I think I'll be done with this story by the end of the week.

"No, I can't. Look we really can't do this anymore." He was trying to be strong.

"Come on, one last time and thats it." Amanda batted her eyelashes at him.

What could it hurt, Daniel thought to himself .

"OK, last time and don't tell Betty."

"My lips are sealed, follow me." she started walking up the stairs.

"Wait, we'll go to my place tonight." Daniel didn't want to run the risk of running into Betty in the morning.

"Fine, but I still have to get some clothes." she started walking away again then turned back to look at him. "Are you coming?" she asked.

Daniel followed her back up tentatively. They made it into her apartment, and she got her over night bag together.

"Amanda, hurry up." Daniel was getting nervous.

"Whats wrong with you? Your acting so weird. How about a little foreplay to take the edge off until we get back to your place." Amanda had already slipped her hands under his shirt. Daniel forgot everything and got caught up in the moment. In their haste to get to the couch, they backed up into an end table and knocked over the lamp. Amanda gave a startled yell, then proceeded to move on.

Betty heard the crash and the yell at her apartment. She picked up her phone and the bat her father gave her, when she moved back in and made her way to Marc and Amanda apartment. She could hear shuffling around inside, she knocked lightly and got no response. She tried the knob and the door was unlocked, taking a breath she raised the bat and walked in. What she saw startled her, Daniel and Amanda were rolling around on the floor half naked, behind the couch was the shattered lamp.

"Betty, don't you knock!" Amanda yelled, thoroughly annoyed.

"I heard a crash and you yell. I thought you were in trouble but I see your just with Daniel. Well sorry for barging in have fun." She met Daniels surprised eyes and just smiled at him. A part of her was seething and another relieved. She can now forget whatever feelings she thought had earlier. She walked out without giving them a second look.

Daniel got up and got dressed, he didn't know what to make of Betty's reaction. But he felt the need to go to her and give an explanation.

"Where are you going?" Amanda was still laying there, unfazed by the interruption.

"We cant do this anymore, it's over. From now on were boss and assistant, it has to be this way. I'm sorry, I'll see you tomorrow." He ran out and went to Betty's door.

Betty heard the knocking, she knew it was him. She wasn't in the mood for the excuses, she just wanted to go to bed. Tomorrow was a new day.

"Betty, please open up, please." He yelled through the door.

"No, I'll see you at work Daniel. You can knock all night I wont open. Just leave me alone, please."

Daniel felt defeated, he hoped she'd give him a chance to talk to her tomorrow.

Betty made her way to her office, not stopping to acknowledge anyone. She sat at her desk and stared at her computer. She knew she didn't have long till Daniel called or popped by. She was dreading the confrontation, so she decided the best way to deal with it would be to nip it in the ass. She mustered up her courage, and walked over to Daniels office.

"Oh, hey Betty, Daniels busy." Amanda didn't seem fazed at all.

"That's OK, I'm going in anyways." Betty ignored Amanda and walked into his office.

Daniel stood up when he saw her walk in, he knew what was coming.

"Betty, I'm so glad you came by. I really want to talk to you about last night. I know it may have looked a certain way but..." Betty interrupted him.

"Daniel, I'm not here for excuses. I'm upset that you lied to me, but other than that I'm not mad." He was shocked, he expected a long, loud lecture.

"Your not mad?"

"No, I mean, I'm disappointed you lied to me. If you didn't want to end things with Amanda, you should have said so. Even though I think its not the healthiest working environment, its your life." She tried to smile but she wasn't sure if her mouth moved.

"I did end thing with her. I did, I swear. She started talking about one last time and I was somewhat frustrated after our kiss. I made the wrong choice, but what you saw, it ended there. Nothing actually happened." He was rambling, he couldn't stop. He knew this was taking a turn for the worse.

"Daniel, its OK, you have no reason to explain anything. The kiss was just that, a kiss, it happened and now we can move on and go back to being friends. I rather pretend like it never happened."

"Betty, please don't do this. Just give me another chance, I promise I wont mess up again." Betty couldn't take it anymore, she snapped.

"No, you don't get a second chance. Like I said, we're still friends, I still care about you and if you need me I'll always be there. But you don't get anything more. After you spent twenty minutes going on about how Becks was such a player, I shouldn't waste my time on him, he'd hurt me. You turn around and do just that. Daniel, I don't know if you realize this but I'm an adult, I've had sex, I've dealt with different men, and I'm a better judge of character than you think." She felt better, she said her peace. Even though a part of her still wanted to cry and kick Amanda, she managed to push that to the back.

