It has been two months exactly and I know, I know you may have wanted to know where I have been =P Working on a High School Diploma and an Associate's Degree is, I know this may surprise you, but it is difficult lol. I took some time to…rediscover myself as a writer…Re-determine my incentives…My reason for Writing. I revised my style….I changed my outlook and evaluated these characters and hopefully you will take note. As the story goes on, you'll notice an uptick in description, change in syntaz and hopefully you will like it. To eliminate Reader anxiety and Writer stress I am deciding that I will update on every Tuesday at around 9 and Saturday around 12 pending review amount...guys it makes a difference…Today was just a bad day becasue I could not update when I wanted to but do look for an update on Saturday and next Tuesday. I have missed you all terribly and I just want to thank you all again for your support during the first edition of Pretty Willie and I hope that you all will enjoy this rendition as well. Enjoy =D Happy Holidays!
-NWJ
3 Years Later
A smirk came across his face as he watched her exit the bathroom, steam following her after taking, what he knew was, a hot shower. She paid him no mind, standing at her nightstand, flipping through her calendar and going over her things to do for the next day before his arms met around her waist. His head settled next to her bout of curls while his fingers lingered around the silk that stood between his touch and the land known as her body that he now called his own. "Vous êtes si sexy."
"Je sais que je suis sexy." She replied simply, knowing that it would get his gears going, sparking a turn on that he had recently acquired. After immersing himself in the French culture and learning the language, he found that the appeal of France went deeper than what he had previously perceived. And hearing her speak the language, the brush of her tongue against the point of her teeth. The pout of her lips pursing to form perfect little 'o's of annunciation...It drove him mad.
He moved his attention to that of her neck, running kisses down the nape with tantalizing sensitivity that sent a rivet up her spine. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"You smell good."
"I know that I smell good."
"You're so beautiful."
"You're not getting any."
He gasped and she laughed, knowing what he would do next, only she was wrong. Instead of giving up, she then found herself pinned to their bedspread and under his hold, her guard slowly coming down as her body began to succumb to his touch yet her mind was yet to catch up.
"Speaking of...Things...we're supposed to do..." She spoke between the brushes of his lips against hers as his hands traveled up her leg, stopping at her thigh when she spoke. "Did you measure my closet yet because you said-"
"Willie." He hovered over her, smiling at her seriousness as she stared back at him, eyes narrowed over being interrupted. "I built you a house...from the ground up...Because every house we looked at either skeeved you out or the closet was too small...Now your closet is bigger than the living and dining room combined."
"More like the kitchen and the living r-"
"Willie..."
"Sorry...Continue."
"Thank You." He smiled graciously before returning to his finger folly and the fooling around he attempted to use to get her in the mood.
Wilhelmina, immersed in the moment, looked over the shoulder that hovered over her just as Daniel began to make the bold move to pull up her negligee. Before she could join him in the moment, her eye was caught by a certain 2 foot visitor. She watched as the tears formed in his eyes and his bottom lip poked out, breaking her heart.
"Daniel!" She called out but he was too into her body. "Daniel!" This time she swatted him and he rolled off.
"What's wrong?" He questioned, out of breath after getting so into the moment.
"Daddy's not hurting mommy, sweetie I promise." Wilhelmina clarified, seeing Izak clutch at his giraffe, fear in his eyes.
"Lie." He mumbled, still in the doorway wearing his ocean footie pajamas that brought out his sharp blue eyes.
"Oh, hey buddy..." Daniel chuckled nervously, immediately rolling off of Wilhelmina to make sure it didn't look like he was hurting her either.
"Bad Daddy."
"Daddy's not bad buddy...Daddy was just...satisfying himself...with mommy."
"Daniel!" Wilhelmina hit his chest, making him shriek. She shook her head, not believing that he had just told a 3 year old that he was using his mother to satisfy himself.
"Bud, just go back to bed...Mommy is fine...Right mommy?" Daniel tapped her arm and Wilhelmina exclaimed dramatically, swatting him back.
"Ouch Daniel, damn..." She mumbled after her retaliation.
"You make her say ouch...again." Izak retorted, toddling over to Wilhelmina's side of the bed.
