Author's Note: So I combined the first two chapters for the sake of plot and getting back into the habits of writing my typically longer chapters. When it comes to plot and events that happened with the show's span, some things in this fic are mentioned even though they happened under different circumstances so please keep that in mind. You'll see what I mean. ;) I know it seems like I am never to go update as often as I should, but finding time to write since I work in retail is seemingly impossible for now so please bear with me. Special thanks to clueless1der for letting me be her beta and in turn being mine. So with all that being said, enjoy! :)

Chapter Two
Expect the Unexpected

After grabbing a couple of sandwiches and two sodas to go, Julie and Daniel had made their way back to the Meade Publications building. The two of them were waiting in front of the elevators in the lobby,

"Now remind me again why you decided to come back with me to the office," Daniel said as he watched Julie who was sipping on the last of her drink.

"What do you mean?" Julie grinned as she glanced at him before she threw away her cup in the trash can closest the elevator.

"I thought you had a busy schedule yourself," he reminded as he arched an eyebrow.

The editor-in-chief of Mode knew that his high-profile publicist counterpart had mentioned an assortment of projects that she was going to be working or were actually working on. He couldn't remember the time frame for any of them at the moment considering he had so much on his plate right now for the magazine, but he knew the time for them to share together was limited. So for her to volunteer to go back to the office with him didn't make much sense.

"So maybe I do, but it's not like I'll be seeing my fiancée later today by the looks of things. Do you know where he is by any chance?" She wondered as she glanced at him before she looked over his shoulder at the entrance of the building.

"Isn't he is that editor-in-chief of some boring magazine?" He snickered before he cleared his throat to play along.

"Well, if you mean the most successful fashion magazine of all time then maybe. I guess that's him, but for whatever reason, you're better looking than he is…" Julie smirked as she shrugged her shoulders slightly, concealing a smile.

"Is that so?" Daniel pursed his lips together as he watched her, waiting to see where she went with this.

Julie tilted her head to the side as she pressed her lips together, deep in thought. "You could say that. You remind me of this guy I used to know in college."

"Really?"

"Yep, he was some hot-shot prick that I snubbed more times than I can count." She said effortlessly without missing a beat, glancing down at her nails before lightly run them against her shoulder.

Julie laughed as she tried to keep up with her little game, fighting the urge to look up at Daniel with that silly smile on his face, trying to be all serious.

Before she could stop laughing, the elevator doors opened and some people filed out, but surprisingly, they had the elevator to themselves.

The two of them made their way into the waiting elevator. Without fail, Daniel leaned over and pressed the button for the 28th floor.

"Ouch…that sucks to be him." Daniel frowned at the description of his former self back in their days at Harvard.

"But at least you aren't him, right?" Julie grinned warmly as she eyed him from where she stood.

"That's true. If that be the case, I am sure you would have decked me by now." Daniel chuckled to himself as he tucked his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels.

"I've thought about it actually but what kind of woman would that make me? A cynical 'Ice Princess'? Eh, I'd like to think I've grown out of that phase of my life."

Daniel continued to chuckle softly. "Well, that's nice to know. At least time's been good to you."

"Like you would know…how?" She gave him a curious look as she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, maybe it's because I am the luckiest guy in the world to have you in my life." Daniel spoke honestly as he flashed her a smile.

"Daniel Meade, you've always been such a charmer," she sighed with a grin as she moved closer to where he stood.

"I thought that's what you liked best about me." Daniel mentioned smugly as he took out of his right pocket and runs it along Julie's arm.

"It's a part of it, but not entirely…"

"Then what is it?" Daniel was intrigued. What was going on in Julie's head with the way she said?

"I am not sure how to put it…"

Before Julie could finish her thought the elevator dinged as it stopped on the 28th floor.

Daniel reached down to grab Julie's hand, but instead she resisted, stepping back and removing her hand from his reach..

A bewildered look took over Daniel's features as Julie just stood there and shook her head slightly without saying a word.

"I thought you were coming with me…" he pouted slightly with his bright blue eyes and a seemingly irresistible puppy dog look. He held the door open, hoping she would accompany him to his office.

"Well, as much as I want to and know I should considering I won't see you again until God knows when, I've got to get going."

"And you wasted time just to see me?" Daniel gave a satisfied smirk.

"Not entirely …" she countered.

"But?"

"I've got to be at a meeting on the top floor," she casually mentioned as she leaned over and pressed the button for the top floor.

"But that's Mom's office."

"I know."

"You have a meeting with my mother and didn't you tell me?" Daniel asked, confused.

"You got it, Mr. Editor-in-Chief." She giggled as she leaned over and gave her fiancée a quick kiss. "And if you don't move your foot, I am going to be late."