"Listen, can we talk about this some more over lunch? I just don't want to miss my only chance, because I was being an asshole." Please, Please, Please he was chanting in his head.

"Actually, I have to cancel lunch today. I called my optometrist and switched my appointment from Friday to today." She hoped they would see her today.

"OK, what about tomorrow?"

She couldn't believe he forgot. "Tomorrow I get my Braces removed, remember."

"Shit, that's right." He smiled at "Friday, lunch, we'll have a little mini-celebration."

"Can't, I already made plans with Becks." She couldn't look at him when she said that. She try to ignore it, but she felt guilty.

"When did you make those plans?" He sounded defeated, she started to feel like a horrible person.

"We made the plans yesterday. What about Saturday, we could do brunch." She wanted to kick herself. Why couldn't she just walk away and the hell with it if he felt guilty.

Daniel started to feel a little better. He knew she felt bad for blowing him off, even though he deserved it. He decided to see if he could get away with a little bit more with out pushing her off the edge.

"How about dinner instead? We'll have a real celebration." and you wont be able to see Becks he silently added.

Betty knew she should stick to her guns and reject dinner. But she couldn't he was still her friend after all, no matter how wrong it felt calling him that after last night.

"Dinner it is. Well, I better get back to work." Daniel got up and walked out with her.

"I have to go see Wili, so ill walk you back." He felt like an ass as soon as he heard the words escape him.

"OK." was her only reply

"Betty, you have a delivery." The new receptionist called out to her, then went back to reading her magazine.

Betty and Daniel walked over to the reception desk and saw a package. Betty picked it up and walked to her desk, Daniel followed behind her. He didn't make a sound as she opened the box. Inside was an 11x14 framed photo of what looked like an orchid. There was a card taped to the glass, he notice Betty smile as she read it.

"May I? " He held out his hand to read it, he knew he was being rude but he also knew it was from Becks. He read the card.

Betty,

Normally I'd send a ridiculously large and expensive flower arrangement. But as I was deciding on what to send you, only one thing came to mind. The Thailand Parrot Flower, it may resemble an orchid, but its a specious of its own. It can't be bought and is only ever seen through pictures. It's one of a kind.

Yours,

Becks

"Well he's laying it on thick, for someone whose just a friend." He was annoyed and worried. Becks had a way with words, he was smooth and confident. Daniel always gave him a run for his money, a lot of times coming out on top. For some reason though he couldn't be that way with Betty, this wasn't a game to him. He didn't know if he could say the same for Becks.

"I think it was sweet." Betty was charmed, as much as she hated to admit it, she was. She noticed Daniel looked concerned, she actually got some pleasure from his distress. It may be childish but after last night,a part of her wished he could feel a quarter of the pain she felt. The other part wanted to tell him not to worry.

"Weren't you going to meet with Wilhelmina?" She needed some distance to think.

"Yeah, I better go." What was he going to do? He needed to stop things before they moved to the next level. Maybe if he told Becks how he felt, he'd back off. No, he had to do this the hard way. He was about to take a page from Wilhelmina's play book, somehow he'd distance Becks from Betty. All he knew was that he wasn't about to give up, he ran away from things his whole life. This wasn't going to be one of those times.

As soon as Daniel left, Betty gave Becks a call.

"Hey Becks, its Betty."

"Betty, so nice to hear your voice, especially after you hung up on me last night." There was laughter in his voice.

"I'm sorry about that, Daniel was over and he freaked when he saw your number."

"No worries, I figured as much. Did Danny-Boy get over it?'' Betty smiled at his tone.

"Yeah, I think so. So I got your package... Thank you, it's beautiful. Did you take the picture?"

"I sure did, I'm glad you liked it. I had a feeling you would, I look forward to seeing you on Friday."

"Me too. Well I should really get going, I'm behind on some of my work. Thanks again, you really didn't have to send me anything; but I love it." she really did, it was one of the nicest things she received.

"Well, if I put a smile on your face today. I'm happy. I'll give you a ring later, Bye."

"Bye" Daniel was right about one thing, Becks was dangerously charming.

Becks smiled, he knew Daniel was livid. Apparently Daniel figured out his feelings faster than Becks thought he would. He wondered what Daniel was gonna do now, he was pretty sure he wasn't going down with out a fight. Becks was ready for him; bring it.