She didn't know what to do, and that in itself was confusing to her. She was so used to being busy that she was always wishing there were more hours in the day not less. But here she was on a Sunday morning wandering through her house. The twins were at Greg's and wouldn't be back until next week as he had taken them away on vacation. She agreed knowing that the experience would be good for them. But she missed them and the noise they made, even though she scolded them for it. Finally now being able to take the silence anymore she grabbed her keys and purse and was out the door.
Gunning the engine and flying through the surprisingly empty New York streets like a pro she began to feel more like herself. This was something she used to do more often, before she became Miranda Priestly, Editor in Chief of Runway. Always tacked on like it was some extension for her name, she thought darkly as she whipped around another corner and gunned the engine once more. When she was just Miranda life was much simpler and although she was struggling she was happy. Now she was famous or infamous and unhappy. Shaking the thoughts from her head she relaxed and turned on the radio content to spend her day driving, just driving.
However fate had another idea and just as she turned onto a street that was vaguely familiar her car stuttered, and died. She groaned and tried to start it again and did although only long enough to move it to the side of the road. Rolling her crystal blue eyes and dragging a hand through her silver hair she took a moment to control her anger before taking asses of this situation. Okay the car was out, not that big of a problem as she had her phone and she could call for a tow and her driver. She smiled at her calm thinking and reached for her Prada bag to find her phone.
It wasn't there, where was it. She never left the house without her phone. Confused she checked again and now was positive that her phone was not there. Great, she thought, just great. Now she got out of the car knowing that she needed the space to pace to solve this situation. She looked around and tried to remember why this place was so familiar. She had been here but why and more to the question when? All of a sudden it all came back to her, Andrea she had dropped Andrea off at home after a long night at a banquet. Andrea lived somewhere around here.
Although she hadn't seen the girl in over a year, well a year and a half to be precise she keep in touch with her work and was surprised to see that she was a good writer. She stood debating her options when she heard a whistle; she turned and saw a very creepy man making lewd hand gestures at her. She shuddered and decided that she would chance it and hurried off down the street locking her car with a click of the button over her shoulder. Hopefully Andrea would be nicer to her than she was to Andrea.
Her heels clicked loudly as she moved with confidence up the street, her black pantsuit and white trench coat made her stand out and she slipped on her sunglasses to hide her eyes. Apart from her hair her eyes were one of the first things people noticed about her and right now being noticed was not what she wanted. She scanned the buildings trying in vain to remember which one was Andrea's, slapping herself for not paying attention before.
She was about to cross the street to look on the other side when she saw it, Andrea's apartment building. She sighed in relief and moved towards it sneaking in behind a woman with two small children. She had checked the sign outside and knew that Andrea's apartment was 3d. She took the stairs not wanting to put one toe of her Prada shoes in the elevator.
She stood outside the door and sighed looking from the number to her hand which was poised to knock, knuckles facing the wood. But she hesitated, she never hesitated. How was she going to pull this one off. Assuming that Andrea was home and didn't slam the door in her face, like Miranda had done to her, what was she going to say. "Hello Andrea I was just in the neighborhood", nope that wouldn't work. "Hello Andrea, I treated you like something on the bottom of my shoe for a year and then haven't seen or spoken to you in a year and a half, I need your help", yeah definitely not. Oh well she thought as she rapped her knuckles twice on the door as softly as she could and stepped back. She waited.
Andrea was enjoying her Sunday morning having spent all day Saturday cleaning her apartment from top to bottom. Now she sat on her couch and was flipping through the most recent issue of Runway, yes she still read it, when she heard a knock at the door. Sighing she stood and went to answer the door, suddenly glad that she decided against staying in her pajama's all day.
"Miranda!?" She said as she took in the woman who standing her doorway. Andrea had a feeling like her relaxing day just flew out the window.
"Hello Andrea, may I come in?"
"Sure," Andy replied as she stood to the side and watched Miranda enter her apartment. She didn't sweep in demanding attention like she normally did, instead she just walked in and stood in the entranceway, waiting for permission to sit. Miranda may have been dubbed the "ice queen" but she still had manners and was brought up better than that.
"Nice place, looks like my first apartment when I first came to America." She said as she took in her surroundings and her took off her sunglasses. Andy stood at the door and watched Miranda take in her apartment not was contempt or disgust but with interest and then noticed her eyes glaze over as though remembering something in her past.
"So how are you?" Andy asked as she motioned for them to sit on the sofa. Miranda moved the copy of Runway carefully to keep Andrea's place before sitting down next to her. But Andrea noticed that she didn't say anything about Andrea reading Runway, odd.
"I am in sort of a jam, and need your help. You see I was out for a drive and my car broke down. There was a creepy guy who was staring at me and I was getting scared when I remembered that your apartment was around her so I tried to find you. Obviously I wouldn't have needed to, had I not forgotten my phone at home. So…." she trailed off not really knowing how to ask for help, when Andrea got up and tossed her a phone.
