Betty's First Trip To Rome – The Return - Chapter 1 No Sweeter Sight
"Mother!" said Daniel with delight to Claire, who was standing waiting outside the office of Wilhelmina Slater, the new editor-in-chief of New York's foremost fashion magazine Mode. Wilhelmina had out-maneuvered Daniel and taken over his former position the month before. Daniel, having come directly from the airport to meet them, quickly dropped the luggage he was holding to embrace Claire and kiss her on the cheek. "How are you? How is Daniel Jr.? Was he good?" asked Daniel in rapid succession, not pausing for answers.
"Fine, fine and yes," Claire smiled, returning Daniel's hug and kiss. "How was Rome?"
"Rome was … uh, what? You said Danny was good?" exclaimed Daniel.
"He was good, I mean for a boy his age," replied Claire. "I well remember you and Alex at that age. He's just the same as you were then. We got along famously. Now, tell me about Rome."
"Rome was fantastic," said Daniel, "The best trip I ever had to the city. I enjoyed every minute I spent with Betty and Gio and landing the deal with Antonio was the icing on the cake. You will not believe how fabulous Betty is looking."
"Ah, Roma Eterna, so romantic! Bradford and I loved that city!" She smiled as she reminisced of touring Rome with her beloved late husband. "How are Betty and Gio?"
"Madly in love and therefore somewhat sleep deprived." said Daniel with a chuckle. "Are there any other details that matter?"
"I suppose not," she said, smiling. "Does that mean the sound of wedding bells isn't far off?"
"No, on the contrary, they both seem determined to put their careers first, but …"
The arrival of Wilhelmina interrupted Daniel mid-sentence. She led them into her office, circled around behind her large imposing desk, sat, and waved her hand with a haughty air to indicate that they should sit also.
"Well, Daniel," Wilhelmina said coolly, "first things first: I note that congratulations are in order. Good work on securing the Antonio deal. Thank you."
"You're welcome." said Daniel warily, surprised to hear the sound of praise from his rival. "I congratulate you, too. I hear sales are up."
"Thank you Daniel, I am pleased with the latest issue, my first issue as editor-in-chief." she replied, stressing the detail that everyone present was already painfully aware of. "I asked you here to give you your next assignment."
Daniel frowned; the aggravation of losing his position to Wilhelmina as fresh as ever. She had taken his job from him the same day she led the company to win the Mode versus Elle baseball game. Her power over him galled him. "And, what might that be?"
"I want you to join the accounting department. I want you to study the budgets and procedures there, everything they do, and get a handle on that end of the business."
"Really? You want me there?" said Daniel, not bothering to conceal his annoyance. He was not a numbers person and would never fit into that department; he thought he might as well be banished to Siberia.
"Yes," said Wilhelmina, with an icy stare, inwardly pleased she'd predicted he would fight being sent to that department. She was confident he couldn't fail to demonstrate to everyone else how incompetent she knew he was.
Knowing he had no influence to change her mind, Daniel turned and glanced at Claire, hoping she would object on his behalf. Claire returned Daniel's look, but she stayed grim and silent, giving him only the slightest shrug of her shoulders in response. Wilhelmina had full control of Mode and, since Claire was the editor-in-chief of Hot Flash, she was powerless to help him.
"The fact of the matter, Daniel," said Wilhelmina "is that without Betty to help you, you are hardly competent for anywhere. It was sheer luck that she was there to help you with Antonio." Her displeasure at his success in Rome was clear.
"Now, is that really …" said Daniel, stopping suddenly when he heard the sound of Alexis's stylish high heeled shoes clicking on the floor behind him. He turned to examine her demeanor. She stood tall and elegant and surveyed the room calmly. Alexis, Daniel's brother turned sister, was always mystery to him, he never knew if she'd be an ally or a foe. Desperate, he said, "Alexis, Betty will be back in a few days and I would like to have her promoted and assigned to work with me. Anywhere but in accounting, please."
"I'm sorry," said Alexis, without a trace of apology in her tone. As president of Meade she could overrule Wilhelmina if she chose, but today she did not choose to. "I refuse to micro-manage Mode so that means Wilhelmina is free to assign you to wherever she wishes."
"And it is in accounting," Wilhelmina said, "for now. I have something else in mind for Betty," she added, ominously. "Do you really think she'd like to go with you to accounting?"
"No, of course not." said Daniel. He knew that Betty's talent wasn't for numbers either; her ambition was to be a writer.
"What will she be doing?" he asked, suddenly afraid to find out what Wilhelmina was planning for Betty.
"You'll know in good time, Daniel … all in good time. Just tell her to come and see me as soon as she returns," said Wilhelmina. Rising from her chair, she signaled the end of the meeting with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Wait! Before you go," interjected Alexis, seating herself between Daniel and Claire and holding out a letter to Wilhelmina, "I have some correspondence here that we should all look at."
