Paths Cross
Hi! so I know its been a while. I've been really busy with school and work and life. lol This is a story I've had written for such a long time and finally decided to start posting it. =)
I will also post, hopefully, a chapter of She's So Magnetic sometime tonight. :D
Thank you all for inspiring me to keep writing. I hope you enjoy!
This story is AU, but will have some elements from the show:
What if Betty decided not to go back to working for Daniel? Are they meant to be in each other's lives? Will their paths cross in the future?
Chapter 1 – This is not me
Daniel sat in his office really hoping Betty was going to reconsider working for him again. He felt like such a jerk for being so mean to her. He wished he could take it all back. Not moments later, Betty silently walked into his office. He looked up with hopeful eyes when he saw her standing in front of him. "Did you decide to stay, Betty?"
There was a moment of silence...a silence that screamed disappointment. He looked at her trying to read her face. Her silence said it all. She didn't have to say anything. Her face said everything.
"You're leaving?" he said looking at her intently.
Betty nodded in acknowledgement sending him a sad smile.
"Oh." Daniel replied in defeat. Why Daniel felt his world come crashing down now he didn't know. She was the same person he tried to get to quit just yesterday. Suddenly he felt like this was the worst thing he could have done...and he had done a lot of crappy things. The tense silence was interrupted by her voice. "Listen, Daniel...I just uh...wanted to say...um...I'm not quitting MODE because of umm...what happened between us, it's just that I don't think this is the right place for me to work in." she said simply her voice cracking slightly. He could tell this was difficult for her too.
"I understand Betty." Did he? He pretended to.
"Oh and Daniel..." Why was it that when she said his name he felt his heart shatter?
He forced himself to speak "Ya Betty?" Betty...that name...he would probably never see again after she leaves here. Why was that thought eating away at him?
"You can use my Fabia idea if you think it will work" Betty said with a smile. A smile that he would never see again...
"Well, that's great, Betty, but I'm not going to present this idea without you."
"It's fine Daniel, really."
"Betty, I will only pitch your idea to Fabia with you by my side." It just didn't seem right for him to take credit for her idea...her beautiful idea. He felt his chest tighten suddenly.
"Daniel, I don't know..."
"Please, Betty. Just this last thing as my assistant" he pleaded his voice sounding very close to desperate.
Daniel and Betty worked all night on their presentation to Fabia. Daniel was surprised at how great a team they made. Too bad this would be the last time they would work together.
There were cartons of take-out sprawled all across his desk, some mock ups scattered along the floor and Betty's laptop that had the presentation sat on the table in his office. Betty yawned leaning her back against him as they sat on the floor, a seemingly intimate gesture, but somehow it felt only natural.
"Is it almost done?" she asked yawning.
Daniel involuntarily yawned "Just the intro slide left."
"Ok." Betty responded sleepily. "I have the statistics on Fabia cosmetics printed just in case we need them." Betty added yawning again, her eyes getting heavy.
"Ok. Great... almost done..." he quickly finished the slide, saved it on her computer and on a disk as backup and slapped the laptop shut. "Done" he said sighing in relief.
When he didn't hear Betty he moved back slightly and noticed she had fallen asleep. He looked at her for a moment thinking she looked so peaceful. Her hair was slightly messy; he noticed she didn't have her glasses on. He looked around the floor noticing they were on the floor next to her. He looked back at her face. She was actually pretty, he realized. For some reason it seemed like she was hiding it. He smiled lightly and shook her gently. "Betty."
"Betty, wake up." She slowly stirred "hmm..." she turned slightly and leaned against him, her head on his shoulder. "Betty, the presentation is finished. Do you want me to drop you home?"
She mumbled incoherently making Daniel chuckle quietly to himself. "Daniel..." she mumbled again. Daniel didn't really know what to do. Should he try to wake her and take her home or just let her sleep here and drop her home so she could change early in the morning? He didn't really want her to sleep in his office. The furniture wasn't very comfortable.
"Betty...Betty, wake up" he shook her a little stronger this time.
She opened her eyes and looked up at him, her brown eyes glossy. "Can I just stay here?" she asked sleepily.
"I guess if you want to, Betty. Maybe you should call your family at least and let them know that you will be here. Are you sure they would be ok with that?" Daniel asked worriedly. "Hmm...Okay..." she took her phone and called Hilda. "Betty? Where in the world are you?"
"Hilda...I'm at the office. I'm just going to stay here until the morning. We finished the presentation, but it's late. Can I just stay here?" she asked slightly mumbling, but Hilda was still able to understand her. "Betty, will you be safe over there? I don't want you to be the only person there." She asked concerned.
Betty yawned "Daniel is here. I'll be fine."
"But Betty..." Hilda started to say when Betty just fell asleep. Daniel took the phone from her "Hilda, hi, it's Daniel. Listen, uh...Betty kind of fell asleep. I wanted to take her home, but I don't think she would even make it out of my office door. I assure you she'll be safe."
"Alright, I guess."
"I'll drop her off early in the morning so she could change and all that for the presentation. Again I'm really sorry for keeping her so late."
"That's ok. Thank you...for taking care of Betty like that...Umm...good night." Hilda said. "Good night Hilda. Bye" Daniel hung up and placed the phone on the floor next to his.
Daniel very gently pushed Betty from against him and got up picking her up and laying her on the chaise in his office. He figured that was better than the floor. He didn't want her to feel bad in the morning. He grabbed his suit jacket and gently covered her with it. He lay down along the floor where the carpet was and slowly began to fall asleep.
