Author's Note : Well, so much for getting it done before the season premiere – whoops. But for those of you still reading, here is the next chapter. It is kind of Henry/Betty heavy – the things you have to put up with – lol.
Thank you M, T, D, E, I, X, G, J, A, C, B and H – you all inspire me !!
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Chapter 7Monday morning, Betty walked into the office well rested. Even though she had been at the photo shoot on Saturday it had been fun to go with Justin and Henry. They had gone to lunch at some new place Justin had been talking about all week and he was thrilled. It was nice to do things for him to get his mind off of his father and Henry really worked hard to talk to him and find out what he was thinking. The rest of the weekend, she and Henry had stayed home. It had rained most of the day Sunday and they had watched movies and just enjoyed each other.
She passed Amanda's desk and headed back to her office. As she approached, she saw Daniel wasn't in yet. She sat down and turned on her computer and then sifted through her inbox. Daniel must have come in over the weekend because there were several notes from him.
She read through some weekend emails and pulled up Daniel's calendar. The photographer was scheduled in at ten. Betty looked at her watch, it was a little after eight. She wasn't there that early normally but Henry had a staff meeting this morning for quarterly reporting so she had ridden in with him.
A little after nine, Daniel walked past her desk.
"Betty."
"Oh, hey Daniel, good morning."
She got up from her desk and followed him in.
"The only thing you have this morning is the photographer from the Saturday photo shoot at ten. Do you want me to get you coffee and a bagel ?"
He sat down behind his desk and looked up at her.
"Um, no, that's okay. I'm good. How did the photo shoot go ?"
"Good, I really like that guy, he is really good with the models. Henry and I brought Justin along and he let him help which was really nice too."
Daniel seemed a little distracted but nodded and replied.
"Oh, right, Justin spent the night with you."
He frowned and continued.
"I guess you saw the paper Saturday, sorry about that. Was Hilda upset ?"
"Yeah, I saw it. I don't know what she thought; Henry actually rode home with Justin so I didn't see her and he didn't say anything. It's just the paper, those guys are always going for the most compelling headline."
"Wow, you seem more okay with it than I thought."
She shrugged.
"Well, I am trying to be realistic. You and Hilda are friends. No big deal, right ?"
For some reason, Daniel thought for a moment that it might not be as simple as that but he wasn't in the mood to talk about that right now and certainly not with Betty.
"Right."
Betty thought he seemed distracted or almost nervous.
"Are you okay with it ?"
He glanced up with his signature smile. One she was immune to.
"Yes, of course."
He stood backup from his desk and walked around.
"Okay, I'll be down in the closet. We got in some new line from some new designer that we are considering for the holiday issue and I need to go take a look at it. Will you call Wilhelmina and let her know I am on my way down there ? I'm sure she wants to be there also."
Alright, a change of subject. She'd call Hilda later about this.
"You got it."
"I'll be back up at ten and if I am running a little late, put the photographer in the conference room and let him know I will be right there."
"Okay."
She followed him out of the office and went back to her desk. She picked up her phone and dialed Marc.
"Marc, it's Betty, is Wilhelmina in yet ? Okay, well Daniel just went down to the closet to look at some new clothing line they might use for the holiday issue. Yes, he wanted her to know. Just now. Thanks."
Why did everything have to be such an ordeal with them. She called so Wilhelmina would know, it wasn't like Daniel was going behind her back. She was certain if the situation were reversed she would not have done the same for Daniel.
Her private line rang.
"Betty Suarez."
"Hey, Betty."
"Hilda. Hi. I was going to call you."
"Listen, have you seen Daniel this morning ? Did he say anything about the paper ?"
"He wanted to know if I had see it and apologized. I told him I had and it was no big deal and he wanted to know what you thought."
"What did you tell him ?"
"What do you think I told him, I told him I didn't know. I hadn't talked to you."
"Oh, right."
Hilda was acting odd.
"Well ?"
"What ?"
"What did you think ?"
"Oh, it was no big deal."
"Hilda, are you sure everything is okay ?"
There was a long pause.
"Hilda ?"
"Oh, sorry. Yeah, everything is fine. Justin had a blast Saturday, it is all he is talking about. Thank you for taking him."
Betty recognized a change of subject when she heard it but she'd talk to Hilda about it later.
"That photographer was really good with him. Maybe he'll have an opportunity to do it again sometime."
"That sounds great. Listen I have to go, can we have lunch tomorrow ?"
"Sure."
"Okay, I'll come up around noon."
Betty glanced at Daniel's schedule for tomorrow.
"That's fine. See you then."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
Betty hung up the phone.
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"Ms. Suarez ?"
