You Don't Know Me/CH 7
The rest of the day was spent lazily talking, laughing, and making love several more times. Just as he started to get up, Betty wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back down for an extremely heated kiss, "Where do you think you're going, Mister? I'm not nearly done with YOU yet!" she teased, giggling.
He laughed, returning her kiss, as he wrapped his arms around her waist and shook his head, "Um…as much as I'm VERY much enjoying all the fun, I have to admit, I'm a little hungry, sweetie! Aren't you? We've been keeping each other…busy all day!"
"I guess so! I remember now, you were going to show me how to make an omelet, right?" she smiled.
"Yeah, well, that was about eight hours ago, though! Screw it, let's order Chinese…or…burgers or…THAI!" they both yelled the latter simultaneously then laughed at saying it together.
"Thai it is! Maybe tomorrow we can get Italian? Like…get dressed, actually wear clothes and go out to a restaurant together after work?" he suggested, arching one eyebrow, "That is…IF you're okay with being seen in public with your soon-to-be EX boss?"
She looked at him excitedly, "I know we haven't said anything more about it but…you're really going to announce that you're stepping down from Mode, Daniel? Like…Monday, you mean? Are you positive it's what you want to do?"
"No! To tell the truth, I'm scared to death! But if you can take a month off on "vacation" to come with me to London and try it out to make sure we can make things work there, then I can commit to starting over in a new country, somewhere that my name isn't on the building! You always inspire me to do so much more than I would ever have the guts to do on my own, Betty! So thank you for that!" He touched her cheek and leaned forward to kiss her softly.
As Daniel answered the delivery, Marc and Amanda were just coming home from dancing and spotted him come to the door in his boxers and no shirt. He grinned, waving as he took the boxes, handing the delivery person a tip, "Hey, guys! See you both Monday!" and promptly closed the door.
Marc raised an eyebrow, "Um…what the hell was THAT? Did he seriously just come to the door in his underwear at Betty's place?"
Amanda nodded, giggling, "Uh-huh! He sure did! You know what that means!"
He made a face, "NO! No way! It's true? The zombie apocalypse is nye! Daniel and Betty are really LOVAHS for REAL? OHMYGOD! Hold me, Mandy!"
Amanda shook her head, pulling Marc inside, with his mouth still open in shock and disbelief at the sight he had just witnessed, "No, this is good, actually! I'm glad! You want to know the best part?"
"BEST? I wouldn't go that far! We are talking Chimichanga and pasty boy after all. Oh, fine, whatever! What is the best part?"
Her smile spread as she purred, "He said he would see us Monday."
"So? He means we'll see each other at the office then, I imagine. What's so great about that?"
"Duh! You know, you're usually smart, Marc, but sometimes you can be so dumb! It must be because this is not about gay sex so you're not the expert like me! This is SATURDAY night! We saw him sneak over there early this morning. So that means, he and Betty boop have been at it all day and night and he's planning on staying all day and night tomorrow, too!
A whole weekend sex-a-thon with Daniel is…well, I can tell you from past experience, the poor girl is going to be exhausted! I only ever got him for six or seven hours at a time before he was onto some other stupid bimbo, and as great as I am at sex, he sort of wore ME out, if you can believe that!"
"Not really! I was here when you two…you know! Did your horizontal mambo Italiano! Barf! You go from one guy to another, too, Mandy. You're both pretty slutty! Or at least, you used to be. It's one of the few things you two actually had in common. Until he got sad after Molly and you had to be his little Florence Nightingale to help him find his mojo again. I guess the furry one really got his motor running! I mean…"
She shrugged, "Marc, it's okay! I'm definitely not in love with him anymore or anything! I'm SO over him! I dumped Daniel, remember? I don't care if he and Betty are finally getting down and dirty! I say it's about time! She's always been running around, panting after him and he only ever listened to her for as long as he's known her. They're actually a way better match!
And anyway, I really like Tyler! This is the first time I've ever dated a guy that I haven't jumped into bed with right away since…well, EVER! I think Betty's contagious! Maybe it's because I lived with her. Now, SHE'S the slutty one!"
