Chapter 15

On Monday they made their way back into the city. Daniel dropped her off at her place and they went about their week. Meeting up under the week was hard. Daniel had to finish this months issue. It's going to the printers on Thursday, which is amazing timing. Cause that way he will be able get out of MODE on Friday on time for their date. It finally seems like the universe is on their side.

Betty pushed through her week. Counting down her last appointments of physical therapy. Her therapist was more than content with the progress she made. On Friday morning she had her last appointment, her therapist told her to keep up with the practices. But she was as good as new. She was so happy. Only one more to go and then she would be free for a leisure weekend with Daniel. And she knows for sure that this weekend she will do other practices then the ones for her arms. Who knows, maybe she could come up with a way of combining them.

Her doctors appointment went amazing. It was about lunchtime when she came out of there and decided to go and see if maybe a certain Editor-in-Chief has time to listen to her report.

She felt nostalgic walking back into MODE after all this time. The last time she was here was weeks before her second surgery. She really missed this place. Almost bouncing on her way over to Daniel's office she saw Sarah, sitting on her desk looking so much more in tune with the bustling chaotic atmosphere.

'Hey Sarah, how are you?', Betty says greeting the lovely woman. She liked Sarah a lot. She was nice, sweet, capable and simply perfect for this job.

'Oh my, you look happy Betty. And I'm very fine. How are you, dear?', she says with an amused smile on her face.

'I'm absolutely perfect. I'm going to be back on Monday, finally. I can't wait. And you look so much more in tune with everything. You settled in alright?'

'Yes, Daniel helped me a lot, I don't want to know, how hard it must've been for him. Helping me settle in and do his own job. And it's great you'll be back. I'll be picking your brain for tips and tricks if you don't mind?'

'Pick as much as you like. The important thing is to create your own system. A system you can work with. For me, it was the easiest to create a file storage system', Betty grabs a file storage and puts it on the edge of the desk. 'I've had one of these for him to place all the files in he's already gone through and doesn't need anymore. That way he couldn't mess with my system. Oh, and if he did go through the files and messed up my whole system, I gave him the evil eye. He hates the evil eye', Betty explains.

'That is very good knowledge. I'm telling you, I still get a little intimidated and, uhm..., how do I say this. I'm a little in awe of you around these parts?', Sarah says, a small blush on her cheeks and a pointed look back and forth between Betty and Daniel.

'Don't be. Take a way the power suit and 500 dollar tie and you have a big goofball, really. No need to be intimidated. Not by him', Betty smiles sweetly.

'Well, I don't want to hold you up. You're not here because of me, aren't you? He's free, you can go through', Sarah smiles mischievously.

'Thank you, Sarah. I look forward to Monday. I will definitely see you around', Betty says, walking backwards over to Daniel's office. Standing in his doorway she turns around and looks him up and down. Boy, how she could go out to lunch with Henry or Gio, or even Matt she has no idea. He is so hot. Sitting in his office chair, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up, pencil in his hand. With every word he writes his muscles flex in his arm deliciously. God, she can't wait til tonight.

'Hey handsome, what are you writing', she sighs, slowly walking over to his desk.

'Hey gorgeous, I didn't know you would come by today', his smile brilliant. Pencil falls down on his desk, he pushes up out of his chair. Stands just there, behind his desk. Watches her every move.

'I have a lot of time on my hands, now that I'm free of any kind of medical obligations. I thought I come by and say 'Hello' real quick', she stops in front of his desk, leans slightly over, sees him mimicking her, leaning towards her.

'That sounds great', he murmurs a few inches from her face.

'Mmmh, great', she whispers, one hand sits on his desk for support, the other grabs his tie, pulling him a little closer.

'I take the doctors report was good?', Daniel asks quick.

'Totally, I'll be back at work on Monday, boss. Uuuh, that sounds kind of hot', they are so close, her lips are ghosting over his while talking. 'Are you kissing me now, boss?'

