Really sorry for not posting another chapter in so long, but I was recovering from emergency surgery and then had to catch up on everything else in life. Thank you all for reading and for the reviews! Here's the next chapter . . . :)
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"Are you sure you really want to go through this again, so soon?" Daniel asked as he and Betty walked up the path to another house.
"Positive. I looked online and took the virtual tour," she assured him.
"Virtual tour?" he crinkled his brow, clueless.
"You know, a video with a narrative description of the rooms in the house?"
"They have those?" he said, surprised. "When I looked for my apartment, I was lucky to get a few pictures and a couple of sentences."
"Yep. A lot of agencies have gotten better at marketing in the past few years. Anyway, this home is a combination of the first two we wanted – we can't pass this chance up!" Betty insisted, eagerly passing him on the walkway.
Daniel caught up with her at the door, leaning his chin on the top of her head as he rubbed her arms.
"I just don't want you to get your hopes up. You've had so much stress lately," he explained.
Betty turned to face him, gently cradling his face in her hands.
"This is the one – I can feel it!" she grinned.
"What's gotten into you? You haven't been your cheery self since I asked you to marry me," he wondered.
"Well, speaking of marriage, I managed to book everything for the wedding," she said, proudly.
"When did you find time to do all this?" Daniel asked, amazed.
"During a few lunch hours. Now all I have to do is take care of my dress . . . and the cake – I thought you'd wanna be in on that," she teased.
"Yeah, I'll definitely help you with the dress –" he flirted.
"Dream on! I don't care how some people do it on 'Say Yes to the Dress' - you're not seeing an inch of it until I walk down the aisle," she rolled her eyes and playfully shoved him. "Oh! There's Maura!"
"Hello, Betty, Daniel – am I a bit late?" the woman asked.
"Oh, no – we're actually early. We couldn't wait to see it!" Betty said, wrapping her arm around Daniel's waist.
"Well, she couldn't – I would've preferred twenty more minutes of sleep," he joked.
Betty jabbed him.
Maura smiled and opened the electronic lockbox on the front door.
"Come along, I have a feeling you two will fancy this home. It has a lot of character, has only had one prior owner, and is only four years old," the realtor described, leading them into the large foyer to begin their showing.
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"Say it!" Betty demanded, two weeks later, as she held the clean inspection papers up.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Daniel lied.
"Yes you do – you're just too stubborn to admit it. Face it, Daniel – after all these years, you should have a ton of practice," she smirked.
"Hey – I've had my share of 'I told you so's'," he defended.
Betty gave him a skeptical look.
"Okay, you've had a lot more. But, you're right. Everything worked out this time and we'll have a great, termite-free house in six weeks," Daniel admitted.
"See - think positively and everything turns out okay – well, most of the time," she smiled.
"So are you ready to start decorating? We're gonna need a lot more furniture than what we have now and I picked up some catalogs to give us ideas," Daniel said, handing them to Betty as he sat beside her on the couch.
"We can look – but no buying yet. Don't you remember what Maura said about not making any big purchases until after we closed?" she reminded him.
"When did she say that?" he asked.
"Right after she mentioned that the fridge with the built-in TV stayed. We started talking about other appliances . . . Do you ever pay attention?" Betty shook her head.
"I think you guys lost me after she said we could keep the cool TV," he sheepishly grinned.
"Daniel!" she berated him. "Have you not learned anything from daydreaming during all those financial meetings?"
"Betty, it's a TV in a refrigerator – I could get a drink from the kitchen and not miss a second of the game," he excused.
"Isn't that what DVRs are for?" she pointed out. "Besides, it'll just make you stand there longer with the door open because you're too distracted by whatever's on to make a decision."
"And so would you," he countered.
"I would not!" Betty protested.
"Babe, I've caught you at one in the morning debating for fifteen minutes over double fudge brownie or cookie dough ice cream. If one of those classic movies you love were on, you'd be there 'til 3AM," Daniel smirked.
"The one time I fall asleep in front of the fridge . . ." she grumbled. He'd never let her live that one down . . . "Okay – let's make a deal – no longer than two minutes in front of it unless the doors are closed."
"Deal," he kissed her. "Now, back to these magazines – we can't get anything now, but when we can, I was thinking we have to have one of these!"
"A combination foosball, pool, and dining table?" Betty cringed.
"How cool is that? And look – you can get it in three different colors," Daniel drooled.
"You're serious?" she looked at him in disbelief.
"Yeah. What? You don't like it?" he innocently asked.
"It's . . . great. But I don't want our new home to be a frat house for all your interns," she answered.
"Oh," he said, disappointedly.
"But – hey! We can put it in the loft – have a whole game room up there . . . and a karaoke machine –"
"Karaoke?" he raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah! We haven't done that in forever . . ." she said, nostalgically. "Now we could play it all the time!"
"You mean you haven't dragged me there," he teased.
"You had fun," she argued.
"Yeah, I guess after a few drinks, the fear of embarrassment wears off and it's not so bad," he smiled, thinking of the first time they sang together. How they shared wine and a song that had more meaning to their relationship than they had realized at the time.
Betty looked at Daniel's goofy face and smiled. She couldn't believe they'd gone from boss and assistant to picking out furniture together. It was weird, but it felt right, and she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Betty?" Daniel pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Mmmh?" she said.
"So I was thinking we could have a wet bar up there, too?" he suggested.
"Sure. I'm just glad we finally got a house," she leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Me, too," Daniel agreed. "Everything's falling into place – the house, our wedding . . . It can't get any better."
"Nope," she smiled up at him.
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"You wanted to see me?" Betty said as she timidly walked into Lindsay's office the next Monday.
"Sit down, dear," Lindsay offered.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked worriedly as she took a seat in the leather office chair.
