Thank you, again, for reading and commenting - it's much loved, as always! As for the next chapter, things might get a little better for our couple . . . Enjoy! :)
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"Heeey, Betty – you'll never guess –" Amanda excitedly ran up to Betty, in the lobby. "You know what, Amanda? I don't care. I'm sick of your little act. You claim you're happy for me, you're all supportive of me and Daniel, and then you go after him when you still have Tyler? I thought you were my friend! Turns out you're just a selfish, back-stabbing, two-faced slut!" Betty didn't even give her the chance to explain before storming toward her office.
"Did you just have a giant margarita? What do you mean? I am your friend – I didn't go after Daniel – I'm with his brother. And I do not have two heads!" she shouted as Betty went through the tube. People turned to look at her. "Oh my god! Do I?" she frantically ran to the ladies room to check.
"What's with you? Awww . . . did Willie make you use more of that horrible cream again?" Marc asked as Betty walked through the door, red-faced with anger. "No, Marc. And you're not my favorite person right now, either," she huffed. "Not that I care, but why?" he asked. "Um . . . let's see . . . I told you in secrecy that I was taking a job in London. I begged you not to tell Daniel and what do you do? You send a mass email to everyone! Now why would that piss me off . . .?" Betty sarcastically snapped.
"Okay, stop it - the Snarky Betty thing is scaring me. Let's go back to Peppy Betty – the one we all know and love to make fun of, k?" Marc brushed off her irritation with him.
"Damn it, Marc! I've had it with both of you! I try to be nice, I try to be friends with you, listen to your problems, help you out - but all I get in return is betrayal. You tell everyone in the world my secrets after I begged you not to and Amanda acts like she's my friend while she's been sleeping with Daniel the whole time and they both deny it! I can't wait to get out of this place - you can't trust anyone around here!" Betty ranted.
"Betty, if you're talking about Hilda's wedding, Mandy was –" Marc began, in a more understanding tone. "Mandy was what - just being Mandy, right? Because that's what she does? I don't wanna hear it, okay! I get that you two stick up for each other – it's what Daniel and I always . . ."she trailed off, taking a deep breath and holding back tears.
"Never mind . . . could you please leave me alone?" she asked him, tired of fighting, and remembering how things were. "Sure. It's late – I'm gonna go home . . . For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Marc told her and quietly left. Betty silently nodded.
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Daniel had spent the rest of the day mustering up the courage to go to her office. It was late, but he still saw her light on. He paced back and forth one last time before charging over, knowing it was then or never. "Betty, I need to speak with you," he began, noticing Marc had left for the day, pulling up a chair.
"What do you want, Daniel?" she snapped, then continued to concentrate on her piece for the next issue. "Look at me," he demanded, turning her head to face him. "I – I can't live without you," he confessed. "I don't believe this . . . Just save it, Daniel! Okay?" she scoffed and got up. "No! Listen to me!" he insisted, as he stood up with her and grabbed her arm, their lips inches apart.
"I know what you're trying to do and it's not gonna work. You can't push me away that easily," he grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her with everything he had in him. Betty felt her knees caving in. What was it about this man that made her succumb to temptation . . . made her heart race every time he came close . . . made her melt with every sweet gesture or words he said? But he didn't really want her – he wanted someone else. She forced herself to break away.
"W-what are you talking about?" she snapped herself out of it. "You've been sleeping with Amanda. Why the hell would you care about me – aside from wanting your cake and eating it too," she retorted. "What? You mean had been sleeping with Amanda – before we were together," he corrected.
"No . . . I saw you with her at the reception," she said. "When?" he asked and sat on her desk, confused. "I went to help Hilda in the bathroom and I came back and saw Amanda rubbing her slutty hands all over you - and you were grinning," she explained. "That? You came to the conclusion I was sleeping with her again because of that?" he scoffed.
"Betty, Amanda had had a fight with Tyler. She got drunk out of her mind and was desperate for any man's attention. If Marc hadn't been off with that weird-haired older client of hers, she would've been all over him a lot sooner. That's why I was laughing. Tyler even thought it was funny. You can ask him, if you want. But I promise you - you have nothing to worry about," Daniel insisted. Betty nodded, embarrassed she had made such a big deal out of nothing.
