When Andrea left Runway she was glad that there was no dry cleaning to collect for her boss, however, she then regretted turning down the lift from Roy as it meant that she would have to walk in the rain to Miranda's house. The young woman had told Roy that she would not need a lift to Miranda's and then home because she did not have to collect the dry cleaning and the weather was perfectly fine to be walking in, although she would have a brief ride on the subway but she did not mind that at all.
Despite the weather forecasts that Andrea had seen it had begun to rain and not just a little light sprinkling of rain but instead it was a rather heavy downpour. She groaned as she looked up at the sky and stepped out of the building on to the street. There were people rushing down the streets with their umbrellas as they attempted to avoid the falling drops of water so that their clothing would not get soaked and their hair would not get ruined.
Andrea walked from Runway to the subway station and after a short ride she walked from the station to Miranda's townhouse but despite not being outside in the rain for very long she was utterly drenched. The Runway assistant's hair was dripping wet whilst her cream blouse was see-through and her trousers had stuck to her legs where they had soaked up so much of the rain. Her feet felt so wet and cold that she was wondering whether or not her boots had filled up with water after she had accidentally stepped into a puddle that had not been as shallow as she had initially thought it was. Of course, it had not been helped by the fact that she had been forced to walk through it by the men who had knocked into her on the way to the subway station.
The townhouse lights were on and Andrea found herself looking forward to the very few minutes that she would be inside in the dry and warm home for the time it took for her to deliver the book before she had to leave again in order to go home. She was glad, however, that she would not have to go to work the following day, unless, of course, Miranda decided that they would work on Saturday as well.
She walked up the wet steps to the townhouse whilst being careful that she did not slip on the wet surface and then she unlocked the door with her key. Andrea smiled softly at the key in her hand as she looked at the small dragon key ring that she had attached to it not long after she had been given it. The dragon was cerulean in colour and was holding what appeared to be a diamond in its hands. She had seen the key ring online when she was having an online shopping spree and she simply could not resist it. Nigel had laughed when he saw the key ring as he found it highly amusing, Emily, however, was far from impressed and appeared to be rather shocked by it. Andrea wasn't bothered by their reactions as the key ring would only really be seen by her usually as she was the only one who used that key because she was the only one that delivered the book and the dry cleaning as well as the only one that Miranda tended to call at silly o'clock in the morning to run errands.
Since Paris, the calls had increased and she often found herself at the townhouse before she made her way to Runway. On the days where Miranda called Andrea to the townhouse earlier than her normal starting time, she insisted that the younger woman ride with her to work which made it a lot easier for Andrea although it would have been easier if she had not had to go to Miranda's that early, to begin with. Andrea, however, did not mind being woken up by Miranda's phone call early in the morning and being summoned to her home.
She would pretend that it did by rolling her eyes or groaning whenever she was in the presence of someone else but when she was alone she found herself smiling at the phone call. To her waking to the sound of Miranda's voice could not possibly be a negative thing, no matter what time it was, although, truth be told, she would prefer a time that was a little later so that she could get more than a few hours sleep at night.
Seeing Miranda at the townhouse early in the morning also appeared to be a positive thing to her as it was a moment of time where she was able to see Miranda rather than the Editor-in-Chief because the older woman tended to insist on breakfast first before anything to do with work was discussed and sometimes Miranda would 'forget' to give her the instructions until they were about to leave for work or even when they had already climbed into the town car.
Spending the morning at the townhouse without being given work to do and without having instructions given to her until the last minute had led Andrea to form multiple hypothesise on why that was happening and one of which was that Miranda simply wanted the company. She brushed it off, however, as she struggled to work out a reason as to why the white-haired woman would possibly want that at all. She knew why she wanted to spend time with her boss but could not fathom why it would possibly be a two-way thing between them.
Andrea did not want to question it though, she did not want to ask Miranda why she was being called to the townhouse for work only to end up spending breakfast with the three of them because she did not want to take the risk of losing that. She found herself looking forward to breakfast at the Priestly house as she got to spend time, not only with her boss but also with the two beautiful but mischievous daughters of the woman. There had been that one prank that they now did not speak of, however, following the miraculous success of the Harry Potter task, Andrea was quite popular with both Caroline and Cassidy.
The two girls loved the fact that Andrea took the time to hand deliver the manuscripts to them before they got on the train and the fact that the covers had been personalised for the both of them was even better. When Andrea had dropped the books off with them at the train station she had also put together travel bags for both of the girls with various activities and snacks inside for each of them so that they would not risk getting bored on the journey if they decided that they did not want to read Harry Potter for the entire journey. She knew that the likeliness of them getting bored of the book was slim but she wanted there to be other options there for them and also it gave them some things to do when they arrived at their destination too.
It was not just the Harry Potter book, the activities, and the snacks that made them so fond of the dark-haired woman but also the fact that she took the time to talk to them each night when she delivered the book. They would sneak downstairs and sit on the bottom step waiting for Andrea to arrive. At first, they would discuss Harry Potter as Andrea had created a copy for herself as well so that she could talk to them about it but also because she was a fan as well. Once the book was finished they discussed other things such as things that they had seen on television, movies that they had watched, books that they had read, things that they had done at school, and anything else that they decided they wanted to talk about that night.
