Title: Miranda, There's Been a Mix Up
Fandom: Devil Wears Prada
Pairing: None
Rating: I don't know, there's swearing. T for now
A/N: I'm in the mood for a oneshot today, I'll update Like You Do as soon as I can. The situation I've written Andy in is a similar situation my Mum's friend was in years and years ago. Slightly AU as Andy is still at Runway. I've also discovered when I upload my documents to publish, it's started missing out words and not adding the corrections I saved in Word, so please pardon any mistakes.
It was safe to say Nate's venture into Boston was an absolute disaster, and as a result he'd come crawling back to New York and all but begged Andy to take him back. They'd been living together for 3 months now and Andy was still working at Runway, at first, they'd argued constantly, a reminder of why Nate went in the first place but at the 4 week mark, Nate changed. He'd started to accept Andy's work schedule and started working less hours, he came home earlier than usual and started acting like a boyfriend not a lodger. A few other things changed too, after Paris Emily and Nigel started asking her out for drinks and she had more of a social life, they had become more friends than colleagues and even Miranda's attitude towards her improved when she was promoted to first assistant, Emily was in turn promoted to the Closet under Nigel's tutorage.
"Nigel, he's starting to scare me."
"What's he doing?"
"Nate's, well, he's different. He's becoming possessive, he always wants to know where I am, what I'm doing and who I'm with. It's getting ridiculous, I just want to get out!" Andy pressed her head against the cold glass of the bar. She was surrounded by her thoughts, the drink wasn't helping, They were in a bar celebrating Nigel's birthday, he wouldn't tell them how old he was, there were good sides and bad sides to Nate, he was acting like a boyfriend, he was making sure she was alright, but on the other side he was getting possessive, and she didn't love him. Emily brought her thoughts to an abrupt halt by dramatically falling off her barstool when a clumsy dancer knocked her seat. Nigel was doubled up laughing, so was Andy and a shell-shocked red head was sat on the floor looking up at the both of them.
"Come on, Sunshine, get up." He offered his hand out to Emily who took up and proceeded to heave herself onto two feet albeit unsteadily. "Listen Andy, if your unhappy, move out."
"And where am I going to go? I don't want to hurt him Nigel." Andy bit her lip nervously.
"Quite biting your lip, Six. It leads to premature wrinkling around the mouth. Well, you could move out... slowly."
Emily, who was perched on her barstool once more laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, if you want to move out, and don't want to hurt him, you can move out without him knowing. Slowly, you see? And in the meantime, you can find somewhere else to live." Nigel threw his hands up.
"You still haven't said how she's going to accomplish that." Emily pointed out
Nigel pursed his lips in a Miranda-like fashion before his eyes lit up. "You can wear an extra layer of clothes under your own when you come to work, and leave one layer in the Closet each day! Bring little things you want to keep in your bag. We can store them in the back of the Closet, nobody ever goes to the back, all 80's things are back there." Nigel shuddered at the thought and once again, Emily laughed at the absurdity of it. Nigel carried on regardless. "Nate wouldn't know a thing."
"That's all the cocktails talking, don't listen to him Andy." Emily looked over and Andy who was tapping her finger against her lips in deep thought. "Oh my God, your actually considering this aren't you?"
"It could work."
"Emily, close your mouth, your not a cod-fish." Nigel scolded.
"But it's absurd!"
"It could work," Andy repeated. "and it's not like Nate would know. He doesn't look in my wardrobe anyway, he won't notice if my clothes were disappearing into Narnia."
"Well, good luck to the both of you in pulling this off. I, for one, can't wait to see how this pans out." The Brit raised her glass, "To getting Andy out of the shit and into more!" She toasted. Her companions grinned like idiots.
"Here, here!"
The next morning, Andy woke up next to Nate, he had his arms wrapped around her torso in a tight embrace. Thankfully, Andy didn't have a great deal to drink last night, so the headache wasn't substantial, nothing that she couldn't get rid of with a few tablets. She had to go into work today, she didn't normally work Saturdays, but there was a lot to be done in the absence of the second assistant, Maggie. She was a nice girl and did her job to Miranda's high standard so that was enough. Then Andy remembered Nigel's plan. It wasn't a bad plan overall, they'd have to keep Miranda in the dark, Andy suspected she wouldn't take to kindly to having her employees use the Runway offices as a storage unit. Andy removed Nate's arms and crept out of bed as she did most mornings, she selected a pair of loose fitting trousers and wore a pair of skintight jeans underneath while she put on a blouse and a few t-shirts. She went without a jacket today, the extra layers would only make her hotter on the Subway. Applying her make-up, Andy threw a few pairs of tights and some jewellery into her bag before setting off.
Nigel was waiting for her in the Closet when she arrived, she would have to arrive earlier than usual in order to get off and suitably store her extra clothes before going into her own office. Nigel leapt up when he saw her, eager to find out if she was actually going ahead with the plan. Luckily, there were no other people in the Closet just yet because Andy burst in loudly, keen to get the extra layers off.
"Let me get out of these damn clothes."
"So eloquent this morning, Six." Andy shot him with a death glare, Nigel sighed.
