Valentine Masquerade
Chapter 8: Finding You
Daniel made it to his parents house in only half an hour. He really hoped that this would work.
Once he parked, he practically jumped out of his car and ran down the walkway into the house "MOM?!" he called once he walked in.
"Daniel?" Claire said as she saw her son run up the stairs. "Mom!"
Claire hugged her son once he made it up "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright. I've been worried sick about you!"
"I'm feeling better, but I really need your help! Please tell me we still have the invites from last nights party?"
Claire looked at him in confusion, but said "I think there was a box with them. What is this about?" she asked curiously, seeing how frantic he was.
"Great, I just need to find an invite in there!" he said as he followed her down the stairs and she found the box, handing it to him. Daniel grinned "Yes! Please let it be in here!" he said to himself as he sat at the bench at the foot of the stairs, his mom sitting beside him.
"Would you mind telling me what on earth is going on and getting you so worked up?"
"Mom, I met this amazing girl last night, but she left without telling me who she was. I was hoping maybe her invitation would have her full name and I could find her."
Claire watched her son take out all the invitations, this light in his eyes. She smiled and said "Want me to help you look?"
He nodded with a grin "Yes, here, look for an invite that says Bella"
"Bella, huh?" she took her stack and looked through not seeing any Bella written down.
Daniel frowned as he got near the end of his stack without finding it. "What? There's no Bella in here! Where the hell did she come from then? She said she came with her sister" he sighed, feeling disheartened.
He took his mom's stack and read one after the other with no luck, but then his eyes grew when he read Betty Suarez.
No way? It couldn't have been her.
Could it? His smile brightened "Mom, the girl I met said she ran into you, and you gave her your butterfly pin because she liked it so much"
Claire nodded with a smile "Oh! yes, she was so sweet! You met her? I was hoping I'd find you so I could introduce you, but I couldn't spot either of you again. She said her name was... "
"Betty Suarez?" he asked, his heart racing in excitement. She nodded with a smile "Yes! That's right"
Daniel laughed "Wow! No wonder she felt so familiar!"
He smirked, remembering how she ran into the glass door of the conference room on her first day. And how she bumped into him. She was quite clumsy it seemed.
He frowned, though, remembering that day that she quit and how horribly he treated her. No wonder she didn't want anything to do with him.
"Mom, I'm such an ass! Betty Suarez was that assistant that I told you worked for me and quit because I was such a freaking jerk to her, all because she didn't fit in with Mode."
"She told you her name was Bella?" Claire asked in wonder.
He nodded "Yeah, and I don't blame her. I was total dick to her when she worked for me, all because she wasn't 'pretty' enough"
Claire looked at her son like he was crazy "Are you blind? She was stunning!"
He nodded "Yeah, but… well" he ran his hand through his hair "She dressed pretty crazy when she worked for me, and her hair was frizzy and she had braces and glasses, so she looks totally different now. She came to work on her first day in a freaking red and blue poncho!" he said with a chuckle.
Claire smiled "she sounds like a mess"
Daniel nodded slowly "yeah, but... " he sighed "I had the best freaking time with her last night! I'm such an idiot! I can't believe I didn't put it together. I knew I recognized her smile"
Claire smiled "I didn't talk to her for very long but she seemed very sweet and I liked her quite a bit."
Daniel smiled "Yeah, she seemed to like you, too. She's so cute and clumsy! She said she bumped into you and then that was how I saw her, she bumped into me and spilled her silly mango margarita on me. She even tripped at the gazebo when she was coming up the steps. And on her first day working for me, she ran into the glass door of the conference room." He chuckled at the fond memory.
Claire was smiling as she listened to him talk about this Betty.
Daniel sighed "I wish I wasn't such a jerk to her. It was all that idiotic Phillippe's fault, convincing me she didn't belong at Mode. I was such an idiot to listen to him."
Daniel laughed "Come to think of it, he probably got mad that she called him out on his photography for imitating some other photographer. She was really smart, too. I found this proposal she left on my desk that she wrote for the Fabia account and it was so beautiful. I think it was a picture of her when she was little with her mom putting makeup, and she compiled a bunch of stats on the demographic and how to appeal to a more diverse target "
He sighed, feeling disappointed at how he didn't give her a chance. "I just feel so bad that I pushed her away. I didn't even give her a fair chance. Seeing the look on her face the day she quit was the worst."
