CHAPTER 4:
Daniel couldn't believe it. Wilhelmina texted him, telling him that the deal is done and that Connor handed over the money. He wasn't expecting the good news so soon. He rushed over to her place following the meeting he couldn't get out of as soon as he read her text. The door flung open and he smiled as soon as her saw her. She couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Hey"
"Daniel" She simply acknowledged, moving aside so he could come in.
"So?"
"It's done. Connor gave me the account numbers."
"So you have it all?" He asked as he followed her to the kitchen
"WE have it all." She corrected. He wasn't sure where this team player Wilhelmina came from but he was liking her. Quite a lot.
"This is fantastic. Now all we have to do is buy Hartley out and you'll be back at Meade with your 50% and your co-Editor-in-Chief of position. Congratulations."
"Not so fast. There's still one remaining issue. Denise Ludwig has to go."
"Well, what can I do? Denise has a four year contract."
"How is that possible? The woman knows absolutely nothing about fashion. Look at what she's wearing." She said pointing to the open magazine "Straight out of last month's Lucky magazine, page 46."
"Well, maybe that's why she hasn't given an interview yet. She's afraid if she opens her mouth, she'll make a complete fool of herself."
"If only we knew someone who had connections to the media." Wilhelmina trailed off
"Yeah, I know." He replied, completely oblivious to what she was hinting at. Wilhelmina cocked her head, looking at him, hoping he'll get it already. "Oh! Yeah, yeah, right."
"Good."
"So uh, how do we go about it?"
"Set up an interview on Fashion Buzz, tell her she has to do it since she's the new Creative Director. And I guarantee you she'll freeze or better yet say something stupid."
"Great. Operation Get-Rid-of-Denise is in motion….Wow I'm perpetrating a scheme with Wilhelmina Slater. I feel so special." He joked and earned a stifled laugh from her.
Fashion Buzz:
"Honestly, I just…I can't get my head around fashion." Denise Admitted
"You can't?" Asked Daniel
"No, it's just dumb. But you know what, it doesn't even matter. And it's the same thing with these overpriced rags, you know? I don't care if it's Donna Karan or dog food, it's just something to sell."
"In light of Denise Ludwig's blasphemous interview, I've been pumping my contacts at Mode for info. Late word into the Fashion Buzz newsroom is Denise has resigned from her post and is returning to her Hollywood roots, running a major TV studio." Said Suzuki on the screen
"This is a category-five crap storm." Cal said furiously. Daniel turned off the TV and spoke up
"Well, fortunately Wilhelmina is available to step right back into her old job."
"Over my dead body." Claire stated. As if on cue, Wilhelmina appeared in the doorway
"I couldn't have described your body better, Claire." Said Willie, smiling smugly. The trio's eyes darted to the door Hartley's brows furrowed
"What is she doing here? We're not hiring her back." Cal protested
"Actually, Cal, we don't need your vote anymore." Willie said straightforwardly
"That's right. The stolen Meade money has been recovered." Daniel said confidently causing both Cal and Claire's eyes to narrow.
"It has?" Asked an astounded Claire
"We can cut you a cheque for your investment, plus interest, by the end of business today." Willie smirked, secretly liking the now confident Daniel. Claire's eyes kept moving between Wilhelmina and Daniel, watching them carefully and put two and two together.
"Wait a minute, you two are partners in this, aren't you? You set up that Denise video and now you're trying to push Cal out."
"Look, I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up. You don't tell me when to leave. No one does." Said Cal, directing his statement at Daniel with a determined look.
"Well, I was hoping you weren't gonna make this difficult." Said Daniel
"You don't know what difficult is, but you might learn yet." Hartley threatened and then turned on his heel and stormed out. Claire took one last look at Daniel and followed.
"Mom"
"I don't want to hear it. You choose this woman over family? I think that speak volumes." His mother said venomously and then walked out. Willie rolled her eyes at that.
"That went well. Now what?" Said Willie
"You let me deal with my mother. All we need to do is get her on our side and then she'll convince Cal to leave."
By the end of business the following day, Hartley had caved and took the buyout. Daniel didn't know how his mom managed to persuade him to go, he thought maybe it was the conversation he and his mother had the previous evening. However he wouldn't lose sleep over it, the bastard was gone and Wilhelmina would be returning to work the following day. He didn't know why he suddenly felt giddy inside that she was coming back. He thought maybe it was because this time, she wasn't coming back as an enemy but a partner he was confident that things would be different this time. Since the Bahamas, something changed between them, that he knew for sure.
The same was for Wilhelmina. She was excited to be back at Mode. And she made a little promise to herself that no more schemes. Just business.
As she was directing the movers to her office, Claire's voice called out to her.
"Not wasting anytime, I see!" Claire yelled. As Willie walked over, she could have sworn that the older woman's lips twitched into a smile.
"There are trends to be set, dreams to trampled. Kudos on outmaneuvering Hartley. You must have found one mighty big stick to beat that horse with." Said Wilhelmina, wearing a smug smile
"I know you had something to do with this."
"Claire, whatever are you talking about?" She asked, feigning innocence.
"Confidential files don't just land on people's desks around here by accident." Claire said, her eyes scanning the vicinity and moved a little closer to Willie "I don't want Daniel to know about South Dakota. Is that understood?"
"Claire, Darling, how can I tell Daniel something I know absolutely nothing about?" She asked with phony innocence, shrugged then walked off. Her strut led to the orange doughnut.
"Amanda?"
"Yes, Wilhelmina?"
"I need you to organize interviews for a new assistant."