"Again?" Daniel questioned.
"Last week...He caught us...you...satisfying yourself..." She hinted, chuckling a bit at the term.
"Buddy mommy is fine..."
Izak looked to Wilhelmina and she smiled and nodded, touching his cheek. He shrugged and still climbed onto their bed, crawling in between them. "Bad Wean."
"Did he say Bad Weenie?" Daniel asked.
"Would you get your mind out of the gutter for two seconds please?"
"Bad Wean!" Izak clarified before cuddling up to Wilhelmina as if to stay.
"No, bud...you have to sleep in your room tonight..."
"No." He spoke quickly as Wilhelmina got comfortable, not really minding.
"Izak."
"No."
"Izak Tristan."
"No."
"I-"
"Daniel just let him stay...I'm tired anyway." Wilhelmina commented. Daniel sighed, seeing the exhaustion in her eyes. Sure she could handle Mode by herself and she had been doing so for the last 3 years but it was always a handful, especially with Claire over her shoulder as Vice President of the company.
"Fine." Daniel gave up, pulling the covers over his legs before leaning over to kiss them goodnight. "Night bud." He kissed Izak's head. "Love you, baby." He moved towards Wilhelmina and his lips were halted by a small, light tan hand that covered his mouth. "Izak." Daniel spoke with a muffle through Izak's fingers.
"No hurt mommy tonight."
"I was not hurting mommy, I was ki-"
"No hurt mommy!"
Daniel looked to Wilhelmina who was holding her ribs with laughter; tickled to death over her little 3 and a half year old's protective issues, especially with his own father. Daniel huffed and turned around, feeling a little hurt and a little exiled by Izak's recent attachment to Willie and distance from him. Yet all of these feelings that were stirred up soon died down when he felt a tender presence, massaging the lobe of his ear. She knew it was a soft spot for him and something that always made him smile to know that she didn't forget.
"Je t'aime."
He smiled, reaching his hand across the bed to hold hers before speaking again, the only thing needing to be said at that point.
"Je t'aime aussi."
OoO
"C'mon Bud let's eat." Daniel instructed, holding his larger plate next to Izak's small bowl before setting it on the table of the breakfast nook. Izak smiled, climbing onto the chair, first on his knees. "On your bottom." Izak looked up and Daniel sighed. "Fine, but when you mess up your pants, you're telling mommy." Izak changed his position, sitting like he was told to before being handed his breakfast: Eggs, Toast and a small sausage. "Maybe if mommy sees you eating, she will do it too..." He mumbled under his breath, subconsciously concerned for the state of her well-being and the fact that she rarely ate one meal a day let alone three.
"Mommy?" Daniel's eyes scrolled over to where Izak was now pointing.
"Mommy!" Daniel mocked, waiting to see if she would respond seeing how she walked right passed them and into the kitchen, a look reminiscent of a zombie on her face.
"Mommy is not awake." Wilhelmina replied sleepily from inside the kitchen, drowsiness hinting in her voice.
Daniel chuckled, setting his plate down on the table before re-entering the main part of the kitchen. Wilhelmina was leaned over, elbows propped up on the steel counters as they held up her head. He came behind her, the presence of his hand rubbing circles on her back being familiar.
"You okay?"
"I'm exhausted." She replied, only wanting to crawl back in their bed and hit the sack.
"Why?"
"The Mode Summer issue is killing me and it wouldn't be so bad had the staff I work with, not been so damn incompetent."
"Sweeeeer Jar!"
Daniel laughed, hearing Izak from the other room, now knowing that he was listening. "It's okay Bud, Mommy can swear in the morning."
"And on top of all that...Your mother is breathing down my neck like an old, bottle blonde mole!"
"Well she is the vice President."
"For whatever reason..."
"Willie...Just soldier through it." He kissed her cheek and she stood up straight, still exhausted. "Besides, I made you breakfast."
"That's easy for you to say...You sit in your big ass office all day on the top floor, doing what?"
"Hey, I do stuff."
"Playing Ping-Pong with the wall does not count."
