Love Never Goes Out of Style/CH 14
When Daniel and Betty joined the others from their group in the hotel restaurant for breakfast the next morning, Betty was somewhat alarmed to see Gio, standing in the lobby, waiting to talk to her.
"Uh, hi, Gio. What's up?" She glanced back at Daniel, nervously. "This isn't a good time. I thought you had a plane to catch."
He shrugged, "I always wait till the last minute to get to the airport. Listen, B. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry about the other night. You were right. I was sort of flirting. It's just sort of our thing, you know? I didn't mean to be so annoying.
Oh, hey, Daniel! I didn't know you were here..." Daniel looked as if he planned on punching Gio, but Betty intervened, talking fast,
"Gio, listen, I tried to tell you before we started arguing and I walked away that Daniel and I..." Gio shook Daniel's hand enthusiastically,
"You're getting married? That's great! I had a feeling about you two. I told B, there was only ever one guy for her. She acted like I meant egg salad, but..."
"What the hell does egg salad have to do with anything?" Daniel interjected, rather angrily.
"HENRY!" Betty and Gio both said simultaneously.
"Huh?"
Betty explained, "It's what Henry used to order from Gio's deli back in New York. It's his nickname for Henry."
"Oh, of course. I should have known."
Betty explained to Gio, "We're not getting married, though, Gio. We just started dating recently."
"Oh, sorry, sorry. But, hey, that's still wonderful, B. So, anyway. We're good, now, right? You're not mad at me for sticking my nose in where it didn't belong anymore?"
"No, I suppose not, but Daniel's mad at me for flashing you and talking to you. And..."
Daniel narrowed his eyes at Gio, "And at you, for coming on to Betty in the first place, and when you're already engaged!
What was that about, huh? You always seem to be scamming on Betty when she's somebody else's girlfriend.
Not to mention, I find it extremely convenient that of all the people in London, YOU just happen to be the one she picks on to flash!
Did you set that whole thing up with Amanda or something? Was Wilhelmina in on it?"
"Amanda, no. She was pretty out of it flashing half the bar herself. And Wilhelmina? Whoa, I never even spoke to that scary chick when I was in New York! I don't think she ever said two words to me.
Look, Daniel. I'm sorry you feel that way. I suppose if I were you, I'd be upset if my new girlfriend flashed her ex-boyfriend and went on a date with him, too."
"It wasn't a date! Daniel, it definitely wasn't a date! Gio, why do you always have to stir up trouble? God, I really hate you!"
"No you don't. You like me. You just hate it when I'm right about you. Listen, I'm sorry if I caused trouble in paradise. But my guess is, it made for better make-up sex, right?"
"I'm not telling YOU that! Why don't you just leave? As usual, you're NOT helping."
He laughed, "Okay, okay. I'm going, B. But, I do have a little confession to make, first. I was in the pub and I heard your voice.
I could tell you and Hilda and the girls were all getting drunker by the minute, so once I saw them start to get a little crazy, I kept moving down several seats, so I'd be the one you came up to.
I didn't know you were going to flash me, though, believe me! I just thought you'd talk to me and be surprised to see me there. The flashing thing was a nice little...or sorry big surprise!"
Daniel was seething now, "You think that's funny?"
Gio put his hands up, backing away, "No, that's not what I meant. I honestly just was trying to make sure she didn't make a fool of herself with a total stranger and get herself into too much trouble. I didn't want her to get hurt; that's all, Daniel.
You can deck me if you want, but I didn't do anything other than try to look out for her. To be what I've always been for her, her 'back-up guy', right B?
That's all I've ever been for you. I was never gonna be 'the guy', even when I wanted to be. It was always going to be Daniel."
He turned back to Daniel, "And Betty might have acted a little loose, but that was just because she was with her girlfriends, having fun. So, really, there's no need to get all tense and upset.
All we did was argue when we were together, anyway. Believe me, there was absolutely no touching, no kissing, no...anything, so, if you don't mind, I'd like to return to my fiance with no broken bones here, okay?"
He started to leave, then turned back and eyed Daniel narrowly, "Man, you know, you haven't changed, have you, Daniel? You've always been like a bulldog, making sure nobody else stood a chance with her except you.
That first night I met you at Wicked, you didn't take your eyes off Betty. I think you were watching me closer than egg salad was and she was supposed to be HIS girlfriend at the time! You watched me like a hawk, even when you were putting the moves on that old chick you were with.
