Thank you so much for your wonderful responses - they mean a lot! You might get your wish as far as Betty getting a harsh lecture - whether she listens or not, you'll have to read and see . . . lol. Here's the next chapter! :)
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"Ay! Dios Mio! Estas loca en la cabeza? Don't make me come back from Hawaii just so I can smack some sense into you!" Betty heard the voice on the other end of the phone say; in the town car, on her way to work.
"Hilda? What are you even doing calling me right now? Enjoy your honeymoon and don't worry about me!" Betty insisted.
"Justin texted me and I couldn't let you ruin your life," Hilda explained.
"Me, ruin my life? Daniel's the one at fault here. I'm just trying to salvage what's left of it. And even though it's all the way in London, this is still my dream job. Why shouldn't I take it?" Betty defended herself.
"Because you're only doing it to run away from your problems. Tell me something – if you hadn't supposedly seen Amanda all up in Daniel's business, would you have taken the job?" Hilda asked.
". . . No," Betty reluctantly answered, knowing her sister was making some valid points and hating it.
She stepped out of the car, grabbing her laptop case and politely thanking the driver.
"Did you even give him a chance to explain? Because I honestly don't believe it's what you're making it out to be. If it is, trust me – I'll kick his ass so hard he won't be able to sit or stand for weeks! But I think you're wrong. He came to me, looking for you. I made a few comments about how it might be you two standing up there someday. Honey, the look in his eyes . . . the way he smiled . . . He's in this with you for real," Hilda tried to convince her sister.
"Hilda, you didn't see him with her. And they have a history together – however superficial and non-committal it was . . . I just can't compete on that level – I'm done!" Betty refused to back down, as she opened the door to the MEADE building.
"If you wanna make a dumbass choice like throwing away what was the best relationship of your life, then that's your decision. I love you, and I want you to be happy. But remember, Daniel did that for you. I've never seen you happier than in the four years he's been in your life – or sadder whenever you fought. It was like a piece of you was missing without him. And I think that's because he's your soulmate," Hilda informed her. "You two might not have realized how deep your connection was until a few months ago, but it was always there. I hate to see you leave behind the best thing in your life, because you're scared that this is real."
Betty sighed, irritated by how easily her sister could get into her head and speak the truth she didn't want to hear - especially when it didn't matter anymore.
"I'm not scared that this is real! Daniel is the one who screwed this up!" she reminded her, stepping into the elevator.
"You don't know that for sure. And you aren't asking for the truth. You're looking for a way out, because you're still afraid of taking the next step with him," Hilda pointed out.
"No, I am not! When I walked into that room again, I was finally ready. But then I saw him with Amanda, and I knew my instincts had been right all along. He'll never change," Betty tried not to cry as she walked out of the elevator and into MODE.
"Fine. If you wanna run away to another country without even hearing the truth – fine! But at least tell Daniel you're leaving. Don't leave him in the dark to find out from somebody else. He deserves to know from you," Hilda reasoned with her.
"Okay. I'll tell Daniel I'm taking the job in London," Betty relented.
"You're taking a job in London?" Marc gasped as he walked by her and stopped.
"Hilda, I've gotta go. Thank you for calling and have fun. I love you both and I'll see you when you get back. Bye," Betty hurriedly hung up. "Yes, Marc, I'm taking a job in London. But you can't tell anyone – especially not Daniel. I haven't told him yet."
"Oh ok. Whoops! Sorry, my thumbs just seem to have a mind of their own," he fake apologized as he sent a mass email from his Blackberry.
"Marc!" she protested and immediately ran as fast as she could in her stilettos to Daniel's office.
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"Say 'Hi' to Robby Pattinson for me," Daniel coldly stated as Betty rushed into his office to do damage control, knowing shortening names of celebrities he'd never even met bugged the crap out of her.
She was beyond pissed with him, right now. But Hilda had convinced her that he at least deserved to find out before anyone else did. Betty felt like breaking Marc's damn texting thumbs.
"Daniel . . ." Betty wasn't sure what to say.
"No, it's fine – really – my girlfriend took a job in another country and I'm the last one to know. It's great. I mean, at least I know how little I mean to you," he said sarcastically.
"Oh come on Daniel, don't give me that B.S.!" she snapped.
