Thank you to everyone who read or reviewed the last chapter. The next few chapters are going to be a bit different. I'm moving bits and pieces around and cutting things that in hindsight seem like a lot of fluff. The beginning of this is all new material.

I also took out some material that looking back at it now was blatant character bashing of Betty's past boyfriends. In recent years, I took a stand against bashing past relationships. To work with my beliefs now, I had to change some stuff.

Warning: Illusions to sexual situations, although less than the original version. I decided some of it did not work for the overall story. Honestly, I don't like writing explicit material.

Thank you to Teddy Bear who did the original version of this chapter. Nina has graciously done the rewrite.

Chapter 13: Emotional Sucker Punch

"Great, now I'm going to have to apologize for making snide comments about Matt fainting when he found out Amanda was pregnant." Marc said as Cliff handed him a bottle of water. They were pulled over at a gas station so Marc could pull himself together.

He still felt like he was going to throw up at any moment. But at least he was conscious. Also, his inhaler kicked in. He was going to need to make a pharmacy run if this kept up.

"No, you won't because you absolutely hate Matt." Cliff replied with a smile.

"Because he's going to leave Amanda as soon as things get too hard, he already did it once this year alone. Not that I did any better." He has a kid. He has a daughter that he hasn't even met yet. Worst of all Cliff knew. No. Worst of all Nikolai knew and honestly, it's a small miracle that he didn't send that last email out to the entire office.

"You didn't know because Jody didn't tell you." Cliff said as he rubbed gentle circles on Marc's back, trying to get him to calm down.

"She tried. At least that's what the mini West-Hartley said last week before you conveniently got her to shut up." Marc took another drink of water. He should've asked Cliff to get alcohol but he doubts this Maryland gas station would have anything nice.

"Obviously not very well. You don't run away from your responsibilities. You would have stepped up the moment she told you the truth. I completely believe that." Cliff said trying to reassure him.

"I ran away from you." Marc on the other hand wasn't so sure. "That's number one on my biggest screw ups ever."

"Are you going to do it again?" Cliff asked.

"I pride myself on being better than Matt Hartley. I did regain consciousness significantly faster than he did." Marc joked to cover up the fact that he was absolutely terrified. He had a kid. How the hell did that happen?

Okay he knows. Jade was conceived on the day of Daniel's Make-A-Wish wedding as the result of Marc's career backup plan. Sleeping with Jody is not the most questionable thing he's done for the sake of his career. It wasn't even the most immoral. That would be switching out the psychiatric medication of Wilhelmina's sister.

"I still wonder if I should take you to the hospital." Cliff said worriedly as he put an arm around Marc.

"I do not like going to strange hospitals in strange cities. The water is helping." Okay the fact that Cliff is holding him is helping. But he can't think about that.

"You feel like you're going to throw up at any moment?" Cliff said, knowing him too well. Why did he screw this up? Terrance is going to freak out when he finds out about Jade and that Cliff was rubbing circles on his back and trying to calm him down.

"God, yes. We are gay men. We're not supposed to have surprise children. This is something straight out of the Birdcage." Marc never thought about having kids. Okay, that's not true. He figured sometime around 35, if he and Amanda were both ridiculously single he would swallow half a bottle of Viagra and they would save a small fortune on in vitro. Then Matt happened. And then apparently Jade happened. Well, at least they'll be able to take mommy and me classes together.

"Except Jody slept with you because she was mad at you for cheating around on me, not because you wanted to see what all the fuss was about." Cliff commented.

"I'm going to pay for that mistake for all eternity." He should have never slept with that guy. He should've never panicked the way that he did. He should've talked to Cliff and explain why he was so scared. He should've begged him for forgiveness because he was the best thing Marc ever had.

"I don't think a child is a punishment for sins. Especially not Jade. She's cute as a button and I can already tell she's such a sweetie pie." Cliff was definitely the best thing he ever had. He loved his daughter. Marc has yet to even meet her and Cliff already loves her. If he said one bad thing about Jade right now, Marc is certain that he would be walking to DC.