You know, if you hadn't had your head up your ass all this time, you could have had Betty a long time ago, Daniel!
She's never really loved anybody the way she loved you. I almost felt sorry for Henry with you running interference. Hell, I never even stood a chance!
But you! You were just too blind or too stupid to see what he and I saw all along; you were so busy wasting your time, chasing tail with all the little Modee chics that were always swarming around you.
After she turned me down to go to Rome with me, in order to 'find herself' which I knew damn well was code for she could never leave you, Daniel, I was really heartbroken at first.
But all I ever wanted was what made her happy. And deep down, I knew that was always going to be you.
I'm glad for both your sakes, that you finally opened your eyes and realized how lucky you are. Listen, I...gotta go. I've got a plane to catch.
Take good care of her, Daniel. Cause if you don't...I might have to look up egg salad and actually join forces with him to come kick your ass!"
Gio stuck out his hand and Daniel hesitantly shook it. After he left, they saw the table with Hilda and Amanda, happily draped around Tyler.
As they came up to the table and sat down, Hilda's eyes widened, "Whoa, that looked intense! Daniel, I swore you were gonna lay Gio out a few times there. So, I guess you heard about Betty's little floor show the other night, huh?"
He merely nodded tersely as he and Betty sat down.
"In her defense, we were all drinking a lot before Betty even got done with the fashion show so we were trying to get her drunk to loosen her up. The thing with Gio was really my idea, Daniel.
I saw that it was him at the bar earlier and I'm the one who put her up to flashing him, just to be silly. I didn't mean to make you mad.
Amanda flashed a whole table of guys and even though I'm the one getting married, I still flashed a guard at Buckingham Palace and flirted with a bunch of hot Army guys.
That's just what we women do at a bridal shower, Daniel. You know very well that's what guys do, too. They act all crazy and get a stripper and watch porn and get drunk. It doesn't mean anything."
"I know. I know, Hilda. I was just pissed off at Gio taking Betty off on some little romantic stroll through London before I even got here, I guess, that's all.
But, I get it now. Nothing really happened, so...I'll let it go. Besides, Gio was right about one thing. The make-up sex was awesome!" He put his arm protectively around Betty.
Betty blushed, and Amanda laughed, hitting her arm, good-naturedly, "I bet! I know our 'I missed you since I've been in London all week without you sex' was pretty frickin awesome, too! Nice surprise bringing Tye Tye with you, Daniel. Thanks!"
"Sure. No problem, Amanda. Sorry to bring in guys to your sacred women's bridal week, Hilda."
She shrugged, "That's fine, Daniel. But next time, maybe you could bring Bobby. Seeing you guys all together does make me kind of miss him."
Daniel smirked, "I...could have done that, I suppose. But if I did, it would ruin my wedding present to you two."
Hilda's eyes widened, "What wedding present?"
He handed her an envelope. "Here, sorry, I didn't have time to wrap it. Congratulations, Hilda! I'm really happy for you and Bobby. I'm looking forward to meeting him."
Hilda nodded and opened the envelope then her eyes popped and she put her hand over her mouth, and jumped up to hug Daniel, shrieking, "Oh my God! Daniel! This is so frickin' awesome, thank you! Bobby's going to flip!" She looked at Betty,
"Did you know about this?"
Betty smiled, "Know about what?" Hilda hit her sister on the arm,
"You did, didn't you? Was this your idea?"
Betty shook her head, "No. Absolutely not. I would never have suggested anything that extravagant. It was Daniel's idea.
He just asked what I thought you'd do if he gave you guys a European vacation for your honeymoon. I told him you'd probably name your first-born after him."
"Bobby's never been to Europe, has he?" Daniel asked.
She shook her head, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye, "No! No, he hasn't. Neither have I before this. I can't believe we're going to start out in Paris, then end up here, and I can show him around London, now. I'm speechless, Daniel!"
"Well, that's a first!" Betty teased.
Hilda bit her lip and smiled, clearly overwhelmed at Daniel's generous gift. After they all finished breakfast, chatting happily about things they had seen and done so far, the couples started to headed off together.
But Betty leaned towards Daniel, whispering, "I don't want to leave Hilda by herself, though, Daniel. This is her bridal shower. Maybe we should go to see Westminster Abbey or something all together. I want to be with you, too, but..."
Daniel whispered back to her, "Betty, do you honestly think I didn't already think of that? Bobby couldn't get off work yesterday, so he took a later flight. I'm just stalling. He's on his way. In fact, he should be here any..."