He grabs her face and crushes her to him. Kissing her deep and passionate. Her hand slowly moves up to his neck, letting her fingers drive into his hair, grasping as much as she can.

'Hm hm, I'm sorry to interrupt, but Daniel you have an emergency meeting', Sarah says from the office door.

'Huh? An emergency meeting? With whom? What kind of emergency?', Daniel says a little confused. They both straighten up, looking past her they see Sofia standing outside his office. Arms crossed over her chest, or rather under and pushing her breasts up.

'What does she want here?', Betty says annoyed and angry.

'Beats me. Sarah, did Ms. Reyes say what she wants?', Daniel asks lightly. And Betty realizes, he doesn't care. Not about Sofia and not about the whole engagement mess. He is so over it. It makes her heart flutter.

'No, she only said that she needed to talk to you about something concerning MYW', Sarah says apologetic. 'I'm really sorry'

'She's probably trying to talk you into giving her more money for the magazine. Maybe she thinks she can seduce you into it. Use your past romance to her advantage?', Betty asks, suspicious of Sofias motives.

'It's not going to work. And why would she do that, it all blew up into my face. As if I would let her use me like that or in any way again', Daniel says matter-of-factly, crossing his arms over his chest. His arm muscles are bulging. And Betty can't keep her eyes from roaming over his form. Biting her lip, she's delighted in his little display of resentment towards that woman.

'Well, her magazine is failing. She lost 36% of her readership and at least 15% of her advertisers. And she showed no sign of reducing her pages, yet. You know how hard it is to find new advertisers these days. With the whole online magazine trend getting more publicity and focus. And it's no wonder her numbers are reducing, lately she is more focused on quantity rather than quality. Maybe she's desperate. Doesn't know how to turn it around. Thought that she could try to milk that cow one last time?', Betty says matter-of-factly. She keeps up with a few of MEADEs Publications. And after everything Sofia did to him, she kept up with MYW. Proudly realizing that Sofia was slowly but surely digging her own grave, while Daniel managed to make MODE better.

'How do you even know about that?', the delightful surprised look on his face is priceless. He may be over her and what she done to him. But that she is failing? After she's done that stunt to boost her magazine? Yes, he can enjoy that immensely.

'I'll keep up with a lot of your publications. And after everything I have to admit that I thoroughly kept up with hers. I guess, I just noticed a few things. She gets crappy, has no knew, fresh ideas. Lately, she settles for sex appeal to sell her magazine. Modern Young Women, my ass. There's nothing modern, fresh or young about that magazine anymore. Sadly. It's an amazing concept, but she doesn't do it justice', sitting down in one of his chairs she rattles this little piece of insight down.

'Wow, you make an amazing observer for these kind of things. Sadly there is no position like that', his loving lopsided smile gives her a hard time to think straight. And when he walks around his desk to sit on it, right beside her, she feels her heart flutter. He looks pointedly at Sofia and waves her in.

'Hello Daniel, it is so good to see you. You look amazing. How have you been', Sofia purrs on her way over. But since Betty was sitting in one chair and Daniel's kind of blocking the other she can't do anything but stop in the middle of the office.

'Thank you, Sarah, we're going to be fine. If you want to go to lunch, go ahead', Daniel gives her small smile and nods. 'Sofia, it's good to see you, what is this emergency meeting for?' He's reserved and cool. His aura says pretty much firm hard-ass big boss. Oh, he's so good at this. He's a natural. If he would decide one day, that he does want to run the company? He would be so good. Betty swoons a little in her chair. Her body's reaction to him is so strong. If she could, she would jump into his arms right now. But that is a lovely thought she's going to keep for tonight.

'Daniel, I don't think it's very professional if Betty stays here', she tries to make her voice sound smooth and sensual with her thick mexican accent. It's kind of sad when you think about it. Using your body to insure your job?

'Betty stays where she is. She is the most discreet person I know. What's being said in this room, will stay in this room. What is this emergency meeting for?'

