The Bridge/CH 12
He saw the challenging smirk on her face, then shook his head and balled up the letter he had written, and threw it in the wastebasket. "Nothing. It wasn't important. I'm going to sleep. Maybe...tomorrow we'll see if we can talk to Mom and find out what's up with her."
Alexis nodded, "Sure. Okay. Goodnight." As Daniel turned the corner, she called out, "Oh, uh...sorry about my timing tonight. Both times, actually. I hope I'm not keeping you from having your fun with little Betty. She's cute.
But, I'd be careful, if I were you. That sister of hers is really protective of her! She's sort of jealous of Betty on one hand, but...nobody else had better mess with her! Including you, little brother!"
Daniel nodded, leaning with one hand up against the wall, "Yeah, believe me, she made that loud and clear when she came over to my place with Justin's dad and threatened me when she thought I had slept with Betty."
"You mean...you haven't? Seriously? You? Dude, did you have an operation, too?"
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. Very funny. No, Alex, YOU are the only one who gave away the family jewels. It's just...Betty's so young and inexperienced. I don't want to come on too strong, you know?
She's really special. She's wise beyond her years. Maybe because of losing her mom and helping raise her nephew when she was so young.
But she's really smart and funny and has helped me so many times at Mode I can't even begin to tell you. She knows a lot about the magazine business. I think Da..."
Alexis grinned at him, "Whoa...you really fell hard for her, didn't you, Daniel?"
Daniel nodded, "Yeah. I have."
"You're sure this has nothing to do with that...what was her name, Sofia chick who screwed you over on television? You're not just trying to replace her with another little..."
Daniel cut her off, angrily, "You've clearly been scheming with that witch, Wilhelmina too much, Alex! Betty is NOTHING like Sofia, believe me! She's the opposite of her! She's kind and thoughtful, not a manipulative ...bitch!"
Daniel controlled his rising temper. The last thing he wanted was to get into yet another argument with Alexis. So he simply mumbled goodnight and went to his room. After he left, Alexis went and pulled the crumpled paper out of the trash.
The next morning, Betty woke to the smell of coffee, fresh bacon and pancakes. She saw a robe and debated whether she should put it on or simply dress back in her jeans from the night before, when she heard a light tap.
She opened the door and Daniel rushed inside, kissing her intensely, and closing the door behind him. She pulled her robe around her more tightly, blushing, "Daniel! What are you doing?"
"Well, good morning to you, too, Betty! I woke up and was thinking of you and I couldn't wait to kiss you, that's all. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out or anything."
She shrugged, relaxing a bit, "No, that's okay. That's really...sweet, actually. I was thinking about you a lot, too."
He smirked, "Oh, yeah? Thinking about all the fun we're going to have...teaching each other...stuff?"
She rolled her eyes, "Of course. Like your writing. What did Alexis say when you showed her that letter?"
He shook his head, shrugging, "No, I...didn't show it to her. She would have just laughed at it. She's a better writer than I am. Alex was always better at everything than me, Betty. That isn't going to change. Well, except maybe now I can at least pee further."
Betty made a face, "Ooh, Daniel! That's disgusting. And I can't believe you chickened out! Excuse the expression, but you need to 'grow a pair'! Just because your brother seemed like he did a lot of things better than you, doesn't mean you should just use it as an excuse to give up and not even try, Daniel!
You don't think I got tired of always being the 'ugly sister'? And having Hilda be the one boys always wanted to go out with? She used to date this one guy, before she met Santos, Bobby Talercio! I had the biggest crush on him! He was so...well, anyway, he just saw me as Hilda's annoying little sister. He always called me gopher or raccoon or some little condescending nickname. He never even acted like he knew I was a girl!"
Daniel grinned slightly, "Is this your 'I was cleaning up in a cat hospital last year' speech again, Betty? Thanks, but...I've heard it before, honey. You don't understand, though..."
Betty pushed him towards the door, "What don't I understand? That you're jealous of your older brother? Get over it! First of all, let me point out the obvious here, you no longer have an older brother to BE jealous of anymore!