Claire placed her hand on top of his "Daniel, we all make mistakes, maybe this is your second chance with her. She seems wonderful, honestly. It's obvious she left a mark on you, if you even remember all these things about her."
Daniel smiled "yeah, and I had the most amazing time with her last night. I never felt that way with anyone. I felt like she let me just be...myself. Is that crazy?"
Claire smiled "No, that is very nice! I'm so happy to hear that. You should definitely find this young lady!"
Daniel nodded "I definitely want to!"
He frowned "but...what if she hates me for how mean I was to her before, or thinks I only like her because she looks so much prettier now. Honestly, I had no idea who she was. Sure she looked really freaking gorgeous, I mean did you see her smile? It was breathtaking! Having no braces really brightens it up. I remember even with her braces her smile was really cute, though"
Claire was smiling as she listened to him. Daniel looked to her "It's more than that, though. We walked through the garden together and I just had such a good time talking to her. I even told her about Alex, and she told me she lost her mom." He looked to his mom with a sad smile.
He smiled "I pushed her on the swing, and she was going to leave but I took her to the gazebo and seeing her eyes light up and her smiling made me feel good and ...we danced a bit and I don't know, I didn't want our night to end" he sighed. "Her sister called when we ...I almost kissed her" he said, his face turning a little red and Claire laughed.
He shook his head, but continued to tell her "I was so bummed she had to leave. I gave her a rose and uh...I took off my mask and told her who I was. She placed a kiss to my cheek and left" he sighed deeply, feeling his chest tighten, wondering how she could make him feel such a way.
"I don't get it, do you think she knew it was me the whole time? Why else would she tell me her name was Bella? Why did she kiss me, even after knowing it was me?"
Claire shrugged "Perhaps, she recognized you. I'm sure if she wanted to, dear, she could have thrown her drink in your face and told you to go to hell the minute she saw you, but she gave you a chance. I think she must have had a great time with you if she stuck around for so long. Perhaps, she didn't tell you who she was because she liked having this memory of you."
Daniel sighed "I don't know. Why would she want anything to do with me after how I treated her? That's probably why she left."
Claire smiled "Daniel, don't miss your chance of being with someone special just because you're worried about putting your heart out there. You are quite the charmer when you're in love. I think you are just waiting for the right person to fill that sweet heart of yours." she said with a playful smile poking him in his chest.
Daniel laughed "Mom, please, I'm not your little boy anymore."
Claire's eyes became glossy "You will always be my little boy. I love you, my darling son" she squeezed his hand warmly and he smiled and placed a kiss to her cheek "I love you, too, mom."
He took a breath "So, you think I should try to find her?"
Claire beamed and nodded "Yes, darling, don't let her get away this time"
"I think I remember where she lives. I wanted to apologize to her after she quit and ask her to come back to work for me, but I just thought she deserved better than me, better than Mode. She was too nice to be wrapped up in all that drama."
She nodded in agreement "yes, it would be terrible to see her be treated unfairly just because of her looks, though, seems like the ultimate payback that she blossomed into that beautiful young lady"
He smiled "yeah...she really is beautiful, but not just on the outside, I really liked getting to know her. I would have loved to spend the whole night talking to her. She is so easy to talk to. I felt closer to her than I did with Sofia."
Claire smiled and took the invitation with Betty's name on it, looked it over and then to her son and laughed as she said "I told you you'd meet someone special. You should always listen to you mother, darling. I know you better than anyone"
He rolled his eyes "Yeah, I hate that!"
She chuckled. Daniel smiled and wrapped his arms around her "Thanks for listening, mom."
Claire placed a kiss to his cheek "I love spending time with you, dear. I'm so sorry for all those times I let my troubles come in between us."
He shrugged "It's fine, mom. We're all doing better now" he got up, placing the box with all the invites on the bench. She stood up, and held out the invitation with Betty's name on it. "Good luck"
He smiled as he took it from her. "Thanks. I'll let you know how things go" he said as he placed a kiss to her cheek.
When Daniel left, he couldn't wait to see her, but knew he had to take a breath and calm down. He would go to her house tomorrow. He wondered if she still lived there. He just had to be patient enough to wait until tomorrow to find out.
Part of him wanted to say screw it and just go find her now, but his impulsive behavior always got him into a mess, so he took a deep breath and smiled as he thought about her.
"My Betty…"