Seducing Mr. Meade
Chapter 13
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!
Betty rushed to work, her muscles slightly sore from all the dancing she had done the previous night with Justin, Kathy and her family. But she was the undisputed champion, so it was worth all her efforts!
She smiled, thinking how lucky she was to have such a great family and how proud her mother would be, knowing they were still all so close.
She was distracted from her thoughts by her phone buzzing.
"Good morning, Daniel! Oh, sorry, I never got to call you back last night. I…well, my phone…"
"I don't need to know about your personal life, Betty. Did you get those caterers I told you about for Fashion Week yet?
And I need to sign off on all the photos as soon as Bianchi finishes them. Come to my office and bring The Book with Wilhelmina's notes as soon as you get in."
"Please? Thank you. Any of those ring a bell?" She said to a dial tone, since he had already hung up. Geez! What got into him? She giggled to herself. I guess he gets grumpy when he isn't getting his regular sex from Amanda or one of his other 'girls', huh?
She didn't know why that thought should put a smile on her face, but it did. She grabbed the files he had asked for and got The Book from Marc. "But Willi's not done with it yet and she's not in yet. What's Daniel doing in so early?"
She shrugged, "Beats me, but he's kind of a bear so far, so unless you want to get eaten alive by both him AND your boss, I'd stay clear.
I'm taking him his coffee and cinnamon twist today, then leaving him alone as much as possible. I guess he didn't like waking up alone today!"
Marc smiled in spite of himself. He could actually get on board with a Betty that looked mildly attractive for a change, and was a bit sarcastic to not only him, and Amanda but to Daniel!
He smiled, "Trouble in paradise, Betty? I thought you and your boss were lovahs? You mean he isn't Mr. Perfect, after all?"
She laughed, "Hardly! He clearly hasn't even learned basic manners yet! You know, like a simple please and thank you?"
Marc cleared his throat and made weird eye rolls and Betty turned to see Daniel, standing behind her, with his arms crossed, glaring at her, "Do you have The Book yet, Betty? Please, don't let me interrupt your gossiping during business hours! Thank you for doing your job. You're welcome to come in my office, if you aren't too busy!"
Marc's eyes widened at Daniel's tone and he shook his head after Betty followed Daniel to his office. He told Amanda, "I never thought I'd be glad I worked for Willi rather than Daniel! Or that I'd actually feel sorry for Betty!"
"MARC!"
"Coming, Willi!" He ran to see what his queen needed.
Daniel closed the door and went to stand by his desk, taking the book from Betty and looking it over. After a few minutes of silence, she smiled, "So, I guess you finally figured out what time it was, huh? Um…about those lessons…"
"We don't really have time for chit chat right now, Betty. I told you before that Fashion Week will be here and we can't afford to drop the ball.
Go work on those contracts, PLEASE, and bring them to me as soon as you have them ready for signatures. THANK YOU. That's all."
She had wanted to tell him about her mother's friend returning to New York and see how his visit had gone to his mother at her rehab facility. She was wondering if that was what was making him so nasty this morning. She handed him the cinnamon twist, "Oh, I got this for you, Daniel."
He looked at it, "You didn't have….thank you, Miss Suarez. That was…thoughtful."
"Daniel…what's wrong? Why are you being like this?"
He glared at her, "I don't really wish to discuss it. Thank you for the coffee and cinnamon twist. Now, let's get back to work, PLEASE!"
She nodded, giving up on his sour attitude, "Fine! You're WELCOME, Mr. Meade! Good day, SIR!" She backed out of his office, giving him a dirty look and rolling her eyes, thinking he was worse than any pregnant woman or teenager on a hormone roller coaster with his stupid moods!
That evening, after dealing with a sourpuss boss all day, Betty wanted nothing more than to go straight home and away from Mode.
But she had no such luck. It was Amanda's birthday, and she wanted everyone to go out to a karaoke place, and of course, Betty got talked into going. She figured at least she'd be away from Daniel, biting her head off all day.
