Goodie Bag

(A happy-ending rewrite of Swag)

She had fascinated Henry Grubstick from the moment he met her. Two minutes before her deadline, she barreled into his office bearing her boss's expense report. He was immediately struck by how different she was from all of the women in this building. He could say she had stolen his coffee, his bagel, and his heart, but that would be too cheesy. In truth, he wasn't sure what the fascination was at this point. When he had discovered the discrepancies in her expense report, he had been inexplicably disappointed in her, this girl he had been so awestruck by.

The next day when she brought him a bagel and coffee to "make it up to him" and asked to see Wilhelmina's expense report, he had been fascinated again. She had crusaded for her boss, and for what was right. He was struck dumb by such integrity in a city girl. Everyone back home had warned him about the city, and how people would be here. They worked together to save the day. After, they went their separate ways, Henry to deal with the accounting issues and Betty to fix the magazine crisis.

He'd been trying to work up his nerve for days, anxious to ask out the cute, quirky girl who was Daniel Meade's assistant, his collaborator in discovering a huge accounting scam. In truth, he'd only ever had one girlfriend before, and she had done the asking out, so he was at a bit of a loss as to how it should be done. But after agonizing and fretting for nearly a week, he finally pushed past the fear and headed up to the MODE floor. At best, she would say yes and they would go out. At worst, she would say no, and he would go back to accounting with no less than he had before.

He arrived on the floor to the usual organized chaos that was a fashion magazine. Skinny, vapid model types were walking in every direction with clothing or papers in hand. The man he knew to be Wilhelmina's assistant was running through the halls screaming, "I can't believe it's a knockoff!" The blonde receptionist was chattering on the telephone headset, filing her nails and looking bored.

Henry walked past them toward the editor's office, keeping his eyes straight ahead. When he reached Betty's desk, he saw her coming from inside her boss's office, Mr. Meade not far behind. "So, you have a 12:30 lunch meeting with Monica from Prada, don't forget the business plan," she laid an orange folder in his hand purposefully as he said this. "You have a 2:00 with your father, he said it was personal. Then we have a 2:45 with layout and Mr. Bianchi to start brainstorming ideas for the Christmas layout. Is there anything else you need from me before then?"

"No, I think that's everything. Go on to lunch before I change my mind," he said playfully. He then noticed Henry standing beside Betty's desk. "Oh no, wait. Are you here for something expense related?" he questioned.

"No, sir," Henry said. "I needed to ask Betty something. It's not expense related."

Daniel heaved a visible sigh of relief. "Good, great, okay," he said, turning and walking back into his office.

"Oh, no, what have I done wrong this time?" Betty asked.

"I wish people didn't always automatically have that reaction when they see me coming," Henry said ruefully. He added, "Nothing like that, I just came to ask you, that is, if you want to, and if you don't that's okay, but I just thought that maybe you would."

She gaped at him confusedly for a few moments, and then asked, "What did you come to ask me exactly?"

Henry turned pink with embarrassment, realizing that he hadn't actually asked her a question, in spite of his nervous babble. "Would you like to go to lunch?" he smiled at her sheepishly.

Betty looked into his face, seeing the nervous anticipation. From the little bit of conversation they had had so far, uncovering Wilhelmina's expense fraud, she had liked what she had seen. "Sure," she said. "I'd love to."

Betty picked up her purse from her chair and they walked toward the front of the building. They were headed to the elevator to leave the building when Betty heard the last voice that she expected or wanted to hear. "Betty!"

"Walter," she said, less than enthused to see him, once again, following her around. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to take you to lunch," he said.

She heaved a sigh of frustration. "Can you give us a second?" she said, looking up at Henry.

"Sure,"

Betty pulled Walter into one of the many little nooks around the reception desk area. "Walter, I thought I made it clear the other day. We aren't a couple anymore and I don't want you following me around."

"But, Betty, I got you the bag that reminded you of your mother. I thought that would win you back. You seemed so happy when I gave it to you."

"Happy, because it reminded me of my mother. But not happily taking you back!" she said. "I just can't do that."

"That bag cost $200!" he whined.

"You want your money back, then, is that it? You want your investment back? Here," she pulled her wallet from the bag then slammed it forcefully into his chest. "Why don't you go give it to Gina. If you tell her it's a real one, she might give you another week or two."

"But, Betty, I love you," he protested.

"When you broke up with me, you told me you loved her. Walter, nothing you ever say or do is going to erase what you did and how that made me feel. I'm sorry, but please, just leave me alone."

"Is everything okay here, Betty?" Daniel had arrived at the reception area, ready to leave for his lunch meeting.

Betty looked at Walter for a long moment. He finally lowered his head, handed the bag back to her and turned to leave. "I'm sorry, Betty, for everything. I won't bother you again. Tell your dad I won't be by for tamale night, okay?" She nodded, and Walter disappeared into the arriving elevator.

"Yeah, everything's fine," she said to Daniel as the doors closed in front of Walter. She walked over to where Henry stood, pointedly trying not to listen to their conversation. "Shall we?" she asked.

Henry smiled and offered her his arm.