Daniel felt the light hit his face. He winced slightly when it reached his eyes. He felt like he was being burned by the light. He slowly opened his eyes and felt a sharp pain in his back. He groaned as he pulled up from the floor. He forgot he slept on the floor in his office.
He looked to the chaise noticing that Betty was not there. He wondered where she went. He slightly panicked for some reason. He got up and sat on the chaise wondering if he just dreamt that Betty stayed the night or something.
Did he dream the entire night of him and Betty working together? Maybe his mind just made it up to reassure him. He sighed heavily. But wait he saw her laptop and all the presentation mock-ups and the notes Betty printed.
He saw that the take-out cartons were cleaned from the desk. Where was Betty? He felt utterly confused. He shut his eyes for a moment leaning back against the chaise.
A few moments later, he felt a soft tap on his arm "Good morning, Daniel." Daniel smiled instantaneously recognizing the voice. He slowly opened his eyes to see Betty smiling brightly. "Betty, you're here."
"Ya, I'm sorry I woke up early. Hilda brought me my clothes and I just went and got you some coffee and a bagel."
Daniel smiled "Thanks" he said taking the coffee from her. "What time is it?" he asked wondering how much time they had before their presentation.
"It's 8. I guess we have about an hour before the presentation." Daniel felt relieved not really wanting to rush.
Betty sat down in the chair across from him and took a sip from her coffee. He looked at her for a moment. She looked nice today...he thought. Her clothes were one solid color and the blue color made her smile bright. Her hair seemed tame and neatly combed. He noticed that Betty looked at him strangely and realized that he was staring at her. "Daniel is everything ok?" she asked warmly.
"Oh...uh...ya, sorry. I just dozed off." He smiled when she smiled. It was such a lighthearted smile.
"So, are you uh...ready for the presentation?" Daniel asked looking at her. "I guess. I think we did well." She smiled confidently proud of their teamwork.
Daniel smiled "It was all thanks to you." Betty just smiled as a response.
"So, um...I just wanted to say thank you." Betty said after taking another sip from her coffee.
Daniel looked at her strangely. "For what?"
"For uh...covering me with your jacket and uh...taking care of me, I guess. Hilda told me to tell you thank you, too."
"It was nothing, Betty. Really."
"Anyways, thank you. That was nice." She smiled appreciatively.
Daniel would truly do anything to see that smile. He suddenly felt sadness overcome him. He fought it and decided he would make the most of the rest of the day. They enjoyed the silence for the next hour until the presentation.
Betty and Daniel presented their Fabia...Betty's Fabia concept with ease and confidence. He was really glad that Betty printed the statistics on the Fabia cosmetics. He really couldn't have done the presentation without her.
When the presentation was over Daniel's father came over to acknowledge their good work. When he almost told his father it was all Betty's doing, she quickly intercepted and gave him the credit. He didn't know why she did, but somehow he felt like she knew it would mean a lot to his father.
He smiled brightly at her "You did great, Betty"
She smiled back brightly "We did great" she said positively.
"Ya" Daniel responded that feeling of sadness overcoming him again only this time greater. His smile turned to a slight frown "Betty, are you sure you don't want to still be my assistant? I promise you, you will be treated a lot better. I will make sure of it. We just make such a great team. And you're really good at this, Betty." Daniel said with a heartfelt smile trying to reassure him and Betty of the change she ensued.
"Daniel, I..." she felt sad. She felt bad for leaving him, but somehow she felt like she didn't fit in here. "I really appreciate everything you said...I just...this isn't me, Daniel. I don't think this is the right place for me to work in."
Daniel sighed deeply. He felt his chest tighten. He looked at her trying to fight the stinging sensation in his eyes. "I guess I understand..." he sighed again lightly. "I really did love working with you, Betty." he said smiling faintly.
Betty smiled back.
"Can I uh...walk you outside?" He asked, somewhat nervously.
Betty smiled "sure."
They walked out when Betty noticed Christina in the lobby. "Can you wait just one minute, please?" Betty asked looking at Daniel. Daniel just nodded walking outside to wait for her.
Betty and Christina walked outside together. "Thank you so much, Christina. For everything..."
"No need to thank me Betty. Now, make sure you keep in touch. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too." Betty smiled and hugged Christina. She turned and walked up to Daniel.
Daniel sighed deeply; he felt like his breathing got harder. "Do you think we'll ever see each other again?" Daniel asked his voice low.
Betty took a deep breath. Why did she suddenly find it so hard to breathe? She forced a smile "Who knows. Maybe our paths will cross someday." She said truly hoping that would happen.
Daniel smiled brightly taking with him that ounce of hope. "Alright, well I guess...good bye, then" he said sadly.
Betty looked up at him with a sad smile. "Bye..." She sighed and started walking away.
Daniel was not going to let the last thing he saw from her be a sad smile. Just as she got to the edge of the side walk he yelled "Betty!"
When she stopped to look at him, he smiled "We'll see each other again!" he shouted smiling optimistically.
And there it was...that beautiful smile. He really loved it. He would be able to go on with the memory of that smile. She smiled and walked down the street, almost tripping but pretending not to care.
Daniel laughed lightly to himself. He walked back to the Meade Publications door entrance and saw Christina still standing there with a smile. Daniel smiled and walked in.
AN: Hope you like it! :D there will be more soon! :D