"Of course she is. I do not make ugly kids." Although, truth be told, Jade could end up dressing like Betty during her bad years and Marc would still think that she was adorable.

"You really do. She has your eyes and your hair." It was reassuring to hear Cliff say that. It wasn't that he doubted what Jody said. She didn't even know that he was listing so there was no point in her lying. It's just this is a lot to take at once.

"Really?" And yet, part of Marc was absolutely terrified that it may not be true. This was his one-shot at this unless Matt really does scamper off for parts unknown, leaving him to deal with Amanda.

"Nikolai sent you a picture. Didn't you open it?" Cliff asked.

"I lost consciousness before I clicked on the JPEG." That's when Cliff passed Marc his cell phone. It's an image of Jade in Cliff's arms. He is relieved it's not Jody. Marc is not sure he can look at her right now. He lost three months of his daughter's life. He missed out on the first ultrasound and the first time hearing her heartbeat. Those are important moments, and he missed all of them.

(Yes, he's read all of Amanda's baby books, twice. Including the surprised parenthood book she forced him to read last week.)

"She really is adorable." And definitely his. She looks so much like Marc at that age. She could be a clone.

"Although that outfit has to go. In between scouting locations, we are going to find a decent baby boutique." Just because his daughter will still be adorable even if she dresses like Betty doesn't mean that he's going to try to head that off early. Thankfully Jade will benefit from a father who actually understands women's fashion. At this moment Marc realized that Cliff was grinning at him.

"Okay why are you smiling?" Marc asked.

"Because we haven't even called Jody to talk about this and you're already ready and willing to jump into fatherhood. I told her she had nothing to worry about. And I was right." Cliff's comments made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, and pissed all at the same time. That's been most of his emotions for the last half an hour.

"I really don't want to talk to the person that concealed my child away from me for a year, but I'm going to have to."

"I think she was scared."

"She was afraid I was going to pull what Justin's father did?" Marc asked annoyed because he wasn't that person.

"That you would sue her for full custody." He wasn't expecting Cliff to say that.

"I really should." Because he was absolutely furious with Jody right now. Not only for keeping Jade from him, but for the reason why she slept with him in the first place. "But I'm not." Mostly because he was terrified of screwing things up. "Besides, they would choose her anyway."

"You know what happened under New York State law is considered sexual assault. Jody coerced you into having sex with her. That's grounds for terminating her parental rights." Seriously, how did Cliff know this? Marc really hates the rumor mill.

"I'm not going to do that. Not unless she keeps me away from my daughter." The words feel simultaneously foreign and like it was always supposed to be this way.

"She was planning to tell you in two weeks. Amanda had a dinner party all planned out then Nikolai had to be an asshole." And that explains why Amanda wanted him to make nice with Matt's volunteer work friend. Of course, Amanda completely neglected to mention that Matt was working with their Yeti instructor.

"Because that's what Nikolai does." Seriously, how did he find out? "Amanda knew?"

"She figured it out as soon as Matt mentioned his old Yeti instructor had a daughter that looked like you." Because Amanda knew what happened with Jody.

"I'm not even surprised. How did you figure it out? Or did Jody actually tell you?" How long has Cliff been keeping this a secret?

"I suspected it as soon as Jody told me that she was pregnant, especially because of the fact that she kept her pregnancy a secret until six months in. Although it wasn't that hard for her to keep it a secret because we weren't speaking to each other for a while."

"Why?"

"I didn't like what she did to you in my name. It's the entire reason why I reached out to you at the MAMA awards last year. Anger doesn't solve anything." Cliff took his side after everything. Marc couldn't believe that. He didn't deserve that. Not really.

"I didn't know for real until I saw Jade with your eyes. Even then Jody didn't actually tell me until a couple of days ago and even then I forced her to." Marc is not surprised.

"And you forced her to tell me or at least plan to tell me? She was never going to do it on her own, was she?"

