A/N:
I was scribbling down a few ideas today, while lazying around. This was the idea I finished. Yeah, I know the ending is a bit, well, unlikely, but still, that was how the story turned out. I have a few more things going on, including an update on The Light of The Lonely Star, but nothing that's ready to be posted yet. Hope you'll enjoy this in the meanwhile. ;)
Emily Charlton hadn't even realized she was crying until Miranda's voice snapped her back to complete attention.
"Emily? What's going on?"
There wasn't the slightest hint of affection in her icy voice, nothing that indicated that she cared, but at least she just sounded bored and not annoyed.
"Nothing, Miranda", Emily replied and started to wipe at her eyes, smudging her makeup even more, which caused Miranda to sigh loudly.
"Nothing, is the reason you're smearing your makeup all over your face, while bawling so hysterically not to mention unattractively? Then 'nothing' must indeed be something. Tell me".
"You don't want to know", Emily muttered, hearing herself talk back at the Ice Queen but suddenly feeling too sad and too tired to care. Miranda rolled her eyes impatiently.
"I just asked you to tell me. It shouldn't require too many brain cells of yours to understand that I do indeed want to know".
"Serena was asking Andy out and she said yes", Emily whispered. Miranda stared at her, for once at a complete loss of words.
"Asking her out?" escaped her, and she realized that it made her sound both stupid and prudish, but she couldn't stop herself.
"Yes, asking her out. Like, on a date. Bloody Sachs", Emily spat, then realized that she was talking to her impossible, unpredictable boss.
"Serena is… wait, Andrea is…?"
She couldn't finish. It felt as if somebody had completely knocked the wind out of her. She felt a sudden urge to cry herself. All these months that she had been eyeing her second assistant in secret, fully aware of the boyfriend and the conventions that were in her way, but still taking Andrea to bed in her imagination every single night. All these months with growing emotions and no courage to act on it for fear of being rejected. For fear of being laughed at, or pitied, or glared at in disgust. And Andrea was on a date… with a woman. A woman in Miranda's employment.
"Guess so", Emily replied.
"Emily. Do you know where they're going?"
"No".
"Well, find out. Clear my schedule for the rest of the afternoon and then get into my office and close the door. And for god's sake, clean yourself up. That's all".
Emily obeyed, although not realizing what Miranda was up to. But then again, she rarely understood anything Miranda was up to.
"La Riche?" Miranda mused. "What is that, a club?"
"No, Miranda. It's… a French restaurant, not very fancy of course but it's better than the prices indicate. Quite a…" she hesitated, but Miranda's nod held no trace of impending doom – at least not for Emily. "A discreet, quiet, romantic little place".
"I see. And you are certain it was a date?"
"It sounded that way, and those two have been sneaking away several times whispering the past two weeks or so".
Miranda sat quiet, her face even, but her inside in complete turmoil.
"I'm going to assume that it bothers you so much because you would rather be in Andrea's place?" she said casually, hoping to God it wasn't Serena's place Emily wanted to be in. Emily paled and for a moment Miranda was certain that her first assistant was going to faint. She decided on second thought – and second thoughts were very rare coming from Miranda – to be a bit gentler with Emily. At least for the time being.
"Tell me the truth, Emily. I won't be angry. I certainly don't care if you're attracted to men or women or both, as long as it doesn't interfere with your job".
"Yes, Miranda. I want to be in Andy's place. I want to be the one Serena makes plans with. I thought… I thought she…"
"Oh for heaven's sake, not again", Miranda rolled her eyes and pushed a box of Kleenex towards Emily. "Can you stop leaking like a punctured water hose for five minutes? Keep yourself together. Do you see me wail?"
She bit her tongue at that last remark, but it was too late. Emily looked up, her eyes meeting Miranda's as comprehension dawned on her face.
"Oh my God" she said. Miranda felt a blush creep up her neck and spread across her cheeks, but she held her gaze.
"What now?"
"Andy. You… you are… oh my God…"
"Please speak in complete sentences, I cannot understand you", Miranda snapped.
"You want Andy".
Carefully balancing on the edge for a few moments, Miranda finally relented. If that's what it took to get Emily to understand, then fine.
"I do. So we are going to divide and conquer, are we not?"
Emily meekly nodded.
"Well then. Must I spell everything out for you? Make reservations for the same place, the same time. We have to investigate to know where to go next, don't we?" she tilted her head to the side and finished the notes she had been scribbling on the photo spread while they were talking. Emily nodded again and started to get up from the chair when Miranda cleared her throat.
"Emily. Thank you".,
Emily didn't know what to respond; in fact she didn't know what Miranda was thanking her for in the first place. So she simply settled for a third nod before hasting away.
"So, Serena, thank you for asking me out", Andy Sachs said with a flirty bat of her eyelashes as she picked up the menu. Serena reached out and punched her upper arm.
"Don't act like that!" she grinned. "If Emily could see us now she would roll her eyes so fiercely her eyeballs would get stuck".
"Honestly though", Andy said, quickly getting serious again. "Since it's obvious for everyone with more than two points of IQ that she's head over heels in love with you, why don't you just tell her how you feel? You two have been beating around the bush for, how long is it now?"
"One year, two months and four days", Serena sighed, eyeing her menu. "It's just… you know Emily. Even if she wants something, she freaks out when the opportunity presents itself. I might scare her off if I approach her too openly".
"I still think you should just go for it. I mean, at least you can be 99 % sure your feelings are mutual, right? You might just have to gamble with that 1 %, because… let's face it, Emily isn't going to admit it first", Andy said, gently squeezing her friend's hand and giving her an encouraging smile.
