Keep Things Professional

This story is set early season 1 correlating with the episode of Betty's Queens makeover fiasco :P hope you enjoy

Chapter 1

Daniel walked into the women's bathroom to see Betty at the mirror crying as she wiped off the colorful makeup she had worn all because he told her to dress a little nicer for their meeting with Vincent Bianchi.

How was he supposed to know she would somehow find a way to look worse than how she usually dressed?

Now, she was in here crying and it was all his fault. He couldn't just let her be herself, which was the only reason Bianchi even agreed to meet with him in the first place.

"Betty…"

She wiped her face "this is the ladies room"

He placed his hands in his pants pockets "I wanted to make sure you were ok" he really did sort of care about her. She was part of his team, the only person at Mode who seemed to think he could actually do his job. She was nice and considerate and obviously tried to go out of her way to help him, and this wasn't the first time she did.

"It's just another day at Mode" she sighed, wiping a tear from her cheek.

He frowned and said "You can't listen to anything Wilhelmina says"

she had said some pretty awful things, and it didn't take a genius to figure out she was talking about Betty

"If I let what Wilhelmina said get to me I would never leave my house!" he stated playfully, hoping to cheer her up.

She glanced up at him with a look, causing him to chuckle.

He smiled and said "Betty, look, I should be the one to say sorry. I shouldn't have suggested you change who you are just to make this deal go through. Bianchi wants to meet with you. Betty Suarez! Not anyone else!"

She turned to look at him, a faint smile on her face. He smiled "Forgive me?"

She nodded slowly, and he smiled "Great, now, let's get you cleaned up" he picked up a napkin and didn't know what overcame him, but he started to wipe the smeared makeup, causing her and him to look at one another in surprise. "Uh… sorry, here" he stammered holding out the napkin, feeling embarrassed. She bit her lip as she took it from him.

"Uh...how about you get cleaned up in here and when you're done, come to the closet, ok? We still have 15 minutes. Maybe I can help you find something more you"

"Daniel, I'm fine, really. You should just take Amanda, she'd be better for you"

"Betty, I'm not taking Amanda! Are you kidding me? Bianchi will know right away that she's not you! He'll think I'm just as much of an asshole as Alex was! No thanks! You're coming with me, or I'm not going at all."

"Daniel, you can't do that! Mode needs him"

"And I need you!"

She looked at him in surprise and he cleared his throat nervously "Uh...I mean, hell, I meant what I said Betty, I need you. I wouldn't last a damn minute at Mode without you by my side making sure Wilhelmina doesn't feed me to the sharks the second she can. You're the only reason Bianchi will even give me this chance."

She sighed "Fine! Ok...I'll go, but not looking like this!" she said as she glanced at herself feeling crazy for even thinking she looked ok.

He chuckled "It's not all terrible"

She made a yeah right face and he chuckled "Fine, the clothes are terrible! What were you thinking?"

She smacked his shoulder "Daniel!"

He shrugged, "What, it's true!"

They laughed; he smiled as he looked at her. "BUT, you are actually... really pretty" he said, feeling the heat travel up his neck.

She looked at him in surprise "What?"

He smiled and surprised her when he slid her glasses off, "I actually kind of like the makeup. It sort of lights up your face. Your smile is my favorite thing about you"

"Really?" she asked, her eyes shining in surprise. He smiled, seeing how bright her smile was and how pretty her eyes really were without her glasses "Yah, and you have really pretty eyes, too."

Her eyes become glossy, but she said "You don't have to lie to get me to go with you, Daniel." she said as she took back her glasses.

"I'm not lying to you, Betty. I mean it. Look, come with me, okay" he took her hand and led her out. Betty felt butterflies that he was holding her hand as they walked out of the bathroom together. That was not a very appropriate move, but she couldn't seem to move her hand away from his as he led her, and was still frozen when he led her down the hallway getting funny looks from a few of their coworkers.

Once they reached the Closet he finally let go of her hand and started searching the racks. She watched him, feeling nervous, as the sound of hangers being shuffled back and forth echoed the usually bustling, but now calm room.

"Yes!" he chanted, followed by a breathy "perfect!" as he pulled out two garments, then saw Christina walk in "Christina, quick find me some shoes and a jacket to match this!" he said as he pulled her over.

Christina looked between the two of them, "What on earth? Bet-ty!?" she looked to Betty seeing her attire, her eyes silently questioning her look. Betty bit her lip, when Daniel said "please Christina, we only have 5 minutes! Betty, you hurry and put these on!" he said as he gave her the clothes and ushered her to a dressing room

"But, but-!"

"No buts! Just try it!" he said as he pushed her in, not letting her protest.

"Daniel! I was just going to say, you're going to be late! I promise I'll come, but you should get there on time" she said from behind the door. He looked to his watch and blurted "shit! You're right! Uh...are you sure, Betty? You better come or I'll have to fire you!"

"WHAT?!" she said as she opened the door, causing him to chuckle "I'm kidding! Just please make sure you're there! Christina will help you finish up here, and then I'll have my car waiting for you, alright?"

Betty sighed "Alright"

"Promise?" he held his hand up for her to high five. She giggled and smacked his hand "Yes! Promise! What are you, five?!" she teased.

He chuckled, but said "hurry up!" She closed the door and started to change thinking how crazy Daniel was. She had to say she really liked the outfit. It was so cute and she loved the colors! The yellow sweater and black skirt combo was something she could see herself in. She smiled as she quickly changed into them.

