Valentine Masquerade
Hello my friends!
Here is the penultimate chapter to this story! I hope you enjoy it. It's a nice long chapter and then hopefully soon I'll have the last chapter to finish this romantic story with a special artwork I did for it which you can see on livejournal 💗 And then hopefully will try to work on Miss Betty Suarez, Nanny. 😘
Chapter 17: Stand By You
After a little while longer of them hanging out together at the bridge enjoying the night and view, Daniel took her to an ice cream place. After they had their ice creams they decided to walk in the park.
They walked for a couple of minutes in silence as they strolled through hand in hand; Daniel glanced at her with a smile. Betty blushed and looked to him. "What?"
He grinned, "you're just really cute."
She blushed, and he let go of her hand, making her look at him in surprise, but he quickly wrapped his arm around her. She laced her arm around his waist, pulling herself in closer to him.
He felt like he was in peace, "How is it that just doing something so simple like this with you feels so amazing?" He asked
She looked up at him with a sweet smile, "because we fell in love?"
He grinned, "well yeah, I'm sure that is a big factor, but I think you just make everyone feel good. You have this energy about you that makes everyone feel calm and appreciated. I noticed it the first day we met."
"You did? Even though I spilled my drink on you?" She said with a laugh.
He smirked, "I don't mean this time. I mean the real first time we met. At Mode. Even though I felt so nervous and humiliated by Wilhelmina, seeing you walking into the conference room after you-"
She blushed, and he smiled, "-you know. strangely, made me less nervous"
She was surprised "really? But you seemed disappointed when I told you I was going to be your assistant"
He nodded, "Yah, I was, but it was mostly because you seemed just as out of place as I felt. Believe it or not, the first couple of days we worked together I was glad to have someone as an assistant that was ambitious, and when you came in and met that stupid photographer Phillipe, you were so cute all excited to meet him.
But when you called him out on being a copycat, he got really upset, then he convinced me to try to fire you. I regret listening to that jerk so much."
Betty listened attentively and when they came across a bench she led him there to sit. "Daniel, I've forgiven you. You don't have to keep tormenting yourself over it. What matters is that you grow from it."
He picked up her hand warmly.
She shrugged, "Believe me, I didn't realize I was still so affected by what you did to me until I saw you again at the party. But you showed me the kindness I saw in you that first day we met. You were the only one who even asked me if I was ok. And I actually did like working with you at first until you started torturing me" she teased.
He blushed, and she continued, "and I guess you following me to apologize showed me you weren't a total jerk." She placed her hand to his cheek, "I'm happy that we got to reconnect. I love you"
He smiled and held her face, looking in her beautiful eyes before he kissed her. "I love you, Betty."
She smiled brightly. He grinned and hugged her. "You are so great my masquerade butterfly. By the way, that is pretty amazing that my mom wants you to work with her."
Betty beamed, "I know! That is so amazing. I can't believe it. I must be dreaming."
"You deserve it, Betty."
Her eyes became glossy, "You inspired me."
He smiled "well, you have definitely inspired me with your kindness and courage. I really liked how you called out my dad"
Betty blushed, "thanks, I guess."
He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her again. She sighed as she leaned into him, feeling so many butterflies, but looked at him and said "Do you want to talk about what happened back there?"
He sighed, "not really, but since you care, I guess I should. I'm just so angry that they did that stuff and didn't even tell me. My brother is still alive, but is my sister now? How do I even process that? And the fact that he faked his own death and didn't tell me or mom? I guess we weren't as close as I thought we were if he didn't even trust me."
Betty listened, seeing that his eyes were glossy as he spoke. She held his hand in hers hoping to transmit her warmth and support.
He squeezed her hand as he let out another deep sigh "and I have a long lost brother too? That is just insane. I just feel…"
"What?" She asked gently.
He wiped at the stray tear that slid down his face. "Hurt and stupid. I know we had our problems but I always thought we were close. If both my mom and brother couldn't trust me or tell me what was going on, maybe I wasn't as good a brother or son as I thought."
"You don't know that Daniel. I'm sure they had their reasons for not telling you. I think with your mom she was scared. Maybe she knew you would be hurt and just didn't want to hurt you. I know it doesn't justify her not telling you, but…"
She sighed, "this kind of happened to me and my sister. We recently found out that our Mami had been married before in Mexico. And that my papi was a private chef for her husband. Her husband was very abusive and I guess in the time that my father worked for them he and my mami fell in love. When her husband was abusing her my papi fought with him and accidentally killed him. The only reason we found all this out was because he was an illegal immigrant and was having problems with his health insurance."
Daniel listened to her in surprise.
Betty sighed, "I still feel bad that our Papi lied to us and made us think that he and my mami were each other's first love. I guess, in a way, he didn't necessarily 'lie' because it was true, but I was so sad and hurt that he had hid this all from us."