"Willie." He looked to the coffee maker, turning it off before handing her a cup. "I know it's hard but Mode is our flagship and it has to be perfect...Speaking of perfect...I took a look at the book...yesterday."
"Daniel!" She swatted him angrily. "You're not supposed to see the book before it's done!"
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." He snickered under his breath, seeing how riled up she got over the smallest thing being the Mode book.
"Well..." She took a sip of java, letting the warmth wake her up a bit. "Since you already saw it...How was it?"
He looked up, moving away slowly. "Uh...It was...It was alright."
"Alright?"
"Yeah..."
"Do you know how long I spent working on that? How many late nights I pulled people I threatened and fired...do you many how many lawsuits you are probably going to get on your desk?"
"Willie I just didn't...like it...It didn't pop like it usually does..."
"I'm done." Wilhelmina set her cup down on the counter, nearly slamming it. "You Meades and your unsolicited opinions are really starting to piss. Me. OFF!"
"Unsolicited? You asked me-"
Wilhelmina left the room, kissing Izak's head before storming back upstairs, not dealing with the possibility that what she had worked on for so long could actually suck and might not be the masterpiece that she thought it was. And the fact the Claire Meade might actually be right...Made it even worse.
OoO
"This morning you have a 10 o'clock with the people from Valentino to discuss ad negotiations and then at 11 you will be going to the Chrysler building to meet with the reps from Land Rover because they want to advertise with Mode. At 12 you have a fabu lunch with Marc Jacobs and don't forget to kiss his ass so that in September when you ask him to show his new line at the Mode Fashion show, it won't be a favor, it will be payback. At 2, Izak's daycare will be dropping him off and he'll stay with Wilhelmina until your meeting with S'tag and Star is over. Then you'll take him for 3 hours while she goes to Long Island for a Photo shoot. Your luggage for the 3 day Paris trip this month is packed and ready, and your ticket is confirmed..."
"Did you send Wilhelmina her flowers this Monday?"
"Yup, Semper Augustus'"
"10,000 dollar flowers?"
"You said the best..."
Daniel walked off, seeing an ad buyer and Amanda fell back, seeing Marc swinging happily on his desk. "Hey Marcy..." She smirked, seeing the grin on his face. "Ohhhh, who put the pig in your blanket?" She questioned, seeing his expression of joy.
"Oh no one..."He shook his head before swinging his arm around so that she could see. "Except my new fiancée!"
Amanda screamed, drawing all the attention to them as she held out his hand, now shinier with the new addition of a diamond. Daniel looked over and gave them a look, disturbed by the sound. Amanda composed herself, giving him one last hug. "Oh my Gosh, Marc this is amazing."
"I know this ring is huge right?"
"I mean if you can find love..."
"Hey! I'm a 10..."
Amanda smiled, taking a hand down his face. "Awl sweetie...You're a six."
"You're a Bitch."
"I know...Being around Wilhelmina so much is beginning to rub off on me..." Amanda nodded. "Isn't it weird how Dr. Smith's name is Daniel...I dare you to walk up to Wilhelmina and tell her that you slept with Daniel, just to see the look on her face."
"I don't know..." Marc grimaced, peaking at her office from the Editor's quarter. "She looks kind of heated already."
OoO
"Hot flash should be included! Especially in Mode's hottest issue of the year!" Claire bellowed, smacking the notice on Wilhelmina's desk, fuming from ear to ear with steam came out of both ends.
"Claire, I told you that there is no room! Hottest issue of the year also means, most content of the year...There is no room for any inserts at this point...You're not the only one getting cut."
"There's no room?"
"Are finally going deaf?" Willie sneered sarcastically before restating her previous sentence, enunciating each syllable. "I said that there is no room!"
"Make room!"
"What, so your 4 subscribers can find out how menopause affects their non-existent sex life?" Wilhelmina cocked a brow and towered over Claire with an irritable look on her face, not in the mood for her antics. 3 years had gone by and she still couldn't let go of the past. Wilhelmina didn't know if it was because she was just more comfortable hating her or had nothing else better do...Then she thought about it...Yep, Nothing else better to do.
"Don't you dare insult my magazine..."
"You mean insert?" Wilhelmina asked, not caring about the woman's feelings.
