Chapter 5
As Daniel rode up in the elevator he felt upset that he didn't get to talk to Betty or say bye to her as Sofia basically pushed him out. Was she jealous of Betty? He had to wonder, especially when she kissed him the way she did in front of Betty.
What was even more upsetting was although Sofia was an intensely passionate and good kisser, he didn't feel the same spark like he did with Betty.
He sighed, he knew he needed to talk to Betty about their kiss. It had meant something. He knew that what he and Betty had was special.
His heart began racing thinking about how perfectly beautiful she was looking today. Hell, he was jealous that Sofia DID steal Betty away from him.
He sighed letting his head rest against the wall of the elevator. He smiled. Why was his Betty so damn beautiful? The way she styled her hair was stunning. Those eyes of hers...he remembered how beautiful they looked when he kissed her.
And those perfect lips...he wanted to kiss her again! Hold her close to him again. She actually looked pretty hot from what he saw. She looked really beautiful in red. He wondered why she looked different.
When he got to Mode and walked to his office he saw Amanda chatting away to Marc. "Oo, look who finally strolled back in?" Amanda teased. "Yah, did you get a kiss from your luvah?!" Marc added followed by kissy noises.
Daniel rolled his eyes "Guys, cut it out!"
Amanda smirked "You, cut it out! We know you can't live without Betty!"
Daniel sighed "I know! I really can't! I...miss her! I feel like I'm lost here without her!" he confessed surprising them completely with his honesty. "Woah, Daniel, are you like...in love with Betty?" Amanda asked in surprise, feeling slightly hurt, but also realized she saw it coming.
Marc gasped "Oh my prada, he is!"
Daniel sighed dramatically "leave me alone guys!"
Amanda and Marc looked at him in surprise seeing that he was really stressed out about Betty not being at Mode anymore.
"I need to go work on something or I think I'm going to go nuts." Daniel said as he started to leave, causing Amanda and Marc to laugh since he already was pretty nuts...about Betty, it seemed.
While Betty was listening in at the brainstorming meeting about possible stories, she felt she was a tad distracted. All she could think about was Daniel. It was really messing with her. She could see those insanely gorgeous blue eyes of his shining with light, his charming smile, how handsome he looked, everything was him.
"Betty! That's it!" Sofia stated causing Betty to snap back to reality "What?"
"I have an idea! I want you to write me something about your experience at Mode! I want your honest story!"
"Um...I don't know if I feel comfortable with that, Sofia. I just left."
Sofia nodded "Exactly, that's why it will be more raw, more real!"
Betty looked hesitant, but Sofia insisted "You should go to Mode, get the opinions of those you worked with"
"You...you want me to go to Mode?"
She nodded "Yes! It's going to be fine!"
Betty bit her lip and got up, taking a nervous breath. Crap, she would see Daniel...again! And...she sighed, he looked so incredible today!
Ugh, why was this so hard?
"And, I definitely want your story on Daniel!" Sofia said causing Betty's heart to race again "W..what? Why?"
Sofia smirked "He must have treated you terribly."
Betty smiled "No, actually, he's always been so sweet to me" she said, knowing that she was somewhat lying, however she was definitely not telling Sofia that! Why in the world would Sofia want her to write something terrible about Daniel, anyway?
"Still, it will be interesting for readers to know about your experiences at Mode. Good, bad, beautiful, ugly!"
Betty nodded slowly "Ok…" she was hesitant about the whole story, especially about seeing Daniel. Betty sighed "Um...you want me to do that now?"
Sofia nodded with a slight smile "Yes! And I want this story by tomorrow!"
Betty nodded nervously. When Sofia walked over to her desk, Betty followed and said "Sofia, I'm still not sure I feel comfortable writing this story."
"If you do a good job with this, Bet-ty, there will be many more great stories you can write. Your article will be raw, real, honest, qualities your former boss seems to be lacking."
"What?" Betty felt her heart race, especially when Sofia jumped out of her chair tossing her arms around her "Oh, Betty, I think I'm losing Daniel."
Betty's heart pounded, but she kept it cool "What? No way Sofia! Daniel loves you!"
"This is what he does. He breaks down the girl...takes her heart and squashes it. Why else won't he propose? And to think I left Hunter for him! I must be destined to be another one of Daniel's girls."
Betty stared in shock not knowing what to say. Some deep secret part of her hoped Daniel really didn't want to be with Sofia, anymore, but she knew that was terrible!
"Betty, you go to Mode and get that article. This is your big chance." Betty stood there in surprise as Sofia started to cry.