"Oh, sorry," he sheepishly said, removing his foot from the door without thinking.

The elevator closed and Daniel cursed under his breath for not telling the woman in his life good bye.

---

The doors to the elevator opened as she stepped out and made her way to office of the one who was in charge of all of Meade Publications. It reminded her of the first time she came up to the office to talk to Bradford about how the Hollywood has turned out after its release, but now things had definitely changed since then.

A lot of things had happened in the past year with the Meade family. Bradford had passed away last fall from a heart attack when he had arrived early at work one morning. It was an evitable to happen to Bradford with the way he was, but it was untimely none the less for the Meades as well as the company he built from scratch.

No one really expected Bradford to leave Meade Publications to Claire with her tarnished reputation, but after careful consideration with the way their children tended to be, he felt it was only fitting that she was in charge of the company until the two of them could work together as equals or at least being civil to each other while one of them ran the company.

Julie took a deep breath before she made her way into Claire's office. She cleared her throat before she spoke. "Claire, I am sorry I am late," the publicist offered as she watched her soon-to-be mother-in-law was looking over some paperwork.

"Oh, Julie," Claire set aside her paperwork and looked up with a smile. "Actually you're right on time. I see you managed to get away from my son."

Julie chuckled. "It wasn't easy considering we are talking about Daniel but with his busy schedule today, I knew he'd have to get back to the office."

Claire clasped her hands together before she laid them on the surface of the desk to look at the woman in her son's life. She looked at the publicist across from her carefully.

"I am sure you are wondering why I asked you here, Julie."

"Well, I hadn't forgotten that you asked me to come, Claire, but I will say that the look on Daniel's face when you called earlier amused me."

"Ah, I should have known when I called and you said your full name, dear," she grinned.

"Don't worry about it. But now that you mentioned it, I have been wondering why you asked me here."

"At this time of year, I am normally putting together MODE's Black and White Ball, but now that I oversee all of the magazines at Meade, my hands are full," she sighed.

With Claire now running Meade, she wasn't used to being in charge of so many different aspects of the company besides keeping an eye on her children at Mode, but now with her and Bradford's agreement that she was to take care of their company, she couldn't help but ask for help with at least one aspect of the business.

Julie noticed the look of stress on the Meade matriarch's face. "Right, I remember how spectacular last year's Ball was," she mentioned with a bright smile.

"Normally, I can handle things like this on my own, but under the circumstances with this year, I am hoping you'd lend me a hand with planning this year's Ball. Besides, I think it's only fitting that since you're engaged to the Editor-in-Chief that you get used to taking care of events like this," Claire offered as she sat up in her chair, propped an elbow on her desk, resting a hand under her chin.

"Oh, I'd love to. I need all of the practice I can get," Julie chuckled as she tucked her hand behind her ear.

The publicist was surprised by Claire's offer considering she had this impression that even though she said in the background, she was the backbone of the family and needed little to no help with keeping everything running smoothly. She was grateful for this opportunity considering all of the obligations that come with being a part of the Meade family.

"And I am sure you could come up with some ideas about how to raise more money for this year's charities," Claire offered warmly.

"Well, now that you mention it, a silent auction could be very beneficial for an event like this," Julie reasoned.

With Julie's expertise, it only made sense that she would have a knack for thinking up ideas to better Mode as well as the company as a whole. It was a nice start for how Julie would fit into the Meade family as well as the public image they strived to uphold.

Claire gave her an intrigued look as she took in Julie's suggestion. A silent auction that would bring in more money as well as more positive publicity for the magazine and the company would be perfect.

"You're a natural," Claire commended. "I think this is a wonderful idea. Well, the Black and White Ball will happen in about a month's time so I hope it's enough time for you to get things together for the auction."

"If I can put together two covers for MODE in basically two week's time then I would think this would be a piece of cake," Julie chuckled.

Claire grinned. "Of course, you're an old pro."

The mother of the Meade siblings appreciated Julie's enthusiasm for helping her with Mode's main event of the season. It was nice to know that the Ball wouldn't be lost in the midst of the keeping tabs on over twenty-something magazines. Besides, planning events like this was right up Julie's alley. She did work in Hollywood after all.

"I'll do my best," she sighed. "Now I don't mean to pry, Claire, but how is the company doing as a whole? I know, Daniel has mentioned how you've been stressed lately with everything."

"Oh, it's nothing I can't handle," Claire clarified. "It's just been an adjustment is all. I've been doing this for almost a year now with running the company; it just gets to me sometimes."

