Daniel stood in front of the podium with sweaty palms. He normally hated speaking to large groups of people. He felt like he would reveal to them how dumb he was. Once he'd confessed to Betty that fear and she looked like she was ready to cry. She had quickly swiped at her eyes and then she'd reassured him that she thought he was very smart and how proud she was to be working for him.

"With me, Betty. You work with me. We're a team, remember?" Daniel had flashed her a dazzling grin, happy to hear that Betty thought of him as smart. The opinion of the rest of the world didn't matter as long as Betty still had that high opinion of him.

In the present, Daniel stood in front of all his employees and friends to announce the launch of a new Meade publication without Betty to reassure him. She was quietly sitting by herself in the back of the room, seemingly in her own world. Before, he would given anything to be rid of the annoying accountant who held Betty's heart, now as he watched her fall apart, he'd happily watch her marry the man if that meant her happiness. He hated seeing her so distraught. That had to be the cause of Betty's quiet demeanor and the reason why she could barely talk to him anymore, right? She had to be still upset about her breakup with Henry.

He cleared his throat to get the attention of the large crowd who had gathered. Daniel had gone over his speech hundreds of times in his head during the past week. Why did all those wonderful words that he'd carefully constructed seem to fly out of his head once he felt all those eyes staring at him, waiting for him to speak? When Daniel was done with his speech, he went to the back of the room and sat down next to Betty. She could barely lift her eyes to meet his. Betty reached out to pat him on his shoulder and ended up dropping his Blackberry on the floor. Daniel had handed her the phone before he had gone to give his speech and now he watched as its various pieces scattered across the floor. With an "Oh!" from Betty and a murmured curse word from Daniel, they both kneeled on the floor to pick up the phone. Suddenly, their heads knocked together. Betty immediately looked up at him.

"I'm so sorry, Daniel!" she squeaked.

Daniel looked up from fitting the back of the phone back on and smiled. "It's fine. I did it this morning myself," he lied. "Don't worry."

"Thank you, Daniel" she whispered in his ear. A thrill raced through him when her breath tickled his ear, followed quickly by the persistent feeling of nausea that had been present since her and Henry's breakup. He recognized that feeling. It was guilt gnawing at him. This is your fault, his conscience seemed to say. You wished him wished for them to break up and they did. Do you really think Betty will want you when she knows that you ruined her chance for happiness? Do you ever stop thinking about yourself? Rationally, Daniel knew he wasn't responsible for the breakup. But the irrational part of him that he seemed to listen to best felt incredible guilt for ever wishing that Henry would disappear. Why had god seen fit to grant that wish? He'd wished for tons of things before and nothing had ever come of it. Why had this wish come true? He had no answer for that.

Daniel leaned closer to Betty. "Listen, Betty, I know how much you loved Henry . . ." God it pained him to have to say that. As much as he wanted Betty to be happy, he also wanted happiness for himself. Was it really too much to hope that one day Betty would fall in love with him? Betty gave him a watery smile and took his hand in her own.

"Let's not talk about my failed relationships, okay? I just can't do that with you. We can talk about anything else, but that." Seeing Betty's eyes begin to water up, he quickly took her hand and squeezed it. For the remainder of the press conference, Daniel held Betty's in his own and wished he was holding it under different circumstances. Anything would be better than watching Betty going this pain.

At the end of the night, Daniel turned to Betty. "Can I give you a ride home?"

Betty looked up at him. "Oh, you don't have to do that. I'm sure Christina would take me."

"I want to. What good is it to have a car service if I can't use it to drive my friends around?"

That earned him a small smile from Betty. "Okay. You don't mind going all the way out to Queens? It'll be awhile before you're going to be able to get home."

Daniel smiled at Betty. "I'd do anything to make you happy, Betty." The knots in his stomach seemed to tighten. Really, dear boy? You didn't seem to think so just a few days ago. Was wishing her true love away so that you could date her going to make her happy? Daniel made a mental to note to stop by a liquor store so he could drink himself into oblivion when he got home. He didn't need his pesky and irrational feelings of guilt to keep him up all night.

When they arrived at her home in Queens, Betty leaned over and hugged Daniel. "Thank you. You've been so good to me." Once again, his heart raced at holding Betty so close. And he hugged her tightly, closing his eyes and savoring the moment. Then he remembered how he'd made her miserable and he let he go quickly, feeling burned. He watched her walk up the steps of her house and then directed the driver to find the nearest liquor store. That night Daniel fell asleep on his cold hardwood floor after chugging nearly half a bottle of vodka. The guilt was killing him.

Earlier in the day, Amanda had been busy trying to convince her father that he shouldn't cut her off financially.

"Daddy, I need your help!" Amanda had practically shrieked into the phone.

A few non-committal comments later and Amanda knew she was beaten. There was no way he'd help her anymore than he already was. She'd have to be poor. Wiping the tears from her eyes, Amanda reached into her desk to look for the hand mirror she always kept. She was going to need to repair the damage done to her makeup. Looking at her reflection, she saw Henry standing behind her.

"What's wrong?" he earnestly asked.

Amanda frowned. Her life had suddenly gone from awful to horrible. Here she was cut off financially-facing shopping retail-and now her other cross to bear had shown up. "Nothing," Amanda said.

Henry came around the desk to face her. "That's not true. You've been crying."

Exasperated Amanda threw up her hands. "So what if I was? Why is it your business?"

Henry was taken aback. "Because . . ." he faltered. "I like you."

Amanda was suddenly disgusted with Henry and his caring ways and herself for being touched by them. "Ugh, Hank! Leave me alone!" She got up from the desk and pushed past him to go the woman's bathroom.

Henry followed her. "I'm not leaving you alone," he called through the bathroom door. "Listen, I have a proposition for you." He paused, waiting for Amanda's reaction.

Amanda quickly checked the bathroom stalls to see if she was alone. She was. "Listen, if this is some sort of weird thing where I have to sleep with you for money, forget it," she replied. "I'm not into nerd love."

Henry boldly poked his head through the door. "I think we already established that you are."

Amanda shut the door in his face. "I don't want you to ever mention that again!"

Henry scratched his head. "I'm not trying to take advantage of you. I want to help. You don't have to do anything."

Amanda opened the door again. "Really? How?"

Henry's eyes lit up. They were talking about his favorite subject-money. "I couldn't help but hear your conversation since I was listening to every word," he began. "And I think your father wants you to learn the value of a dollar. He wants you to be independent, he won't be around forever."

Amanda snorted. "Not the way he drinks."

Henry ignored her comment. "So I think you should create a budget for yourself and live by it for a few months. Then invite your father to see how well you're doing. I think that if you show him how responsible you can be with money, he'll loosen his purse strings a bit."

Amanda sighed. "I can't do that. I wouldn't even know where to begin."

This was the moment Henry had been waiting for. "But I do. I can help you. Meet me in my cubicle after work and I'll show you how." Without waiting for Amanda's sarcastic comment, Henry began walking away. "Think about it," he said over his shoulder.

And for the remainder of the day, that's what Amanda did. She thought about that and why Henry hadn't kissed her at all during their bathroom encounter.