CHAPTER 22:

Daniel woke up to find that Wilhelmina was not in bed. He thought maybe she had gone to work early to take care of some things as tonight was the night of Mode's re-launch. He walked down the hallway rubbing his eyes, thinking of tonight's upcoming event. He really was happy for her but he couldn't help the part of him that was slightly jealous. He's always known that Willie was the rightful Editor-in-Chief of Mode, however he was envious of her heading up a real magazine and he was stuck with tits magazine. To his surprise when he walked into the kitchen Wilhelmina was sitting at the island with a tall glass of orange juice, reading a newspaper with a somewhat pissed expression on her face.

"Hey, babe" Said Daniel and She looked up with a tight smile.

"Good morning" He slowly approached her to plant his good morning kiss. He noticed that Willie was tense

"What's the matter?"

"You know how we dodged the bullet with our vacation photos?"

"Uhmm…yeah?"

"Look at page six, right behind Angie and Brad" Daniel fixed his eyes on the headline The New Meade Family? Right below it there was a picture of him, Wilhelmina and DJ smiling from ear to ear. And another picture of just him and Willie kissing, with his handing resting on her slightly protruding belly.

"Shit!" He exclaimed

"Shit is right."

"What are we gonna do?"

"Nothing. You were right, Daniel." Daniel quirked his brow

"Excuse me? I think I misheard you."

"You know how I always want to be right, but this time you are. It doesn't matter if it's now or later, we are going to walk through the shit storm anyway. As much as the media scrutiny we are going to go through scares me, a big part of me is relieved that it's out now. It was bound to get out eventually." She admitted

"You know what? I do kind of feel relieved as well."

"Now all we have to do is stay strong and stick together because the press has a way of…"

"Tearing people apart."

"Exactly."

"Let's not let them." He said looking deeply into her eyes

"We won't. But I WILL ban them from my launch party tonight."

"Why?"

"They'll only be there to see if what we have is real not the launch of my first issue. I won't give them that kind of satisfaction."

"I see. Meade Publications will be crawling with the press today. Are you going to be okay? Should I organize a bodyguard? Should I come with?"

"No baby, as much as I'd love for you to, you have to drop DJ off at school. Besides Marc is coming over, so he'll be my shield this morning."

When her town car pulled up, Meade Publications was a sea of journalists. Marc came out of the car first, followed by Willie in dark sunglasses. She clung to Marc's arm for dear life as they made their way through the photographers who were all speaking at the same time. Marc managed to yell 'no comment' to the outrageous questions he managed to hear.

How long have you been dating?

Is Daniel the real father?

Does Claire Meade approve of your relationship?

Who's the baby's real father?

Is it a boy or a girl?

Is the baby going to be Meade or Slater?

If Daniel, and not Bradford is the father, are you gonna get fired again?

Is it your affair that killed Bradford Meade?

What does Alexis say about your knew found relationship?

Wilhelmina, aren't you worried that Claire Meade will kill you too?

Did Bradford Meade catch the two of you doing the nasty and is that why he had a heart attack?

Question after question after question, all of them offensive, stupid, despicable and shameful. When they safely made it to the lobby, Marc spoke up,

"Brace yourself, Willie this is just the beginning."

"Don't even go there, Marc."

"It's now official, Danimina is a thing."

Daniel sat at his cubicle going through the proofs from the Biker Chick's of Player photo shoot. As he sat there trying to figure out which photos would go on the cover, the realization that he's a bit mature for Player hit him once again. All that was there were just half naked women, the articles weren't that good either. Betty was right when she asked if it was necessary for every spread have to be women in skimpy bras? Just as he was in his thoughts Betty walked in his cubicle space.

"Hey Daniel, your suit for this evening has arrived."

"Thanks, Betty." He noticed that the girl wore her usual 'We need to talk' face causing him to grin nervously

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I know you're tired of me saying this, but I have to. You are wasting your time and talent at Player. You are a good editor."

"Betty…"

"I'm not finished. You belong at Mode, Daniel. It is the most important magazine at this company. Your family's company. You were good at your job. And if you don't believe me, read your fan mail. Mode subscribers love you. Alexis will…"

"Come on, she doesn't care about me."

"She cares about Mode."

"Betty, I really appreciate what you're doing. And yes, of course I want to be back at Mode. But I can't."

"Why?"

"Wilhelmina and I are in a relationship. She wants to be in charge of Mode and I also want to be in charge. We can't both be in charge, we gonna end up fighting and hating each other and go back to where we started. I don't want that."

"Daniel, anything you truly want has to be worth fighting for."

"Well, I guess you have your answer."

"What do you mean?"

