CHAPTER 8

This had been one of the strangest days Betty ever remembered. Although she felt tremendous relief at having finally extricated herself from the situation with Henry and his baby mama, she now found she had a choice of two men….again!

How did that keep happening to her? First, it had been Walter and Henry, then Henry and Gio and now...Gio and Daniel of all people, it seemed.

Gio was a wonderful guy. He made her happy. He made her laugh. And he challenged her. He was always honest with her. Sometimes brutally so, but she knew she needed that.

They were a really good match in so many ways. So why did she not feel more when he had kissed her? For some reason, she didn't feel that 'chemistry' between them. (other than possibly when they argued!)

She knew HE did, though. She could tell he had been very much affected when he kissed her. Enough to suddenly change his plans and invite her to come to Italy with him. Which was amazing of course: it was exciting to think about finally getting to travel to Europe.

She knew she didn't feel 'that way" about him, though, so wouldn't she simply be leading him on if she agreed to go to Italy with him? In some respects, she honestly wished she did feel more for Gio.

It would have certainly made things a lot easier for her to break up with Henry a long time ago if she had fallen in love with another man. Had she now? Another man altogether?

Is that why she had finally been able to say goodbye to her "old love"? Had she found a new one...in Daniel, of all people, she wondered?

There was no denying the way he looked at her with those piercing blue eyes, the sound of his soft, raspy voice, his crooked little smirk, and the way his soft lips felt against hers were all making her mind into mush. She had definitely stopped thinking about "Egg Salad" completely now, in favor of her hot boss!

The fact was, Daniel was all she could think about anymore. That kiss they shared had left her wanting so much more, had left her wanting HIM!

But if she meant anything to him, why had he encouraged her to go to Italy with Gio? Was it that he simply didn't want to hurt her, didn't want her to be just another one of "Daniel's girls"? Or perhaps he wasn't over Renee yet and he wasn't ready for another relationship with anyone so soon. Perhaps he regretted that kiss after all.

In any case, he had made it clear, he wanted her to go. He had even offered to pay for the trip! If she did go with Gio, she would have to be completely honest with him, and let him know that if she went, not for him to expect ...well, you know, sex, until she was more clear about her feelings.

If she was up-front about that from the start of their trip, perhaps he would change his mind and tell her not to bother.

One thing was certain, both Daniel and Gio seemed to think she needed (and deserved) to get away from New York for a while, to help her forget all about Henry (and Renee). That didn't sound like a bad idea to her, either. So, who was she to argue?

Of course, Justin and Hilda were completely sold on the idea of her going to Italy. "A free trip to Rome? Can I go?" had been Hilda's response, as well as Justin adding, "Do you need a valet? Can I come along in your luggage, AB?

You lead such a glamorous life! I'm so glad you finally let us give you a makeover. Was it totally awesome, giving Egg Salad and his hoochie baby mama the finger as you strutted your hot stuff, walking away?"

"JUSTIN!" Betty had to interrupt her nephew's somewhat distorted sense of right and wrong, "First of all, why are YOU calling Henry "Egg Salad" now?" to which he merely chuckled, shrugging, "Hey, it fits! You know, because he's like an egghead and he eats egg….!"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, Justin I 'get it", I just don't happen to think it's all that funny. Gio has a very weird sense of humor sometimes if you ask me.

Anyway, to answer your question, I actually didn't get all that much satisfaction out of walking away from HENRY. Even telling off Charley wasn't as much fun as I thought it was going to be. I ended up wishing them both good luck with the baby."

Hilda and Justin both exchanged looks, rolling their eyes, "Of course you did, AB. That's you. You're always way too nice for your own good!"

She smiled, shrugging, "But the...uh...changes did help my confidence. Thanks, guys." she looked down at her outfit.

Hilda made a face, gesturing towards her newly "hot" little sister, "If it helped so much, why do you still seem like you lost your best friend? Let me guess; this has to do with Daniel, doesn't it?"

She nodded, trying not to let them see how much Daniel's rebuff had hurt her,"Mhmm...he didn't really seem to care that Gio wants me to go to Italy with him. I'm pretty sure he saw Gio kissing me and he didn't get upset about it. He even offered to pay for the trip."