"I don't know. She did try." Cliff said, not making eye contact. Marc was going to take that as a no.

"I never got a call from her. So I would really like to know how she tried to contact me." Cliff doesn't say anything. Instead, he takes back his phone and sent a text message to somebody. In seconds there's a reply.

"According to her text message, she left a message with Amanda for you to call her back. But she didn't tell Amanda that she was pregnant." And considering Amanda was really mad about the Jody sleeping with him thing that message obviously went straight in the trash.

"No wonder I never heard. She waited months to give me your 'Fuck you' message." Because Amanda was a weird protective friend in some ways.

"I kind of wish she didn't give it to you at all now. I'm not mad at you anymore. You're still better than the last boyfriend." Only because he was a prick. Marc thought bitterly at Cliff's words.

"Because he treated you like crap and used you for career advancement only. He had a girlfriend on the side the entire time you were together." Marc absolutely despised his successor.

"How do you even know that?" Cliff asked.

"Rumor mill." Marc responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "Don't worry, he can't even get a Sears catalog right now."

"I'm not sure they still make those." Cliff joked.

"All the more reason why he can't." Marc snarked.

"Are you ready to keep driving to DC?" Cliff asked.

"I think so. I don't feel like of going to throw up anymore."

"Progress." Cliff said as he pulled away. Marc immediately missed his physical contact.

"Do you want to talk to Jody?" Cliff asked as he put the key in the ignition.

"No, but I will eventually. I have to but not right now." Marc had many things to do. Call Jody. Set up visitation to meet his daughter for the first time. Get a room together for Jade. Does that mean getting a new apartment or asking Amanda to actually move in with Matt? The latter is not something he really wants to do. He should probably start looking for three bedrooms for a giant nursery for two. He and Amanda are going to be the best co-parents ever.

"You don't have to. The lawyers can work it out." Cliff suggests.

"That means I have to get a lawyer." Marc groaned. He doesn't even know where to begin. Wilhelmina probably would know where to go but is not sure he wants to tell her about this just yet.

"It's been handled. Amanda's been doing a lot of the leg work for you." Cliff explains.

Which completely explains all the articles about custody arrangements that Amanda has been reading lately. He was almost hopeful that Amanda realized that Matt probably wasn't going to stay around and she needed to prepare for the worst.

"My parents mostly stuck to working through their lawyers." Because they absolutely hated each other. However, Marc knew better than to say that out loud.

"How did that work out for you?" Marc asked, rolling his eyes.

"I'm a productive member of society despite the fact that I cannot invite either parent to come with me to the MAMA awards because they can't be in a room together without the cops being called. And if I invite one without the other, I am never hear the end of it." Cliff explained sadly.

"I feel like my child deserves better than that." Marc tells him.

"All children deserve better than that. Maybe it's best that you wait until your calm down to talk to Jody." Cliff suggests.

"I'm not sure when I will calm down. She kept my daughter from me for months." Marc wasn't going to get that time back.

"It was a very badly kept secret, though." And Marc feels like an idiot for not seeing it. He definitely should have got it when he saw the name of the article Jody was nominated for but he didn't think it was about her personal experiences with motherhood. He definitely should have read the article.

"Yes, most of Mode and Amanda knew."

"And Daniel." Cliff added.

"Oh God, the idiot figured it out first." Okay, Marc really felt stupid right now. Monique, he would've understood because she's friends with Cliff and absolutely brilliant but it took Daniel Meade four years to figure out he was in love with his assistant.

"He got you a lawyer that he's paying for." Okay maybe he shouldn't be that harsh with Daniel.

"Hopefully not the one that couldn't keep DJ in the country."

"Nope, he got you the one that kept DJ away from his abusive grandparents. At least that's what Amanda told me. Thankfully they have a New York branch." Now he's definitely going to have to be nice to Daniel for a while.

"I'll call once we get to the hotel."

"Here take the phone back. I have thousands of pictures of Jade in there." Cliff said, pointing to his phone.

