Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad that everybody enjoyed the new twist. Just to reassure you Cliff adores children to the point that he is now a registered foster parent, but Troy on the other hand, not so much. This chapter is close to the original but there are some changes. The next chapter is going to be one with a lot of rewrites. The title for this chapter was originally You Can't Use Tiffany's Anymore to Say 'I screwed up' but I changed it in memory of one of my creative influences.

Chapter 4: You Can't Use Diamonds and Pearls Anymore to Say 'I screwed up'

Candy arrived at the Meade-Suarez house at 6:30 AM with more coffee and Daniel's briefing materials for today's meetings. The great cappuccino machine debate was still going on and Daniel sent her a text message at 5:00 AM begging her to bring coffee. Because she only lived a couple of blocks away at the town house actually owned by Monique's very rich aunt, it was easier to meet Daniel here.

She was accompanying Daniel to a 7:30 AM breakfast meeting with London Beauty Inc. that promised to be a disaster. It would take a miracle to make a sell. The American firms that have European entities are still buying ad space, but their European counterparts were not. It was also becoming quite obvious that many of the companies pulling advertising were just using the scandal as an excuse to save face. There is something else going on.

As soon as Betty let her into the house she knew something was off. Monday they were all over each other in a sickeningly sweet teenager in love way. Now Betty was polite but distant from Daniel. She didn't even bother kissing him goodbye. They were acting like the last time they were not on speaking terms except there was no screaming. Even though she was at another magazine at the time, everybody knew when Betty and Daniel were fighting. It became the hottest gossip around complete with cell phone video and daily website updates.

"What did you do wrong?" She asked the moment they were alone in the town car 15 minutes later.

"I didn't do anything. Nothing's wrong, everything is perfectly fine." Daniel said in a way that told her something was wrong. He was too defensive.

"Then why didn't Betty kiss you goodbye? You were all over each other Monday. For a moment I thought I was going to have to get a hose." Candy smirked at him.

"It's nothing. I surprised her with lunch yesterday after my meeting ended abruptly." Daniel started to absently flip through his binder.

"That should have got you bonus points, not your girlfriend being super polite as she tries not to throttle you."

"I may have convinced her to make out with me on top of her desk at some point. Her boss may have walked in on us as I was starting to remove articles of clothing. He may have given her a 20 minute lecture on appropriate behavior for an EIC that I listen to from down the hall. She may have slept in the guest room last night." Daniel said that last part with a sigh.

"That's why you were late yesterday for your two o'clock. I had to cover for you. You owe me chocolate for that. I don't like covering up your afternoon delight." Candy was slightly annoyed.

"I'm sure I owe a lot of people chocolate even though there was no actual delight involved." Daniel sighed.

"For me, you should just set up weekly chocolate deliveries. This is probably going to be a regular thing but you're going to need something better for the girlfriend. I suggest getting her something expensive and shiny. Nothing says 'I am sorry I fucked up' like diamonds'" Candy tells him.

"I don't think I did anything that warrants an emergency trip to Tiffany's." Daniel sighed and Candy wanted to shake him just a little bit.

"No, I think a Tiffany's trip is necessary. She slept in a different room. She gave you a glare this morning that could freeze your coffee. Most importantly there was no kissing. You seriously fucked up."

"I would lecture you on appropriate workplace language, but it would be useless because you were at Player for too long." Daniel sighed again. "I don't see why this would require jewelry. I've done worse."

"I know. But we're not in Manhattan anymore. Betty just started that job less than two weeks ago and now everybody is going to think she is the office slut. If you overheard the conversation with her boss, the entire office heard it. Gossip is an international pastime and people are going to want to know as much as possible about the new woman in charge. We both know what those rumors would be about." Candy could not believe she had to spell this out for him.

"People have been saying those types of things about me for a long time. Actually, people have been saying those sorts of things about me and Betty for a very long time. They're just rumors. They don't mean anything." Daniel shrugged it off.

"It means something this time. Rumors can do a lot more damage than you think. How long did it take for people in the publishing world to see you as more than a screw up?"

"Some still don't take me seriously. Although most do since Molly died."