"Follow me." He led her to the back of the Closet. Andy was amazed it even went back this far. Nigel stopped in a corner near an empty wrack. "Here, take those off and hand them to me." He watched flabbergasted as Andy removed her many layers. "No wonder you burst in here with such force, it's all those t-shirts you've been wearing. Don't put as many on tomorrow, one will do, we wouldn't want our Golden Girl collapsing on the Subway, Miranda would have a fit." This time, Andy was unable to shoot him down with a death glare, as she had her head stuck in the neck hole of one particularly tight top. Nigel yanked it over her head, Andy flinched before quickly redressing. The Closet Mistress had taken to hanging them all up. Andy removed the tights and trinkets from her bag.
"Where shall I put these?" Nigel paused, he disappeared and came back with a purple box. "The little things can go in here." He put the box under the rack of clothing. Nigel looked at the clothes once more, and pursed his lips. Andy was about to question him before he disappeared again and reappeared with a large white cotton sheet. Nigel threw it over the rack as far as his height would allow, and he tugged it down at the other side until all of the rack was covered. "Just to cover up the awful poly-blends. Miranda would have a tantrum if she knew I'd allowed such things in here." Andy rolled her eyes and made her way out of the Closet.
That's the way it carried on every morning, Nate was none the wiser and Andy had started looking at apartments over the internet on her lunch break. There had been a few that had caught her eye, her salary was better now she was first assistant so she could broaden her horizons a bit. Andy had made a note of the apartments and made viewing appointments on weekends. Emily had promised to accompany her on the adventures. In the end, she'd come to fully support the plan despite the absurdity of it. Miranda was still as demanding as ever, but Maggie took the most of the tasks, Andy took care of the bigger ones.
"Andrea."
Miranda's voice called from the office. Andy rushed in at her calling, the white haired demon sat at her desk observing the brunette. "Get me Demarchelier, ring Shirley and let her know I've decided on Wave Hill for the shoot, tell Nigel I'll be styling the models myself. And give these to Rebecca," Miranda handed Andy a white envelope. "tell her to ring the agencies and make these models free. I don't care if they're already booked, I have chosen these models and these are my final choice. Any agencies that don't co-operate, notify me and I'll take care of that. That's all." Miranda waved her assistant away and returned to looking through the sat at her desk with the envelope, she didn't need her notepad any more, she had learned to remember every word of Miranda's instructions as she said them. She picked up the phone and dialled Demarchelier.
"I have Patrick." She called into Miranda's office. She made sure Miranda had picked up before cutting off. Speed dialling 9, she put the phone to her ear. "Shirley, Miranda's decided to have to shoot in Wave Hill. Well I can't do anything about it, you never ask Miranda anything. Yeah, fine. Bye." Andy looked up at Maggie who had returned from her errands during the phone call.
"I'm just nipping to see Rebecca. Man the phones, hold the pee."
"Got it Andy."
It had been three weeks since Nigel had first suggested the plan, it had run like clockwork. Andy had found an apartment and had agreed with the landlord that she'd move in in a week. That was five days ago and the move in date was in two days, there were a few trinkets left and some of her furniture she wanted. Furniture, moving that would be tricky. Nate would definitely notice Andy shifting furniture. It hit her. Her move in date was the Saturday, and that was the day Nate would be going to watch the Nicks game. Andy grinned, now that was sorted, she needed help moving the furniture. She dialled 2 for Nigel.
"The Closet."
"Nigellll...." Andy drew out his name.
"What can I do for you, Six?"
"I've been thinking, I move in in two days, and I need some furniture from Nate's, he's going to the Nicks game Saturday so while he's gone could you round up some people to help me move it."
"Sure, when?"
"Saturday at two, thanks Nigel."
Andy was sat on the tired sofa in Nate's living room, he was in the bedroom getting ready for the game. He walked out of the apartment without a word or a glance at Andy. It was becoming like it was before he left for Boston, they barely spoke, her only comfort was that by tonight she would have an apartment of her own. It was one thirty on Saturday, she was nervous. What if he forgot something and came back in the middle of it. What if he'd caught on. Thirty minutes passed without her realising it, a banging noise rung thorugh the apartment. Andy leapt from the sofa and darted to the front door, there stood Nigel, in all his designer glory.
"We're here, Six." Andy closed the door behind him.
"You can't shift this lot on your own, Nigel."
"Look out of the window." Andy walked dubiously over to the window, there were trailers and pick up trucks lining the pavement. "Your well liked, Six, word spread. Now, let's get you out." Nigel joined her at the window and waved for them to come up and join them. Burly men strode into the apartment and Andy pointed out what she wanted to take. There were things she'd bought to replace the things Nate took with him when he left, and when he returned he brought the old stuff back. Needless to say there was no room for two lots of things in the tiny apartment so he kept the old stuff in storage. Andy decided to take the lot, it'd would fit in with the new place once she had it decorated. They carried it down the stairs and loaded up the vehicles with her things. The helpers then gathered at the foot of the stairs where Nigel stood on top of them.
