Left or Right. 4 blocks East or 4 Blocks West. Which way would he go? Who would he choose….Choose; such a….poor choice of words. Choosing a human being as if to sort through their qualities and quirks to decide if they were not poignant for you to deal with. If their personality didn't rival yours, if you could deal with them….Seems reasonable but in that moment, in that instance, the phrase was just poor….Rather than who he would choose…Who was he compelled to love beyond circumstance? Whose flaws were he compelled to weaken to that of a nick in their personality? Who was he compelled to sacrifice for without blinking? That would decide Left or right…That would factor out East or west, which way. That would compel him to….choose….a poor choice of words yet utterly what he was forced to do….Which is why he set out in a direction.
Step by Step.
He knocked lightly on her door, waiting patiently with a pace that began to wear deep into the soles of his feet. After a long night at Mode, de-arachnid-ing the premises and sorting through a PR fiasco of the "Betty Breakdown" As they were calling it, he was ready to talk, ready to explain.
She opened her door briefly, closing it again upon meeting his eyes until his foot stuck out and his arm reached to thrust the door back against the wall before stepping into the room. "We need to talk."
OoO
She walked the length of the living room with a slow bout of anger that seemed to ball in her forehead as she rubbed her temples, wearing a thin trace in the carpet. "You mean to tell me….." she smiled heinously before looking up with a sense of disbelief. "That you got that bitch pregnant?"
His eyes flickered up at her as if to confirm his truth moment and she covered her face with her hands before sliding into a chair that was the head of the near dining room table. Almost robotic were her movements before she sat back slowly into the cushion of the chair, sinking into it's depths as her eyes welled finely. "Let me….Let me just ask you this one question…" she lifted her head and looked into his eyes sadly, tapping a nail on the dining room table. "Why me?" She shook her head slowly, shrugging her shoulders.
"What—What do you mean?" He asked, standing across the table, not wanting to sit down with the fear that she may flip the table and leave his body to wither under the weight of an 80 pound oak structure.
"Why the…the girl from Queens Daniel…." she spoke, gaining a husk in her voice as she stared at him in disgust. "Why the girl that went to Community college, the girl that moved back and forth from the city just to accommodate the flocculating funds in her family…..Why the girl that finally caught a break Daniel, why me….OF all the woman in the world you could have screwed up…Why'd it have to be me?"
"Betty I am so sorry I—"
"Daniel don't….I don't need an apology, I don't need anything from you…." she looked down, flicking her fingers before standing up at the table. "You know, I pity people like you Daniel…." she walked towards him, meeting the tip of his toes with her pointed heels. "I bet you probably think that after this you can go run off with your little whore and gallop into the sunset but If I know anything about Wilhelmina Slater it is that it will be a cold day in hell before she joins you in this shit-storm of a mess that you're about to bring on yourself. So I foresee you being alone, poor after I clean you out for all your worth and jobless…because no one will want anything to do with Meade Corporations if the face of the company is a cheating scoundrel."
"You know what Betty….I don't know what happened to you but—"
"You happened to me Daniel! You want to know why I've changed, it's you…You and everything that you've put me through…You have turned me into this."
"Betty you don't get to blame me for what you've become….The minute you stepped foot in London and got an ounce of power you became as big-headed and egotistical as you wanted to be and from that point on I was no longer with the woman that I fell in love with."
"So what you're saying is that I became a bitch so then you went and screwed one?"
"It's not like that and if anything, she's not the other woman!"
"Excuse me?"
"I cheated on her with you Betty so—okay I've messed up in the past, I was horrible bouncing between both women but you were the one that was trying to solicit me when I was with Wilhelmina in the first place. I haven't slept with her since the engagement Betty and whether or not you believe me… is your choice but I am done with you and I will take the fall in the press Betty, I will do all that I can to have you come out of this as clean as possible so that this does not get ugly…No one knows that we're married…The divorce will be silent—"
"Divorce, who said anything about divorce?" she smirked, towering her head to the side as he stopped mid-sentence.
"Well what do you expect us to do, live in bliss when we can't stand to be in the same room together."
"Well I hope you sure as hell don't expect me to just let you go off and be with her so that you can marry her next."
"I never said anything about marrying Wilhelmina…My main concern is taking care of my child."
"You tickle me Daniel…" She smiled. "And as for 'your child', you have no connection to that child in the media. As far as the public goes, that bastard is a Wilhelmina Slater one night stand gone awry."
"Betty that is not going to happen…"
"Oh yes it is….And as far as Meade goes, you will get your little baby mama to sign over 17% of her shares over to me and you will be doing the same."
"Betty I'll give you a handsome settlement but you don't get to touch Meade—"
"And if you don't…The world will know just what has gone on between you and…Wilhelmina Slater in the last 2 years….the sex….the breakups…the pregnancy…the miscarriage. The whole nine."
"Betty, you wouldn't."
"I would…..I mean, I never thought that you would ever hurt me but I guess the moral of the story is to expect….the unexpected."
"Betty I don't see what you can possibly stand to gain from all of this."