"Daniel really think about that for a moment. Despite benefiting from rich white male privilege, it took people seeing you be a good husband to your dying wife before anybody saw you as more than the guy who fucked all the models and only got his job because his rich daddy gave it to him. Even then some still don't take you seriously like the Lafayette's from yesterday. You are actually a smart guy, but people only believed what the tabloids told them. Megan wasn't the only one who thought Betty got her job on her knees. A lot of people at Mode and some of the other magazines at Meade didn't take her seriously because of all those rumors about the two of you. I don't think she wants to bring that baggage with her."

"Those rumors made it to other magazines?" He asked in shock.

"There were blogs. You should know this." Candy side but then Daniel's rich white privilege blinds him to a lot of things.

"I will send you the URLs. All it took was a picture of Amanda on top of your desk to convince Matt that she was cheating on him with you. Your shady reputation precedes you. In this instance it's going to do a lot of damage to Betty's career because people don't know her yet." She can see recognition instantly in his eyes.

"Were definitely going to have to schedule a Tiffany's trip. And unfortunately, she will recognize all my usual "I'm sorry I'm a fuck up" presents. I need to come up with something new. Is it too soon for an engagement ring?"

"Probably," although candy is sure Monique would be happy to hear that he is considering it.

When Betty walked into her office building that morning everybody stopped talking. Her years of being a social outcast told her that was never a good sign. Betty wished she already hired her personal assistant because that way she would have someone to tell her why she was getting nasty looks.

Things got worse when she made it to her office suite. Lance Williams her features editor made some snide comment about her special lunch meeting yesterday. Her creative editor Dominique kept asking her how a woman like her ended up with a notorious playboy. However, they were the only ones who had the balls to say such things to her face. The walls were incredibly thin and she could make out the whispering.

The editors meeting was also an exercise in awkwardness. The meeting probably would have been uncomfortable anyway because she was the new person in charge of a brand new magazine and no one really knew her yet. It was worse because she knew everybody was talking about yesterday's incident before she even walked into the room. It was like high school all over again, except people were talking about her sleeping with the quarterback equivalent instead of the guys spilling a Slurpee on her. Betty is having trouble deciding which type of gossip is preferable.

During her actual presentation, Betty was positive no one was listening to her. Actually Dominique and Lance were exchanging text messages speculating about who she had to shag to get this job. They weren't exactly being subtle about it.

Despite that, things were still going better than yesterday's private meeting with her boss. Half of the items that she wanted to include in the first issue were cut. After being yelled at in a very British way for the thing with Daniel, she was also told that she wouldn't be writing any articles except for the letter from the editor. He told her that her job was to manage the magazine not create new content.

She was halfway tempted to ask him why he hired her in the first place if she wasn't allowed to write but she bit her tongue. Betty was already in serious trouble for the things she did in her time with Daniel earlier. Honestly, she was more disappointed than angry. Actually she was more frustrated than anything else, which was why Daniel got to spend the night on the couch. Yes, she now realizes that she took her frustration out on the wrong person. But now everyone is speculating about her sex life.

There was one bright spot in her day the deputy creative director from London Style, Natalia Winters. She would be consulting with Betty until she managed to get her entire staff in place. Unlike her actual staff. She paid attention to Betty's presentation. She gave Betty some really good ideas about how to make the first issue better.

"Thanks for actually participating. Are the meetings always this tense here?" Betty asked her when she saw her in the restroom afterwards.

"Only when they have an excuse to be extra British. In this case they had a brand new person to trash." That statement seemed strange coming from someone who had a very British accent.

"I assume I'm the person they are trashing." Natalie just nodded her head. Betty wasn't even that surprised.

"If they weren't being so vicious, it would be normal curiosity. You're new. Everyone wants to know why he hired you to be the EIC of the new magazine at 26." Natalie said as she applied her lipstick.

"And I'm sure they're being extra vicious considering they all stopped speaking the moment they saw me." She personally wish they would just say everything to her face.

"Gossip is the international pastime. Everybody knows that your current boyfriend was your old boss, especially after yesterday's display. I'm surprised your relationship has not made it into the tabloids yet, especially the British tabloids. We tap your phones here even if you're a minor celebrity and Daniel Meade is still a celebrity here. There is a lot of speculation right now regarding why he moved to another country so suddenly." That was an understatement. The most popular was Wilhelmina was blackmailing him with the existence of his secret British love child. The whole thing gave Betty a headache.