"There, then, that's your answer, mami. If he doesn't care whether you go or not, he even offered to give you the time off, then you NEED to take it! He probably still feels guilty about his ex almost killing you! He SHOULD let you go! It was totally his fault you almost got yourself burned alive. Consider this a perk of your crazy job!"

As she went to take a hot bath, to try and warm up from the cold, her phone rang, "Hey. So, listen, we really need to talk."

Something in his voice frightened her. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. For once, she cut him off instead of the other way around, "Yes, we do. I've made up my mind. I'm going to Italy! You certainly don't need to pay for anything, Daniel, although it was very sweet of you to offer. But, I have some money saved.

I'm going as soon as Gio says he wants to leave. Is there anything you need me to do before I go? Any meetings you need me to schedule or...anything?

He felt his heart sink like a stone. He had called her, intent on telling her how he felt about her. But if she wanted to go to Italy with Gio, that must mean...she had feelings for HIM.

He literally swallowed his own pain right now and took a deep breath, trying his best to sound cheerful, "Sure, Betty. That sounds...great! Good for you! I'm glad you're going to get to have a little fun. You totally deserve that. Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'll...uh...be here when you get back. Have a great time! Bye!"

Daniel hung up quickly, before he said anything stupid like...I love you, please don't go. She was young, she deserved a good time. With...Gio. Daniel put his hand up to his forehead, trying to tell himself this was all for the best. She didn't need to feel guilty about hurting his feelings.

Truthfully, he tried to tell himself he didn't really know HOW he felt about Betty. He was too impulsive. He had just gotten out of a relationship with Renee that he rushed into too quickly and look where that had gotten him! And now he thought he was in love with Betty? He needed to take some time and not keep jumping from one woman to the next.

He ran his hand through his hair, then began rubbing the back of his neck, and answered his ringing phone, unable to hide the disappointment when he saw that it wasn't Betty, calling to change her mind about going to Italy with Gio, "Mom! Hey. How are you doing?"

"Better than you, it seems. You sound terrible! What's wrong? Who died?"

"Why did you call?"

"Mother's intuition. I sensed you needed to talk. Was I right?" The truth be told, she had been worried for some time now about the whole "Renee Slater" incident that had ended with Daniel's assistant being in his burning apartment, almost getting killed, and she wanted to know how her son was holding up.

He wasn't totally buying her claims of having ESP, "Alexis called you and told you about Renee trying to kill Betty, didn't she?"

"Perhaps. But I still am worried about you, as well, dear. Do you want to come home? Your room is still how you left it when you went off to Harvard you know. You never have to even ask. I heard you were staying in a hotel? That's silly, Daniel. I always hated it when you insisted on checking yourself into a hotel whenever you're ill or going through some big life transition.

You do have a home, you know! I may not have always been sober when you and your brother were growing up, and I know I can't change the past, but I'm doing my best and I am here for you, now."

Daniel smiled, "Thanks, Mom. It's not that. It's Betty. She wants to go to Rome with Gio!"

There was only a second pause while Claire caught up, "And you don't want her to go with him because...you've finally discovered that YOU have feelings for her." there was only the slightest hint of a question in her voice. For the most part, she sounded as if she was making a statement of fact.

She knew her son's heart. She had seen how he looked at his young assistant. She liked Betty very much herself. The girl was just the type to help Daniel get his head on straight. Both of them.

"Well...yeah. I guess so. The other day, she kissed me and...I ...haven't been able to stop thinking about her ever since. But now she wants Gio!"

"Which one is Gio again? I thought the tall, thin fellow, the accountant, what's his name, Henry was the one she was so in love with? What happened to him?" she felt like her family's lives were like some sappy soap opera at times. Days of Our Lives; she hated that other one! Of course you only had One Life to Live, how ridiculous was that name?

"You mean Egg Salad? He's yesterday's news, finally, thank goodness! But now...well, Gio asked Betty to go to Italy with him and she just told me she wants to go!"

"Egg Salad? What's egg salad got to do with anything? I'm confused."