"Is it okay if I send some to my phone?" He wanted some pictures for himself. But he knew that Cliff was very protective of his images, being a professional and all.

"Of course it is. She's your daughter."

"Yes she is." And that thought absolutely terrified him. He was a father. But Cliff believed he could do this and if Cliff believed in him then Marc was going to try his best to prove the man right. He owed him that much.

June 4, 2010 6:23 AM Greenwich mean time

Betty sat in the limo between her boyfriend and his nephew drinking her second coffee of the morning. She's pretty sure she only got three hours of sleep last night. She blames Daniel for that. It was after 11 when they finally got back to the town house after stopping off for a late bite to eat.

Daniel thought it was best to tell DJ about Alexis coming to London on Friday in a public place. That really didn't prevent a scene that involved lots of cursing and crying in French. (She is really going to have to work on her language skills.) DJ already knew because Alexis left him a voice mail, but it did not make his reaction less volatile. It was obvious that DJ wasn't looking forward to spending time with his mom but he wouldn't explain why.

The only thing that made the 15 year old happy was finding out that he would be spending the summer with her and Daniel instead of being shipped back for quality time with his grandparents. DJ really did not like his grandparents at all.

DJ was also not as happy about the fact that he would be an intern at London Hub instead of Mode. (This is when most of the French cursing occurred, actually.) Following in his uncle's footsteps, DJ has a slight fixation on the models. After an incident involving DJ being kicked out of a photo shoot by Diane, Betty and Daniel decided that DJ would be spending the summer as her intern. At least this way she would have somebody to tell her what's going on when her staff starts talking about her behind her back in French.

At this point, Betty thought it was possible to get at least five good hours of sleep. Instead, Daniel decided to show her what was so good about oral sex. It amazed her that even after three other major relationships there were still certain aspects of physical intimacy that she was completely ignorant of. Maybe because her heart wasn't into those relationships as much as she thought. There was no point to over analyze it because the past is the past and Daniel was her future.

After getting over the initial awkwardness of doing 'things' with her best friend, she felt comfortable trying new experiences with him. Every time he kissed her, she became breathless. Every time he touched her, she became lost. If she wasn't so worried about the entire Alexis situation the night before, things probably would have escalated in the closet. Instead, things 'escalated' when they got to the house and DJ was safely tucked away in his room sulking about Alexis' pending arrival. Really, this shouldn't surprise her because she's dating 'I've been treated for sex addiction' Daniel Meade. She's personally shocked they've gone 14 days without having sex. Actually, she was more shocked he wanted to wait awhile. Although she did enjoy herself at the time. She also discovered why Daniel had plenty of women interested in him, despite the bad way he treated a lot of his dates when they first met. Okay, he really was that good. She is really glad he grew out of that because she didn't want to give this up.

"Baby, are you coming?" She heard Daniel say bringing her out of the memories of the night before. Their limo was now at the back door of the studio. DJ must already be inside because she didn't see him.

"What did you say?" She asked just as she was coming back to her senses.

"I said are you coming inside. We are here at the studio. Are you okay? You look a little red. Are you still worried about today? You will do great. You have dealt with Suzuki St. Pierre before; you'll be fine with the British equivalent of Matt Lauer and his happy sidekick." Daniel told her as he placed a reassuring hand on her back.

"I'm not worried. I'm fine. My mind just went somewhere else." She said giving Daniel a kiss not really caring if the press was around as they got out of the car together.

Most people were already sure that she and Daniel were more than friends before they actually started dating anyway. Suzuki's article last week just added more fuel to the fire. They were not exactly denying that they were a couple, but they were not really confirming it either. As everything else in her life she just decided to let people assume whatever they wanted. It was her life and she was entitled to privacy.

"Judging by the red blush that I find so adorable, I say that you're thinking about all the wonderful things we did last night. I'm looking forward to a repeat tonight." He said giving her another kiss that was slightly inappropriate for being in public, mostly due to hand placement.

