Moments of Christmas
Part 2: Could It Be? (Takes place in December of Season 3)
"Amanda, we should do something? This is my first Christmas in my own Manhattan apartment." Betty flopped on her couch.
"Well, we can't do the roof again." Amanda said as she looked out the window at the snow as it started to fall.
"Maybe we can have a few people over."
"Like who?" Amanda sat next to Betty.
Betty thought for a moment. "Well, my family."
"Ooo," Amanda excitedly bounced. "Uncle Papi can cook. Bring it! Can Marc come, too?"
"Sure," Betty relented though she remembered how crazy the last get together with Marc and her family had gone when she pretended to his girlfriend; then she left him and his mother with her family so she could help Daniel. Daniel…hmmm.
"Um, Amanda?" Betty rang her fingers nervously. "There's someone else I try to include somehow on the holidays and I would normally…especially this one since I'm in the city…but I don't know how you feel…"
"Spit it out already, Betty." Amanda picked up an emery board and started to file her nails. "You want to invite Daniel," she said without even looking up.
Betty nodded before she started pacing and shaking her head as she talked. "I mean, it's been a crazy year for him. He found out his mother had been poisoned…"
Amanda looked up, "Hey!"
"…Then his girlfriend turned out to not only be Wilhelmina's sister but a crazy killer who set fire to his place and tried to kill me. Then the son he thought was his ended up being his sister's from when his sister was his brother. Then he was moved from Mode to Player, and you have no idea what that was like for him."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "He loved it, Betty."
"No, he didn't, which is why I had to get him back to Mode. Anyway, I just want to include him in something that could be fun, but I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"Why? Because we used to sleep together?" Amanda smiled sincerely. "Betty, you're too nice." Then her eyes lit up and her mouth dropped. "Wait a minute! Do YOU have a thing for Daniel, Betty?"
"What!? No!" Betty quickly denied. She didn't know exactly how she felt about Daniel especially after the last two months. Sometimes Daniel seemed distant and secretive, other times he showed her that she meant a great deal to him. "Daniel would never look at me that way anyway. I'm just trying to make a good Christmas for everyone and he's had a lot of bad ones." She turned and walked towards the kitchen. "Never mind."
Amanda looked at her reflection in her compact mirror and re-applied her lip gloss. "You know I can give you some tips on how to get Daniel's mind off his bad memories," she smirked.
"EWW! AMANDA!" Betty cringed. "Yuck! Anyway, aren't you going to be late for meeting Marc?"
"Yup! I'll tell him we're going to have a Christmas party next weekend. Don't wait up. I'll probably crash at Marc's since his place is closer to the club!" Amanda said as she grabbed her coat and walked out the door.
Next weekend. Well, that didn't give them much time to get the place decorated and ready. Betty figured she'd get started while Amanda was gone. She washed up her dinner dishes first, and as she did so, Betty began to think about what Amanda said. Could she really have romantic feelings towards Daniel? Her heart had been on a roller coaster with Gio, Henry and Charlie during the first half of the year. Could she even imagine something crazier than that fiasco; something like she and Daniel as a couple? She shook her head. Of course not! But her mind began to race:
Well, he did put on that fashion show for her and cheered louder than anyone else when she walked the runway. Henry didn't even make as big of a commotion as Daniel did when she came out to model.
No, he just wanted to make up for all the times he made fun of the girls in the big T-shirts when he was a kid.
But he did seem panicky when he thought she was going to be killed by his girlfriend.
No, that was just concern because she really could have died.
Well, Daniel did tell her she was beautiful a few weeks ago after she caught Jesse kissing Amanda.
Give it up! He was only being nice. He hated seeing her cry.
He did publicly apologize for the Tornado Girl nonsense.
That's because he knew she'd quit if he didn't fix that situation. She didn't even have to threaten him with quitting. He knew she'd leave him.
What about the long reference letter for YETI?
That's work.
Yeah, but he didn't have to go on and on like he did.
Why not? She deserved it after all the she's done.
But didn't he say that was the SHORTER version? How long was the original? What did he cut out?
