Chapter 4
"Daniel..."
"Alright, I'm on my way." He said groggily, pressing the button on his Blackberry to end the call. Wordlessly, he pushed the satin sheets of his comfy bed and sat up. Reaching towards the bed side table, he turned the lamp light on, revealing that it was midnight. Without wasting much more time, Daniel called for his driver and moments later, he got out of his apartment. He was half asleep by the time he was in the car on the way to Wilhelmina's.
"To Ms. Slater's again sir?" The driver asked and Daniel simply nodded in response. These midnight visits to her place were becoming more of a habit now. It was just five days ago when Wilhelmina had one of her mood swings and told Daniel that he didn't want to see him tonight. So like any gracious person would do, he respected her. He took her home, made sure she was ok before he went home. It wasn't until one hour after midnight then when Daniel got a call from a crying Wilhelmina. Worried, he went to her apartment hastily wearing his sleeping clothes on only to know that Wilhelmina couldn't sleep alone. Daniel didn't question her emotions and instead, climbed into bed with her. Every night since, Daniel found himself speeding the streets of New York at these hours just to go to her.
As they arrived at her apartment, Daniel exited his car, apologizing at his driver again for the late call. The lobby as well the elevator were empty. As the elevator doors opened, Daniel exited it swiftly, feeling the coolness seeping through his robe. He went and unlocked the door to her apartment, having used the spare key she has given her. Silently, he entered and went straight to the bedroom. And as he expected, he saw Wilhelmina sitting in one of her lounge chairs, looking at the New York skyline provided by her window. Without a word, Daniel touched her shoulders gently and she looked up. As she did so, Daniel helped her to get up and get settled in the bed. Only when they were comfortable enough did Wilhelmina closed her eyes.
Daniel woke up to the sounds of the tap from the bathroom going off and coldness of the bed beside him. Moments later, he heard Wilhelmina releasing all the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl. Making sure she was ok, Daniel left the warmth of the bed and joined her in the bathroom. As he saw her on the floor, mercilessly trying her best to control the wave of nausea she was feeling, Daniel grabbed a set of wash cloth and he too joined her on the floor. He took hold of her hair as she continued her ministrations and when he was sure she was done, he gave her the wash cloth.
"You ok?" He asked. She nodded and proceeded to stand up to wash her mouth. "Are you planning on going to work today?" He asked, looking at her through the mirror.
"Just because you're child wants me to get rid of all my stomach contents, that doesn't mean I am giving you all my power at work too Daniel. If I know, this was your plan all along." She said icily, turning around and looking at him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asked her, his face turning red by each passing moment. As both of their eyes duelled for domination, it was Wilhelmina who surrendered first and left the bathroom. She picked up the discarded clothes from last night including Daniel's robe and passed it to him as she turned around, anger still evident.
"Oh please Daniel, as if I don't know. You got me pregnant so that I will step down from work and you can control everything. Show everyone that you can do it too." She said bitterly. Daniel too however was not backing down.
"Hey, I was led to believe that you have a hostile womb, so how am I supposed to know if you didn't cook this one for yourself. Gee, let's see, I can't have Bradford's spawn, why not try Daniel's instead." He replied, mimicking Wilhelmina as he said the last part. Wilhelmina looked at him in disbelief. How dare he?
"Get out Daniel, I don't need you." She said, pushing him out of her way as she locked herself in the bathroom.
Daniel, after one hour of waiting silently for her to come out had enough. He gently knocked on the door, banging it as minutes went on without any response.
"Come on Willie, open up. I didn't mean that. Please, just open the door." He tried again and still to no avail. "Darling, please open the door, I'm getting more worried." He said again.
"I will, when you leave me alone." She said her voice cracking as she said so. Is this another episode of Hormotional Willie? Daniel thought. Just as hhe was about to try and open the door again, his phone rang. Grudgingly, he picked it up.