"Unfortunately, we have to deal with your sister first. How can you be so cheery after just three hours of asleep?" she asked giving him another quick kiss.

"I think it's you. Your normal bounciness is infectious. Although we could probably test out the locks in my office if you want to come over for lunch." There was that evil smirk from last night again.

"I think I have a meeting that I have to attend at that time. I hate you. I probably have bags under my eyes." She said jokingly.

"You only hate me because you love me and my tongue. At lease, you are not nervous anymore. You are the most beautiful woman in the world. Besides, you are still glowing from last night. It's covering up the sleep deprivation. When did you start caring about your appearance?" He asked genuinely concerned.

"I have always cared about looking professional, not pretty. Showing up to an interview sleep deprived is not professional. I hope you're right and nobody notices." She said with a sigh as Daniel pulled her out of the car.

"Trust me; I used to do this all the time. Now let's go inside so we can introduce England to the very talented Betty Suarez." Daniel said as he pulled her into the building.

Xxxxxxxx

Daniel should have known this had the potential to go horribly wrong. The short notice the day before should have been the first sign that something wasn't right, especially for someone like him who has spent his entire life in front of the press. Daniel knew firsthand how a simple interview could go explosively wrong. The Sophie incident still stands out in his mind. He doesn't know how many times he has gone on television to talk about the latest issue of Mode when the conversation instantly turned to his private life. Actually, that usually happened.

Really, they should've both known this was going to happen. This was Betty's first interview since their relationship went public last week. No one has really confirmed or denied that he and Betty were a couple, but they were not actively hiding it. It was only natural that people would be curious. They didn't prepare for this and that was completely his oversight.

The interview started out innocently enough with Lindsey introducing Betty to the two hosts of the show. He spent a few minutes talking about the upcoming Wedding issue of London Style and made a few jokes about the trouble at Mode UK.

David Pratt has been generating all sorts of negative press for Mode since he was fired last week. The speculation about his relationship with Betty and his sudden relocation to London has at least kept people from paying attention to David trashing his former magazine to some degree.

At least he and Betty talked about how to handle Mode questions and the David situation last night. They both agreed that she would stay quiet on the matter because it was in her best interest to stay neutral regarding the London fashion magazine wars. As much as he loved her and wanted her support publicly, he knew that for the sake of her career she could not take sides.

Then the male host Kevin asked Betty if she knew for sure that he was the brand new EIC of Mode London. That's how a simple interview about London Hub started to spiral out of control.

"I can't answer that question. We'll all have to wait until the next issue comes out on the 17th." Betty answered calmly taking a small drink of her water.

"You obviously know the answer to that question since you were snogging him behind the building with his hand stroking your bum." The blond woman named Karen said with a thick accent that he could barely understand. Daniel wondered if she was doing it on purpose. Most newscasters neutralize their voice so that they can be understood by everyone. As she said this, images of Betty and him making out from earlier appeared on screen.

Wait, what does snogging mean? Is that the same as shagging? He really should have paid more attention to Candy's guide to British slang.

"I am a very private person and so is Daniel. I am here to talk about the first issue of London Hub that comes out next month, not my relationship with Daniel Meade." Betty said pointing to the screen. "I thought I was done talking about Daniel Meade's personal life when I stopped being his assistant years ago." Betty said calmly taking the high road as she avoided looking at the image of the two of them being very intimate.

The two talk show hosts did not like that and went for blood. That's when the perky British lady started asking Betty questions about how she went from being Daniel's assistant a year ago to being the EIC of a brand new magazine.

Daniel was planning on killing Marc next Friday when he was in New York for obviously blabbing about what happened. It had to have been him. Nobody else knew about it outside of the parties involved. Questions about that particular incident were asked as invasively as possible with lots of sexual innuendos. Okay maybe it'll just take Marc's lawyer away because he couldn't make a three-month-old fatherless. This was embarrassing.

