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Mark S. opened his eyes, expecting to find himself in the elevator heading down to the Severed floor as per usual. Only this time, he wasn’t. Something was different. Instead of hearing the usual, familiar ding, he heard the scraping of utensils against plates.
Mark blinked as the sight in front of him quickly came into focus. He found himself sitting at a table in what seemed to be some sort of restaurant. At least, that’s what he assumed considering he had never been to a restaurant before. Confused, he looked around to see if he recognized anyone, only to find other people talking to each other and enjoying their meals.
Where the hell was he?...
Mark looked down at the silverware sitting expectantly in front of him. He hesitated before slowly reaching out for it, undoing the napkin hiding the utensils before he’d find himself not holding a fork or knife, but two wooden sticks.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” A familiar voice spoke.
Mark nearly dropped the two sticks he was holding as Helly sat down from across from him. Only, she wasn’t dressed in her usual pencil skirt. She wore a black turtleneck and a pair of jeans that was only barely visible to him as she sat down.
“Helly?...” He whispered in disbelief.
“Try again.” The woman urged him, a smirk slowly playing across her lips.
Mark's eyes widened as he immediately recognized the cold look in her eyes. He knew exactly who he was talking to. And it wasn’t Helly.
“Helena.” He forcefully corrected himself, saying her name with far more than simple distaste.
“It’s nice to see you again, Mark.” She told him, continuing to hold the smirk on her face.
“There’s no way in hell my outie agreed to this.” Mark told her.
“You’re right.. What your outie did agree to was a company dinner. And this is what this is in a sense.” She told him, continuing to play coy. It was as if she was a predator, wanting to play with her food before she ate it.
“What do you want?” Mark demanded. He was tired of playing Helena’s games.
“I just told you.” She innocently replied, motioning to the table in front of them. “Dinner.”
Mark scoffed as he shook his head. “You’ve already made things complicated enough between me and Helly. This is the last thing I need right now.”
Helena’s body tightened as she heard Mark say her innie’s name. “Right, because I have so much sympathy towards the per-” She bit her tongue. “Thing, that tried to fucking kill me.”
Mark chuckled in disbelief, looking at Helena as their waiter came over to break the tension.
“We’ll both do water.” Helena told the waiter, who promptly nodded before walking away, leaving the two in an uncomfortable silence.
Mark looked around the restaurant, realizing that for the first time since their uprising, he had access to the outside world. “What’s stopping me from leaving? Right now." He thought aloud. "From going and telling everyone what’s really going on down there?” Mark asked her, turning to look into her eyes.
“Well, first of all, I’d simply deactivate the overtime contingency before you’d make it out the door.” Helena replied without hesitation. “Second of all, you have something that I want, and I have something that you want. If you stay here and have dinner with me… I’ll tell you something about Ms. Casey.”
He stared at her, his mouth falling open as he tried to come up with a comeback like a child losing an argument. “W- Well I’m still searching for answers. And I’m not going to stop. With or without your help.” He stubbornly told her.
“Mark, I was with you down there. We found nothing and as of right now, you currently have nothing. You don’t even know if she is still alive. All you have to do is have dinner with me and you’ll get further than you ever had before. Like it or not, you need me.” She smugly told him.
Mark hesitated, clearly growing conflicted. “How would I know you aren’t lying? Again?” He asked.
“You wouldn’t. But do you really have any other option?” Helena asked him.
Mark’s begrudging silence answered Helena’s question as her smirk widened. She knew she had him.
Their waiter returned as he set down water for each of them before taking a step back. “Do you both know what you’d like to order?”
“You know what, we haven’t even looked at the menu.” Helena apologetically told him, immediately masquerading her cold personality.
“No worries! Take your time!” The man smiled at them and hurried off to another table, leaving them alone once again.
Helena picked up her menu and looked over it before she’d glance up at him. “Ever have Chinese before?”
“You know damn well I haven’t..” Mark mumbled. He reached out for his own menu and began to look over it as Helena smirked to herself at his response. If Mark had to guess, to her, it was probably like an owner feeding their pet scraps of their food as a ‘special treat’.
Mark sighed, lowering his menu to look at her as his thoughts got the best of him. “What do I have that you want?”
His question caught Helena off guard, causing her gaze to momentarily soften as she looked at him. “What?..”
“You said I have something that you want. What could you possibly want?” He asked her.
Helena gazed at him, her expression softening all the more before she’d shyly look down at her lap, feeling her grasp on the conversation loosening as she struggled on what to say. She took a second to compose herself before she’d look back up at Mark, any vulnerability hidden away behind her cold eyes. “He’ll be back soon. You should pick something to order. Not everyday you get to have something else other than melon.” She taunted him.
