Love Never Goes Out of Style/Ch 13
Betty blushed slightly at Daniel's little comment about 'eventually' becoming Justin's "Uncle Daniel", then they heard voices outside.
This time, they were unmistakably Wilhelmina and Marc's. She was loud enough to make out, especially since they were in The Closet, "Marc! Where is Betty? How on earth have you failed to find someone that…conspicuous?"
"Willi! Uh, I'm not sure. I think she went out to lunch."
She made a face, and rolled her eyes, "To eat? Again? Is that all she does? Ugh! That girl and her food!"
"I know...it's disgusting."
"Fine, I have a meeting the rest of the day. When she gets back, remind her that she'd better have at least three good pitches for me tomorrow morning!
Also, make sure you keep an eye out for Daniel and see what he's up to, and let me know if he is already cheating on Betty.
I want to be the first to know, so I can use it to my advantage. This little trip of hers to London couldn't come at a better time.
Knowing him, he's sure to sleep with someone else while she's gone and I can finally get her away from him.
She's been propping him up for far too long! Once their little partnership is dissolved, I'll finally have Mode! Without her, he'll be so lost, he'll fall on his face."
Once Wilhelmina and Marc had left, Daniel looked at Betty, holding her hands in his, "So...is that what you think, too, Betty? Do you think the minute you leave, I'm going to cheat on you?"
She shook her head, "No, Daniel. I don't think that at all. I know you a lot better than she does. She still thinks of you as the playboy you used to be years ago.
She's not giving you credit for growing up and becoming the man I know you are now.
And about the other things she was saying... about me propping you up or whatever; that's not true, either, Daniel. You are wonderful..."
He smiled, pulling her close, and shaking his head, "I don't care what she said about me, Betty. She's full of it.
She doesn't bother me in the slightest. She's just pissed because we're actually happy. I love you. You told me you love me, too.
Believe me, there is nothing Wilhelmina Slater can say or do to change that, or even put a damper on it. We are a great team.
Together, we're clearly a force to be reckoned with,or else, she wouldn't be so hell-bent on trying to split us up."
Betty nodded, suddenly smiling, and quickly took off his jacket and tie and started unbuttoning his shirt, as she pushed him rather forcefully toward the bed.
Daniel looked down at her, somewhat surprised, "Uh, Betty? What are you up to? I thought you were worried about your sister and everyone looking for us?"
She shrugged, "Well, I figure, if Wilhelmina is so worried about splitting us up, we should make sure we do the opposite.
And I'm not really all that worried about Hilda. She's got Bobby to keep her occupied, first of all.
I've got my flight time and hangar. She knows I'm taking her to London. I'm going to be with her the whole week. But for now...I want you."
He grinned, "You...want me, huh? Like right now? Here?"
She nodded, already stripping off his shirt, and running her hands across his bare chest, "Why not here and now? What better time and place…for as long as we can be together before I leave.
Why do you sound so surprised? After all, this IS the 'secret sex room'. So...we should have sex in it. Secretly.
And then maybe...after you've spent some time next week with Tyler, you could join me in London? I think I'd miss you too much to be away from you the whole week.
I do trust you, Daniel. I just don't want to be away from you for that long. Especially not now that I have you all to myself."
He had already unzipped her dress as he grabbed her, kissing her heatedly,
"Keep talking, Betty. I like hearing how much you want me. It's definitely getting me hot! You know I want you, too, right?"
She giggled slightly, seeing his obvious excitement, "It's pretty hard to miss, Daniel. You're full of good surprises."
"So are you. Who knew that underneath my mild-mannered, sweet little assistant, beat the heart of my very own wild, sexy Betty, just waiting to be unleashed?"
She smiled, pushing him down on the bed, and kissing her way down his stomach, as his eyes widened, in pleasant surprise. "You have no idea, Daniel." she said, as she ran her hands over his now naked body.
After she kissed him everywhere, she gave him the special treatment she had often been accused of giving her boss.
Several hours later, after Betty had proven she wasn't so mild-mannered after all, Daniel lay back, with his arm over his head, "You keep surprising me, Betty. That was...fantastic!
"By the way, I'll absolutely be meeting up with you sometime this week in London. If you think you're going to spoil me like this and then just ditch me for a week in London and take away all my fun just when you've got me hooked on your love, you're sorely mistaken.