Ms. British Mary sunshine also brought up the blog incident from February including the speculation regarding their relationship status. Betty handled all of their questions with her normal grace as they started accusing her of getting ahead because of their personal relationship.

They even brought up Molly and the fact that Daniel was apparently in a serious relationship less than a year after her death. If Daniel was reading between the British lines correctly, they were essentially saying that he was sleeping with Betty when Molly was dying. How dare they bring Molly into this. Even though he was with Betty now, a part of him will always love her. Feelings don't disappear overnight. But Molly is gone and he literally had Molly's blessing. She forced Monique to play matchmaker. You can't get more of a blessing than that.

Daniel should be used to hearing these types of comments. Nothing being said was worse than what he has heard Megan say a thousand times. Of course, Megan never said such things on live morning television or accused him of cheating on his then dying wife. At least she had the decency not to do it in front of him.

"Personally I would like to know how someone like you with such 'humble' beginnings became involved with a notorious American playboy. His antics are legendary here. I heard his father actually hired you so his son wouldn't sleep with the help. I guess that didn't work." Kevin mumbled that last part under his breath.

To make the situation even worse they actually posted a photograph from the Betty bad outfit web site on the screen for the entire viewing public to see. Daniel was reminding himself that he cannot make Marc's daughter an orphan but Betty stayed calm.

"Daniel Meade has never been the person that everybody assumes him to be. He's smart, funny, and actually cares about things other than what's in season. Since I met him four years ago, he has become one of the most important individuals in my life. He has always been there for me. He is my best friend. We have always had a very close relationship." Betty responded. His heart melted at her words

"This is why there's been speculation about your relationship for years. It's gotten worse in the last two weeks especially in light of a segment on America's Fashion TV. You are obviously more than friends. He moved to London to be with you. There are even pictures this weekend of you and Daniel walking out of a lingerie boutique together. Again there is that photograph from earlier this morning." That they put back on the screen.

"He is standing offstage watching this entire interview. You can't honestly expect anyone to believe that you two are just friends?" She pointed to a collage of Betty and Daniel in various moments of intimacy.

That's when Daniel saw the camera swing around and focus on him. He decided the best thing to do was to just wave at the camera.

"Since you are here Daniel, you might as well tell us if you're the new EIC of Mode UK. Can somebody get a mic on him?" The annoying woman said to one of the producers. Before Daniel knew what was happening, he was sitting on the couch next to Betty.

"Honestly Karen, I'm just here to help straighten things out at Mode UK after the last EIC left suddenly due to personal medical issues." He said going into the cover that he and Monique came up with. "I do own half the parent company and I feel that Mode U.S. is in the capable hands of Monique Osborn-Rossi." He said giving Karen his award winning fake smile.

"So you're not just here so you can keep shagging Miss Suarez?" That question just pissed him off but he was stopped by Betty's hand before he could say anything stupid. Unfortunately, Betty's gesture gave them away without saying a word more than that photograph from this morning ever could. The gesture was more intimate than any kiss could have been.

"The truth of the matter is we are in a relationship." Daniel answered because there was no point of really denying it anymore. Things calmed down after that and Karen started actually asking Betty questions about London Hub.

He was completely unaware that he kept holding Betty's hand the entire time. Again, that is why they couldn't be ambiguous anymore.

Then just as they were about to go into commercial the other host Kevin said something utterly idiotic thinking that they were already in break. Considering he used an expletive that had to be the case or he was completely unaware that his microphone was still on.

"She must be a good fuck for him to be with such a homely girl."

Honestly, Daniel doesn't remember walking over to the man. He doesn't remember throwing a punch. He does not remember DJ saying he was acting like an idiot in French or security pulling him back. The first thing he remembers was seeing the extremely disappointed look on Betty's face.

"Daniel, what the hell were you thinking? At lease when you hit Matt last year, there weren't any video cameras around." Candy asked as soon as Daniel walked through the door of the Mode offices.

