CHAPTER 6:

A few days later Willie knocked and popped her head in Daniel's office.

"Hey, you got a minute?" He suddenly found himself smiling at the sight of her.

"Uh…yeah…uh sure."

"I just want to tell you that I called the advertisers and it turns out…" Daniel saw Bradford and Alexis clinking glasses right outside his office.

"I'm sorry, Will. I just need to talk to Dad and Alexis for a sec." He quickly went to talk to the two, curious about what they could be celebrating. Willie took a seat on the chair looked at the little family moment through the glass. She watched carefully as Daniel's face showed disappointment and realized that they just told him about what she was about to tell him. She stood against his door and watched silently.

"Hey, that's great. An advertiser is an advertiser. Right, Dad?

"Yes, every little bit helps. You know Alexis, your dedication pleases me more than you'll ever know. Now I realize you have loyalty to your mother but would you consider standing up with me at my wedding?

"Really?"

"Wait a second. I thought I was your best man."

"Daniel."

"You want to make Alexis your best man? Fine do it."

"Why don't you do it together?"

"You know what, Dad, maybe it's better if just Daniel stands up. I…"

"No, no, no, don't worry about me. He obviously wants you around. You really shouldn't disappoint Dad. It might kill him. And you wouldn't want that would you Alexis?" Daniel last sentence hung in the air and he stormed away obviously upset by the rejection.

Wilhelmina immediately went to her own office. After she settled in her chair she couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Daniel was just trying to be a good brother and all Bradford could do was praise Alexis and even asked her to be the best man. All of a sudden his actions disgusted her, not that they didn't before but today that feeling she had ever since she walked in his office to seduce him was much stronger. She couldn't believe what an asshole he really was, treating Daniel like that, always favoring Alexis. She somehow found herself admiring her father, something she hasn't done since she was 5 years old. According to her, even though the senator was a cold, mean, old bastard, he hated his children equally and didn't pick sides.

However this particular morning the feeling of disgust was not only directed at Bradford Meade, she also felt it towards herself. That feeling she's been having, telling her that what she was doing was wrong made her stomach churn even more, the voice that was screaming that she should get herself out this became louder. At that moment she came to a decision, she didn't care if she didn't get to run Mode all by herself anymore. She still wanted to become sole editor in chief but she didn't want it like this. Her happiness had to come before Mode. She locked herself in her office for the rest of the morning and drowned herself in her work. She spent the rest of the afternoon thinking and finally she made up her mind- she was breaking things off with Bradford tonight.

She knew that Bradford was working late tonight and after almost everyone went home she boarded the steel box preparing to go to the penthouse. Before she pressed the button of her desired floor Daniel appeared and stooped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw who the occupant was. He cleared his throat.

"Uh…Wilhelmina."

"Are you coming in, Daniel?"

"Uh yeah…yeah, yep." He couldn't even make eye contact with her. He saw her press the button to the penthouse and he couldn't contain his jealousy "Penthouse, huh? Uh…going there for a…an evening delight with your future hubby?"

"You're such an idiot." She chuckled and Daniel looked at her and smiled. He somewhat felt good when he saw her laugh or smile. Suddenly the elevator came to a halt and the power went out. "What the fuck."

"The power just went out…Let me just…" He reached for the emergency elevator phone "Hello. The elevator just stopped and lights went out…oh okay. Alright, thank you." He sighed

"Apparently there is a city wide black out. The maintenance guy said we may be here a while. So, I guess we should just sit tight." Wilhelmina snorted "What?"

"It's just that, only you would consider sitting tight a plan."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing"

"No say what you want to say. It's not like you care about my feelings or anything."

"Be a real man, okay?" He finally had the guts to face her

"I am a real man, okay?"

"Then why did you let Bradford and Alexis treat you like that this morning? Why couldn't you stand up for yourself instead of walking away?"

"Oh…oh, I think I get it."

"What?"

"Is that why you don't wanna be with me? Because you think I'm weak?"

"Who says I want to be with you?"

"Oh come on, Wilhelmina. We both know the reason you're giving me a hard time right now is because you're scared that you might have feelings for me."

"Can we please stop talking about this and your stupid crush?...thank you."

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry." After a few moments of an awkward silence, Daniel finally spoke up "I think we better sit down 'cause we're stuck here for a while."

"Sit on the floor? In this dress? I'd rather not."

"So what? You'll stand and lean against the wall the entire time?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, will it be okay if I give you my jacket to sit on?" He asked while unbuttoning his jacket

"That'll work." She said excitedly and Daniel laughed.

After a few moments Daniel spoke up again.

"Hey, Wil?"

"Huh?"

"I know you think I'm a coward, but the truth is…I'll never be as good as Alexis. I'm just trying to come to terms with that."

"Uh…why are you telling me this?" She didn't mean for it to come out as bad as it sounded

"I don't know, I guess."

"Look, Alexis will always try to outshine you in everything. Truth is, she'll never get over her envy."

"Envy?" He chuckled "Alexis is envious of me? Wilhelmina, Alexis has achieved a lot more since she been back at Meade than I have in my entire life. How the…"

"You don't get it, do you? She's doing all this to prove her worth to your father. She's not the golden son anymore. She's an embarrassment to the Meade family in Bradford's eyes."

"Really?"

"Yes and I didn't say that to boost your ego. I was just stating the obvious." She smiled at him and somehow he found himself blushing because coming from Wilhelmina Slater, that was a million dollar complement.