"You can't, really Daniel? Is your mind that simplified? I'm going to ruin you….That's what this will gain me…To see you in as much pain as I am….You will publicly deny your child…You will hand over shares of your father's legacy to me…permanently…..And you will be my bastardized husband until I deem the time necessary for us to separate….You do not get the love of your life…You do not get your dream of children…You do not get to fulfill your yearn of making your father proud…You. Do. Not. Get. Happiness, Daniel….That is what I stand to gain…Seeing you suffer…Until I…I say so." she glared at him coldly before opening the door to her hotel room. "And that does more for me than you'll ever understand."
OoO
"Can we talk?" He was weary, leaning against the doorframe of her apartment with nothing more in him to give. He was spent, having thought over his wife's threat, visited his unconscious mother in the hospital and watched a scotch consciously without having a second thought towards drinking it. Just the notion that he could do so being enough for him; Just enough
She stepped back from the door with her arms strapped to her chest as he walked in slowly, closing the door behind him. Her brow was raised to him as he reached for her hand, leading her to the nearest lounge chair. She sighed deeply, not wanting to sit down while he paced the floor, his hands in his pockets.
"I hope you're not here for a pity fuck."
"She knows."
Her demeanor remained stoic despite the creeping smile that was beginning to mount her lips. It brought her a glimmer of hope knowing that he finally had the balls to tell her the true. "What did she say?"
"She's…she's fine with it." He stumbled, looking away from her, clad in a sweater vest and button up shirt.
Wilhelmina scoffed, turning her head before getting out of the chair quickly, nearing the door. "Get out."
"What?"
"Obviously you came here thinking that I was some type of fool that is going to just sit here and listen to your poorly delivered lies; but sadly I just don't have the time to entertain that." she opened the door wide, her hand on the knob as he inched towards where she stood. "See your way out—"
He captured her lips in his abruptly, slamming the door closed as his arm wrapped around her waist to press her against him yet at the same time, stop her from trying to pull apart. Her mind was telling her to disengage but her body was responding in a way that contradicted the carefully structured relationship of any human being's physical disposition. Damn…Only he could disrupt the age old practice of human being response.
Despite her brain sending the messages; pull away, back up, slap him, kick him, hate him….She couldn't bring herself to do it. She loved him too much.
And that she hated herself for.
It was a dangerous love that they had, which he knew. Probably the reason for him pulling away the moment her hand finally released the doorknob. He stood in front of her, hands meeting at the small of her back as if he was attempting to corner her from escaping him. She had to hear what he had to say loud and clear.
And to his surprise; she was.
HE opened his mouth to speak and realized that he was literally looking down at her to do so. He smirked and she squinted softly, questioning him with a whisper. "What?"
"Are you barefoot?"
She looked down at her feet briefly, placing a hand on his forearm as to keep her balance. "Why is that important?"
HE scanned her outfit, seeing a scoop neck dress that was seemingly stuck to her body with white stripes on a navy ensemble, the lining done in a simple aqua. "It doesn't, I just realized how much height your shoes give you…I forgot how short you are without them."
"Don't try the cutesy thing with me Daniel…I still don't like you." Her mouth was firm in a thin line, trying desperately to maintain it as much as she could but something inside her wouldn't let that happen. Apart of her still did hate him for what he did to her, but most of her still loved him for the good times that they still had. They knew each other better than anyone else did and that was something that a bitter feud could damage, but had no ability to erase.
"I know Willie, I know and I know that I hurt you but…I plan on spending the rest of my life trying to make that up to you…I don't know what will happen but when the dust settles it's you…that I want to be able to say helped me through it."
"Through what?"
HE closed his eyes tight, now dreading having to actually tell her what they were about to face. But together." Can you sit down again?"
OoO
"My main concern is that you and the baby get out of this situation unscathed….I have no idea what I'm going to do but-"
"What you are going to do? What WE are going to do."
"Wilhelmina—"
"No Daniel, you don't get to hide me behind a lamppost just because your spawn is renting a loft inside of me…I can handle Betty Suarez…Have you forgotten who you're talking to?"
"I know Wils but she's changed…she-"
"She's me….She got a big shot at a magazine and in order to save face, she had to create one of her own…." His mouth formed a small 'o' doubly surprised that she knew, that she could see Betty for who she really is.
"Now I mastered scheming before Betty Suarez even knew what a taco looked like…I'm not worried in the least."
"So we're going to handle this together?"
"Yes….together…"
He smiled, standing as she did as if to near her before she pressed a palm to his chest, pushing him away. "Whoa there Danny boy..Just because your wife's off her rocker doesn't mean that you get to come paddling back to me….Now you're married and granted, that's never stopped me before but you also hit me you pale asshole…You hit me and you broke my heart and a little kiss or angry sex is not going to make me forget that….I don't trust you and quite frankly, I barely like you but somehow I manage to love you…but having my heart means nothing without the rest of me…So you have a lot of work to do."
"What about Betty?"
"I am going to have lunch with her."
"Willie, I don't think that that's a good idea."
"Well then I guess that it's great I don't give a damn about what you think."
OoO