As she hurried away from the hallway, Betty tried to think about something besides seeing her boss in his underwear. What the heck was he doing, starting things up with Amanda? She knew they had gotten together in the Bahamas, but that was months ago, just to help Daniel get out of his funk after Molly died. Now they were...what, "dating" again?
She hoped that didn't mean he was going to try and go back to being "old Daniel", sleeping with every girl he met! She hated "that guy". He was smarter than that now. He had been a good husband to Molly, he had become a much better man. Why would he even think of going back to being the "man-whore"?
She texted him, as she walked onto the street, "Do you want to have lunch today?"
It only took a moment for her to hear back, "Sure! Lunch sounds good. Tony's on Sixth?"
"I love Tony's! At eleven thirty?"
"I know you do. I'll see you there. Hey, is this about earlier? You're not going to lecture me, are you?"
She sighed. Sometimes, Daniel seemed to know her better than she gave him credit for. But she wasn't going to let him know that, "No lecture. You're a big boy, Daniel."
She blushed when she received his reply, "Thanks for noticing."
"Haha! Very funny! I wasn't looking at you. It's a metaphor, silly!"
"Really? They didn't teach us fancy stuff like that at Harvard. And excuse me, but you definitely were looking!"
"Don't flatter yourself, Harvard boy! I just hate to see you go backwards. You've come so far."
"I'm not sure if I should say thanks for that or not. I told you, this is a no strings thing. She doesn't still have feelings for me. We're just friends. It works for both of us right now."
She rolled her eyes, "Whatever. It's your life."
"Stop rolling your eyes, Betty. And you've got that right. It is my life."
She made a face, "I am not rolling my eyes."
"Are too! I can see you from here!"
She stopped and looked up, just to be sure he wasn't actually watching her. There was no way he could see her. She was already down the block and around the corner.
"Do what you want with whomever you want."
"Thank you. I will."
"Even if it's not the right thing and you know it."
"This is you NOT lecturing?"
"I just know you're better than this."
"If you say so. Look, we agreed. It's just for laughs. Nobody is getting hurt."
"Except your soul."
"OH my God! Seriously?"
Betty hesitated then typed, "Sorry. I know it's none of my business."
"You got that right!"
She sighed, "I'm your friend. Don't I have the right to tell you when I see you making such a big mistake?"
"No! You don't!"
"Daniel, I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt!"
He didn't answer for a minute. So she texted, "Are you still there?"
"I'm here."
"Are you mad?"
"So, let me get this straight. You think I'm going to get hurt? You're worried about me? Not the other way around?"
"Yes. Amanda is sweet in her way and she wouldn't hurt you deliberately. But you're right; she isn't in love with you anymore."
"So? What's your point? I'm not in love with her, either. I never have been."
"Then why bother? Sorry, I guess I just don't think of that as casual!"
"You mean sex? What, you're too embarrassed to even type it? It's not a dirty word, Betty! You can stop blushing!"
"I know that! And for your information, I wasn't blushing!"
"Sure you weren't! Come on, we both know you're a terrible liar! When are you going to admit how well I know you?"
"Okay, fine! SEX! Are you happy? I don't think sex should be casual!"
"Haha! You know how cute you are when you're embarrassed? You should send me a picture."
He frowned, wondering if their conversation had just taken a turn past their usual "friend zone".
He put his hand over his eyes, Jesus, what the hell was wrong with him? He sounded like he was flirting with Betty!
He quickly wrote, "Just kidding. See you later."
That got him a smiley face. But he knew he had shocked her. Why did he say that? He would try and get her back to their usual banter at lunch. Should he bring her flowers or something to apologize for being inappropriate or would that just make things worse?
He glanced at the time and hurried to get dressed. Marc was in the shower and he didn't have time to go back home before he went to work, so he'd just run down to The Closet and get a fresh shirt and suit. Sometimes it was nice to have the perks of being the Editor-in-chief of a clothing magazine.
Betty was having an extremely hard time paying attention to the meeting when all she could think about was that weird text from Daniel and it definitely didn't help her to picture him in his stupid boxers! The man could be positively infuriating sometimes! He knew it drove her crazy when he told her how "cute" she was! What was she twelve?
After what seemed like hours, the meeting was finally over and she glanced towards Daniel's office and thankfully didn't see him there, before she turned to escape down the hall. Without looking, she hurled headfirst into someone, knocking them both down, "OH! Sorry! I wasn't looking where…DANIEL!"
She sat, stunned as he rose, then offered his hand to help her up, "Hey, Betty. It's fine. I'm used to your...gracefulness by now! Are you okay?"
She looked down and nodded, "Uh huh. Sure. I'm fine. Do you want to go get that lunch now?"
He glanced at his watch, "It's almost eleven. I suppose we could get a cup of coffee or something first, and...talk. Sure, I could stand a break after that long meeting, couldn't you?"
