CHAPTER ONE

A/N: Hey, ladies! I bet you never thought you'd get a NEW story! Well, as long as we're all on lockdown, I figured I might as well try to use all this extra time to do some writing. It's not that I've lost my inspiration for Detty, so much as it's obviously just been a depressing year so far! First, all my family health-related drama with my son-in-law, then of course, losing our beloved Silvio so tragically! And now...whatever the hell this crazy apocalyptic nightmare is we're all dealing with-insane!

In any case, after watching those "marathon" episodes of Ugly Betty (and Mama Mia, the first one), and exercising with Thor (Chris Hemsworth), as well as my own private Salsa lessons on Zoom, I feel at least a little more hopeful and "Betty-like"! Sorry, but somehow, I can't stop picturing Betty, singing (badly) "It's the end of the world as we know it" in the Blackout episode! Let's all Keep Calm and Betty on! Pep talk for the day!

The days seemed to linger on forever as Daniel sighed, staring at the blank page in front of him. How could he finish this book? His deadline loomed all too soon, as he glanced at the calendar, with huge X's he had begun to count down.

Thirty-five more days until he had to either turn in his finished manuscript or...well, he didn't really want to think of what would happen if he was unable to come up with an ending. His publisher had the book tour dates all lined up the minute the book hit the shelves and marketing was already in full swing. Everyone was depending on him to deliver.

After all, it was his bright idea to "start over" as an author. He had actually been successful as a freelance author, with his own regular advice column, "Dear Daniel", giving dating and fashion tips to both men and women. Ha! That was a laugh, he thought, considering he no longer worked in fashion nor dated regularly himself!

He hit his fist on his head, then on the desk, trying to pound some ideas inside. Okay, maybe a walk, or some exercise would help his exhausted brain to start firing those neurons? Or...a snack, some protein, or fruit? He could watch an old movie. He needed something to stimulate his imagination, to inspire him to get the wheels turning again. All he had was one more chapter! He could do this!

The thought did occur to him that possibly one reason he subconsciously might not actually WANT to finish his book was that he was using it as an excuse, as his mother and sister had claimed, for "hiding out", and isolating himself from the world. Or at least, trying to forget about some other people in the world. One person in particular. He hated it when they knew him better than he knew himself!

Daniel was well aware that the book he was writing was merely an excuse to wallow in his own self-pity. True, he had "changed the names to protect the innocent." But of course, anyone who knew him would know who his characters represented. He hadn't even tried to change the circumstances or events he wrote about.

After eating lunch, then taking as long of a walk as the still chilly weather would allow him to without his fingers turning blue (and we couldn't have that now, could we? It would interfere with his ability to type.) He needed those hands in good shape to return to his former prolific writing.

When he had first started to really devote all his time to this great American novel of his, almost nine years ago, his fingers flew, barely keeping up with his thoughts, the words seemed to flow easily from his brain back then. But now?

Wait, that was it: he needed a time, when the things he had to say were simpler, when life was simpler. He needed to effectively go back in time, if only metaphorically-speaking. He took a deep breath and found the first few pages of his work. Maybe he could find inspiration there.

He could scarcely believe it had been so long ago that he got the idea for it; December of 2011, that was a lifetime ago! So much had changed since then. In his life, in hers, in his family's, in the world! Everyone's daily lives at that time seemed so far-removed from what they had evolved into today.

He realized this was actually necessary if nothing else, as a way to edit himself, take out and revise anything he no longer liked the sound of. He just hoped going back now and re-reading the start of his work didn't convince him to throw the entire draft in the trash!

He wiped the silly grin off his face; as he slowly watched his former assistant head back to her dream job a few streets away from Trafalgar Square. He could swear she had turned around to see if he was still watching her. He felt like his feet were stuck in cement. He could scarcely believe his own audacity. Had he really just asked Rosy out on a date?