As Daniel was rushing over to Christina, she found some awesome black pumps with cool straps held by small gold buckles, and a simple black blazer. "What is going on, Meade?"

"I'm an idiot, like always. Look, do you think you can do something about her hair, too?" he asked, not sure.

"What am I? A bloody fairy godmother?"

He chuckled "maybe... I've seen you work your magic with Wilhelmina. Come on, please try."

She stared at him for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll see what I can do"

"Thanks, you're the best!"

"That I am, Meade! Don't you forget that!"

He rushed off, really hoping Betty wouldn't take too long to join him. He knew that Betty was the only reason Bianchi was giving him this chance and he needed her there to be the buffer for them.

"Betty, I have some shoes out 'ere for you!"

"Thanks Christina!" she called over as she adjusted the skirt and top. They were a bit tight, but she really liked the outfit; it was certainly better than what she was wearing before.

She stepped out and Christina smiled "Wow, that is nice. Meade chose well!"

Betty turned and looked in the tall mirror and smiled "I like it, too!" the yellow sweater had a scooped neckline in front and deep V in the back; it was a bit form fitting, but it matched her gold B necklace, and went well with the black pencil skirt. She liked the lace overlay of the skirt.

She smiled, feeling this was much more her than her earlier outfit. Daniel was surprisingly really good at this fashion stuff than he led on. She tried to mess with her hair, when Christina swatted her hand away.

"Oh, stop yer fussin' and let me see what I can do with that hair!" Christina took the tie out letting her curls loose, then looked around, her eyes landing on the perfect touch to Betty's look. She picked out a gold, black and white silk scarf and tied it around her curls pulling it all into a high ponytail, letting the ties of the scarf fall behind, beneath her hair, the curls falling over, then pinned her bangs so they created a stylish swoop.

She stepped back and her smile grew "well, if it isn't little miss show stopper. Yer goin' ta roll heads now!"

"Oh no, I was hoping it looked better, not worse" Betty frowned.

Christina laughed "Are you daft, luv! I'm sayin' no one will know what hit em in the eyes!" She took her by the shoulders and made her face the mirror, taking in her much improved, hot new look. "Dare I say, you look hot, Betty!"

Betty stared at herself "wow… Christina, thanks! I love the scarf. It's so pretty! You're amazing!"

Christina nodded with a knowing grin "that I am love! Here, don't forget this to complete yer powerful business woman look" she held out a black blazer that had small gold zippers at the waist on both sides, almost creating a belt-like look.

Betty hugged her tight "thanks Christina! You're a life-saver, really. At least I won't embarrass Daniel in this." She pulled on the blazer, loving how professional she looked.

"Embarrass him? if anythin' I'm sure his heart'll beat right out of his chest when he sees you in this!"

Betty blushed as she slid her feet into the cute black pumps Christina found her and said, "Christina, don't be silly. Daniel is definitely not into girls like me. Sure I might look a little nicer in this now, but I'm not some glamorous beauty. I'm still just Betty Suarez, his dorky unattractive assistant his father hired to dissuade him from sleeping with."

"Oh, Betty, I shouldn't 'av ever told ya that! I'm sure now it's simply not true! Anyone who meets you knows exactly why hired you, and that's because yer bloody good fir his wayward son. We all know Daniel wouldn't last a blasted second without you keepin' him in line! Besides, you look positively lovely in clothes like this. The professional look suits you, Betty."

Betty smiled and hugged her "thanks Christina." just as she said that she heard her phone ding with a message. She picked out her phone and smiled as she read Daniel's text. "Plz don't bail out on me. I need u. I'm sure u look great."

"Thanks again Christina, I better go. Daniel needs me"

"Yes, yes, of course he does" she hugged her and shooed her off.

Daniel made it to the restaurant outside. He took two big deep breaths and walked inside, hoping he could pull this off. He walked up to the host station asking for Bianchi's table. In just a moment he was led over to his table.

Bianchi stood as he approached the table and he immediately greeted him "Mr. Bianchi, thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I promise I won't disappoint. Betty will be here shortly, but until then, perhaps I could talk to you about what I had in mind."

"Hey, Meade, why don't we order a drink first until Betty gets here? I'm lookin' forward to meeting the woman who sent me a Sal's hero."

Daniel felt his jaw involuntarily clench at his eagerness in meeting Betty, but took a measured breath. "Sure."

"So, tell me how you roped Betty Suarez into workin' for you. She was real sweet on the phone but didn't take no for an answer. Then to have the cajones to send me that hero. Definitely a Queens girl."

Daniel nodded, "yah, Betty is… special. Honestly, I'm lucky she's on my side. She's- " his breath caught when he saw Betty walk up to the host station looking so incredible, he was literally speechless and completely blindsided by her hidden beauty, he failed to notice anyone else around him, especially the waiter and Bianchi try to get his attention.

He cleared his throat and stood up "uh…I'll be right back" he left without even taking his eyes off Betty. He felt his heart beat faster as she was walking over with the host, a smile spreading across her face when she saw him.

He beamed as he met up with her, "Betty? Holy smokes, you look so-" he realized he was going to say things that perhaps shouldn't be said, but when she looked down at herself self-consciously and said "terrible?"

"So damn beautiful!" He corrected.