"What I'm trying to say is that we never really know someone's reason for their actions. Sometimes they think they are protecting us. All you can really do to heal from it is to forgive them."
Daniel smiled as he looked at Betty "you have such a beautiful heart, Betty. Thank you."
"For what?"
He smiled and picked up their joined hands and placed a kiss to hers. "For forgiving me, for being so kind, for sharing your story with me. I feel a lot better, but that was true the moment you spilled your mango margarita on me."
She giggled, and he felt this lightness in his heart.
They sat for several minutes enjoying the comfortable silence and the beautiful night, then decided to walk some more, and were surprised when they started to hear music. "Do you hear that?" Daniel asked, and she nodded, "yes, I thought I was imagining it. Where is the music coming from?"
He grinned "wanna check it out?" He held his hand out for her and she nodded with a smile placing her hand in his. They soon followed the sound of the music and stumbled upon an outdoor party in the middle of the park, coming to find that it was a wedding.
"Wow, it's so beautiful" Betty stated in awe at how they decorated the gazebo and surrounding trees with beautiful lights and flowers. There were a few tables around on either side of the gazebo and then chairs for the ceremony in the front and back. It was a very charming and modest wedding.
"We should check it out."
"What? But it's someone's wedding, Daniel."
He grinned, "it's outside… we can sneak over. No one will notice, everyone is either dancing or eating. I think they already had the ceremony."
Betty giggled as she followed him, "Daniel, we're not really dressed for a wedding." He smirked, and surprised her by pulling her close, "All you have to do is ditch this jacket, and you would look perfect."
She blushed at the flirtiness in his eyes, "what about you, though?"
He glanced around and spotted a black suit jacket draped on the back of one of the chairs; he went over and grabbed it, quickly pulling it on. Betty giggled, but said "won't someone notice?"
He chuckled, "Betty! I'm just borrowing it. I'm sure whoever's jacket it is is somewhere enjoying the bar or dancing."
He held his hand out to her "come on, this would actually make a pretty cool story for your blog, don't you think?" He smirked and she shook her head, failing at keeping back her smile at his antics "oh, fine! I guess we'll be wedding crashers !"
He laughed as she placed her hand in his, and pulled her to him. She quickly took off her leather jacket and draped it on a chair in the back.
He grinned, his eyes shining, "you look so beautiful and hot. You could easily be one of her bridesmaids."
Betty blushed. He wasn't wrong, it seemed that the bridal party's dress color was similar to hers.
He smiled, "wanna see if we can get some cake?"
She laughed, "sure, why not?"
They went over to a table that had all sorts of beautiful and decadent looking desserts splayed all across the table and champagne flutes at the end. "Wow, this looks amazing, are you sure this is ok, Daniel? We should just ask the bride or-?"
Before she could finish, someone behind them said, "ask the bride what?"
They turned to see said bride looking stunning in her glittering white dress, a curious smirk on her face. Daniel looked nervous, and Betty blushed, "um, hi, I'm Betty and this is Daniel, we were walking in the park and heard the music, so we followed it here and found your beautiful wedding. My...um…boyfriend thought it might be ok to crash your wedding since it was outside, but I told him we should ask if it was ok…"
"Betty!" Daniél felt embarrassed, but when the bride started laughing, he glanced at Betty curiously, who blushed.
The bride smiled, her hand on her hip, "so Betty, was it? If you had asked me half an hour ago I would have said, 'Are you crazy for wanting to crash my wedding?' Since I hadn't eaten anything all day, but since I actually had some cake and champagne not too long ago, I feel so much better and not as crazy."
Betty giggled, and the bride smiled, "So consider yourselves lucky, there is more than enough for you both to enjoy."
Daniel looked at Betty in surprise. Betty hugged her, "thank you so much. You're so sweet, and you look so beautiful. This is such a cute and charming wedding."
The bride blushed, "Thank you. I'm Mellie, by the way."
"Nice to meet you."
Mellie smiled at them when someone came over and placed an arm around her. "Hey Mel, I thought you were gonna get me a cupcake?"
Mellie blushed, "sorry babe, this is my friend Betty and her boyfriend, Daniel. They showed up late and I was saying hi."
"I thought I knew all your friends, sweetness."
She giggled, "you do, I'm just teasing. They are crashing our wedding."
Betty and Daniel both blushed as the groom looked at them with his eyebrow raised. Mellie giggled some more and said "I invited them to stay. They are really nice, actually. Especially Betty."
The groom smiled, this sweet adoration in his eyes as he looked at his bride. "This is why I married you. Anyone else would have gotten upset, but you are always so nice and giving. I love you and your kind heart."
