CHAPTER 5:

Daniel couldn't sleep that night, he found himself tossing and turning, thinking about what occurred at his parents' house a little over 4 hours ago. He kept thinking about how good it felt to hold her, touch her smooth mocha face, oh how her lips felt against his, how incredible her tongue felt while it was brushing against his. He could still hear her soft moans while he was kissing her.

He was so thankful that Alexis chose to yell out his name before she walked in the foyer to speak to him. He kicked himself mentally for getting carried away like that. What if it was his father who walked in on them? What if he walked in on him groping and kissing his fiancée, his future stepmother?

'Shit! How could I be so stupid? How could I admit to my future stepmom that I have feelings for her, forgetting that the woman is Wilhelmina Slater? How could I make out with Wilhelmina Slater? What if Alexis hadn't called out my name and just walked in on us? And then there's Alexis…now I have two huge secrets- I kissed Wilhelmina and Alexis confessed that she was trying to murder dad. How could she do this? Wilhelmina on the other hand…I have to forget about her, she's my father's fiancée goddamn it!' Those were the thoughts that were going through his mind. A few moments later he found himself pacing his loft and he dialed her number.

Little did he know the same thoughts were going through Wilhelmina's mind. She was sitting in the patio in the middle of the night just watching the stars, thinking about what happened between her and Daniel in his father's house a few hours ago.

'Just forget about it, Wilhelmina. You were just caught up in the moment, that's all. What happened with Daniel this evening should never happen again, ever.' Her inner Willie told her 'But why don't I hate him anymore? Why do I feel…something for him?" Her thoughts were interrupted by her blackberry ringing causing her to snap back to reality. She saw who it was and her brain was telling her to ignore the call but she found herself answering the call.

"Hello?"

"Wilhelmina?…uh…Hi. I didn't think you were gonna pick up."

"You called me on my cell phone and expected me not to answer? How clever." She replied sarcastically

"No…that's not what…I…uh look, I just…"

"Why did you call me, Daniel?"

"Just to hear the sound of your voice." Shit, the words just slipped right out of his mouth

"What?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant…I just wanted to make sure you were okay after…well you know."

"Daniel, I hope you know that what happened last night should and will never happen again. I'm engaged to be married for crying out loud."

"To a man you don't love, let alone have feelings for."

"Don't you dare!"

"What? You know damn well you don't have feelings for him. However there is another guy you might have…"

"Oh fuck off, Meade!"

"Why? Because what I'm saying might be true?"

"No, look just because you confessed some little crush you have on me doesn't mean I'm gonna do the same. What the hell were you thinking anyway?"

"I still haven't heard you denying that you like me. Face it, you like me now and I'm confident to say that you and I have become friends…on the down low of course."

"What, you want me to deny it?"

"I don't know…But I'll tell you what I know. If you hate me as much as you have lead people to believe, you would have made some smart ass hurtful remark when I told you I like you, you would have pulled away immediately and probably rewarded me with a smack across my face when I tried to kiss you, you wouldn't have leaned back in and attacked my mouth the way you did. And may I say that you're a damn good kisser?" Suddenly the line went dead and he realized that Wilhelmina hung up on him.

The next several days Wilhelmina avoided Daniel like the plague. But a situation arose and they had to work together once again. Now here she was sitting across Daniel at Madison 6.

"Now let me get this right…We lost a major advertiser and 4 more followed?" He nodded

"Yeah, and..."

"Because of Alexis?...Doesn't make any sense. "

"He told me to fire Alexis if I want his business because he doesn't wanna be associated with the charade. Alexis is family, what the hell was I supposed to do?"

"When you're given that kind of ultimatum you should just take her name off the masthead for a couple of months."

"I…uh...I didn't know that."

"And whose fault is that?...You know I thought your father was smart, but now…"

"Nice way to speak about your fiancé." Daniel spat sarcastically

"Look I don't sugar coat things, I say it as it is, okay? Your father screwed up, period. Putting you in charge of Mode? Daniel you can't even write a letter, you have someone write it for you and you just sign your name on the letter."