"Ah," Julie noted the response the president of Meade Publications had given her. She gave her a warm smile. "You know, maybe for the sake of your children because I know they both worry about you and quite frankly, I do as well, maybe you should look into getting a CFO for the company. That would help balance out your attention to the company as a whole as well as freeing up some time to spend with Daniel and Alexis."

The publicist cleared her throat, hoping her future mother-in-law would not take offense to what she has suggested. She could tell that Claire had been under some stress within the past several months, but she knew Daniel and Alexis had considered talking to their mother about it, but she wasn't sure when or if the two of them ever would.

Claire took in a deep breath as she pressed her lips together, studying the look on Julie's face. She knew her son's fiancée was probably saying something Daniel would more than likely never say. She could tell that Julie was being sincere and knew that what she was saying was right. Bradford had been running this company for years and he could make decisions without putting much thought into them, but Claire felt like she had to consider a lot of different aspects that would not only affect the company but her children's futures as well.

"I hope I am not stepping on your toes," Julie offered as the silence between them had thickened. She began to nibble on her bottom lip slightly, hoping the woman behind her desk wouldn't notice.

"Of course not, Julie," Claire reassured. "I do have a lot on my plate and I knew that I would when Bradford and I had talked about our plan, but I just didn't expect it to happen so suddenly like it did."

Claire looked back on her talks with Bradford over the issue when he and Alexis were making amends once Bradford had learned about his worsening heart condition even though he must have kept the severity of it to himself for the most part since he started to make plans for how things should be once he was gone. She just never imagined it would be so soon after they agreed to how things would be handled.

Julie could see the pain in her eyes at the memories must have unfolded as she spoke.

"I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Don't worry about it. Please don't mention this to Daniel or Alexis until I get to talk to them about this first, but I am in the middle of talks with someone to become CFO with Meade," she mentioned.

"Oh, my lips are sealed."

"Good. Didn't you and Daniel go to college with a Connor Owens?"

Julie thought about the name and it did seem vaguely familiar to her, but she wasn't exactly sure.

"He graduated from Harvard around the time you and Daniel did," Claire informed, hoping to jog Julie's memory.

"Connor Owens, was it?" Julie repeated before she paused. "Ah, Connor, I haven't seen him in years." A smile crept across her face with realization.

Claire noticed the expression on Julie's face but didn't say anything about it.

"I am still in talks with him, but before I make my decision final, I'd like to talk to Daniel and Alexis about it."

"Of course, it's only fair."

"I actually have another meeting with him today."

"Well, I won't keep you then. I do need to take care of a couple of things before I head back to my office and tie up some loose ends there."

Julie rose from her chair and grabbed her purse from the empty chair beside hers. She tucked some hair behind her ear as she gave Claire a warm smile.

"Thank you for asking me to help you with the Black and White Ball."

Claire smiled as she rose from her chair. "Julie, it's not a problem. Thank you for agreeing to help me. We'll get together later this week to start planning."

She came around from behind her desk to walk Julie to the elevator.

"I can't wait." Julie grinned as two of them made their way out of Claire's office and to the elevators.

"We'll get together and have lunch or something. We've got so much to plan. I just want everything to be perfect."

"I understand, Claire. I just hope that I can help you make the Ball be as wonderful as it has been in years past."

---

Daniel just finished up with his last meeting as he walked the photographer for this issue of Mode to the elevators. They shared some pleasant chatter before the elevator arrived and the two of them shook hands.

Even though, Daniel's day at the office was done he knew he had to meet up with one of the soon-to-be key advertisers for a business dinner that Betty had set up for him a couple of days ago. He had forgotten that it was set up during his meeting day or if he would have realized, he was sure he would have gotten his bubbly assistant from Queens to reschedule this meeting for another day, but it was too late now.

As the editor-in-chief of Mode made his way back to his office, he noticed his assistant on the phone. He stood behind her silently as he watched her as he had his hands behind his back.

"Okay, yes ma'am. Of course, I'll let Daniel know that you called to confirm your meeting for tonight," Betty said as she turned to see her boss walking toward her desk. She flashed him a full smile before she concluded her conversation. "Yes, thank you for calling. Bye."

Daniel cleared his throat and gave his assistant a curious look without saying a word. Now was the first time since he got back to the office where he finally had a chance to watch her. He appreciated the way she was still upbeat even though today had been a long day for the two of them. He noticed that she had to have been working on the next day's schedule from what was on her computer screen as well as her sticky note system on the planner that sat on top of her desk.

Betty looked up as she placed the phone back on its base and noticed her boss was looking at her. She tilted her head to the side as she watched him and wondered what he was doing.

