Countdown: 5 Months and 3 weeks.
Betty had done some very basic research on flowers for the wedding – she'd searched on-line and made a few phone calls. She'd expected they wouldn't be cheap but the actual cost had astounded her. After the first call she thought she'd just picked the wrong florist…after the forth, she realized that she was a little out of touch. She Skyped Justin and Hilda so she could complain about it. She also wanted to show them the two different designs for the bridesmaids' dresses. She hated the one from the New York designer, but Marc loved it and she needed some other opinions.
"Oh my..." Justin looked a little disturbed.
"What the hell is that?" Hilda asked.
Betty had just sent them, via email, a sketch of the bridesmaids' dress.
"Ok…I thought it was just me, but it is awful, isn't it?" Betty was trying to confirm.
"Hideous." Justin said.
"See…and you know fashion." Betty said to Justin.
"What's with that thing on the arm?" Hilda asked.
Betty shrugged.
"And that hat? That's something you would wear." Justin added.
"Hey!" Betty was offended and then she looked closer at the sketch – would she?
"Ok…so hold on for a second and I'll send you the design Christina whipped together quickly before she started designing my dress."
She searched her folders and found the scanned copy and then she sent it to Hilda and Justin.
"So what do you think of Christina's?" Betty asked once they'd had a chance to look.
Justin nodded thoughtfully. "Pretty nice."
"Oooo…that's gorgeous. I really like that." Hilda said.
"Me too." Betty agreed. "But Marc insists that the weird one is nicer. I just don't get it."
"So, who cares what Marc thinks? This is your wedding Betty – pick the one you want, at least in this case, when Marc is clearly wrong." Hilda encouraged her. "Besides, if you pick the one with that thing on the arm, I'm not wearing it. So you can just find yourself a new Maid of Honour."
"Hilda…" Betty scolded her.
"What? This…" She waggled her finger back and forth, pointing to herself. "was never created to wear something like that." She pointed to the screen. "Look at that neck line…if it was any higher you'd need an elevator to put on your lipstick. Clothes should show off your assets…if you know what I mean."
"Aww Mom, please…do you really have to talk about your assets?" Justin cringed.
"Shut it Justin." She raised the same pointy finger to him and then she turned back to Betty and pointed to her own head. "And hair like this should never be crammed under a helmet like that."
"Aunt Betty, you know I really respect Marc. I think his choice of grey for the wedding colour was inspired and I would normally never - in a hundred million years - take Mom's fashion advice over his…but believe it or not, I'm with Mom on this one. Well…not the part about the assets…maybe a little about the hair though. Anyway, you know what I mean."
Betty smiled at him. "Yeah…you're right. Thanks guys."
She changed the subject because now she felt like venting about the flowers.
"I can't believe how much they want to charge for flowers for this thing." Betty sighed.
"Why do you think we went with Bobby's cousin's wife's sister even though she was out in Jersey? It was a pain in everyone's butt – particularly his uncle and cousin - to have to go and get them and cart them across the city the morning of the wedding but at least she gave us a significant discount. But what are you complaining about? The money's not an issue for you guys."
"No, I guess not."
"What do you mean you guess not? You're marrying a freakin' billionaire. The cost of the flowers is like a drop in the bucket for him."
"Just because Daniel has the money and I could spend it on the flowers doesn't mean I should, Hilda. I don't want to be that woman."
"What are you talking about, Betty? What woman?" Hilda was clearly confused.
"You know…the woman that just goes and spend her husband's – or in this case fiancé's - money without any regard to how much things cost. I want to contribute to this marriage and I just find it so frustrating that I don't, really."
"Face it Chica…you will never be able to contribute financially to this marriage the way Daniel does. But that doesn't mean you don't contribute significantly in other ways."
Betty sighed. "I know…but I hate feeling like that woman."
"Oh my God…you must be adopted 'cause I could totally be that woman. In fact, I could be that other woman…the leeching sister-in-law of the billionaire who's always looking for ways to spend his money and get some of the perks."
"Hilda…" Betty started to smile.
Hilda was deadly serious. "You think I'm kidding?"
"Why don't you just talk to Daniel, A.B.? Get his input on how much to spend on the flowers." Justin wisely suggested.
"Yeah…I will."
The next day when they met over lunch, Betty decided to do that…and show him the two different designs. They met in a small restaurant halfway between his work and hers.
"So what do you think?" She asked him, showing him the sketches.
"I think I'm hungry." He grinned.
"Seriously, Daniel…I want your opinion."
"Ok…" He sighed as he lowered his menu. "Well, the funky one looks like it should be on a runway during fashion week…maybe not in our wedding. But I'll leave that up to you." He picked his menu up again.
"And the flowers..." She started to say, pulling the menu down so he could see her.
"Betty…whatever you want. Really…I don't care." He smiled at her.
"But they are quite expensive and I think we should talk about it."