"You know what, fine." She snatched up the letter and that Month's version of Hotflash, storming to the door. "Before Daniel goes on his 3 day leave to Paris, I'll ask him since you don't seem to be able to make the right decision."
"Claire save your breath and get out, you're too old to be talking when no one is listening." Wilhelmina turned her back and Claire left in a huff as Wilhelmina expected. Massaging her temples, she took a seat at her desk, now knowing why the job had become so stressful. Claire and her crazy ass ways were making things way more complicated then they needed to be and it wasn't necessary. One of them needed to sit down and shut up and it sure as hell wasn't going to be here.
"Geesh." Ariel commented, walking passed Claire as she left, a fierce wind blowing passed her. "What bit her?"
"I wish it was death." Wilhelmina looked up, a worn look in her eyes. "But it was just Stupidity."
"What happened?"
"Oh nothing...The old dust ball just doesn't know when to sit down and let other people do their job."
"Other people being you?"
"And the dust ball being that thing you walked passed when you came in."
OoO
Daniel glanced over at Wilhelmina as she thumbed through the Mode book meticulously, going through every detail. She caught every typo and Photoshop mistake there was but didn't even notice Daniel's eagle eyes staring at her the entire time. Despite that, he leaned over and tugged on the glasses she wore, pulling them off. "Have I ever told you that-"
"-I look like a sexy librarian...Every time I wear them...which is every day." She complied as he moved her back to lean on his chest while he sat up and she continued to look at the Mode book, his work done for the night and hers; barely beginning.
"How was your day?"
"I told you that I didn't want to talk about it."
"You also told me to wear my red tie...Did you notice that I came home in my blue tie?'
"Daniel all you need to know is that I wished your mother death so many times, you shouldn't be surprised if Beetle juice shows up at our front door."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because she is annoying as hell...She won't let me do my job because she is breathing down my neck every 2 seconds and one day I'm going to hit her and she is going to fall, break a hip, tumble down the stairs, die and my problems will be solved."
"Willie..."
Wilhelmina looked up and smiled nervously, realizing the candor in which she spoke as if it were to happen and that she was also speaking about his mother. "But of course..." She touched his cheek softly. "You should honor your mother...love your mother..." Her smile fell to that of a ticked of glare, straight lined lips defining her face. "Fire your mother."
"Wilhelmina."
"Okay, okay." She relented, throwing her hands up as she laid back against him and returned her focus to that of the coveted Mode book.
"You know what." He took the book from her and tossed it across the room, causing her to shriek under his touch, not noticing that she was being pinned down in the process. "Let's forget about work..."
"Daniel I need to finish that by...morn...ing..." Her fight slowly ceased as she was enticed by his tender touch and the soft embrace of his lips against her skin.
"Baby..." He called out, leaning over her.
"What?"
"How old are you?"
"Okay, mood over." She pushed him off and he chuckled, seeing her squirm off to the other side of, what he felt was, their ginormous bed.
"I'm your husband Willie; I should know these things..."
"No...all you need to know is my name, my gender and that I kissed a girl in college."
He gasped a wide grin on his face. "YOU kissed a GIRL in co-" his smile soon faded and she busted out laughing, watching his excitement die completely. "Wait a minute; you didn't even go to college- Willie!"
"You should have seen the smile on your face!" She laughed at him, a hearty laugh, a happy laugh...A real laugh. Before he could even get upset, just hearing the genuine heart in her laugh let him know that he had just done something for her that he would never dare ruin.
They both stared at each other as her laughter died and they were left with the blue and white of their eyes to look back at in the parallelism of each other. She looked at him, realizing the smile on her face and the small smile on his, still sad that she wouldn't tell him what he wanted to know so desperately.
"Why do you want to know?' She asked with genuine concern, body laid flat on a pillow, her head the only thing turned to him, yet his whole body turned to her.
He ran a thumb across her cheek gently and her smile faded, seeing the seriousness in his face as his skin ran against hers. "I don't know why you wear makeup." He felt a warm presence beneath his hand and smiled a bit, knowing that she had hid a tiny blush. "You don't need it..."
"That's why you wanted to know?"
