CHAPTER 6:

The following morning Daniel sat at his desk, stealing glances at Wilhelmina through the glass door, mulling over the jealousy feeling that crept up on him when Wilhelmina's suitor sent her that text after their meeting. He had a hard time falling asleep the previous night thinking about it, going over theories as to why he felt that way but he quickly contributed the feeling to the fact that he was about to suggest celebratory drinks and some asshole texted her and she chose to celebrate a major account with another man. Frustrated, he sprung to his feet and walked out of his office, he dashed through the office and headed for to features find Betty working alone quietly. She looked up at him and immediately turned her attention back to her work. She was definitely still mad at him.

"Betty." He said tenderly.

"Yes, Daniel?" She said with her attention still on her work.

"Betty, I'm sorry." He offered.

"Uh-huh" She replied in a childlike manner, causing Daniel to stifle a laugh at her behavior. Sitting down on the chair in front of her desk, he spoke again.

"I was wrong. I never should have yelled at you and said all those hurtful things when you accused me of an office affair. I'm really sorry." Betty finally looked up at him with a softened expression.

"I'm sorry too. But I'm not mad at you for yelling at me."

"Is it because I accused of not caring anymore?" He asked.

"That too, but it's how you lashed out at me in her defense, Daniel. I've never seen that look on your face before and when I was talking about her, it was like you wanted to hit me or something."

"C'mon, Betty you know I'll never do something like that."

"I know. And apology accepted."

"Thank you."

"But Daniel, what's happening between you and her?"

"Betty, honestly, nothing. Wilhelmina and I are just friends." Betty looked at him in the eye as he was saying so and he looked innocent enough. However, she had a slight issue with his answer. He didn't say that he and Wilhelmina were friends, he used the phrase 'just friends' which usually comes out as a defense and a justification, without the other party realizing it. And this was the second time he'd said it.

"Then, I'm glad." She offered and gave him a small smile but she couldn't help the fear that arose inside her. Betty knew that Wilhelmina was a ruthless woman and Daniel was still vulnerable, she could play with Daniel's emotions and leave him.


Sitting at her throne, proof reading a copy of a major advertising contract, Wilhelmina was startled by Marc waltzing in her office. She knitted her brows in confusion at his sudden presence as they had been like ships passing through the night ever since he broke the news that he was going to go work for Daniel. So she leaned back in her chair and watched the nervous wreck that she once called an assistant and secretly a friend try to find his voice.

"Willie." He said smiling meekly.

"Marc."

"Uh…how are you?"

"I'm good. Can I help you with something?" She asked coldly.

"Willie, I know that you probably feel betrayed…"

"I don't." She said hastily, cutting him off.

"But…"

"Marc, you wanted to further your career and you thought it wouldn't happen under my purview. You don't need to apologize. There's nothing wrong with ambition." She said, averting her eyes from him and back to the contract.

"That's…great. I…uh…I'm glad." He stammered.

"Good." She said ending the conversation. But he still stood there in front of her, so she flipped her laptop open in an attempt to get him to take the hint and leave her alone. But he remained on the spot. She let out a frustrated sigh.

"Marc? Is there something else?" She asked irritably. Marc parked himself on the chair in front of her desk.

"I was just thinking since we just made up, we should go out and…uh have dinner tonight."

"I can't tonight."

"Oh, hot date?" He asked, his interest prominently peaking.

"Something like that." She replied dismissively.

"How about tomorrow night or we could do lunch…you know girl talk…it has been a while." As Marc rattled on, pushing the subject of them talking, it hit her. Quirking her brow at him, she leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.

"Marc?" She said as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Huh?"

"It's a little bit coincidental, don't you think? Deciding to bury the hatchet the day after Betty confronted Daniel about him leaving his watch at my place, insinuating an affair. Amanda has been listening to my conversations…like someone used to sometime ago. And she came to blab a private conver-…."

