Life In London

Chapter 9

Over the course of the next few days, things continued in a similar pattern. Daniel quickly discovered that some of his suspicions were true. Betty could certainly handle the workload and balanced everything with grace, and even more than that she managed to make room for him among the many things that took up her valuable time. He was continuously amazed by her, of course, but he still felt very passionately that although Betty could handle everything without an assistant, she shouldn't have to.

They met for lunch a couple more times that week and spent a rather enjoyable evening out catching a movie and going to dinner together which felt comfortably familiar. He made a couple more appearances in her office, bringing coffee and pastries. Each time he did so only fueled some whispered office gossip. Seeing her juggling all her tasks, he only found his resolve in his idea becoming stronger. He knew what he would do, he just needed to plan the timing perfectly.

Sean had discretely tried to gather details from Betty about Daniel and the "situation" one day during a coffee break, and Betty nearly choked on her latte. Had Daniel really been by the office that much? She decided to shake it off and was both comforted and mildly disturbed that she could deflect Sean's line of questioning because she honestly did not know Daniel's plans. He still had not been very forthcoming, and though she had been comfortable to let him take his time, as the end of the week neared, she found herself frustrated by the lack of communication on that front

She headed home to her apartment Friday evening, ready to sink into at least one night of relaxation before coming up with a plan for the weekend. She wasn't even sure what that meant exactly if she was being honest with herself. Daniel's presence in London had been wonderful for her, but it was certainly… distracting. She would never admit that to him, but without knowing what his intentions were there was an odd sense of feeling like she was hosting a guest and needed to find ways to keep him entertained. Not that it was a problem, she would do the same for anyone visiting. Without a warning of his arrival though, she felt like she had been scrambling to juggle everything between him and her job.

As soon as she had changed into her nightgown, robe, and slippers and had her plate of pasta and glass of wine at the ready, she settled in on her couch and prepared to call Hilda.

Hilda answered with as much excitement as one would expect if Betty had suddenly flown back home to surprise her, despite this Friday phone call being part of their new routine of keeping in touch.

She immediately jumped into filling Betty in on all the details of how the redecorating of her new home was going. Apparently, Justin was bucking her every step of the way, and she had needed to remind him that despite it being his home too, he wouldn't be living there forever and so Hilda felt she had every right to decorate how she saw fit. Justin could decorate his room however he wanted, but he would have to wait until moving out to have that much control over decorating, despite his flawless taste. Betty was highly entertained and found herself siding with Hilda and was enjoying the conversation so much she almost forgot about everything going on in London.

"Anyway… so tell me Betty, what's new with you? You put your first issue out last week, right? How did that go?"

"Oh! It went great, the reception has been really positive, and we've already started the next issue. So I've been busy, but Hilda, I love it so much!" Betty couldn't hide the squeal in her voice. She really did love her new job.

"That's great! I'm so happy for you! Did you ever find a new assistant?"

"No, not yet. I just don't have the time to train someone right now." Betty almost grunted at the thought of having to train someone new all over again.

"Yeah, but Betty, you're running that magazine! You NEED an assistant. You deserve one! Once you find someone who will stay, it will help you so much in the long run."

"Ugh, I know, you're right. Daniel said the same thing… I just hope someone submits their resume soon."

"Daniel? Wait! Are you two talking again? Did he finally call you?" Hilda was in full gossip mode now.

Betty smacked her forehead. She hadn't meant to let that slip! That damn wine!

"Hello? Earth to Betty? Don't leave me hanging here!" Hilda's expression could practically be heard over the phone.

"Well… no not exactly…" Betty began.

"Not exactly? What's going on?"

"Daniel is here."

"Here? You mean in London? No! No way! I KNEW it!"

"Knew what?"

"I knew you two would patch things up! I just didn't think he would follow you across the globe. God, he must have it worse than I thought…" Hilda trailed off lost in her own thoughts for a moment.

"Have it worse? Hilda, what are you talking about?"

"You two, of course! What did you think I was talking about?"

"You two? Hilda, what do you mean?" Betty overenunciated the words.

"Oh come on, Betty! I always knew you two would get together eventually! It seemed like it might not work out when you left, but if he's there with you then it seems like he finally came to his senses!"

"Hilda, I have no idea what you're talking about. You and Mrs. Meade, I swear."

"Claire sees it too? Well, that makes sense, she probably knows better than anyone when her son is in love…"

"Love? Oh my god, Hilda, what are you talking about? That's crazy! Daniel and I are just friends."

"Then why is he there?" Hilda asked, sounding both sarcastic as if trying to prove a point, but also genuinely curious.

"I… I don't know actually… He showed up without warning, and we bumped into each other in Trafalgar Square. He apologized to me for how he acted, and he asked me to dinner. We caught up and talked it all out. He left Mode!"

"He LEFT Mode?" Hilda sounded genuinely surprised.

"Yeah! He left it to Wilhelmina. He said he wants to see what he can do on his own."