Betty sighed "ok...I'll go." As Betty left she felt really bad. Perhaps Sofia really was in love with Daniel. He did tell her he loved her too. She really just needed to forget about that kiss, no matter how special, and amazing, and wonderful and life-changing it was.
When she got to Mode she first saw Christina who smiled brightly "BETTY! You are looking lovely! What's the occasion?"
Betty blushed "new job, remember?"
Christina nodded "oh right, I was rather drunk the night of the party!"
Betty rolled her eyes "no kidding!"
"Did you get to flirt with your little nerdy crush?" Christina asked, causing Betty to blush, honestly forgetting about her kiss with Henry. "Uh...kind of...he, um...kissed me."
Christina grinned "what! Well, then, are you going to go on a date with the lad?"
Betty bit her lip shaking her head "No!"
Christina looked confused "Why not, then? I thought you liked the chap?"
Betty took a nervous breath, not sure if she should tell Christina the real reason, but she felt she needed to tell her friend. "Well, I did, until...Daniel kissed me" she confessed causing Christina to stare at her in shock.
After several very long seconds, Betty shoved her shoulder "Christina! What should I do?"
Christina smirked "Well, dear, you know what I think you should do, especially since yir no longer workin for that hunky man yir cleary addicted to. I think yi'd sell yir nephew for 'im. He's your crack!"
Betty's eyes grew wide "What? I'm not addicted to Daniel! I...I just...I only...we're…" she sighed defeatedly, as Christina was looking at her with her eyebrow raised smiling at her.
Betty sighed "Oh fine! I'm totally obsessed Christina, especially now after our kiss! I...I think I'm falling in love with him! I don't know what to do"
"Oo...Bettyyy!"
"What's worse, is even if by some miracle Daniel happens to feel the same way, he's taken!" She sighed.
Christina nodded "Oh right! I forgot about her!" Christina looked at her friend with a slight smile "well, tell me, how was the kiss?"
Betty smiled brightly "Amazing! I...I never felt that way before. I can't stop thinking about the kiss. About...him."
Christina smiled "Oo! I say, show im what he's missing, luv! You're looking lovely and he is just as addicted to you as you are to him. I'd say yir meant for each other!"
Betty felt her heart race. "Um...look, I should go. I have to ask Marc, Amanda, Wilhelmina, and Daniel some questions."
"Bout what?"
Betty rolled her eyes "Sofia wants me to write some dumb story on how it was like being at Mode for me. Like I want to relive that torture! And what's weird is she wanted me to write something bad about Daniel and how he treated me."
Christina shook her head "I don't know what he sees in her."
Betty rolled her eyes "Uh, just the fact that she is gorgeous and sexy and a powerhouse; what doesn't he see in her?" Betty frowned
Christina smiled "you"
Betty frowned more "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Christina nodded "yes, because that lad is going to see just how much you mean to him. How much no matter how he tries to deny it, he needs you just as much as you need him."
Betty bit her lip, feeling her heart twinge. She wished that were true. "Thanks christina, but I really need to get working on this."
Christina nodded "yes, go on, then!"
After Betty consulted Marc and Wilhelmina getting surprisingly 'semi-positive' remarks on how they had 'sort of' come to respect her. Of course, they also commented on her look today, saying of course she'd start dressing better not at Mode.
Betty felt proud of the "semi-positive" impact she seemed to have on her coworkers. She smiled as she walked up to Amanda "Amanda! Hey!"
"Betty? What are you doing here? Do NOT tell me you are here to take back your job?"
Betty shook her head "no...I actually just wanted to ask you a few questions, you know about how you felt about me when I first started here"
They walked together, Amanda thought for a second, then said "I hated you of course!"
"Is that because I didn't look like everyone else?"
"No, it's because you waltzed in here with your bushy eyebrows and mismatched clothes and took the job I'd wanted for months!"
Betty rolled her eyes "You're really confirming everything I'm writing about. Thank you!"
"At some point, I sort became envious of you" Amanda said as she got up. Betty looked at her strangely "Envious?"
"In the most bizarre way. I can't leave the house with an out of season handbag and you walk out of your house looking like…" she glanced at her, but realized she actually looked nice "Say, why are you looking 'nice' today?"
Betty looked at herself and then Amanda in surprise "really? You think I look nice?"
Amanda rolled her eyes "Only a little. This doesn't mean I like you or anything!"
Betty nodded with a smile "Of course not."
"Besides, I'm kinda bummed that Daniel is all ga-ga over you!"
