May 4th 2016

Unedited update. Enjoy!

Oh, and Happy Star Wars Day!

~*~*~

"Sophie, what the hell am I reading?"

"Um, I'm not sure, but I know I'm not reading your mind."

"Sophie, be serious."

"Ok. I still have no idea what you're reading, though."

"The article, Sophie. I'm reading your fucking article."

"Why are you shouty swearing at me?"

"Why?! Let me just read you part of your article."

"..."

"'Daniel Whitaker, the heir to the Dukedom of Kendal, would like you all to think of him as a charming, debonaire bachelor, beloved by many. That is, however, just a façade he's built up over the years. Hidden behind his layers of amiability, Daniel Whitaker is anything but the man he wants you to believe he is. Arrogant, challenging and stubborn, my time spent in his company did nothing to quash the hearsays that has been circulating about him in social circles for years.'"

"-Jasmine! Get your skinny arse in here. Right. NOW!- Daniel, I am so sorry, but that is not the version you should have received. -Jasmine! NOW!-  I assure you, heads will roll for this. Or rather, one particular head."

"I take it that this isn't the finalised version that will be printed?"

"Hell no! -Jasmine!- That version wasn't supposed to see the light of day."

"Did you mean everything you wrote?"

"No!"

"Not even this bit- 'Whenever Daniel walks into a room, all eyes turn to him, but not for the reason you think. While it's undeniable that the man is handsome- dark hair, green eyes, broad shoulders- it's not his looks that captures peoples' attention. Rather, it's his attitude; his cocksure stride and his mightier-than-thou air of arrogance.'"

"Ok, look... I'll level with you."

"I have no idea what that means."

"I'll be honest with you. When I wrote that, I was angry with you and I needed to vent. Granted, it wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but... yeah, at the time, I probably meant all that in a really skewed way."

"Comforting to know."

"But that's not what I really think. Daniel, I promise you, that's not my opinion of you."

"You meant it at the time."

"..."

"I did, however, really love this line- 'Abs as hard as marble and stubble that would give you bee stung lips without the need of a cosmetic surgeon, Daniel Whitaker does have some redeeming qualities about him, although they're all gratuitously superficial.' You like my abs and my beard then?"

"-Jasmine!- I swear I am going to kill this girl when I finally get a hold of her."

"Sophie, are you by any chance avoiding my question?"

"Yes."

"So you do like my abs and my beard!"

"Shut up."

"Even when you were angry with me, you still daydreamed about my body, huh?"

"Ok, let's get this straight. I do not daydream about you."

"Fine. You nightdream about me."

"Shut up."

"Where's the real version of the article? Is it as full of similar compliments?"

"I don't think being called cocksure and arrogant is a compliment."

"I was talking more about my-"

"Yeah, your abs and your beard. Actually, I think I took that line out. I didn't want you to get a huge ego about it. But, never mind, it happened anyway."

"Babe, you hurt me. It wouldn't have killed you to compliment me, you know."

"Actually, it probably would have. -Jasmine!- She can't hide forever."

>

"Oh, this is going to be fun. Keep me on the line!"

"You enjoy other people's pain too much, Daniel."

>

"-Be nice, Jasmine, because you're already in my bad books.-"

>

"I changed my mind, this is not going to be fun."

"Suck it up, Whitaker. -Jasmine, care to explain how Daniel came to be in possession of Article Five?-"

>

"-Wrong answer, Jasmine.-"

>

"Oh, she's good. Bribing her way back into your good book with shoes."

"-The heeled boots?-"

>

"-Grab them for me before Yasmina from the beauty department gets her hands on them. Fight off anyone that gets in your way. If that doesn't work, you know what to do.-"

>

"-Pull rank, Jasmine. Remember who you work for.-"

>

"Really? She won you over with shoes?"

"She only thinks she's won. When she comes back with my shoes, I'll berate her for sending you the wrong article. But at least I'll be berating her in fabulous heels."

"Sneaky, Clément."

"I like to think of it as 'genius.'"

"That you are."

"I just did a hair flick but you couldn't see it."

"Haha. Ok, I'll have to trust you on that."

"I'll find a copy of the real article and I'll forward it to you. I'm really sorry for sending you the wrong article, Daniel."

"Don't be. I actually found it rather amusing. Your writing is really sophisticated when you're pissed off."

"My writing is sophisticated, period."

"Yes, but it's especially so when you're angry."

"It's especially so every time."

"I'm not wining this argument, am I?"

"No."

"In that case, I give up."

"What? Is this Daniel Whitaker surrendering to me?"

"I'd surrender to you any day."

"Ok, that sounds weirdly feminine in a really sexual kind of way."

"On reflection, I agree with you."

"Ok, who are you?"

"What?"

"First you give in and now you're agreeing with me? Where's the real Daniel Whitaker?"

"Right here."

"Nah, I don't believe you. You're an imposter."

"Haha, well this imposter has to go. Elias and Nola are over and I've left them unsupervised in the kitchen. It's amazing that my fire alarms haven't gone on off yet."

"Elias still trying to be Dad of the Year?"

"Yep. Funnily enough, Jenna's been asking if Elias is an imposter, too."

"I'll bet. Right, off you go, check that your kitchen is still intact."

"You're making me nervous when you say things like that. What if they have destroyed it?"

"Then you're shit out of luck."

"Not helping, Sophie."

>

"-My boots!-"

"You sounded like Gollum."

"Piss off, baboon."

"Love you too, Soph."

"..."

"I mean... uh... bye, 'gator?"

"Yeah, bye, Daniel."

~*~*~

A/N

I'm not sure why I loved writing this update, but I really did!

Danphie are back! Kinda. Almost.

Sarah, xx