"No..." He replied, still enrobed in her beauty, the raw side he saw of her and how forbidden it felt, knowing her and being one of the very few people in the world that did know her...How forbidden...How..primitive...How...sexy...Hell, everything about her to him was sexy.
"Then why did you ask?"
"Let's talk about it in the morning."
"Daniel..."
"I know you're tired...And if we do this tonight, you won't get any sleep."
"You don't know that."
"But I know you...And that's all that I need to know...Good night Willie."
"Good...night." She replied reluctantly as she let her curiosity get the best of her, slipping under the covers as his muscled arm slipped in front of her and pulled her closer to him. She smirked, liking the assertion of his manhood and hoped he would keep it that way...right where it was.
As they slept peacefully...or attempted to sleep peacefully, Wilhelmina began to twist and turn, beside him, prompting him to be wide awake as she moved in her sleep. He reached over her and turned on the light, trying to see what the problem was. When the light shone on her face, he saw that her eyes were wide open like blue beams.
"Willie..."
She moved behind her and readjusted her pillow once more, the frustration showing on her face "I can't sleep...These stupid pillows...When are my pillows going to get here?"
"The moving truck drops off the rest of the furniture tomorrow."
"Great!..." She mumbled sarcastically, rearranging her pillow once again to add comfort that didn't seem to be appearing any time soon. "Dammit!" With one last fluff of her pillow, she plopped back in defeat, not even going to try and attempt to be comfortable.
"Willie what's wrong?"
"My back is killing me and these damn pillows-" She rearranged them once again before pulling one over her face and letting out a howling scream that was thankfully muffled by the lousy pillow.
"Shhhh Willie! Do you want Izak to come in here and think that I'm hurting you?" He attempted to quiet her, not wanting to half to deal with the toddler's questions that late at night.
"Well I'm sorry that my pain is too much for you..." She sneered, turning her back to him.
"Willie.." He touched her elbow and she shrugged him off, still uncomfortable. "I'll be right back." He whispered, being the doting husband as he left the room and soon returned with a glass of water and two Advil tablets. Reopening the door, he nearly keeled over when he saw Izak sitting up next to Wilhelmina, a sleepy smile on his face.
"No." Daniel spoke as he entered and walked across the long stretch of the room before handed Wilhelmina the glass and two tablets.
"No." Izak repeated, laying his head on Wilhelmina's lap.
"No." Daniel bent down to his level and pointed to the hallway. "Go to your own room."
"No."
"No?"
"No?"
"Are you mocking me?"
"No."
"Izak!"
"No."
"Willie!" Daniel exclaimed, pointing to Izak who now standing up, his little hands on Wilhelmina's shoulders. His miniature fingers moved back and forth and Wilhelmina chuckled at his attempt to give her a massage.
"He's giving me a massage!" She replied with a laugh in her throat, barely getting out her words before busting out in laughter.
"Willie this is not funny...He can't sleep in here, he is the reason why you have back pain in the first place!"
"Daniel, why are you getting so upset?" He huffed and looked around to see that Izak was staring him at confusion after coupling his name with Daniel's tone and not being able to figure out why.
"C'mon Bud." Daniel picked up Izak by his waist as he threw a fit, throwing back his head and arching his back, whines escaping him as he worked up a cry. Kicking and screaming in Daniel's hands, he began to wail, tears quickly springing from nowhere, outstretched towards Wilhelmina.
"Daniel, just put him down before he hurts you." Daniel complied and Izak scurried back to the side of his mother, now staring at Daniel in disdain.
"Great, now I'm the bad guy."
"Daniel you are not the bad guy...If you were nicer to him-"
"I am nice to him!"
"Lately, that has not been the case...You have been short-tempered and mean."
"Wilhelmina that is not true.."
"Yes it is..."
"So what are you trying to say? I'm not a good dad?"
"No, of course not..." She leaned, over tired and irritable. "Just...If you don't want him to be a momma's boy then...go spend some time with him...take him out to a game or something...do something annoyingly manly because if you think that being a hard ass all of the time is going to build a relationship with him, then you're wrong."