"Calm down, Mandy! I'm sure you'll be doing all kinds of nasty, disgusting stuff with Tyler before you know it!"
"You think so? I really hope it's soon! I am sort of horny!"
He rolled his eyes, making a distorted face, "What else is new? Just go ahead and call the cowboy and ride him off into the sunset already! But please don't tell me about it!"
As they enjoyed their food, Daniel winced, "Um, I just saw Marc and Amanda coming home over there."
"Oh, really? OH! And they saw you? Wearing that? Or NOT wearing…more than that!" She distinctly recalled catching him out in the hallway, similarly underdressed after coming out of Amanda's apartment when she had her whole family living with her. Not something she cared to think about right now.
He took hold of her hand, seeing her expression and knowing what must surely be going through her mind about him, "Betty, you know I wish you didn't know me quite so well sometimes. I'm so sorry I was such a jerk, such a…manwhore! I know I…well, I have no excuse for my past behavior. My only defense is that I didn't know what I was missing! You're so much better…I mean, being with you, it's so much more meaningful because of how I feel about you."
She blushed, "I see. And how do you feel about me?"
He shouldn't have been all that surprised by the bluntness of Betty's question, he knew. After all, they had just spent the entire day and night making love. And knowing the woman so well for the past four years, and hearing her talk endlessly about how she didn't understand people who could have "casual sex", he was well aware that the passion she had so eagerly and enthusiastically just shared with him meant that she had very deep feelings for him.
The smile didn't dim from his own face, however. Instead, it spread from ear to ear as he kissed her deeply and whispered, holding her shoulders to make certain she understood how much he meant what he said now,
"Betty, are you kidding me? I love you, you dope! Haven't I made that clear yet? Do you really need MORE convincing? Well, I guess if I have to, I have to! Come on! Now that you finally let me have some sustenance, I can rally! Man, I can't believe YOU wore ME out! Just take it easy on me, okay? I am older than you! I might break a hip or something. Be gentle this time!" he teased, winking as he pulled her back towards the bedroom.
She laughed and jumped up onto him, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist as he pushed her against the wall, matching her passion and excitement, as they both kissed frantically. He made short work of his purple shirt that she had been wearing, practically growling as he quickly pulled it off her, kissing his way down her shoulder and decolletage, "You really make this shirt look GOOD, Betty, you know that? You're so hot in it! But even better OUT of it!"
As she mumbled, "That's the shirt I picked out for you to wear for Sofia, isn't it?"
He grinned, nodding, "Uh-huh! I was wondering if you would remember! That's the first time you ever really complimented me. That's why I wore it. You said I was a catch and if she couldn't see that, she didn't deserve me or something."
"You really remember me saying that?"
"Yeah! Sure! I remember all the nice things you ever said to me, Betty. But before that day, I always thought you didn't really like me…you know as a man! That you thought I was just this big horndog idiot who would never be good enough for you and whose behavior you found disgusting and didn't approve of!"
"Only some of that is true! YES, I thought you were…well..that you slept around too much! But I always thought you were hot, Daniel! I'm not blind!"
"All evidence to the contrary, my cute little Miss clumsy girl!" he teased, removing her glasses gently and tossing them to the bed as he hastily lowered his boxers and began pumping into her hard, both of them so excited they could only moan as they kissed and groped one another. "Oh, and by the way, thanks! You're hot, too, Betty! God, you're SO freaking hot!" he slammed into her one last time as they both exploded before he helped her lower her legs back onto the ground and led her to lie down on the bed, next to him.
They glanced at one another and laughed, "Well! That was…intense!"
When he could breathe again he blew out a breath and grinned at her, "So, anyway, um, listen, maybe we should talk some more about our plans after Hilda's wedding, sweetie. What do you think about us…um…letting everybody know we're together? Especially since clearly, now that Marc and Amanda just saw me in my underwear, it's going to be all over Mode, anyway!"