"Here you go, I'll give you some privacy. Would you like some coffee?" Andrea asked and Miranda looked from the phone in her lap to Andrea's face before nodding yes. Andrea left to go to the kitchen and Miranda moved to the window to hide her smile. It was clear now that Andrea had not been tainted by Miranda, this made her smile. It seems she did something right.
Miranda called her driver or at least she tried to, but there was no answer. Groaning she turned away from the window and let the hand that was holding the phone drop to her side. "Something the matter?" Asked Andrea who had returned with two cups of coffee. Miranda accepted hers with a smile and relied, "no answer, I guess I will just call for a cab." She shuddered at the thought. She hated taking cabs, but she wasn't about to overstay her welcome.
"you can wait here for awhile and call Roy later, if you want." Said Andrea as she took her seat back on the couch and opened Runway again. Miranda looked like she debating it for a second and was about to politely refuse when Andrea made a funny face.
"What?" She asked as she sat down next to her and put on her glasses so she could see better.
"That is the ugliest bracelet I have ever seen!"
"It's worth five thousand dollars." Miranda replied stunned that someone would say something bad about Runway knowing full well that she had hand picked every item that went into every issue.
"I don't care, really five thousand dollars? Well it still looks dumb. But I liked the background."
"You mean the one thing I had the least amount of control over? Thanks for that." Miranda was mad now and she stood to storm out when Andrea pulled her back down
"Get back down here, that's not what I meant and you know it, so get off you high horse and play "I would never wear this" with me." She gave Miranda her best puppy dog look and was happy when she shredded her overcoat and shoes and curled up on the couch next to Andrea. For the next few hours they went through every item in the magazine and talked about why it was there, would either of them wear it. Then the conversation turned a little more personal.
"Why do you keep your hair white?"
"Its, silver and it turned this way prematurely and I thought that I would be making more of a statement by showing it than by covering it up. Plus it sort of completes the "ice queen" look." At Andrea's shocked look she laughed harshly and continued, "yes I've know all along what they call me. The Devil Wears Prada, Fashion Bitch, Ice Queen, I've heard them all. It's part of the life I lead and I don't try to hide it. Yes I am a bitch, when I am at work."
She stopped there coming very close to letting Andrea know that she could be different and was different when she was younger, when she had friends, when she was in love. But that had all pasted for her and she knew it. She missed the woman she used to be when she could laugh and smile and fall in love but she chose to get ahead where Andrea chose to keep her integrity. She wondered if she would have made a different choice if she could go back in time but it was pointless to think that, especially when Andrea was talking.
"I never liked those nickname for you, I thought that Fashion Goddess worked though," she said as she refilled their coffee cups and stared at them trying to remember which one was Miranda's. She knew she shouldn't have used identical mugs, because she was staring that the mugs she missed the look Miranda gave to her.
"What do you mean, Fashion Goddess, I never heard that one before. Mine is the one on the left, my left not your left." Andrea handed her the cup and sat back down.
"You wouldn't have because it was a nice nickname, but oh well. So I'm hungry and I need to get out, want to come on a walk with me?" Miranda knew that she must be intruding on Andrea's day and tried to say so but Andrea was having none of it so she just agreed.
"Yes, thank you, but may I use your bathroom first?"
"Sure right through there." Andrea washed out the cups and Miranda walked through the kitchen to the hall and walked into what she thought was the bathroom. It wasn't, it was Andrea's study she looked around before she felt a presence behind her.
"It was a second bedroom but I turned it into an office so I could work from home. What do you think?" Miranda turned and expected Andrea to be mad that she invaded her privacy but instead she wanted her opinion. So Miranda looked around. There was a large desk where her laptop sat surrounded by notebooks and files, all neatly stacked. There were shelves of books, textbooks and novels. And pictures there were pictures everywhere. Miranda moved closer to inspect them, her family, her friends, silly, serious, romantic and oddly one of the two of them.
She lifted the picture from its place and tried to place the scene. Andy's voice broke her train of thought, "it was taken at your fiftieth birthday party. My friend was the photographer and he managed to get this shot of the two of us. This is when you were telling me that you didn't want to blow out your candles."
"Why did you keep it?" Asked Miranda as she looked more closely at the two of them. Andrea looked beautiful in her red Dolce dress and her eyes were alight with unexpressed laughter. She held herself with confidence, strange as she was standing in Miranda's bubble. I on the other hand look mean and as though I am trying to freeze her, she thought. "I look mad, do I always look like this?"
"No you aren't that is your I hate being the center of attention face. Actually you were pretty pleasant that night, I really enjoyed myself. And you are holding my present, see?" Andy leaned over and pointed at Miranda's left hand. In it was her favorite pen, the one seemed to sit in her hand so comfortably. She loved that pen.
"My pen, I love that pen. I remember that at time I was in need of a new pen for the book. How do you remember things like that?"
