Title: When I'm Gone
Author: Natalie (instamatical)
Pairing: None
Rating: G
Summary: Post-Paris one-shot. Miranda reflects.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Inspired by "When I'm Gone" by Lulu and the Lampshades, which is perhaps better known as "Cups" by Anna Kendrick, from Pitch Perfect.
When I'm gone.
When I'm gone.
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.
You're gonna miss me by my hair.
You're gonna miss me everywhere.
Oh, I know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone.
Miranda Priestly hadn't given much thought to the date. Frankly, she hadn't had the time to do so; departure day after Paris Fashion Week was always hellish no matter how thoroughly scheduled. It wasn't until after she'd arrived at the airport, after she'd made it through the security checkpoint, after she'd settled herself in the AirFrance lounge that she even so much as thought about it. October 4th. One year.
It shouldn't have surprised Miranda to see a beautiful brunette hurrying through the terminal at de Gaulle. A hundred and seventy thousand people came through every single day. Even so, when the brunette passed, Miranda's heart skipped a beat. She stopped breathing for a moment and closed her eyes, telling herself that the woman wasn't her, that it was a coincidence. Of course it was. Andrea had no reason to be in Paris. The little paper she worked for didn't cover Fashion Week. And if they did, it was only from afar; there was no way they'd send anyone to Paris. Once she'd convinced herself of this fact, Miranda relaxed. She opened her eyes. The brunette was gone.
When the Runway crew arrived stateside, Miranda had made clear her intention to head into the office, which meant that, whether they liked it or not (and they didn't), everyone else was heading to the office as well. While everyone else struggled to look like they were being productive, Miranda sat behind her desk, staring at the personnel file open before her.
It detailed everything about Andrea's tenure at Runway with painstaking accuracy, right up until "October 4th, 2006 – Terminated for noncompliance." Miranda was the only one who knew the truth about Andrea's sudden departure, and she had called HR at Elias-Clarke that day to say she'd fired her second assistant and to get candidates for her replacement to Emily immediately. She'd had a new second assistant before the flight back to New York had landed. The girl—Annie, if she recalled correctly—had only lasted eleven weeks before being fired for…well, something. Since then, the second assistant's desk in the antechamber of Miranda's office had been home to a revolving door of young women (and one young man), all of whom knew everything about fashion and nothing about assisting.
Miranda wanted to tell Emily to find her a "new Andrea" when looking for yet another replacement, but she knew she couldn't. Andrea had been competent, perhaps too much so, and she knew it. Miranda knew it, too. Miranda also knew that there was no way she'd ever find a suitable new second assistant. There was only one Andrea, and that was what Miranda wanted. Not someone who was good at her job, not even someone who was great at it. She wanted Andrea, the one thing she would never have.