She nodded, "Oh, definitely. I agree. There's no sense in even trying to pretend that we're still just friends at work. You know I'm a terrible liar and so are you! Like I said, it's fine for us to be dating. I just don't want Hilda to find out about our plans to move in together in London yet!"
He grinned, stroking her cheek with his index finger, "Yeah, well good luck with that, sweetie! You know you also suck at NOT blurting stuff out, especially to your sister when you're emotional!"
"HEY! Okay, I'll give you that, maybe. But why would I be so emotional?"
He rolled to his side to face her and rolled her eyes, "Oh, I don't know, because your period is just after her wedding, and you'll be PMS-ing? Or maybe because it's your big sister's wedding, silly!"
"DANIEL! You know…THAT? Wow, you really DO know me, don't you?" she blushed.
He shrugged, "Out of self-preservation! I've learned over the past four years especially what days you're going to be mean to me, so I need to bring you chocolate stuff and make sure I'm extra nice to you!" he teased, holding up his index fingers in a "cross".
"Haha! Very funny! What's YOUR excuse for being such a meanie somedays more than others? Days when you struck out with some …bimbo? Yeah, I said it!"
"Bimbo, huh? Wow, those are…mighty strong words, Betty!" he laughed, kissing her tenderly, "Well, I only hope my days of worrying about ever having to 'strike out with some bimbo' are well and truly over! Especially now that I am falling madly, deeply in love with my best friend!"
"Ah! Daniel! That's so…sweet!"
He shrugged, "Thank you. I meant it, honey. So…um…what does it make YOU want to say back to me?"
At first, she furrowed her eyebrows, then put her glasses back on and smiled, kissing him, then brushing back his hair from his face, she whispered, "Oh, you mean, something like…I love you, too, you 'silly
Dope!"
He laughed, then kissed her back, "What, you want flowery speeches or something?" He sighed, "Sure, Betty! I can do that, I guess. But I don't know; I mean, when I talked about you…like I did that time at your Blobby Speech, you sort of made fun of me later. Remember, when I said you were like sunshine?"
"Well, I was afraid you were going to start lyric poaching Smokey Robinson or something! You do that sometimes, when you get nervous about your speeches, or about…trying to get into some girl's pants, you start spouting a bunch of corny song lyrics you think sound good or…I don't know, patching together Shakespeare with Jane Austen or Britney Spears or…sometimes Shakira and Edgar Allan Poe!" she grinned.
"Hey, can I help it you make me all tongue-tied sometimes, what with my tongue in your tail! You're so beautiful, you've bewitched me body and soul so much that my tell-tale heart is beating like my lips, and my hips don't lie?"
She shoved him, both of them laughing, and they ended up on the floor. "OW! Geez, girl! It's a good thing my guy wasn't…ready for action just then! You could have broken him!"
"Sorry! Can that even…is that really a thing? Anyway, we need to decide exactly what we want to do before Hilda's wedding to make sure we're ready to go to London together. I guess I could help you work on writing your press release for your resignation. And I'll submit my request for vacation tonight!
Do you think we should go there separately? It could be sort of fun, I guess. Sneaking on different flights, then meeting in London at a hotel or something. I just don't know about trying to be all James Bond. Let's face it, neither of us is very good at sneaking around."
He made a face, "Screw that! I didn't get to go with you the first time you went there and look what happened? You go flashing guys in a bar and drunk dialing idiots and all kinds of dangerous behavior! No, I think you definitely need a chaperone this time. Like maybe…a boyfriend to make sure you don't go too crazy! Or at least, if you do, I'll be the only one to enjoy the benefits of you're going so wild!"
"I didn't go..wild! You always exaggerate!"
"Whatever! I didn't say it was a bad thing! I just want to be the guy that's there when you're letting loose, that's all. Hell, you sort of went wild on me earlier. You didn't hear any complaints, did you? I liked it very, very, very much, in fact! Feel free to go wild on me…any time!"
She blushed, but nodded as she rolled him over to straddle him, "As you wish, Prince Buttercup!"