and knocked that back too.
The woman, Helen Magnus, glared at him.
"That was mine."
"Trust me--I need it more than you do. All that time with you is putting me over the edge."
Helen snorted, standing up from the table and neatly brushing her skirt off.
"I am far more pleasant than you. And what did you do all day?" she countered, glaring at him.
"Be ordered around by you."
"You measured flour and stole my ingredients while worshipping alcohol." Helen snapped.
The crew ignored the back and forth between the two of them. While the two might have presented a charming, friendly, attractive pair on TV, they certainly didn't carry an ounce of that in real life. This argument was nothing new.
Nikola picked up one of the macarons, pale pink, and held it up.
"You make girly cookies. I, however, explore the complexities of alcohol and its relationship with food."
"You run a glorified drinking show!"
Nikola's eyes flashed at this. Helen gave him a smirk, clearly liking the effect that she was having on him. He stood up. The crew continued to go about their business, rolling their eyes or ignoring the pair.
Nikola was the well known host of the show Enigmatic Eats, a very popular show where he chose a different alcohol--whether it was type, flavor, brand or more--and cooked a meal to pair perfectly with it. Food, according to Nikola, was an art, but alcohol was the masterpiece and should never been overwhelmed or lost to the meal.
"It's better than what you do." he said hotly. "Your show just feeds the convention that women belong in the kitchen, baking pretty feminine things instead of anything else."
Helen gaped at Nikola, outraged by this.
Helen hosted her own show, Tokens of Confection, baking and making confections. She was the exact opposite of Nikola in some ways. Her show started simple each season, progressing in difficulty so that viewers had the chance to work along with her. Her kitchen was bright and simple, hallmarking a bygone era.
Nikola's, on the other hand, was dark wood and stainless steel, appearing more lab than kitchen in some aspects.
Theirs were the two most popular single-hosted, non-competition shows the network had, both having started in the same year. The shows aired from autumn to spring, leaving a gap in the network's ratings for the summer. Rather than shifting one show and tired of reruns, the network had put them together for a new show.
Enigmatic Confections--a name chosen as a compromise, though Nikola gloated that his went first--followed the premise of Nikola's show with the alcohol, but it was Helen baking things that complimented the choices.
This was the second season of filming for the pair and the behind-the-scenes hadn't gotten any easier. The two were more than willing to go for the other's throat if they had the chance. How they managed to pull it together for when the camera was on was a complete mystery.
Rather than engage in the current battle, Helen walked away from the argument, stepping behind the camera, minding any cords and things there might have been to trip her up.
She didn't have to take this and today she wasn't going to let it bother her. She'd had enough of this pointless arguing for the last few days.
They would be at it again soon enough. She didn't need any more right now. Of course, that wasn't what Nikola thought. He followed her. They were done filming, so now they were basically obsolete.
"Helen."
Helen ignored Nikola and kept walking. She didn't want to get into it right now.
"Helen, wait." Nikola said, grabbing for her arm.
Helen whipped around, feeling a surge of annoyance that was bordering on anger. She yanked her arm away from him. Nikola dropped his hand, but he looked curious.
"Did I really offend you that much?" he asked.
"Leave me alone, Nikola." Helen snapped, turning and walking away.
This time he let her.
______
The next day, Helen was trying her hardest to ignore Nikola. He seemed remorseful for her reaction to his words, as if he somehow knew he had hit a sore sport.
Helen had to grudgingly admit to herself that it wasn't as if Nikola could have known that things like that had been said to her her entire career. Especially when she had chosen it as a career over anything else.
She had been told that she was feeding a stereotype. That if she wanted to prove that women could do anything, then she wasn't allowed to showcase that by doing what they were already told they could do.
Helen hated the hypocrisy. If you wanted to demonstrate that women could do anything, then you weren't allowed to do what women already did, even if you were good at it.
She doubted that Nikola thought about that sort of thing. But Helen was well aware that she was setting an example, especially when she had a young daughter of her own.