Mellie blushed, her eyes shining with mutual affection. "I love you"
Betty and Daniel both looked to each other with a smile at how in love they were. Daniel took Betty's hand and looked back to the couple and said "Apparently, Betty and Mellie have that in common. She is so forgiving and sweet and thinks about others and I am finding myself falling deeper in love with her the more we spend time with each other."
This time Betty blushed, feeling so many butterflies at the admiration and love she could see in Daniel's eyes.
The groom smiled "then please stay and have a good time. I'm Rick. Consider yourselves our friends now."
"Wow. Thanks. Both of you. For your kindness. I'm glad Betty decided to tell the truth." Daniel wrapped his arm around Betty.
Mellie smiled, "Have fun." She shot Betty a flirty wink before she and her husband walked off, laughing together. Betty bit her lip, glancing shyly to Daniel, who grinned. "You are amazing. How do you do that?"
"What?"
"Get everyone to like you?"
Betty shrugged, "I'm not sure that is true, Daniel. I got bullied a lot when I was younger and wasn't always treated the best, as you know..."
He pulled her close and into a warm hug, "Well, I happen to know that most people who meet you find you charming and wind up liking you. Like me, my mom, my dad…"
Betty blushed, and he continued "everyone at the pizza place we went to loved you, too, the lady at the ice cream shop gave you an extra scoop because you complimented her on her smile, you charmed these two complete strangers as we crashed their wedding. Hell, I'm sure if you were at Mode long enough, everyone there would end up loving you, including Wilhelmina."
Betty stared at him in awe, her eyes glossy. He picked up her hand and placed a kiss as he looked in her eyes. "I love you"
Betty felt like she was in a dream or something with how they got together and found love in each other, and all the sweet, amazing things Daniel has said and done for her since reconnecting. She hugged him, hoping to transmit how incredible he made her feel, "I love you, too, Daniel."
He smiled as he pulled away, "it feels so amazing hearing you say that. I also really liked you calling me your boyfriend" he winked at her and she blushed, but pulled him to her for a kiss. "Good, because I liked saying it"
He grinned, "cool, so, let's grab some dessert. Look at you, getting all kinds of sweet treats tonight."
She laughed, "it's awesome. I love sweets."
He smiled as he handed her a plate and they started to pick a few of the desserts they liked. He handed her a glass of champagne with a smirk. "Don't go spilling your drink on me. You wouldn't want to ruin someone's else's jacket."
She smiled and took the champagne from him and said, "you can take it off, now, since we are no longer sneaking in."
He grinned, "do you think I look hotter without it?" Once they found a table he started to take the jacket off. Betty bit her lip as her eyes glanced over him. He was way too charming and handsome for his own good. "You look hot all the time."
He grinned mischievously "is that so?" He sat down next to her, invading her space, "well, you, my masquerade love, are smokin!" He placed a playful, deep kiss to her neck, making her laugh and push him away, "Daniel…"
He chuckled "you are cute."
She shook her head, blushing "and you are a flirt"
He smirked, "that is true"
She giggled, then took a sip of the champagne "This is good. I've never had champagne before."
"Really? Well, I'm glad I get to share that experience with you"
Betty smiled, flutters in her stomach, then looked at him and said "how did we end up here?"
He smirked, "we were walking in the park and heard music and found it"
She laughed, "No, Daniel, I mean-us!"
He chuckled, and wrapped his arm around her chair pulling himself in closer to her, "I know, I was just teasing you. Hmm… magic, right? We somehow were in the same place and bumped into each other, literally, and…" he stared into her eyes, his heart racing, "I had an amazing time with this enchanting bella, who I couldn't stop thinking about and felt a real connection to. When I found out it was you… Betty, I was both shocked and grateful. What are the odds? Seems like magic to me."
Betty stared at him, her eyes shining in fascination and awe. It definitely felt like magic. "Yeah...like a blizzard…"
He grinned, "exactly"
She picked up her glass "to magic"
He smiled and picked up his glass "and second chances"
She smiled and clinked her glass with his, her eyes on his, "and falling in love"
He couldn't resist, and kissed her. She placed her hand on his cheek as she extended the kiss. When he pulled away, he smiled, feeling like he was flying at the moment.
They took their drinks, their eyes shining. When he placed his glass down, he quickly got up and held his hand out, "wanna dance?"
She smiled and placed her hand in his. He pulled her up, his hands resting around her waist, as he looked at her with the best, most swoon worthy smile.
She felt like she was floating on a cloud at the moment.
He soon led her over to where there weren't many people, surrounded by the trees with their string lights, the soft charming music playing, making the whole mood entirely romantic. They danced together for a few minutes, when Daniel said, "so...how would you want your wedding to be?"
She felt butterflies, "Uh… I guess something like this is nice. I would want it to be small."