How weird was that? He grinned to himself, putting his head down and shaking it. Rosy? He wondered at what he had done over the past few weeks. He thought of how he had completely changed his life for her, or at least, because of her. After her farewell party, he had gone home and fought with himself, listening to the hurt in her voice in the several messages she had left, asking if she was going to see him before she left. He felt like such a baby, hiding from her like that.

It was wrong, he knew, not to simply face his best friend and wish her luck in her new life. She deserved that much didn't she? He thought shamefully how he had treated her like his little slave over the years, when she was clearly the brains behind their little team. His ears burned at the sting Wanda had caused when she mentioned offhandedly that Rosy was outshining him. He had really been envious of how hard she worked, how smart she was, and how damn perky she was at the same time. How the hell did she do that?

Well, he tried to excuse himself, Rosy had a really amazing family! They all loved and supported her in her dreams, unlike his messed up excuse for a family. Still, he remembered how she always took care of her family, too. One of the only times he

thought she had picked her family over him, when she didn't tell him about Wanda's infidelity right away was when she was trying to help her father get his citizenship. He had of course, overreacted and fired her! He shook his head, thinking, "Man, I'm such a douche!" Even then, Rosa had helped his mom and had been there for him and his family when his father was dying. In spite of his childish outburst. Rosy was really a beautiful woman.

David contemplated his mom's observation again for the millionth time. Had he really been so blind, not only to Rosy's beauty,but to his own feelings for her over the years? He had always felt protective of her, butting into her personal life (he remembered her yelling at him when he had given Herbert a bad reference at first) God, she was hot when she was mad!

He remembered really being confused at how he had felt totally turned on when she had done that. Then there was how great she looked at her sister's wedding. He couldn't keep his eyes off her that night, she looked so beautiful. He wasn't blind; he had definitely noticed how great Rosy looked lately. How she had completely blossomed in this past year, especially.

But before that, when he occasionally found himself feeling ...that way about Rosty he had kept trying to tell himself it was just because he had never had a woman friend before. He didn't know how to just be friends with a woman. That's all. He knew himself all too well. He knew he had a bit of a weak spot when it came to...sex.

David had always ignored any of those kinds of feelings about Rosy, though, because

how she would react. He knew she would have told him to get lost, that she wasn't another one of his one-night stands, one of his many conquests. She wasn't that kind of girl.

But she wasn't THAT innocent, either! He had not been able to keep himself from acting like a jealous fool just about every time she had found a new man in her life. He had been annoyed by that stupid Wilbur guy; I mean how dare a dweeb like that cheat on a great girl like Rosy? And with that tacky neighborhood slut? Was he nuts? She didn't hold a candle to Rosy!

Then of course came Herbert-the dork. David knew that Rosy had to have seen how much that dweeb pissed him off. He had pretended to like the guy for her sake in the beginning. But getting that other girl pregnant and expecting Rosy to just ignore it? The guy had a lot of nerve! Then, he had fired Leo (gladly, the guy was smug and he could tell Rosy was kind of into that type, yes, he knew that he was a bit that way, too)

Last, there was Mike. Was David's hatred of Mike all because he was a Harbey? When Mike accused Rosy of sleeping with him, he just couldn't take it and David had to admit, he was happy that Rosy had agreed with him that Mike was being a jerk. Yet, in a way, he had not only reacted to defend Rosy's honor, he realized he may have overreacted because he almost wished she had slept with him. The guy was an idiot for leaving Rosy, if you asked him.

Davidl's head hurt. Okay, get a grip! So you are crazy jealous and head-over-heels in love with Rosy Sanchez! She has gotten under your skin so much that you completely handed over your father's "kingdom" to Wanda of all people and flew across an ocean to somehow prove yourself to be worthy of her.

David was done trying to deny his feelings, at least to himself. When he had asked her out, she had looked so cute, smiling up at him. That smile, those lips! Stop it, David! He started feeling weak, just thinking about her. He tried to reason with himself, it's just Rosy, for god's sake, your best friend, sweet Rosy!

