BEACH BETTY

CHAPTER ONE

A/N: Hey ladies! I just wanted to see if anybody is still out there! I think that it's really difficult to tell if we still have any Detty fans, listening sometimes. In any case, I have been busy, trying to look for a p/t teaching job for the next school year. I'm done being "semi-retired". Job hunting is a full-time job! I have been re-reading lots of our older stories on here recently and was somewhat inspired to write this. Sorry, this first chapter is fairly short today but I really wanted to get this posted "IRREGARDLESS", to get my creative juices flowing again! I'm not sure how long it will be, but I hope you enjoy it.

The white sands of the world-famous beach at Rio de Janeiro lifted Betty's spirits immediately, once she stepped out from her hotel and found an empty beach chair, ready to soak up the sun and enjoy her well-deserved relaxation.

She held up her hand to motion for a waiter, "Do you have...um … could I please get a Mango Margarita?"

"Of course, Miss."

While she waited for her drink, she dug through her beach bag to find her wallet and get on some sunscreen. Living in England for the past decade had certainly done nothing for her tan and the last thing she wanted was a sunburn!

After several of her favorite frozen concoctions, she ventured out into the crystal blue ocean, savoring the feel of the warm water, enveloping her, her large-brimmed hat and sunglasses helping to shield her from the bright sun. Thoroughly enjoying herself, splashing in the gentle waves for quite some time, she finally returned to her beach chair under the umbrella and ordered another drink, "Oh, and could I get some water, too, please?"

"Don't you know you should probably get bottled water, Betty?" she heard a familiar voice behind her, casting a shadow.

She struggled to turn, her hat falling onto the sand and her glasses sliding down, "I thought that was implied! Wait...uh...DANIEL? What the hell are you doing here?"

He stood over her, smiling and shrugging, as he pulled up a beach chair, "Well, I figured, I never did actually take that vacation the press said I did after Sofia dumped me, so maybe it was time I really did come and...you know, 'lick my wounds and anyone else that walks by? You know someone who might want to volunteer?"

"NO! I don't! How did you...who told you I was here?" She started to gather her things but was having a rather difficult time, dropping everything and feeling a bit flustered at seeing her old boss and former best friend, showing up out of the blue.

He calmly tried to help her, but she kept pushing him away, and finally stood to face him, her hands on her hips, "Look, Daniel, I don't NEED anybody's help right now, okay? Especially YOURS! Just...leave me alone, go back to New York or something!"

"Betty! Wait! Come on, just let me walk you back to your room, at least, will you? Here!" He picked up her hat and sunglasses, handing them to her, and grabbed the drink from the waiter, handing her the bottled water and slamming down her margarita himself, then made a face, "Eww! How can you drink those things?"

She rolled her eyes, and threw the hat into her huge bag, and put on her sunglasses, walking as quickly as she could with flip flops. Daniel easily caught up to her, "Betty...aren't you even going to TALK to me?"

"NO! I...there is NOTHING I have to say to YOU, Daniel Meade! Now, get lost! Go bother someone else with your...silly blue eyes and rock-hard abs and cute butt! Why don't you put some clothes on?" She stared at him, then began walking quickly again, getting onto the elevator to return to her room, with Daniel following.

He laughed at her, buttoning his shirt, and taking off his own sunglasses, as well as hers, handing them to her, "Sorry! And… uh...thanks, I think? But it is a beach, honey, so...you know, you're wearing a swimsuit and so am I! You look really good, too, by the way!"

She shrugged, "Whatever! Thank you, I suppose. It's been a long time. Ugly Betty runs marathons now."

"Ug...what the hell are you talking about? Nobody called you...look, sweetie, I'm sorry if…" he went to put his hand on her arm, but she pushed him away, stepping into the far corner of the elevator, away from him, and glared at him, the look of hurt and betrayal in her eyes.

"I'm NOT your honey or sweetie, Daniel. I never was and never will be! Who sent you here and why are you bothering me on my… my vacation?"

He took a deep breath, trying to get her to look at him, but instead spoke to her back, his voice soft and tender, "I know you're not just here on vacation, Betty and I knew where you were because your nephew told my mom you were here.

