Title: Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Author: Creative Dreamer
Summary: Daniel has a long list of women he has slept with, but what if there was one who slipped through the cracks and he gets a second chance?
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty or any other famous people mentioned. I just created the woman from Daniel's past.
Author's Note: This fic has been in the works since "I'm Coming Out", but it took me a while to get this onto paper. I hope you like it. I haven't written a multi-chapter fic in a long time. Special thanks to Olivia Adam Smith Please feel free to give me your feedback; it fuels me to write more! ;)

Chapter One
A Mystery Caller

It was another day at Mode as Daniel Meade was at his desk with stacks of paper within his grasp. The editor-in-chief was trying to figure out who should be featured in the Hollywood issue of one of the world's top-selling fashion magazines. The day seemed to be dragging along. He glanced down at his watch; it was only 9:45 am. Daniel hadn't been in the office for two hours, but it felt like forever.

"Here you go, Daniel," his bright-eyed assistant Betty Suarez said with her boss's usual coffee and bagel with cream cheese in hand as she made her way to his desk.

"Oh, thanks, Betty," he said with a sigh. He took the coffee cup from her hand and took a much needed sip.

She set the bagel in front of him. "You're welcome," she said as she flashed him one of her full smiles where you could see all of her braces. "You looked like you needed it."

Daniel gave her an appreciative nod. He knew his assistant could read him all too well.

She could tell that he was busy brainstorming for the next issue. The Hollywood issue was definitely one of the most important issues that Mode put out during the course of the year. Typically, past issues would feature actresses who were bound to have an impact in the industry during the coming months, and Daniel didn't really have a clue as to who would be the best ones to be featured in the magazine.

"Just so you know Wilhelmina should have the book ready for you this afternoon. By the looks of it, it will be sent to the printer ahead of schedule." She smiled as she tried to give him something else to focus on to break the tension and stress he was under.

"Well, that's a relief," the editor-in-chief said, relieved as he sat back in his chair, trying not to look down at the stacks of paper and photographs. He tried not to focus on the task that seemed to be impossible at the moment.

Suddenly, the phone rang in Daniel's office, and without thinking, Betty leaned over the desk and picked up the receiver.

"Daniel Meade's office," she said into the phone with her cheery disposition. "This is Betty Suarez."

"Oh," the woman's voice on the other end said, surprised. "I was trying to get in touch with Christina McKinney. I must have the numbers mixed up."

Betty glanced over at her boss, giving him a confused look. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. Daniel gave her an inquiring look and whispered, "Who is it?" All she could so was shrug.

"Oh, well, I know how that is," she reassured with a light chuckle.

The not-so-typical assistant of playboy Daniel Meade recalled when she first started at Mode when she was so new to everything. She barely knew Daniel's number or any of else's at Mode let alone all of the other numbers that an assistant should know when she works at fashion magazine.

The anonymous woman on the line laughed softly as she was thankful for Betty's understanding. "Is Mr. Meade in his office by any chance?"

"Um, yes, he is. Would you like to speak with him?"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to bother him if he's busy. Besides, I need to get in touch with Christina. Have a nice good day."

"Uh, you too."

There was a click before Betty had a chance to make sense of the short unusual conversation she just had with some unnamed woman. She placed the phone back on its cradle.

"That was strange," she observed as she returned her attention to her boss.

"Well, what was that about?" Daniel questioned, unsure of what to think.

"It was a woman who was trying to get in touch with Christina, but she got your number mixed up with hers," she cleared her throat. "However, she did ask if you were busy, but she didn't want to talk to you."

"That's odd. Did she happen to say who she was?"

"No, she didn't."

Daniel started to stare blankly into space.

"Need anything else?" Betty asked as she stood in front of his desk with her hands folded.

"Nope, not right now," he replied.

His assistant headed toward the door to go back to her desk.

"Hey Betty?" he said to get her attention.

"Yes, Daniel?" she grinned as she turned back to look at him.

"When you get a chance, go see who wanted to talk to Christina."

"Okay," she smiled before she went back to her desk.

Daniel was left in his thoughts. He tried to think through his past like a rolodex, but he knew better than to try to figure that out considering all of the women that were in his past.

Who could she be? The infamous bachelor wondered. All Daniel did know was that his day had definitely become more interesting than what it was ten minutes ago.

--

Things had finally slowed down for Betty so she could go ask Christina about the mystery caller. Betty made her way to "the closet" to check in with one of her closest friends from work.

"Hey Christina," Betty smiled as she walked over to Christina at her desk.

Christina McKinney was Mode's resident seamstress and her office was known as "the closet" because she was the keeper of all of the clothes, accessories, and countless other things needed for each issue of the magazine to be successful.

"Hello, Betty," Christina greeted her friend as she glanced up from her sketchbook.

Not only was Christina the in-house seamstress for Mode, but she was also one of Mode's Top Ten Designers to watch. She had quietly made a name for herself in the fashion world as a designer who seemingly was a breath of fresh air.

She was working on a sketch of a design that she hoped would be a soon-to-be McKinney original. It was a drawing of a teal dress with flow-y sleeves.

"What are you working on?" Betty asked as she looked over her friend's shoulder to see what she had been drawing.

"Oh, it's a sketch of a dress that I plan on putting together within the next few days. Do you like it?"

