Seducing Mr. Meade/Ch 7
Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!
Daniel opened the door for Betty at her house, and said goodbye, but as she started to go inside, he came running, handing her the jacket she had left behind, "Here, you…left this, Betty." He put one hand up on the door frame and smiled, looking down at her, "Thanks again for all your hard work. You really knocked it out of the park tonight."
Suddenly, Walter walked up to the door from inside, "Is that where you've been all night, Betty? You've been out with him? What are you dating this guy, now? You've already moved on?"
Daniel glared at Walter, making a face, "Who the hell is this little idiot, Betty?"
"Walter…what are you doing here, anyway?"
"I made a mistake, Betty. I want to get back together."
She rolled her eyes, "Really? When did you decide that? Before or AFTER Gina broke up with you because her stupid TV got broken."
"I…I'm sorry. I should have known better. But seriously, who is this guy? Is he your new boyfriend or something? I see, you've got a new job, a new look, and a new boyfriend? You're out all night, drinking, dressing like a hoochie…hanging out with some rich guy!"
Daniel stepped forward, and grabbed Walter by the shoulders, pushing him towards Betty "You need to apologize to the lady, you little twerp! You're the one who couldn't keep it in your pants. Tell Betty you're sorry for being an asshole, then leave!"
Walter looked frightened, and mumbled, "Sorry, uh…I didn't mean that, Betty. I was just jealous."
"Whatever, Walter. Apology not accepted! Daniel isn't my boyfriend. He's my boss. But he's right. You have no right to talk to me like that. Just…leave, please. I really don't ever want to see you again!"
Daniel took a deep breath, and for some reason, Betty thought she saw hurt in his eyes, but he just nodded, "Well, I think you've seen the last of him. You should get some sleep. We've got a big day ahead tomorrow. Good night, Betty."
After she closed the front door, Daniel looked back before he got in the car, holding onto the car door, then got in, taking a deep breath.
The next morning, Betty found the red dress that Justin had given her last Christmas but she had never worn, because it was form fitting and showed a bit of cleavage, but looking at it on her now, she decided it was the perfect thing for the presentation to Fabia.
She opted to wear the new, sleeker glasses rather than bother with the contacts, especially after the way Daniel had seemed to change his attitude last night. He had seemed upset after his argument with his father.
On her way to Daniel's office, she saw Henry, at her desk, holding a bouquet of roses, "Hey, Betty. I just…um thought I'd…wow! You really look different. I…uh…here, I got these for you. I wanted to wish you good luck today."
Betty smiled, taking the flowers, "Thank you, Henry! They're…really pretty. That's um…sweet of you. So…maybe…you know, sometime you could help me with those forms you brought yesterday for Daniel's expense report? You know, if you have time."
"Sure! I'd love to. You know, anytime. Uh…just call me and I'll be here." He smiled, blushing. "You know…um…like the song?"
She laughed, "Right. Well…I'd better go. I've got to take Daniel his coffee and bagel. But…thanks again for the flowers." She didn't have the heart to tell the guy she preferred daisies to roses. She was also trying to figure out where she was going to get a vase to put them in and had her hands full.
Just then, Daniel seemed to appear out of nowhere again. He had a bad habit of doing that, she thought. Although, last night, with Walter, she had really appreciated it. "Need some help, Betty? Here, let me take those. Thanks. I think I have a vase in my office you can use for those. Hi, Henry. Back again so soon? Can't get enough of our little Betty, huh?"
Betty's eyes widened, and she turned bright red. She went from being grateful to wanting to kill Daniel. "Um, thanks again, Henry. See you later! Daniel, I'll come with you to your office to get that vase now."
As soon as Henry left, she hit Daniel with the flowers on the arm, "OW! What was that for? I rescued you. First of all, watching you two was like watching two turtles circling each other for a wrestling match.
It's so obvious you like each other, but one of you has got to make a move, for God's sakes! Here. You're welcome! You look…good, by the way. I like those glasses. They suit you. It'll come in handy in there today."
The presentation went extremely well, Daniel and Betty both sold Betty's concept to Fabia while Wilhelmina and Marc sat by, looking somewhat dazed and confused at how well the two worked together.
Wilhelmina stood up and glared at Betty, then gave Daniel a fake smile, "Well done, Daniel. I see you have quite a little helper there. You two scored quite the coup, getting Vincent Biancchi to agree to come back to Mode. Personally, I thought Phillipe was good, too, but I heard his concept was ill-timed."
Daniel got in her face, "Yeah, I know you and he were out to sabotage me, Wilhelmina. You aren't fooling anyone. And by the way, Vincent said he's only working with me and Betty. He still doesn't trust you. Big surprise! He seems like a pretty smart guy."
She gave him her plastic smile again, "Well, I know Betty here is smart, at least. Smart enough to upgrade her look, and to use her feminine wiles to help you get Biancchi."
After she left, Daniel was fuming, having had yet another yelling match over the phone with his father, in spite of his success with landing the Fabia account and getting Vincent on board.
Betty stuck her head in, "Would you like me to get you some lunch before I go, Daniel?"
He seemed distracted, "Lunch? Oh, no thanks, Betty. You go ahead, though. I'll see you later."
"Okay, I sort of have a date with Henry at this place around the corner for some Sushi. I've never had it before. To be honest, it sounds kind of gross to eat raw fish, but…hey, sometimes you've got to go for it, right?"
He nodded, not smiling, "Right. Sure. Well, have a good time, Betty. I'll see you when you get back."
She started to leave, but walked over to his desk, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Don't let that witch or your father get you down, Daniel. You're doing a great job. I'm sure your brother would be proud of you. How about your mother? Are you two close?"