Daniel sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, looking at Izak who was staring at him, tears still there. HE smiled weakly and climbed beside him. "Bud if you're going to walk somebody's back, let it be mine...Mommy's a girl...that's not nice."
Wilhelmina swatted him, laughing a bit and knowing it was a joke. "Hey! That's not manly, that's sexist."
He chuckled. "The only thing that I heard in that sentence was a three letter word that I have not gotten much of lately."
"Shut up."
"We could play dominatrix and you could make me.." He mumbled lightly.
Wilhelmina looked at Izak who was drifting off and back to Daniel's smirking mug. "Daniel."
Daniel shook his head, kissing her briefly. "Thought so."
OoO
Wilhelmina came downstairs the next morning to find her two guys sitting on the only piece of furniture of their living-room-in-progress. They both jumped up excitedly and she heard whistle blowing, fans cheering...and the sounds of chips crunching on her brand new floor.
"What is this?" Willie questioned, looking at the TV.
Daniel turned around, all around grinning with Izak besides him laughing heartily as he clutched to Daniel's side so he wouldn't fall.
"Tummy Tuck!" Izak exclaimed, jumping up momentarily.
"What?" Willie asked walking up to him, eyebrows scrunched at the scene before her. She restrained her OCD temporarily, attempting to ignore the mess she saw and the state of slop they both looked like to see beyond their messiness and to the actual purpose.
"He means touchdown." Daniel replied, kissing her shortly before retuning their attention to Izak.
"You're watching football? On a Thursday morning?"
"I pay-per-viewed it...The game is over now though..."
"Tuck down!"
"Touch down..." Daniel corrected. Picking Izak up off of the couch and putting him on his shoulder before placing him on solid ground. "Go take off your jersey and put on the shirt I laid out for you."
Izak stood there, confused by the surplus of words used. Wilhelmina turned around and touched his cheek, smiling at the innocent look on his face. "Go get dressed sweetie."
Izak nodded, understanding before scurrying up the stairs, one by one. Willie watched him closely, making sure that he didn't fall going up the extreme staircase. "He's still getting used to the-" Before she could even finish her observation, he had grabbed her and crashed his lips atop of hers. He held her forearms closely, limiting her hands to only that of his face in which she delighted in, strumming the base of his cheeks. He pulled away slowly, leaving her a caught off guard, sporadically breathing mess that could only coherently form two words. "Good morning."
"Good morning." He smirked, replying before returning to their common ground, being the meeting of their lips. His hands came around her waist and the aggression in which he included pushed her back until she had flipped over the couch and had landed on her back, his face the thing she saw when she opened her eyes.
"There's a tortilla chip in my hair." He chuckled and pulled it out for her, tossing it into the empty bowl besides them.
"I love you."
"I...love you too." She responded, not knowing where this new spur of excitement was coming from but couldn't help but like it.
"I don't know if I'm going to go to Paris this weekend...And if anything...I want you to come with me."
"What?...I thought you said that you wanted to keep our relationship and Mode France separate..."
"I did but right now...I don't think that I could take 3 days of being away from you." He smiled and kissed her once again. She pushed on his chest and he retracted, looking at her inquisitively.
"Are we poor? Is Mode shutting down? Did you kill somebody? Do you need help with the body?'
"Willie..." He stopped her abruptly. "I just love you...Every single part of you..." He kissed her again...Your eyes...Those damn blue ice chips..." He laughed and she chuckled lightly. "Your lips..." He kissed her again and she blushed back into the couch. "My best friends..." HE advanced down her body and she shrieked, pulling him back up by the lobe of his ear..."Not this morning Mr. Man...In Paris."
He smiled broadly. "So you'll go?"
"I'll leave Izak with Claire...let him terrorize her for the weekend."
He kissed her for the umpteenth time that morning and pulled back. "I love you Wilhelmina Meade."
"Daniel..."
"Just the way you are..."
OoO
After a long day of editing, screaming, firing and temper tantrums Wilhelmina retired to Daniel's office, laying out on his couch, her legs laid across his lap as the time drowned on and on and her yawns spun around more and more. Her eyes drooped heavily and Daniel's did the same, glad that Izak was with the nanny that night anyhow. But it was getting too late...practically pushing 12am.