"Why? It's just money. Get whatever flowers you want and stop worrying about it." He looked back down at the menu again. "Now…about lunch…"
Betty looked at him with a mixture of frustration and disbelief but he was so consumed with the menu he didn't notice. Again with the disinterest - what happened to helping? She tried not to let it get to her…what straight guy really cared about the flowers for his wedding anyway, right? Except for maybe the financial factor…and clearly with Daniel that wasn't an issue.
Countdown: 5 Months and 2 weeks
"But we were supposed to go select the invitations after grabbing a bite to eat." Betty said into her cell phone as she packed up her laptop at the end of a long day.
"I know. I'm sorry Betty. I really have to stay late. We have this account we're working on and they are expecting something huge by the end of the week." Daniel sounded apologetic.
She was disappointed but she could hardly blame him for working late – she did it all the time. It's just that this wasn't even the first time he was blowing off going to select the invitations – he'd done it a few days ago too. Not that he was blowing it off, she reminded herself - he was just really busy.
She tried to be more positive. "Ok…well, how about we go select the invitations on the weekend then?" She suggested.
"That sounds great." Daniel said. "Thanks Betty. I appreciate you understanding."
"Yeah…sure." She sighed again.
Later that night as she was getting ready for bed her phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey Betty." It was Amanda
"Hi Amanda…what's up?" Betty asked.
"Not much. How goes all the wedding organizing from your end?"
Betty sighed, remembering her conversation with Daniel from earlier. "Fine."
"Really…'cause that sigh made it sound a lot more like not fine." Amanda was sometimes amazingly observant for someone rarely concerned about other people.
"No…it's fine." Betty tried to be convincing.
"Yeah, right Betty." Amanda didn't believe her. "What's got your perk bent out of shape?"
"It's Daniel. We were supposed to go pick the invitations tonight but he had to work late."
"So he blew you off again…huh? Didn't he do that the other day too?" She asked.
He didn't "blow me off". He's working on an important account." Betty defended.
"Daniel blew Betty off?" She heard Marc ask from the background.
"Tell him Daniel didn't blow me off." Betty said, hearing her voice go into a sort of hollow, tinny sound as she finished the sentence; she suspected she was now on speaker phone.
Amanda filled Marc in on the part he hadn't heard. "Daniel said he had to work late."
"Oh…he totally blew you off, Suarez." Marc said and he sounded clearer now so she knew she was on speaker phone. ""I have to work late" is the oldest excuse in the book."
"And whose book is that Marc? How are you an expert on relationships all of a sudden?" Betty wanted to know.
"No need to get defensive Betty. Maybe I'm not an expert on relationships but I am an expert on blowing people off."
Betty couldn't really argue with that.
"Well, whatever. If Daniel says he has a lot of work then I believe him. Why would he lie about that?" Betty asked.
"Maybe because he doesn't want to get the invitations for some reason?" Amanda suggested questioningly.
"Of course he doesn't want to get the invitations." Marc interjected. "Once the invitations are ordered, that's like having it in stone."
"What are you talking about Marc?" Betty didn't like where this was going.
"Betty, it's a lot harder to back out once you've invited all your family and friends." Marc said bluntly.
"He doesn't want to back out Marc." Betty tried to sound confident but inside she was reeling.
"Maybe not. But think about it: It's pretty hard to picture Daniel Meade being a one woman man for the rest of his life."
"He married Molly, didn't he?" Betty pointed out.
"Yes…but the woman was dying. As much as he loved her, let's be realistic - there wasn't much long term commitment happening there."
"Marc! That's a horrible thing to say." Betty was appalled.
"Oh, don't give me that…tell me that thought hasn't once crossed your mind. And before Molly, the man was a complete horn dog. Sure, what he had with Molly might have changed that, and he might not be able to fall into bed with every Mary, Jane and Kate that he meets anymore. But there's a big difference between giving up your man-hoar ways and accepting that the person you're with now is the last one you're ever going to be with again…ever. Is it so hard to believe that he might be having some serious doubts as he stares monogamy in the face - the rather unfortunate, Betty-shaped face he's stuck with?"
"Harsh Marc. Don't listen to him Betty - your face doesn't look anything like monogamy, or any kind of wood for that matter." Her tone became much sweeter. "Maybe you should just talk to him…be honest about it, you know?"
"Yeah." Betty agreed outwardly but inside she was far too upset to think about having that conversation. "I have to go."
She was trying to stave off the emotion that was brewing. It was bad enough dealing with her own doubts and insecurities about how Daniel was feeling about the wedding – it was ten times worse hearing it aloud from Marc. Part of her wanted to shrug off Marc's comments as ridiculous – she couldn't imagine ever wanting to be with anyone else and she expected that Daniel felt the same way. You don't propose unless you feel that way, right? But he'd been so distant and completely standoffish when it came to planning the wedding and that had to mean something.
Daniel felt like dirt as he climbed into bed that night. He hated that he'd told Betty he had to work late. It's not that it wasn't true - it just wasn't the whole truth. He did have to help come up with something huge for a client by the end of the week and the team was staying a little late. He'd just exaggerated how late so he didn't have to go shopping for the invitations. He knew that giving another excuse wouldn't work though; on Saturday he definitely had to go…and whatever it took he was going to be in a good mood about it.