"Why didn't you tell me that's what was bothering you?" he wondered. "I don't know . . . I saw you two together and – and – my heart sunk and my stomach plummeted . . . so I ran off and I called Mr. Dunne and told him I'd take the job after all . . . because I knew I couldn't stay here any longer and at least I'd have something good and meaningful to throw myself into; if I didn't have you, at least I'd have my dream job," she admitted.
"You really want this, don't you?" he asked. She paused. "Not as much as I want you," she answered. "Baby . . ." he tried to stop her. "No!" Betty gently placed her hand on his chest. "There will be other job opportunities in the future – maybe even some closer to home," she insisted, cupping his face with her hands.
"But there will never be another you," she reasoned and sweetly kissed his lips. Daniel sunk his lips deeper into hers and pulled her body onto him, leaning back on her desk. Papers and pens flew everywhere and her computer monitor almost tipped over, but Daniel noticed it out of the corner of his eye just in time. He gently pushed her off of him.
"Come on. Let's go home," he suggested. "Whose home?" she breathlessly asked. "Yours – it's closer with the construction near mine," he answered, kissing her neck as they stumbled out of her office and made their way to the elevator, then into the town car.
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"That was the longest car ride ever!" Daniel, pressed against Betty's back, whispered in her ear, as Betty fumbled with the lock to her apartment. "I know," she agreed as she shoved the door open, flipped on the lights, dropped her bag on the floor, and kicked off her stilettos. Daniel closely followed, throwing his suit jacket down and securing the door behind them. He removed his shoes and socks, but struggled taking off his tie, with only the full use of one hand.
Betty noticed and they both smiled. She hurriedly untied it, then ripped out his shirt from his pants and unbuttoned it, sliding it off his shoulders as they moved closer to her bedroom. Daniel captured her lips as she ran her fingers over his well-toned chest. She kissed her way down to his waist and swiftly removed his belt.
He cupped her face and drew her eyes back up to his, seductively teasing her lips with his tongue, guiding his hands down her back and over her ass. He planted kisses on her neck and moved behind her, unzipping her dress, making another trail of kisses up her back and over the front of her shoulder. Betty reached for the hall light switch and turned it off.
Daniel turned it back on, staring sinfully at her. He slowly slid the straps of her dress down her arms, letting the garment drop to the floor. Betty self-consciously covered herself with her arms, afraid to let her practically naked, more-than stick figured body be revealed. "No - baby don't. Let me look at you," Daniel requested, gently removing her arms from her stomach and breasts.
She nervously looked down at the floor, then back at him, as he backed away to get a full view. He stared at her in awe. Despite all of the models he'd been with, Daniel had never seen a more gorgeous woman until now. Those models were so thin, sometimes he thought their bones would break just from walking. But Betty was so healthy, with incredible curves in all the right places.
She was amazing – inside and out. He couldn't love her any more than he did at this very moment and felt his mouth form a goofy grin. This usually confident woman stood before him so vulnerable, having no idea of the effect she had on him - how indescribably sexy she truly was. Betty felt all of her insecurities kick in as she waited what seemed like a lifetime as Daniel gazed at all of her imperfections.
"This was a mistake –" she said and frantically looked for her dress – anything to cover herself up. "Hey . . . what's wrong?" he wondered, gently grabbing her arm. She could barely look at him, a tear starting to trickle down her cheek. Daniel wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. "I – I'm not what you want . . . I could tell by the way you just looked at me. I'm not a model – I'm not a stick - I'm not what you're used to," she sniffed.
"No . . . you're not," he lifted up her chin. "You're much better. You're beautiful, Betty. Don't you know that by now? You're perfect . . . you're everything I could ever want or need," he confessed and brought her hand to his lips. "Really?" she coyly looked up at him. "Really," he assured her.
