Valentine Masquerade
Hope you enjoy! For entertainment only! :D 3
and now they meet... ;)
Chapter 3: Like a Blizzard
Daniel was really trying to enjoy himself, and for a brief moment he smiled when he noticed a crowd of people dancing to some fiery latin music, but shortly started to remember stupid Sofia and how she played him. He felt so embarrassed that she made him believe they had something special between them. What a fool he was.
He tried to loosen up again when he ran into a few familiar faces from his short time at Mode, Marc and Amanda were arm in arm looking every bit as fashionable as he remembered. It'd been a while since he really saw or talked to them.
He tried his best to avoid Mode at all costs.
He wished he could go back in time and do things differently when he started there. Especially in how he treated a certain someone who was only trying to help him.
He sighed; Marc smirked "Well, don't you look like a real masquerade prince!" he said, his eyes roaming over him. Daniel rolled his eyes, then Amanda placed her hand on his shoulder and said "Where have you been hiding all night, sexy?"
Daniel shook his head "guys, exactly that, hiding! I'm not exactly in the partying mood."
Amanda leaned toward him and said "Don't worry, Daniel! I totally took out that dumb Sofia bitch in the elevator for you yesterday!"
Daniel looked at her in surprise "Wow, really?"
Marc nodded "She did! Thankfully I was there and recorded it!" he took his phone out and showed Daniel the video, Daniel's eyes growing wide seeing Amanda smack her around with her bag and pull at her hair. Daniel chuckled "Wow! Thanks, I guess" he said, feeling thankful someone had his back.
After he chatted with them for a bit, he decided to get some fresh air. Marc and Amanda sort of brightened his mood, but that was fleeting when he ran into the evil Mode witch, Wilhelmina! Her name pretty much had the words hell and mean in there!
She was literally the reason everything went to hell for him!
Ever since she was officially named Editor in Chief of Mode she made it a point to constantly remind him that he was useless and didn't know what the hell he was doing. She always had a snarky comment to say and he was not in the mood for her crap today, so he effectively breezed past her, not caring that he almost spilled her wine all over her cream colored dress.
Hilda and Betty danced for some time, getting a crowd to cheer them on, and then Hilda got more people to dance. After nearly an hour of them dancing, out of breath and completely spent, Betty finally said "Hilda, I'm going to take break. I'm beat"
"Ok, me too, let's go get drinks!"
Once they got their drinks, Betty said "I need some fresh air. I think I'm gonna go explore outside"
Hilda nodded "Ok...just text me when you come back in"
Daniel sighed as he looked past the pool wanting to be anywhere but here. He had really tried, as much as he was willing, to try and enjoy this lame ass party, but really he was just not in the mindset to enjoy anything. All he wanted to do was be in his apartment alone.
He was tempted to leave; he wasn't sure anyone would care if he did anyway, but knew his mom would be disappointed if he just disappeared, and he wouldn't hear the end of it from his dad.
He turned to retreat back inside, but someone knocked into him nearly causing both of them to fall back, and some alcoholic drink to spill over his jacket. "Shit!"
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I'm so clumsy! I didn't even see you!" Betty exclaimed and realized she bumped into Daniel. Her heart started racing and she felt those butterflies she felt earlier resurface.
He sighed "I guess my plan to be invisible is working, huh" he said, she shook her head "No, I'm just such a klutz! I trip over myself" she laughed and he finally looked to her after he dabbed some of the drink off his jacket and felt his breath catch at the gorgeous smile on this girls face and how stunning she was.
Holy hell!
The way she looked, her mask, her hair, her dress, that smile… shit, she was beautiful! He remembered he saw her walk into the party and how he was instantly drawn to that smile.
She looked to him with a sheepish smile "I'm really sorry. I'm trying to be all confident and here I am tripping over you!" she giggled and he found himself smiling.
"It's fine. Uh…" something about her smile captivated him; she also seemed oddly familiar, like he'd met her before.
That was crazy. He didn't even know who she was.
Betty watched him; there was this mesmerizing look in his eyes and she felt a little flustered that she was actually seeing and interacting with Daniel more than a year later.
"Sorry if I bothered you, I was just going to take a walk outside" she said nervously.
He shrugged "You didn't bother me. I want to be anywhere but here right now."
She smirked "Not into Valentine's day?" she asked, wondering what happened to the playboy she worked for over a year ago.
"No, how could I be? My fiance dumped me two days before on national television, all for some publicity stunt for her stupid magazine!"
"Oh no! That's terrible!" Betty stated, now remembering she saw that because she idolized Sofia Reyes, but after that stunt she pulled she sort of lost respect for her. Who could do something like that?
"I'm really sorry"
He shrugged "Yeah, well, it is what it is."
Betty gave him a small smile, and walked past him. "I'll just leave you alone, I'm sure you don't want company" she said, but he grabbed her hand and said "Wait, uh…" he let go of her hand when she gasped from the contact. "Sorry, ehm…" he felt his face warm and said "why don't we...walk together?"
She smiled "really? Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother"
He smiled "I'm sure." he started walking and she felt her smile get a little brighter as she walked alongside him, trying to take sneaking glances at him. She couldn't believe how even more handsome he was after all this time. Somehow, the fact that he didn't know who she was gave her a slight thrill.
She wondered what he'd do if he discovered who she was. She bit her lip and decided she wanted to start over and pretend they'd never met before.
Daniel glanced to the girl trying to discreetly check her out. The dress she was wearing was really hot and flattering to her curves, and the mask she had on was so unique and beautiful, able to see more clearly that it was this interesting butterfly design, and that smile of hers was simply out of this world!
"So...not having fun at the party?" he asked curiously, wondering why she was wandering out here alone.
