CHAPTER 20:
4 weeks later some new routines had been formed. Willie and Daniel were back together and in a serious, defined but still secret relationship. Willie took over Mode while Daniel became Editor-in-Chief of Player. DJ was living with Daniel but they spent most of their time at Wilhelmina's. The three took a week-long vacation together after the Mode versus Elle game. That allowed the couple to bond with DJ. It pleased Daniel that his son was such at ease with Wilhelmina and they got along great pushing his fantasy of them becoming a family a few steps closer to a possibility.
After a long day at the office, she walked into her apartment craving two things- Her Jacuzzi tub and a tub of rocky road ice cream. To her surprise, she could tell that she wasn't alone by the smell that was lingering in her apartment. She walked to the kitchen to find Daniel fixing dinner.
"Honey, I'm home." She teased
"Hey"
"What are you doing?"
"Finishing making dinner."
"What?"
"Baby, don't panic, we're not having risotto and certainly not chicken. I thought maybe I should make you something, after the incident from two days ago…" They chuckled slightly remembering an incident when Willie got nauseous from dinner and almost didn't make it to the bathroom.
"Thank God! You could have called and I would have come home sooner."
"Then it wouldn't have been a surprise."
"Touché" Daniel pulled a chair out for her
"Sit and have some of these hors d'oeuvres. Dinner will be served shortly, mademoiselle." However, she darted for the refrigerator
"I'm seriously craving ice cream right now. The hors d'oeuvres will have to wait." She said while retrieving her tub of rocky road ice cream. Daniel folded his arms and just stood back and watched her 'addict' behavior with a huge grin on his face.
"What?" She asked looking up at him quizzically
"Nothing, it's just…you're even funnier when you're being hormonal."
"Shut up, Meade." She spat playfully "Where's DJ?"
"Playing PlayStation in Nico's room."
"Aren't those games a little advanced and violent for a twelve year old?"
"They are?"
"Very"
"I didn't check. God, I'm a terrible father."
"No you're not."
"Yes I am. Willie. In addition to that, I've also been teaching my son to lie."
"How so?"
"I've been asking him not to mention to my mother and Alexis that we've been sleeping here on certain nights."
"Well, they can't know about us."
"Well, while we're still in the topic of secrets and lies, I don't know how much longer I can keep this a secret, Wils."
"How about a little bit longer? We just made up four weeks ago." Willie reasoned
"I know, babe."
"Look if the media finds out about us, we're done. I just want us to be at a place where we're strong enough to handle it when that time comes. Now is just not the right time."
"Will there ever be the right time, Wils? Either way we're gonna have to take the heat."
"I know, Daniel. But we made up and defined this relationship 4 weeks ago. I love you. I love you so damn much, you know that. But I'm not ready to blow out the candles on this relationship anytime soon. If the press finds out, that's what's going to happen."
"You're right."
"As for your mother, it's for the best. If Claire finds out about us, it'll kill her." An evil grin appeared on her face "On second thought…"
"Wils" Daniel warned "DJ!...Déjeuner!... mange!" Daniel called out
"Danny, you didn't have to do this."
"I just wanted to do something special for you. One of your favorite cuisines made you gag on the dinner table the other day…"
"Can we not relive that?"
"Okay but I made you something I thought you'll enjoy."
DJ came through the kitchen clearly not happy about being interrupted from his game.
"Bonsoir, Wilhelmina" DJ greeted as he sat down
"Salut, jeune homme." Willie replied to the boy as he sat down to eat. Daniel finally settled after serving the two
"How are things at Mode?" Daniel asked
"Crazy. I've got a magazine launch in 3 weeks; the issue isn't done yet and some editors are pitching bullshit concepts and I pee every 10 minutes."
"That bad, huh?"
"I don't want to get into it. And you how's Player?"
"It's hardly rocket science, Wils. We put a hot girl on the cover, put more hot girls in the ads and put more girls for the center spread. Feature the hottest cars with hotties in it and on it. It's basically a vacation."
"Well, that's what balding men in their late 30s and early 40s want."
"Yeah, well, I kind of like it 'cause it allows me to spend more time with DJ."
"So, DJ how did your second interview go at Lycée Français De New York?" Wilhelmina asked
"Bonne" He said with a smile
"Très bon. Félicitations! So when is school starting?"