I'll be right behind you as soon as I spend a little time with Tyler. Who knows, if he turns out to be not that bad after all, like you and mom and Amanda all keep telling me, maybe I'll bring him along with me on the Meade jet.
Then, he and Amanda could spend time together there, too. See, isn't that a nice, brotherly thing for me to do?"
She smiled, "Are you trying to win 'brownie points' with me or something, Daniel?"
"Yes, of course. Is it working?" he grinned.
"What do you think? It's been three hours and we're still here, aren't we? I have tons of things on my to-do list before I leave for London, but...luckily for me, I sort of already did everything way ahead of time, so..."
He smirked, "Hmmm...sounds like, lucky for me, too. Since you're so organized, you can actually slack off for once in your life and hide out here, with me, huh? Is that what you're saying, Betty?"
She nodded, resting in his arms, "Mmm hmmm...that's exactly what I'm saying, Daniel. The only thing I haven't done yet is think of the pitch ideas for Wilhelmina and...I figure, I have you here, so maybe you could help me with that one."
He raised his eyebrows, "Hmm...help you think of pitch ideas. Let's see. If I do, what will you give me, Betty? What's my incentive here?"
She shrugged, giggling, "I don't know, Daniel. What would you like me to 'give you' in exchange for your help?"
The next morning, Amanda dragged Marc into The Closet, trying on outfits for her trip with Betty and Hilda to London, "What do you think, Marc? It's missing something."
He made a face, "A riding crop? What are you going for here, Mandy?"
She faked a terrible British accent, "I'm trying to be 'Bri-tish', gov'nah! For my trip to London."
He put his chin on his fist and sighed, "You're lucky! I wish I was going to London. I'm stuck here, babysitting Daniel to see who he's going to jump on so I can report it to Willi and she can try to split up Betty and Daniel."
Amanda rolled her eyes, "Like that's ever going to happen! You and I have tried to split them up tons of times, too and they always just got closer. They're like glued to each other at the hip or something."
He made a face, "Or other parts, nowadays! Yuck! I just pictured that one. Come on, Mandy, help me find pasty-boy. I bet I can get some food and get Betty to come running, like some drug-sniffing dog!" They laughed.
As soon as they left, Daniel led Betty out of the secret room. He looked down at his clothes, "I think maybe we should change, Betty, don't you?
Even though we know we weren't actually wearing these clothes all that much yesterday, it might look suspicious to get caught in the same outfits we had on."
Betty giggled, "Well, at least we're in the right place to find something else to wear, huh? I can't believe we fell asleep in there!"
He shrugged, looking through the clothing. "Hey, you wore me out, woman. A man's got to sleep sometime! You fell asleep, too, Betty."
"I know. I just can't believe I...did all that we did...all night, like that! You kind of bring out the bad girl in me, Daniel."
He grinned, kissing her lightly, whispering in her ear, "And that's a bad thing...why, exactly?"
After picking out something for himself, Daniel handed Betty a low-cut dress, "Here, Betty. Put this on. Let me dress you. This could be fun."
"You'll just undress me again, Daniel. That's just what we got done doing all night last night! We aren't making much progress here. At this rate, we'll never get anywhere!" she laughed, taking the dress from him and stepping behind the screen.
"That's why it's fun, Betty. And don't worry, I plan on getting somewhere alright. I intend to make a lot of progress!" He stepped behind the screen with her, with his eyes darkened, smirking at her as he pulled her close.
"Daniel!" she giggled.
"Betty, check it out! Oh my God, I can't believe we're actually going to London! This is the best bridal shower party EVER! I was so afraid your ideas would be lame-ass!"
"HEY!"
"But instead, it's kick-ass!" 'Queen' Hilda grabbed her sister and hugged her, for the fourth time on their flight.
"This is the life! On the Meade jet, sipping champagne. This is what I always envisioned for myself. I just still can't wrap my head around the fact that you, of all people, are Daniel's girl, Betty. Before I met Tye Tye, I always envisioned it would be me."
Hilda gave Amanda a snide look, sitting back and sipping her own glass of champagne, "Well, you'd better get used to it, Amanda. Because my sister finally rocks! And I'm so frickin' happy, I don't even want to know where she was for the last two days.
In some fancy hotel, doing...whatever with Daniel, maybe. But if it got me this trip, I'm fine with it. You could do a lot worse, sister. That man adores you. He always has."
Betty just smiled, and joined the ladies in enjoying her champagne.
