Chapter 1: New Beginnings
I couldn't believe that I had done this! Then again, I would get to see him. My heart fluttered slightly as I knocked on the door. Locking myself out of my apartment might have been the stupidest, wait…no cleverest thing I could have ever done. The music stopped and I heard him fumbling around his apartment. I heard the lock unlatch and a moment later I was looking at Jesse.
"Hi, Betty. What brings you here? Am I playing too loud again?" He grinned.
"No! NO! Not at all….you can play as loud as you like. Trust me, when Ms. Withers lets Muffins out and he screeches by my window it's much louder than you playing. Besides, you need to practice…I should tell Ms.Withers to stop letting her cat roam wherever it likes…." I knew I was rambling and sometimes I did that when I liked a guy.
"So, you came to tell me that you are annoyed by Muffins?" He asked skeptically.
"No…no…well yes…and…" I grinned. "I'm locked out."
"Oh. Ok…" Jesse looked taken aback. "How…can I help you? I will if you need me too, but I'm not sure how." He put his guitar down and messed with his hair.
I looked a little embarrassed and I could feel myself turning red. "Well, remember about a week ago…my dad was all worried about me and he said that I should give my closest neighbor a key in the case of an emergency. Well…I gave it to you…remember?" I looked at him nervously. I had NO idea why I was so nervous.
He thought for a moment. "Oh yeah. You did. Sorry, you did give me a key. Come on in…I need to find it somewhere…." He let me in. I had never been in his apartment before. It was nothing like mine. His apartment was messy. Clothes were everywhere. I cringed slightly, being the neat freak that I am.
"Sorry for the mess." He smiled and all my hesitation for his apartment went away.
"Oh no…I understand completely. Some times when I work for Mode and we have big fashion weeks…my place looks like a disaster…" I wanted to change the subject. "So, the girl who left your apartment the other night…is she…your sister?" I asked casually.
"Ah, no…she's my girlfriend, Sarah. She lives in Greenwich. Hey, here it is." He pulled it out of a sock in his drawer.
"…Thanks." I took the key and started to back away to turn around. I suddenly tripped over a stool that was right behind me.
"You alright, Betty?" he asked helping me up.
"Yeah, fine." I said quickly. "I need to get going…so I'll see you around." I grinned as he walked me to the door.
"You have a good week Betty. Let me know if you need anything." He smiled and closed the door. I knew he only meant it in a friendly way.
I sighed and unlocked my own door. I heard rustling around in my apartment and my heart skipped a beat. "You stay away!" I yelled as I entered the room and looked around. "Hilda!" I yelled as my eyes met hers.
"What?! I need sisterly bonding time or whatever you call it. Since I broke up with Coach I need it." She stuck her finger in some icing.
"How did you get in?"
"You left the window open. You do know anyone could have climbed the fire escape…" she said mater of factly. "Oh and there was no need for you to go over to that guy's place…" She gave me a little wink.
"Ok, so what? Just because I am getting to know one of my neighbors doesn't mean…" I started, but Hilda finished.
"Ay Betty. You are always talking about that boy. If you ask me, you could have done better with G…" I stopped Hilda before she could finish.
"Please, I don't really want to hear his name." I informed her.
"Isn't he supposed to be back any day now?" she asked.
"Yes, if you're that curious. He came back today. There are you happy now?" I rolled my eyes and looked in the fridge for something to drink.
"Ooo…are you going to try and see him…you know to make amends and everything?" She took a drink out of the fridge and grinned.
"No! I told him I didn't like him in that way. End of story. New York is a very big city and the chances of running into him are slim to none." I ended the conversation by turning on our favorite soap opera.
"So what's new with Daniel and DJ?" Hilda asked after the episode was over.
"We're actually going to Coney Island tomorrow. Daniel wants to bond with his son and thought I would like to come along." I smiled. "I love Coney Island! I didn't get a hot dog last time I went there…" I glanced up at Hilda. "How are you holding up?"
"Better more and more every day. Justin…bless him…is striking gym on all accounts...even the cheerleaders….that boy…" she laughed.
"I'm glad you broke it off with him. Any guy who would make you a secret isn't good news at all." I took hold of my sister's hand and squeezed it.
"Thanks. I should probably be going. I need to work on my nails." She looked down at her nails and stood up. "Have fun tomorrow!"
That night I slept restlessly. I managed to have a dream about him. I hadn't thought of him since Hilda mentioned his name. In the dream I was sitting in his sandwich shop and we were dating. NO! This wasn't something I wanted to think about. I didn't think about him in that way. I liked Jesse…not Gio! It surprised me that I was happy in my dream. I didn't want to be happy. I wanted to fight it. I suddenly woke up and looked at the clock. I only had five minutes before I had to be awake, so I went ahead and got ready for my day.
"Morning Daniel!" I greeted him when I got to my desk and then to his office.
"Betty…hi! Ready for Coney Island?" He asked excitedly. I smiled and looked over at DJ.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I gave him the thumbs up and went back to my desk.
"So, I think I might have actually taken my first message ever for you. I'm in the delivery kind of mood." Amanda came up behind me and grinned.
"So what's the message?" I asked as I watched her file her nails.
"What?" She stared at me. I told you that you have a message, what else do you want from me?" She sighed. "My job is hard enough!"
"Well the actual message would have been nice." I looked at Amanda.
"Right, well like I said…I deliver." She paused. "Ok, so you did get a message and I forgot it. The important thing is that I passed along that you got a message! Ok, I see Nick Pepper and he is totally hot today…" she trailed off and waltzed over to Nick Pepper.
I rolled my eyes and knew it was probably a member of the family worried about something. I ran through all of Daniel's messages and closed down my computer. "I'm all ready!" I announced to Daniel as I entered his office.
"Great. My mom and Alexis are joining us. You know…there's nothing like a Meade family outing." Daniel hesitated a little with that comment.
"It's going to be fine Daniel." I reassured him as we hopped into the town car.
We arrived at Coney Island 30 minutes later. Mrs. Meade and Alexis greeted Daniel and DJ with a hug. Mrs. Meade smiled at me. "How are you Betty?"
"Fine, Mrs. Meade." I grinned and walked down the boardwalk with the Meades.
"Papa…may I…uh…get…what you call it…hot dog?"DJ asked Daniel.
"Sure, here's 10 dollars. Get something else you want too." He smiled and watched as DJ ran off.
"You've done a good job Daniel." I remarked and Daniel turned to me.
"I never thought I would be good at this. It feels good. I really like being a dad, Betty." We walked together for awhile. Mrs. Meade found us about 20 minutes later. "Where is your son, Daniel?" she asked.
"He went to get a hot dog." He replied nonchalantly.
"For 20 minutes?" Mrs. Meade replied.
He's fine, mom." Daniel replied, but with a little bit of edge to his voice.
"I think we need to look for him. It's been 20 minutes Daniel. He could be lost."
A look of panic hit Daniel. "You really think so? Maybe we should split up and look for him." I nodded as Daniel asked me to look for DJ.
I decided to look away from where all the crowds were. I wasn't sure where DJ would wander off to, but I wanted to be sure we looked everywhere for him.
"So how is that working and living thing coming along?" I turned to meet the eyes of the all too familiar speaker. Gio.