Mark continued to glare at her before he’d cave in and sigh, looking back down at his menu and continuing to scan it. He couldn’t believe his eyes. There were more food options in front of him than Lumon had ever offered him during all of his time on the Severed floor combined.
As Mark read off every item he possibly could on the menu, Helena looked up to watch him. She couldn’t help but smile to herself at the cute expression on his face. In a weird way, it was like giving your kid a present on Christmas and watching them open it. Strangely enough, it made her feel.. warmth , to see him happy.
“Have you ever had Hunan chicken?” Mark asked, looking at Helena. He was being genuine.
“Uhm- Yes. I have. It’s good.” she softly told him. “It may be a bit spicy for you though.”
“I’ve never had anything spicy before..” Mark’s voice trailed off as he stared down at the description.
“Then you should get it.” Helena encouraged him. As embarrassed as she was to admit it, she was enjoying talking to him normally for once. Not about Lumen. Not about Ms. Casey. Not about anything to do with work. Just… Life . She wasn’t used to it…
“I think I will.” Mark agreed. He set his menu down, smiling at Helena. For the slightest moment, the two of them shared a deep gaze that Mark couldn’t even begin to comprehend as he felt a stupid smile spread across his face. Helena was oddly having the same reaction. However, the longer he gazed at her, the more he was reminded of why he was there to begin with. And with that, their moment was over as quickly as it had begun.
Before either of them could say anything, the waiter returned with his notepad. “You folks narrow down on what you’d like to order?”
To Mark's surprise, Helena urged him to go ahead. He had never ordered food before, so he looked at the menu before looking back at the waiter. “Uh, hunan chicken.” was all he awkwardly spoke. This elicited a smirk from Helena. Not a usually cruel one, but genuine.
“I’ll do the same, please.” She spoke. She reached for Mark’s menu and her own before handing both to the waiter.
“Absolutely. We’ll have those right out.” The waiter reassured him before walking away.
Mark looked at Helena with sudden skepticism. “You said you told my outie this was a company dinner.. Does anyone at Lumon even know about this? About us?”
“No.. And I’d prefer to keep it that way.” Helena was quick to tell him.
“Okay, so then we’re here because you wanted me here.. Not Lumon. Correct?” He asked.
“That is correct.” Helena coldly confirmed before reaching for her water and taking a sip.
“Okay, so I guess that brings me to my next question. Why did you want me here?” he continued down his line of questioning.
Helena shrugged, letting out a light sigh as she looked around the restaurant. “Maybe I didn’t like where we left things.”
“You mean with you fucking me without telling me who you really were.” Mark replied.
“I mean with someone trying to fucking drown me.” Helena shot back with a glare.
“You got Irv killed, by the way.” Mark told her.
“Which wasn’t my intention.” Helena hissed at him.
“What was your intention? Why were you down there? And don’t give me that Swedish King horseshit.”
“What?” Helena looked confused before she let out a short laugh. “Fucking Milichick.. I was just keeping an eye on all of you. Trying to find out how much you really knew. The board encouraged it.”
“Did the board also encourage you to fuck me?” Mark demanded.
Helena sighed, shaking her head as her cheeks flushed to a tint of red. “No, nor do they know.”
“So then why’d you do it?” He pressed her. “I deserve the truth. For once.”
Helena glanced at him, glaring daggers. “Don’t push your luck, Mark S.”
Mark scoffed, clearly not caring by this point. “Or what? You’ll fuck me again?”
Before Helena could even respond with a snarky remark of her own, their waiter returned with their food. “Alright, two Hunan chickens. Everything look good?” He asked, setting their plates down in front of them.
Mark, not even knowing what Hunan chicken was supposed to look like to begin with shrugged. “Yeah, it looks great.” He said, looking down at his food. “Thanks.” The waiter smiled and looked at Helena, who forced a smile as she nodded in agreement.
“Wonderful, just flag me down if you need anything.” He said before walking away.
The two would be left in silence again, though this time able to absorb themselves in the comfort of their food as they began to use their chopsticks to eat- Though in completely different ways. While Helena used her’s normally, Mark had a difficult time with them. Not knowing how they worked, he stabbed into the chicken, expecting it to stick as he attempted to pull it up to no avail. “How the hell is this supposed to work?" he asked her.
Helena, still annoyed by his earlier remark, sighed and looked up at him. “Oh so now you want my help.” She scoffed and stood up from her seat, leaning over to take his hands in hers. “Just.. Like this.” She softly spoke.
Helena rested her right hand on his as she directed him how to correctly hold his chopsticks before helping him move his fingers. “Like that..” She breathed. She looked up to look into his eyes, her hands still resting on his as Mark gazed right back. Now that he was close to her, her eyes didn’t seem so cold. Maybe they were more like a shield that protected the warmth that lay behind them. The warmth that he had gotten to know on the Severance floor..