Betty was startled out of her reading when the photographer showed up at her desk. She glanced at her watch, ten o'clock.
"Hi, Mr. … I mean, Pierre."
She smiled. He had insisted she call him by his first name even though he was equally as determined to address her more formally.
"Daniel is running a little behind, let me show you into the conference room and I will let him know you are here."
"Thank you."
She stood up from her desk and walked him to the conference room. He began to lie out his proofs on the table.
"Can I get you something to drink ? Coffee ? Juice ? Water ?"
"A sparkling water would be nice, thank you."
Betty started to leave the room when he called her back.
"Ms. Suarez."
She turned back around.
"Yes…..Pierre."
He pulled a large white envelope from his bag.
"These are for you."
She looked at him confused.
"I don't understand."
"Why don't you put these on your desk and you can look at them after you bring back my water."
She still didn't know what he was giving her but she took the envelope from him.
"Okay….."
He smiled back at her.
She left the conference room, set the envelope on her desk and called down to Christina so she could let Daniel know Pierre was there. When she returned a few minutes later with his water, he and Daniel were looking through the proofs so she left the water and went back to her desk.
She sat down and picked up the envelope glancing toward the conference room, even though she could tell Daniel was talking to him, Pierre was watching her with a smile. She smiled back as she opened the envelope.
It was pictures, she could tell that. She pulled them from the envelope and gasped. They were pictures of her and Henry from the park. She looked through them and her heart swelled. There were some of him feeding her popcorn, several of them laughing and even a few of them kissing. She glanced up at Pierre and saw he was still watching her and she beamed back at him and mouthed the words – thank you. He made a slight nod and then went back to listening to Daniel.
She kept looking back through the pictures grinning even more broadly with each pass through. Henry looked so handsome and they looked so in love. For a minute she even thought she looked as beautiful as Henry always told her she was but she knew that was because she was looking at him.
She carefully put the pictures back in the envelope and picked up her phone.
"Henry Grubstick."
"Hey you, it's me."
"Hey me."
"Are you free for lunch today ?"
"For you, of course. What did you have in mind ?"
"Some place private."
"I like the sound of that."
"I have something I want to show you."
"That sounds even better."
"Henry."
"Okay, okay. Meet you in the lobby at twelve-thirty ?"
"Sounds good."
"Bye, love you."
"Love you, too."
Betty hung up the phone. Henry was going to love the pictures.
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Hilda walked through the living room into the kitchen.
"Papi."
Ignacio turned around from the sink where he was washing breakfast dishes.
"Yes."
"How long do you think it will be before I can really move on with my life without Santos ?"
He was somewhat surprised at the question.
"Well…."
He hung up his towel and walked over to the table and motioned for her to have a seat which she did. He sat down and took her hand in his.
"….I don't know, sweetheart. Why do you ask ? Have you met someone ?"
He hesitated before asking her the next question.
"….Does this have something to do with Daniel ?"
She looked surprised.
"No…..Yes……No….I don't know. I mean, I guess it does because I have been having fun spending time with him and when I am with him I don't think about it as much, but it hasn't been that long. It's not specifically about Daniel, he and I are friends. But, I wonder when I am with him if there will be someone else for me someday and will I be ready to move on."
"Well, I don't know what to tell you. I guess you will just know when the time is right. And, it is up to you. Don't worry about what other people think. I was older when we lost your mother and I had you kids and then Justin and my life was complete, but there is nothing wrong with wanting more."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess I just need to keep my eyes and my heart open to the possibilities and see what happens. And, no, it isn't really about Daniel, I guess. We went to the carnival the other night."
He smiled.
"I saw the turtle on your bed."
She laughed.
"He won like twelve stuffed animals and it was fun. When I first got there everywhere I looked, I saw Santos. But, Daniel, he had never been to a carnival before and it was fun watching him ride the rides and play the games and by the time we left, when I looked around that is what came to mind. His face on the ferris wheel, his utter fascination with cotton candy and everything else. It's not like I lost the memories of Santos, I just made new ones. It was nice. It felt like I was moving forward I guess, with life."
He smiled and put his hand over hers that he was still holding.
"I'm glad he has been there for you and is helping you move forward."
"Me too. I hope I am helping him."
"I'm sure you are."
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When Betty got off the elevator, she saw Henry waiting near the doors of the building and he looked up at her with a smile. She walked toward him and he pulled her in for quick kiss.
"So, where are we going and what is in the envelope ?"
"How about the little Italian place around the corner, everyone usually sits outside on days like today so we can get a table in the back. And, I'll show you what is in the envelope when we get there."
