Rivals? || Helena

Nicole walked out of the locker room at the community pool and headed over to one of the chairs. She set her towel and other items down, then removed her shirt, revealing her well toned, athletic frame. A few of the guys at the pool saw Nicole as she did that, then walked over to the pool and dove in. After getting in, Nicole started to swim her laps. As she did, Nicole had no idea that she would meet Patrick Sullivan's partner from the crime lab and the misunderstanding that would start between them.

Helena finally had a few days off. Last night was the first night she didn't have to work. Since the weather was kind of lousy, she couldn't go out and skate. Actually she had wanted to practice some of her Martial Arts moves or train with her Katana, but no one had been available to train with.
So Helena decided to visit the pool and swim a little. Although swimming wasn't exactly her favorite sports.
Packed with a small bag that held her bikini, some towels and lotion for later, she walked into the pool and paid for her stay before she then walked into the locker and changing rooms to get changed.

Nicole was still doing her laps at this time. As she swam, her thoughts came to the time her and Patrick spent together in Australia. Those memories always brought a smile to Nicole's face. However, she was aware of the fact that they had both moved on from each other and were just friends now. After making a turn, Nicole stopped mid swim when a guy blocked her path. "Could you move please?" she asked the guy in a calm tone.

The guy looked at Nicole and then gave her a small smile. She was a beautiful woman and he was a gentle guy. Just the type of men who looked at women and was always friendly to them. He was here with his daughter, a teenager who just swam up to him from the opposite site.
"Sure. No problem." he said and swam out of her way, meeting up with his daughter on the other side of Nicole's 'path'. He then turned around, still smiling gently. "There you go, Miss."

Back in the changing rooms, Helena was locked inside her cabin and changed into her bikini. Then she put her clothes into her bag and unlocked the cabin and took her stuff to the locker.

Nicole nodded in reply when the guy did that. "Thanks mate" she said to him before continuing on with her laps. Her time on both swim and water polo teams had made Nicole a strong swimmer, a skill that was enhanced when she went into the military. As she continued to swim, Nicole didn't know she would soon see Helena.

Helena slowly wandered down the hall to the main area of pools. The ones without the fancy fun stuff around. Usually that pool wasn't as crowded as the fun part of the pool. 
She was minding her own business as she was on her way, making sure she wouldn't bump into people. It had been quite a while since she last came here - since she last went swimming anyway. Usually she didn't like the pools, because of all the chlorine and how it messed with her swim wear. But today she had decided to make an exception.

She would simply swim a few laps and then head back home. No need to stay here longer than necessary.

While he swam, Nicole saw Helena walk into the pool area and stopped.  "G'day Helena" she called out to her.  Nicole had only met her once before, at the diner where that biker tried to hit on her and ended up getting a face full of table.  "Nice day for a swim right?" she asked while watching her.

Helena walked up to the few lounge chairs in that area and set her towel down on one of them. Hearing a familiar voice call out, Helena turned around and saw Nicole swimming in the pool as well. She had only met her once and it was just a brief meeting. Helena hadn't been sure how to take her. She knew that her and Patrick had a thing once in Australia and although they broke it off, due to him returning to his home country, Helena still was a little reserved.

Maybe unconsciously she saw a rival in her. A rival for the love and affection of the man she let slip away once in High School and now was reunited with again. Although in her mind, Helena knew Patrick had moved on, he told her so himself once. But still, an old love sometimes was easy to live up again. And maybe her subconscience was worried that this might happen.

Putting on a small, reserved, yet friendly smile, Helena shrugged a little. "Yeah well... for a swim in a pool... I'd rather be outside at a beach somewhere... less chlorine and other chemicals." she replied casually.

Nicole nodded a bit in reply as she watched Helena say that to her. "I know what you meen" she replied, noticing the reserved smile on Helena's face. She didn't know that deep down, Helena saw her as a rival for Patrick's affection. Nicole didn't know that Patrick and Helena had known each other in high school and how close they were to each other. Nicole got back to her laps, finishing a while later. After she finished, Nicole got out and walked over to the chair that she had her towel and other stuff set on. As she walked by, a group of teen boys noticed her. Nicole saw them as walked to her chair. Nicole just nodded to them and continued on her way.