"Willie..."
"10 more minutes." She replied sleepily in anticipation of his statement. He remained silent and continued to run a hand up her legs before moving down to the water towers on her feet. Slowly he unbuckled the fastening and she squirmed, feeling distracted by his touch. "Daniel..."
"Hush." He ordered, also tired as his hands moved to massage the now barren spot. "Wills, you need a vacation."
"Why?"
"Your feet are swollen as hell." He commented, became careful around the areas that were larger than normal."
"Thanks for the observation Dr. Oz."
"I'm serious Wilhelmina."
His sudden changes in tone made her look up immediately, not knowing how to respond. His assertiveness stemmed from that of worry and concern...fear and denial. Every time her feet were swollen, she ended up in the hospital...her heart being the culprit and stress being the factor.
"Okay." She nodded softly and he continued working on her toes, freshly painted black.
"I don't want anything to happen to you..." He whispered, not looking her in the eye to avoid the inevitable vulnerability in his stare.
"Daniel...I'm fine..."
"Last time you said that, you had open heart surgery."
"Daniel..."
"Daniel, I need to speak with you." Daniel and Wilhelmina turned around immediately, their attention diverted by Claire who had come barreling into his office, ablaze. Seeing Wilhelmina, she recoiled, sucking her teeth. "I suppose, Wilhelmina has already spoken to you about it."
"Actually I have not." Wilhelmina replied smarmily, not wanting to hear Claire's mouth at that point.
"Well then...Daniel...This year's July issue is our hottest selling issue as always and I think that Hotflash should be included so that it could gain publicity and garner larger revenue."
"That seems plausible."
"Well then explain that to Lucifer."
Wilhelmina growled and Daniel threw his hand over her, making sure he didn't lose his mother that night to a vicious Slater attack. "Wilhelmina...why didn't you include Hotflash?"
"Because there is no room." She stated simply, eyes locked on Claire's satisfied glare.
"Then why don't you take something out?"
"Because as the highest selling issue of the year, we cannot afford to lose any content...Daniel I know what I'm doing."
"Well Willie, sales have been down lately..."
Wilhelmina narrowed her eyes and shut the Mode book angrily before swinging her feet from his lap. "That is because YOU rejected my issue topic for April and Vogue ended up doing the exact same thing in May and got triple our sales...That is not my fault."
"Well it was my final decision, and while they're not always good ones...I had to make a choice."
"Well what is your final decision now?"
"Include Hotflash."
"Do you know how much money we are going to lose?"
"We'll just have to take that risk."
Wilhelmina stood up, looking at the two Meades staring back at her. "You know what..." She grabbed her things, being her bag and the Mode book. "You two don't appreciate a goddamn thing that I do for this magazine..."
"Willie, that's not true..."
"No Daniel, let her go...In fact...I own Mode...I could fire you in a heartbeat if I wanted to."
"Mom, you will not fire Wilhelmina and Wilhelmina, including Hotflash is my final decision!"
"If you cut content..." She slipped into her shoes. "It will destroy our July sales..."
"Willie..." He chuckled a bit, not believing her." No it won't."
She immediately took offense to his laughter, taking it as a sign of him not respecting her...Not taking her seriously. In all of her 20 odd years of working, she had never been laughed at for her ideas...Even Fey hadn't laughed at her...yelled at her...ridiculed her...but never laughed at her like she was being silly. Suddenly she got angry and something inside her snapped, a combination of everything that had happened lately...Her pulling late nights, going to meetings across town...dealing with an incompetent staff...And not being appreciated for any of it...She was done.
"You know what..." Wilhelmina opened up her arms and released all of the Mode paperwork in her hands, as well as the Mode book which snapped open as soon as it hit the floor, releasing all of its contents. "I quit."
"Wil-" Before he could even finish her name, she had stormed out and Daniel ran after her, only left to follow the trail of anger she planted behind her.
Claire chuckled, bending down to arrange the photos. "Ha! The devil forfeits...Now that's a missing page of the bible."
OoO
I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter and I encourage you to review even if it just your favorite line becasue it lets me know that someone is reading =D
-NWJ
