Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty, nor am I in any way connected to ABC, Silent H Productions or any of its affiliates. No copyright infringement is intended, so please don't sue.

The Choice

Chapter 4: One Week Later

The next few days passed slowly for Betty as she dealt with the emotional roller coaster she was experiencing in the aftermath of her break-up. She had never broken up with anyone before; truthfully, she had never had anyone other than Walter to end things with. Although she felt guilty over how things transpired, she knew it had been the right thing to do.

Walter had, surprisingly, not attempted to call or get in contact with her in any way since that fateful day a week ago. Her father had been supportive of her decision and Justin had admitted that he thought it was a long time coming.

Betty had been touched when Hilda had come into her room one night, with a bag of chocolate covered peanuts and two glasses of milk – their childhood cure-all for boy trouble. Grabbing another blanket from the closet, the two had sat on her bed and talked well into the morning, laughing, crying and giving supportive shoulders when needed.

She had missed times like those with her sister and was grateful that Hilda was on her side and no longer insisting that she should stay with Walter.

Over a week had passed and life was returning back to normal. In fact, very little of her day to day activities had changed, other than not receiving calls from Walter every couple of hours. When Daniel had asked why the never ceasing phone calls had ended a few days after the break-up she had simply told him what had happened.

Daniel had given her an approving look and a reassuring squeeze, but did not make any other comments, which she appreciated.

It was Valentine's Day. She tried not to think about what this day could have been like, with either Walter or Henry. She hadn't seen Henry since he had asked her out to dinner and hadn't been able to pluck up the courage to seek him out. She didn't know if she wanted to pursue something right after her first break-up or even if he was interested anymore after she had rebuffed his advances.

Relationships, even budding romances, were confusing. It was probably best to leave well enough alone. She was saddened by the idea that she had held onto Walter for so long for fear that she would lose her one chance at love, when, in reality, she may have missed that opportunity in Henry.

In the week that she had been without Walter, and without any guilt weighing on her shoulders, she was finally able to freely admit to herself that Henry did make her palms sweat, her breath catch and her heart beat faster. She had known it all along, but had been too afraid to acknowledge the truth, as it would have meant having to let go of a sure thing for only the promise of someone else and something more.

Sighing, she reached for another stack of documents to look over. Luckily for her, there were quite a few tasks to occupy her time so she couldn't spend the whole day agonizing over what could have been.

- - - - - - -

Henry stared glumly at his monitor, mentally running over the numbers in his head, making sure that each inputted data point corresponded with the numbers in the expense reports. He had been mechanically going over the accounts for the last few days, as Meade Publications fiscal year-end was fast approaching. The accounting department was working doubly hard getting everything organized and ready for tax time.

"Hey, Henry, we're going to take a break and go down to the wing place for lunch. Want to come?"

Taking off his glasses, he rubbed a hand against his dry eyes and shook his head. "No, thank you. I want to finish up these figures before the end of the day. I don't want to stay late tonight."

"Got a hot date, huh? Is that why you've been so quiet these last few days?" Greg from two cubicles down asked as he propped his arm on top of one of the walls of his workspace.

Henry's throat tightened a bit at the question, but he managed to clear it and reply, "No, not really. I just don't want to spend another late night. Goodness knows we'll be spending practically every night here soon enough."

"True, true. Just one of the downsides of being an accountant. Tax season is almost upon us, my friend."

Henry gave a wry smile in reply.

"What's with you? You've been so off lately. You're bringing the whole pod-life down."

"Nothing. It's just stress."

"But you were all excited last week and then suddenly… crash."

"I don't really want to talk about it."

Greg nodded knowingly. "Girl trouble. I gotcha. No need to say more. If you want to join us, we're heading out in a couple of minutes. Buck up. Whatever it is, it'll pass."

Henry mumbled a quiet thanks and watched Greg walk over to another coworker to ask him to go to lunch. Sighing, he turned back towards his computer screen.

Greg was right. He had been feeling pretty lousy ever since Betty has told him she was still with that boyfriend of hers. He should really just let it go. It wasn't as if he had any claim on her. There had been no guarantee that she would say yes. They had only been on that one date after all. And, even though he thought that it had been wonderful, it obviously hadn't meant anything to her because she was dating that guy. Was still dating that guy.

He just didn't understand. He had tried. He had put in the good fight. He hadn't backed down or run away like he normally did when it came to women. And she had responded to him, he was sure of it. Even when he had acted like a complete spazz, knocking into her and sending her bag of fake snow flying, she had beamed up at him with that breath-taking smile of hers.

She laughed at his jokes and he knew that his jokes were pretty nerdy. Popping and locking? Come on! But, she had laughed and said it was the first time she had laughed all day. It had to mean something, didn't it?

Maybe it had only meant something to him, he thought sadly to himself.

Frustrated with his own misery, he leaned over to pick up yet another expense report when he heard footsteps behind him. He tried to calm the sudden quickening of his heart rate as the thought "it might be Betty" sprung up into his head.

"Henry? Where is everybody?"

His shoulders sagged slightly upon hearing his supervisor's voice.

"They went to lunch, Mr. Weston."

"Is it lunch time already? I hadn't noticed. Listen, I need someone to go up to MODE and talk to one of the Meades. Something's not right with a couple of these files. Look them over and then go up as soon as you can."

"MODE, sir?" Henry asked in a somewhat strangled voice.

"Is something the matter, Henry?"

"No, I'm just making sure that I heard you correctly. I'll head over there right a way." As soon as Mr. Weston was out of sight, Henry slumped down into his seat.

He cursed himself for not going off with Greg and the others. Now he was caught in a bind. There was no one around to pass off this particular task to. His only hope was that he wouldn't run into her while he was on her floor. The chances were pretty slim, unfortunately.

Resigned, he opened up the folders and, in his quiet and efficient way, began to look over the figures in preparation for his conversation with either Daniel or Alexis.

To be continued…

A/N: I just wanted to include a little bit of introspection by both Betty and Henry and to set up their (inevitable) meeting post Betty/Walter breakup. I hope you enjoyed it! As always, comments, suggestions and reviews are always appreciated!