"I love it!" Betty chimed in as she examined the sketch and the use of design that was on the page.

"Do you really, Betty?"

The frumpy girl from Queens flashed her friend a reassuring smile. "Of course, I do. I think it will look wonderful."

Christina exhaled heavily as she set aside her pencils and other necessities needed to draw her sketches. She turned her chair around to look at Betty.

"So, what's going on with you?"

"Oh, nothing right now; I finally got a moment to breathe." Betty chuckled. "We're ahead of schedule on the book so it should be out to the printer today or tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Well, that's good," Christina paused as she studied Betty's features. "What do you need, Betty? Come on, come out and say it."

"Uh, this is going to sound strange, but Daniel got a call earlier today from a woman who wanted to talk to you. She got your numbers mixed up, and she called Daniel by mistake."

"That doesn't make much sense."

"Yeah, I know. She didn't even tell me her name or anything."

"What time did this woman call? I got a couple of calls earlier."

"About 10am."

"Oh yeah, I got a call around 10 from Jennifer Aniston's 'people'. She mentioned how Jennifer wanted me to design a dress for her to wear to a charity event in New York."

Betty's eyes widened. "Jennifer Aniston?!"

"Yes, I know! I couldn't believe it either," Christina replied still surprised by the request she had to fulfill.

"Well, you are one of the top ten designers to watch," Betty smiled. "I am sure whatever you come up with will be wonderful."

"Thanks, Betty." Christina smiled.

"When you were talking to this woman, you didn't happen to get a name did you?"

"No, I didn't. I was in shock over why she called that I didn't even think to get a name. Besides, she said she was in a hurry, but she would either call me or come by the office to talk to me about it later on this week."

"Hmm, that's interesting."

The unfamiliar caller was still a mystery. Sure, this woman apparently was one of Jennifer Aniston's "people", but it didn't make sense why she would call Daniel at all. Betty knew that Daniel was still trying to figure out who would be in Mode's Hollywood issue, but Jennifer Aniston didn't seem to fit the focus of the next issue. It didn't make sense.

--

"Ok, Daniel, don't forget that the book will be here after you get back from the lunch with your father," Betty reminded as she walked into her boss's office.

The boss of the infamous fashion bible nodded careless as he dreaded this meeting with his father. Lately, there was a lot of tension between members of the Meade family, and Daniel wasn't exactly sure how to handle it all. He had hopes of throwing himself into his work even though now with Alexis around, he wasn't sure if he could rightfully call Mode just his anymore.

"At least that issue is almost done," he reassured himself as he stared blankly at his desk, still covered with various pictures and other items that the editor thought would be helpful on developing the focus for the Hollywood issue.

The book being ahead of schedule was definitely something he could be proud of. That issue was definitely easier considering how important the Hollywood issue was to Mode.

Betty sat in one of the orange chairs in front of Daniel's desk with a pen and paper in hand.

"Any luck with ideas of who is going to be in the Hollywood issue?"

He sighed softly, "Not yet." He looked at his assistant who beamed with one of her bright smiles and he weakly returned her gesture.

This was definitely harder than what Daniel or Betty had anticipated. He wanted to see the lunch with his father as something that could be helpful, but knowing Bradford, he would not only want to discuss the focus of the Hollywood issue, but the Meade heir was sure that his father would feel the need to talk about Alexis and how he wanted things to be done at Mode.

"It's ok," Betty smiled. "You have that meeting with one of Hollywood's top publicists tomorrow. I am sure that once you talk to her, you'll think of something fitting for the issue. Don't stress too much about it."

He gave his assistant a small smile with a nod. He knew she was right. With everything that was on his plate right now with family and now this issue, things were piling up faster than he could handle.

"Before I forget, who called Christina earlier?"

"Uh…I didn't get a name," Betty said as she nervously bit at her lip. "It was one of Jennifer Aniston's 'people' about a dress that she wants Christina to design for her."

Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh."

Betty nodded. "It's still a mystery. I don't think it is anything for you to worry about, Daniel. She just had a wrong number. Besides, if it were that important, she would have said she wanted to talk to you when I asked her."

"You're right. It wasn't important apparently," he echoed.

"Oh, you need to get going. You are supposed to meet your father at the restaurant for lunch. And of course when you get back, you need to go over the book and hopefully, you'll finish up with going over it today."

Both Daniel and Betty stood up from their chairs. Daniel began to roll his sleeves down and grabbed his jacket before the two of them headed out his office door.

"Sounds like a plan to me. Betty, try to get lunch before the book gets here. You deserve a break." He smiled at her.

"Don't worry about me. I'll probably go to the cafeteria and grab a quick bite before Marc or Nick show up with the book."

"If you say so," Daniel said as he gave her a smile.

She rolled her eyes with a small smile on her face.

The two of them parted, and Daniel made his way to the elevator. He slipped on his jacket once he stood in front of the elevator. He pressed the down button and waited for the elevator to come up to the 28th floor.

Thoughts of the mystery caller still lingered in the back of his mind. He was the editor-in-chief at Mode and Christina was a seamstress. No one would typically make the mistake of calling him when they meant to call her.

The ding of the elevator broke his thoughts. He stepped into the doors and pressed L for the lobby. He leaned against the wall as he tried to clear his thoughts and prepared for the lunch with his father.