"You mean other than trying to keep the European part of his company open during the current financial crisis." Betty sighed.

"People are always looking for something juicier. Everybody who knows your biography, you went from assistant to EIC in four years. You managed to beat my old friend Monique's record by an entire year and she had several more years of experience. There's all sorts of blogs about your relationship with Daniel Meade. It's only natural people will assume…"

"That I got my job on my back." Betty finished for her when Natalie was unable to come up with a way to say something like that politely.

"I've heard it before, although Marc was the only one saying it." Marc never said it in a malicious way. It was more of a joke.

"I'm not so sure considering this time around. Everyone is saying that Lindsey was the one who got you on your back." Her mouth dropped open in absolute surprise. She was even too shocked to defend herself.

"After today's well thought out presentation, I know that's not true. Your work speaks for itself. You did a good job today even if everybody else was too busy gossiping about you on their iPhones and blackberries. I had the exact same problem you did in the beginning. A lot of people had misconceptions about me as well. You remind me a lot of myself. Eight years ago I moved to New York to be a managing editor at Isabella. It's hard being the new girl in town when everybody is talking about you behind your back."

"That's where you know Monique from." Betty said as realization dawned on her.

"She's a good friend. We work together for years. I'm even invited to the wedding in a couple of weeks. She is where I got all the good information from. She asked me to make sure her friend's girlfriend doesn't get eaten alive by the vultures at Lindsey Publishing, which is why I agreed to help you as you get your team in place. We need to schedule a lunch some time so I can get you up to speed on all things Lindsey publishing. In the meantime let me give you some advice."

"Which is?"

"First, if you're going to shag your boyfriend in the middle of the day in your office, lock the door and make sure Dominique's assistant is not around. She is your office gossip mill. You are in a committed relationship. You can do whatever the bloody hell you want. Don't let them make you feel dirty for what you do." Natasha said sternly.

"We were not even having sex. We were just kissing." Betty was sure her cheeks were pink.

"It doesn't matter what actually happened. The only thing that matters is what people think happened. According to the rumor mill our mutual boss walked in on you performing oral sex on Mr. Meade." And now her cheeks were a bright crimson. Really she shouldn't be surprised. She knows that Megan has said similar.

"This goes into the second thing, don't listen to what other people say about you. They are just jealous idiots. They will probably say the same nasty things about me or anyone else who is a threat. Be the editor you want to be and tell everyone else to go Fuck themselves. Go out there with your head up. Let them say what they want."

"My sister said the same stuff to me in high school." After that, their mom said something similar to Hilda during her senior year when she was pregnant with Justin.

"Isn't it a shame that nothing has really change, except we now sit at the popular table and you're shagging the quarterback?" Natasha said as she made her way towards the door.

"Apparently high school never ends." And apparently it was the same on both sides of the Atlantic.

Daniel's breakfast meeting went worse than she thought possible and Candy was already expecting it to be a disaster. Not only did they not buy any advertisements for Mode, they also pulled out of several other Meade magazines. Unfortunately, her boss was too lovesick to care. She was currently listening to him grovel to his girlfriend via voice mail.

"Look I know you're in a meeting right now, but I thought I would leave this on your voice mail so you won't yell at me. I finally figured out why you were so upset and I'm sorry I fucked things up for you at your new job. I'm not as stupid as everyone says I am. I'm sorry I forgot to lock the door and they are probably saying nasty things about you behind your back. You know it's not true. You deserve everything you get. Anyway, I love you and I'm sorry." Daniel ended the call as the town car pulled up to the Meade building.

"Wonderful voicemail." Candy snickered from beside him. "You already sound like a guy who has been married to her for years. You two have been together for less than a week and she already has you by the balls."

"You do remember you work for me?" Daniel looked at her incredulously. "We seriously need to have a talk about professional behavior. I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth."

"Remember, I was at player for two years. We had our own definition of professional decorum. You are not going to fire me until you at least get a cappuccino machine in your house." Daniel glared at her again. "It's true and you know it."

"Because I can't function without caffeine right now, especially with all these early morning breakfast meetings." Daniel complained.

"Will get you another cup on the way because you have a meeting with Sumreen as soon as we get there to go over features articles for July and August. After that, you have more job interviews for the creative director position." Daniel literally groaned.