"No, no. Egg Salad is Gio's nickname for that idiot Henry!"

"I see. I'm not even going to ask why. I don't think I want to know. Did you tell Betty you don't want her to go, son?"

"No. Not exactly."

"Translation-she doesn't know how you feel about her, then?"

"Not exactly."

"DANIEL Roberto Meade!"

"Roberto? That's not my middle name, Mom! I don't have one. Why are you calling me that?"

"Because sometimes I wish we would have given you a middle name. It's times like this that a mother needs an extra name to call out her son for doing something completely stupid! Daniel, dear, you can't very well expect the girl to read your mind...or your heart, can you?

You have to TELL her, before it's too late. Before she runs off with this Gio person and gets married in Rome or something. You know, all they do in Venice is have weddings! And honeymoons. It's like the Vegas of Italy! You need to stop her!"

"Okay…"

"Right NOW, Daniel. Immediately! Do not let that girl get on a plane with that silly accountant…"

"Sandwich shop owner."

"Whatever! I'm telling you, if you let him get her on that plane, you may never see her again! Now go get her!"

He caught her urgency, "I will."

"Don't wait!"

"I won't! I'm leaving right now."

"Good luck, darling! Call me when you find her and let me know how it goes."

"Yes, ma'am!" He felt like Claire was his drill sergeant or something. She could be very persuasive, very commanding when she wanted to be. Just like another woman in his life. To say that Betty could be bossy was an understatement.

She was good at telling Daniel what to do and he was grateful for her intelligence and all she had helped him do over the years at Mode. So how was he supposed to tell her now that he didn't want her to go to Italy?

His mom was right; tons of people ended up getting married in Italy. Claire was also right about the fact that he should never have told her to go with Gio. That was a stupid thing to do. What was he thinking, practically pushing those two together?

He grabbed a small duffel bag and put in some jeans and a few sweaters and underwear. Thank God Betty had talked him into putting his passport along with other important documents in a small box which had survived the fire when Renee had torched his place.

He was losing his mind, imagining all sorts of scenarios right now. And they all ended with Gio and Betty getting married and Daniel never seeing her again and that was NOT going to happen!

"This is Gio Rossi...oh, hey, Daniel. How's it going? What? Excuse me? No, I'm sorry; I don't know where Betty is right now. I haven't heard from her since...She...huh? You think I kidnapped her? Why the hell would I do that? You're nuts!

Are you drunk again? Are you prancing around naked in your hotel room again? Because I gotta tell you, you need to be careful about that. Those paparazzi are brutal! They all have telephoto lenses. Tele-photo. NOT something you want representing your...manhood on film, let me tell you!"

He looked up, seeing Betty standing, holding her suitcase and smiling, breathlessly waving at him.

He waved back, a little puzzled to see her, but ended his strange call with Daniel, "Look, something just came up. Sorry, buddy. I gotta go. Take care! Make sure you sober up and put some clothes on. NOT that robe, either!"

He looked up, "Hey there, Betty. What's going on? You...changed your mind?"

She nodded, "Yes, I did. 'Or...I mean, si!"

He laughed, coming to help her with her luggage. He stood, looking down at her hand, and taking them in both of his to kiss them, I'm glad you decided to come with me, Betty. Hey, did you talk to Daniel about this? Cause he just called. He sounded drunk or something. He was saying..."

She bristled, not wanting to talk about Daniel, "What does it matter? Daniel Meade is not the boss of me!"

"Well, actually…"

She waved him dismissively, "All right, fine, so he IS my boss? You know what I mean! He doesn't own me. Come on, we need to get you packed and book our flight!"

He gave her a little grin, "It's already booked. I figured it was worth the chance that you might decide to show, even though I was getting a little nervous you might not when I didn't hear back from you. I was afraid I was going to have to sell your ticket on Craigslist or something or stand on the sidewalk, scalping it. We leave in three hours." He looked at his watch, appearing perfectly calm, as he pulled out his suitcase, already packed.