Nothing Alex did as a man applies anymore, really. You have a clean slate with Alexis in a lot of ways, Daniel. And you can either choose to treat her like she's still your older brother and act jealous of her or you can use this as a do-over and a fresh start with a new sister. Oh, wait, I have some research I did for you."
She ran to her purse and pulled out articles and a video of Tootsie. "I found all kinds of articles on the type of surgery your sister had and what some of the reasons are that people choose to do it and what kind of changes are typical, well, other than the obvious ones. And this...well, it doesn't really apply here, but...it's just a good movie."
Daniel smiled as she handed him the information she had gathered, and looked at it for a moment, then back at Betty, "Thanks. You think of everything, don't you, Betty? I'll never find an assistant as good as you once you start your training."
Betty looked at him, "My what? What are you talking about?"
He grinned, "Well, I found out about this program, called Young Editors in Training Internship. I enrolled you in it. As soon as you complete it, you'll be the youngest junior features editor at whatever magazine you choose to work for at Meade Publications.
That's not nepotism, either. It's one of the incentives of the program. The team that completes the program meeting all the directives is given a shot at real editing positions and Meade is one of the program sponsors.
Now, I must admit, I did write a pretty glowing recommendation for you to get you into the program, but believe me, it was well-deserved and included some of the things you dealt with as my assistant at Mode, as well as all your accomplishments, of course."
Betty threw her arms around Daniel and began smothering his face with kisses, "Daniel! Oh my God! I can't believe you did that for me! You're amazing! I'm so excited! You are the best, sweetest, most incredible friend ever!"
"Friend? Don't you mean…boyfriend?"
She giggled, stopping to look up at him, and nodding, then she whispered, "Uh huh, right. Boyfriend." She kissed him deeply. At first, he responded, getting lost in her kiss completely. But after a few minutes, as they began to get more intense, he pulled away, blowing out a breath,
"Uh, so...anyway, do you want to see my final letter I wrote about you? It's five pages long." He grabbed her hand. She started to follow, but hesitated.
"Wait, should I...get dressed? What will people think if I'm in a robe?"
He raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "What people? It's just my mom, Alexis, and me, and the house staff. And they'll all think you look cute in a robe. Who cares? Come on. I edited this letter down from like twelve pages, front and back!"
She bit her lip and followed him, giggling and blushing, "Twelve pages, seriously? Aww...Daniel! I still can't believe you did all this for me! You have no idea what it means to me."
He looked at her, "Of course I do, Betty. I know you have big dreams and goals for your career. I can't even imagine how much I just know you're going to accomplish. I have all the connections and advantages you never had, but you make me feel guilty for having all I do and not really knowing what I want to accomplish with it. I wish I had half your drive to know exactly what you want out of life."
She stopped and looked at him, "Listen, Daniel, you have a lot of responsibility and pressure on you that I never had growing up. You take having the paparazzi hounding you all the time in your stride and have all the confidence I never really had, plus you know so much about fashion and trends, about...the world that I haven't begun to experience yet. I haven't been anywhere, really.
You're more…um experienced, and a world traveler! All I do know is what I've learned through books and magazines and from reading and writing about all the things I want to do. You, on the other hand, have actually DONE a lot of the things I've only read about!"
He smiled and put one arm around her waist and touched her cheek with his other hand, "Well, that's about to change, Betty. You're going to start actually living your life, too. You can count on it."
"Oh, crap! Did I do it again? Sorry, I swear, I'm not trying to always interrupt you two!" Alexis almost bumped into the two of them as she walked up the stairs, "Mom just sent me up to tell you breakfast is ready, if you're hungry."
Betty smiled, "It's fine, Alexis. You didn't interrupt anything. Daniel just came up to tell me the same thing."
"Oh, good! Listen, Daniel...we need to talk."
Betty kissed Daniel on the cheek quickly, "It's okay, go ahead, Daniel. You two talk. I'll go and see if your mom needs any help with breakfast."