"Betty, do you know how miserable I was when she got fired and broke up with me? Just those weeks without her, felt like months. I love her and I'm choosing her."

"Maybe you should talk to her and find a common ground, you know, an understanding."

"Betty, it's better this way okay? And yes like you said Mode is the most important magazine here and these past 7 weeks here at Player made me realize that I'm too grown for this. I'm not sure if I love Mode or not but I'm sure that I love Wilhelmina. I can't jeopardize what I have with her."

"You're really in love with her?"

"Yes, more than you'll ever be able to understand. When she's not in the office, she's totally different. She's funny, incredibly intelligent, she challenges me…she stimulates my mind, making me think about things in ways I never thought about before. The important thing is that she loves me for who I am. The icing on the cake was when she met DJ for the first time, they were so at ease with each other. The way they interact, you could swear she was his mom." Betty looked at him skeptically

"What, Betty?"

"I just…Daniel, this woman who 'loves' you chose to announce her pregnancy to the media first before the father."

"Betty I know you think she's mean."

"I don't think she's mean, I know she's mean and she's evil. She's probably just using you."

"Okay, Betty I get it. But if Wilhelmina is such a bad person how come she helped you? Huh?"

"Helped me? Daniel, Wilhelmina doesn't help anybody but herself."

"When your father was stuck in Mexico, I told Wilhelmina about it in passing. She called her father, the senator and asked him to help your dad return here safely. She didn't want anything in return from me or from you after, did she? Hell, she and I were not even dating then."

"She did that?"

"One moment your Dad was having visa problems and stuck in another country, the next thing, he shows up at your door step. He probably didn't explain it to you because he couldn't."

"Oh…Daniel I…"

"It's okay Betty I'm not saying she's mother Theresa but just like everybody else, Wilhelmina has a different side too." Betty remained speechless. Just then, Alexis' authoritative voice filled the office.

"Daniel!"

"Alexis, what are you doing here?" Daniel questioned as she strutted toward him

"I need to talk to you about something. Something important."

Willie looked effulgent as she confidently sauntered through the party. Her black dress clung to her like a glove, accentuating her 19 week baby bump. Her eyes carefully scanned the room for Daniel, finding it a little odd that he wasn't there yet. They had agreed not to arrive together, just to fuck with the press which was desperately waiting outside the building. Marc walked over to her handing her a club soda.

"So, great turn out, huh?"

"I guess so. You did a good job pulling this thing together. Have you seen Daniel anywhere?"

"I don't think he's…OH?" His eyes darted towards the tube with his eyes widening. He and Willie watched as the Meade trio came strutting down the tube with Betty in tow. And by the smug looks on and Alexis and Claire's faces, she could tell that something just wasn't right. Finally, the three stopped in front of her in a belligerent manner and now the guests saw that some shit was about to happen so they gathered around.

"Willie! Great party." Alexis said in a spurious excitement

"Thank you" Willie replied skeptically, sensing her phony attitude

"But I'm afraid I'm not here because of your re-launch of Mode. I'm not happy with the magazine. I think your cover is COLD." Alexis said. Suddenly, Daniel caught on to what was happening. And now as they stood in battalion, he realized that this was his sister's plan all along.

"Well, I had a very specific vision. I didn't expect you to understand it." Wilhelmina explained defensively but calmly.

"Your first-day sales numbers are in." Alexis continued

"And they are not good." Claire added.

"Impossible."

"Your re-launch of Mode is our lowest selling issue in months. While you're valued here as our creative director. I've made a decision, if you'll excuse me." Daniel and Wilhelmina looked at each other. Daniel saw the look of confusion on her face and realized that Alexis had lied. His face began to tighten with worry "Ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your attention!"

"Alexis, what are you…She didn't know about this? You didn't talk to her about this?" His questions fell on deaf ears

"I'm happy to announce that tonight, we are welcoming back as Editor-in-Chief of Mode magazine, Daniel Meade." The room filled with applause. All the while Wilhelmina's eyes were fixed on Daniel, her face turning pink. The look she gave him made him question the fate of their relationship.

"Don't forget, I still own a third of this company."

"Your unborn child owns a third of this company. Not you. You would be nothing without that demon child you're carrying."

"Mom!" Daniel warned

"It's okay, Daniel! You don't have to pretend that you have any real power when it comes to the Meade affairs!" Wilhelmina said bitterly "You'll always be the loser, the number two."

"Enough Willie! Don't worry you're still valued as our creative director."

