CHAPTER 10:

It had been over a month since the two got together and Daniel used Willie's suggestion of keeping things on the down low to his advantage. Therefore, the new couple enjoyed a series of dates in the lower Manhattan district. The hip and trendy bars, restaurants and galleries in the area offered a comfortable scenery for the couple to get to know each other away from the potential prying eyes of the paparazzi in the louder and busier part of the city. The experience was amazing as the pair was learning to be more comfortable with one another while discovering and discussing shared interests. So far things have been going well.

As a teenage boy, he had said it many times before to his high school and college girlfriends, not because he meant it but because he knew it was what girls wanted to hear and could possibly be a faster way for them to put out. Now nearly two decades later, never had that cheesy expression made more sense than it did now; that Wilhelmina's voice was the last he wanted to hear before he went to bed and the first when he woke up. The late-night texts and phone calls have been going on for a while and tonight was no exception.

"What the hell is that in the background anyway?" Willie finally asked after hearing some strange background noise from Daniel's end.

"Oh, I didn't think you could hear that. I'm just watching some nude scenes of Victoria Velez on the internet." He answered as if it was the most casual thing to do and announce to your girlfriend.

"Excuse me?" She queried.

"No, no, no it's not what you think. I'm preparing for the interview." Daniel elaborated, his voice rising slightly.

"Right." She drawled skeptically.

"I'm serious. And the reason I told you is because I don't want to be there any secrets between me and you."

"Well, thank you for telling me that you're watching a nude actress on your laptop before bed. I'll sleep much better tonight." She lightheartedly offered.

"Willie…"

"I'm kidding. Have a good night." She said.

"You too." He replied, smiling.

"See you tomorrow morning."

"Can't wait." He said.

A host of unfortunate events in the course of just four days proved to be the undoing of the couple's honeymoon phase. Firstly, Betty had apparently won an award and someone from the organization came for an interview and proceeded to ask Daniel questions about her, which he answered while taking a dig at her clumsiness and unflattering appearance nearly four years prior. That obviously hurt the poor girl but sadly Daniel failed to notice. Then he made matters worse the very next day when in a moment of panic, took Betty's interview questions right from her hands after Victoria Velez remarked that Betty seemed more prepared than he was. Frustrated, the young editor did not hesitate casually stating her boss' 'enjoyment' of the nude scenes involving the actress, thereby painting him like a pervert. He therefore reprimanded her while strongly implying that her blog was so lame that no one who actually had a life would read it in comparison to the movie star she just embarrassed him in front of.

Nevertheless, the worst was yet to come as Daniel's comments sent Betty on a rant where she vented about a 'friend' in her blog and how much of a jerk he actually was from his entitlement down to his insecurities. She managed to sum him up in just two paragraphs. The issue escalated as the blog was linked to other websites where the rant made it to the big press and became a press feeding frenzy. Daniel felt like a school boy sent to the principal's office as he watched a perturbed Wilhelmina pace in front of him.

"Daniel, what the hell?" She snapped.

"I don't know." He grumbled.

"You don't know? First Victoria and Diego told me about how unimpressed they were that you seemed unprepared and that Betty revealed that you never watched any of their movies and that you watched the love scenes on YouTube and now it's all over the entertainment news radar."

"I can't believe her."

"What happened exactly?" She inquired.

"She won a Blobby, some blog award and someone came to interview her and asked me a few questions and now she claims that I hurt her feelings for telling that girl about the time she started working for me." He explained.

"What did you say that was so bad?"

"I talked about her first day and the braces and that poncho and the hair…" He replied.

"Let me guess she didn't like it very much?"

"Willie…" He began.

"This is going to be a PR scandal." She seethed.

"I know. Just as I thought I was past that, it gets thrown in my face. How do I fix this?"

"Don't say anything. Just lay low and it's going to blow over." She suggested.

"Willie, my reputation is on the line here and you're saying I should just sit back let it happen and wait for it blow over?" His brow creased as his face contorted in disbelief.

"Exactly! Because you can't fix your reputation without publicly discrediting Betty which we both know is something you will never bring yourself to do. You will not call her a liar to the press, you will not issue her a warning nor fire her for publicly mocking the head of this company. Anything you do or say will be pointless. So, my advice to you as your partner; just wait it out." She chided, matter-of-factly.

"That's not fair" He mumbled.