"For a year it was my job to know everything about you. That includes knowing the perfect birthday present. But that is not why I like that picture. I like it because it was the first time you opened up to me, even if it was just about your birthday candles. Come on you ready to go?"
"Bathroom first then yes. I'll just be a moment." Miranda needed a moment to think about what Andrea had just told her. It did really seem that Andrea knew a lot about her, even down to being able to judge her emotions, something her other assistants hadn't been able to do. But there was one thing Andy didn't know about Miranda, she was head over heels in love with her. Standing in front of the mirror she looked at her reflection and decided to follow the saying nothing ventured noting gained. She Miranda Priestly was going to attempt to flirt, oh God what was she doing?
She ran her fingers through her short silver hair and groaned. She didn't know how to flirt which was the first problem in this situation. Men had always approached her and courted her. Even if Andrea was attracted her to her, she didn't see her courting Miranda. So it seems she was going to have to learn, what did other woman do. Flash their legs, okay that was out, she was wearing pants today, low cut shirts. No way, she was not going to do that. She was too old, hopefully she would be able to come up with a better idea than throwing herself into Andrea's arms. She laughed and left the bathroom.
Andrea was waiting by the door and watched as Miranda slid into her coat and picked up her Prada bag, she laughed and Miranda looked up. "What?"
"That bag," she said like it answered Miranda's question. It however made Miranda even more confused so Andy elaborated. "Remember how you used to come in and throw your bag and coat on my desk?" When she saw Miranda nod she continued, "well once you threw that bag so hard that it slid off my desk and hit my foot. However when I told my friends how it happened they just laughed. I was accosted by my boss's bag." She laughed and opened the door for them to leave. Miranda followed at a slower pace. She tried to remember the scene but couldn't, she never really thought about the repercussions of hurtling her bag across her assistant's desk, "I'm sorry" she said quietly and Andy looked at her.
"No problem, I got a great story for it." They shared a laugh and made their way down the street. They were walking so close that Miranda's coat brushed up against Andrea's leg. Andy looked at Miranda out of the corner of her eye and contemplated the woman. She was impossible to figure out, once you thought you knew her she goes and uncovers a whole new side of herself. Like take today for example Miranda was not Miranda her ex-boss but Miranda, just Miranda. She sat and played with her and laughed with her. She curled up on her couch and took off her shoes, and smiled more than Andy had ever seen her smile. She wanted to see more of that, she wanted to get to know Miranda, just Miranda.
Her white trench coat flapping in the wind and her strides steady and confident. She looked like Miranda Priestly, eyes hidden from the world behind her sunglasses and her hair slightly ruffled as though she ran her fingers through it multiple times. Hmm, Andy thought as they stopped to wait for the subway, I wonder why she always wears those. So instead of asking she reached up and took them off. Miranda allowed and helped by lowering her head. She looked at Miranda's eyes, she had never seen eyes so blue. They were captivating and mesmerizing, and she found herself getting lost in them. Miranda cleared her throat and lowered her gaze.
"Why do you hide your eyes, they are beautiful, like sapphires." Andy asked. Miranda shook her head but pocketed her glasses and stepped onto the car. Andy followed knowing that Miranda wasn't going to answer, but she had an idea of the reason but she needed more proof.
Miranda was shaking when she entered the train car. She allowed Andrea to remove her glasses, what was she thinking. Now she was exposed and she wasn't happy about it. And when she wasn't happy she tended to lash out and lashing out would definitely not land her in Andrea's arms. As she was so caught up in her thoughts she failed to notice the subway car start and she fell backwards, right into Andrea.
Andrea was watching Miranda out of the corner of her eye hoping that she had enough sense to hold on, when the car started and Miranda came flying towards her. Luckily they were alone in the car except for a couple at the other end and nobody heard Miranda's scream.
"Steady there, hold on," Andrea chuckled as she righted Miranda and guided her gloved hand to the pole. Miranda nodded and brushed her hand over her clothes subconsciously. The rest of the trip was uneventful and soon Miranda and Andy were sitting in Andy's favorite coffee shop. A place where they had never heard of Runway or Miranda and couldn't care that her clothes probably cost more than the rent. Miranda loved it, she could relax her. Here there was no talk of fashion or budgets or the latest run-through. She loved fashion but sometimes she wanted to have a normal conversation. One that wasn't being held while scantly dressed models pranced around for her, like her personal life size barbies. Miranda watched as Andy ordered their coffee and greeted people she knew with hugs and smiles. It seemed that Andrea was known here. She noticed the looks her friends shooting were her but instead of the looks full of ice and fear she normally got, these were questioning and happy. Hmm, Miranda wondered and turned her head to the window when she heard giggling. She didn't want to appear to be eavesdropping. Not the way to a woman's heart.
"Here you go Miranda," Andrea returned with two large black mugs. Miranda looked at it in apprehension, wondering if she was supposed to drink it or swim in it. But feeling eyes on her she lifted the mug, it took both hands and sipped. It was good, better than Starbucks, not that she would ever tell anyone.