I found out what happened and I just want to say how sorry I am! You have to believe me, I never gave that woman permission to use my name or yours or told her any of that SHIT she wrote in her damn book, okay? My lawyers are prepared to sue her on both of our behalfs. I'm sorry you got fired, but...won't you let me try to make it up to you?"

She stood on her toes, her eyes filled with venom, "I didn't get FIRED! I QUIT! I'm...exploring my options! I have lots of vacation time I never used and plenty of savings so I just...was sick to death of living in England. I hate the rain! It was depressing! I wanted a vacation. From...too much WORK! Not that it's any of your business. What book are you even talking about?"

He sighed, "Okay, sure. Whatever you say, sweet...I mean Betty. I'm talking about the book Sofia Reyes wrote. About us. Her big tell-all, behind-the-scenes scoop, claiming we had some big affair and that I'm the only reason you got your job at Dunne in the first place.

She said that you sabotaged her and my 'engagement' because you were jealous and 'madly in love with me', blah, blah, blah. It's a lot of the same shit that Renee Slater said about us, working together all the time, she didn't believe for a minute that a guy like me could be 'just friends' with you for four years without us sleeping together.

She also claimed that she was really in love with me, but that my father supposedly put her up to faking the whole Fling to Ring pitch to boost sales at Meade, but she actually did fall for me, and you made up the stuff about Hunter because you were jealous of her, look, here, you can read her damn piece of trash for yourself if you say you don't know what I'm talking about."

He pulled out the book from Betty's bag and handed it to her, raising his eyebrows. "Personally, I didn't give her the satisfaction of adding to her sales by even buying a copy myself! I just got the main gist from my family."

She wiped her tears, "Daniel, look, I know you mean well, but I don't need you to rescue me and I really don't think we should be seen together. It just feeds into her stupid narrative about us! I don't want to give her the satisfaction of saying I didn't work my ass off at either Mode or Dunne and that I only got as far as I did in my career because I supposedly gave YOU sexual favors!"

He smiled sadly, "Oh. I see. So, I'm just supposed to go back to New York and pretend I don't know you, stay away from you when I know you are in pain? I've BEEN staying away, just like you told me to years ago. But I'm sorry, I missed you! I still think about you. I...did you even think about me, or were you too busy with your precious career to even remember me? Remember that one night when we finally ...almost...?"

She looked around as if she was concerned someone would hear him, "Daniel! Don't!"

He shook his head and took hold of her arms, standing in her space, "Betty, nobody is here. This isn't Mode. There are no security cameras. Let me come into your room and we'll do what we should have done years ago, and talk about this. Talk about us. Maybe this happened for a reason, you know? To bring us together for real!

We can at least discuss how we're going to get back at that bitch for making up a bunch of lies about us and making a profit at our expense! It sounds to me as if she's just jealous of your success and thinks my books and your magazines are popular enough that she can retcon what happened back then and especially since my old man is dead and can't refute her version of reality."

He followed her to her room and stood behind her, taking her key out of her hand when she was having difficulty opening her door. "I really don't think you should be alone, Betty."

"What? Why not?"

He grinned, "You've been drinking all day out in the sun on an empty stomach. Haven't you heard you shouldn't let someone sleep alone when they've been drinking too much? I should stay and...make sure you're okay. I can order us some dinner."

She squinted at the clock, "It's only three o'clock!"

He took her bag and placed it on a chair and got her luggage out of the closet, putting it on the bed, "Why don't you take a shower and get comfortable and I'll get hang out on your balcony and order us some coffee then. For now. We'll talk, catch up and then see about dinner later."

"I don't know, Daniel. It's been too long. We both have our own lives now. This is ancient history. Who cares anymore?"

The man refused to take a hint, and took her hands into his, looking into her eyes, "I care. I never got over you, Betty. I never stopped wishing things were different with us. I guess, truthfully, I wish what she wrote were true!"

"What, that I had some huge crush on you? Please! She wasn't even very original with that whole bunch of lies she made up about us! That is just so cliche! The ugly secretary, secretly in love with her handsome boss!"

He smiled, "You still think I'm handsome? And I don't know how many times I've told you that YOU were never ugly, Betty! She is!"