Author Notes : This fan fiction is a sister-fic of Betty's Little Secret. The two fics are independent but were written with the suggestion of writing a story about Betty wearing pleather in the first episode. My fic, Henry's Little Secret, is from Henry's point of view and has him finding the pics. The other fic, Betty's Little Secret is from her point of view and her trying to keep the pics from Henry.
As usual my thanks to all of my muses at the IC Henry Betty chat room where we talk HB every night….and where I am inspired to write something every day.
Story Assumptions I guess this would be considered AU-alternate universe - it starts right before 'Fake Plastic Snow' and in this story there is NO CHARLIE, she never shows up and does not exist. Also, the downfall of the Walter and Betty relationship is moved up. Enjoy and please review.
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Chapter 2Henry tossed and turned all night, unable to get the images of Betty from his mind. He went into the office the next day, tired. He sat down at his desk and turned on his computer. As soon as his email popped up, he saw a message from his boss entitled, Holiday Party. He opened it and saw that there was a tight budget in place for the MODE party and he was to oversee it. After reading through the rest of the message, he finally got to the part about who was coordinating the party and his heart skipped a beat, Betty Suarez.
He adjusted his glasses and pushed his chair back from his desk. He might as well go see her and get this over with and maybe talk to Mr. Meade about the pictures. He headed upstairs to the MODE floor and when he arrived, he walked down the hall to her office. Visions of the pictures were still running through his head and he was barely paying attention. As he turned the corner, he collided with someone carrying a huge bag of plastic snow.
As the cloud of snow cleared, the subject of his thoughts was standing in front of him.
"Oh, man. I'm sorry. I……..it's you."
"Henry. Hi."
"You got a little……ummm…..right here….."
He started to remove some of the snow from her hair and then thought about what he was doing and pulled back.
"Gosh, I'm sorry, that, that was very unprofessional. Um, let me help you clean this up."
"Oh no, don't worry about it…..."
And then they bumped heads.
"Ow. "
He stood up looking at her.
"Actually, Betty, you're just the girl I've been looking for."
"Oh, no, um, I'm sure that there are other girls."
"It's about the party. I'm supposed to oversee the budget, so, I guess I'll be on top of you for the next couple of days…..party-wise."
"Oh, right."
"Alright."
"Okay."
Great. Now when he looked at her, all he could do was visualize what he now knew was under those layers and apparently he had lost his ability to speak like an adult or act like one.
He walked down the hall in search of Mr. Meade. As he approached his office, he passed Betty's desk, glad that she was dealing with the fake snow mess and looked inside. Mr. Meade was sitting at his desk reading some papers, so Henry gave the doorframe a light tap. Daniel looked up and smiled.
"Henry, come in."
"Do you have a few minutes ?"
"Of course."
"Do you mind if I close the door ?"
"Not at all."
Henry closed the door behind him and walked over to Daniel's desk taking a seat in front of him.
"What's the problem, Henry ? Something with an expense report ?"
Henry smiled.
"No, sir. Actually, I probably shouldn't be talking to you about this but you are the only person that I think I can talk to about it."
Daniel looked at him confused.
"Okay, what is it ?"
"Well, Mr. Meade….."
"Please, call me Daniel."
Henry nodded.
"Daniel……I am in the process of auditing the expenses on the first two issues of MODE that you were in charge of and I ran across something I wanted to discuss with you."
Daniel was concerned. He knew his dad was keeping an eye on him and although he thought he had taken great care in making sure everything was in line with expenses, he knew Henry was thorough.
"Is there an unexplainable expense ?"
Henry wasn't quite sure how to proceed.
"No, it's not an expense. Look, I am reviewing EVERYTHING and I was looking at some pictures from the issue that were not used. Specifically, pictures of Betty."
Daniel's eyes grew wide.
"Oh my God, were those in the box for the issue ?"
"Yes, yes they were. Now, I have no doubt there was a reason they were taken and while I think Betty is…..well,…..beautiful in every way, I don't think she would be happy knowing they were in the corporate filing system where pretty much anyone could access them."
Daniel stood from his desk. He hadn't even thought about that possibility.
"No, Henry, you're right. I can't believe they were in there. It's my fault."
He looked up at Henry and Henry replied.
"What do you mean ?"
Daniel explained to Henry about his father hiring Betty and how Daniel had treated her during the first issues production and how he had got Betty to pose for the pictures in an attempt to get her to quit. Henry was appalled but Daniel did seem to be very remorseful of his actions.
"Did you look at the second business plan yet ?"
"No, to be honest the pictures on the first one threw me for a loop so I stopped looking."
"Well, the second plan was hers and it was brilliant. She gave me the credit with my father but it was all her. You're in for a treat when you get to it."
Henry felt proud of her.
"So, what can we do about the pictures ?"
"You have them ?"
Henry nodded.
"Yes, and the negatives."
"You have my permission to destroy the pictures and negatives with Betty in them. They were just test shots so it shouldn't matter if they are in the file or not. If you have to report them missing in your audit, I will take the heat."
"Thank you, Mr. Meade."
"Daniel, please. Henry, is there something going on with you and Betty."
Henry smiled. He wished.
"No, sir. We're just friends. She has a boyfriend."
"Yes, yes, I know. I just thought…..nevermind. Thank you again, Henry for bringing this to my attention and good luck with the audit."
Henry stood from the chair, said his goodbyes and walked out. As he left Daniel's office, he saw Betty at her desk on the phone. He avoided eye contact with her and headed down the hall back to the elevator and his office.
He saw Betty a few more times that day and the next before the party, even having a conversation with her about snow globes and Rudolph but each time they were both awkward and nervous around each other. He couldn't get the image of her from the pictures out of his mind. The more he was around her the more he wanted to be around her.
He didn't have a chance to get back to the audit until the weekend. Work had been busy and he had been trying to keep an eye on the holiday party budget. Well, he wanted to keep an eye on Betty, really. It was Saturday morning and he had just finished reading the paper and having coffee when the phone rang.
"Hello."
"Hi, Henry, it's Betty."
His heart stopped.
"Betty, hi. I didn't think I was going to hear from you. I'm really sorry about that kiss thing with the model at the party, I didn't initiate that."
"I know. That model had been hitting on everyone all night. And, well, Hilda didn't give me your message last night, I found it in the trash this morning."
"The trash ? I don't understand."
"Walter was here when you called last night and she was just doing what she thought was right. She isn't really comfortable with change."
He didn't know what to say to that and she continued.
"Listen, the note said something about me coming over to watch Rudolph tonight. Are you still free ?"
"Yes, yes of course."
"What time ?"
"Why don't you come over around six and we can order something in to eat."
"Sounds great. I'll see you then and sorry about last night, Hilda meant well."
"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you got the message."
"Me too."
Henry hung up the phone with a smile.