'It's MYW, Daniel. The vision has changed so much. And our advertisers don't understand that vision anymore. But the new modern young woman is not what she used to be four years ago. I need to...', Sofia starts to explain.

'...reach out to my mom. She's upstairs and runs all the affairs concerning this company, it's magazines and finances. I can't help you', he says simple.

'But, Daniel, you are a Meade. You have something to say. You are...', Daniel interrupts her again. And Betty could really get used to this.

'... one of two heirs. Not the big boss. Go upstairs, talk to my mom. Maybe you should go now. She likes spontaneous meetings. Shows how passionate you are about the matter', his tone final. There's nothing left to say. She looks defeated and small.

'Well, thank you for your time, Daniel. I guess this is Good bye'

'Good bye, Sofia', his happy voice sound almost mocking. But not quite. It can still be considered polite and nice. But Betty knows better than that. She can't wait till Sofia is out of here. And she is in a matter of seconds. She walks out of his office like a drowned poodle. 'Oh, Sofia', Daniel calls after her. She twirls around, so fast that Betty thought she must be dizzy. Her hopeful face looking blankly at Daniel. 'Please close the door after you?' And she does. With a soft thud, Sofia is out of their lives again.

'Wow, you handled that very well, Mr. Meade', Betty stands up and takes a step closer to him. Invading his personal space completely. His arms snake around her waist, pulling her even closer, pressing her against him. When her arms wrap around his neck to bring him down to her, the office door opens again.

'Jesus, Christ, what do you have to do, to get a little privacy in this place?', Daniel calls out mad.

'Here are the cover ideas, you asked for, BOSS', Wilhelmina throws the pile of papers on the little glass table by the couch and is gone.

'Again, you handled that very well, Mr. Meade', Betty's back in flirt mood.

'That screams for a reward, don't you think so, Ms. Suarez?', Flirting shamelessly back. Betty pulls him down to her, giving him a deep, sensual, appreciative kiss. Is for a few heady seconds lost in a Daniel-induced trance.

'Why did I have a meeting with, Sofia Reyes, Daniel? A very spontaneous one?', Claire stands in the middle of his office. Doesn't care one bit that she interrupts.

'Because I told her to', Daniel says matter-of-factly.

'I know, she told me that. What I want to know is, why you did it in the first place? You know how much I hate spontaneous meetings', Claire fumes for a few seconds. Her cheeks are a soft pink, hands on her hips, she walks in little circles. When she stops, she looks at Betty. Softens up for a little while. 'Betty, dear, didn't you have your doctors appointment today?'

'Yes, it was great. I'm as good as new. I'll be back on Monday', Betty beams at her.

'Oh, those are wonderful news. I'm so happy for you'

'Thank you', Betty turns around to Daniel, smoothing down his loosened tie before looking up into his face. 'I'll see tonight right?'

'Try to stop me', his smile is brilliant, excited. And she could get lost in his eyes, but he has to talk to his mother, and Betty needs to pamper herself this afternoon. 'I'll pick you up around 7, alright?'

'It's a date', she sighs happy, gives him a quick but passionate kiss. Walks over to Claire, engulfs her in a big hug and is out of his office.

That afternoon Betty decided to take a long soothing bath. As much as she can't wait to go on a date with Daniel. She still feels nervous to finally be with him, like that. And a bath was definitely the way to relax. Putting a deep moisturizing treatment in her hair, she thought about tonight. Wasn't there this thing you can do? When you're afraid of a certain situation? That you should just play it over and over and over again in your head? That way you will be more relaxed and at ease? Well she tried that, but it only riles her up. Her heart beating out of her chest. Yeah, well, apparently it's not working with sex.