It was not just a baking show. It was a way to show the world what she could do. To encourage others to do the same. To show herself that she could make it on her own, especially as a single mother of two.
"Cut!"
Helen looked up, startled by this direction, pausing in her mixing. Nikola stopped romantacizing the flavor of the sake he had chosen for today. It was a challenge to pair sake of all things with baked goods, but Helen had enjoyed the challenge.
"In the middle of my dialogue?" Nikola said indignantly, setting down the glass.
The producer behind the camera didn't look very happy as he surveyed the two of them.
"Helen." the producer said. "You need to stop looking like that."
Helen set her whisk down and stared at him.
"Looking like what?"
"You're furrowing your brow and biting your lip. You look like the dry ingredients have done something to you. Take it from the top."
Helen stared.
"I've already mixed--"
"Throw it out and start again."
Helen did not throw it out. That was just wasteful. She put it away to use later, after the filming had stopped.
Nikola as actually much more helpful the second time around. He lined up the jars nicely for her and measured out what she needed, actually using the mixer to whip the egg whites without her having to ask him.
They got the sponge into the oven and then set about making the rest.
By the time they were sitting together, with the matcha tiramisu she had made and Nikola's chosen, chilled sake, Helen was feeling much better.
She had no idea why, exactly. Nikola was still being annoying. Snarky. But the simple gestures of helping without her asking him had made her feel better.
Of course, it didn't last. Her smile may not have been as forced as usual at the beginning, but they had to refilm before they had even cut into the tiramisu. Mostly because Nikola had reverted back to his usual charming self.
Helen was relieved when they had finished for the day. Once the camera crew had cleared out, she went back into the kitchen. She wasn't going to make anything like the tiramisu, but the ingredients were there and she would make a simple sponge. Take it home. Henry in particular loved plain sponge.
She was mixing the rest of the ingredients in, humming to herself, when she heard a noise.
Helen looked up. Nikola was leaning in the doorway, watching her with raised eyebrows and a small smile that looked almost...predatory.
"What?" she snapped at him, continuing to mix, glaring at him.
"Just wanted to see what the great Helen Magnus was up to. I didn't think that you would be baking in your off hours. Don't you have a rug rat or two to get home to?"
Helen poured the mix into the pan.
"They're with my ex-husband." she bit out.
"Now that doesn't surprise me."
"What?" Helen was genuinely puzzled by the comment.
"That you have an ex-husband. It makes a lot more sense than you actually keeping one, considering your oh-so-pleasant demeanor."
Helen threw her spatula at him.
Nikola ducked, but she hadn't been aiming for his head and it struck him on the left side of the chest, smearing a pale streak of sponge batter down his dark suit jacket. He gaped at her, looking at the smear.
"Do you have any idea how much this costs?!" he yelled at her, clearly not certain what to do to get it off without making it worse.
it made her feel a little smug.
"More money than it should for something you wear around food prep." Helen said smoothly, bending and sliding her pan into the oven. She closed the door and set the timer.
Nikola spluttered and Helen straightened her spine, leaning casually against the counter, tilting her head slightly. She was ready for this. She wanted a fight.
If it hadn't been for the bloody contract and the fact that the potential renewal of her show--her livelihood--hung in the balance, Helen would have quit this show. She didn't want to have to deal with Nikola's arrogance so often.
They had always been rivals. How could they not be, when their shows had started in the same year and everything else? They each had high satisfaction when they beat the other in ratings and things like that. Work functions had brought them together and introduced them to each other. Now that they had been forced together things had just escalated.
Nikola stalked towards her. The counter stayed between them and Helen knew that it was probably a good thing. They had never gotten physical with each other--at least, not enough to harm each other--but Helen was tempted.
She was in a bad mood. What Nikola had said grated. Everything he said or did. Not just today or yesterday. The fact that she wouldn't be coming home to her children.
Helen stared Nikola down, holding his gaze.
She was shocked to find herself noticing just how blue his eyes were, even alight with anger like they were right now.