"It's disgusting!" Emily snorted from her seat a few tables away. The elegant fashion maven sitting opposite of her gave a likewise dismayed snort.
"For once, I agree with you, Emily", she said, not even glancing at the waiter who came to take their orders, she merely rattled off her order at the speed of a machinegun, finishing with her customary "that's all", practically growling the words. They raised their glasses of mineral water in perfect sync and sipped the clear liquid without taking their eyes off the two women at the cosy, private corner table.
"And you?" Serena asked sympathetically as she sipped her wine. "Is it getting any better?"
Andy laughed and shook her head, but her eyes betrayed the emotions she was battling.
"God, no. I'm completely gone on her, and I'm so fucked. I mean, it's Miranda we're talking about, remember? I am in love with my completely impossible, dangerous and absolutely intimidating boss, and there is no way I can tell her. If I do, I might actually risk my life, not just my heart, or my job, or my future".
"I really wish I had some advice. I really do. But like you said, it's Miranda we're talking about".
They sighed in unison.
"Here's to impossible infatuations", Andy said, raising her glass in a toast.
"Here, here" Serena replied and they clinked their glasses together, smiling at each other.
"That's enough!" Miranda hissed and got up from her chair, tossing her Prada handbag over her shoulder and briskly walked towards the smiling women. Serena saw her first and her face went pale in a split second. Andy looked up to see what was causing this, and spilled her wine when a very familiar silver-haired woman stopped by their table. A very familiar silver-haired woman whose cheeks were painted with the red flowers of pure rage, whose lips were pursed so tightly they seemed to vanish altogether, and whose eyes were burning into her own. Miranda looked every inch the Dragon Lady, she looked as if she would actually breathe fire if she could crack those pursed lips apart.
"Miranda", Andy whispered.
"Indeed".
"Did… did you hear…"
"Oh, I know you two are dating" she spat, and at that, Emily turned up behind her, ready to aid the Dragon with some fire of her own.
"Dating?!" Andy and Serena burst out. "We?"
"You haven't exactly been discreet, sneaking around the office whispering and…" Emily began, and then, Serena got to her feet, grabbed Emily's face and kissed her violently. Andy buried her face into her hands, and Miranda froze on the spot, mouth open to deliver a scathing remark, as she stared on Serena and Emily. Then she turned her eyes to Andy.
"Explain", she simply stated, while Serena snaked her arms around Emily's thin waist, drawing the redhead into an embrace they both had longed for but denied themselves.
"Oh God, no we're not dating. Serena wanted to talk about how she should handle her feelings for Emily. That's all", Andy said, hearing herself use Miranda's standard phrase, and smiled to herself.
"Well"… Miranda had been shaken out of her resolve and feared that she was actually going to start laughing at the pure absurdity of the scene. Laughing or crying. Neither seemed very appropriate. "She certainly doesn't seem to have any problems showing how she feels right now", she added, a near invisible smile tugging at her lips.
"True".
An awkward silence fell upon them, until Miranda decided to throw her modesty overboard. Later she would claim she had done no such thing, and she would be eternally grateful that no gossip reporter was nearby, but she did undeniably tell herself to go ahead and take the chance. She grasped Andy's hands, pulling the younger woman up to face her, and followed Serena's example. The sheer power of the kiss was beyond anything she had ever experienced before; and when Andrea tentatively returned it, Miranda had to grasp the side of the table to steady herself.
"Excuse me ladies, but that is not allowed in here", a rather sharp male voice said next to Miranda. She finished kissing Andrea, but took her time doing so, before facing the waiter. She offered him her iciest death glare.
"Then we will be leaving".
She turned back at Andy, who looked dizzy, confused but decidedly happy, and kissed her again, softer and quicker this time.
"It seems there is a strict no girl-kissing-girl rule in here, so I suggest we continue this somewhere not quite as judgmental. Do you agree?"
"Wow, Miranda".
"Is that a yes or a no?" Miranda asked, maintaining some of her arrogance although it just hit her that if the girl wanted to, she could file a lawsuit for sexual harassment. God, how could she have been so stupid? So obtuse. But it turned out she didn't need to worry.
"Of course it's a yes!" the brunette nearly shrieked, and flung her arms around the older woman's waist. Miranda had time to reflect over how right it felt, before turning towards the waiter again. Now he had company by the manager. They looked scandalized.
"We are leaving", Miranda snorted. "Oh, by the way… my name is Miranda Priestly, and I swear to whatever deity there is that this restaurant will have ceased to exist before this week is over".
She grabbed Andy by the hand and they started to make their way towards the door. Andy turned around long enough to see Serena give her a wink and a thumbs up over Emily's shivering shoulder. Andy returned the wink, but somehow doing the thumbs up seemed ridiculous when you were at the arm of La Priestly.
"Silly, silly girl", Miranda muttered.
"What, me?" Andy asked, confused.
"No, Emily. She just assumed… oh, never mind. It doesn't matter, in fact, her assumptions saved the day in the end".
"How did you know that I…"
This time Miranda did smile.
"Assumed it".
"Well, I'm glad you did".
"So am I. Now call Roy and get us away from this sad little place".
"You actually thought I was dating Serena?"
"Be quiet Andrea, I'm beginning to feel embarrassed about that. Of course I should have known you had better taste than that".
"Well, my taste in men is famously bad".
"Luckily, your taste in women is impeccable".
Andy leaned her head on Miranda's shoulder, smiling.
"No arguments there".