Amanda leaned forward, "Yeah, Betty, where were you, by the way? Marc claimed he was looking everywhere for you. And Daniel, too, all day yesterday and half the morning today.
He texted me just before we got on the plane to say that Daniel finally showed up, and immediately started pestering him to set up a meeting with Tyler while we're in London and now Marc says I'll be happy, and there's a big surprise coming my way but he won't tell me what it is.
Were you really with Daniel all that time? I think Marc knows where you two were, but he won't even tell Wilhelmina or me. What gives? Were you off in some hotel, giving him fun favors to get us this trip? I mean, if so, good work! I'm not complaining. Betty?"
Betty ignored Amanda's questions and simply put on her eye mask and put in her earphones, shaking her head, "I'm taking a nap.
You ladies might want to do the same, so you're not jet-lagged when we get there. It's a long flight. Good night. See you both when we're in LONDON!"
After they had arrived and joined forces with Christina, Betty was surprised to find she received the VIP treatment and got her own chair at the London Fashion Week, as well as lots of freebies, most of which went to her sister the Queen, of course.
After they had been there a few days, Betty joined the ladies at a pub and got sucked into their drinking game, which ended her up flashing a 'stranger' at the bar, who turned out to be Gio.
The next morning, Betty was in the lobby with Christina and tried to remember what had happened the night before. She held her head, "Oh, now I know why I don't drink very often! My head is throbbing.
I do remember arguing with Gio and coming back to the pub, then drinking a lot more, but...what else did we do last night?"
"I don't remember much myself, Betty. I do believe you running into Gio made us talk about our ex's and I seem to vaguely recall calling Billy Garrett from the eighth grade and telling him our first kiss tasted of sour kraut!"
"Ugh!" Betty laughed. "Doesn't ring any bells. I can't believe I have an interview today of all days with Lindsey Dunne! You set me up, Christina. You pitched me to him, didn't you? Are you trying to get me to move here or something?"
"Guilty, luv. I miss you, Betty! I just wish I'd known before I did it about you and Daniel. Do you think he'll be upset that you agreed to meet with Mr. Dunne about a job?"
Betty shrugged, "Well, he did say it was something I could do and still keep my job at Mode, so...I don't think Daniel would mind that so much. Besides, I must admit, I'm curious.
I'm just really annoyed at all that stuff Gio was saying about me being a stupid 'mobot' or whatever! He's SO annoying! I hate it when he thinks he knows me so well! Daniel does that sometimes, too. They don't know me. Either one of them!"
Christina smiled as she got up, "Don't they, luv? I don't know about Gio. It's true, he hasn't seen you in years. And you're not the same naive little girl you once were.
But Daniel, well, he's a different kettle of fish, now isn't he? You've been daft for that man ever since you met him, running around after him, practically doing his laundry and trying to keep him in line."
Betty protested, "I don't do his laundry! Who said that?"
"You "take care" of the man's dry cleaning all the time and you said he once had you traipsing through the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving to help him pick out which shirt made his 'eyes pop' for that Sofia witch!"
"Well, okay, maybe, but..."
"And now, he's gone and fallen in love with you, too, finally. He knows you, darlin. I'm curious to see this 'new and improved Daniel' you keep tellin me about. If he has improved, I'd say it's mostly your doin'.
Being around you lit a fire under me, that's for sure. You have that effect on people. You bring out the best in them. That's why we all love you."
"Awww...thanks, Christina. I wish you could stay at least one more day. I miss you, too. It was awesome to see you again."
"Sorry, but I miss my boys. We're far too good friends to say goodbye now. See you later, luv."
Once Betty got in the interview with Mr. Dunne, she quickly realized that Gio had actually been right, she didn't want to spend any more time, chasing a career in fashion when it really wasn't where her heart was, and never had been, so she turned down the position, thanking him for his time.
Later that morning, she returned to her hotel room alone, determined to update her blog with something 'juicy', so she started writing about what had happened to her so far in London.
Hilda and Amanda were in their rooms, still sleeping off their hangovers. After finishing her updates, she headed for the large, amazing tub and decided to take a soak.
She ordered room service of a decadent lunch, complete with Valrhona Chocolate, which Christina had been raving about, and some 'hair of the dog', wine.
Betty felt very guilty putting anything so extravagant on the company tab however, so she splurged and charged it on her own credit card, vowing to eat Ramen Noodles when she got back to New York, so she could enjoy her treat now.