Helen was furious with herself for this.
Nikola dragged his fingers through the batter on his chest and, slowly and deliberately, ran his hand across her face and into her hair.
"Nikola!"
Helen jerked back, holding out her hair to see how far it had spread. Nikola smirked, looking very satisfied. Helen glared at him and searched for something else to hit him with, to make him as messy as possible. She had nothing on hand, unless she wanted to put the bowl on his head.
"That was--" Helen spluttered.
"Turn the battle into a war, Magnus, and be prepared to receive what you deal."
With that, Nikola sauntered out of the kitchen.
_____
The tension rose between them each filming day, the weeks passing quickly. The stakes were higher.
After another round of smearing each other with ingredients--this time in front of the entire crew--both Helen and Nikola had been sat down and scolded as if they were children. If they couldn't get their acts together, if the show was cancelled, both of their own shows would be on the line.
Helen had the sinking feeling that hers would be on the chopping block first. Because that was how it worked. Nikola was more charismatic. He was a man. If they couldn't get along, it would be her that was thrown out in the cold.
The pressure to be polite, to be better, to ignore Nikola trying to get under her skin, was getting to Helen.
But she was good enough for the cameras.
If she didn't know better, Helen would have thought that Nikola actually noticed and was trying to dial it back. He was kinder to her off camera, in the short window the interacted when the camera was off.
Today was actually a set of confections of floral flavors to compliment Nikola's chosen gewurztraminer. She could have made more macarons, but since she had already done those this season, there was no redoing them.
They did what they were supposed to do with minimal fighting between takes and scenes. Nikola was actually helping and Helen caught herself staring at him more than she normally would, watching him and wondering.
He was still annoying--more than--of course. But Helen was, for the first time, trying to look underneath that. The Nikola that she had initially met wouldn't have been helpful. He wouldn't have been remorseful. But now he was and it was confusing the hell out of Helen and putting her even more on edge.
Which was ironic, because Helen was fairly certain that Nikola was actually trying to put her at ease. She put the meringue kisses in the oven and moved on to the next confection.
They didn't exactly have a script and Nikola loved to go off of it, but he was being nicer than usual. Oh, his usual attitude didn't vanish, but the things that he was saying were reading differently than they usually did.
And Helen caught him looking at her like she was looking at him.
She was baffled. This wasn't how they usually worked. But she found that she didn't mind it. That was the strangest thing.
Nikola grinned at her as he took the bowl from her, taking over mixing so that she could measure. Helen, flustered, smiled back.
Her smile was still very much real when they were sitting at the table together, sipping their wine and sampling what she had made.
"Cut!"
Helen dragged her eyes away from Nikola when this was said and looked behind the camera. It seemed that they had done no wrng, because they got a thumbs up.
Nikola sipped his wine one more time and got up. Helen stayed where she was seated, biting down on her lip for a moment. She sipped her wine, watching as Nikola walked away.
She looked calm and collected, but her mind was racing. The idea of what she was considering doing was thrilling and scary at the same time.
Taking a deep breath, Helen set her wine down and followed Nikola. She had timed it at least, so that the crew wasn't around them.
"Nikola."
He half turned towards her, arching an eyebrow. She had never come after him like this. A part of Helen was telling her just how bad of an idea this was. They had spent the majority of their time hating each other, after all. This could go very wrong.
"Yes?" he asked at her prolonged silence.
"I was wondering if you would like to get something to eat with me later. Perhaps a drink." Helen said.
He looked her up and down.
"You do realize that was what we were just doing, don't you?" he asked.
Helen gave him a look.
"I was thinking perhaps somewhere you don't have to analyze and choose the alcohol and I don't have to make the food." she said.
Nikola was quiet for a few moments, during which Helen became convinced this had been a horrible idea. But then he gave her that signature smile.
"All right."
Helen stared, surprised by the answer.
"All right?"
"I do believe that's what I said." Nikola waited a beat. "But you're paying."
Helen smiled in return.
"All right."