He had tried to keep his wandering eyes from noticing that Rosy was starting to loosen up with the loose-fitting clothes and ...well, he tried to stay focused on his plan for tonight. He just hoped he didn't chicken out.

Daniel sighed, as he placed the faded draft aside, shaking his head. But that's exactly what he had done, he thought; chicken out! And now? Now it was almost nine years later. He hadn't kept in touch after those first few weeks convinced him that she was far too "into" her new job and her new life to want her old boss to stick around.

He knew deep down, in spite of realizing too late his own deep feelings of love for Betty; a serious relationship with him wasn't the best thing for her back then. She deserved a fresh start, a new life, a clean slate, far away from all the people in New York that had held her back, people like him, who were too needy, too dependent on her to take care of him.

He watched her from afar the rest of that afternoon, having lunch with colleagues, rushing around to meet clients, and in general kicking ass, being the amazing and inspiring woman she was professionally. How could he think she would have time for some kind of big romance with him right now?

Daniel knew himself (and her) well enough to admit that had he stayed, she would have tried to help him, like she always did. She had told him at Hilda's wedding that she finally felt she could leave her family so she could be free. She saw that they could all fend for themselves, she didn't to always "take care of them".

After he had walked away from New York and his father's legacy and had followed her to London, once he saw her, he recognized that if he truly loved her, he had to let her live her own life. He also had to learn to take care of himself. He refused to just show up and do what he had done when she first got her job as an editor, to "need" her all the time, to monopolize her time and energy and mess up her new job like he did then.

So, he politely got through their dinner that evening, but kept things strictly friendly, instead of letting her know the true reason for him following her there. Then, he started working on deciding what he really wanted to "do when he grew up", besides chasing Betty across the Atlantic, that is.

Cut to nine years later, and here he was, STILL trying to figure out how to do things on his own, WITHOUT Betty's help! He hadn't been joking when he told her he couldn't live without her. Learning to do things for himself hadn't been easy. He must have started to call her more than a thousand times, or text her, "I NEED YOU!" because he did need her. He wanted her. He loved her. But real love means...you have to let go sometimes. You have to let the people you love grow and learn and move on without you.

He followed her career of course. She managed to do a fantastic job at her new magazine, even at a time when many well-established publications were in free fall, no small feat! But Betty had a voice and she quickly gained a huge and faithful following of readers who could identify with her "fish out of water" style of writing and the everyman type of stories she published in her magazine.

Lyndsey Dunne clearly believed in Betty and he gave her time to find her way and supported her with the advertising and publicity her fledgling publication needed to grow. "New Londoner" appealed to a wide demographic, in large part due to Betty's ability to use her self-depreciating personal stories to charm her readers, young and old.

He realized he had to put on his "big boy pants" and figure his own life out before he could even begin to feel worthy of somebody like her. And before she would really have time for anything like a personal life anyway.

As it turned out, he heard she had in fact, found time for a personal life in those nine years (unlike him!) Daniel noticed Betty's pictures in the British tabloids quite often on the arm of various handsome and successful men, her luminous smile on full display.

Why the hell did she have to go and get her braces removed, anyway? He missed HIS Betty, the one with her red glasses, braces, frizzy hair, bushy eyebrows and terrible fashion sense!

He sighed, smiling at the thought of her, running into that stupid glass door at Mode, then stared again at the blank page, wondering if he would ever be able to decide how to end this tale of drama and sorrow he had started so long ago with such high hopes.

His phone rang, snapping him out of his morose reminiscing, "Hello? This is Daniel."

"DANIEL! It's so good to hear your voice! How are you?"

"Betty? Is that...really you? What...uh, what's going on?" He stared at his phone in disbelief. How did she know he was missing her, thinking of her? Not like he didn't quite often, but still.

"I'm coming home! And I really want to see you! I missed you!" she sounded the same, the high pitch of her voice making him smile.