Betty panicked, "Three hours? Three hours? How long do you think it's going to take to get through traffic at JFK, Gio? Are you insane? We have to…"

He shook his head, amused at her freaking out, "Will you calm down? They just tell you to get there that early as a safety precaution. I always wait till the last minute cause I hate wasting my time, waiting around."

Betty made a face, totally freaking out, looking at her papers and re-checking her bags,"Really? I like to get there at least a few extra hours before they recommend even so I can check my things, and re-pack everything."

He laughed, "You're kidding, right? I promise...we'll make it on time."

On the plane, he tried to calm her down, "Do you want something to drink to take the edge off, Betty? You seem nervous. It's not that big a deal! I'm excited, but you act like you're ready to jump out of the plane or something. How many times are you going to check your case? Are you okay?"

She nodded, looking over the itinerary, "I'm fine! So...Florence, then Rome, then Milan, then ending with Venice, right?"

He smiled, kissing her hand, "Absolutely! My Tia Trina says that Venice is the most romantic city ever!"

When they landed in Florence, Betty's eyes widened at the beautiful mountains. It was like a dream to her, seeing all that beauty, the paintings at the Uffizi, the statue of The David, The Baptistry with Ghiberti's golden "Gates of Paradise". They ate gelatto as they walked along the Arno River, and looked at the shops on The Ponte Vecchio.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fior in the Piazza del Duomo was the next item on her list. It was amazing to climb all those stairs to the top, and see the city below. A bit scary, perhaps, but worth it.

As they left the ancient structure, a young woman with a beautiful voice was singing opera in the piazza. Gio had been trying to determine what exactly was going on with Betty ever since she had shown up back in New York, eager and packed, apparently ready to move forward, even though she had made it clear that she still needed time before they took their relationship to that "next level" which he knew meant sex.

He had willingly agreed to her terms and been a perfect gentleman on the plane and when they first arrived. He certainly understood her needing time. He wasn't an animal. He could wait as long as she needed him to. But he was only human.

When they exited the Duomo and heard the girl singing, he pulled her to him, and looked into her eyes, brushing back a strand of hair, he leaned forward to kiss her while the mood was so perfect. She tried her best to respond to him and told herself what a good pair they made. This was what she wanted, wasn't it? She and Gio made sense. Much more so than her and...someone else.

She was here, in Italy, enjoying herself with a great guy, seeing all the places she had only read about up till now. So why did she still feel like something was...missing?

Since they had slept on the plane, they saw everything they had on Betty's "Itinerary" that first day, and finally retired to their hotel, a charming little pensione, just off Via Laura, less than two kilometers from the piazza.

Betty entered the room a bit hesitantly at first, but Gio assured her, "Okay, don't go freaking out, thinking I'm going to attack you, just because I've got you here alone in a foreign country, Betty. My room is next door. We'll play this your way. I'm not going to rush you. I know you're still getting over… um...you know, what's his name."

She rolled her eyes, "You and Da….you mean Henry? Why do you insist on never saying his name? And I'm fine, Gio. Really. This is just what I need! It's beautiful here. Thank you for bringing me."

He nodded, taking her hand in his, "I don't need your gratitude, Betty. All I need is...you. And you know exactly why I don't use Egg Salad's name. But he's not the one I'm really worried about and you know it. The person whose name neither of us is saying right now has nothing to do with Henry Grubstick. I know you're over that loser, finally, thank God!"

She looked down at her feet, "I don't know what you're talking about. That was the reason for this trip, for me to take some time to forget all about Henry and….Renee and...Fashion Week…"

He nodded, "Sure and...your boss? Anyway...I'll let you shower and change, maybe at least take a nap if you need to. It's been a really long day. I can take you out for a bite if you're hungry. Or...we can call it a night. It's up to you. Just let me know what you want, Betty. It's your call."

Daniel felt like he was having a flashback to the night Renee had Betty, telling his driver to hurry to the airport. At least this time, her life wasn't in danger. But he wanted to stop her before she took off. He needed to tell her he was wrong not to fight for her. He should have never let her go with Gio.

