A/N: Please enjoy this intended sequel to 'Just Taste It' (found on the Mad Men fanfiction page). While you do not need to read the story to understand this one, it may increase enjoyment. :) Thanks again for reading.
A wintry mix coated the streets of Manhattan, making the restless working of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce restless for something, anything really. Don Draper was feeling restless for plenty of reasons, and only one of them had to do with the weather. He sent a cursory glance at photo of his second wedding in Hawaii, with Megan Draper, or Megan Calvet as she preferred to be called by everyone she knew. He still recalled the bright eyed beauty that was Ms. Blankenship's replacement for his desk. Don had been forced to swear to Burt Cooper that he wasn't going to do anything to make this one run away like he had so many others. He didn't imagine falling for her the way he did. She was easy on the eyes, and did have a lovely personality, was well liked by everyone at the office, but it was the way she acted with Sally and Bobby that told him that she could be the perfect person to fill the void in his life – to keep him from making the same mistakes over and over, to get him out of his crappy apartment that the children weren't allowed to visit except on certain occasions.
He asked her to marry him very quickly, and that proved to be a mistake of enormous proportions. Don knew nothing of her family, her friends, and her life outside of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce. All he knew was that he liked that what he saw and wanted more, and there just so happened to be a ring in the mix. Don had often wondered if he would have proposed to her at all if not for the diamond ring that his niece Stephanie gave him – the one that belonged to the first Mrs. Draper. The words came out of his mouth so seamlessly, it seemed so right at the time, the solution to so many dilemmas.
He was delighted when she said yes, without even thinking about really. Moments later the ring was slipped on her finger and children were told the good news. Sally was overjoyed, already very fond of Megan, who seemed warmer than her own mother at the time. Bobby was willing to go along with whatever Sally thought, and Gene was still a toddler, at the perfect age to have all of his decisions made for him.
The engagement was short and sweet. Megan was swiftly moved off of Don's desk and given a position in the creative room as a junior copywriter. The firm seemed pleased enough with her work to keep her around, and no one wanted to see her leave because she was engaged to one of the bosses.
It was after their wedding that cracks began to show. Don was used to disapproving in-laws, having dealt with the Hoftstadts for nearly a decade, but the Calvets had the unique ability to speak in another language, and did so quite often in his presence, making him wonder what exactly they were saying about him. Calls to Canada were frequent, giving way to a significant phone bill and long conversations that he was not part of. Megan's hobbies proved to be another complication entirely. Soon after leaving the Draper desk at the office, the former secretary expressed certain unflattering opinions about advertising in general. She would make quips about work under her breath, her ideas became lacking, her presence more vacant. Mr. Draper soon found out that his wife's true passion was in the performing arts. Megan was trained in several different kinds of dance, and now wanted to try her hand at acting. It started with nighttime classes – classes that took her away from the office, away from the apartment and from him. The sessions began to consume more and more of her time – it was all that she would care to talk about. It was now clear where the new Mrs. Draper's passion was, and Don didn't find it entertaining in the least.
His first wife, Elizabeth Francis, was a model when he met her. Both were gaining experience in their respective fields, though Betty, unlike Megan, was willing to relinquish her modeling aspirations when the engagement took place. Not long after the wedding came the first child and any mentions of modeling for Betty were permanently left by the wayside.
Don dropped some ice into his shot glass. He once admired Megan's spirit, the fact that she had interests apart from him. She didn't complain as much about the long business hours when she had her own hobbies and interests. Now her interests had her in a completely different state, specifically Boston for an eight week workshop for a play that Don couldn't feign enough interest in to understand.
The apartment was lonelier without her in it, and it made him spend longer hours in the office, longer hours thinking about his past mistakes that brought him to this place in his 40s. Right now he was restless, itching to get out of the building and do something that would further the agency's mission to secure a car company to the many clients that they boasted. He needed to have a partner with him, test driving cars was no fun alone, and a second opinion would prove fruitful to his mission, and make the job seem more entertaining than it really was. He could only think of one person that he wanted beside him passenger side, and he was going to get her.
"Dawn, get me Mrs. Francis on the phone. Within moments, Don was placed with a connection to his first wife. He opened his top drawer and looked at a picture that no clients or employees saw – it was a framed picture of Betty at one of the local neighborhood barbeques. She didn't even know that she was being photographed at the time, standing in the garden admiring a set of English Tea roses. He found himself looking at more over the past few months, with Megan otherwise occupied, and memories of her pervading his mind.
There had been a clear shift in the relationship, right when both sides were ready to reach a cordial place that didn't involve third parties dropping off the children and picking them up. The shift occurred he last time he had asked her for a favor, another work related project – this one involving a particular new kind of dessert. He had asked her to take part of a skit to please a client who was looking for a pitch for the Cool Whip product. Both parties fit into their roles as husband and wife convincingly enough for everyone in the room, and even each other. The skit culminated with a kiss, initiated by him that set off the shift. There was no time to regret what he had done, and Don had no inkling that he made any mistake in error or judgment. The kiss was genuine and real, real enough to make them question their current relationship with one another, and their respective spouses. After the kiss – and a great deal of urging – he convinced her to have a cup of coffee with him, which led to dinner, where they caught each other up on their lives. She talked about Bobby's progress with boy scouts, Sally's activities with Model U.N. and debate, and Gene's rapidly growing development. He filled her in on advertising stories and tidbits of gossip from the city. By the end of the meal, there was the awkward goodbye. He was unsure if he should give her a polite kiss goodbye, his body craving hers the entire time. In the end he settled for a chaste hug, a final thank-you for what she had done for him.
Things were different between them after that day. It started with the weekend's visit. Don was expecting to see Betty dropping off the children and was in for a rude awakening when he saw Henry, chipper and polite as ever, dropping off his children and picking them up the following day. He wanted to believe it was a fluke, and waited until the next weekend visit to be proved wrong, but he wasn't. She was now avoiding him.
She could say no, Don thought to himself as the phone rang once and then twice. If she was going to decline his offer, he had selected Peggy as his backup. It wouldn't be nearly as much fun, but it would be informative, and she did have a good eye.
He didn't want to admit that there was a distance. No one addressed it; not him, not Betty, not even Henry or Megan, who were sure to have noticed that something was going on. Everyone continued to go through the motions, with Henry and Megan the go-between for the divorced couple.
But he wanted her to say yes so badly as the phone rang for the third time.