"I see. And...what brings you home? Wait, you mean...not just for vacation, for good this time? Really?"

He heard her cute giggle and his smile spread, "Yes, Daniel. REALLY! I'll tell you all about it. But, listen, can you meet me at the airport? We need to talk."

He grabbed a pen and paper, "Sure! What time does your flight get here? Give me the info. Or, you can text it to me if that's easier."

"Okay, I'll text it to you. I get here tomorrow afternoon. Thanks!"

He let out a breath, "No problem. And hey, Betty?"

"Yes?"

"I missed you, too!"

"See you tomorrow."

This was shaping up to be a much better day than he originally thought! He got her text with her flight information and sat down, running his hand through his hair, and leaning back in the chair, trying to figure out what was going on with her. Why all of a sudden had she decided to return to the US? He hoped everything was okay with her and her family.

He figured one person who had constant contact with the Suarez family might be able to shed some light on his mystery.

"Hey, Marc!"

"Daniel? Daniel Meade?"

"What do you know. You still have me in your contacts, huh?"

"Surprisingly, yes! Although I don't know why. Is everything alright with Mrs. M? We do miss her here."

"We, meaning you and Wilhelmina?"

That earned him a slight chuckle, "Right! Of course! So, what's up?"

"Well, a couple of reasons I'm calling. First of all, honestly, Marc, how are you? You and Cliff adopted a little boy, right?"

"Girl, actually. Savannah Meghan Elizabeth. She's seven now. Wow, it really HAS been a while, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess it has, sorry! So, well, another reason I'm calling is...I know you and Justin Suarez are friends."

"We are good friends. But IF you had kept in touch at ALL, even with your semi-annual newsletters from Mode, you would know he is ALSO my Creative Director now!"

"Wow, really?"

"YES! As of a year and a half ago! It HAS been what, like ten years! Geez, Daniel, your whole family has more or less written you off as some kind of sad, lonely hermit! What HAPPENED to you? I mean...boo hoo, wah, you went after Chimichanga and then weren't sure what to do with her once you got there, so you came back and hid out, and turned into some advice columnist for lonely and pathetic losers!"

He smirked, "Mark, you wrote in at least ten times!"

"I can neither confirm nor deny...THAT! Whatever! I'm back with my Cliffy now. We've been happily married for eight years! Where have you BEEN?"

"I've been...around. I don't know. Just because I don't enjoy coming into Mode all the time…"

"You don't go ANYWHERE, ever! According to your mother and Mandy they have to practically drag you out to socialize once in a blue moon! Sad! Did you get fat? Or bald? Or both?"

"NO! I...just…whatever, Marc! Anyway, my question is about Betty."

"Quelle surprise! Imagine my shock! What do you want to know? Intel from Justin about the formerly frumpy furry one to whom he is shockingly related?"

"Yeah, she uh...just called me to say she's coming home. And...I'm wondering what's going on."

"Maybe you could ask HER when you see her? When is she coming?"

"Tomorrow."

"And you can't wait until then? It's been almost a decade! What's one more day?"

"NO! I can't, okay? I know I won't get a wink of sleep, wondering what the deal is. Just...ask him, okay? Please?"

"You're pathetic! YES, fine, okay, I'll ask!"

"Thanks, Marc! I appreciate it. And...you're right about me. I'm sorry I've been so...antisocial lately. I don't mean to be, really. It's just been...hard. I really miss her."

"Then why didn't you stay there? Tell HER that!"

"It's hard to explain. I thought she needed time...she's so much younger than I am, you know? I didn't want to be in her way. Walking away...was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life! But I only did it because I love her. I wanted her to be happy. Even if it was without me."

"Aww...sad! But...sort of sweet! I promise, I'll let you know the minute I get the scoop from Justin. Take care of yourself. You should come into The Closet and update your wardrobe."

"Maybe I will. Bye, Marc!"

"Bye Pasty...I mean Danny...Daniel!"