"I know it's not but it's business." She candidly stated. Daniel's jaw tightened at her curt demeanor.

"Wow, can't you put your goddamn bossy attitude aside for a sec and realize that I'm the victim here?" He snarled at which she snorted, cocking her head at his audacity.

"Are you sure about that?" She berated.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I believe Betty's little essay says it all. Now are you going to talk her or should I?"

"I'll handle Betty."

"You better. Because despite your personal feud, she was supposed to keep things professional and she didn't. Furthermore, you were supposed to have been a little more prepared than just watching nude scenes online and relying on your charm to get you through that interview." reprimanded Willie. His face twisted, a lump rising in his throat at her cutting remark, watching her exasperation rising. The accusation left him momentarily speechless and before he could utter a defense, the door flew open with Amanda popping her head in.

"Wilhelmina, someone from the New York Times is on line one and Dave LaChapelle on line two." Amanda announced.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, I have you take this call."

"Yeah…sure." He muttered before turning on his heel.

It was a quiet evening of refection for the couple as they both contemplated the day's events in their respective dwellings. The whole incident with Betty's blog and the scandal it caused somewhat opened up a can of worms and brought them back to earth. Daniel was conflicted. He turned to his comfort food; pizza and beer as he plopped himself on his couch mulling over the whole situation, from Betty's betrayal to Wilhelmina's reaction. Betty, his friend and confidant went on a rant on a blog he had no idea even existed painting him as an amoral sex-addicted, entitled, selfish and jealous douche to the entire entertainment industry. Even though he knew that those things were true at some point, he thought he'd changed and was no longer that person. Therefore, it stung to read Betty's thoughts, given she was the one person who believed in his transformation. He felt annoyed that it has come to this all because his former assistant had a thin skin and was acting as if the entire world revolved around her award so much that she was willing to tarnish his reputation for a few lonely cat-loving wierdos.

And there was Wilhelmina, the woman whom he had come to call a friend, the woman he had started seeing over a month ago, the woman he had just started calling his girlfriend. Her reaction stung more than reading Betty's opinions of him. The way she looked at him; as if it was just another day three years ago when he was nothing but a screw up. That cynical look and the way she shook her head were beginning to haunt him because for a moment the woman he had grown to care for disappeared. Since the Barbados, today was the first time he caught a full glimpse of thee Wilhelmina Slater, the one from three years prior, the cutthroat Editor-In-Chief who would do absolutely anything for Mode magazine, the woman who worked the media like a pro and managed to make him look bad at every turn, causing the fashion and print media industry to doubt his abilities to run the magazine.

Things were going so well between them that he nearly forgot that version of her existed, that she would stop at nothing to protect Mode, even throw her own boyfriend under the bus and let him endure a media shit storm. He found the way she continued with the rest of the day's business as if no argument took place a tad disturbing. This was his wake up call that the old Wilhelmina was still there, only she was a little more restrained. He didn't know if he appreciated the entire debacle as it somewhat removed his blinders and that it was probably a sign that he should take a step back before he got in too deep. Fear began to set in at the thought because now he liked Wilhelmina more than he thought possible. His feelings for her only seemed to get stronger with every moment they spent together. She was this inexplicable force in his life; one that brought him back to life and he didn't want her gone.

Meanwhile in upper Manhattan an equally frustrated Wilhelmina was on the same emotional rollercoaster. She towered over the city as she stood in front of her ceiling to floor windows wearing a solemn expression on her face; an expression that had been absent for quite some time. Sighing, she brought the crystal vessel to her lips, pulling a slight grimace at the burning sensation of the whiskey going down her throat. Reading Betty's quotes on the paper and the gossip sites struck a nerve and she would be a liar if she denied it to herself. The whole debacle and the fact that he didn't bother watching the movies of the people he was about to interview and only watched the nude scenes of the actress and then tried to use Betty's ideas as if they were his own to make himself look good for the interview bothered her. That incident offered a dose of reality with a twist of déjà vu. It took her back to the Daniel from three years ago; the one who got ahead through other people's ideas, the one who abused his power to get into bed with women he worked with, one of them being her current assistant. The icing on the cake was him making fun of Betty to some self-proclaimed blogging journalist, talking about her looks and misadventures when she first started at Mode. That reminded her that the insecure Daniel from four years ago hadn't left completely.