"Oh, you're not taking Marc back from Daniel?"
"No. Now can you set up the best candidates by the end of this week please?"
"Consider it done."
"Thank you." With that she strutted to her office.
She stood by the window, looking out the view she missed so much. She was already formulating how she was going to turn the magazine around and restore its former glory. There was also Meade Publications which required her attention. Never again will she rely on accountants when it comes to business. She learned that the hard way.
"Hey" Came Daniel's voice causing her to turn "Can you believe Hartley's gone?"
"I know" She muttered, smirking
"Do you have any idea how he decided to give in?"
"No."
"Aren't you a little bit curious?"
"I would be lying if I say that I am."
"My mom managed to convince him to leave. I don't know how she did it, but I'm glad. Welcome back, Willie."
"Thanks, Daniel. But uh…don't call me Willie."
"Got it." He said muffling a giggle
"So, I guess we should put together a strategy regarding the other magazines and…"
"We can do that tomorrow, because tonight I'm going to a celebratory dinner…with you." She quirked her brow
"What?"
"I'm buying the victory dinner and YOU are coming with me."
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
"I'm taking you to the restaurant with the best caviar in all of New York."
"Petrossian?"
"You betcha."
"How the hell did you get a reservation?
"I have my ways."
"So, when do we leave?"
"We can go now if you're ready."
"Just give me a minute." He nodded and slipped out of her office.
Later that evening, they were dining at one of Manhattan's finest restaurants with a whole bottle of champagne to complement their caviar and smoked salmon.
"We lost a lot of advertising when he was in charge." Daniel stated between bites
"I know. But don't worry, we are going to rebound from it. I have tons of ideas to make the magazine and the rest of Meade get back to its former glory." Daniel looked at her with a serious expression before speaking.
"Wilhelmina, I can't thank you enough for what you did."
"You don't have to thank me at all. It was the least I could do after all I've put you and your family through. This was nothing."
"No, it wasn't nothing. Thank you."
"You should be thanking the senator. You should give him call. He loves it when people praise him and tell him what a great, noble man he is."
"I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning. So, what are you going to do with your profits? I mean after the dust has settled and we actually make profits."
"I'm gonna buy myself an island and a private jet." Willie answered without any contemplation. Daniel chuckled
"I'm not joking, Daniel."
"For real?"
"Sure, why not? I have no kid I'm putting trough college. I don't have little kids. Life is too short, the least I can do is enjoy it."
"I hear you. So…are you okay?"
"With what?"
"C'mon Willie I mean with Connor. You were in love with the guy…you probably still…"
"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HIM." She snapped defensively. What Daniel didn't know is that she had been having conjugal visits with him since his arrest and their relationship tanked a few days ago. Connor told her as soon as they started up that there was no future in what they were doing, that she should be with other men who can give her what she deserved. He thought he was doing it for her but he had hurt her again. At least this time he did her the courtesy of dumping her to her face.
"Look, I don't want to talk about Connor. Right now, let's just have this, okay? Let's just focus on our new partnership."
"You're right."
"I'm always right." She said causing Daniel to laugh "I gotta give it to you, what you did to Denise Ludwig was evil. I'm so proud of you."
"Actually, she answered the interview questions pretty well. She admitted that she paid some college freshman to pull some fashion quotes. And I started to think 'WWWD -What would Wilhelmina do?' And I just signaled to Marc to record her saying that." The pair descended in a wave of laughter
"Again, I'm proud of you."
"Thanks. That is the first time you've ever said that to me. I'm flattered"
"You better be." They burst in another bout of chuckles
"You know, I haven't laughed like this in…a while." Admitted Daniel
"That's good. You are going to find yourself smiling and laughing a little bit more with time." She reassured him
"I was planning on seeing a therapist."
"You should. Hold on." She fished in her purse for something. She produced a business card and slid it across the table."
"What's this?"
"This is doctor Sanders' business card. He's good. Or did you have a therapist in mind already?"
"No."
"Then you should go see him. Daniel, I promise you, he's just a therapist, he won't steal your soul. I've been seeing him for a while, he might help you. He and I are not even friends. He was recommended to me by a physician at Mount Sinai."
"Why would a doctor refer you to a shrink?"
"When I lost my…when I lost William, I was devastated. I tried to mask it but then one evening, I had a panic attack." Daniel's eyes widened at that confession. "I was on my way from work and…it happened. I freaked out so bad I thought I was having a heart attack or dying or something. My driver took me to the hospital and they treated me and that's how I was referred to a therapist."
"You had a panic attack?"
"Yeah and I had another one about three weeks after the first one. The second one actually happened at the office."
"In broad daylight?"
"Yes. I tried to control it and your mom walked in just as I was perspiring and made a jab about me going through menopause. I couldn't hear a word she said after that, but it eventually stopped with some breathing exercises."
"That's not good, Wilhelmina."
"I know and I never had another panic attack after that one. I'm not saying I'm close to better but I'm sure he can help you."
"How long have you been seeing him?"
"Since…A few weeks after I found out that William was actually Christina's. The thought of losing another son was just…too much."
"I can't even begin to express how that feels." He said sincerely
The scene was strange to him. The strange thing about it is that he and Wilhelmina were on the same side. An even stranger part about it all was how he began seeing her in a completely different light after what she shared. Not just what she told him this evening but from what she told him in the Bahamas about losing a family. Her voice interjected his thoughts.
"Daniel?"
"Huh?"
"If you tell anybody about this, I will castrate you."
'And there she is.' He thought, smiling internally
