Betty dreamed about the encounter on the bridge. But in her dream she didn't leap for safety. She let Daniel press his lips into hers and wrap his arms around her, holding her tight. He kissed her cheek, then her jaw line and then his kisses made their way down to the side of her neck stopping where her blouse was resting. His hands caressed her arms and then slowly made their way to her top button. Then there was a buzzing noise – maybe a bee. Yes it was a bee. The largest, most hideous looking bee she'd ever seen. It was heading straight for her. It was just about to land on her face when she pulled away quickly and Daniel crashed to the ground…

Betty woke up…the same bee was buzzing. No…it wasn't a bee. It was her phone buzzing on the night stand. She grabbed her glasses and then picked up her phone.

A.B.

Skype.

Now.

J.

Justin was texting her and wanted her to get on Skype? That's weird. It must be only…she looked at the clock: 5:45am. Why was he waking her so early? It was 5:45 London time so in New York it was 12:45am. Why on earth was Justin on the computer that late at night? He had school in the morning.

For a brief moment she panicked that something was really wrong - perhaps with her father. But then she realized they would have called if it was truly an emergency. Whatever it was, it must have been too urgent to wait until it was a decent time in both places. Reluctantly she got up. She couldn't help but think how nice it would be to go back to that dream - without the bee. Then she shook her head. She didn't feel that way about Daniel – they were just friends. Man, that attempted kiss really messed with my head.

She walked out to her computer and turned it on. As she was waiting for it to boot up she replied to the text:

J.

Booting up.

A.B.

After about the longest two minutes of her life Betty was connected with Justin. Hilda was there too. Bobby had gone to bed…he thought they were crazy.

"Hi A.B." said Justin "We waited up so we could talk to you."

"It's not even 6:00 in the morning yet. What is so important that it couldn't wait until later in the day? Shouldn't you guys be in bed?"

"I picked up a copy of the Mode 100th Anniversary Edition." Justin was clearly excited about something.

"Soooo?" Betty failed to see the relevance and why she had to be woken up for that.

"Well actually, I picked up a couple of copies and shipped one express to you the other day - before I took a look at it."

"To the point Justin." Betty knew there had to be more to it.

"Aunt Betty…you have to read the letter from the editor!"

"Why? What are you talking about?" This was all very confusing to Betty, particularly when she was only partially awake.

"Betty…" Hilda interjected "have you heard from Daniel?"

"Yeah…actually he's here. We went out for dinner last night. How did you…"

"Oh my Gosh!" Justin and Hilda looked at each other.

"Ok. What's going on?" Betty was starting to get annoyed.

"Should we read it?" Justin asked Hilda.

"I'm not sure…maybe we should just wait and let her read it herself…"

"Hey! Guys! I'm right here. Talk to me. Read me what?"

Justin proceeded to read Daniel's letter from the editor to Betty. In it Daniel had stated that he was stepping down and that fashion was much more suited to Wilhelmena – that she would make an excellent Editor-in-Chief. He spoke of the way things transform, even your feelings. He stated that sometimes you start to see people in a new light – like a good friend - maybe because they have undergone slight transformations of their own, or maybe because they are rising to new challenges that boost their confidence. Whatever the reason, sometimes you realize you need to make your own changes in order to keep that person in your life – even if it means undergoing your own new challenges both personally and professionally. He ended the letter with "love is one fashion that never goes out of style."

Justin finished reading and there was a pause.

"So? What do you think?" Hilda asked.

Betty was in a state of shock. He couldn't possibly be talking about her? Could he? That would explain the odd behaviour – the attempted kiss.

She tried to maintain her composure and find out just what Hilda and Justin were thinking. "What do I think of what?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Aunt Betty…he's so talking about you!" Justin was convinced.

"Why would you say that? It's very vague." Betty was trying to be objective.

"Vague…are you freaking kidding me! Betty the only way he could have been more obvious was if he actually named you. "Small transformations" - he's talking about your new look – new glasses, no braces; "rising to new challenges" – that is completely you - your junior editor job and now your job in London."

"Yeah…and he says he needs to make changes of his own in order to keep you in his life. And now he's there and you've already gone out for dinner." Justin added.

"Ok…maybe." Betty was becoming more and more convinced they were right. Maybe Mrs. Meade had been onto something after all. "He was acting a little strange last night."

"Oooo…strange how?" Hilda was up for the drama.

It was a little embarrassing but Betty wanted their insight. "He tried to kiss me."

"What!" Hilda and Justin looked at each other again.

"What do you mean tried?" Hilda asked. That didn't really register for her.

"Well…I kinda jumped out of the way and he smacked his head on a post." Betty confessed. "But in my defense, I thought he'd gone a little…crazy."

"Yeah…crazy in love." Justin emphasized the word love. Betty and Hilda gave him a look. "What?" he said.

"So he didn't actually kiss you?" Hilda clarified.

"No…not exactly…not at all actually. The head injury was kind of a mood killer."

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Hilda asked

"I don't know." Betty took a deep breath. "I guess I'll have to talk to him."

"But what are you going to say? I mean…are you…you know…interested?"

"Hilda, I honestly don't know. I've never thought of Daniel that way before. We've always just been friends."

"Well, you should figure it out before you close any doors…just sayin'" Hilda said.

"Yeah. Anyway, you guys need to go to bed. It's really late there. Thanks for…uh…letting me know…I guess." Her mind was a mess now.

They disconnected and Betty decided she might as well get into work early. She had a lot to do anyway and there was no way she was going back to sleep after that conversation.

The office was quiet in the early hours of the morning and Betty was extremely productive in the hour and a half before anyone else showed up. She completed her budget and started to get a small presentation of it ready for Lindsey. She did some research on other potential advertisers she could set up meetings with. She sorted through about twenty resumes for the job as her assistant and she went online to find out a little about a freelance writer that Lindsey had spoken to her about.

As people started arriving to work, Betty decided that she needed to get in touch with Daniel. She hadn't figured out exactly how she was feeling but she knew that after what happened when they were out last night, she couldn't let too much time pass before they confronted the issue. And loaded with the new information that she had, she definitely had to talk to him…as much as she might like to avoid the whole issue altogether.

She picked up her phone and texted him, inviting him to her flat for dinner. She didn't feel like she had too many options. Their conversation was probably going to be personal and she didn't want to do that in a busy restaurant. She just hoped that Daniel wouldn't read too much into the fact that she was inviting him to her place. It was weird that she now had to worry about these kinds of things with Daniel.