She had her reservations about this relationship and believed that maybe it just might work given how he had changed since Molly. Nevertheless, with the events of the past few days, she began to question if such a change was only temporary. Had she been blinded by pity about his dead wife the whole time that she overlooked the fact that the old Daniel still lingered? The Daniel who used sex to deal with his emotions no matter if he was happy, sad, excited or anxious? Isn't that what he was going to do with a total stranger in the Barbados right before their newfound friendship was conceived? His wife hadn't even been dead three months and he was ready to fuck somebody else. The memory stirred a bit of panic within; a reminder that Daniel was still a grieving widower and she could easily be on the rebound. Had she unintentionally picked up the pieces of an irretrievably broken man? Or was this a reminder that the more things changed, the more they stayed same? She had no idea. What she did know at that moment was that fear began to creep in because now she liked him more than she was ready to admit. Nevertheless, what mattered was her emotional being and given what she had gone through, she was sure that an insecure, insensitive, man-whore on a leash was not what she needed in her life. Not now, not ever.

Sleep didn't come easy to either one of them but they managed to make it through the night. They were both still too annoyed, too confused and frustrated by the entire ordeal and how it escalated to even pick up the phone and call each other and talk. It could have been pride or fear because after their argument, one thing was clear; the fantasy had cracked. Wilhelmina channeled the stress of that realization into her work. She was in her office with polaroids and budget sheets sprawled on her desk before most of the staff even got in.

A soft knock on her door snapped her attention from the spread sheet she was studying. She looked up to see Daniel standing on the doorway wearing an uneven apologetic smile carrying two cups of mocha latte. Her eyes lit up, relief washing over her features as she felt a fluttering in her belly upon seeing him. Having listened to his therapist's advice about communication in relationships, Daniel knew that it was only fair that he be the one to extend the olive branch.

"May I come in?" He asked.

"Sure." She replied.

"You know I spent about an hour after waking up trying to think of a peace offering or what I'm gonna say about yesterday and I thought…" He said as he presented the cups.

"That's…uh thoughtful of you." She said stiffly.

"Can we please talk?"

"Of course." He walked over to hand her the cup. She leisurely rose to her feet and lead him to the chaise. It was a small gesture letting him know that she understood that the talk they were about to have was not a business deal but personal. And so, they talked. They owned up their reactions to the scandal while also acknowledging the difficultly of separating business from their personal life and most of all they acknowledged that their little bubble had popped.

A few days later, the PR storm that came upon Daniel was beginning to settle down, however his frustration did not. He was still annoyed and too proud to be the one to initiate a truce with Betty. It was the night of her award ceremony and despite not wanting to be there he did not want to be alone in his apartment thinking and feeling bad about his decision either. He needed to be with someone and do something more fun. He popped his head in Willie's office just as she was packing up, getting ready to retire for the day.

"Hey." He greeted.

"Hey."

"You're going home?"

"Yeah I was just about to stop by your office."

"You wanna…uh…grab a drink tonight?" He asked.

"I can't tonight, I'm sorry…I've got a queen to destroy." She replied, at which Daniel's face began to twist into a grin, one he was struggling not to show. A few days prior, Wilhelmina was approached by a rather flamboyant character. The mysterious individual was complementing her on a performance she supposedly gave on some 'show'. Confused, she conducted a brief research to find out that she was actually being impersonated by a drag queen along with other leading ladies in the fashion magazine industry. Unfortunately, both Marc and Daniel had found it amusing rather than insulting.

"Didn't you get your lawyers involved?"

"The cease and desist was drawn up but has not yet been actually issued. He's still doing it after I threatened to sue. I see it wasn't enough."

"How do you know that he's still doing the act?"

"Your mother and Marc were talking about last night's show." She recounted while Daniel stifled a grin.

"But that's not the reason I'm taking a rain check." She said, her tone a little more serious as she gave him a knowing look. "It's because I'm not the person you need to be with tonight."

"Willie c'mon..." Daniel grumbled.

"Daniel, you and Betty do not have the traditional boss assistant relationship; you crossed that line on her second week here. You two are friends and you're going to get past this."

"I know." He agreed.

"Nevertheless, if you show up tonight; when you two get past your little fight, looking back to this evening will put a smile on Betty's face because she'll remember that you were there. However, if you don't, she will be reminded of your absence and the reason; that you made some unflattering comments out of jealousy for her success." She ventured at which Daniel's brows rose, clearly taken aback.