"You can't push me aside." She stated firmly

"Oh really?" Claire walked over to her ice sculpture and pushed it and it fell to the ground shattering to pieces, adding to her humiliation. She walked back to Wilhelmina returning to her confrontational stance and stared Wilhelmina right in the eye. Wilhelmina felt a wave of nausea setting in

"You are going to regret this. I swear."

"Don't you ever threaten my children, Wilhelmina. You have no idea the lengths I will go through to protect them." Willie huffed and walked off. Daniel yanked Alexis by the arm pulling her aside.

"You lied to me." Alexis with a panic look realized that the audience she called upon moments earlier was still staring and she didn't seem to appreciate that very much.

"Daniel…let's talk about this in private, people are staring."

"Oh, so it was good when it was Wilhelmina who was being humiliated? And now you can't handle the heat?"

"Daniel, darling your sister's right. Just…" Daniel looked at his mom and sister in disgust and shook his head in frustration before walking away.

She sat on her chaise rubbing her temples trying to process what just happened out there. The one night she thought she finally achieved what she has wanted since her former boss died. And it was taken away within a matter of seconds. She stared at her credenza, wishing she could have a drink, her hand instinctively moved to her belly, knowing she couldn't have a drink. How could such a day have such a humiliating ending? Thank God the paparazzi was disinvited. She rose to her feet and walked over to pour herself a glass of water.

"Willie?" Marc called in a cautious tone

"Marc"

"Are you okay?"

"Marc, I'm fine. Just go, you worked hard pulling this together. I'll be fine…I just need a few moments alone."

"But I can't leave you alone with these awful…" She gave him a tight smile that told him to get out of there immediately. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." She nodded in agreement and proceeded to down the tall glass of water. As Marc turned to leave "Oh, tranny alert!" Willie whirled and saw Alexis strutting towards her office

"Don't worry, I'll handle her."

"Willie" Alexis said as if everything was normal

"Hello, again Alexis. That wasn't humiliating at all." Willie sarcastically said

"Wilhelmina I didn't mean…"

"Fuck you, Alexis. When you do something like that, the least you can do is admit that you had every intention to do it. Be a man about it!"

"I know we've had our differences Wilhelmina, but we're going to have to find a way to work together."

"Oh, spare me, Alexis. You stabbed me in the back. So, let me give you a fair warning my freakishly tall girlfriend. You will never be rid of me, thanks to this baby. I know all of your secrets. And when I get my chance you'll never see it coming. Now, GET OUT." Alexis walked out without another word. Just as she was beginning to relax on her chaise, Daniel walked in, causing her to rise to her feet again.

"You lying sack of shit!"

"Wilhelmina I swear…I thought Alexis told you!"

"You trusted Alexis? You trusted the same person who almost drowned you in icy water, the one who was going to kick you out of Mode when she came back, the one who…"

"Wilhelmina, please…"

"The one who tried to get your father murdered? You trusted that Alexis?"

"I'm sorry. I'm really, really…"

"Look if you wanted to come back to Mode all you had to do was tell me first. You didn't have to make notes telling me how horrible you thought my first issue is. Who the hell are you to say that shit anyway?"

"What are you talking…"

"Your little frumpy assistant ran to Alexis with your fucking notes… 'Cover is too obscure. It will not sell.'; 'Pull up key ads'; 'Mode girl on Madison'"

"Wilhelmina, I'm sorry! That was just my opinion."

"YOUR OPINION? Daniel, do I come by Player and tell you the model's tits on the cover are too small? Do I voice my opinion about the cars you feature? Or the beer? Or tell you that the models' skirts are too short? Do I tell you what player's weakness is that they remain the third bestselling men's magazine? No, because I respect other editors and I thought you could do the same for me."

"Wilhelmina I so sorry, I didn't know that she was…"

"SHUT UP! You know what kind of sister you have, you know what she's capable off. The only reason you didn't pick up the phone, or e-mail me or even text me to confirm that I actually spoke to your sister about your return to Mode is simply because you did not want to!" Daniel walked closer and grasped her arm in an attempt to calm her.

"Wils, baby…" She jerked herself free of his touch.

"Now fuck off from my office!" She glanced through the glass portion of the wall "And take your friends with you or they will find themselves without jobs!" She didn't have to speak twice as the curious faces quickly disappeared.

Moments later after unsuccessfully calming and collecting herself from the humiliating event, she decided that heading home would be best. She confidently strode and cut her way through the remaining guests.

She tapped her foot, her patience wearing thin as she waited for the elevator. Without thinking she headed toward the stairs, mentally cursing Alexis and Claire as well as Daniel for being so stupid. Before she could take the first step down the stairs, she felt a pair of hands pushing her with great force. The pounding music from the party drowned her blood curdling scream. And then everything went blank.