Betty sauntered into Daniel's office, wearing her usual big smile. "Hi, Daniel!" she greeted merrily. The brunet man glanced up from his tedious work and smiled slightly at the dark-haired girl. She dumped a huge stack of documents on his desk and produced the latest copy of the magazine that Mode had recently published, raising her eyebrows. The man blinked and raised his gaze from the magazine to Betty in a questioning manner.
"Is something wrong?" he enquired, also raising his brows in a inquiring way. Betty pursed her lips and sighed.
"Daniel, I don't like the latest copy." She piped up. The brunet man's brows rose further.
"Oh?" he murmured in a probing way. He leant back in his chair leisurely, prepared for the latest lecture, courtesy of Betty Suárez. The girl folded her arms and glared at him, as if silently berating him for looking so laid-back. She didn't comment on it, but launched into her explanation.
"It's demeaning to women!" she complained. Daniel sighed in defeat and leant his head against the back of his chair.
"Betty, you always say that," he announced quietly. The raven girl frowned and placed her hands on her hips.
"I'm serious, Daniel!" she exclaimed. "Read the article on page ninety-six." She ordered. The man sighed again, then flicked open the magazine to the correct page. His eyes skimmed over the article. He looked up to meet Betty's curious yet furious gaze and shrugged.
"I don't see what's wrong with it." He admitted finally. The brown-eyed girl rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Daniel, it's telling women what they should be like! Apparently, they have to put on tonnes of make-up to cover any blemishes, be as skinny as a stick… a stick, Daniel!" she glared irately. "It's just wrong!" she voiced. The brunet man looked at her with his usual nonchalant expression.
"What do you want me to do about it?" he inquired in a blasé manner. Betty stared at him with her large brown eyes.
"What do I want? I want you to march right up to Alexis and demand that she remove the stereotypical article and its debasing nature that will corrupt young women into thinking that they have to be pretty princesses; utterly perfect!" she cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation. Daniel sighed and leant forwards, entwining his fingers together and leaning against his desk.
"Betty, it's just an article. It's not going to 'corrupt young women'." He explained calmly. The raven-haired girl scowled at him.
"Fine. If that's how you feel about it," she said dismissively. She removed a plastic bag from her handbag. "I was going to share this bagel with you, but not anymore." She gave him a fake smile then swerved around and departed.
"Betty!" Daniel called after her. He sighed and shook his head.
"You argue like a married couple." The man's gaze snapped up to meet his mother's amused one. He shook his head.
"She's my assistant mom, you know that," he murmured. "Plus she has a boyfriend." He added begrudgingly. Claire rolled her eyes and unfolded her arms and strutted up to his desk.
"Come, Daniel," she said. "Have I taught you nothing? A little competition never hurt anyone." She winked at him. The brunet blinked in confusion, and then frowned.
"Mom, I—" he began fruitlessly.
"She seemed kind of upset," the older women added in a casual tone. "Maybe you should go… cheer her up." She smirked at her son. Daniel frowned at her, but did as she suggested and went to locate his apprentice. "That's my boy." Claire said to no one as she took a seat in his leather chair, awaiting the drama to unfold.
--Detty—Detty—Detty--
"Are you pouting, Betty?" Gio enquired with a grin. The raven girl huffed and grabbed her chicken salad sandwich off of him and took a big bite.
"I do not pout," she said, which was muffled by the food in her mouth. Gio chuckled and sat on her desk. Betty glared at him but he didn't acknowledge it.
"If you say so," he said nonchalantly. "So, how's thing with Howard going?" he asked in a bored tone.
"It's Henry," Betty corrected automatically as she took another bite. "And it's fine, not that it's any of your business." She finished. The dark-haired man put his hands up defensively.
"Okay. Lower the hostility, please." He smirked when the girl threw lettuce at him. "Really, Betty, throwing lettuce?" he sniggered. The girl just rolled her eyes.
"Betty, can I talk to you?" a voice asked from the doorway. Both heads snapped to the source.
"I… guess I'll leave you two alone." Gio slid off the desk and gave Betty a half-hearted wave. "See you, Betty." He said in an indifferent tone.
"No, Gio, wait—" she began, but he'd already brushed past Daniel.
"If you hurt her, you'll pay." The man whispered to the brunet man as he walked past. Daniel glanced back at him, but then turned to Betty.
"Daniel, I really don't have time for this. I've got things to do and—" she tried ineffectively.
"I just want to talk," Daniel defended himself. With a sigh, the girl sat down and raised her brows in anticipation for the man's speech. "Look, Betty, I'm really sorry about earlier," he said with a sigh. "If it'll make you happy, I'll…"
"Make Alexis drop the article?" Betty asked with great excitement. The brunet shook his head but smiled softly.
"Yeah, I'll get Alexis to drop the article." He confirmed. "So, you forgive me?" the girl jumped up and moved to hug him, but soon thought better of it and just tapped his arm awkwardly.
"Um, yes, thank you, Daniel." She said inelegantly. The brunet man smiled and leant down to her height.
"So," he grinned. "How about that bagel?"