Alexis and Daniel looked at each other in amusement, and Daniel laughed, "Oh, Betty. Mom didn't cook herself, believe me. We have a...cook. Mom just told her what to make."
"Oh. Oh, right." Betty went downstairs and Alexis held the crumpled piece of paper in her hand.
She had tears in her eyes, "Thank you, Daniel. This is...really sweet of you to say. I can't believe you wrote this for me. I realize that I never gave you enough credit. I can't believe I thought you were like Dad. You're not. I see that now." She hugged him.
He patted her, looking somewhat surprised, then seeing the letter in her hand, "Where did you get that? Wait, you pulled it out of the trash last night, didn't you?"
After breakfast, Alexis offered to accompany Betty home to Queens, thinking it might seem less worrisome to Betty's family if she returned with her rather than Daniel.
Daniel and Alexis had agreed that he would try to get their mother to open up about Fey Sommers.
Although Alexis was still convinced that Bradford had killed his former mistress, both siblings wanted to see what else Claire knew that she clearly wasn't telling them.
As Betty got into the car, Daniel kissed her, "Bye. I'll uh...call you soon to see how things went with your sister and let you know what I'm able to get out of my mom.
I'll be back at my place this afternoon. Would you like to come over for...dinner? Say at six or so? I can send the car. I'll have him drop you off around the block, so the paparazzi doesn't see you get there.``
Betty laughed, "Dinner at six o'clock? Are we going to a cafeteria in Miami Beach or something? Isn't that a little early?"
"Alright, alright. Don't make fun of the old man, grasshopper. I've still got skills. I'm to be your tutor, remember, Miss Suarez? And I absolutely don't tolerate tardiness in my class. It will be severely punished."
She giggled and leaned closer to whisper, "Oh, really, Professor Meade? How?"
He smiled, "Hmm...that's to be determined. A...tongue lashing, perhaps? Or, well...never mind. You're going to get me too worked up to go talk to my mommy. Just come over to my place later if you can, okay? I'll order in."
She looked slightly nervous, "Daniel...I thought we were going to take things slow?"
He smiled devilishly at her, brushing a strand of her hair away, "We will. Nothing is going to happen tonight, don't look so scared. At least, not what you're thinking, you dirty little girl.
We're only going to...talk, you know; flirt a little? I was going to show you some basic...well, foreplay, I guess, that's all. Nothing too intense, I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman."
Betty bit her lip, narrowing her eyes at him, "But what if...things get you know, carried away, like at the park?"
He shook his head, and held her by her arm as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek and whispered, "They won't. I won't let myself.
You can trust me, Betty. Besides, I suppose I could always see if Alexis is free to come over and interrupt us again!" He stuck his head in the car for his sister to hear as Betty climbed in.
"I said I was sorry, Daniel!" Alexis rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms across her chest as the car drove away.
Once they were on their way, Betty smiled at Alexis, "Thank you for coming with me.
This should smooth things over with my sister and my dad a little for them to know you and your mother were there at your house, too. I really hope they haven't found out about our little ...problem at the park last night, though!"
"You mean Danny's arrest? Yeah, well, maybe you should just tell them going to jail runs in our family!" She laughed, then leaned next to Betty, "I've gotta tell you, I'm actually happy at how he seems to be so crazy about you! I have to admit, I sort of love to see it! I've never seen him act like that around any girl before."
Betty blushed, "Really? Thanks! I'm happy Daniel finally showed you the letter he wrote. I thought he told me he chickened out last night, though!"
"He did. I found it in the trash can."
"Seriously? He threw it away?"
Alexis nodded, "Yeah. That's just like him. He always gives up too easily on himself. I know he always felt inferior to me. And anytime I'd ever try to stick up for Daniel to my old man, he'd just make me feel weak and inferior myself. What can I say?
Our father has never been much of a role model. That's one reason I'm so glad Daniel might actually be cutting out all the running around. I used to do it, too. But my reasons were different."