"How could you, Betty? You left me at the reception looking all over for you, like an idiot!" he paced around, angrily flailing his hands in the air. "And then you wouldn't answer any of my calls or texts the rest of the weekend. I went by your family's house and they said you weren't there. I called I don't know how many hotels; trying to figure out where you were . . . I thought we were a team? Why are you shutting me out?"
"Don't you dare pretend to be crushed I'm leaving! I know you've still got a thing for Amanda! You were just waiting for her to come crawling back to you – I was just her temporary replacement!" she retorted.
Her words startled him and cut like a knife.
"What the hell are you talking about? I told you when we got together there was nothing between me and Amanda but mindless sex," Daniel tried to figure out why his world was now spinning upside down, when he thought everything was finally coming together in his life.
Betty cynically laughed.
"Right . . . well that's the key word . . . I wouldn't put-out and you couldn't possibly wait just a couple more hours to bang someone. Wait - you were secretly sleeping with her before then, weren't you? That's why you were so patient with me! God! How could I have been so blind? I should've known you hadn't changed - you'll always be a man-whore!" Betty callously retorted, having a feeling she had gone too far, but unable to control herself.
She was hurt and wanted him to feel as much pain as she did. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and frantically blinked them back. There was no way in hell she wanted him to know how much this was killing her.
Daniel choked back tears. He couldn't believe she'd think that. After all that they'd been through; all that she'd done to make him realize he needed to change, that he didn't want to be that guy anymore.
"If you believe that, you don't know me at all - I'm not even sure you ever knew me," his voice cracked. It couldn't feel any worse if she had ripped his heart out and stomped on it and everything they had come to be.
Betty stood in silence, half wanting to hold him and tell him she didn't mean it, the other wanting to feel nothing but satisfaction from knowing she had struck a nerve. He startled her out of her debate.
"Just get the hell out! I can't even stand to look at you right now!" he shouted.
He couldn't contain the flood much longer and needed her gone. He had only uttered those words to her once before, and they didn't feel any less hurtful now than they had then.
Her stomach plummeted – this was it – it was really over. Why she still cared, she wasn't sure. After all, he was the one who cheated. He was the one who didn't even have the guts to look her in the eye and tell her. He denied everything. Screw him!
"Fine! Sign these release papers and you won't ever have to see me again!" Betty shouted; a combination of anger, frustration and sadness coming out of her mouth.
She slammed the papers on his desk and stormed out. As her back turned, he studied her figure, knowing it probably really was the last time he would lay his eyes on her. As she walked out with tears streaming down her face, she noticed the mob crowded around the door and the glass wall, eagerly waiting to get an inside scoop of the end of their boss' affair with his former assistant. She knew there was one thing about this place she would never miss – privacy.
Daniel glanced at a snapshot taken of them at an after-party the past week. He remembered Hilda's wedding – they were so happy; he really felt like a part of her family; she was so beautiful, so poised; he wanted to hold her in his arms and dance to the music forever. Hilda's words at the reception reaffirmed that feeling that had been buried deep down for a while – he didn't just love her – he was in love with her.
He wanted to marry her. He was waiting for the right moment to tell her . . . and now everything was shot to hell. He threw the picture against the side wall then sat down on the chaise with his head in his hands, finally letting the tears flow.
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A week had gone by and neither one of them had made an effort to smooth things over. Yet Daniel still couldn't bring himself to cut the last tie he had with Betty, the one tie that had brought them together four years ago and ended up changing his world for the better. No matter how bad things were right then, he knew if he kept her there, they'd eventually be able to work things out.
Plus, part of him just wanted to piss her off for not telling him sooner, not discussing it with him first. How could she just make a decision like that without him? He didn't care how upset she was with him, even though for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. They were in a committed relationship and he should at least have some input in a decision as big as this. Hell, she gave him more say when he was just her boss and friend than she had given him now that they were more.
He paged her to his office. When he saw her approach his open door, he held up her forms and took a lighter to them as she watched in horror and disbelief. The whole moment would've been perfect if only he had remembered he couldn't just stand there with a smug face and forget about the growing flame in his hand.
Daniel frantically tried to get what was left of the papers into his trashcan but was too late not to end up burning his hand and injuring his leg and foot in front of not only Betty, but an on-looking crowd of employees.