Caroline and Cassidy also appreciated the fact that they could call Andrea anytime they wanted, whenever they needed to and the woman would pick up the phone and do whatever she could to help them. They knew that it was not in her job description and they also knew that she was doing it because she wanted to rather than because she had to. The fact that she wanted to meant a lot to them which was why they tended to call her if they were in trouble or upset about something. It all came down to the fact that she cared.
They had already said that she seemed to care more about them than what their own father did because she listened to them, helped them, was happy to see them, hugged them enthusiastically, tucked them in when they asked her to, and could tell them both apart.
As Andrea stepped inside the townhouse she knew that she would not be greeted by the two energetic little redheads as they were due to be at their father's for the weekend, unless, of course, he changed his mind about having them yet again. It had become increasingly regular that he would change his mind and make excuses not to have them. Caroline and Cassidy seemed to be used to it though which made Andrea even more sad for them.
She was stood on the mat near the door, shaking from the cold and hoping that she would not get too much water on the floor of the entrance hall.
"Andrea", a voice called out from the staircase, "Are you planning to levitate over there? Is that why you're concentrating so hard?".
The assistant looked up in the direction of the voice and smiled softly at Miranda, "I was trying to work out the best way without dripping too much water on your floor, Miranda".
Miranda moved down the last half a dozen stairs straight away and moved closer, "You're drenched", she said with a slight gasp in her voice, "Come, you need to get dry".
"But…", Andrea started to speak before she was cut off.
"Andrea, come", the older woman said firmly, "You will get dried off and into some warm clothes then you shall stay here tonight, it is far too wet out there".
Andrea knew that if it was the weather that was making her stay then the issue would have been solved with a cab or with a single phone call to Roy but insisting that she stayed over at the townhouse meant something else entirely.
It meant that Miranda actually wanted her there.
The dark-haired woman took off the boots and placed them near the closet door before following Miranda up the stairs.
"Go in there and take off your wet clothes", Miranda said as she indicated to the ensuite bathroom, "I'll find you something warm to wear, you may wish to take a warm shower first".
"Yes, Miranda", came the instant response as Andrea did as she was told to do.
It did not take her long to get out of her soaking wet and rather cold clothing before jumping into the large shower so that she could be warmed by much more pleasant water. When she finished her shower, which was just a quick one to warm up, she wrapped a large and fluffy towel around herself.
Miranda knocked on the bathroom door, intending on asking her if she was finished and then handing her the night clothes through a gap in the door.
"Come in", Andrea called out softly.
With only a moment's hesitation, Miranda opened the door and stepped inside, "Here are some pyjamas for you", she said softly before stepping closer. She could not resist reaching out and cupping the younger woman's cheek, "Do you feel better now?", she asked in a caring manner.
Andrea nodded as she leaned her cheek against Miranda's hand, "Much better, thank you".
"What an earth possessed you to walk?", she asked as she stepped closer to the other woman.
"I didn't realise the weather would be this bad", Andrea admitted.
"From now on you will call Roy when you're ready to leave", Miranda said with no room for any arguments.
Andrea nodded again, "Yes, Miranda".
Miranda reached up and pressed a soft kiss to Andrea's cheek whilst still keeping her hand on the other one, "I don't want you catching a cold", she said softly in a caring manner.
After a moment, Miranda placed the clothing on the side near the sink and stepped closer to Andrea so that she could put her hands back on the woman's cheeks, "Put those on and then I'll make some hot chocolate before we go to bed". "There is a hair dryer on the dressing table in my bedroom if you wish to use it", she continued.
Andrea reached up her hands and put them on top of Miranda's, "Thank You, Miranda", she said softly with a thankful smile, "You didn't have to".
"I could hardly let you walk back to your apartment in the rain and risk getting ill, could I", Miranda said with a raised eyebrow, daring the other woman to question it.
The younger woman smiled softly, "Thank you", she repeated as she gently squeezed Miranda's hands that were still resting on her cheeks.
"Stop thanking me, Andrea", Miranda demanded gently.
"I…", at that moment, Andrea realised that maybe having her hands on top of Miranda's was not as great as she had initially thought as it was at that moment that her towel fell down to the floor in a crumpled heap, leaving her rather bare.
"Unless this is how you thank me", Miranda commented with a smirk, "Because do feel free to continue".
Andrea blushed heavily but Miranda leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to the woman's lips, "Get dried and dressed, I'll have hot chocolate waiting for you downstairs", she said with a smile, "Maybe I can have a repeat show of this later?".
Nodding, Andrea replied softly, "Anything for you".
"Anything?", Miranda questioned.
Andrea simply nodded again, "Anything".
Miranda moved one hand to cup the back of Andrea's head and pulled her a little closer in order to kiss her softly, "If I don't go downstairs now then you'll never have a chance to get dressed".
"As if that would be a bad thing", Andrea commented.
"Mmm…. I agree", were the only words that the older woman spoke before their lips were joined again in a much more passionate embrace.