"How do you know about…?"

"I know everything." She cut him off "And look what your 'family' crap has done now. We don't have advertisers. And Alexis is probably calling and getting the advertisers back as we speak and once gain she'll look like the hero, forgetting how we lost advertisers in the first place."

"I know and that's why I need your help." He was sincere and if she looked closely his eyes were almost glistening. "I'm tired of standing in Alexis' shadow."

"Then you have to up your game. Stop giving up when you feel like you're about to lose. Grow a pair. Being nice and loyal to family all the time doesn't always work, trust me."

"So what do you suggest I do?"

"I want to hear your ideas."

"I don't have any."

"Yes you do."

"No I…"

"Yes you do, Daniel. It's just that you think your ideas are so shitty and I will hate them. That's probably true but sometimes the crappiest ideas work. So what are you planning on doing?"

"Okay, I was thinking of going out with one of the advertisers. You know...talk her into advertising with us again."

"That's…uh that's good. It's about time you put your man whoring skills to good use anyway." She tried successfully to mask the jealousy she was feeling at that moment and he just grinned at her comment. "And I'll call a few more, see what I can do."

"Why are you helping me?" The question stung like a knife. Why did she care about Daniel and if he looked bad to his father. Isn't that what she wanted? make him look bad get Bradford to demote his ass and make her co-editor in chief instead? She had a strange feeling of actually wanting to help him. The look on his face and his eyes were pleading with her. 'Yeah that must be it.' She thought.

"I'm helping Mode, not you." She spat

"Anyway, thank you." He smiled at her watching her stab her salad.

"Anything for you." She stopped as she realized what she just said "That's not what I meant…What I mean was…"

"That's okay. Let's just forget you said that just like we forgot what happened at dad's house almost two weeks ago."

"Daniel, about that…I'm begging you. Let's just…"

"I understand, Willie."

"It meant…nothing."

"Then why did you hesitate before you said 'nothing'?" He grinned while challenging her

"Just shut up, Meade." They shared a little giggle before getting back to business.

The following evening she walked in the Meade manor and found Bradford in the living room.

"Hey, Darling" Wilhelmina announced her presence

"Hey, Willie." He walked over to her and crashed his lips on hers and she has no choice but to reciprocate. When he finally pulled away allowing Willie to catch her breath and as she began to relax Bradford handed her a glass of wine.

"Thank you, Brad. You won't believe what kind of a day I had." She sipped on the wine and soon Bradford was kissing her and his hands were all over her. "Brad…Brad" She spoke in between his kisses. He moved his mouth to her neck "Bradford?"

"What, Willie? You seem tense and I'm just trying to get you to relax…you know…manipulate your muscles." He said seductively, thinking he was being sexy but to Willie he was disgusting the hell out of her. Finally she managed to push him off.

"It's really been a long day. Working twice as hard and trying to convince the advertisers to stay."

"Because of Daniel's stupidity."

"He was trying to be a good brother. He values family."

"And look where that got us. I can't believe I keep thinking that boy will ever become something he's not. He's always been a screw up, even if he's trying to do good."

"Bradford, that's not fair."

"Are you taking his side?"

"Not at all. All I'm saying is that he's trying…and he's getting better at this job. A job that's hard to do because Alexis is always trying to outshine him in every way, ignoring his ideas and humiliating him in front of the staff."

"Or maybe Daniel isn't trying hard enough and makes it look like Alexis is doing all the work. And why are you protecting Daniel anyway?"

'Why?' She asked herself. Just three months ago she would have loved to see his ass in trouble and out of Mode. When did her feelings towards him change? She clearly did not hate him anymore and that scared her. At that moment her only response to Bradford was to ignore the question and crash her lips to his.

"Because I know how it feels like, not to be appreciated."

"I appreciate you, Willie." He replied before crushing his lips to hers and picked her up while moving towards the stairs

'OH, GOD KILL ME NOW!' She screamed inside