"That was the nicest thing you've ever said to me. So you are capable of being…well normal."

"I have my moments."

"I can't believe it. All this time…Alexis has been envious of me." He smirked

"Don't go around preaching it though. That'll make you more pathetic than you already are."

"Aaaaand she's back." They both laughed.

"I told you it was just a moment." She continued to smile and Daniel didn't know what came over him but he needed to say this

"Willie?" He said seriously hoping she'll look at him

"Yes?" And to his surprise she did

"Wilhelmina, if you can honestly tell me that you don't have feelings for me. I'll let you walk out this elevator, get on with your life and marry Dad. I'll never say another word about this again. I promise you."

"I…."

A part of Wilhelmina wanted to tell him that she feels nothing for him, but the honest part of her just wouldn't let her. They didn't know how long they looked in each other's eyes before the elevator lights came back on and they felt themselves moving. Willie stood up immediately and spent the rest of the ride smoothing out the creases on the dress and moved toward the door when the elevator stopped at the penthouse floor. She walked out leaving a defeated Daniel on the floor without saying another word to him.

She sat in her couch starring at the roaring fire from the fire place. Her mind was still replaying what happened almost an hour ago in Bradford's office. They talked and they agreed that they were doing this for the wrong reasons. Although she anticipated the worst, Bradford told her she could keep her job and a statement will be released tomorrow and with that she was off. She was now a free woman and she dialed Daniel's number.

"Hey Wilhelmina."

"Daniel, you were right."

"What?"

"I can't say I don't have feelings for you…because I do. I broke things off with Brad…" She was interrupted by a knock and she moved towards the door to open it. "As I was saying I spoke to Bradford and…"

"Just open the door Willie." She opened the door to reveal a beaming Daniel. He let himself in and closed the door behind him. He crushed his lips to hers and she did didn't waste any time in responding with the same intensity. Finally before they were both breathless they pulled away.

"How did you…How…"

"I spoke to my dad about 20 minutes ago and he told me what happened. You look beautiful right now." She took one look at him his hair was messy as if he ran his hands through it at least a hundred times.

"And you look like shit." He smiled at her "I mean that in a good way." She cupped his face and kissed him a slow, enticing kiss. Daniel's lips left hers and he began trailing kisses down her neck while attempting to untie her silk robe while she grabbed his biceps. Willie slowly led him down the hallway to her bedroom and when they finally pulled apart to catch their breaths, they looked into each other's eyes, searching for any uncertainty, any sign that this was wrong. But all they could see was the desire for each other. At that Daniel smiled and picked her up bridal style and walked in the bedroom.

He carefully laid her on the bed and then hovered over her while she slowly unbuttoned his shirt. His lips then travelled to the nape of her neck eliciting a moan from her. Their breaths became more erratic and then she flipped them over so she was on top. Daniel slowly worked on her La Perla bra while she straddled him working on his belt. They were both drunk on lust when Willie began tugging at his boxers and grabbed his member and began stroking him earning a gasp from him. He knew he wouldn't last if she kept touching him like that, so he flipped them over so he could be on top once again. He positioned himself over her and looked deep into her eyes as he slowly entered her eliciting a gasp from her. He took a few seconds giving them a chance to get used to the sensation before he started moving, slowly at first and then he picked up his pace, all the while Willie while grabbed on the sheets of the bed for dear life.

He thrust deeper while burying his face on her collarbone with Wilhelmina softly moaning. She bucked her hips thrusting upward meeting his rhythm. The pressure for his need for release began to build and then he rocked harder and faster. He suddenly felt her walls tightening and knew she was close. She cried out his name as she reached her climax and sending him to follow as he burst within her depths.

The lovers lay in each other's arms covered in a thin veil of sweat with Wilhelmina's head resting on Daniel's chest while he was stroking her naked body lovingly. He didn't like cuddling and neither did she but they both knew it, they both felt that this was different. Suddenly while they were still breathing heavily Daniel kissed the top of her head and then gave another passionate peck on her forehead which caused Willie to stiffen. Wilhelmina for one was startled as she wasn't expecting Daniel, the man-whore Meade to be this intimate.

"Okay, what was that?"

"What?" He asked with a grin. Wilhelmina looked deeply into his eyes

"That kiss on my frontal lobe."

"It's…just…I've been with a lot of women, Wils…"

"Oh, thanks Danny. Just what every woman wants to hear during pillow talk." She said sarcastically

"C'mon you didn't let me finish. What I mean is I've been with a lot of women but never have I ever had this kind of intimacy. Tonight it was different."

"Well that's how it feels when you care about the other person."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah." They kissed passionately. When they finally pulled apart, "Now are you done being a girl?"

"What, I'm not being a girl. I'm just…being sensitive. I've never really made love before."

"Okay, now that you established that you and I made love, brace yourself because now we're gonna fuck." She winked as she moved from his arms to climb on top of him.

They looked into each other's deep blue eyes as he grabbed her jaw and kissed her deeply. She then slowly lowered herself onto his length earning a gasp from him and took a second for them to adjust before she started moving. She moved up and down on his length with urgency while her lips moved from his mouth to his collarbone. He buried his head on her neck while she continued to move with Daniel running his hands up and down her spine. She picked up her pace and moved up and down his length with vigor causing Daniel to moan her name. As the need for release built within him, he held her much tighter and she grabbed a handful of his hair and he knew she was close. When he felt her tightening around him, he bucked hard and deep meeting her thrusts and they both reached their climax at the same time with Wilhelmina screaming his name.