"Do any of these people actually have talent or have any clue what they're doing whatsoever?" He asked with a sigh as they got out of the car and walked into the building.

"Not really." She read most of the resumes the night before and they were just awful. Most were highly underqualified to say the least.

"I'm not even surprised." Daniel said as they stopped at the coffee cart in the lobby. She allowed him to get an expresso before she continued speaking.

"After that you need to stop by the fashion shoot to make sure Diana has not killed the photographer yet. Actually forget Diana, I'm going to kill him. When you were being all happy couple with Betty in your office Monday night, he propositioned me four times after you sent me over to play buffer because you didn't want to. I thought I was done with coworkers pinching my ass when I left Player." She said getting on the elevator.

"I will talk to him. He is not that bad." Candy glares at him. "Okay, maybe he is that bad, but I'll order you a cookie bouquet. He's mostly harmless but he is just stuck in college mode. However, he is a really good photographer." Daniel said defending his former acquaintance.

"I'm not saying he's not talented. I've seen his work." Candy added reluctantly I know he used to be your friend, but he's a dick. The only good thing about this whole thing is watching him get shot down by Diana." She said as they stepped inside the elevator.

"You're a professional. You can do this. You know the deal with Monique and me. If you do well you will be a junior editor by this time next year. You need to get used to dealing with the talent." Daniel sipped his coffee nonchalantly

"I didn't get hit on this much by the photographers at Player." She said under her breath as they made their way into the Mode suite from the elevator.

"Isn't that because Monique worked with Cliff or Margaret Say most of the time?" Daniel smirked as they walked into his office.

"I hate it when you're right. How did your other assistants deal with this problem?"

"I'm not sure. It didn't happen that often. I will ask Betty as soon as she speaking to me again."

Less than four hours later, Candy was ready to kill the photographer. She didn't know what was worse him hitting on all the models or him hitting on Diana. At least he left her alone for most of the morning as she dealt with everything arriving late. They were doing the fall business wear collection for the August issue and she was sure the photographer was a little upset because the women were fully dressed. Why did all the talented photographers have to be assholes? She missed Cliff.

During the lunch break, she decided to confront the asshole before one of the models punched him. It would be difficult to get another photographer in the middle of the shoot if Becks ended up in the emergency room.

"Can you please stop hitting on Diana and the other models? Just because you're hot, doesn't mean everybody wants you. Since we're using real women instead of little girls who almost look like boys, most of them can see through your shallow exterior." She said as she grabbed a water from the catering table.

"Did you just say I was hot?" He said with a cocky smile that would work on most women but not her. Actually she wanted to punch him. Bastard.

"That's the only thing you got out of what I just said?" She asked in annoyance. "Why am I not surprise? You are so full of yourself that you raise narcissism to an art form. The only thing you're accomplishing right now is getting. on the 'will never hire again' list."

"I doubt that." Becks responded.

"You do not have a chance with Diana and everyone else here is too intelligent to fall for your pickup line of the day. My suggestion is to act professional, if you know how to do such a thing, and do your job. You can concentrate on getting laid after work like everyone else." Candy practically yelled at him.

"I'm a multitasker. It's only a matter of time before Diana gives in. I saw the way she was looking at me Monday. I doubt that she is married or with anyone. The only photographs on her desk were of her and her sister." She wondered if she should take pity on the idiot and let him know that the woman Diana was kissing the cheek of was her partner. She's only been there a couple of days and she already knew Becks was missing the most important thing Diana valued in a lover.

"Like that matters to you." She scoffed. "Even though I only met her a couple of days ago because I came out with Daniel from New York, I'm pretty sure you're not her type."

"Unlike everyone else here you were around when Daniel started dating Betty. You were probably already his assistant. How did that happen? Every time I try to talk to him, he comes up with some excuse to leave the room. I know they were close before I started doing more overseas jobs, but she's not his type." That statement pissed her off.

"You mean because she's not a sigh zero or because she actually thinks for herself? She's not supermodel beautiful, but she is beautiful." Candy said in Betty's defense. Also in her head she was reminding herself that she cannot punch out the help (but she really wanted to).

"I'm a photographer. I can see beauty even under some of those god awful outfit she used to where. Daniel never had the same skill."