He nodded, still seeming distant, "Yeah. We are. But…she's in rehab again right now. She's been acting really strange lately. Like she's got some big secret. Who knows what it is. I mean, it's no secret that because of my dad and all his affairs she's become a drunk! I'm sorry, Betty. I don't mean to dump my problems on you. Go ahead, enjoy your date."
"Okay, Daniel. Thanks. Bye." She squeezed his shoulders and left, looking back, as she stood at the elevator. Just as she went down, the elevator doors opened again and Walter came rushing in. He looked around and saw Betty's desk, then spotted Daniel in his office, and turned around to leave. Daniel saw him and hurried to catch up with him, "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't you get the message last night? Betty's not interested in getting back together with you, so why don't you get lost and leave her alone?"
"What's it to you? She said herself you're her boss, not her boyfriend. I just wanted to explain to her and tell her I'm sorry. I miss her. I really wanted to talk. I had a coupon for potato barn, buy one, get one free."
Daniel looked at him strangely, "Oh, well, she's out to lunch with some guy who she DOES want to be her boyfriend, anyway. You missed the boat, buddy."
Walter seemed somewhat dazed, "Oh, she is? Bu this coupon expires tomorrow."
Daniel didn't know what to say to this strange little man, "I…had a potato for breakfast, sorry. I'll tell her you came by."
He went back to his office and sat down, watching out his window below, to see Betty and Henry holding hands on their way to the sushi bar across the street. Then minutes later, he saw Walter appear and turn to walk away alone in the opposite direction.
An hour later, Daniel looked up from his computer to see Betty returning from her date, giggling and flushed with excitement. Henry was grinning like a big idiot, holding her hands.
Amanda had been sitting on his desk, blathering on about something she wanted to go shopping for, annoying him for that past fifteen minutes. He was trying to see around her to see if tall, dark, and dorky was about to lay one on Betty, but Amanda kept up her mindless chattering.
Just then, Betty caught him staring at her and Henry and narrowed her eyes. He suddenly looked at Amanda, and gave her a smile, as he put his hands on her legs, "So…what time do you want to come over tonight?"
She sighed, "Daniel, haven't you been listening to a word I just said? I told you, I'm tired of always staying at your place all the time. I want you to take me out tonight. I heard Masa's has a great…"
He snapped to attention, making sure Betty didn't see him watching her and Henry again. "Masa's? I was just there with Biancchi and…Betty for lunch yesterday, Mandy. How about somewhere else?"
"Okay. I'll see if I can figure out a place with lots of dark corners for doing naughty things." She hopped down and ran her hand up his shirt, smiling, then turned, seeing Betty and Henry, and grinning as she pretended to stick her finger down her throat, "Gag me! Dorcus interruptus….well, that just took away my appetite. I guess it's another liquid dinner! Lucky for you, I'm easy!" She winked and sashayed back out to her donut making faces at Betty and Henry talking nervously to one another.
"Well, Henry…I need to get back to work. I'll see you tonight, then?"
He nodded, pushing his glasses up. "I can't wait, Betty. Lunch was…nice. See, sushi wasn't that bad, was it?"
She shook her head and smiled, not wanting to lie. She had actually hated the idea of eating raw eels. She felt like she wanted to vomit. "But…maybe we could get something cooked for dinner?" She suggested.
He laughed, "You got it! I'll call you later, alligator."
She smiled, as he backed up towards the elevator, "After while, crocodile!" He turned and got onto the elevator.
Betty turned and again, there was Daniel, standing and looking at her with his hands on his hips, "Well, that was just…sad. What the hell do you see in him, anyway?
And you…you seem to lose IQ whenever he's around or something. Oh, while you were out, exchanging witty anecdotes with Mr. Personality there, your ex was here to see you. I think he wanted to apologize for cheating and somehow it involved potato coupons."
"To Potato Barn? I love that place!" She seemed almost sad to have missed.
"You mean to tell me, you would have gone with that moron, too? Betty, have you no shame?"
She narrowed her eyes, "What? What's that supposed to mean? I saw you watching me and Henry. What was that about? Are you jealous or something?"
Daniel grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his office to avoid making a scene. He tried to keep his voice down, but was visibly shaken at her accusation, "Jealous? Me? Of that…loser? Don't flatter yourself, Betty! Just because you may look mildly cute now…doesn't mean I'm interested. You don't need to worry about me hitting on you. I'm still only interested in your brain."
"I didn't mean me, I just meant because you're always sleeping with girls like Amanda, always screwing around, a new girl every night. You said you lost your watch last week and you couldn't even remember which girl you had slept with when!"
"Please, don't give me that all-judging look of yours!"
She glared at him, "Is this the look?"
His voice was getting louder, but still measured and trying to be cold, "You know what, Betty, I'm an adult. And so are they, believe me, I've checked. So, if I choose to sleep with a different girl every night of the week, why the hell not? What do you care, huh? I'm just your pathetic playboy boss, right?"
"Right! You wouldn't know true love if it came and bit you on the…butt!"
He rolled his eyes, laughing, "Please, true love? You think what you had with Walter the wonder schlub was true love? Or just because he makes your little heart go pitter patter now, you think you've found it with that nerd, Henry? You tell me, Betty what is that exactly?"
"I can't explain it. You have to feel it yourself. It's when your heart beats faster and your hands start sweating and you can't think of anyone but them and you…"
He shook his head, "You are so naïve, Betty. So…stupid! That's not love, it's just lust. You're hot for the damn accountant, or Vince or whoever, go for it! Go back to your cheating potato boy, if you want. Sleep with all of them for all I care.
But do not stand there and lecture me about true love. You think it's a ring, a wedding…living happy ever after? I've got news for you, sweetheart." He got close and whispered, "There's no such thing!" He stalked off and grabbed Amanda, "Come on, let's go out! I'm hungry for some steak and potatoes and a bottle of Scotch!"