She felt somewhat empowered, having turned down the job, although a little scared, thinking she hoped she didn't regret her decision later on. After all, fashion had been very good to her over the years, even if it wasn't her first 'love'.
Usually you don't end up with your first love, however, as she well knew. As soon as she got comfortable in the tub with her eye mask and headphones in, she thought she heard the buzzer for room service. She was able to find in the bathroom that buzzed the door open by remote.
She called out, rather loudly, since she couldn't hear herself over her headphones, "Just leave the tray out in the living room, please. Thank you! I'll put your tip on my credit card, if you don't mind."
Daniel smiled as he wandered in and saw Betty's open laptop, with her latest blog still up. He wondered what he should do.
He started to read what she had written, but there was a soft knock at the door and he saw that her room service had arrived, and he opened the door, starting to simply take the chocolate and wine cart. Then he got a bright idea.
After several minutes soaking in the tub, Betty's candles were about to burn out and her bath was cooling off a bit, so she started to get up, but she felt a warm breath on her neck and strong arms glide on her shoulders, and she gasped as Daniel whispered, faking a British accent, "Now that you're all relaxed, care to get a nice, sensual massage, miss?"
Betty of course, knew his voice, and pulled off her eye mask, and her headphones, and pulled him practically into the tub with her, getting him very wet, and hitting him, "DANIEL! You scared me to death! You could have been Jack the Ripper or something! How did you get in here?"
"Uh, you buzzed me in earlier, dear. You thought I was your chocolate and wine. I could put the chocolate on myself and pour the wine over me if you like and you could do a little taste test. See what you think."
She giggled, as he struggled to get out of the tub and started stripping off his soaked clothing. "Nice look, Daniel! When did you get here?"
"About two hours ago. I slept on the plane, and came right over. I did bring Tyler with me. He went over to surprise Amanda in her room."
"Well, I hope he doesn't scare her like you did me. Would you mind giving me some privacy, please?"
He shook his head, "Where am I going to go, silly girl? I'm soaking wet now, thanks to you.
Is there an extra robe or something, or do you just want me in a towel or as your little naked Cabana boy now that you got me all wet?"
She grinned, "It's up to you, Daniel. I guess I could put up with you in a towel, or naked, for that matter.
But you might get cold that way. There are his and hers robes. If you don't mind, grab mine and get one for yourself, please.
I'm sorry you startled me and I overreacted, but...that's what you get, coming in here, pretending to be room service!
You're lucky I didn't hurt you or something like my sister would have. Lucky for you, I recognized your voice, even with that terrible accent."
He laughed, as he continued to strip, and grab both the robes, putting his on and helping her into hers.
As he helped her put it on, he leaned down from behind her and began running kisses down her neck and behind her ear, holding her cheek and whispered, "I missed you. I missed holding you, and doing this. And this."
She moaned, "Mmm...me, too, Daniel. I'm really glad you're here."
He turned her around and ran his hands through her hair, as he kissed her, then lifted her up by her arms and took her into the bedroom.
She giggled, "Ooh, show-off. Somebody's been lifting weights to get all strong on me."
"I've always been strong. You just never noticed, because I'm so well-dressed, I don't come off as having muscles. But they've always been there. See?"
She nodded, smiling, as she felt his arms, "I see. Of course, Daniel. You're right. You've got it all. You're the whole package: good-looks, brains, muscles, and uh, really good in bed. Sorry, make that incredible in bed!"
He raised an eyebrow, looking at her suspiciously, "Okay, Betty. What did you do wrong?"
She gave him her most innocent look, as she pulled open his robe and started kissing his chest. "What makes you think I did something wrong? I just missed you, Daniel."
He laughed, but pushed her away, "Cut that out. That tickles. I know you did something you're trying to distract me from, Betty."
She batted her eyelashes, "Can't I just miss you? Want to be with you? You're a very sexy guy, Daniel. Come on, you know you are."
He shrugged, as she kissed him, then grinned, "Well, yeah, maybe, but..."
She grabbed his butt, "And speaking of butts, your's is fantastic! I really missed this butt."
He gave her a look, pulling her hands off him, "Okay, not buying all this. I mean, you're right, Betty, I do have a pretty great ass, but...I mean, however, you are definitely hiding something.
What has happened since you got here? Did you have some hot British guy hit on you or something? What are you NOT telling me?
You do know all I have to do is question Amanda and she'll rat you out immediately, don't you? The woman cannot keep her mouth shut!"