"UGH!" Betty lightly banged her head on the wall. "This is ridiculous." Maybe a bath would relax her mind. "No use thinking about it anyway. Besides, didn't he push me out the room when I was greeting Connor's fiancée the other day? Hmm…what was that about?"
Amanda's absence meant Betty could soak as long as she wanted. As the tub filled with hot water and bubbles, Betty lit a couple of candles, put on a Christmas CD, and pressed the repeat button. Then she slipped into the tub. She shook her mind free of Daniel and thought of the awesomeness of having her own place…especially with Amanda gone.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Amanda, if you forgot your key, oh well. I'm not getting up!" Betty yelled from the tub.
"If I had a key, I would let myself in," Daniel's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Daniel!?" Betty grabbed her towel as if he had actually entered the room. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, you'd know if you'd open the door."
"Hold on," Betty jumped out of the tub and quickly toweled off as the water drained.
"What's that sound?" Daniel asked through the door.
"The tub," Betty said quickly as she stepped into her pajama bottom.
"Your tub?"
"Yeah, remember I told you it was in the middle of the living room." Betty pulled her pajama top over her head, let down her hair and ran her fingers through it.
"Oh, I forgot about that," Daniel answered as Betty opened the door. "Hey," Daniel said, taking in Betty's baby duck pajamas and matching duck slippers. She could coordinate for bed but not for a work day. He chuckled. "Cute pj's," he said before he noticed she wasn't wearing a bra underneath it and she apparently didn't dry off enough because the top was starting to cling to her breasts.
Betty noticed Daniel's eyes drift toward her chest. "Oh my goodness!" She crossed her arms over herself and ran to her room.
"Betty, it's okay. Seriously," he shouted after her. As he struggled to bring in her surprise, he thought, "She really has nothing to be embarrassed about. Why does she hide those? Wow! Okay, Daniel. Get a grip."
Betty returned not only wearing a bra but a large sweater overtop of her pj's. "Wow!" She clapped with glee at Daniel's gift. "Daniel! I can't believe it! It's perfect."
Daniel had placed the small Christmas tree in the corner next to the couch. "Is this okay?"
"Yes, how did you know I didn't have one yet?"
"You mentioned it as part of your to do list for this weekend. I figured I'd beat you to it. Sort of a housewarming gift since I never really gave you one." Daniel smiled as he worked to get the tree to stand right. The tree tilted towards the wall again.
"Did you get a base to hold it up?" Betty giggled.
"It's a tree. It should stand." Daniel tried again.
"It's been cut; so, no, it shouldn't." Betty laughed a little harder. "Don't you remember seeing a base at the bottom of other Christmas trees?"
"No," Daniel gave up and let the tree lean against the wall. "I only remember Christmas blankets wrapped around the bottom. Remember I was still hung over when the tree went up at your house."
"Ah, and last year I arranged for the florist to put up and remove your tree," Betty remembered. "Well, let's see what I can find."
Betty rummaged through her closet and cabinets while Daniel tried not to look at her backside every time she bent over. He couldn't help it; he's a man and because of the slight dampness of her pj's it looked as if Betty didn't have underwear lines showing through. Fascinated by the idea that Betty might be going commando in his presence, he kept staring at her butt while trying to figure out if she was wearing underwear or not.
"Ah Ha! This should work!" Betty straightened up and turned to reveal an old bucket which held some tape and a brick broken in two. She filled a pitcher with water.
Daniel chuckled, "Okay, McGyver."
"Hey, you just hold the tree straight. I'll show you."
Betty knelt down next to him and started working under the tree. Her proximity let Daniel know for certain the answer to his question. She was commando. He gulped and suddenly felt very warm.
"Okay, you can put it in…ucket now," Betty said from half under the tree.
Daniel gulped again and looked down at her rear pointed in his direction. His sex-deprived mind was playing a cruel joke on him; first Molly with that dang zipper sound in the closet that almost led to him kissing her, now Betty…Betty would never say what he thought she just said. "Wh..what did you say?" he stammered.
Betty leaned back on her heels and looked up at Daniel. "Are you okay? Your face looks red."
