"Mode, Daniel Meade's office—hold please." Daniel was bent down over Betty's old desk, the phone clenched between his ear and his shoulder, one hand holding a stack of papers and his morning coffee at a precarious angle, while the other hit button after button, each line blinking red with waiting calls. "Mode, Daniel Meade's office—hold please." He answered frantically, taking his voice up a pitch to disguise the embarrassing fact that he was doing his assistants job. "Mode, Daniel Meade's office—hold please." He now regretted waiting to go through the stack of applications on his desk for a new assistant. Even though he knew today Betty was starting her new job, and that he had had all of last week to find a new assistant, half of him had thought maybe—just maybe—she would change her mind. But she didn't, and now he was stuck juggling the phones when everyone was waiting for him in the morning staff meeting.

Just as Daniel was about to reach for another blinking light he heard the click of heels behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Amanda. "Are you coming in to start anytime soon? Fifteen minutes late and the natives get restless. Wilhelmina already muttered something about mutiny and took off."

"Come here for a minute," Daniel gestured. "I need you."

Amanda strutted over to him and leaned up against the desk, bending over just enough to highlight her low cut neckline. "You do Daniel?" She purred. "You need me?"

"Yeah," He nodded, shoving the phone into her hand. "The phones have been ringing off the hook. Answer them, take messages, and tell them I'll get back to them, okay?"

Amanda rolled her eyes. "Where's Betty?" She whined. "Why do I have to do her job?"

"Betty's busy." Daniel stated matter-of-factly as he walked towards the conference room. At that moment he felt an odd sort of emptiness rise up within him, and as he walked into the meeting he hoped to see Betty in the crowd. But as he looked around the large, round table she was nowhere to be seen. "Okay, good morning." Daniel called out above the chatter. He saw several people cast him annoyed looks, and one made a point to tap her watch with her fingernail. "Sorry I'm late." He apologized, spreading his things in front of him on the table. "I had a very hectic morning, and I know we've all got lots of work to do, so I'll keep this brief."

"Maybe if Betty did her job the meeting would have started on time." Amanda sniped, breezing in past Daniel, handing him a stack of post it notes.

Daniel shoved the notes into his pocket. "Actually, about Betty. I wanted to announce to everyone that Betty has moved on—"

Amanda plopped into a seat next to Marc and the two gaped at each other, their eyes and smiles wide with glee. "Oh my prayers to the fashion gods have finally been answered!" Marc whispered, eliciting a snort of appreciation from her.

Daniel shot them an icy glare which silenced them. "She has moved on to a better position at Mode. She is a new junior beauty editor."

There were a few stunned faces in the crowd, Amanda and Marc looked especially incredulous, but for the most part there was little reaction to the news.

"Betty—b-b-beauty editor?" Amanda stuttered.

"Go Betty! Woo!" A heavy, Scottish brogue rang out from the back of the room. A few people turned to stare at Christina perched in the windowsill. "Sorry, excitement got the better of me."

"I applied for that position." Amanda pouted, casting Daniel a scathing look. "How come I didn't get it? I obviously know a lot more about beauty than Betty."

"Well, Christina piped up. "Betty's worked her arse off for a year while you've been sitting at the front desk, shopping for Jimmy Choo's on the internet."

A chorus of muffled snickers erupted around the room and Amanda scoffed

"Oh, and there's the fact that Betty is intelligent, loyal and educated."

'I'm educated!"

"I highly doubt that university hands out diplomas for binge drinking and sleeping around."

Amanda opened her mouth to argue, but Marc shrugged his shoulders as if to say she has a point and she quickly conceded.

"Ladies," Daniel warned sternly. "Enough. I hired Betty for the position because she was the best for the job. End of story." Daniel began flipping through the pages spread in front of him. "And on a related note, I will soon be hiring another assistant."

Amanda raised her hand eagerly. "Oooh!"

"And I am currently accepting applications from anyone—"

"Oooh!"

"Except Amanda."

Amanda shrunk back in her chair and Daniel continued, unabated. "Alright, let's get on with this. How is the Dior shoot progressing? Have we got a photographer yet?"

"Alexandre' is booked." A man at the far end of the table answered.

"Okay, and the spring fling makeover feature?"

"It's been flung." A woman answered happily from across the room, scribbling something in a binder.

Daniel raised his eyebrows.

"Meaning it's done."

"Okay, great." Daniel shuffled through his papers, picking one up to study closer. "And the interview with Sienna Miller for her upcoming film?"

"Her publicist called yesterday, and I'm meeting her at the Waldorf this afternoon for lunch." A smartly dressed woman answered, her eyes still glued to her Blackberry.

"Great." Daniel smiled. "And we all know next month we are hosting the American launch party for Agent Provocateur's newest fragrance Lujuria. I need to know where we are on things?"

A woman scurried up to him and handed him a file folder which Daniel flipped through. "We've got the location secured," She said, pointing to a group of photos clipped together. "I took a few Polaroid's, but I emailed you better quality shots. Its' a great, open, modern space. The models have been booked, the guest list has been finalized, and invites are being sent out today. The caterer is booked and entertainment is still being worked on."

"Thank you." The woman nodded and scurried away. "Looks like we are all set. I think I'll wrap this up—have a great day." Daniel gathered his things and headed for the door. He headed to his office and shut the door behind him, catching sight of the monstrous pile of applications on his desk. He picked one off the top and skimmed through it; the person sounded more than qualified, but his heart wasn't in it. It was still strange for him, to be replacing Betty. Not that he thought she could ever be replaced.

"She's not going to change her mind—so get over it." He scolded himself, and picked up another application. After a few minutes of reading through a few of them he cast the lot aside and picked up the phone, dialing the cell phone of the only person that could cheer him up.

"Hey Betty, its Daniel." He spoke into her voicemail. "I know you're probably busy, but I just wanted to call and see how your first day was going—not to mention to wish you luck." He paused for a moment, wondering why this felt so weird and why there seemed to be a giant lump in his throat. "I was just thinking I could take you out for lunch, ya know, to celebrate." Suddenly the phone cut him off and there was nothing but the drone of dial tone in his ear.