She was wrong, though. While in the back seat of the limo Amanda had insisted on renting, she found out that Daniel was in fact, going to 'hosting' the party, since he was the one footing the bill.
He didn't seem all that happy about attending, either, as he merely sat in the back, watching everyone get drunk and make a fool of themselves, with a blank expression.
Finally, after Betty got pulled up on stage by a very tipsy Marc and Amanda and talked into singing, 'Dream Girls' with them, she came and collapsed, sitting down next to Daniel and laughing. She tried to pull him up on stage.
"Come on, Daniel, let's sing something! It'll get you out of that grumpy gus mood of yours. It's fun!"
"No THANK YOU, Betty."
She shook her head, giving up on him, "Well, at least I'm not Miss Suarez still! What is YOUR problem today, anyway?"
"I don't have a problem. You're the one with the problem. You look a little slutty in that dress, you know. Is it low cut enough? Is that what you wore on your "date" with Vince, last night? I guess he likes you dressing like a tramp, huh?"
She glared at him, "You call me slutty one more time, Daniel, and I swear, I'll…"
He got in her face, "You'll what? Slap me? Hey, if the shoe fits, Cinderella! So, tell me, how was your "Prince Charming" in the sack last night, anyway? I noticed you seem to be having a hard time walking today. I guess you got what you needed, huh?
You know, you really are the best 'student' I've ever had, Betty. You're perfect, because you seem so innocent and…sweet, and deep down, you're just as conniving and cold as all the rest of your gender!"
She glared at him, and took a shot from a passing tray, "I have NO idea what in the world you're talking about and why you're being such a pain in the…ass right now, but considering you are the world's biggest MAN-SLUT who can't even remember who he's slept with enough to keep track of your watch and you feel it's my job to tell you what time it is, I'd say you don't have any reason to sit there and call me names for no reason!
For your information, Einstein, I didn't go out with Vince last night. I was with an old friend all night. One who I hadn't seen in a long time. NOT that it's any of your business who I spend my off time with, once I've punched out!"
He furrowed his brows, looking slightly confused, "Was your friend a young-sounding guy?"
"What? Oh, you mean Justin? NO, he mostly watched on the sidelines. He was all talk. He didn't have any staying power. I've got way more experience than that kid! It's my super strong thighs of steel!" She grinned, while Daniel's expression was one of utter shock.
"WHAT? Betty! How old is this…Justin?"
"He thinks he's thirty sometimes, but he's actually only thirteen!" She smirked.
Daniel made a face, leaning closer to her, "You can't be serious, Betty! You do realize you could go to jail for that, don't you?"
She looked puzzled, "Huh? Not in Mexico! Since when? My friend Kathy was pretty good. She showed me some really sweet moves for a while there."
He closed his eyes, and put his hand up, "Kathy? You mean to tell me you were with a woman, too?"
"What, you think guys are better than women? Justin may think he's good, just because he's young and he's got more stamina, and Kathryn's a bit older, maybe in her early to mid-fifties, but she hikes and does yoga, so she's got great fitness. And I have these thighs of steel, not to brag….although I've got to admit, I'm still pretty sore!
But I still beat the heck out of Justin, that little smarty-pants will learn not to mouth off to his aunt again!"
"His aunt? Oh my God! Enough! Betty, I really don't want to hear this, okay? I…I'm really shocked, I guess. And that's saying a lot! I'm certainly no prude, but…the stuff you're talking about is…just wrong and disgusting…not to mention illegal!
I thought I knew you, but boy was I way off base! It just goes to show me, yet again, I have no freaking idea how bad women can get!
This Justin kid is a minor and you and that old woman…I should really report you to DCF! Both of you! I just didn't think you were that kind of gir…"
"Drink! Come on, take a shot, everybody! Happy birthday to me! Twenty-five!" Amanda lifted up her shot glass and everyone else grabbed one as well, "Happy Birthday, Amanda!"
Two shots later, Betty slumped behind Daniel in her chair. As he took her into his car, he glanced over at her, asleep on his shoulder. She looked so sweet and innocent. His little Betty! He couldn't believe he had been starting to fall for her….her act! He should have known never to trust a woman again after he had learned his lesson.
