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 4Daniel noticed immediately on Monday morning that Betty was in a mood. She had been slamming around her desk all morning. He had tried to talk to her once but she had nearly bit his head off so he had just retreated back to his office. He wanted to talk to Henry today to make sure he had destroyed those pictures. He picked up his phone and called Betty.
She answered curtly.
"Yes."
"Betty, can you call down to accounting and have Henry Grubstick come up to my office, I need to talk to him ?"
"About what ?"
"Excuse me ?"
"What do you need to talk to him about ?"
"Well, not that it is any of your concern but he brought something to my attention last week on an audit his was doing and I asked him to take care of something for me and I need to follow up."
She hung up the phone without commenting and the next thing he knew she was in his office closing the door behind her. She marched up to his desk and he backed his chair up.
"Betty."
"Daniel, I need to ask you something and I need you to tell me the truth."
"Okay."
He was kind of intimidated by her at the moment.
"What did you ask Henry to take care of for you and be specific ?"
He might as well tell her.
"Betty, Henry is auditing the first two issues of MODE under my leadership and he came across the initial Fabia campaign and the test pictures we took of…..well, you. He was concerned that they were in the company files and that you would not want them there. I told him to destroy them and the negatives. He was very protective of you, in fact, I even asked him if there was anything going on with you two."
"What did he say ?"
"He said you had a boyfriend. But, I had a feeling he wished you didn't."
She sighed and buried her hands in her face.
"Betty, what's wrong ?"
"I blew it. How could I have not believed him ? I'm such an idiot."
"Betty……"
She looked up at him and smiled.
"Nevermind….thanks for telling me the truth. I'll go call him to come up."
She left Daniel shaking his head. She walked back to her desk and sat down, dialing Henry's number.
"Accounting, Henry."
"Henry, this is Betty. Daniel would like to see you in his office as soon as possible."
"Okay, I'll be right up."
He hung up the phone and headed up to the MODE floor. Once again, Betty was on the phone when he came up but she looked at him and motioned for him to go into Daniel's office.
Daniel looked up when he entered and then stood up from his desk. He didn't know what was going on between his assistant and Henry but Henry looked to be in about as good of a mood today as Betty.
"Henry, thanks for coming up."
He walked over and closed the door as Henry sat down.
"What can I do for you Mr…, Daniel ?"
"I just wanted to make sure you destroyed the pictures and the negatives we talked about the other day."
"I did, I burned them in my fireplace the other night."
"Good. Listen, is everything okay with you and Betty ?"
Henry looked down at his hands.
"No, not really. We had a little misunderstanding the other night. She found out I had seen the pictures and she thinks I destroyed them because they were hideous, her word. Why can't she see how beautiful she is and that I would never have destroyed them for that reason ?"
Daniel smiled. Henry was right, there was a beauty in Betty that most people failed to see. He was glad he had seen it and Henry was right, it was those pictures that made him see it too.
"Well, she talked to me about it today, maybe I helped. She seemed pleased that I had asked you to destroy the pictures."
Henry looked up hopefully and smiled.
"I hope so, she broke up with her boyfriend. I thought……well, I guess we'll see what happens."
Daniel felt sorry for the guy but he thought everything might work out.
"Thanks again Henry for taking care of that for me and for bringing it to my attention, I am grateful."
Henry smiled weakly.
"No problem."
He got up and left the office. Betty was not at her desk when he came out and he went back to his office to finish out the day.
The rest of the week was the same. He finished the audit on both issues and everything had seemed in order. He found a couple of things that could have been handled more efficiently and made note of those but overall both issues had been well managed.
He got home around five-thirty, tossed his briefcase on his desk, took off his shoes and sweater and unbuttoned the first few button of his dress shirt before plopping down in his living room chair.
There was a knock at the door. He got up and opened it not expecting what greeted him on the other side. It was Betty, smiling at him with a pizza in one hand and a DVD in the other.
"Hi, I thought we could try this again. I was wrong to get so mad at you the other day. It just brought up memories of that whole thing and I reacted badly. What happened wasn't your fault, it was Daniel's and he and I have dealt with it. Is your offer to watch Rudolph still open ?"
He couldn't believe she was standing there. He took the pizza box from her and smiled.
"Of course, yes."
She followed him in. They made plates of pizza and settled into the sofa in the living room and Henry popped in the Rudolph DVD she had brought and they watched and ate pizza, laughing and talking at their favorite parts.
When they were done, he cleared their plates and came back to the living room and sat down next to her. He pushed a strand of hair back from her face.
"So, if you broke up with Walter, is this our first date ?"
She smiled.
"I guess it is."
He looked at her sweetly.
"So, um, do you….kiss on the first date."
She laughed. He loved that laugh.
"I do."
He leaned in brushing his fingertips across her cheek and she leaned up to meet him and they kissed. A gentle sweet first kiss and then he pulled back.
"I have a secret, I need to tell you."
She rolled her eyes.
"Wait here."
He got up and went to his room and came back a few minutes later with something in his hand.
"I kept this. I'll burn it with the others if you want me to but I wanted to keep it. It was my favorite of the pictures."
Betty took it from him. It was a picture from that day, just a headshot down slightly below her shoulders. She looked back up at him bravely.
"You know……I still have this top."
His eyes grew wide and he swallowed.
"You do ?"
She nodded.
"Maybe I'll have to wear it over here some time."
He smiled a devilish smile and took the picture from her hand and sat it on the coffee table and then moved closer to her. He leaned in and kissed her again this time more aggressively and she put her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
After kissing for a few minutes, he pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"Do you have a black overcoat ?"
She looked at him smiling.
"Um, no, why ?"
He grinned.
"Nevermind…."
He leaned back in and continued kissing her.
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