Wilhelmina took the letter from Alexis, seated herself at her desk, and read it quietly.
"Another charity competition?" said Wilhelmina scornfully to Alexis. "Haven't we done enough for these greedy people? Aren't they ever satisfied?"
Wilhelmina stood up to admire proudly the huge trophy from the baseball game which was displayed prominently on a cabinet beside her desk. "Are we supposed to give even more of our time to these poor, pathetic, little people, none of whom have even a penny to spend or an ounce of taste in fashion? Why do we care?"
"Elle has already signed up," replied Alexis, knowing exactly what would motivate Wilhelmina to participate.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" said Wilhelmina, reading the letter through again, paying careful attention to its details, and then handing it to Claire. "Of course we are devoted to charity work! And this looks like a particularly interesting competition. I'm starting to get some very interesting ideas about it already."
* * *
Gio and Betty paused in the airport baggage pickup area, just moments before meeting their families, to study the monitors that displayed the flights and baggage carrousels. Instead of being tired from their long flight back from Rome, they comfortably leaned against each other, their eyes sparkling, their lips smiling, and their cheeks flushed, still warm and glowing from some recent exertions together.
They were back at the NYC airport, the same place they left a month before but Gio felt completely different. Back then when Hilda and Daniel had opened his eyes after his fight with Betty, he had a constant battle inside: his heart pushing him to move too fast and his head fighting to slow himself down.
Ever since Betty had agreed to marry him the trip had been wonderful. He'd never experienced such ecstasy. Waking up in bed with her each morning, and sharing every moment of the day. Taking care of everyone around her, never herself, she was eternally cheerful, the happiest and nicest person he had ever met. He loved her unique and special personality. But she needed someone to look after her and to make sure she remembered to have fun, and he wanted to do that for her. He wanted to do it forever. Even though Betty wanted to move into an apartment with him right away, he realized that they'd better wait a while. It was too soon, he was still in peril of moving too fast. It killed him to wait, but he couldn't risk losing Betty like he almost did before, and an engagement could be broken as fast as taking a ring off a finger.
She was sometimes hard for him to understand, like when she first agreed to go to Rome with him and then changed her mind the next day, or when she kissed him back, in the deli, but wouldn't admit it afterwards. So he had to think it through, instead of following his faulty instincts. He'd thought it over carefully and he was sure that it would work out better in the long run to live apart for now. Betty was the kind of person likely to put her career aside for him, and he knew she would regret it later. Maybe not in six months or a year, but eventually, she'd regret it. Success in a career was important to her and he promised himself not to let her neglect achieving it.
Betty smoothed her tousled hair and checked that her blouse was properly buttoned back up and tucked into her skirt's waistband. She needed to look respectable for the family. She held out her hand to admire her engagement ring, then glanced up to Gio and asked flirtatiously, "Do I look okay?"
Gio gazed at her, adoring her, unable to imagine a sweeter sight: her face radiant, her hair and clothes a little disheveled, her pink earlobes decorated with pearl earrings. Even the black bra strap he could see slipping down her shoulder was endearing. "No, Suarez" he said, shaking his head.
She looked at him with wide eyes, surprised.
Gio impulsively reached out and slipped his fingers under the sleeve of her blouse trying to put the strap back in place, "You look much better than okay."
Betty, looking at Gio's hand on her shoulder and grabbing the strap, said, "No, let me do it."
Gio quickly pulled his hand back, suspecting the intimacy of the gesture or the location of his hand was inappropriate, freezing when he felt his fingers become entangled in her hair. They were in a public space and he was petrified he'd trespassed over her boundaries. His mind flashed back to the fight in the park, when he had inadvertently angered her with an unwelcome touch. Here they were, back from their charmed life in Rome, and he hadn't been on guard. He watched her in fear, holding his breath.
Unaware of Gio's agitation, Betty laughed from seeing his hand caught and pulled her hair free from it. "What are we doing? How can we live apart? You, staying with your parents, and me at my house, it's crazy. I want to live with you."
Relieved and thankful that Betty was not angry, Gio resumed breathing. He gently slid his hand around her waist, "I want to too B, but we'll save a ton of money staying at home. And we should both focus on our work right now." He stroked her back with his hand. "And I'll see you for lunch. We can have lunch together every day. We will have dates whenever you want. It'll be fun."
Pressing into Gio, sliding her hands up his arms, she tilted her face up close to his. Betty breathed deeply, breathing his cologne, and stroked the dark stubble that framed his smiling red lips. "No," she said, her soft lips inviting his to meet them.
Gio's good intentions were melting away rapidly and they were just as quickly being replaced by other intentions. He was on the verge of relenting when Betty said, "You're right, I know we should be sensible and save money. But let's not be sensible yet, this moment is the last one of our amazing holiday and I want you to kiss me, right now."
He obeyed ardently. As a steady stream of weary passengers diverted around them, everything faded; Betty and Gio entered their own private world.