Disclaimer: I don't own any rights concerning The devil wears Prada. This little fic is intended for pure entertainment purposes for myself as well as others. No profit is ever to come of it.
Warning: There might be some tense moments that might be offensive to sensitive souls
A.N.: The idea for Kidnapped occured to me and a friend during a coffee break. Since that day the storyline has developped nicely and while the first two chapters are not really beta'ed the following are.
Writing this is a great pleasure, but to learn what you think is a big part of the fun. So - I'm looking forward to your reviews, until then, please enjoy reading.
o-o-o
Kidnapped
Miranda was impatiently stalking the grounds of the most recent photoshooting. Nothing was as it should be, Nigel driving her almost insane, shooing the malnourished looking models like a madman without succeeding in placing them at the right positions for the shoot.
To make matters worse, her new second assistant wasn't worth mentioning, her performances beyond regular rating scales. Why she still kept the girl in her services was entirely beyond Miranda, she could only plead a momentary weakness as her defense. If only the one and only true assistant she ever had in more than 20 years had not left her so ungraciously all the way back in Paris more than a year ago... Miranda refused to even think her name, having banned the young woman from her life as much as possible. At Runway, the fashion magazine Miranda was editor-in-chief of, nobody dared to mention the unnameable for fear to be eviscerated immediately by their boss.
Miranda was about to step up onto the shooting stage, when suddenly said maddeningly incapable second assistant came running towards her like the devil was on her heels.
"Miranda, Miranda," the woman had clearly run as fast as she could, being completely out of breath.
"Yes?" Miranda barked in annoyance, not looking at the girl.
Without another word her assistant held out a sheet of paper, apparently some message for Miranda. Still without acknowledging the girls presence Miranda waved her hand impatiently for the woman to finally hand her whatever it was she got.
Directing her attention to the message, Miranda took in a sharp breath.
"Have you read this?" she asked threateningly, keeping her voice quite but icy.
"O... only the first page... I, …. I sto...stopped," the girl uttered. Miranda rolled her eyes. Why was it, that people were incapable to articulate a proper sentence?
"Tiffany," what a ridiculous name really, Miranda should have known better than to employ someone named like a doll , "Have you suffered irreparable brain damage? Have you read this message, yes or no?"
"No, just the first page," the girl was about to wet her pants.
Not deigning to respond, Miranda dismissed her assistant, concentrating again on the document in her now trembling hands.
It was a two page fax, sent without any phone number or other expedient mentioned.
She read:
To Miranda Priestly only, do not go on reading this fax if you are not Miranda Priestly. We'll know if you did and you'll suffer severe consequences. Hand this over immediately.
Turning the page, all color left her face and Miranda almost fainted. It read:
We have your daughters. Don't try to contact them in any way, directly or indirectly. We'll know and they will be dead. Don't contact the summer camp, we'll know and they will be dead. Don't contact the police, FBI or anyone else, we'll know and they will be dead. Don't act any different, we'll know and they will be dead.
We need 4 million dollars wired to us to release them, you have four days, from today on. We'll be in contact, that's all.
Unable to keep standing any longer Miranda slowly staggered backwards, feeling blindly for the next seat behind her. She moved as if in trance, her knees refusing to cooperate.
Once she found what she was looking for, she fell into the seat, putting her hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out loud. Her daughters, oh, no, please, not her daughters, Caroline and Cassidy,... what had happened to her darlings? She had talked to them on the phone only yesterday, everything seemed fine. They were in Colorado in a summer camp, enjoying summer break... Miranda felt dizzy and stayed numbly seated for long moments, her eyes unfocused and her brains refusing to function and to assimilate what had just happened.
Nigel drew her from her panicked state of mind, having finally realized, that the shoot was not going well.
"Miranda, thank god, there you are! We are looking for..." he trailed off, noticing Miranda's disarray. "Are you all right? You look weird somehow."
Shaking herself from her trance, Miranda tried to focus on Nigel. The demand had been clear, don't act different, she supposed that meant out of character, and for her to act like a zombie probably would be considered suspicious. Bearing all the resolve and self control she could muster she forced herself to answer her director of art.
"Yes Nigel?" How insignificant all this seemed suddenly.
"I'm afraid the shoot is not going well. Madelain acts like a diva, she refuses to take her position with the group and Jackson keeps pulling faces. Patricks replacement is just terrible, the proofs a total disaster." Nigel wildly flapped his hands while speaking, obviously on the verge of a nervous break-down.
A hysterical laugh threatened to overwhelm Miranda, this was all so ridiculous.
"Bore someone else with your incompetence Nigel," she turned to face away, not directing her gaze at the man. "Do your job and I trust you don't want to disappoint me." Hiding behind her masks, she cut any discussion short and before Nigel could add another word, she stood and prepared to leave. "Call Emily if there is anything else you need. That's all."
Once back in the safety of the car, Miranda's shoulders slumped, tears welled up in her eyes, she valiantly tried to hold them back for the time being.
"The Townhouse." She needed her privacy to think about what had just happened and what she was going to do.
TBC...
A.N.: If you were Miranda, what would you do? Ideas and comments are more than welcome, I'm looking forward to your contributions! LOL