Miranda has endured far too long without those brown eyes. Glancing down at the all too familiar disaster of "the book" Miranda didn't know where her life was going. Nestled into the all too familiar worn chair in the corner of her study, Miranda couldn't help but to recall every smile that infuriating girl ever sent her way. The way the all too common "yes, Miranda." Flowed from her ex-second assistant's mouth never failed to send a chill down her spine. Each waking moment was spent contemplating ways to fix the disaster she created that fateful day. What about that silly creature made her want to open up more than she had for either of her husbands? Glancing down at the book yet again, Miranda made a mental note to tell Emily to call her stockbroker and have him add 3M to her portfolio. Surely at the rate, her seemingly incompetent staff were handling the current issue; the company was sure to have a spike in sales from just their Post-it note line alone.
"Nigel, do you still keep in touch with Andréa?" Not caring it was approaching 2 in the morning, Miranda waited impatiently for an answer.
"Miranda?" Nigel was barely lucid enough to know it was too early to be answering the phone, let alone know what was waiting for him on the other side.
"Yes? Do you keep in contact with her or not? My patience is wearing very thin. I suggest should you want to keep your current employment, you should not keep me waiting any further." Pinching the bridge of her nose, she didn't have the emotional or mental stability to handle the incompetence.
Jerking awake at the last few words, Nigel hurried his thoughts. "Yes, Miranda. I've kept in touch with Six. She moved back to Ohio shortly after Paris…... I'll send you her contact if you promise to be nice." Nigel became worried. Why was Miranda of all people calling him at 2 AM to discuss her former assistant who left her during the most important, and busiest weeks of her year? A soft "that's all." Followed by the usual harsh clap of Miranda's phone being forcefully shut effectively ended that conversation. At least, hopefully, long enough for him to get a couple of hours of sleep.
Moved back to Ohio? What was so vital for her to leave New York? For her to walk away from the job, Miranda personally wrote a recommendation for her? Albeit it wasn't as glowing as it would've been had the girl stayed. But it was a recommendation nonetheless. Miranda looked down at her phone, memorizing the numbers Nigel had sent her. Half tempted to call the girl right then and there, Miranda hesitated. Something inside her told her it was wrong, to wait until morning. Miranda wanted to do something right for once. She wanted this girl in every sense.
Some odd 640 miles away, Andy was once again woken up by a screaming infant. Looking at the nearby clock, she saw it was only 2:30. He had been asleep all of 3 hours since the last time he woke her up in the same fashion. Silently she prayed to whatever deity was listening, that this would be the last time he would wake her tonight. Reaching down to grab the screaming infant, he instantly calmed the moment he was wrapped in his mother's arms. Settling them both down into the rocking chair her parents had given her, the same one her mom rocked her in as an infant, Randy began to nurse contentedly. Smiling down at her son as he sighed, Andy couldn't help but think about the past year.
A year ago, she had walked away from Miranda. A year ago, she had found out she was pregnant. A year ago, Andy had to walk away from a job Miranda had personally written a recommendation for her. A year ago, Nate had signed away his parental rights after they had talked in the small café. A year ago, she was forced to move back to Ohio. Her parents had thankfully been supportive and helped her get her feet on the ground. Andy sat comfortably with her son in her arms, smiling at the once more sleeping baby. A year seemed so long moving forward, but all of her cherished memories of carrying Randy told her otherwise.
Hours later, the screams of a hungry infant once again pulled Andy from her slumber. The clock next to her read 8. Thankful he slept the remainder of the night soundly, Andy sighed in relief. Slowly, his sleep was increasing. She reached for her phone, looking to see if there were new articles assigned to her. Instead of an email notification, Andy had a missed call from a New York number. One she didn't recognize. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, she decided to call the number back. Maybe it was a new publication wanting her to do some freelance work, at this point, she was trying to network as much as possible to keep her and Randy financially comfortable.
"Um hello, this is Andy Sachs, I received a call from this number?" Andy didn't wait for the person on the other line to say hello.
Miranda had finally brought herself into calling the younger woman, and when she had, the call rang and went to voicemail. Glancing at her watch, it was shortly before 8 AM, surely that girl had to be awake? Debating whether to call the young woman again, Miranda decided against it. Hopefully, Andréa would feel obligated to call back. Walking into the conference room, she impatiently waited for the board members to show. Contemplating why others didn't insist on being 15 minutes early indeed was something she couldn't fathom.
Seconds seemed to feel like hours dragging by. The past year was no exception. Looking down at her watch for the 100th time in the past 2 minutes, Miranda let out a huff of annoyance. Thankful others still haven't bothered to arrive, Miranda continued to fidget over the fact that her Andréa hadn't returned her phone call. Did she remember Miranda's number? Surely, she must after all the phone calls Andréa had taken during those few short months of her employment in Runway?
Miranda felt her phone ringing, could it be? Was Andréa finally calling her back? Quickly answering before the girl could decide to hang up Miranda replied. Before the older woman was able to get a word out, she was cut off by Andréa. "Um hello, this is Andy Sachs, I received a call from this number?" Andy didn't wait for the person on the other line to say hello. Miranda paused. Andréa didn't know it was her calling. Andy removed her phone from her ear making sure she was still connected to the other line; time continued to count. "Um hello? I'm just returning your call." Miranda sighed. A year without hearing that voice, and suddenly the young girl was on the other side of the phone waiting for Miranda to get her thoughts together.
"Sorry, Andréa. I wasn't sure you would return my call, so I was a bit thrown off when I heard you on the line." Miranda was once again pinching the bridge of her nose. She couldn't believe she had just said that.
Andy, on the other hand, was now incredibly speechless. "Miranda?" Not only did Miranda apologize, but she explained herself. Something she had done twice before, and neither times having ended up well for either of the women.
"Yes, Andréa." Miranda was trying her best to steer the conversation in an acceptable direction when she heard a baby start to cry in the background.
"Miranda, could I call you back another time? My baby is getting fussy, and I'm sure you have better things to do than to sit and listen to a baby scream through the phone."
Andréa honestly did feel bad about having to cut their increasingly awkward conversation short, but she knew Randy wasn't going to settle anytime soon; he was always most irritable in the mornings after waking up. Andréa smiled to herself thinking Miranda was likely the same way.
"Yes, of course, Andréa. I have a board meeting to go over the budget for this quarter, but you're more than welcome to send me a text to see if I'm free. I would hate to miss your call." Miranda smiled to herself. Any form of communication would be acceptable for the moment, as long as she was able to talk to that beautiful girl.
"Sure, Miranda. That will be fine. Randy is always a bit more troublesome in the mornings, but if I don't text you before the end of your meeting, send me a text, and if it's quiet, I'll call you back." Andy didn't realize what had slipped out until it was too late.
Miranda bit her tongue. "I look forward to talking to you, thank you for returning my call. Hopefully, we can continue this conversation shortly." Miranda quickly ended the phone call repeatedly pressing the red button until she could sigh in relief.
Andy looked at her phone puzzled by what had just happened. She couldn't believe she had tossed Randy's name out there so freely. Not even his father knew his name.