Betty probably would ask him the same question if she had time before Lindsey's assistant pushed Betty and DJ into a town car. DJ text messaged him from the car to let him know that Betty was very angry.

"Candy, I don't know what I was thinking. I don't even remember doing it." Daniel said in his defense. He was too angry to really think at the time anyway.

"Let me refresh your memory." Candy said as she handed him an iPhone playing the clip.

"It's been an hour and it has already gone viral. Miss Mary sunshine of London already posted a comment on twitter about the incident." The thing Daniel likes best about Candy is they have the same sense of humor and the ability to never remember names.

"Has Monique called yet?" Daniel asked with a sigh as he made his way to his desk. He knew she would be mad at him.

"No, but that's only because it's 2:56 AM in New York. I expect a phone call around 6:00 AM her time." So did Daniel.

"Marc did call though, because he's up late dealing with the Nikolai related fallout involving some woman named Jade and a coldhearted witch named Jody." Well at least Marc now knows that he's a dad and therefore probably having a worse 24 hours then Daniel is right now.

"What did he say?"

"He did not post about the coin toss thing. That was Megan and she apparently only knew about it because Amanda has a big mouth. He also thanked you for the lawyer. What did Nikolai do that required you to get Marc a lawyer?" Thankfully, before he had to answer Sumreen walked into the office holding her phone.

"My daughter just sent me a video file of you punching out that pratt from London Morning. Good for you. The whole interview was a setup. Someone probably gave the dimwitted duo everything because they are too stupid to do their own research. Everyone hates that imbecile." She said somewhat happy. At least someone on his staff supported him.

"Oh god. How bad is it?" Daniel said as he sat down at his desk and put his head down.

"Actually, it is not really that bad. Although that was not exactly the way we wanted to introduce the brand new EIC of Mode UK to the British people. Many people thought what they were doing to Betty was really mean, other people just like to hate on everything. As Sumreen said he's not very well liked." Candy said with reassurance. The only reassurance Daniel wanted was from Betty. However, he was too scared to call her right now.

"I think it's perfect. Daniel is so in love with his girlfriend that he punched someone out. Any publicity is good publicity. They love you on twitter and on the blogs." Diana said as she joined the conversation.

"Legal repercussions?" Daniel asked. Usually it was his Mother or Betty that handled things when he did something stupid. Now he was on his own.

"Kevin is in serious trouble. Apparently, you can't say 'fuck' before 9:00 PM on broadcast British television." Candy answered him with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"I have an ex-girlfriend that works at the studio. He's most likely going to be suspended without pay for about two weeks." Diane said sitting down on one of Daniels couches.

"I meant me." Daniel clarified.

"According to the same source the network is putting pressure on him not to press charges. Don't be surprised if the network calls you in a couple of hours. They're going to probably use this as leverage to get an exclusive." Diane was probably right.

"I'll talk to the lawyers anyway." Candy said just as her phone began to ring.

"Hello Mode Magazine, Daniel Meade's office. This is Candace Rivera speaking. How may I assist you?" Candy answered the phone using her real name.

"Yes, he's here Mrs. Meade. Yes, he already knows what he did was extremely stupid. Although in his defense, you should have seen the first part of the interview. I'm planning on calling the lawyers. Personally, I think we should sue the network for what they did to her. Can we sue for defamation of character in England? They basically implied that Betty only got ahead at Mode because she was sleeping with Daniel, even when Daniel was married to Molly." There was a pause for a moment before Candy continued.

"They called you. I guess that makes sense since it is just barely 3:00 AM in New York. I'll talk to the network to see if we can work something out. Let me transfer you to Daniel's phone." Candy said pulling the phone down.

"That was your mother. She's not very happy. I'm going to see if I can get her a clip of the full interview so she will calm down. The lawyers called her. Apparently Cindy from legal watches the show every morning in the office." Just then, Daniel heard his phone ringing. He knew it was his mother.

"Hi mom," Daniel said to his mother as he mentally prepared for the most interesting lecture of his entire life. He was completely screwed.

To be continued