"You were trying to prove something to yourself about your manhood? Trying to please your father, and 'fit in'?"
Alexis nodded, looking surprised at Betty's understanding,"Yes, actually. That's right. How'd you know that?"
"I didn't, really. I've just been reading a lot of the research I found for Daniel on the subject."
"Oh. That was nice of you. I wonder if he'll even bother to read it?"
"He will. You don't know how much he missed you. He really mourned losing his big brother."
Alexis sighed, "Yeah. I do feel terrible now, realizing what I put him and Mom through. I guess revenge really isn't all it's cracked up to be."
When they arrived at the Suarez home, everyone was in a rush to welcome Betty back, and they were all very polite to Alexis, albeit obviously a little curious about her.
Finally, wanting to break the tension, Alexis blurted out, "Okay, so I've had breast implants, butt lift, tummy tuck, face work, and all the obvious stuff. I don't know what you've heard, but they don't keep 'it' in a jar! And these are hormone patches. To keep my hair from growing too much."
Betty narrowed her eyes curiously, "Really? Do they work?"
She shrugged, amused at Betty's obvious interest, "They seem to. I never had all that much hair anyway though, luckily."
"Oh, well, you ARE lucky there!"
She laughed, "What's that amazing smell?"
Ignacio spoke up, "Carne asadas. And I made flan, of course. Are you hungry?"
"Starved! My brother woke us all up at the crack of dawn, wanting the cook to make a huge family breakfast so he could see Betty early this morning. I can't believe it's so early in the day and I'm already hungry for lunch! But that smell is intoxicating!"
"Grandpa is a really excellent chef!"
"A chef! Oh, so that explains it! I can't even imagine my dad cooking. He was never home much. Although...when I was really young, I do remember him making his own bread for some reason!
But that was a LONG time ago. I still remember how good the house used to smell when he made it, though." She breathed in, somewhat wistfully.
"I'm very sorry to hear about your father; that has to be difficult on you and your family." Ignacio patted her on the shoulder.
Alexis looked at the man; who was obviously caring and considerate. She felt all her bitter resolve to punish her own father melting away suddenly as she became overwhelmed with loneliness and emptiness inside. In spite of her best efforts to stay strong, she ended up sobbing in this kind man's arms.
Daniel arrived back at his loft, and had to go through the back entrance to avoid the paparazzi who had staked themselves out to get a quote after his arrest in the park.
It seemed some of the 'regulars' who made it their job to stalk him had managed to snap a picture of him with his hands all over Betty, showing a clear shot of the Peter Pan statue, just next to the bench they were on.
Not his finest hour, granted, but Daniel was still rather annoyed that he wasn't allowed to make any mistakes without having to see them plastered across the front page of every trashy tabloid the next day.
As he turned the key, and entered, he was startled to see his friend, on his couch, "Becks! When did you get here? I thought you would have left after Fashion Week turned out to be such a...disaster! Sorry I didn't get a chance to hang out later, but..."
Becks nodded, looking haggard and bleary-eyed, "No, it's fine. I know you've really had your hands full-with Betty, so it seems! I got questioned earlier by your little fan club out there. I just said I was in from out of town and didn't know anything. Hey, at least you've got a real woman to hold!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Daniel for some reason felt his protective instincts kicking in.
"Well don't get all 'brotherly' on me, dude. I only meant...hell, I'm sorry, but I'm a little freaked out here, finding out I just hit on your brother, you know?" he grabbed the bottle of Scotch he had next to him and took a drink, appearing a little shaky.
Daniel smirked slightly, and grabbed the bottle away, looking to see it was almost half empty, "So just because you hit on my brother, now you're hitting my good Scotch!"
Becks narrowed his eyes, and pointed to Daniel, "Hey, YOU do NOT get to make fun, dude! How the HELL was I supposed to know? It's not like she was just dressed up like a chick or something. She actually had surgery!"
Daniel flopped down on the couch, next to his old friend, and nodded, "Yeah...I know. Believe me, I'm just as shocked as you are!"
