A piece of the Heart

He was sitting behind his desk at mode, his body barely visible over the pile of papers that had accumulated on his desk. He managed to put the part down and rub his eyes, closing them and leaning back on his chair. The last couple of days have been one of the most hectic he had since he started working at MODE. It was the biggest issue they ever had and things were not going as smoothly as they hoped. Everyone had to work over time, especially the editors. He would go home at night, curl up against his beautiful wife and let sleep take him over. He really had no time for much more these days.

Opening his eyes he reached for the phone and dialed Betty's number. The call went straight to voice-mail. Strange, she was usually in her office until they left together. She was probably talking to Amanda or Mark in The Closet about this issue's photo shoots or something. He heard the sound of clicking heels approaching his office. Just in time, he thought as he was ready to go home for the night.

But it wasn't Betty that entered his office; it was Amanda with a surprised look on her face.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him, the surprise on her face clearly visible.

"The last time I checked I worked here and this was still my office. It makes sense that I am here." He said too tired to deal with Amanda right now.

"That's not what I meant, you know that. Weren't you suppose to...oh my god, do not tell me that you forgot. There is no way in the world that you would forget. Please tell me you didn't forget. Oh my god, you totally forgot didn't you?" Amanda took in a deep breath.

"What are you rambling on about Amanda? What did I forgot?

"You were supposed to meet Betty at the restaurant. I told you this morning. What, did you really thing that you guys would do nothing and just stay in sleeping?"

"What? Meet Betty at the restaurant? When? For what?" Asked a very confused Daniel. He looked at Amanda hoping she would give him the answer he was looking for.

Amanda stood there in the doorway, to shocked to be able to say anything.

"Daniel," she said in a shaky voice, "you do know that on this day two years ago you and Betty got married, right?"

For a fraction of a second his faced remained unchanged. As realization began to set in, the look on his face truly became horrific. Everything came back to him in less than a second. The anniversary, Amanda tell him this morning, the restaurant, Betty looking happy the entire day, their wedding...

He bolted out of his chair, grabbing his coat and running down the tube to the elevator as fast as he could. Amanda stood there, still in his doorway, still too shocked and confused to say anything. She got to him just as he stepped into the elevator.

"Daniel, she's been waiting for you for two hours." She said as the elevator's door closed.

The burning candle sparked one last time before leaving the table in darkness. Betty stood at the beautiful decorated table, wearing a beautiful white dress that showed off her cleavage and her beautiful shaped legs. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and face, falling into big curls around her. She looked off into the distance, too distracted and upset to think of anything.

The waiter once again made his way to her table, ready to offer her another glass of champagne. For the corner of her eye Betty saw him approaching. Not wanting to bear the humiliation any longer, she stood up as tall and with as much dignity as she could master, taking her coat and purse on her arm.

"Are you sure you don't want to wait any longer Mrs. Meade? I could bring out some appetizers until your husband gets here." The waiter said.

"No, thank you Gerard. He's not coming anymore. I'm sure he got held up at work." Betty left a couple of bills on the table and made her way out of the restaurant. She saw her town car waiting for her in front, but she quickly dismissed the driver, saying that she would refer walking.

She didn't know where she was going, she didn't know what she wanted to do, but she was sure of the fact that she wasn't going to allow herself to cry. Her thoughts got distracted by the loud music coming from a club she passed. She stood looking towards the club for a second, before deciding to step though the door.

The club was loud and smoky. People were dancing, rubbing their bodies against each other, enjoying each others company. She made her way to the bar determined to enjoy this night and her anniversary with our without her husband.

Daniel entered the restaurant out of breath, scanning the room, hoping to find Betty and beg for forgiveness. The waiter was approaching Daniel, knowing full well why he looked the way he did.

"Mr. Meade," said the waiter, "welcome."

"Gerard, good evening. Have you seen my wife tonight?"

"She just left about 20 minutes ago. She waited for you for two hours. I assume she has gone home."

Daniel thanked the waiter and exited the restaurant more depressed than he was when he came in. He knew he screwed up big time, and he knew he had to do anything he could to make thing right again. He just hoped Betty would forgive him.

She stumbled through the front door, a little drunk. To Betty standards however, she was very drunk. She dropped her bag on the floor along with her coat, finally letting her eyes take in the apartment. That's when she knew something was different.

Every single surface on the floor was covered with rose petals, candles burning bright on every table and shelf. Everything, including the candles was red. From the corner of her eye she saw Daniel standing there dressed in nothing but black pants and a plain white shirt.