Daniel smiled and nodded towards the door as they looked up to see a somewhat disheveled Bobby, arriving in the restaurant, looking around to see Hilda.
He spotted Daniel and Betty and put his finger up to his lips as he walked slowly towards her, then put his hands over her eyes, and whispered, "Hey, hot stuff! You doing anything for the rest of your life? Wanna fool around with me?"
Hilda screamed and turned around as Bobby hugged her. She covered his face with kisses, "Oh my God, Bobby! You're here? I'm not dreaming this? You're really here!"
He nodded, as she jumped up and they hugged and kissed one another enthusiastically. After a few minutes, it became quite heated.
Betty suggested, stage whispering to them, "Uh, guys? You who? Bobby! Hilda! If you're going to start the honeymoon now, you might want to take that into your room, Hilda!"
The amorous couple stopped kissing, but still held onto each other, laughing, "Oh, right! We're in public."
"Yes, you are. Sorry to burst your little love bubble, guys."
Bobby walked over to Daniel and shook his hand warmly, "Thanks, Daniel. It's good to finally meet you in person. We really appreciate all this! This sure beats the hell out of Atlantic City and strippers, believe me!
I thought you were just yankin my chain when you called at first. Lucky Justin told me you were on the level, or I might a hung up on you."
Daniel smiled, and shrugged, "Hey, I figured, if I was stealing the maid of honor, I should see that the rest of the ladies in the wedding party should have their male escorts here to entertain them, too! Especially the bride! Have a good time, you two.
If you make it up for air out of your room later, maybe we could all meet for dinner here at eight or something. My treat. The Savoy here serves a fantastic steak."
Bobby patted Daniel's back, "Sounds good, Daniel! Thanks! See you two later. Hey, chipmunk. You've got a pretty cool boyfriend, there. Aren't you glad you got over your little crush on me? You did alright with this guy, I'd say!"
Betty blushed slightly, and hurried them off, "Yeah, yeah. Sure, Bobby. Bye, you two. See you later tonight! Have fun!"
Tyler spoke as Amanda was all over him, "Uh, I think we're going to uh...go upstairs for a while, too. Maybe we'll see you all later tonight. Take care. Oh, hey, uh, Bobby. Nice to meet you. Congratulations!"
They all parted ways. Betty looked at Daniel's expression, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He raised his eyebrow, "You used to have a crush on Bobby? When was this? You never told me that. Wait, was he the one you said you kissed that time when you were writing your fearless article? And Hilda was jealous...of course!
Huh, no wonder you were blushing! He's a good-looking guy. You were holding out on me, weren't you? And he's got nicknames for you? What the hell is 'chipmunk'?
Wow, now the truth comes out. I'm just finding all these little secrets you've been hiding from me all these years, Betty."
Betty rolled her eyes, "Don't be silly, Daniel! Maybe I had a little schoolgirl crush on Bobby years ago, when he dated Hilda in high school. But he never had eyes for anybody but her, believe me!
He and Hilda both were just annoyed by me. They both said that if it weren't for me, hanging around, cramping their style, Bobby would have been Justin's father, not Santos. And...the chipmunk thing?
That's just stupid. He called me that because he thought I had cheeks like a chipmunk when I was younger, I guess. It stuck with him because he knew it bothered me. Are you happy, now?"
He put his arm around her, grinning, as they started walking towards the door, "Hmm...I don't know. Tell me about this kiss in the hall way of your old high school, Betty.
Or better yet, show me. And please don't tell me Bobby's the 'hot guy' you said you had all those little fantasies about ripping his clothes off?"
Betty turned bright red, "Shirt! Just shirt! I...oh." She realized she had been 'caught'.
Daniel just laughed, "It WAS Bobby? Okay, now we're getting somewhere. So...I guess you DID have a thing for Mr. Talercio, huh? Wow, Betty...what am I going to do with you, woman?
First, I catch you dating that Zach guy behind my back, then I come here and find out you were flashing one of your ex's. And now...the truth comes out that you had a little fantasy thing going on with your soon to be brother-in-law!
I don't know about all this new information, Betty. I think I may just have to punish you; you wanton woman! Maybe a good spanking is in order?"
She narrowed her eyes, "Spanking? Daniel...you wouldn't dare! Daniel? Daniel!"
He had a gleam in his eyes as he chased her onto the elevators.