"Jealousy? I'm jealous of Betty?" He scoffed.

"If that's not the case, then why aren't you going to her award ceremony?" She asked.

"Because I don't want to be there. Not after she humiliated me."

"Well, word around the campfire is that you humiliated her first." Protested Willie.

"I wasn't trying to humiliate her. Besides, it doesn't matter. I'm her boss. It isn't her place to challenge my behavior. I thought you were gonna be on my side with this."

"I am. She screwed with your reputation, painting you as a jerk. However, as I already mentioned, you two don't have the typical employer-subordinate relationship. You two are best friends and right now you are acting like a total douchebag."

"So what?" He mumbled with a shrug.

"And quite frankly, I think you were on an unconscious level trying to humiliate Betty because you're viewing her as some sort of threat." She continued.

"That's crazy. I'm the Editor-in-Chief of a major fa-…" As he spewed yet another defensive statement, it hit him. "God." He whispered

"Now, you better get there in time." said Willie, coaxing him to rush out of there.

Daniel thanked his lucky stars that Wilhelmina was in his life and was able to talk some sense into him without holding back. Because of her, he saw what a jerk he had been, swallowed his pride and went to the award ceremony and made up with his best friend. So that night before turning in he made a quick phone call.

"So, how did go?" asked Willie.

"It went well. In fact, it went great." He answered.

"You guys talked things out?"

"Of course, but that was after I presented the award to her." He said proudly.

"Did you?"

"Yeah and she and I are good now. And Wilhelmina…thank you so much for talking me into going. You were right…about everything. I was a little jealous and I felt threatened."

"That she's going places and that she's never going back to being your assistant?" She asked.

"Yeah and the fact that she's achieved so much in the past three years alone than I did in my entire life. I didn't realize that I felt this insecure. All of a sudden what she wrote on her blog made sense." He admitted.

"You don't have to feel insecure, Daniel. I know that the idea of the assistant surpassing the veteran can be quite scary but that means that you're a good mentor. And don't sell yourself short, you have achieved a lot of things too in the past three and half years." She said comfortingly.

"Thanks, Willie. How did I get so lucky?" He rhetorically offered to which she responded with a nervous giggle. "So, how do I thank you?"

"You can go out for drinks with me tomorrow night." She suggested

"I'm taking you up on that." He replied, his smile wide. "So, how'd your investigation go?" He inquired.

"Well, I went to the bar and your mother was there…again." She stressed and she could hear his chuckles.

"What?"

"Don't laugh." She lightheartedly chided.

"I'm not." He denied.

"You totally are!"

"Okay, guilty." He conceded "So, what happened?"

"I went to tell him off and she wasn't there; she was running late and the audience thought I was…" She explained and then hesitated.

"They thought you were her…him?" He erupted in another spell of laughter and this time he couldn't hold it back if he tried.

"It was a little embarrassing at first." She admitted.

"What do you mean 'at first'?"

"They started cheering for me to perform and I got up on stage and I did." She answered casually as if were nothing.

"You sang?" He exclaimed,

"Correction; I performed."

"So, what did you perform?"

"I did Hall & Oates 'Man Eater'" She revealed.

"I can't believe this…I didn't even know you could sing!" He said, his tone oozing with excitement.

"You better believe it, Darling. Your mom was a witness. There was a standing ovation and an encore and that's when I performed 'She acts like a woman should' with a little strip tease." She recounted.

"You what?" He asked, his excitement like that of a kid who was promised a trip to Disneyland.

"Oh yeah. I ended up on my bustier."

"What? And I missed it? I missed a Wilhelmina Slater strip tease and vocal performance?"

"It was spontaneous. But not to worry, Danny, we're dating now, so I can give you a private concert sometime." She consoled suggestively.

"Oh…uhm…" He mumbled before clearing his throat. The visual she just gave him robbed him of any speech. Before he could find the right words to reply, the image of her slowly and sensually dancing while peeling her clothes off resulted in some tightness on his boxers. Willie on the other hand wore a smile.

"I got you all heated up, didn't I?" She whispered sensually, breaking the ice.

"Uh…yeah. I can't even lie." He admitted nervously. He mentally punched himself. Why was he like a schoolboy whenever she flirted with him?

"Good. Now, sweet dreams."

"You too, baby." He breathed.