"You'll be amazed what can happen in two years. If you always knew she was beautiful, then why did you make your plastic surgery joke Monday?" Candy took a drink of her water.

"It's our thing. It's hard to be pleasant to someone who essentially stole your best friend." She could pick up on the bitterness in his voice.

"I feel like there's a story here."

"From the moment they first met there was this connection between the two of them. The closer Betty and Daniel got, the less time he had to spend with me. He does not want to go to a club because Betty wouldn't like it. Besides he promised he would take Betty to see some romantic comedy because Henry was in Tucson with that girlfriend he knocked up. We don't do our normal bet at fashion week because he says it's demeaning to women. Of course during the middle of the show he gets this certain look on his face as Betty walks down the runway. It was as if he'd just realized she was the most beautiful woman there. It was already starting." He said with a shocked expression on his face as if he'd just realized what was really happening back then.

"I didn't start working for Daniel until a couple weeks ago and I still saw this coming. The whole building did. I was working at another magazine where my boss was the mastermind behind this thing at the time. You saw the beginning of this years ago. Why are you surprised?" She asked slightly annoyed.

"I don't know maybe because I was expecting to find that person I left behind two years ago. I didn't expect to find Mr. Diversity who now sees women as people and not fuck toys." 'Or maybe you're just disappointed that he's moved on and you haven't?' However, Candy doesn't know the guy well enough to say something like that.

"It sounds like he was already starting to change." She said instead. "What exactly happened between you two? In the car this morning on the way to the meeting from hell he told me all sorts of stories about your college escapades." Candy was definitely curious and she knew Daniel wouldn't answer the question.

"Betty. He just didn't have time for me anymore. I started taking jobs overseas and he stopped returning my emails." Which is pretty much how Candy lost contact with most of her college friends except for Doris and her husband Blaise. "Two years later, I come back and find out they're living together. I did not see that coming. Daniel Meade does not do commitment."

"From your earlier statement I can tell you were not invited to the wedding." How could he not know about that? It was everywhere.

"Betty and Daniel are married?"

"Not yet." Although Candy wouldn't be surprised if Daniel decided to look at engagement rings when they go to choose new apology gifts at Tiffany's.

"I'm talking about Daniel and his first wife Molly. How could you not know about that? Everybody knew about that. He put their wedding picture on the cover of Mode last year. The story got even bigger after she died. Several websites featured stories about the international playboy who marries the dying plain Jane schoolteacher; because it generated tons of hits. How can you not know about this? Were you living in a cave?"

"Possibly. I was doing a photo essay for National Explorer in Afghanistan for about six months last year." He shrugged.

"Is this another pickup line? I thought you were a fashion photographer, not a real photographer? Then again, my friend Cliff did the occasional serious job. He was nominated for a MAMA but lost to some no talent idiot."

"I'm full of surprises. I missed a lot. How about we go to dinner tonight and you can tell me everything." She was positive this was another pickup line.

"Not a chance in hell." Candy said as she ran over to Daniel and Diane talking in the corner.

During his second interview of the morning Daniel began to truly miss Wilhelmina. She would have had this person crying within minutes. By the third interview, Daniel was developing a slight headache and was thankful that they decided these things would only be 20 minutes. That movie executive that Hartley hired was more qualified to be a creative Director than this person. At least she knew how to pretend to know what she was doing.

By the fourth interview, he let Sumreen take over as he secretly sent apology text messages to his girlfriend. He was sure that the candidate saw him playing with his phone during the middle of the interview. He really didn't care. There was no way he was hiring someone who thought Jimmy Choo was a brand of candy. Even Betty knew labels when her personal style was at its most unique. (Although that was probably Justin's doing, but it still counted.)

During the fifth and final interview of the morning he text messaged Betty's sister to find out the best apology flowers to get her. He knew her favorites were daisies and orchids. Henry got her daisies all the time, so there was no way he would send that. He would pick up some orchids for the house, but that wouldn't work right now. Besides that's what he got her in February for his "I'm sorry I was an asshole" present during the fashion week thing.

"Did you really have to play with your phone during the interviews?" Sumreen asked him with angry eyes.

"It was either that or fall asleep. Not a single person was remotely qualified for this position. I think most of the interns I met yesterday know more about the fashion industry. One would think there would be more people applying for this job if the economy is so bad right now."