"No, Willie, it's…"

"And now you want to soften me so you can find out about my 'sleazy affair' with Daniel. You actually think that this would get me to tell you?"

"Uh…no?" He answered coyly.

"You really think I'm fucking him?" She asked with her brows furrowed.

"I…Willie, no. Of course, not." He answered, chuckling nervously.

"The man just lost his wife, Marc. I know I'm a devious bitch but I have lines that I just don't cross and HE is one of them. So you can spare yourself the time and energy because he is the last person that I will ever sleep with." He noticed that her expression was somewhat neutral, she wasn't mad, she wasn't being defensive, she was being honest.

"Oh, that wasn't the reason…it's not why I wanted to…I just…it's been a while…you know things between us…" He stuttered.

"Let me save your time and mine…there's nothing going on between me and Daniel. There's no scheme, no plan, there's nothing. Our relationship is purely professional."

"I hear you and I believe you Willie but I don't like the way things ended between us."

"God, if I say we can do lunch tomorrow, will you stop?" She asked irritably as she slammed the laptop shut in exasperation.

"Oh…Yes, Willie. So, lunch tomorrow?"

"Yes" She replied, eliciting a smile from him. He scrunched up his nose, and watched her closely; he could have sworn he saw the corners of her mouth turn up.

"Now, please get out of my office." She said dismissively.


A few nights later, Daniel and Wilhelmina sat in his office finishing up some redlining. Willie was the one who was actually redlining the documents on the laptop while Daniel sat on his chase with his dinner while his laptop sat beside him. As they worked, their conversation shifted back and forth between work and personal life. As they sat there, she recounted her lunch with Marc.

"So, what'd you say to him?" Daniel questioned, smirking.

"I told him the same thing that I told him when he came to see me…there's nothing going on between us." She explained.

"And that got him to drop it?"

"Have you met Marc? He went on and on about some glow that he sees on me and how he's known me for five years. I practically had to threaten him with death to get him to shut up about it." Daniel laughed.

"He got it wrong, though. Your glow is from getting some on the regular." He stated with a smirk.

She scoffed "Excuse me?"

"C'mon I was with you a few nights ago when you received the text from that fella." This time she let out a hysterical chortle.

"Oh, yeah. I just…with everything that's going on lately, it's the only thing that keeps my mind off other things." She admitted.

"What about therapy?"

"Therapy is a 50 minute session once a week and it's not the same thing. Therapy is mental, and sex is physical. I consider both of them helpful."

"You know if you wanna blow off steam, there's a gym for that." He suggested worriedly and she sensed it in his tone.

"I go to the gym 4 times a week, thank you very much. You don't have to be concerned, I'm a big girl okay?" She said grinning at him.

"I know but Wilhelmina, I know what you're doing, pretty well. I've been there…masking my problems with meaningless sex."

"Don't worry, I won't get addicted." She assured, rather feebly. "I've been doing this for years. I won't get attached. I can have sex with no ties, like a man."

"Really?" He asked, lifting his brows. Now if his chaise had a back rest, he would have folded his arms and leaned back so he could have some locker room talk with Willie. At that moment he found himself genuinely interested in a conversation with her about her escapades but he quickly dismissed his desire as he knew that, that's not how they rolled.

"I know it's probably coming as a shock to you but there are some women who can fuck without any strings attached. Now since we've been talking about my escapades, have you been getting some?" She asked causing his heat to rise to his cheeks.

"Willie." He warned, out of embarrassment.

"So, it's okay to bring up my sex life and I can't ask about yours? You think that's fair?" She challenged.

"Okay, no"

"No, what?" She enquired.

"I haven't been…getting some." He admitted.

"The last time you had sex was with that creepy lady?"

"What creepy lady?"

"That lady from the cult who used to follow you wherever you went."

"Oh? Uh…Natalie? No! She and I…she was going through her own personal matter, we weren't screwing. At all. The last time I had sex was with Molly."