Helena nodded a little in reply, not really sure how to behave around Nicole, or how to approach her. Patrick said that they were done, over whatever they had back in Australia and she wasn't quite sure if she should be jealous or careful around Nicole. She didn't want to loose Patrick, nor did she want to be an enemy of Nicole's.
From the day in the diner, where she first met Nicole, Helena actually didn't quite get the feeling of being jealous, but it's kind of weird to meet an ex of someone you love and want to date.

Watching Nicole getting back to swimming her laps, Helena sighed a little bit, then she shook her head, pushing that thought aside and slowly walked up to the pool. She could feel the eyes of said teenage boys on her. They would 'inspect' Nicole not long after that. Helena just smirked a little as she stopped at the edge of the pool and then took a graceful header into the cool water. Some of the teenage boys were whistling. Boys... and when they hear my age they'll call me old... Helena thought to herself, as she hit the water and dove under.

Nicole looked over when she heard the boys whistle at Helena and shook her head. Different country, yet the boys behave the same she said to herself as she sat there. As she thought that, she wondered why Helena was acting the way she did when she arrived. Should I confront her about it? she asked herself while sitting there, not noticing that one of the boys from earlier was watching her again. Seconds later, the boy's pals started to tease him about looking at Nicole. The young man just shook his head and swam off in reply. Nicole looked over when she heard that, then went back to her book.

Helena ignored the small group of teenagers while she appeared back on the surface and began to swim a few laps in the pool. She had no reason to be ashamed of boys looking at her, yet she would never go out of her way and go for one of these kids. Or even say she knew she was beautiful. She wasn't that kind of arrogant, self-loving person. She was the kind of woman who took herself the way she was and while Helena indeed was beautiful, she herself would always say "I'm happy the way I am and with who I am."

Modesty was the way she had been raised, although she came from a wealthy background. But she wasn't a spoilt brat like many may think she was. She was working hard for what she wanted in her life and the only thing she let her father help her with, was buying the small house she was now living in. That had been a gift to her, when she graduated from university and made it onto Grissom's team. And basically because her dad was proud of his daughter. Proud that she never came asking for money, although there would have been plenty available to her.

Smiling a little to herself, Helena glanced over at Nicole, seeing that she was sitting on a chair close to hers, reading a book. She sighed a little. I should try and behave more like myself. I should try and be friends with her. After all... she's a friend of his.

Nicole didn't notice that Helena was looking at her as she read.  She hoped that her and Helena could be friends.  Nicole didn't know that they would be talking about this in the next few moments.  As she read, one of the boys who was watching Helena walked by Nicole and started gawking at her.  Nicole sensed that someone was watching her, but didn't look at the person.  "Didn't your mum tell you its rude to stare at a chick?" she called out from behind her book.

Helena watched the incident while she swam to the edge of the pool and then got out of the water. She smirked a little, hearing Nicole's remark as she walked by her chair and past the teenager who was staring at Nicole.
"Exactly." she said to him, walking to her chair. The boy's eyes were now on Helena, but then his face turned bright red and he quickly walked away.

Helena giggled a little, drying herself with her towel.

Nicole glanced over to the boys, then looked back at her book. boys will be boys she said to herself while sitting there. She glanced over to Helena and noticed that she was giggling a bit. Nicole smiled a little at the same time.

"Boys, huh?" Helena said, while she wrapped the towel around her body and then looked at Nicole. "Just old enough to stare, but embarrassed if caught."

Well, some boys thought they were smart and made a silly, naughty comment about them, but mostly they just went away, embarrassed that they had been caught staring.

Nicole giggled a bit when Helena said that as she continued to read. "Aye" she said to her in reply as she held onto her book. At the same time, she couldn't help but think about the time she was that young and first became curious about boys.

Helena had a small smile on her face, standing nearby, the towel in hand. She hated the smell of chlorine, but she couldn't quite get rid of it, yet. This was a pool after all. She would take a hot bath when she got home, just to get rid of the smell.
"Hard to believe now that we were once like them." she commented. "Isn't it?"

Nicole giggled a little when Helena said that to her. "Agreed" she replied. "That was an ace time in my life." she said, flashing back to the hijinks she did back then.