"What?" Betty's eyes grew wide. Amanda rolled her eyes "He came back from dropping your things all upset that you didn't work here anymore. He like really actually misses you."
Betty bit her lip, tears threatening to form. She missed Daniel. More than she ever thought she would. Amanda sighed "I guess I always knew you were Daniel's girl!"
Betty's eyes grew wider "What? I-I'm not Daniel's girl!" she stated in a panic, remembering what Sofia referred to herself as.
Amanda rolled her eyes "Everyone knows it, Betty. It's no secret, I guess I just didn't want it to be real."
Betty noticed Daniel, her heart started pounding "Um...I should go. I have to ask Daniel the same questions." she said feeling butterflies.
Daniel had been trying to work for a few hours now, but kept getting distracted thinking about Betty and her sweet smile and her beautiful eyes and...hot lips! DAMN!
He kept trying to think about Sofia's kisses, but he kept thinking about Betty and how magnetic their kiss was. There was some definite chemistry he felt with Betty. He wondered if she felt it at all. She had to, right?
He sighed. He knew he had to talk to Betty. He had to know if she felt the same way.
When he stepped out of his office and saw Betty over with Amanda his heart practically stopped beating at the sight of her. She was so freaking beautiful. He didn't know how she got more beautiful in the span of a few hours. Seeing her now, he couldn't help but check her out. She looked...kinda hot!
His heart skipped a beat when she saw him and headed over to him. She smiled at him and her smile filled his heart with warmth "Betty! What are you doing here?"
Betty bit her lip… "Uh...I have to work on this article and need everyone's opinion of me when I started." she said nervously, her heart racing just seeing him again. He looked entirely handsome. She really wanted to kiss him again. She wished she could.
He smiled "Well, I thought you were really cute!"
Betty frowned "What? Yeah, right! You thought I was ugly and would ruin your image."
He shook his head "That's not true, Betty! Not at first, look, let's go in my office."
They walked in and Daniel took a seat on the chaise.
"Betty, when I saw you your first day, after you walked into the glass wall, well...I thought you were adorable. When I found out you were my assistant I admit, I was taken aback, but I never thought you were ugly."
Betty wasn't sure she really buyed that, but she listened anyway.
"Philippe is the asshole who made me think that it wouldn't be good to have you as my assistant. I regret ever listening to that asshole! I should have trusted my heart. I knew deep down that I wanted you to stay, but of course, you know better than I do how terribly I treated you. I'm so sorry that ever happened. I have a lot of regrets in my life, but hurting you was the worst!"
Betty stared at him in surprise at his honesty with her. She didn't think he ever actually told her all that.
"I hope that you can forgive me for that"
She smiled "You know I already forgave you, Daniel"
Daniel smiled "I miss you"
Betty felt her heart skip, she nearly felt like crying at how intense her feelings seemed to be now. "um... I miss you. If it makes you feel any better I think my first day at Mode was actually better than MYW" she confessed, causing him to look at her in surprise "really? Why? Aren't working with your role model or whatever?"
Betty nodded, biting her lip, knowing she couldn't tell him it was because of him and Sofia kissing in front of her! "It's not important. Uh...look, Daniel, Sofia is…"
"Betty, before you say anything, can we please talk?" Daniel said feeling like he needed to tell her now how he felt.
"About what?" she felt that knot in her stomach. He got up and placed his hand on her wrist to pull her closer. That gesture made her heart pound like a drum. "About our kiss" he said in a soft tone.
Betty slipped her hand away from his grasp, and shook her head "No. Look, Daniel, I don't think that's a good idea! You have Sofia! And besides, it was just a Christmas kiss. It didn't mean anything, right?" as she said that she felt her own heart shatter. She didn't mean that at all. Seeing the look on Daniel's face made her want to cry. He looked so hurt.
"Uh...ok…yeah, you're right, I guess." Daniel couldn't explain the deep pain he felt when Betty said their kiss didn't mean anything. He felt like his heart was being squeezed to the point of bursting. "Um…" he walked to his desk not knowing what to say or do. He felt heartbroken. He sat down, "Anything else?" he asked, trying to not show his pain, but he sounded upset.
Betty looked at him and walked over "Actually, Sofia was crying to me about why you haven't proposed to her yet?"
He shot up "What? There is no way in hell I'm doing that!"
Betty's eyes were wide in surprise, but then remembered something "Daniel...I saw the rings."
He looked confused "What rings?"
Betty bit her lip "Uh...well, me and Amanda saw the engagement rings in your desk."
Daniel sighed "Uh...yah, I thought about proposing to her, but I don't know…I just feel like it's too fast."