"Betty, I'm in a crisis here, I have to call you back." Wilhelmina heard him say. After a while of silence, he spoke again. "Can't you stall them for a while Betty, I really can't leave right now and before you say I am being dramatic, I am not. I'm in a situation and this is much more important right now." Wilhelmina for a moment felt guilty. Why was she being such a bitch to Daniel when all he ever does is be supportive and caring towards her. "I know they are huge investors Betty but I just can't. You know what, fine, give me thirty minutes and I'll be there." She heard him end the call and it didn't take him long to bang at the door again.
"Willie..."He said. Against Wilhelmina's better judgment, she replied.
"You have a suit that has been dry cleaned already in my closet, use the guest bathroom and attend the meeting." She replied, holding back the tears that were forming again. Why was this so hard for her? Why can't she just go out and talk to him like an adult? Well, I can't because I am damn too hormotional and I still haven't figured out if I'm pissed or not.
"Darling." He tried again and this time, Wilhelmina allowed the tears to flow. Why must he call her "Darling"?
"I'll be fine Daniel, just go." When she heard no more resistance, she knew he took her advice. She listened as the bathroom shower in the guest bedroom turn on and off a little while later. She however was still perched on the closed lid of the toilet. And at exactly thirty minutes after, he heard him call out to say he was leaving. When the front door closed, Wilhelmina allowed herself to take a shower too, not looking at the mirror as she did so.
Two hours and as fresh as she can be, Wilhelmina entered the mode offices, Marc already at hand.
"You changed your cologne." She observed, looking at him briefly.
"I didn't want you to faint or puke again because of my smell." He replied, looking down.
"I like that smell, Calvin Klein?" she asked. When she saw him smile, she knew that they were ok.
"So, what is in my itinerary for today?"
"Umm, you see, um..."
"Marc, spit it out." She began, her earlier good mood dissipating fast. Marc on his part squirmed more, trying to not look at her eyes or her legs.
"Umm, well you see Willie, you were supposed to ummm." Marc tried again, sweating as each moment passed by. "Daniel is picking the models right now for the top ten designers to watch." He said hastily, bracing for the expected wrath to come. When it didn't he sneaked a peak at her boss. It was a common knowledge that Wilhelmina is very particular on which models to use especially for these events and the fact that Daniel is there taking over is just the icing over the cake. These past few days as Marc has noticed have been hot and cold for both Daniel and Wilhelmina. One moment, she would be so sweet to him to the extent he would consider his feelings and the next, she would be all up in him, ready to tear him apart due to anger.
"Ok." She said, looking at Marc before she left him, closing the door to her office. Marc stood there, looking as bewildered as ever.
"Hey Marc, is everything ok?" Betty asked, looking at him as she exited Daniel's office.
"Is Daniel still in there?" He asked, ignoring Betty's question.
"Um yeah, hey Marc, can I ask you a favour? You see Justi..." Before Betty could even finish, Marc pushed her out of his way as he entered Daniel's office.
"Hey! You can't just push people around Marc, that's rude." She said. But for Marc, those were just insistent ramblings he could do with out. As he entered, Daniel saw him and a look of worry immediately etched on his face. Marc however ignored this and made his way towards him, standing by his side.
"As I said before, I hate you and I don't necessarily care. But seeing that you and Willie are kind of in there as of the moment I think I should warn you, I think she is pissed. So be careful when you talk to her." With that, Marc left his office. Forty five minutes later, Marc saw as each model walked out of Daniels office, lastly he too closed the door to his office, Betty at hand.
"Daniel, we still need to talk." She said running after him as both of them made their way towards Wilhelmina's office.
"Not now Betty." He said his pace quickening. He looked at Marc begging him to do something which he rolled his eyes in reply.
"Hey Betty, you asked about a favour earlier? What is it?" Marc said, getting up and steering Betty away from Daniel. As Marc and Betty continued to move away from them, Daniel crossed his fingers for the best. Knocking at the door, he went in.
"What do you want?" Wilhelmina said icily.
"Darling..." He began but he was cut off immediately.