He smiled as he listened. She continued, her eyes starting to sparkle as she became more excited, "I like all the lights. The garden at your parent's place was so beautiful. A place like that… would be so…"
He grinned "magical?"
She laughed, "yeah!"
He chuckled, "I'd never found the gardens more beautiful than with you being there making that magic come alive."
She smiled, her eyes shining, "what about you? You were engaged, you must have thought about it."
He sighed, "with...my ex... everything felt showy, and like there was something to prove. I'm sure she would have wanted something big, but honestly, I kind of like the idea of having it be small. Honestly, the smaller the better. I don't have a lot of friends, anyway."
He smiled as they moved together, the lights swirling across them, making Betty glow. "As long as I have the woman of my dreams there, I'd be happy."
Betty felt like her heart was jumping at the romantic look in Daniel's eyes as he looked at her. She was truly amazed she went from wanting to never see him again to hoping she got to see him everyday. That they were here like this having the most beautiful time together. That he really was her masquerade prince.
"Hey, our song is playing." he stated happily.
"What song?"
He smirked, "the one we sang together at the pizza place. I got you, babe"
Betty bit her lip, then surprised him by pulling him down for a long kiss. He pulled her closer, feeling so happy and like everything was right in the world when he was with Betty. He'd never felt like this before with anyone. He was more and more sure with each minute they spent together that she was his true love.
They danced for several more minutes, before they went back and ate their desserts, happily surprised when the married couple came over and chatted with them for a little while, having a blast hearing how funny they were together, cracking jokes and laughing. The whole time Daniel was holding Betty's hand.
It was nearly five in the morning when Daniel dropped Betty back to her home in Queens. He quickly got out of the car and came around to her side, opening the door for her. She laughed and took his hand. He placed a playful kiss to her cheek, and then started to walk her to the door.
Once they reached the door, Daniel sighed, "I don't want this date to ever end. Thank you, Betty."
"For what, Daniel?"
He placed his hands to her waist pulling her close, "For giving me this chance. Going on this date with me. I had the best time. And what makes this date so much better than even our time at the party was that I got to spend it with you. Betty."
Betty couldn't suppress the tears that filled her eyes, her heart wanting to burst at how amazing the things he said were and how simply wonderful and sweet Daniel was, too. She placed her hand to his cheek, "I love you."
He smiled, softly trailing his hands up her arms. She smiled and pulled him to her for a kiss, wanting to pour all her love for him in it.
When she pulled away, her eyes met his, and he placed his hands to her face, wiping the tears that had slid down, looking at her with the sweetest smile. "I love you, too, Betty."
She nearly melted in his grasp, blushing a little at the effect he had on her. He grinned, "Sweet dreams, bella…"
She blushed, and said "I can't wait to see you again."
He smiled and placed a kiss to her hand before he left. She took a breath and got inside her house, melting against the door as she closed it, her heart so light.
"Ehem…"
Betty stood up and saw her sister at the stairs, looking at her with this flirty smirk and her eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Betty… girl, it's past 5."
Betty blushed, "yah… uh, we had an incredible night."
"Obviously! I need all the juicy deets, mami!" Hilda rushed down the steps, quickly embracing her in her excitement.
Betty blushed, "Hilda, shh, it's not what you think. Can I tell you later?"
Hilda pouted, "oh fine! Just tell me one thing."
"What?"
"Is he an amazing kisser or what?"
"Hilda…" Betty blushed; Hilda rolled her eyes, "oh come on, sis. I need to know if he kisses as good as he looks."
Betty blushed, "why?"
Hilda laughed, "Because, I wanted to see you blush! Hah, he must be fan-freakin-tastic for you to be all in loooove."
Betty rolled her eyes and moved past her up the stairs, failing at hiding her blushing. Hilda laughed, "come on, mami, at least tell me that. You look all glowy and happy"
Betty bit her lip, her heart lifting and butterflies coursing through her. "Fine, I love him. He's amazing and I feel incredible when I'm with him. He told me he loved me."
"Oo… I can't wait to read all about it on your blog."
Betty shook her head, her face warming, "goodnight Hilda" she said as she reached her room. "Mhm… good morning, sis. We will be talking later." Hilda laughed.
Betty got dressed, wrote a little bit in her diary, and then got ready for bed, when her phone pinged with a text. She felt her heart soar when she saw it was from Daniel. She quickly opened it and her eyes shined as she read it.
You are the woman of my dreams.
Betty could not wipe the smile off her face. She finally found the man of her dreams, and was amazed that it was Daniel Meade. She quickly texted him back.
Daniel smiled when he got Betty's text. He had just got to the door of his apartment. He quickly opened it and his heart skipped and he could not keep the possibly goofy smile off his face as he read it.
You are the man of my dreams.