Mark continued to look into her eyes before clearing his throat. “Should.. Probably eat your food before it gets cold.”
“Yeah.. Probably.” Helena agreed. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure as she sat back down and looked down at her food, growing silent as they both began to eat. Mark felt his cough from earlier return as he swallowed his first bite.
Helena glanced up at him absentmindedly. “Are you okay?” She asked.
Suddenly, the environment around them flickered to the MDR bathroom. Mark found himself wearing his suit, leaning over the sink as Helly stood next to him. She held the same expression on her face as she looked at him. Mark coughed again as he looked at himself in the mirror before quickly turning to look at Helly, who was intently watching him.
“Are you okay?..” She asked again.
Mark sighed, looking down at the napkin in his hands. “No, not really..”
The napkin in his hand flickered back to a pair of chopsticks as he quickly looked up to see Helena Eagan looking right back at him. “It’s just the spice. You’ll get used to it. I was the same way.” She said
Mark looked back down at the chopsticks, trying to process what had just happened. One moment, he was in the restaurant. The next, he was back a Lumon. What was happening to him?...
As he thought more about Lumon, his thoughts shifted back to Helena’s infiltration of the Severed floor. Then, a thought crossed his mind. One that he couldn’t just ignore. Maybe this is how he could get through to Helena..
Mark frowned and sighed, figuring he better just force it out into the open. “You know, I’ve been thinking about something you told me. When you were down on the Severed floor.” He told her.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Helena tilted her head, beginning to smirk as he was curious on what he had to say.
“You told me that innies and outies are different. I think you couldn’t be more wrong.” Mark told her.
“Why do you think that?” Helena’s eyes began to narrow.
“You and Helly.. As much as you’d hate to admit it, you really are more alike than you think.” He looked into Helena’s eyes, prompting her to look down as she listened to what he had to say.
“When you were pretending to be her.. I really couldn’t tell the difference. Sure, maybe you’re a bit more cold. Maybe a bit more of a warped sense of humor. But you’re the same person. You have the same mannerisms. You sound the same, look the same, hell, even kiss the same.”
Helena’s cheeks blushed as she glanced up to look into his eyes.
“The only difference is that one part of you is locked away and one part of you is allowed to be free.” He finished.
“Look around us. I’m the one who’s free. I’m in charge.” Helena bitterly snapped.
“Do you really believe that?...” Mark asked her.
Helena couldn’t even answer him as she shamefully avoided his gaze. They both knew the truth.
“What you said to me.. In the tent… About being ashamed of who you were on the outside-”
“Shut up.” Helena abruptly told him. Were those tears in her eyes?
“Was that another lie? Or were you finally telling the truth?” Mark finished.
Silence set over them as Mark’s words hung in the air. Helena cleared her throat, composing herself as she reached for her napkin to dab it over her eyes, careful not to ruin her mascara, careful not to ruin the image she was trying to set for herself and for Mark.
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Helena. Not like with everyone else. I meant what I said. That’s why I’m here, right?” Mark desperately told her. One final hail mary.
Helena gazed into his eyes as she couldn’t hold back the tears now. Years of suffering broke free, dripping down her cheeks. She shook her head, careful to wipe them off again.
“This was a mistake.” She whispered, reaching for her phone.
“Wait!” He found himself shouting, evidently startling her. “What about Ms. Casey? Please, Helena.” He begged her, so overwhelmed by emotion he was on the edge of tears. She gazed at him, her icy demeanor having completely crumbled apart.
“She’s still alive.. And you still have time.” Helena told him. She grabbed her phone, holding her thumb over it as she gazed into Mark’s eyes one more time, momentarily breaking their passionate stare to glance at his lips.
“Mark.. I’m sorry.” She apologized. Not just for their night, but for everything she had done. To his surprise, she really did sound sincere. “Just in case we don’t see each other again.. Or I dunno.. In case we do?” She awkwardly shrugged.
With that being said, Helena pressed down on her phone and as the overtime protocol came to an end, so did their dinner together.
When Mark Scout came to, he found himself sitting alone at the table he had sat down at what seemed like just a second ago. He looked around, finding no trace of whoever his innie had been meeting with. However, he felt something drip down his cheek. He reached up and wiped it, finding a tear.
“The lady you were with took care of the check, sir.” The waiter came over to inform him before walking away.
Mark looked down at his hand, staring at the tear as the waiter’s words replayed in his mind over and over again.
Despite the reintegration, he still couldn’t remember anything. But, there was one word- one foreign, yet oddly familiar name stuck in his mind like an addictive song you couldn’t get out of your head.
”Helly..” he whispered.