"Oh, Daniel, hi, I see you're done with your meeting," Betty grinned as she flashed him one of her full smiles.

"Well, here at the office anyway…" he grumbled

"Right…actually, that was Cameron Elliot on the phone. She just called to confirm that she would meet you at the restaurant." She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose as she looked at him, ignoring his tone. "I've got a town car waiting on you to take you to your apartment to freshen up so you can be at the restaurant by the top of the hour."

"Thank you…"

"It's not a problem," she continued on with her cheery disposition before she crossed her arms against her chest and looked at him over the rim of her glasses.

"Betty, not the look…not tonight," Daniel sighed.

"Daniel, you have to go to this meeting. It's important to the magazine considering Mode is her first choice to advertise with, but if you want me to call Alexis and ask her to go in your place then I can do that right now…" Betty mentioned as she reached over to her phone and began to dial Alexis' extension.

The editor-in-chief quickly moved as he placed his hand over his assistant's hand that was already on the receiver and hung up the phone. "No, I wouldn't want that. I can only imagine how that would go."

"Don't be a baby about it. This is just a part of your job. If you think this is bad now, I can only imagine how your mother juggles her schedule dealing with twenty-two magazines." She eyed him again.

"Okay, fine. You win, I'll go," Daniel conceded.

He went into his office to grab his coat. "You know, Betty, you're playing hard ball today," he called out as he slipped into it.

Betty grinned as she leaned over in her chair to look into his office. "Hey, I just trying to keep you focused. I know this week's been tough on you, Daniel, but once this issue is done, you know it will be worth it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," he reasoned as he came out of his office. "And now that you're done with this semi-pep talk, you are free to go." He gave her a smile.

"It's about time," she joked as she continued to work on the next day's schedule.

"I think you've earned a break," Daniel winked.

Betty just smiled as she rolled her eyes at him. "Get going or you are going to be late."

"Okay, okay, I am going," he said as he threw his hands up in defeat. "You need to do the same."

"I will, I just need to finish this up. Fifteen minutes tops," Betty promised as she saved what she had been working on.

"If you say so…"

"Daniel, I will."

"As I was saying, if not, make sure to get a town car to take you home," Daniel offered as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

Betty grinned as she looked. "Aren't you going to go?" She started to gather her things together so she could leave.

Daniel shook his hand and laughed. "Leaving." He chuckled as he started to walk toward the tunnel hallway. "Have a good evening, Betty."

"Same to you, Daniel. Good luck with your meeting."

Daniel took in a deep breath as he made his way down the hall way. He pictured that look on Betty's face as he tried to weasel his way out of the meeting with this woman…Cameron Elliot. He remembered the way her eyes seemingly pierced into his with her all-judging look and he remembered one of the first times she had given him that look in her butterfly costume during her first few months with Mode. It made him chuckle to himself at the memory.

"What's so funny?" Alexis asked as she caught her brother off guard on his way to the elevators.

"It's nothing," he assured. "What are you still doing here?"

"Well, someone's gotta be the glue that keeps this magazine together," she teased. "Actually, I am in the middle of looking over the numbers for the last issue. I know Mom mentioned that she wanted to meet with us tomorrow to talk about the company."

"Oh, right, I remember Betty mentioning that."

He grumbled to himself for forgetting the paperwork that he needed to look over, but now that he thought about it, he remembered seeing it on his desk front and center for him to look over first thing in the morning. He breathed a silent sigh of relief.

The older Meade sibling couldn't help but roll her eyes at her younger brother. "And where are you heading off to?"

"My meeting with Cameron Elliot…you know the advertiser…?" He was now walking backwards toward the elevator, facing his sister as he spoke.

"Cameron Elliot? Um, okay." Alexis gave him a curious look with a raised eyebrow as she stopped her tracks.

"Yeah, she's the one who wanted to do some advertising with us. She arranged the meeting with Betty for tonight. Oh come, Alexis, I know you can't be that out of the loop when it comes to what I do to keep the magazine going."

Alexis was silent for a few seconds but didn't really say much of anything after that.

"I don't have time to waste, I've got to go to my apartment to change and be at the restaurant within the hour." Daniel mentioned again as he made it to elevators without embarrassment. He blindly pressed the down button on the wall. "So I need to go, but we'll talk before the meeting with mom, okay?"

"Yeah, not a problem, Daniel."

He turned back to face the reflective surface of the elevator doors, waiting impatiently for the elevator to arrive. With thoughts of Betty's persistence of getting him to go to this meeting as well as a mixture of dread, he knew this meeting was either going to be a total bust or was an automatic homerun.

He let out a heavy sigh as the elevator doors finally opened and he stepped into the waiting elevator.