"Lundi"
"Etes-vous…uh excite?" Daniel asked
"Oui"
"You know, DJ school is Monday to Friday here in America. You don't get Wednesday off." DJ nodded
"About school…uh girls…filles. There are a lot of…"
"Oh, my God, Daniel! It'll be his first day of school!" Wilhelmina exclaimed
"I'm sorry"
"N'écoutez pas votre père." Wilhelmina said to DJ who responded with a giggle. He seemed to enjoy the playful banters between his father and Wilhelmina. "You're an idiot." Willie nudged Daniel
Next day at Player:
Betty stepped out of the elevator and everything she saw went against everything she believed in. Grown men playing foosball and drinking beer at work and women wearing skimpy outfits which were clearly not appropriate for any office environment. While she was still trying to adjust to what she was seeing DJ came out of nowhere on a scooter and knocked Betty's 'idea' binder right out of her hand and sent everything flying. While she was trying to pick everything up…
"Hey Betty! Welcome to our new home!" Daniel said cheerfully
"So we're working here now?"
"Yeah, Alexis pushed me out. This is where I landed."
"But, Daniel, isn't Player a little…smutty?"
"Betty, come on. I swear it's better this way. I still own my third of Meade but now I'm in charge of a magazine that actually speaks to me. Look at this you know what it says?"
"Beer Blast?" Daniel chuckled
"No. It says 'Cut down on your hours, spend more time with your son and your gilrfr-…spend more time with your son.' You know I'm starting to learn French. DJ's been learning English with help from Wil-… I mean from late-night T.V."
"Daniel, I've been gone for almost a month. Couldn't you call me and tell that any of this is happening? I went to Mode and your office is now a nursery and I had to find out from Wilhelmina that you work here."
"We left tons of messages. Ginger, how many messages did we leave for Betty?"
"Lots." The ditsy blonde answered. Betty grabbed the piece of paper
"This is six numbers and the letter P."
"I'm sure that's right."
"So how was your vacation?"
"It was fine and yours? I bet DJ enjoyed the vacation."
"Yeah we had lots of fun. Let me introduce you to the gang. Everyone, let's gather around. There's someone I want you to meet!"
Mode:
Willie put her hands on her waist disappointed by what the she was seeing from the designers
"I say Gingham, and you give me Japanese floral garden Kimonos?"
"More like ki-no-no's." Marc added
"And dragon prints, Margaret really? dragon prints? after all these years? And thank you Rodrigo for the gift of whiteface kabuki makeup, you really put the 'gay' in geisha."
"You should all…kill yourselves."
"This is the most important issue of Mode ever, people. Come back with something fresher or don't bother coming back at all. Now get out!"
"Shame on you!"
As the designers hurried away, Alexis appeared
"Wow it's good to see that the pregnancy hormones aren't affecting your sparkling personality." Alexis joked, Marc took this as a cue to leave the office
"These aren't hormones, I'm just pissed."
"What now, Willie? Mode needs a helicopter pad on the roof?"
"Alexis, I called you here to apologize for our little tiff."
"You mean when you called my mother's magazine a sinking ship and told me I need to cut her off?"
"Alexis, Darling I called you in here to apologize but I'm not going to pretend even for a second that I think Hot Flash has potential. You know as well as I do that your mother's pet project is…"
"Willie"
"We both know you gave your mother the budget for Hot Flash out of pity. I mean, did you do a thorough market research? Hire someone to collect accurate data to determine if this kind of magazine has any potential at all? Have you even set a circulation figure?"
"Willie I know the decision was rash but you don't have to be so negative about…"
"Regis, Kelly line 1" Marc yelled. Willie quickly walked over to the phone
"One moment, Alexis."
Player:
Daniel nervously paced his small office, raking his fingers through his hair. He had carelessly left the disc containing his vacations pictures with Wilhelmina and DJ on his desk and now it was gone. Through Ginger, he managed to find out that the disk found its way to Suzuki St. Pierre. He tried to figure out what to do and how to avoid the crap storm that was surely going to come. The person who was smart enough to help him get it back was the one person who'd surely be disappointed in him if he confessed what was in that disk. He knew he had to come clean as he realized how bad things could get. He walked over to Betty.
"Betty?"
"Yes, Daniel?"
"Can we talk in my office?"
"Sure"
"Okay…uh you remember when you said you wanted more responsibility here?"
"Of course and thanks again for supporting my concept. So what do you need me to do?"
"Suzuki St Pierre has my vacation photos. I was gonna print them in the copy room but I got distracted 'cause DJ threw a…look it doesn't matter. I just I need them back before he broadcasts them."
