Accusations d'amour
A/N: this little fic is set during the time when Betty is still with Walter. It may or may not be D/B in the end.
Guarantees and telephones
Later in the afternoon, Daniel was sat in his office reviewing the Book, and Betty sending out various emails and memos.
The sound of a commotion reached her ears vaguely, and she turned around.
The entire office of Mode froze, staring at her, then turned as a body back to their work, darting little surreptitious glances at her. Bewildered, she looked around, and her gaze settled on Walter, who was approaching her.
"Don't worry, Betty," Walter said, in a low voice, when he was right in front of her. "I'll take care of this. You'll be rid of him very soon."
Absolutely nonplussed, Betty said, "What? Take care of what? Who's 'him'?"
"Him," Walter said, with a covert nod towards Daniel's office.
Feeling a bit disorientated, Betty said, "What do you mean –"
"I'll take care of it," Walter said, pressing a finger to his lips as he backed away. "Shhhh."
"Walter-?"
Badly lost and aggravated, Betty sat back down at her desk, reaching for her mouse.
There was a minute of silence.
"Stop staring at me," she growled.
Audibly, the office turned hurriedly back to their work.
Walter's odd cryptic messages remained uneasily at the back of Betty's mind.
"Daniel," she said, eventually. "Do you mind if I go after Walter right now? There's something I need to…ask him."
"Oh, uh, sure," Daniel said, looking up. "You go ahead."
"Thanks. You're the best." With a quick smile she turned and rushed off.
Frowning slightly, Daniel looked back down at the Book.
A bright little tune rang somewhere far away, something almost annoyingly happy in its persistence.
Finally, it registered that it was Betty's mobile, and he got up and walked over to her desk, flipping it open.
"H-"
Before hello? could leave his mouth, the person on the other end – whose voice he recognised as that of Betty's sister, Hilda – burst into speech.
"What's up, Betty? Have you told Walter about your little love trip to Paris with your boss yet?"
There was a pause.
"Little what trip?"
There was an even longer pause.
"Oh, crap," Hilda said. "This is the boss, isn't it."
"Well, I'm Daniel," he confirmed, doubtfully.
"Nice talking!" Hilda said, brightly. "Bye!"
"Wait –"
But the dial tone rang in his ears. Disgruntled and confused, he flipped the phone shut and set it down.
Suddenly getting a creepy feeling, he turned to face the office.
Immediately, a dozen heads snapped back to their work.
"What?"
Nobody replied. There was the odd little furtive look at him.
Speechless, Daniel walked back to his office.
When Betty walked into his office, Daniel leapt up from his seat and, rushing over, shut the door behind her.
"Betty."
"Yes?" she looked rather hassled, but the expression faded slightly as she turned to him.
"Have you noticed something weird going on?" he said, dragging her over to one of the white couches that was not in plain view from the outer Mode office.
"Um – why, have you?"
"They're staring at me," Daniel hissed.
"Oh, God, yes, they were staring at me too," Betty said. "Earlier. And then Walter said something really weird."
Wide-eyed, Daniel looked incredibly child-like, and she stifled a laugh.
Recovering slightly, he said, "What did Walter say? Is it anything to do with why they're staring at you? And me?"
"Walter said…" Betty broke off, recollecting his strange words. "He said not to worry, he'd take care of this, and I'll be rid of him soon."
Daniel stood up, his hand jumping almost automatically to the back of his head, the other on his waist. "What's he talking about?"
Betty shrugged.
"Who will you be rid of soon?"
In the eerie silence that followed, Daniel turned to stare at his assistant, waiting for an answer.
"…You, apparently."
He continued to stare uncomprehendingly, and then sat down behind his desk. "Okay. I don't have time for this right now. Hopefully things will…work themselves out."
"Right," Betty said, nodding. "Absolutely. I'm sure they will."