"WHAT?" She exclaimed with her eyes widened.

"Yeah."

"Why? Oh, please don't tell me it's got something to do with what I said to you at the Bahamas. That was almost three months ago."

"I know. It's just my mother told me that I need to stay away from meaningless relationships for now and mourn my wife the right way."

Willing herself not to utter an insult, she asked "Claire told you that?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"After she heard about me not being able to get it up back in the Bahamas. She told me that I'm not that guy anymore and I should stop trying to force myself to go back. She told me to try celibacy for a while."

"And you're doing as she told you?" She asked confusedly.

"She's right, though. I mean it's easier." He stated unconvincingly. To his surprise, Willie didn't roll her eyes at the ridiculousness of his theory. Instead she looked at him as if she was extremely concerned about him.

"Daniel, this has to stop." She said softly.

"What?"

"This thing of being told what to do all the time." She elucidated.

"I don't…always to what I'm told all the time." He disagreed apprehensively earning himself an eye roll.

"Yes you do. The Editor-in-Chief job; Bradford told you to take and you did. The relationship with Sofia; you weren't ready for a commitment and you were ready to give up but Betty told you to try and you did. And it was the same story with the proposal, Sofia told you to propose to her and you did. Molly; I told you to make your move at my party because I had my sights on Connor and Betty advised you to marry her at the Hayden Planetarium. You get the pattern?"

"I see." He whispered, the realization hitting him "You know I never thought about it in that way."

"Except for the Molly part, though. It worked out for the best, you know that." She assured.

"Did it?" He asked glaring deeply at her.

"Yes, being with her humbled you and you got to experience true and unconditional love. Most people go through life without experiencing even a small quantity of what you had with her."

"You're right." He said as her words stopped him from saying how he really felt about the entire situation.

"What you two had was real, no matter how short it was."

"You're absolutely right…So you also think I shouldn't listen to my mom?"

"Do what you think is right. Do Daniel."

"But what if I'm wrong?…what if I fuck up?"

"Then you get up, dust yourself off, take a different route and move the hell on. We make mistakes in life."

"And all we gotta do is learn from them." He said

"Exactly." She agreed. He looked at her for a few seconds then grinned mischievously at her.

"You know Wilhelmina, you're smart, you're probably the smartest person I know."

"Believe me, I say this with no ego at all but, I know." She simply stated earning another smile from him.

"I know that you know and I love that. And I don't think that's an ego, it's self assurance and there's nothing wrong with it. I wish I could be like that."

"All in due time, Danny boy. You know what? I'm taking your advice on the gym this evening. Now that you've stuffed yourself with kung pao chicken like a lonely girl, do you want to join me and burn some of it off?" She asked as she shut down her computer.

"Are you sure? I mean aren't you going to…have a…dinner with a friend tonight?" He joked.

"I can cancel." She said reaching for her BlackBerry causing Daniel to smile. She smiled back, feeling that Daniel's company would be much better than what she planned tonight.

"I will be exercising with Wilhelmina Slater. This should go down in history." He joked.

As they tidied up before heading to the Mode gym, Daniel spoke

"So you go to the gym 4 times week? Why?"

"Why not?"

"I mean you look ho-…your body is…you look beau-…uh, I mean, you are fit." He stammered over the appropriate adjective "You look fit. You'd look fit despite the extensive working out."

"I know that. All I need is thirty minutes, two days a week but….I don't know, working out is another remedy of mine, I guess." She replied as he walked toward the door.

"I see." He replied as his male took over and his eyes roamed her form inappropriately.

"I'll just run to my office and get my workout gear and I'll meet you there, okay?"

"Okay." He said as she walked out.