Betty couldn't believe Daniel had the gall to do this to her - to keep her here against her will, knowing his affair with Amanda left her with nothing to stay for. To crush her dream of being in charge of her own magazine. But as she watched the flames grow closer to his hands, him struggle not to burn down himself or his office in front of an entranced group of employees, she knew he had caused himself to suffer in a way. Despite everything, all she could think about now was making sure he wasn't seriously hurt.
"Oh, baby, are you okay?" she blurted out without even thinking as she ran towards him, catching him before he lost his balance.
"Son of a bitch! . . . I'm fine!" he snapped, grudgingly glaring at her while a throbbing feeling shot through his foot. What the hell did she care, anyway? He held his hand, writhing in pain."Ow! Damn it!"
"No, you're not 'fine'. Here," she gained her composure and awkwardly looked at him as she gently leaned him against his desk and quickly brought over his chair, sitting him down before she grabbed another one to prop up his feet. "I'm going to go get a First Aid kit and some ice – don't move!"
She rushed off, coming back a few minutes later. There was awkward silence while Betty prepared the wrap for his hand.
"Daniel, what were you thinking? Do you know how dangerous that was? You could've been hurt much worse and possibly have burned down your office!" she quietly scolded him, wrapping the bandage around his hand.
"It looked a lot cooler in my head – something out of a movie, you know?" he answered sheepishly.
"Yeah well, next time hire a stuntman," she joked.
"I'll remember that," he weakly smiled.
After a pregnant pause, Betty spoke.
"I need those papers by tomorrow . . . Do you hate me that much to try and keep me here against my will? . . . To torture me, knowing I don't have anything to stay for anymore?" she asked.
"You didn't talk to me about leaving – I had to read it in a mass email. And this magazine has invested too much in you to send you off to another major publishing company without some serious thought," he answered, avoiding her questions.
"Damn it, Daniel – you slept with Amanda! I didn't think it really mattered to you what I did or where I went!" she shouted, slapping the scissors down on his desk.
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about!" he yelled back.
"God! If you don't even have the balls to admit you were screwing that slut, then I have no ounce of sympathy left for you!" Betty exclaimed, fighting back tears.
She slammed the kit in his injured hand and ran out the door.
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"Our insurance rates are going to skyrocket if you don't cool it with the pyrotechnics," Claire entered Daniel's office to find him with his head buried in his desk.
"Mom?" his head shot up.
"Is everything alright, dear?" she asked, concerned.
"It's Betty. She's leaving and I don't get why. Things were great between us . . . then all of a sudden she started shutting me out, avoiding me. She didn't even talk to me about taking that job or moving to London! We've always talked about stuff like that. I had more of a right to be included this time than all those times before. And now she's claiming I slept with Amanda – that was ages ago, before we were together. Why would that bug her now?" he let it all come out.
"I think she knew how you would react, if she told you, and couldn't bring herself to face you," Claire commented. "Perhaps her out-of-the-blue reaction to your past was a desperate attempt to push you away and make it easier for her to let you go. If you were upset with each other, she wouldn't feel as bad about leaving you."
"But Mom, I've always been supportive and understanding of Betty's career moves," he defended himself.
"True as that may be, your actions this time proved different, and I think Betty knew they would. You both have grown closer to each other. Things aren't like they used to be. A weekly postcard or a visit on holidays wouldn't suffice – not that either one of you could ever stay away from each other in the past, when Betty wasn't working for you," Claire observed.
Daniel gave a bittersweet smile.
"Betty is 'The One', isn't she?" Claire asked.
Daniel silently lowered his head.
"I've never seen you this way with any other woman. It isn't about the chase or jealousy. And it isn't pertaining to charity or guilt or obligation. Betty is special to you. I could see it coming years ago – that magnetic force that connects you to each other - no matter who else is a part of your lives at the time or how badly you've hurt one another. You complete each other and aren't the same when you're apart," she continued.
". . . You're right. I'm in love with her, Mom. I've never felt anything like it before. But she's leaving – she doesn't want anything to do with me," he reluctantly confessed, not wanting to feel those feelings, knowing it was useless doing so. Now that he had said it out loud, it made it all the more real and all the more painful.
"Then you need to give her a reason to stay, before it's too late," Claire advised.
Daniel sighed, running his hand through his hair and over his face. He had to keep her there – and this time, willingly.