"I know. I'm just kind of...mixed up. Does this mean I'm gay or something?"
Daniel laughed, "Hardly! You're about as far from gay as you can get, I'd say. Well, except me. What makes you even think that? Because you thought Alexis looked hot? I think that's sort of the point of all the surgery, Becks.
You know Alex. He always has to be the best at everything. So, I guess he decided if he wanted to be a woman, he'd get the best damn surgeons money could buy and took his time to do it right!
She and I talked a little this morning. I'm trying to look at this as a clean slate. I may not have gotten along all that well with Alex. I was always jealous of him. But now...I have a sister, you know? I can start over."
Becks nodded, "That's great, Daniel. But what am I supposed to do? I can't exactly go back to being hunting buddies with your brother...sorry, sister, now can I?
I mean, hitting on your best friend's brother, damn!...sister isn't exactly normal! This is really messed up!" He took another drink, and dropped his head against the couch.
After a few hours of listening to his friend complain about the situation with Alexis, Daniel sighed, trying to think of a good way to tell him he wanted to be alone with Betty when she came over. He also needed to call Alexis and tell her all he had learned earlier from Claire.
His phone rang and he went upstairs to his bedroom, "Hey. How's it going? Were your sister and father okay with you being out all night with your pervert boss who got arrested?"
She was talking quietly in her bedroom, "Well, luckily, my father doesn't really look at the tabloids that much and I've already bribed Justin not to rat us out. So far, we're okay with Hilda. Alexis sort of distracted her for now, at least.
They really seemed to get along. And oddly, my father seemed very protective of her. I hope you know Justin's going to want to spend a LOT of time at Mode this summer!"
Daniel laughed, "No problem, Betty. The kid's a natural, anyway."
"Tell me about it! Sometimes I think he'd definitely be a better fit there than I ever was!"
"Me, too. We both had a lot to learn at first, remember? I mean, I grew up around designers and models, but I knew less about the rest of Meade publications than you, Betty."
"You still do."
"Allright, Miss Smartypants. I AM still your boss for the moment, anyway."
"Yes, sir."
"Ooh...I kind of like it when you say it like that. It sounds sort of sexy."
"You're just..."
"You're damn right I am. It's been way too long. Listen, Houston, we've got a big problem. Well, sort of two problems. I got here and the place is surrounded more than I thought it would be with the lovely paparazzi. Not to mention, when I got in my door, Becks was here.
He's all freaked out about hitting on Alexis, so he's convinced he's gay or something. Do you think I should send over Marc and Amanda and see which one he hits on first as a test?"
Betty laughed, "Maybe. It would be kind of fun to watch, anyway. I did see him go behind a coat rack with Amanda at the Fashion Show before Alexis showed up."
"Well, good! I'll remind him so he doesn't start subscribing to Mode." Daniel laughed, "He's uh...a little drunk, too."
"I'm glad to hear you haven't been drinking with him, Daniel."
"No, ma'am. Steady as a rock. I've been drinking water and coffee mostly. Besides, I don't think I'd trust myself let alone expect you to trust me to be a good boy if I started drinking.
It's going to be hard enough keeping my hands off you when I'm sober. I'm just trying to think of a nice way to get rid of Becks so we have the place to ourselves and also a safe way to get you here without tipping off the press. Thank God, your face wasn't in the pictures! But if you show up now...they'll figure it out soon enough, then your life will be hell!"
"Like yours is all the time?"
"They lay off if I'm not doing anything too crazy, usually. Unfortunately, I've been known to well...let's just say I guess I deserve the press attention I get, considering some of the stunts I've pulled over the years!"
"Mmhmm. Like making out with your girlfirend on a park bench under the Peter Pan statue?" she teased.
He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, okay. That was partly your fault, Betty."
"In what way was it MY fault?"
"You're too good a kisser. I was defenseless against the power of those sexy lips of yours."
Betty smiled, "Okay, okay. Mister charming. I think I have an idea how to solve both our problems.