"No, I am. I'm just getting some fresh air. This house is gorgeous!" she said as they walked down past the pool into the garden, the brick pathway, and lamps and fairy lights directing their path.
He smirked "It's alright"
She looked at him like he was nuts "Are you crazy? it's so beautiful!"
He laughed, but she pressed on "I mean, look at this garden, it's so magical! With all the lights and flowers and the trees. It feels like I'm walking in a secret garden" she rambled; he listened to her, a smile growing on his face at how enamored she sounded; he could see her eyes shining despite the mask and that smile of hers was simply breathtaking. The glow from all the lights shining on her as she spoke, lighting up her face.
"It's almost as good as a blizzard"
He looked at her in confusion "Blizzard?"
She looked to him, then back at her surroundings, "yah, in the city, when there's a blizzard, the city sort of just... stops. It looks so calm, and...everything sort of sparkles."
He smiled as he listened to her, feeling enthralled by how sweet she was and how beautiful she sounded. She looked to him with a laugh "That's crazy, right. You're probably used to being in places like this" she said realizing how silly she most likely sounded to him. He was Daniel Meade, he was surely used to lavish things.
He shook his head "It's not crazy. You're right. It is beautiful."
She bit her lip as she looked to him. He shot her such a charming smile, she felt butterflies in her stomach at how handsome he was. She was sort of forgetting how terribly he treated her so long ago.
"So, what's that drink you got there that you spilled all over me, huh?" he asked with a chuckle. She laughed, but said "Hey, that was an accident!"
He laughed at hearing her sweet laugh. She sounded so familiar.
"It's a mango margarita! Wanna try?" she asked holding it out to him. He grinned "sure"
They stopped walking briefly and he took a sip as she held it out to him. His eyes remained on her, resulting in her to blush at his gaze. She was so cute.
"Mm...surprisingly good. I'm more of a scotch drinker, but I like it."
She smiled as she pulled it back toward her, her eyes glued to his shining blue eyes. How could his eyes be so mesmerizing even while he was wearing a mask? The white of the mask caused those blue eyes to be even more striking. It was totally insane how gorgeous the man was. She remembered how flustered she was when she met him. She thought he was so cute and handsome then.
That was all before he was so mean to her.
And now…
she wasn't sure what was going on.
He smirked at her, then started walking again. "So…"
She followed him "So?"
He smiled "What brings you to this party?" he asked curiously.
"My sister got invited by this friend of hers who's a makeup artist for fashion shows. And she invited me to come with her."
He nodded "Cool, so... where's your sister? How come you're not with her?" he asked in wonder. She smiled "We were dancing and I got tired and felt like taking a walk outside. It's so pretty out here"
He smiled, but said "What else?"
She looked at him in surprise "What do you mean?"
He smirked "Well, you're a beautiful young woman here with your sister and you rather walk out here with a stranger?"
She blushed, both at hearing him say she was beautiful and having him call her out. "I guess I'm sort of out of my element in there. I'm not as confident as my sister; she's better at making friends than I am."
"I know how that feels. My brother was always the better one at everything. He was better at school, better at sports, better at getting my dad to like him. He was the golden child"
"Was?" she asked quietly. He looked down "Uh...he died almost two years ago in a skiing accident"
She looked at him "I'm sorry."
They remained silent as they walked for a moment until they reached this amazing beautiful tree with the most grand branches, hanging from them these pretty colored glass lanterns, and a swing on the strongest branch.
Her eyes became glossy as they stopped at the tree. "I lost my mom when I was twelve."
He gave her a sad smile "I'm sure you miss her a lot"
She nodded "You must miss your brother, too?"
Daniel sighed as he placed his hands in his pockets "Yeah, despite everything, he was my best friend. I don't really have a lot of those these days. I have this one pal of mine, Becks, but he's always traveling, so it's hard to keep in touch."
She nodded in understanding "I don't think I have any friends other than my sister" she said then laughed "Wow, we sound so pathetic!" she said with another laugh. He looked offended "Hey! I'm not pathetic!"
Betty giggled, and he rolled his eyes "Fine, maybe I am right now!"
She laughed again and he felt his heart skip at her purely positive laugh. He stared at her for a moment, getting lost in her pretty smile, enjoying how the light from the hanging lanterns created this rainbow colored glow on her. She was so freaking beautiful.
As Betty saw that he was watching her a chill went through her and he seemed to notice.
He surprised her when he took off his jacket in one swift move, giving her the chance to notice just how fit he was, his shirt tight enough to reveal that he had a strong chest and arms.
She felt flustered and held her breath when he moved in front of her and said "Here, you can wear my jacket. I know it's pretty chilly out here" he wrapped it around her, his eyes looking into hers.
As he secured his jacket around her shoulders, he took in the front of her dress, seeing her more than enticing cleavage from the cut of it, then noticed the butterfly pin at the center of her chest "Hey, my mom is wearing a butterfly pin just like yours tonight" he said causing her to blush since it was obvious where his eyes were drawn, but her eyes grew bright realizing what he said "Wait, is your mom's name Claire?" she asked.
Now his eyes were wide in surprise "Yeah?"
Her smile brightened "Your mom gave this to me because she saw that I liked butterflies. She is so nice!"
Daniel's smile brightened "That's so funny. How did you meet her?"
Betty blushed "Um...well, I sort of bumped into her, too"
He grinned at her, then laughed "Wow, you really are clumsy!" he said playfully. She blushed, but laughed as she said "Hey, don't be mean!"
He chuckled, his heart seemed to fill with warmth at her laugh. "So, now that you've met me and my mom, maybe I should get your name"
Betty's heart raced, shoot, she wasn't sure she wanted to tell him her name. She was enjoying talking to him so much, she didn't want him to freak out, if the chance of him knowing who she was would make him feel strange.
What was she going to do?