He smiled. They walked out of the building. He wrapped his arm around her and kept her close for the walk to the restaurant. Betty was right, the inside was fairly empty and they found a quiet table in the back. After they placed their order, Betty brought the envelope out and opened it.
"Remember the photographer at the park Saturday for the shoot ?"
Henry nodded.
"Well, he had a meeting with Daniel this morning and he gave me these."
She reached into the envelope and pulled out the pictures handing them to Henry. He grinned immediately with his tongue between his teeth as he looked from the pictures to her.
"When…how…..these are wonderful. Look how beautiful you are."
She smiled and blushed. He continued looking through the pictures smiling a little more at each one.
"I guess he took them when we weren't looking."
He looked back at her.
"I guess so. That was really nice of him. Did you thank him ?"
"Well, he was in a meeting with Daniel when I opened them but he looked over and I tried to relay my thanks. He saw me."
Henry looked back to the pictures. When he flipped to her favorite Betty stopped him.
"That is my favorite one."
In the picture, she was holding his face with both hands to kiss him and he had just given in. He looked at her and smiled.
"Care to demonstrate this pose ?"
She laughed and reached up laying her hands on either side of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. He welcomed her and kissed her back without any hesitation. They broke apart when the waitress coughed. Henry looked up at her.
"Sorry."
She smiled back at him.
"No problem. Who had the calzone ?"
Betty took the pictures from him and slipped them back in the envelope and then the waitress gave them their food and left. They talked about the pictures and the trip to the park. They agreed they'd get Betty's favorite framed for the apartment.
They talked a little about Hilda and Daniel. Betty told him about having lunch with Hilda the next day and how she had sounded on the phone. She also told him how Daniel had been that morning. He hadn't seemed too concerned and told her to wait until she had talked to Hilda before jumping to any conclusions. She agreed.
Henry paid for lunch and they left.
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When Betty got back to her desk after lunch, Daniel was not in his office. She called up to Amanda who informed her that he had gone to lunch with Pierre and should be back soon.
Betty went to work on emails and new mail that had made its way to her inbox since this morning. Daniel came back in around two and went right to a meeting with his father. She had hoped to see Pierre to thank him again for the pictures, but he hadn't come back with Daniel.
She took a break around three and went down to see Christina and show her the pictures. She, of course, had loved them.
At five, her phone rang.
"Betty Suarez."
"I'm ready."
"Long day ?"
"Terribly."
"Okay, let me check on Daniel and I'll meet you in the lobby."
"Okay."
She hung up the phone, cleared her desk, turned off her computer, grabbed the envelope of pictures and her purse and headed into Daniel's office.
"You need anything else before I go ?"
Daniel looked up from his desk and then looked at his watch.
"Nope. I'm good, go ahead and get out of here."
She turned to leave and he called out to her.
"Hey, what's in the envelope ?"
Betty turned around and smiled.
"Some pictures Pierre took of Henry and I in the park the other day."
"Really ?"
She smiled.
"I know. We didn't know he was taking them, and he gave them to me this morning when he came in."
"Can I see ?"
She walked back over to his desk.
"Sure."
She pulled them out and handed them to him. He smiled as he looked through them.
"These are really good, Betty. You can see how in love you two are."
He handed them back to her and smiled. She took them and put them back in the envelope.
"We are. I love them to. I didn't really get a chance to thank him."
"He'll be back in on Friday, I was going to send you an email to put something on my calendar."
"Okay, great."
Daniel looked like he was in another world.
"Is everything okay, Daniel ?"
He smiled.
"Yeah. Fine. Sometimes…..do you think I will ever have that kind of love ?"
Betty looked at him thoughtfully.
"You can have it if you want it."
"I do and more so lately for some reason."
She took a deep breath.
"Does this have anything to do with Hilda ?"
She dreaded his answer.
"No….Yes….No….Maybe. I don't know. I guess it has just been nice to be around her. She has really helped. I mean we are just friends, but when I am around her I don't think about…..well, you know. I just want to talk to her and listen to her. I guess that means I am changing and what I want is changing too. I don't think it is specifically Hilda, she just makes me realize I want more."
She couldn't believe what she was about to say.
"You know, Henry and I started out as friends, too."
Daniel looked at her surprised…and then looked past her.
"I've kept you too long, go ahead and get out of here. And, thanks Betty."
"Goodnight Daniel."
She turned to leave and saw Henry standing at her desk.
"Hi, sorry, when you didn't come down, I decided to come up and check on you."
She smiled.
"Let's go."
She started to walk toward the elevator and he followed. Once inside he turned to her.
"Is everything okay ?"
She looked at him with a bewildered look.
"I think I just gave Daniel the go ahead with Hilda."
Henry just stared at her in disbelief.
to be continued………
