Title: Untitled (Still a work in progress for now)
Author: Romantic Southerner formerly known as Creative Dreamer
Summary: Daniel seemingly has the perfect life with someone from his past, but what happens after she points out the one thing that's been in front of his face the whole time?
Disclaimer: No matter how hard I try, Ugly Betty will never be mine besides none of the famous people mentioned are either. I just created the woman from Daniel's past.
Author's Note: I am so very sorry that I made everyone wait forever for the sequel to "Things Aren't Always What They Seem" (if you haven't read that yet, please do so). I know it seems like I forgot that I said I would write a sequel, but all is not lost (considering I have stuff to post). I've been thinking about this off and on for months now and I've been writing off and on for a while now. I am still trying to figure out how I want it all to turn out, but with that being said, I'll shut up so you can sit back and read. Enjoy! :)

Chapter One
Trucking through the Fog

Daniel Meade was finally able to catch a break in his office at Mode. He was in the middle of a hectic day filled with countless meetings and a couple of conference calls among whatever else he had to deal with for the upcoming issue of his magazine. As much as he wanted to focus on work (which he had been), suddenly he caught himself drifting back to a certain talk he had with his fiancée, Julie Madison several weeks ago about a certain person who was working on something at her desk.

The editor-in-chief stood by his desk as he leaned against his arm while he was looking out the window of his office. He could feel the coolness from the surface of the glass as he sighed to himself.

"How am I different when I'm around Betty?" He asked himself quietly.

He tried to piece together thoughts of why Julie would ever think such a thing about his assistant. Daniel knew that Betty was a great girl with a huge heart and she was amazing, but she wasn't for him. He had Julie in his life. She was a successful publicist that had no intentions of screwing him for her personal gain. He knew Julie held his heart, and there was no point in letting go of the greatest thing in his life for a could-be fling…whatever with his assistant. Betty was his best friend (besides, Julie of course), and he never thought about her that way. Julie thought Daniel saw Betty as something more than that, but she was just Betty, plain and simple.

He began to chuckle to himself as he couldn't fathom the idea of how he was different around Betty, his assistant, the one person he cared about and didn't need to complicate things with. He shifted his focus from the day outside back to the surroundings in his office.

The editor-in-chief took a seat in his chair behind his desk before he started to watch Betty. She was at her desk working on his schedule from what he could tell. She was so wrapped up in what she was doing that she wasn't paying attention to her boss staring at her.

Daniel tilted his head to the side as he watched his assistant from afar. He tried to make sense of the idea that he could have feelings for Betty. The old Daniel would have already bedded his assistant and more than likely moved on to the next one in an endless cycle of being an infamous playboy, but now that Betty was in his life, that wasn't the case. She had been his guiding light from what he could tell, but being in love with her and appreciating her for the way she had gotten him to grow up were two different things, weren't they?

The younger Meade sibling gulped at the thought. He knew he loved Julie and he was thankful for Betty and her help considering if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be engaged to Julie right now. Thanks to the girl from Queens, Daniel would probably still be a bachelor with his whoring ways just like his best bud Becks. So, Betty had helped him grow in more ways than he saw for himself, but was he in love with her or cared for her more than just a friend? He wanted to laugh at the idea, but for some reason he couldn't.

All of a sudden, Betty looked up from her work and flashed him a small smile along with a little wave that she tended to do from time to time and for some reason, it made him feel different. He returned the gesture with his own little wave before he glanced down at his watch.

"Betty's just your assistant…right?" he asked himself out loud before he caught himself staring at her again.

At that moment with just one glance and that smile, it was like he suddenly couldn't give himself an answer without having to think about it for a longer than he should if Betty was just his assistant…or even his friend.

The work on his desk seemed harder to focus on now that he wasn't so sure of himself and the way he felt about his assistant. He recounted several times in his memory where his assistant was more of a friend and a companion than just his assistant.

"Just your assistant, right?" He repeated to himself, hoping that it would be easier to come up with an answer.

And the more Daniel tried to come up with an answer to the inevitable question or take in the information that he needed for his next meeting he couldn't. He had read the same sentence like ten times and the words began to swirl on the page.

The editor-in-chief of Mode couldn't take this anymore. It was like the walls of his office all of a sudden began to close in on him. He could feel his chest tighten slightly like he couldn't breathe.

Instinctively, he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair before he called for his town car. He needed some time away from the office, to think, to make sure he could come with that answer for himself without having to strain for it.

Daniel drew in a deep breathe before he walked out of his office. He had to pass her desk. He knew she'd be there without fail just like she always was.

Don't look at her, he reminded himself. Just don't. You'll give yourself away and she'll want to ask God knows how many questions.

"Uh, Betty, I am going to go out for lunch today. I'll be back before you know it…before my next meeting, I promise," he managed to get out in a calm tone.

"But Daniel…" she managed to get out, unable to finish her thought, "Um, okay."

The younger Meade noticed the confused tone in her voice with a slight twinge of concern. He couldn't help but frown at himself for leaving her hanging, but it had to be done. Looking at his assistant would be an indication of weakness on his part and he was sure that Betty being the person she was would want to help him through whatever this was.

Daniel made his way down the orange hall to the reception desk. He barely noticed the flirty smile Amanda gave him as he passed by to get to the elevators. He frantically pressed the down arrow button, hoping that it would get there sooner rather than later.

--

Finally, Daniel managed to break from to get away from his clouded thoughts at Mode. He drew in a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair as he was in the middle of a long walk through Central Park. Somehow walks through the park helped him think about how to handle women. And this time wasn't really different from the other times, right?

The editor-in-chief of Mode had to get a grip on how he felt about his assistant. Betty was his friend and he was thankful for everything she had done for him, but there was no way she could be more than that. He had a fiancée, and he loved Julie so much that he wanted to marry her. He wanted their relationship to work more than he ever thought he could, but if it wasn't for Betty, there wouldn't be an Autumn Julie Madison in his life, not for the long haul anyway.

Daniel made his way to the Bethesda Terrance in Central Park. He could feel the warm air on his cheeks from the nice weather outside and he loved days like this in park. It was days like this where Daniel hated having to be at work, but he knew especially at this moment that ditching work was not a option.

Besides the Shakespeare Garden, this was his favorite part of the park where he felt like he could get lost in the crowd and think about whatever was on his mind. He did have some things to think about after all. Why did Julie see Betty as an issue when it came to their lives? His fiancee was never the jealous type, but why this? Why Betty? Why now?

There was no telling why the high-profile publicist felt the need to be insecure about the way Daniel was with Betty. His assistant managed to fill this spot in his life that was seemingly made empty once he and Julie parted all of those years ago. He always needed someone to keep his grounded and he appreciated the way both Julie and Betty did that for him, but how in the world would his fiance see that as him seeing his assistant as something more than just that?

It was like Betty was filling the void had left behind all those years ago. That was it, Daniel saw the girl from Queens as the one who filled the void that Julie left behind. It made perfect sense.

A void…that makes sense, he reasoned.

He strolled down the stairs with his hands shoved his pockets for the time being. Daniel wasn't sure why he was thinking about this now considering he had that conversation with Julie weeks ago. He missed her company, being close to her because Julie had given him the space he needed to figure out how to deal with this whole situation about Betty.