In the months that they've been hanging out, the pair's closeness had grown. If it wasn't for their past they could have easily called themselves friends but that wasn't the case. But one undeniable thing about them was the bond that they had formed through the talks they'd been having, whether at the gym or their 'favorite' bar. She had become his rescuer; the same woman who for three years was serving as his terminator. In addition to his new found 'friendship', Daniel had been slowly developing an attraction to her. It's not like he hadn't been attracted to her in the past, it's just that it was always a look-but-can't-touch sort of attraction. He was attracted to her T and A, her piercing green blue eyes, her hair, her brow and nose wrinkle when she was angry. But now things were different; those were not the features he was fascinated with. He was attracted to her soul, her mind, her spirit.

He was aware how foolish it would sound to other people but she was a different person from what they thought her to be. Ever since he caught a glimpse of this side of her, he was completely enamored by her; her smile, her laugh, her facial expressions, her mind. And that wasn't the only thing different about her; she was different from other women in general. She was smarter than all the women he'd gone out with, she was confident, she was determined and self assured. Most women needed assurance from men and other people and had trouble believing in themselves. What most people, including him have been mistaking as an ego complex and arrogance was actually self assurance. Which is probably why Fey was threatened by her.

Walking down the tube in the morning, Wilhelmina and Daniel talked about their upcoming meetings and meeting agendas for the day.

"So, how was the meeting with the Zegna people yesterday?" She questioned.

"It was good. They've increased their ad buy by 3% with Hudson and they also purchased some fractional ad space at Player."

"That's incredible."

"I can't believe you let me handle it all by myself." He said.

"Your own half of the company plus Zegna is a male fashion line." She said pointedly.

"That has never stopped you before." He teased.

"I know."

"You should have seen their faces; they actually thought I was joking when I said you weren't coming."

She scoffed "When you're done having your coffee and morning bagel, come to my office and give me a thorough update."

"Will do…Hey, why exactly did you let me take the meeting with Zegna?" He questioned.

"I trust you." She said shrugging dismissively. He paused walking, totally taken aback.

"What?" He asked, grinning.

"You heard me." She answered smiling back.

"Can I get that on record?"

"You already have it on record; your memory, so that I can deny it if ever asked." She joked and walked to the reception desk while he turned the other direction and walked to his office.


A few nights later he sat alone in his apartment with a beer, trying very hard to focus on the round table discussion on ESPN but he just couldn't. He couldn't stop thinking about Wilhelmina. He blushed as he flashed back to their conversation and couldn't help the feeling that crept up on him when Wilhelmina uttered that she trusted him. He couldn't help his widening grin at thinking about her request of seeing him after his breakfast. So she knew his morning routine and even though she'd never admit it, she did pay attention, he thought.

"So that I-don't-care attitude of hers is just an act, a defense mechanism." He said out loud.

And then again he thought: Any colleague of three years would notice a breakfast routine of another colleague, especially his, which consisted of a bagel and coffee on a daily basis. Then why did it matter so much to him that Wilhelmina was at paying attention to him? Then he realized that he wasn't just attracted to her, he had feelings for her. However, he was stuck, he didn't know what to do with this infatuation he'd been having with her. He didn't know whether to brush it off and push it aside and hope it will go away, like it did last time. He knew that even the thoughts of her in a romantic way were totally forbidden, let alone a relationship.

Still lounging in his couch, he began seriously contemplating a possibility of a relationship between them. Could it work? He knew how complicated things could get if he told her and she didn't feel the same and he was aware of the complication that would come with their relationship. They didn't have smooth history, at all. The press and the entire industry wouldn't give them a chance, they would kill them before they could take their first weekend getaway. But try as he might, he couldn't stop the thoughts of a future with her. For days, he was shaken out of a reverie by an employee a couple of times day.

"Oh, what the hell? What have I got to lose?" He said he jumped from the couch and went dashed to his bedroom to put some clothes on. Life was too short, and if he had feelings for Wilhelmina he was going to tell her. If he hadn't made the mistake of harboring feelings for Molly, he definitely would have gotten to know her better. He didn't want to make the same mistake this time and if Wilhelmina didn't feel the same way, so be it. What did he have to lose?