"Oh, no - nothing to bother about. In fact, it's rather good news in my opinion. Betty, I believe since you and Victoria know each other so well, you'll work splendidly together on your magazine," Lindsay told her.
"What? I'm sorry, did I miss something? You said Victoria and I are going to be working together?" Betty repeated, completely thrown.
"Yes. Victoria has been itching to get into publishing and I believe she could be of use as a creative editor – perhaps make some occasional suggestions," he replied.
"But we've already got a –" she began to delicately protest.
"Yes, yes. I'm aware. Just give her a chance – humor her, as you say. You don't have to run with anything you don't see fit," Lindsay assured her.
"Okay . . ." she hesitated. "I'll do my best."
"Good. I knew I could count on you," Lindsay smiled.
Betty faked a cheerful smile as she left; knowing working with Victoria wouldn't be nearly as easy as what her boss thought it would be.
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"Hello, Betty. Isn't it a marvelous day?" Victoria entered Betty's office.
"For some people, I guess," Betty remarked.
"I take it Lindsay told you the good news – I'll be overseeing the creative direction of your magazine," Victoria gloated.
"Nooo . . . you'll be bouncing ideas off of me. Bunni is still the Creative Director and Lindsay made it very clear that I'm the one who has the final say," Betty corrected her.
Victoria stiffened.
"Very well, then. Just know that if I'm unhappy, Lindsay will be unhappy – and I can make your life miserable if I don't get what I want," she threatened.
"You don't scare me, Victoria. I know that Lindsay has more intelligence and integrity than to let you mess with one of his profitable magazines and get away with it. He trusts me to run this publication the way I think it should be run. I have no problem with hearing your suggestions – listening to other people's opinions can be very helpful. But don't think I'll use them just because you say them," Betty warned.
"My, my . . . you've become quite confident of yourself, haven't you? I suppose having had three powerful and wealthy men dote on you has given you a complex. But I wouldn't get too comfortable, if I were you . . ." she smirked, leaving before Betty had a chance to respond.
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Betty nervously walked into Lindsay's office for the second time that day. She hated to be a tattle-tale or seem like she couldn't handle the situation herself, but after Victoria's attitude that morning and the way she had tried to sabotage the meeting for the new issue that afternoon, she had to say something.
"Do you have a minute?" she asked.
"What seems to be the trouble, my dear?" the older man smiled.
"Well . . . um . . . it's just . . . Victoria sort of tried to take over the meeting we had today for our next issue," she finally got out.
"Oh, my . . . What happened, specifically?" he inquired.
Betty took a deep breath and began.
"Bunni and I revealed the main topic for the issue – which was 'affordable, stylish lifestyles' - and then asked for the editors to branch out from there and give ideas. Victoria was the first to volunteer, but she wouldn't give anyone else a chance to speak and her suggestions didn't even make sense for the issue or our marketing target.
"How so?" he wondered.
"She kept throwing things out like spreads on Dolce or Louis Vuitton . . . personal decorators, appetizer recipes for high-society parties, first-class trips to Fiji . . . As much as our readers might like those things, they can't afford any of them. The point was to show them similar things that would fit their budget," Betty explained.
"I see your point. I'll have a chat with Victoria about it," he assured her just as she entered the room, carrying a silver tea tray. "Ah, there you are my love. There are some things we need to discuss. Betty, I'll see you in the morning."
She smiled and nodded, hoping everything would be taken care of without any consequences.
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"You know I love you, right?" Betty said with a serious tone, caressing Daniel's scruffy jawline as they snuggled in bed the next morning.
Daniel lightly ran his finger along her arm and kissed her shoulder.
"Of course I do . . . What's wrong?" he wondered.
"Nothing . . . just I can't stop thinking about Victoria and her threats. I don't trust her not to pull something else – not just with my job but with us - you know, try to tear us apart," she confessed. "I want you to know that I'd never do anything to ruin what we have."
"Baby, you don't have to worry about that. And I trust you – just like I know you trust me. Besides, I don't think Victoria's as threatening as she thinks she is," he assured her.
"I don't know, Daniel . . . She has plenty of connections and seems to be pretty manipulative – she had to be to get Lindsay in the first place," she pointed out.
"Maybe – but isn't she accusing you of doing the same?" he reasonably countered.
"I guess you're right," she agreed. "But I'm not the one who's causing trouble."
"True. But maybe you're blowing things out of proportion," he observed.
"What?" she shot up, irritated that he would even remotely think that.
"Relax! I – I just think that maybe Victoria's a little insecure, being new to the industry and to the country," he defended. "Give working with each other a chance – even Wilhelmina and I had our moments."
Betty contemplated his words for a moment. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she might be overreacting. There was something about Victoria that always made her defensive and paranoid. It probably stemmed from dating Matt and being the girlfriend that his mother hated – she wasn't used to that. But everyone deserved to have another chance.
"You're right! I need to just focus on doing my best and be as open-minded as possible. You survived and so can I – at least she's only a junior editor and not my equal. No matter how much she tries to take charge, it's still my job – not hers," she tried to think positively.
"Exactly. Lindsay already told you he'd back your decisions. Victoria's only there to throw out ideas – she can't do anything without your approval – you'll be fine," he added. "Now come on – we need to get ready or we'll be late."
Betty giggled as he pulled her out of bed and toward the bathroom.
"What?" he asked, puzzled.
"It's an hour earlier than what you think," she said.
"Huh?" he frowned, confused.
"I set the alarm to go off earlier to make sure we'd have plenty of time for our morning rituals," she explained with a sly grin, toying with the band on his pajama pants.
Daniel chuckled.
"I don't know whether to yell at you or kiss you," he shook his head in disbelief.
"I do . . ." she replied, pulling his lips toward hers as she guided him to the shower.