"So he left Mode, flew across the globe, and is now just hanging out with you in London?"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Betty said quietly, thinking about it all.

"Betty…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure there's nothing going on between you two? Because, and this is me, your sister saying this, friends don't just do that. Okay? I mean you didn't follow Christina when she left. People don't just pack up their whole lives to follow someone to a foreign country because they need a change."

"Well, when you put it like that!" Betty started. "But this is also Daniel we're talking about! He didn't grow up like we did. I mean, don't get me wrong, he has come such a long way from the guy he used to be, but he grew up with money. Suddenly dropping everything and drastically changing your life on a whim isn't that strange in the circles he came from."

"I guess you have a point…" Hilda said thoughtfully. "I still don't think that's all that it is though."

"I guess he just realized he needed a change and figured why not get away for a bit? He knew I was here, and I'm assuming he'll be heading on to France soon to see Alexis and DJ. He probably just decided to stop here on his way there." Betty shrugged her shoulders even though Hilda had no way of knowing.

"I don't know Betty. I mean what has he said? What are his plans?"

"He hasn't really said. He just said he wanted to see what he could do without his father's name behind him. I kind of admire him for it." Betty was smiling, proud of Daniel despite his confusing behavior. "And we've been having fun catching up and reconnecting!"

"Ooohh, reconnecting, huh? Sounds hot!" Hilda said playfully.

"Oh god, Hilda! No, we didn't even kiss!"

"Didn't even kiss? You mean you almost kissed?!"

"I.. we… no, we didn't actually kiss." Betty admitted shyly.

"But you almost did? What happened?"

"I don't know. It was kind of strange… it was that first evening he got here after we went to dinner. He asked if he could walk me back to my apartment, and when we were saying goodbye we kind of leaned towards each other and I thought for a moment we might… but we didn't!" Betty couldn't believe she was admitting to this.

"Oh my god, Betty! I know you're not going to want to hear it, but I truly do think that Daniel is there for more than just patching things up. I don't know I might just be because I'm a married woman now, but it sure sounds like a hell of a lot more going on, even if you won't admit to it. I think you like him!"

"I don't know, Hilda."

"Betty, please, tell me the truth. Do you have feelings for Daniel?"

"I… don't know! God, it's so confusing! I came here thinking that he and I were done, that he would never forgive me. Then I was so mad because he never said goodbye, and I guess I just tried to make myself forget him and move on. Now he's here… and I just don't know Hilda. Things feel different between us. I can't put my finger on it, but when I thought we might kiss… I kind of wanted it." Betty was blushing furiously. She could only ever admit this to Hilda.

"Oh my god, Betty! What are you waiting for? Go get your man!"

"Hilda, no! I can't do that! Not without knowing exactly what he wants. I've come too far to let myself get distracted right now, and I hate to admit it, but without knowing what he wants, spending this time with him… it IS distracting!"

"Can't stop checking him out?" Hilda teased.

"What? No. Although… No. No, nope. I can't. I CANNOT have feelings for Daniel. It's too complicated. Uhhhhn, why is all this stuff so hard?" Betty planted her face into the nearest pillow.

"Ay, mami, I don't know, but I think you owe it to yourself to see where this might go, right? I mean, if he doesn't talk to you soon then you should talk to him. Plus, if it turns out I'm right, then maybe you two can give it a real shot?"

"But I just got him back Hilda, I don't want to let something like this ruin our friendship forever. I just have to snap out of it and remember that it's Daniel. If nothing else, he's going through a really big change right now, and I can be there for him as a really good friend."

"Uh-huh, a really good friend." Hilda said so sarcastically it almost bit, but Betty knew deep down she was right in so many ways.

"I just don't want to complicate things too much."

"Betty, stop worrying about all of that. Okay? Listen to me, let's say you two finally admit how you feel to each other, and you date, and then something happens and you two do break up. You wouldn't be any worse off than you were when you moved there."

"But my heart would be broken…" Betty whispered, but Hilda heard it and paused at hearing her little sister sound so vulnerable.

"If the worst happened, wouldn't you rather have gone through that than never giving it a chance at all?"

"I'd rather have him in my life as my friend than ever lose him again." Betty admitted and it felt like a gut punch.

Hilda sighed. "I know, Betty. Do what you feel is right, but if you ever even get a hint that he may have feelings for you, I think you owe it to yourself to find out the truth. And no matter what, we will always be here for you, you know that right?" Hilda's kind voice calmed Betty so much, and yet touched her so deeply that she felt like she could cry any second.

"I know, Hilda. I know. I love you."

"I love you too. Now keep me updated on all of this, okay? I'm going to need details!" Hilda laughed over the phone and Betty's tears faded away as she felt her heart being lifted by her sister's consultation.

After they said their goodbyes, Betty sighed as she set the phone down and smiled thinking of her family and how much they meant to her. What would she do without them? She hadn't intended on letting it slip to Hilda that Daniel was here but in a way, she was glad she had because that was a conversation she didn't know she needed.