"Don't you dare call me Darling Daniel, because I am not."
"Ok, fine, what did I do this time?" Daniel said, loosing his temper again. This was getting to be too much for him and as much as he tries to understand her, he has limits too.
"The models Daniel!"
"Wilhelmina, I only did it because I was not sure if you were going to do it. The fashion department was wondering when they could get the models for fitting. Darling..."
"How many times did I tell you not to call me Darling?" Wilhelmina now asked, standing up and looking at Daniel. Here we go again, another round of fights. "And please Daniel, we both know you only did it because you wanted to get laid." She said, exasperated. As if getting me pregnant was not enough. Wilhelmina thought. As the words left Wilhelmina's mouth, it dawned on Daniel. Smiling, he made his way towards her.
"Why are you smiling?" She asked, backing away so he wouldn't reach her.
"Have I told you how beautiful you are?" He said, not shying away from her. He continued to move towards her and Wilhelmina continued to move back, finally hitting the edge of her table. "More so now that you are carrying our child. I hope she gets your blue eyes. Those eyes that I could barely look away from. Or even, those cute nose of yours." Daniel said, touching her nose before he brushed his hands on her cheekbones. "Or your cheekbones." He then proceeded on sliding his hands on her shoulders, down to her arms then to her hands. "Or your mocha skin." When no more space was left for both of them to move, Daniel finally rested his eyes on her mouth "And your lips which I so love to kiss right about now". Unconsciously, Wilhelmina moistened them, forgetting she was angry as each moment passed by.
"What are you doing Daniel?" She managed to whisper as Daniel continued to caress her hands.
"I'm trying to make you remember that you are beautiful and not even one of those models can ever compare to you. So stop being jealous because all of them don't mean a thing." He said, looking into her eyes directly as she cleared her throat.
"I was not jealous!" She said softly, still looking at his lips, wanting to kiss them.
"Ok." Daniel said. "Ok darling, if you say so."
"Oh, I say so!" She said this time, with more conviction. "Now, why don't you stop talking and kiss me already." She said, daring him. Daniel couldn't help but smirk at her, untangling his hands from her and moving it at the back of her neck. Wilhelmina on her part pulled him closer, getting a hold of his belt loop. After a few seconds of anticipating, Daniel met Wilhelmina's lips and both melted as their tongue duelled to get reacquainted with each other. After a few minutes, both pulled apart, needing a breath of fresh air.
"Smooth talker." She said. And Daniel just nodded, smiling at her. For the rest of the day, Daniel spent all his time at Wilhelmina's office. Taking temporary residence on her lounge chairs as he continued working on his laptop. Wilhelmina enjoyed seeing him there; happy as she watched his eyebrows knitting together as he got confused with something. A little while later, Daniel looked at Wilhelmina and their eyes met.
"What do you say we go out somewhere, just the three of us; you, me and the baby."
"Go somewhere?" Wilhelmina laughed, looking at him incredulously. "We could barely get through a day without fighting, and besides, who will be left here. And I'm not sure if you know this Daniel, but wouldn't it be weird if two editor and chiefs left for somewhere at the same time, what will people think?"
"That's the point Willie. We need to go out somewhere and have a change of scenery. See if we could really try and be with each other and not kill one another. I think we owe it to our baby." He said, standing up now and moving towards the table where she sat. He watched as confusion enveloped Wilhelmina's features.
"What are you trying to say?"
"This isn't about being casual anymore Willie, we are going to have a baby. The least we can do for her is try and make it work, see if there is anything there aside from carnal pleasure. Don't you think our baby deserves a family and a home with both parents?" He said, looking at her. For Wilhelmina, he made sense. But is she ready for this? What if it doesn't work? What then?
"Ok." She found herself saying. This is what she needed, a step towards the right direction, a chance to make it all right. She watched as Daniel ecstatically smiled at her before he proceeded to kiss her on the lips.
"I'll go and arrange it; I know exactly the place where we should go."