Gio pulled up outside his deli, located just outside the lobby to the Meade building. Putting the car into park and turning off the engine, he jumped out and ran round to open Betty's door. It was quite an effort to beat Betty to it, but well worth it when he saw the smile that he fell in love with a year ago. Helping her out of the van and onto the pavement saw Gio rewarded with a quick and gentle kiss, it was long enough to enjoy though. "Mmm…" Gio said savoring the kiss, "You know I'm going to be opening doors for you, for the rest of our lives?!" "Uh huh – that's what I love about you G!" Betty said as she headed towards the lobby leaving Gio on the sidewalk. He crossed his arms, leant against the door of his van and bit his bottom lip just watching her walk off. 'Damn, that girl sure is something else,' he thought to himself.
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"Ohh, heeyy! Welcome back Betty!" Daniel said as he walked toward his office. "It's great to finally have you back. Sorry about the amount of work on your desk, Amanda got absolutely nothing done whilst you were gone. Take your time with it though." "Ahh, Daniel, what work? The few files that had to be filed? Don't worry about those, they're already taken care of. However, your coffee and bagel are waiting for you on your desk and your 9.30 appointment has been rescheduled for tomorrow 9.30 and you've got a call on line one." Betty finished her rapid spiel and kept looking at Daniel. He just looked at her quizzically and questioned, "You're not wearing any strange perfumes are you?" "No Daniel! Don't be silly, I'm not high on anything, only in luurve…" Betty said slumping and tilting her head to one side with a love struck look on her face. Daniel scrunched up his face, shook his head and continued into his office.
Betty was in a really good mood this morning. There was an extra spring in her step. She knew she was on cloud nine and wasn't going to be returning for quite awhile. Gazing at her computer screen and the flashing cursor, Betty became mesmerized and her thoughts carried her away to 25 Teddy Bear Lane, where there was a white horse carriage awaiting her. Holding out his hand for her to grasp, Gio helped Betty on to the carriage. 'I'm here to take you away my love. We're going somewhere where we can both be; Rossi-Suarez Land. Together, we'll make our fantasies become our realities...' 'Put it in, put it in, put it in…WORK!' "Damn you phone!" Betty cursed as she grabbed her cell. "Betty Suarez speaking…"
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"Whose cheesy balls are you picking up later Betty?" charmed Amanda. "It's this special cheese that Gio would love to use in his deli, but he can't get it imported because of some customs thing…so I found, well actually Daniel knows this guy that uses it at his restaurant, so I asked him if he could get me some for Gio – he will absolutely die when he finds out that I've got this cheese for him! Squee! Not that it's any of your business Amanda! What are you doing listening to my phone calls anyway?" Betty questioned as she pushed her glasses up her nose and settled back down. "Well, I came by to give you this message" Amanda said, sticking the orange post it note on Betty's forehead before twirling on her foot and swinging her hips as she sauntered away. Not thinking of removing the note to look at it, Betty twisted and turned her head trying to read the note. Daniel saw this and quickly ran to her aid, pulling the note off her head and handing it to her. "Are you sure you're not love sick Betty?" "Love sick? Nooo! How could I be sick of Gio love? I just can't get enough! That's the problem. Ohh Daniel this feeling is so great…" Betty took a deep sigh and then turned the note over to read it. 'Lunch? Come to the deli' was all that it read. "Ooh, gotta go Daniel, I'll be back soon. Do you want lunch from the deli?" Betty said as she gathered her bag, but before Daniel could answer, "Yeah ok, sure, I'll bring back the usual…byeeeeee" and with that Betty practically flew through the office towards the elevator lobby. Pressing the button frantically for the next lift, naughty thoughts started running through her head creating a gigantic smile on her face and a faint pink tinge in her cheeks.
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As the bell above the door rang, Gio looked up to see a flurry of color burst in through the door. Pulling off his apron whilst walking out from behind the counter, he pulled Betty into a crushing bear hug and said "B, I've missed you so much! Glad you could make it. I was hoping you didn't have much work to do so you could escape for a little bit." Pulling out of the hug, Betty answered, "Anything to see my pickle napkin man! Besides, I wasn't being very productive; however, my imagination was working overtime!" "Oh really? Anything you care to share with me?" "Not in front of the customers Gio!! I'll surprise you one night though!" "Ahh, it's like that, is it Suarez? Interesting…I can't wait." "So, what's for lunch? I'm hungry and if I don't eat soon, I'm going to have to eat you alive!" "That'll have to wait for one night too!" Gio said winking at Betty whose jaw had dropped at the comment and was now turning a shade of red. "Loosen up B, I thought you didn't want to be embarrassed anymore?!" "Yeah, well, me being open about those sort of things in public might take a little while getting used to, that's all." "Ok, no problem babe, if you're uncomfortable with it, that's fine, we'll get there when you're ready…one step at a time, remember? I'm right beside you and never leaving," said Gio with a big smile and hugging Betty. She then went and sat down at a table and waited for her sandwiches.
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Walking out of there with 2 sandwiches in her clutch, Betty bid her farewell to Gio and said that she'll meet him after work at the deli. She made her way back up to MODE and sat at her desk. Daniel came out to collect his sandwich and noticed that Betty was still floating on air. "So, are you guys coming out into the open about everything?" Daniel asked. "Yeop" Betty said with a mouth full of bread. "We're a couple and we're in love" she said defiantly and a little bit excited, so much so, the nearby workers looked up from their desks in her direction. "That's great Betty. I'm really happy for the both of you. Especially you, you're really something special and I'm so glad you realized that Gio is the one for you. I knew from the day of mum's court case that he was the one for you. There's just something about him, and you for that matter. I think you guys are going to make it! All the way too! Congrats again Betty." Daniel said giving her his two thumbs up and cheesy smile before grabbing his sandwich and heading back to his office. Betty smiled the best she could without showing off the contents of her mouth.
Daniel's comments reverberated through Betty's mind for the rest of the day. She knew she was the luckiest girl to have a guy like Gio and was glad that everyone could see the effect it was having on her. Thankfully, the day was flying by and she couldn't wait to get back to the apartment and spend the night with Gio.
She was on her last phone call for the day, booking a venue for an upcoming MODE publicity stunt. As she going over the details one last time, Gio crept up to her desk and planted himself on the edge of her desk. Sitting there overhearing every detail of the booking, he noticed that she was twirling her hair around her pencil. It was coming up soon, he just knew it, he waited and there it was, he mouthed at the same time, "S-U-A-R-E-Z" accentuating the ZEE. "Thank you, bubbye." She hung up the phone and swiveled in her chair. Shocked to find him sitting on her desk, she grabbed her chest and breathed, "GIO, you scared me! How long have you been sitting there?" "Long enough to want to hear you say R-O-S-S-I" He chuckled and smiled at her. "Well Mr Rossi, all in good time. Let's get out of here!" Betty packed her bag, shut down her computer and put her hand inside Gio's when he held out his hand to grab hers. They walked hand in hand to the van and drove home.