Her outfit lays on the bed. The same one as last Friday, just like he asked for. She was contemplating of wearing different shoes, but she couldn't really decide which ones. And didn't Daniel really like it the way it was last week? And she was still more comfortable in her sneakers than she was on heels. She tried it over the last weeks, but always came back to them. She probably has to get used to them again. Maybe it's like a work out. And the last thing she wants is to fall flat on her ass on their first date. No, she would stick with sneakers.

She chose a subtle natural make up. A light gold shimmery eyeshadow with a small eyeliner wink to accentuate her brown eyes. Open them up even more. Makes them appear big and round. In a good way. Her lips a natural plum colour to highlight the fullness. Getting out her straightener, Betty clips her hair up in sections and wanted to start on the mind-numbing process of straightening her weird mexican hair. When she feels, that that son of a bitch broke on her. And she doesn't have a second one, just in case, like Hilda. Contemplating her choices of going frizzy haired like two years ago or embrace her mexican roots and go with her curls, she knows the answer to that one easily. She definitely takes the curls. Though she likes her hair straight better. She definitely likes a silky curl better than a frizzy slightly straight, slightly wrinkled strike.

Getting the products out of the cabinet, she hears her sister in her mind yelling at her: 'Finally mami. You should embrace your inheritance more often' Betty needs at least ten minutes to end up with a full head of shiny and bouncy curls. It's not perfect, but it will do. Taking a look at the clock on the wall of her bathroom, she hurried up to put on her outfit. She has only ten minutes left. When she slips her top over her head and gets her curls out of the neckline the door rings. He's early. Of course he is. She should've known. Daniel is probably just as impatient and excited for tonight as she is.

Opening the door, she slips into her jacket and sneakers, winds the scarf around her neck and grabs her purse before he made his way up to her apartment. When she hears a soft knock on her door, she flings the door open, beams up at him.

'Woah, you are..., uh..., huh...', he's at a loss for words, and Betty high-fives herself.

'Hey yourself, handsome', she gushes and wraps her arms around his waist.

'What happened to your hair?', his voice full of wonder and admiration.

'My straightener died on me, so I had the choice between this and well, my hair of two years ago. I thought this would be better, even if it's curly'

'You look so beautiful, Betty', he breaths out, curling one strand around his finger, before letting it bounce back into it's rightful place. 'I love this'

'I love you'

'I love you too', taking her face in both his hands he places a soft kiss on her lips. 'Let's go'

'Finally', Betty sighs happy.

Being out on a real date, especially at a very small and very private Italian restaurant, Betty and Daniel enjoyed themselves so much. They didn't have to worry about some overstepping paparazzi, who's trying to get the latest Meade-heir gossip. Though he isn't on page six all the time anymore, people still wondered what he is up to nowadays. And he thought for their first date, he would love for them to be a bit more to themselves. That their relationship will go public is something they are aware of. Because of Daniel's person and the Meade name attached to this relationship. Doesn't mean they have to make it easy for them though. And it's just something about being out on a date in the open. It makes everything more real. Makes everything more enticing.

Arriving at Daniel's house after the date felt so surreal. Knowing that there is nothing that holds them back. Slipping out of her jacket, Betty puts her little overnight bag down, hangs her jacket and scarf on the wardrobe and puts her sneaker on the little shoe rack Daniel put there.

'Do you want a coffee? Or anything else?', he's being very considerate. Looks all of a sudden nervous. Slipping out of his jacket and fidgeting with his cuff for a second before thrusting his hands in his pockets. It seems while Betty's nerves settle, Daniel's are acting up.

'You've got to be kidding me?', Betty's exasperated look makes him chuckle.

'No', he says slowly, stretching out the word. Betty snorts loud and grabs his shirt. Pulls him down to her forcefully. And in a matter of seconds they stumble over to the stairs, Betty jumps up into his arms and wraps her legs around his waist, Daniel easily catching her. They never stop kissing all the way upstairs. And by the time they reach his bedroom, she has his dress shirt half open, can't get enough of him.

Shedding their clothes, they fall onto his bed. Entangled with each other and not come back up for air for the next few glorious hours.