CHAPTER 4:

The night of the Black& White ball finally came and according to her it was a success. There were a lot of important figures at the ball, some more important than others. People at the party were chatting about various things- from the Slater-Meade wedding being back on, Alexis's apparent amnesia to Amanda flashing the media before the event. Wilhelmina was sick of the schmooze fest and decided to exclude herself and ordered something stronger from the bar and then she went up the stairs and found a balcony where she could see everybody. She spotted people from Mode – Some she knew and some she didn't care to know, Bradford talking to some important people in the industry, Marc flirting with some hot male model, Amanda dancing with her bodyguard Dwayne clearly forgotten about the incident from earlier. However at that moment she found herself looking for Daniel.

When she couldn't locate him she couldn't explain the feeling of jealousy that came over her when she imagined him flirting let alone screwing some blonde tart somewhere backstage. Her thoughts were interrupted by his deep voice.

"Hiding, Wilhelmina?" She smiled to herself then turned to face him

"Hardly, I'm just tired that's all." He moved towards her and handed her a champagne flute

"You look beautiful." She was shocked that those words actually came from his mouth and he couldn't believe he just said that. Wilhelmina didn't know what to say so she just chugged the champagne from her flute.

"So why don't you go home if you're tired?"

"No I'm not physically tired, silly. I'm just tired of schmoozing to those assholes down there."

"Oh does that include your fiancé?"

"Of course not. By the way why are you still here? You usually leave these events early to fuck whichever desperate tramp who thinks she's the luckiest girl in the world that Daniel Meade thinks she's sexy." He chuckled at that comment

"Are you jealous?"

"Of what?" She questioned defensively

"That I might have sex with someone tonight?" He challenged as he stared deep onto her eyes

"Alexis is talking about coming back to Mode in a few days. Do you think that's such a good idea?" She changed the subject

"I don't know but she thinks it might help her get her memories back."

"And you? how's the leg?"

"It's getting better and better."

"I see you've dumped the wheelchair. And may I say good riddance?" He grinned

"Why?"

"It wasn't a good look for you." They both laughed at the comment

"Oh really now? If I recall I got a lot of female attention these past few days alone by being wheelchair bound."

"Be careful, Daniel. Sometimes women like it when a powerful man is helpless."

"Are you calling me powerful, Ms. Slater?"

"No, not at all. You just appear powerful because you run a magazine and you're a Meade. Little do they know that you know shit about your job."

"Those are some harsh words. Anyway I don't really care about what other women think of me, I have my sights on one girl at the moment, she's the woman of my dreams."

"Oh really? I didn't know Camilla Parker Bowles was in town." Daniel laughed at her typical Wilhelmina moment

"She's my physical therapist. She's really hot." Wilhelmina was overcome by that feeling of jealousy yet again.

"Oh, I see." Was all she said and suddenly she couldn't look him in the eye.

"Jealous?" He smirked at her

"This conversation is over, Meade. All of a sudden I'd rather be down there than here with you." After those words she left him standing there alone and he was disappointed at how he could be such an idiot. This was the most interesting conversation he's had the entire night and he just chased away the most beautiful woman in the room with his stupid childish remarks.

Although they didn't see him but Bradford saw the interaction from down stairs. He saw the close proximity of their bodies, the smiles and their eye contact and he began to get worried. He wasn't worried about Wilhelmina but he was suspicious about Daniel because he knew those smiles and those grins and it only meant one thing, His son had a crush on his future step mother. Soon his thoughts were interrupted by Wilhelmina.

"Hey, darling." She said as she linked their arms together

"Hey where have you been?"

"I've up in the balcony, getting a clear view of the event."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

As they made their way out of the ball room Willie took on last look at the balcony where she was talking to Daniel a few moments ago. She saw him and they locked eyes and she noticed a sad look on his face and all she could do at that moment was to nod goodbye to him and he did the same.

A few days later Alexis returned to work, Bradford thought it would be a good idea to invite her and Daniel over to the Meade mansion for dinner. He was also trying to make up for their rocky relationship by manipulating her, making it seem like their relationship was ideal. Although the act was selfish, it was also motivated by love because he realized that he could easily lose his son once again.

So there they were, the soon to be new Meade family sitting at the dining table. The evening was awkward as hell and filled with tension particularly between Wilhelmina and Daniel. Willie couldn't quite explain it but she was definitely attracted, smitten or whatever you want to call it with Daniel and she refused to make eye contact with him the entire time. Fortunately Bradford and Alexis were busy catching up and totally oblivious to the tension between the two.

They managed to get through the dinner and they were about to have dessert and while they were still talking Bradford excused himself for a moment- probably to pop some Viagra, Daniel thought. Daniel couldn't take it anymore so he suddenly got up to leave and Wilhelmina followed him and caught up with him in the foyer.

"Daniel, where are you going?"

"What does it look like? I'm getting out of here."

"What's wrong?"

"I will not participate in this charade, okay Wilhelmina?"

"What charade?"

"THIS, everything…Dad and Alexis, pretending that their relationship is all great, the engagement, the wedding, mother…just everything, okay?"

"At least stay for dessert. What's Bradford going to say when he finds you gone before dinner is over?"

"I don't think he'll notice since his golden child, Alexis and his soon to be wife are both here."

"Daniel?" She called out as he moved towards the door

"Look, tell dad I say goodnight but I have a date in an hour or so…"

"Why do you always throw the fact that you have a date in my face?"

"BECAUSE I HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU." His voice was low but stern

"Wh-…What?"

"Oh come on Willie, are you really that oblivious? I can barely form a full sentence in your presence. You could cut the tension with a knife during dinner and you could barely look me in the eye."

"What do you want me to say, Daniel?"

"I want you to admit the truth."

"I'm engaged to your father, Daniel"

"Everybody knows you're only marrying him for power. This is all to secure your position at Meade Publications."

"I respect the sanctity of marriage…"

"Oh cut the crap! Did you respect the sanctity of marriage when you were screwing Ted Le Beau, or better yet my dad while he was still married to mom?"

"Look let's talk about this later. Bradford might walk in any…" She couldn't finish what she had to say. Before she knew it Daniel cupped her face and brought his lips to hers. Despite him being forceful when he grabbed her, the kiss was anything but. It was surprisingly slow, sensual and passionate. And she responded with the same tenderness and her hands moved to the back of his neck and the other grabbed a handful of his hair. His hands left her face and made their way to her shoulders and down to her waist and that's when she pulled away. They both stared at each other's blue eyes and Wilhelmina found herself getting lost in his blue eyes and leaned back in and devoured his mouth. Daniel held her tight around the waist as if not to let her go she moved his hands to her ass, forgetting that they were in his father's house. While they were still lost in their kiss they were interrupted by a loud…

"DANIEL!"