She narrowed her eyes, "You were in the meeting just now?"
"Uh huh, naturally I was. Didn't you see me?"
"No. I got there at nine thirty when the meeting first started and I didn't see you come in the whole time."
"Of course you did. You must have...okay, fine, I didn't make it, are you happy? Did I actually miss anything important?"
She shrugged, "Honestly? No. Not really. Ken's idea of trying to "bring back" leg warmers didn't really go over, so Wilhelmina cut him off after less than five minutes, then we had to sit through the rest of the time, reviewing expense reports. Sometimes, I miss Henry. At least he TRIED to make them...interesting."
"Well, you are the only one who thought that, Betty. You were in love with the guy, so you didn't see what the rest of us did; Henry's reports were just as boring as the rest of the finance department! And that's saying something! Sounds like I didn't miss much. Still, I should have been there."
She looked him up and down, "Why weren't you? I saw Amanda. She and Marc were whispering like little girls. So you weren't still with her."
He raised his eyebrows, "What do you care? Or are you trying to tell me in your not so subtle way that I'm not doing my job? If you must know...I had sort of a...fashion emergency down in The Closet."
"A what? What does that mean? Did you...Oh, never mind. Sorry! You're right; it's none of my business. I tell you what; from now on, I'll mind my own business. I promise! Deal?" she held out her hand.
He raised looked at her curiously, "Uh, who are you and what have you done with My Betty? I mean...that's not really like you to say. Do you mean it?"
She nodded, "I do. I was out of line before. I had no right to tell you who to...um date. I'm your friend, but that's not a reason for me to give you unsolicited advice. Especially when it comes to your love life! From now on, I'll keep things more...casual. I mean….less personal. You know what I mean!" She looked slightly flustered.
"I do. And...thanks, Betty! I know you're only looking out for me. I get what you were trying to say. You think I need to only date intelligent girls who...will make it harder….um more difficult to sleep with them. Is that what you meant? Have a real relationship with the woman before I just jump into bed with them, right?"
"Exactly!"
He nodded, "I suppose I could try that. Of course, that means no sex for a while. At least until I can meet Miss Perfect, then get to know her, then wait till we are both ready to take things to the next level. So that will all take at least a month, right?"
"A MONTH? Are you kidding me?"
He laughed, "Yes. I am. You should see the look on your face, Betty! It's hilarious!"
She shoved his arm, "You're so mean!"
"I know. I'm a very bad boy. I'd say I'm sorry, but you'd know I was lying."
"That's true. You're as bad a liar as I am!"
"Well, I wouldn't go that far!"
"It's true. You can't! It's probably something to do with your blue eyes. They give you away. You can't look someone straight in the eyes when you're lying. You always look down."
"Yeah, that's what Alexis always tells me, too! You start biting your lower lip. Which is very cu...um...what am I supposed to say? I know you hate it when I say that about you, but It IS cute and adorable!"
She rolled her eyes, causing him to laugh, "I KNEW you were rolling your eyes before. Admit it; you were! I bet you started looking around when I said that to make sure I wasn't watching you."
She blushed, "FINE! You were right; okay? I guess...you do know me pretty well. Are you happy?"
He grinned, as he held out his arm for her to hook hers through to walk together to the small, family-owned Italian restaurant, the perfect distance from the office to make them feel as if they were a world away from Mode and all it's drama, yet close enough to be a comfortable walk.
After they had been seated and ordered their "usual", Daniel leaned back, looking directly into her eyes to gauge her reaction, "Why do you think Amanda's going to "hurt" me?"
"I told you. I know she would never deliberately hurt you, Daniel. She used to have feelings for you, genuine feelings. But now...I think she's moved on, and she's still looking for the guy that's right for her.
When she does find him, I'm afraid it might hurt your pride. You're very sensitive. More than your realize. I know it made you feel second best when your father made up with Alexis and asked her to be his best man…"
He held up his hand, rolling his eyes, "Fine! Whatever! I'm sorry I asked. I don't need a psycho analysis. Anyway, forget I brought up Amanda.
I wanted to talk about us, Betty. Uh...what I said before. It was...well, it wasn't right for me to say that. I'm sorry. Can we please forget it? I really didn't mean to make you feel...uncomfortable. I realized the minute I sent that text that it was...inappropriate. I was just teasing and...uh got carried away."
She thought for a moment, biting her lip, then nodded and smiled, "Of course, Daniel. It never happened." She stuck out her hand and he shook it. He looked down at her small hand in his, wondering why he always felt so strange when he touched her. It wasn't like they ever did anything other than held hands or patted one another. Or of course, one of her amazing hugs.
But it was so totally nuts that out of all his assistants, Betty got the crap from people at Mode thinking...well that something was going on between them. And yet, they were perfectly innocent. Not even a kiss on the cheek or hand! He liked that about their relationship. It was pure, and beautiful and special. Just like Betty.