"So? It's just you and DJ having fun at Disney Land I doubt something like that is gossip worthy to him."
"Betty I have to tell you something." He sighed "I'm seeing Wilhelmina." Betty whirled her head around, her eyes scanning the office, unsuccessful, she turned her attention back to Daniel.
"Okay, where?"
"I mean I'm seeing her as in…dating her." A nervous chuckle escaped her
"What? Daniel is this a…joke?"
"Look she was with me at Disney with DJ."
"Wait, Wilhelmina? Wilhelmina Slater? The woman who stole your job? The one who almost became your step mother?"
"Look it's not what you think, okay? We are actually…"
"Daniel, she's playing you. There's no way…"
"Betty"
"Daniel she's evil. She's pregnant with your father's baby; she almost became your stepmother for crying out loud."
"Could you stop calling her that? They broke off the engagement. Look Betty, I don't expect you to understand. I just…those pictures could lead to a huge disaster. I need you to help me think of a way to…stop those pictures from becoming public. Please." Although, she was still in shock and was planning on having a long talk with him, she knew she had to help her friend.
"Okay, okay. I'll see what I can do." She got up to begin her damage control "But, Daniel, you have to tell me everything when I'm done with this."
"I promise." He said with half a smile knowing he had to tell her everything as he dreaded lying to her.
A few hours later, the two found themselves in a Jersey suburb looking for a mysterious address. Betty managed to coax Suzuki's ex boyfriend into giving them any useful information on Suzuki. All the mysterious guy did was hand her an address. And now they stood outside a house belonging to a Byron Wu. In an attempt to piece the puzzle together, trying to think of any connection between Bryon and Suzuki, a minivan pulling up in front of the house came to their rescue.
A barely recognizable Suzuki stepped out of the car with a woman and two young boys. The smile he seemed to have been wearing a few seconds ago faded immediately upon seeing Daniel and Betty.
"Oh Crap!"
Daniel and Betty stood in Suzuki's backyard trying to process what he just admitted to them.
"So, Suzuki St Pierre is made up?"
"You think Fashion Buzz would go near a guy like me? I mean look at me… 'But as a fabulous, bitchy queen, the fashion world welcomed me with open well-toned arms.'"
"That's creepy" Betty whispered
"So down to brass tacks, Daniel, Bessy…" Suzuki started, knowing that the two were there to blackmail him
"Betty" Betty corrected
"Betty. You know my secret. What do you want?"
"We are not here to blackmail you."
"We're not?"
"No, but we do need your help. Those photos could destroy people's lives, Byron. You have your own secrets. You should understand." Suzuki looked at his wife and kids and understood immediately.
In the car back to the city:
"That was nice work, Betty." Daniel broke the ice after an unusually quiet ride
"So, Daniel, how long do you plan on keeping this whole thing with Wilhelmina a secret?"
"I don't know, but sometimes honesty isn't always the best choice, I guess."
"I understand that. It's just secrets kind of have a way of getting out." More silence followed "So…uh…when did this…relationship with Wilhelmina start?"
"Months ago, as soon as she broke things off with my dad."
"Oh, my God, Daniel. That long?"
"Yeah but we had developed feelings for each other months before that."
"So…the baby. Is it…yours?" Betty asked after doing the math in her head.
"We don't know yet, but it doesn't matter. Whatever the paternity test says…the baby is mine."
"But Daniel…Wilhelmina?"
"Betty I know you think that she's the devil but she's not. That's just a mask she displays…"
"Daniel you don't need to convince me. Your opinion of her is higher than anyone else's because you're sleeping with her."
"Look, she loves me, I love her and she gets along well with DJ. We're in love."
"Did you say love?"
"Yeah"
"You're…you're in love with her? You're really in love with her?"
"Yes, Betty."
"So I guess you three are suddenly a happy family now huh?"
"Betty, you don't have to be sarcastic."
"I'm sorry Daniel but I don't how to react. I don't know the proper way to react when my boss and friend tells me that he's in love and in a relationship with a woman who made his life a living hell for almost two years. The same woman who broke up his parents' marriage and was almost his stepmother…"
"Betty, I really don't expect you understand. It's okay." Another unusual wave of silence fell between the two. As much as Betty didn't believe for a second that Wilhelmina was in this relationship because of love, she couldn't help her own curiosity.
"So uh…how did this start? How did this happen?"
"How long to do you have?"