She sighed, sitting down on the bed, as Daniel sat next to her. "Fine! You're right. You might as well hear it from me. Well, two things, actually. I...wrote them both on my blog."
He smiled, "Yeah, I saw on your laptop that you had updated it finally. You haven't written much on there lately, have you?"
"I haven't had much time. Because I've been so busy at work…and, you know, having fun with you. Which sort of brings me to both things. Here. I'll let you read what I wrote." She pulled him up off the bed and sat him down at the desk, leaning over him as he read her latest entry.
He read for a few seconds, then looked up, furrowing his brow, "You uh... FLASHED Gio in a pub? What the...? And you applied for a job HERE in London? So, when were you going to tell me all this, Betty?
After we made love or did you just plan on waiting and see how long it took me to read your blog and find out what you told the whole world before you told me?
This is...I can't believe I came all the way here, so excited to see you and I find out you're flashing your ex boyfriend and applying for jobs overseas! What the hell were you thinking?"
"Daniel...wait, please don't be like that."
"Like what, Betty? How do you want me to be? How do you expect me to react to this, huh?"
"I was drunk! I would have flashed anybody. I didn't know it was him! It was a dare. Ask Amanda and Hilda. They're the ones who put me up to it."
"Fine, but then you went off and flirted with him, walking around London all night?"
"Daniel, please, you have no reason to be jealous! We were just talking. And arguing at that. Besides, he's engaged."
"Right. HE's engaged. What if he wasn't? Would you have 'talked' all night with him then? I mean, you were drunk so it's okay to flash him, what else is it okay to do?"
"Daniel, do you actually believe I'm stupid enough to cheat-on YOU…with Gio? Why would I do something like that? Don't be ridiculous. I would never do that. I wouldn't cheat on you! I didn't do anything with Gio except get drunk and flash him, then argue with him.
And as far as the job interview goes, first of all, Christine sort of set it up for of all, even if I had taken it, which I didn't, the only reason I even agreed to it, is Mr. Dunne said it was just free lance stuff that I could do while I still kept my job at Mode. I wasn't planning on moving here or anything. There's no way I would even consider doing something that huge without talking to you, first!"
She was close to tears, and Daniel took a breath, getting up to hug her, "Okay, Betty. You're right. I should have known that…none of this is like you. I'm... sorry I yelled at you.
Please don't cry. You know I can't stand to see you cry. I was just...jealous, I guess. Why the hell did you have to flash that stupid guy? I wish I could fire him again.
How the hell he just happens to be in London in time to see you get drunk and just 'happens' to be in the right place to have you flash him, I'll never know.
Sounds kind of fishy to me. Are you sure the girls didn't know he was here and set you up? Maybe Amanda and Marc were in on it with Wilhelmina, trying to piss me off and break us up."
"You mean, you would break up with me over this?"
"Well, no, but...they don't know that. It makes me kind of mad. I don't want you flashing other guys, Betty. Especially not guys you almost went to Rome with once."
She smiled shyly, "So, you ARE jealous?"
"Hell yeah, I'm jealous! If you're going to flash anybody, it should be me, not Gio...or anybody else!"
She grinned, "Okay, Daniel. I promise. From now on, whenever I drink, which will not be very often, I'll flash only you."
He raised an eyebrow, glancing at the food cart. "Uh hem...you aren't off to a very good start with your abstinence, I see.
What's this, Betty? More wine? Just planning on hanging out at your hotel, all by yourself, eating chocolate, and drinking again? Then what, flash the room service guy?"
She chewed on her bottom lip, then went to get the cart and popped a chocolate in his mouth, "Well, maybe just this once...since YOU turned out to be the room service guy! What was your idea again, have me eat the chocolates off of you and pour the wine on you?"
He nodded, smiling slightly, as he finished chewing, "Mmmm...not bad! Hmm, maybe we could reverse that, and I could eat these chocolates off you and pour that wine over you, instead?"
She shrugged, "Maybe. I mean, that way, you're the one drinking and not me. And by the way, feel free to flash me whenever you want, Daniel. I promise, I won't object."
He smirked, as he began to untie her robe, pushing aside the top of it to look at her, leering, "Hmm...not too bad. Still pretty spectacular, actually. And I get to see the girls al fresco."
She rolled her eyes. pushing him back towards the bed, and popping another chocolate in his mouth as he grabbed the wine bottle. "Yes, you do. And you get to sample the wine, too."
"I'm sure it'll be a very good year."