"Now then troops, we're taking this lot to Andy's new place. You all know where that is, when we've moved the stuff in, we'll come back for the drink and welcome Andy home properly." The speech drew a cheer from the thirsty workers, some Andy recognised from work, others were friends of friends. Andy smiled gratefully and a man called Archie offered to take her.
Nigel and Emily had both disappeared on the arms of muscular men, the ride wasn't short, but it was as far away from Nate as she'd like. The fleet of vehicles parked outside a new block of apartments. Andy was the first to get out and lead the way up the apartment, the door needed to be unlocked first or the hall would look like a furniture store. The apartment was bigger than her last and had been recently decorated, it was light and spacious. Andy stood aside to let the many people in with the furniture, she put the keys on the side and went back downstairs.
"Emily, the keys are on the counter, I'm just going to the store for some drinks." Andy soon returned to a fully furnished apartment, courtesy of Nigel who had decided where everything would go. Andy had enlisted the assistance of one of the helpers to carry the beer upstairs. They were all very thirsty and some had even brought their own drink to add to the all went home later than Andy had anticipated, but they'd all been thanked for their help. She collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep. She'd clean the mess up in the morning, she made a mental note to pick up her clothes Monday. She'd brought a few outfits from the office to wear for the next few days until she got the rest of them back.
Monday quickly came, it was also the day of the shoot. Andy had arranged with Roy to help her take her clothes home. Roy had been only too happy to assist. Andy was sat at her desk arranging Miranda's Paris schedule when the woman herself strode out of the office. Andy heard from Nigel she was going to style the models herself, it was on recycling, why she'd chosen to shoot it at Wave Hill was beyond Andy but she was sure Miranda had her reasons.
Meanwhile, in the Closet, Nigel and Emily stood nervously side by side as they watched Miranda enter the Closet with as much force as a hurricane. She torpedoed straight to the back of the Closet, Nigel and Emily exchanged worried glances and they trotted after her. Miranda assumed they'd follow her.
"Now then, as the shoot is on recycling, I see it fit that we comply with the theme of the shoot and satisfy Irv's tight fisted grip on money at the same time. So what we're going to do," Miranda never broke pace as she walked right to the back. Nigel spotted the rack covered with the white sheet, Andy hadn't picked up her clothes yet. The thought panicked Nigel, he reminded himself to listen to Miranda so he tuned back in, "is recycle clothes we've used before." Miranda reached the back racks and started browsing the clothes. Her lips were pursed, she then began to select clothes and hand them to Emily. Miranda spun on her heel and eyed the covered rack with curiosity, she uncovered the rack and observed it's contents. Nigel and Emily looked on with horror as Miranda ran her fingers over the clothes.
"I don't remember these..." she said to nobody in particular. Nigel was partially relieved that her voice lacked any anger, or anything at all. She selected a few pieces from the rack and placed it on the growing pile in Emily's arms before walking off. There was no way they could warn Andy now, they got into the car and headed to the shoot.
It was five o'clock and Miranda had returned from the shoot a few hours early.
"Andrea." Miranda called. Andy rushed in. "I won't be returning home just yet, I'll wait for the book tonight, you may leave early. That's all."Andy was thankful for the early relief, she text Roy who was on standby downstairs. Andy walked straight to her clothes and the cotton sheet had been removed, and so had some of her clothes. Andy was confused and Nigel was the first person the dialled.
"Nigel, there are gaps on the rack where my clothes should be." Andy inspected the rack and realised her Gucci dress was amiss.
"Oh yes. I, er, Miranda..."
"Go on." Andy prompted.
"Miranda insisted we re-shoot some old clothes from the Closet for the shoot and she chose-"
"Oh no." Andy didn't need to hear the rest.
"I need to talk to Miranda." She hung up and took the clothes to Roy. Roy was sat waiting in the car and helped her load the clothes in, it took her a couple of trips, each time she came back carrying more.
"Roy, I need to nip upstairs and talk to Miranda, will you wait for me?" Roy nodded and Andy shut the door and ran to the Runway offices. Miranda was still inside, her head was in her hands and the lights were dimmed. Andy knocked cautiously on the door and Miranda looked up startled.
"What on..." Miranda began. "Contrary to many rumours, Andrea, I do not force my staff to live here, therefore when I say you may go home, I mean your home." Andy let herself smile at that despite her nerves.
"I'm sorry Miranda, but there's been a mistake." Miranda said nothing but looked at her expectantly. "The shoot, you chose the clothes for today. Some of them were actually mine."
"Explain." Miranda sat back in her chair.
"Well," Andy didn't know how to begin. "I needed to move out of my shared flat without letting my boyfriend know, and Nigel suggested I come in extra layers of clothes and store one layer under the rack covered with the white sheet until I'd got a new place, and I've just gone for my clothes and realised some were missing, I rang Nigel and he told me you'd used them and..." Andy looked at her boss apologetically.
"From what I hear Andrea, you enlisted the help of your collegues to help empty the apartment." Miranda started smiling and Andy's smile returned too.
"Yeah, pretty much."
"Now then, I'll shoot the clothes and return them to you tomorrow. That's all."Andy turned her back on the editor and walked out of the offices, the sound of Miranda's laugh echoed through.