She smiled at him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my adoring and perfect husband," she said as she started taking off her shoes. "If you are doing this for me I think I should let you know that you are a couple of hours too late. I'm really tired and I want to sleep, and I don't care what you do or where you go but you are not staying in this apartment."

She dropped her shoes on the floor and started walking past Daniel to their bedroom. Before she made it through the door she felt his arms come up behind her, hugging her so tight she thought for a moment she couldn't breathe. His head rested on her shoulder, bringing her body closer to his.

"Please, let me go," she whispered, "I don't want hate you, but I am very close to right now."

"Betty, I know that you are angry at me right now and I don't blame you. I deserve it. Believe me, I am pretty much hating myself, and I know that I have no excuse for what I did but Betty... I love you"

"No," she said, finally turning face to face with him, letting her anger take over her. "Don't do that; don't do what you always do. Don't make a mess and then simply expect me to forgive you because you said you love me, or because you told me you needed me."

She took a deep breath, still looking him straight in the eyes.

"How many times is that now? How many times have you done this to me in all the years that we know each other? Even before we got married, in all the years I was your assistant, how many times it was all about you? How many times have I helped and you simply just consoled yourself and forgot all about me? How many times have you pushed me aside and then just wanted me back, always assuming that I would be there? Daniel, all I ever did was putting out your fires and taking the heat for it." She looked him straight in eyes, seeing that tears were now started to form in his eyes. She wasn't going to let that get to her, she had to stay firm no matter how much she loved him and no matter how much she wanted to forgive him.

"I know all that," he whispered. "I know that no matter what I do I will never be able to fully make amends, especially after what happened tonight."

"Do you have any idea how I felt tonight? Do you know the embarrassment I went though when I saw you weren't coming? You forgot our anniversary. You forgot the day we were married. "

She slowly turned her back on him and walked to the window, looking at the beautiful New York skyscrapers. He followed her, keeping close to her but never quiet touching her either.

"Betty, it might not have been love at first sight for us, and we might not have loved each other from the second we met, but one way or another you always held a piece of my heart. Whether you helped me get my company back, whether you set me back on the right path, whether you rescued me from a cult, a piece of my heart belonged to you complete. I was a fool not to realize the implications sooner, and as sure as hell I have been the biggest jackass tonight, but I hope that somehow you could forgive me." When Betty turned around she could see the tears running freely down his face and a look on his face that she had never seen before.

"I am so sorry," he whispered again, his eyes looking down at the floor, not daring meeting hers.

Any defenses that Betty had put up to keep him out, in that moment, disintegrated. She looked at him, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him and never let him go. She knew she still felt incredibly angry at him for forgetting about the restaurant, but she could also see the pain and regret in his eyes. She knew that Daniel loved her, and she also knew that the last week has been hell at MODE. Everybody makes mistakes, everybody is human. He needed her forgiveness and she was going to give it to him because ultimately she loved him more than anything. Forgiveness was not granted because people deserved it, but because they needed it.

She slowly made her way to him, and wrapped her arms around him, kissing away the tears from his face.

"I know that you are sorry, I know that you didn't meant it and I know that you love me above everything else. That's enough for me," she whispered.

"I will make up to you, I don't know how, but I will make it up to you," he said.

"Well, you can start making it up to me now. After all, you put all this together," she said pointing to the candles and petals on the floor, "it would really be a shame wasting them." Looking at her he could see a mischievous smile playing on her face.

He didn't need to be told a second time. He fully captured her lips with his, all the passion, anger and love they felt poring together into one kiss. He started moving back as Betty started moving forwards, their clothes left scattered on the floor as they made their way to the bedroom.

She stopped kissing him for a second as he gave her a confused look. She smiled at him and pushed him down the bed. She took her time and slowly climbed in top of him.

"I...thought...I...was...supposed...to make it up." He said in between kisses.

"Oh you are. I'm just getting you started."

"Is that right? Well then, I think I warmed up enough." Daniel said flipping her over while Betty started giggling.

When Betty woke up the next morning she could feel something soft playing on her skin. She opened her eyes to see Daniel looking down at her body. Her eyes followed his gaze just to see her entire body covered in red rose petals in a dress shape.

"Daniel! What have you done?" She asked him as she tried sitting up.

"Don't move, you'll ruin my masterpiece," he said, looking at her lovingly, "and they said I have no talent at dressing women."

She laughed and looked at the man that held her life in his hands. The man that – like he said last night – held a piece of her heart.

THE END

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