On the way to her house in Queens, she stirred, and smiled, "Hey, Daniel!"
He rolled his eyes, not really even wanting to look at her right now, "Go to sleep, Betty."
She leaned over, still tipsy, and looked up at him, "I…wrote you a note. I tried to make lunch for you."
"No, you didn't. Your dad made that food, Betty. Didn't he?"
She smiled, looking like a cute little girl, "Yeah. He did. Okay…I admit. But I tried to write you a note, but I don't know what happened to it."
"I got your note, Betty. But you stood me up, remember? So you could go have disgusting sex with your own underage nephew, apparently and some old lady. And you're into bondage?…"
She laughed, "I'm what? No, I'm not! We did the Latin dance moves at my house last night. My nephew and I were playing and…you thought I was having sex? With Justin? Gross! Daniel! That's disgusting!" She hit his arm, laughing.
"And Kathryn is my mother's friend that just was visiting. We were…I was dancing! I won the competition we were doing. Oh My God, that's so funny! Wait…stand you up? So…you got my note? You went to the bar? For me?"
He still wasn't happy, but he at least was relieved to hear he didn't have to report his assistant to the authorities for abusing her minor nephew. And he was also relieved to hear she hadn't been having sex at all, in fact, with Vincent or anyone else. But he was still upset that she had been so rude to him.
"You hung up on me!"
"No, I didn't! You mean when you called to ask what time it was? Daniel, I dropped my phone."
"Well, I didn't call to ask what time it was, I have watches, Betty! Is this still about me leaving my watch….wait, how cheap is your phone? Where did you drop it?"
"Never mind. Look, I didn't hang up on you, Daniel. I'm sorry. To tell the truth, I dropped the phone in the toilet, while I was hiding out from stupid Henry."
He laughed, "So…the last thing you heard was just me asking you what time it was? You didn't hear me apologi….um, say anything else?"
She narrowed her eyes, "YOU apologized, to ME?"
"No, I didn't. I told you. I don't do that. I have never apologized for anything before. I just thanked you for the food, that's all. And said that the note was…nice."
She giggled, resting her head back against his shoulder, "You thought I stood you up and that I was some kind of sex pervert? That's so funny, Daniel! You don't know me at all, do you?"
He shrugged, "I suppose not. I …just don't really know women, I guess. I used to think I had them all pegged. And not in a good way. Till I met you. So many women I've met before are all alike. But you're different, Betty. You're unique. You're like no other woman I've ever met before. And believe me, that's a good thing. A very good thing."
He stroked her hair and looked at her, thinking how sweet she was. He was extremely relieved that his first instincts about Betty had been right. She really was different. He had finally met a woman he could trust.
Her head was still spinning. She really shouldn't drink alcohol, she thought. At least not shots. It made her dizzy and sick.
Once she stopped feeling so much like she was on a merry-go-round, she felt Daniel's arm, looking up at him, when he walked her to her door, "You're really hot, you know that?"
He smiled, "Thanks, Betty. So are you, by the way.."
She grinned, slyly at him, as he stood there, looking so handsome, It made her think about seeing him without his shirt. Which made her really want to kiss him. But in her inebriated state, she couldn't help but blurt out the first thing that popped into her head (even more than usual), "Oh yeah? You think so, huh? You probably want to kiss me now, don't you? But I'm never going to kiss you, because you're so rude and smug and arrogant…and nothing but 'a big playboy, Daniel Meade!"
He laughed slightly at her little rant, thinking how adorable she was when she was drunk. "Never? Really? You're sure about that?"
She shook her head, making a little sound, and suddenly lunged forward towards him, as he bent down slightly and she placed her lips squarely on his, then slid her hands up his arms to his shoulders.
After a few minutes, Daniel wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, drawing her closer as he deepened their kiss.
When she finally pulled away, she looked up at him, and saw his face soften as he looked at her tenderly, "Betty, I…want…I'm…"but that was all she heard before she passed out.