Betty looked at him "She also thinks you don't love her. That you've been lying to her about your feelings!"
Daniel's eyes grew wide "Crap! Do you think she could tell I'm falling in love with-?! CRAP! I mean uh..." he was so close to blurting out that he was falling in love with her. He felt his heart pound at the intensity of what he seemed to feel for Betty all the sudden. How could this have happened all because of one kiss.
Betty's eyes were wide in surprise "What were you going to say?"
He shook his head "Nothing...it's not important."
Betty wondered what Daniel was going to say. Falling in love with...who? Someone other than Sofia? In the fantastical part of her brain she hoped it was her, but she knew that was ridiculous to think that!
Daniel looked at Betty in front of him, looking so beautiful and all he wanted was to kiss her again, to know for sure if what they had was something special or if it was all in his head. He noticed the way she was watching him intently. There seemed to be this electric energy between them. He couldn't be the only one who felt that, could he?
He smiled and said "you look really...pretty today."
She smiled shyly glancing down at her outfit. "Thanks...you really think that?"
He nodded with a smile as her gaze lifted to his "I wouldn't lie to you. You know me too well to pick up on when I'm lying!" he said with a smirk, causing her to smile brighter. "Yah, that's true!"
He grinned "I really miss you. Amanda is doing a pretty good job, but...I miss seeing your smile, I miss you walking into my office all cheery and excited to start the day, I miss how happy you make me feel!"
Betty bit her lip trying to keep herself from crying. Why was he saying all of this? It was too hard. "Um...I should get going. I have to write this article." she said, resulting in him to look disappointed.
He nodded "Uh...yah, I'm sure you're super busy." Daniel figured Betty must not feel the same way he did.
"Daniel…"
"What?" he said looking at her, the look in his eyes making her heart race.
She smiled "I miss you, too"
He smiled "You do?"
She laughed "Of course I do. I keep looking up from my desk forgetting you're not sitting across from me anymore. It's...a lot harder leaving you than I thought it would be" she admitted.
Daniel felt his heart expand "That's great! I thought I was the only one feeling that way. I was going crazy"
She laughed, seeing his smile. "Betty, please have dinner with me tonight? Let's celebrate your new job! We never really did that! You deserve it! And uh...it would be nice to hang out. It's weird not seeing you, especially since we saw each other every day. I feel like part of my day is missing."
She bit her lip to keep herself from tearing up at all the she felt looking at him. Daniel felt his heart race again as he waited for Betty to tell him if she could have dinner with him. "Uh...I don't know. You don't have plans with Sofia? Maybe you should talk to her. She seemed really upset. I don't want to make things worse"
He shook his head and came up to her taking hold of her arms "Please Betty. I really want to see you."
Betty felt like the air was sucked out of her lungs with him being so close to her, taking her breath away. She nodded "Ok"
He smiled brightly "great! I'll pick you up at your house around 8, sound good?"
She nodded with a small smile "Ok" She had to wonder if this was a date. It felt like they were going on a date. That would be crazy. They were just two friends catching up after work.
Daniel wanted more than anything to kiss Betty again. Know for sure if he was imagining the chemistry they seemed to have. As he stared at her he couldn't help being drawn to her beautiful eyes. They seemed extra pretty today. He glanced to her lips, remembering the spark he felt when his lips touched hers.
Betty felt like she was under a spell as she stood in front of Daniel, his eyes were completely mesmerizing. She felt she couldn't look away. She really wanted to kiss him again. It was taking everything in her to not reach up and kiss him. "I...should go" she whispered unable to keep her eyes of his.
He nodded as if in a trance "ok…"
As Betty stepped back she realized he still had his hands on her arms. "See you later" she said starting to leave. He nodded with a smile "yah...later."
When Betty left, Daniel felt like his heart was floating. How could Betty make him feel that way? He wasn't sure what he was going to do about Sofia though. He would figure it all out after his and Betty's dinner. He couldn't wait.
When Betty got on the elevator she was in a daze at what Daniel made her feel. Why did her prince charming have to be unavailable. She wondered if Daniel felt the way she did. She thought back to how he looked at her. It seemed like he wanted to kiss her just as much as she wanted to kiss him.
She sighed. What was she going to do? She realized she simply needed to ask him if he felt something when they kissed. It was eating her up not knowing. At least if she knew, she could move on with her life and stop hoping he would feel the same way.
She felt conflicted though. Her new boss and old boss were a couple. She didn't want to ruin her chances of working at Sofia's magazine. She smiled slightly thinking about having dinner with him later. She couldn't wait!