"No one wants to work for a company that will be out of business in six months. It probably didn't help that the guy in charge was sexting his girlfriend during the interview." Sumreen glared.

"I was not sending dirty text messages to my girlfriend." She gave him a look similar to the look his mom gave him when she knew he was lying to her.

"They were apology messages." He then preceded to tell her the whole story. She was still laughing.

"First, if you plan on doing anything like that here please lock the door. My 14 year old daughter is one of the interns that will be assigned to work with you in a few weeks and I don't want her to walk in on anything inappropriate." Daniel was shocked by that statement. Sumreen barely looked 30. He should know better. Hilda was not even 33 yet and Justin was 15 going on 16.

"You have a daughter? You don't seem old enough to have a 14 year old daughter."

"My husband says the same thing, but when you've been married for 15 years you stop believing what your husband says. I was 20 when I had her." Daniel had no idea she was married.

At Mode New York, almost everyone that worked there was single. The hours were not exactly conducive to family life. Wilhelmina was one of the few people who had children. That didn't go so well. During the date from hell a few years back, Wilhelmina told him that the only reason why she sent her daughter to boarding school was she didn't want her to be home alone after the divorce when Faye made her work 23 hour days. Maybe he really did need to get to know the people that were working with him now.

"Since you've been successfully married for so long, do you have any ideas for a good "I'm sorry I was an idiot" gift?

"At this point in my marriage, the best apology present is for the house to be completely clean, my favorite dinner on the table, and our daughter staying at a friend's house." Sumreen suggested.

"I don't think that is going to work." Daniel said as he started walking to the photo shoot.

"Probably not." That was the last thing he heard.

10 minutes later he found Diana in the studio going over wardrobe choices for the second half of the shoot. She was currently making an intern cry.

"Was that really necessary?" Daniel asked.

"Not really but I have to take my frustrations out on someone. I can't kill whoever was responsible for half the wardrobe showing up 3 hours late." Diana said with annoyance. "I can't kill the photographer because we are in the middle the shoot and he used to be your friend. Although now you seem to be avoiding him. I can understand. I can't deal with someone who spends half the shoot trying to sleep with me or the models."

"I am not avoiding him." Daniel said defensively. "I am just busy. I did talk to him before the shoot. I thought that would keep this from happening." So maybe he essentially said stay away from his assistant. So maybe he left as quickly as he could to avoid certain questions. He was sure Becks got the idea.

"For 30 seconds. You only mentioned Candy by name. He probably thinks the rest of us are fair game. I don't have a problem with him hitting on me. My girlfriend might, but I personally don't care. It's just annoying."

"You have a girlfriend." Daniel asked in shock. He really didn't know anything about the people he was working with.

"Are you that surprised I have a girlfriend?" Diana glared.

"Just because I like women, doesn't mean I don't enjoy wearing the latest designs. Who I sleep with has nothing to do with my sense of style or my ability to do my job."

"Not really. I stopped judging people by stereotypes the moment I met this beautiful yet badly dressed woman who completely changed my life. I am thinking of doing some sort of dinner party to get to know everybody as soon as my girlfriend is speaking to me again. If we are going to keep this magazine from going under, maybe we should actually know something about each other." Daniel suggested.

"That would probably be a good idea. I still want to know the story of how you two got together. As for an apology present, I would go with chocolates. That usually works when I do something stupid. My girlfriend has a sweet tooth. Although it needs to be good chocolate, not that nasty stuff that you Americans call chocolate. I had an American Hershey bar once. It was dreadful." Diana made a face.

"I will remember that." Maybe he can just go with the cookie bouquet that he's sending Candy but with a little something extra.

"In the meantime, you can stop avoiding your friend over there and talk to him about his behavior." At that moment Candy came running over.

"Sorry, you're going to have to do that. I just came to get my assistant back. I need her to go over strategies for the Birmingham meeting." It was obviously an excuse.

"That's tomorrow and you're mispronouncing it. This is why we need to go over the briefing material now." Candy said pulling him out of the studio before Diana could say anything.

"You owe me. This is why you keep me around." His assistants said to him leaving him in the hallway. She seemed almost as happy as he was to be out of there.

TBC