By the time he made it through traffic to the airport, however, their flight was long gone. Man, Gio didn't waste any time getting Betty on a plane, he thought! He got the travel information from Justin. He looked at his watch, shaking his head. Even using the Meade jet, it would be almost eleven in the morning by the time he arrived in Florence.

He kept trying to tell himself that Betty wasn't the kind of girl to go jumping into bed with Gio the first chance she got. Still, partially thanks to him acting like a nonchalant idiot on the phone with her, she HAD packed her things and gone off to Italy with his rival, so...who knew what might happen?

Neither one of them was picking up their phones or returning his messages, which were started out as somewhat casual but were getting more and more desperate. "Hey...um, Betty, this is Daniel. I just left your dad's house and he and your family said you had changed your mind and decided to go to Italy with Gio.

They said you already left! That's...a little sudden, isn't it? I mean...you made this huge decision and you weren't even going to let me know? As your boss, I...um...never mind.

I know I said some stupid things before. I was trying to pretend like it didn't matter to me, to do what I thought was right, but...you know what, never mind. I really don't want to say this on the phone. Just have a safe flight. Bye!"

Cut to his most recent, "Gio! Listen to me, you little weasel! I know exactly what you're up to because if I were you, I'd do the same thing! You think if you get her alone over there and everything is all romantic and and...Italian she's just going to melt into your arms and jump into your bed, right? Well, don't count on it!

Besides, you never know who might already be there, ready to pounce on you! So you'd better be looking over your shoulder...sandwich boy! I might surprise you!" He thought for a minute, "Not that I would be in YOUR bed, SHIT, you know what I mean!

Oh and um...sorry for the sandwich boy, thing. I really do like your sandwiches. They're pretty good. NEVER MIND! Just don't sleep with Betty untill I get there, okay? SHIT SHIT! Not even then. Jesus!" he hung up before he said anything else even more idiotic.

Even though he was extremely nervous, he didn't want to take a chance and get drunk or be hungover when he got there, and since he didn't sleep the whole flight, so he kept drinking coffee instead, making him even more nervous and jittery by the time he landed.

Daniel was so jumpy, standing out in the lobby of the pensione, he kept pacing back and forth, rubbing his neck and going through several various scenarios all of which involved him kicking Gio's ass and declaring his love for Betty in some really cool, romantic way. The problem was, he was so hyped up on caffeine he didn't have the slightest idea how to do either of those things.

He wasn't even sure if they had checked in yet or if he was even in the right hotel, since his Italian completely sucked. He remembered a few Italian models and designers he had heard yelling at each other, but nothing was really sticking in his exhausted but caffeinated brain at the moment.

He leaned down to the desk, "Um...scuzzi, por favore, signore? Uh, Signore Rossi et Signorina Suarez?" he looked up the phrase he was trying to say slowly, "Sono qui?Are they...here? Um…" he held up a finger, as he looked up the next thing he was trying to ask and the manager put his hand on Daniel's to stop him, "Please, sir. No more. It is alright.

I speak English very well. You do not have to...um...try to speak Italian. And for the fourth time, yes, Mr. Rossi and Miss Suarez are here. But no, they have not yet checked out. They should be down for breakfast perhaps soon if you care to wait."

Daniel paced more and then looked at his watch again for the millionth time it seemed to him, "But isn't it...um...what time is it again?"

"Five minutes past the last time you asked, sir. It is nine o'clock in the morning. They were out late, though, so…"

Daniel made a face, and put up his hand, not wanting to hear any details of Gio and Betty's great evening before they retired for a late morning of...sleeping in apparently! At least, that's what he hoped they were doing.

Finally, after jumping up several times for other hotel guests, he heard Betty's voice and ran to the staircase, pumped and ready to do battle, "YOU! You…."

Gio didn't know how the man managed to find him here. It wasn't a well-known hotel. It must have been one of Betty's family members who ratted him out, probably Justin, he assumed.

"I think WEASEL is the term you used in your latest insane rambling message. I just thought you were still drunk or something. Look, Daniel, I don't know why you seem to think Betty needs you to chaperone her, but…"

Betty's eyes were wide as she left the stairs and saw him, "DANIEL! What on earth are YOU doing here? You followed me?"