He had to think quickly, "Um…yeah, just tired of holding the tree after carrying up the stairs."
Betty softly laughed. "That's why I said you could put it in the bucket now."
"Oh," Daniel chuckled. "That's what you said." Daniel put the tree into the bucket.
Betty stood and brushed off her hands before heading to the sink to wash them. "Yes, you dork. What did you think I said?" she called from over her shoulder.
Daniel bit his lip before answering. "Um…well, I just couldn't hear you from under the tree. That's all." Thankfully, Betty wasn't looking at him to call him on his lie.
"Oh, okay," she said as she dried her hands. "Thank you again for the tree, Daniel. It looks great."
Daniel walked over to the sink to wash his own hands. "Hey, no problem. I know money's tight for you right now, so I wanted to help."
"Aww," Betty smiled. "Well, now you have to make an ornament for this tree." Betty rushed off to grab her craft supplies.
Daniel blew out the candles which were starting to give him a flashback to his apartment burning. He listened to the words of the Christmas song that was playing. Betty walked in with her box right as Harry Connick sang, "When my heart finds Christmas, I hope it finds you, too." Daniel had to smile. There really was something about Betty that made Christmas enjoyable. They sat down at the kitchen table and got to work.
After they had been working silently for a few minutes, Betty chimed in, "So, Daniel. It looks like things are working out with Connor."
Daniel coughed, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he seems to be getting Meade publications back on track financially."
"Oh, yes." Daniel's face reddened as he thought of Molly and was once again confused about his feelings for her and for the woman in front of him. He never thought he could love Betty like she deserved to be loved, but Molly…well, if Molly could go for Connor than she could go for a guy like Daniel, too. Connor had been even more of a bad boy than Daniel had in college, but did Daniel deserve a woman like Molly even if Molly wasn't on the same level as Betty. "Hey, Betty?"
"Yes," Betty answered as she concentrated on her glue.
"I need some advice."
"Sure."
"Okay. There's this girl…uh…woman I know. She's smart and funny and way out of my league."
Betty looked up to catch his eye. "What do you mean?"
Daniel looked down and tried to get his popsicle sticks to do what he wanted. "She's a good woman, Betty. I don't deserve her."
Betty swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to focus the storm of emotions within her so she could help her friend. "So she's different than the other women you've dated?"
"Yes," Daniel kept his head down.
"So she's not a stick thin model with an IQ to match her dress size." A small smiled played at the corner of Betty's mouth.
"No, I mean she's pretty but in an unconventional way."
"Okay," Betty fought against getting her hopes up. "So what's the problem?"
"She's…" Daniel mumbled a word that to Betty sounded like either unattainable or unavailable.
"What?"
"Let's just put it this way. If I stepped over the line with her, it could make work very awkward."
"Really?" Betty's face flushed red and a shiver ran through her.
"Yeah. What should I do?" Daniel kept his head down and chewed on his lip.
"Do you think she cares for you?"
"Yeah. I think so, but it might not be the same way I'm starting to feel for her."
"Well, You never know unless you ask," Betty said as her face lit up with a big smile.
"I guess you have a point." Daniel finally looked up at Betty. "Thanks," he smiled back.
"No problem. So…um…when are you going to talk to…um…this…woman?" Betty asked and held her breath for a moment.
Daniel put his head back down and concentrated on his ornament. "I'll wait until after the holidays. No use risking rejection before then."
Betty let out the breath she was holding and softly added, "I doubt you'll be rejected, Daniel."
That night Betty went to sleep with a big grin on her face. Though Daniel had informed her that he couldn't make her Christmas party because Alexis and DJ asked him and his mother to visit for the holidays, Betty was thrilled she had this Christmas decorating night with him before he left.
She excitedly wondered if she could be Daniel's mystery woman. Wouldn't that be an awesome way to start their next year together? She calmed herself down enough to sleep by telling herself that she shouldn't get her hopes up. How could she ever deserve a great guy like Daniel?
Unfortunately, she had just encouraged Daniel in his pursuit of Molly.