Betty caressed his face and tenderly kissed him, a few more beads of water falling from her eyes. It was the sweetest thing any man had ever said to her and she could feel he really meant it. As she broke from his lips, she looked at him expectantly. Daniel caught the droplets with his lips, tasting the salt on his tongue, then started to pick her up.
"Babe, wait – your hand," she reminded him. "Shh . . . It's okay," he assured her, using his good hand to hold the majority of the weight, carrying her into the bedroom. He gently laid her down, before removing his pants and slowly crawling on top of her. As he fingered the strap on her bra, he hesitated. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, not wanting to push her into anything after what just happened. She nodded as she took off her glasses and pulled him closer, making love to him into the night.
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Betty felt Daniel's arm wrapped around her waist, his strong, muscular body spooning against her smaller frame. His chin rubbed against her shoulder as he sleepily stirred, his warm breath tickling her neck. "Are you awake?" she whispered, noticing it was midnight. "Yeah . . . you wanna –" Daniel started in as he pulled her on top of him.
"No . . ." Betty squealed. "But I can see you do . . ." she kissed his nose. He rolled on top of her. "Well, when you're looking at what I'm looking at . . ." he lifted the sheet that covered them and gave her naked figure a thorough once-over. "Who can blame me for never getting enough . . .?" he seductively teased her lower lip and gave her a boyish grin.
"Daniel . . ." she giggled. "What?" he contentedly asked. "Nothing," she happily sighed. "I'm just glad we got to this point. I don't know why I was fighting it – I just was so afraid of not living up to all the past women, that this would change everything . . . I hope you're not just humoring me?" she timidly questioned him. Daniel couldn't believe she still wasn't convinced. Had he said or done something that night to make her think any differently?
Noticing his hesitation, Betty realized he might be. She slid out from under him and back onto her side of the bed, pulling the sheets closer to her bare body, suddenly feeling uncomfortably exposed again. "Baby, why would you ever think that?" Daniel turned on his side to face her. "I wasn't joking when I said I couldn't get enough of you. I didn't do the fake smile and the thumbs up, did I?" he pointed out and demonstrated. Betty shook her head, the corners of her mouth forming a smile.
"But you're right – it does change everything . . ." he looked at her, toying with a strand of her hair. She held her breath. "I've never wanted anyone more . . . You take me to a different level . . . you can read my mind and I can read yours . . . I've never had a connection like this with anyone - where we fit together in every part of our relationship. You're perfect for me," he confessed, taking her hand.
"And you're perfect for me, too," she smiled, squeezing his hand back. ". . . I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and shutting you out. And I'm sorry I was going to take the job in London without even talking to you. No matter how mad I was, it wasn't right. I screwed up," she apologized, caressing his cheek.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it – just do me a favor and don't run away next time. You can always talk to me, you know that," he assured her. She nodded shyly. "How's your hand?" she asked, concerned. "It's better now that I have you back – I told you, you drive me crazy," he teased. She grinned and rolled her eyes. A long pause followed.
Betty stared at him in amazement, feeling so relieved and lucky to still have him in her life. Daniel laid on his back, contemplating even saying anything about their uncertain future right then. ". . . Betty?" Daniel asked, turned on his side. "Yeah, babe?" she answered, absently tracing her fingers along his chest. "I don't mean to ruin the moment, but are you sure about turning down that job?" he wondered.
"Positive. I'm not going . . . I wasn't ever really considering it until I misread what happened at the reception. I could never leave you – no matter how good the offer is," she insisted, and sweetly kissed his lips. Daniel suddenly felt an uneasy feeling creep up on him, but didn't allow it to show. It had finally sunk in how much Betty was sacrificing for him.
"Now, I don't know about you . . . but I'm starving! We never did get around to dinner, you know," she mentioned mischievously as she kissed his lips again, then rolled out from underneath the sheets, grabbing her robe. "Do you want anything? I think I have a bag of potato chips and a pint of cookie dough ice cream," she offered before she went to the kitchen. "Sure. Just bring 'em both," he answered, faking a smile. After she left, he ran his hand over his face. What had he done?