May the Moleskine be with you.
Her observation was subtle and standing at the head of the table gave her a fantastic vantage point. In a few sweeping glances of the room she could tell you that overall there were 6 designers spread between the group which had assembled to try and breathe life into, quite frankly, a dead idea.
She could tell you that Nigel was tired, Emily was frantic and bordering on a new level of quiet hysteria and Jocelyn and Serena were sharing the task of soothing Emily's nerves. She could also tell you that every few minutes Andrea would lay her pen down on top of her moleskine notebook to sweep her fringe back off her forehead with her hand, and then use her fingers to settle it back down again. She could tell that one of Andrea's feet was bouncing under the table by the way that she sat, and that- if the fingers playing with the sleeve of the blouse was any indication-Andrea's mind was most definitely not on the uninspiring layouts.
Allowing her own mind to fall back onto the memory of why exactly Andrea had to borrow one of her own shirts from the townhouse, Miranda coughed and leaned forward, placing one hand on the table.
"It's quite clear that we've reached a level of stagnation in our work, I suggest you all go eat something" she shot a glance at Emily "or at least drink something; I don't want to see you back here for an hour."
No one moved. Internally Miranda sighed to herself. Was it so hard to believe that she could be kind?
"That's all."
Everyone immediately stood and began shuffling towards the door, seemingly afraid that she would suddenly change her mind and keep them there throughout the evening. She kept her eyes downcast, appearing to look at the photos in front of her, and once the last unimportant person had let the door bang behind them she heard rather than saw someone approach. A gentle pressure alerted her to the presence of a hand resting on her shoulder and the circular motion of a thumb against taut muscles let her know that giving everyone a break was a brilliant idea. She needed this respite as much as everyone else.
"Do you want me to grab you some food? Maybe a coffee?" Miranda finally straightened up and let herself look into the brunette's eyes. Laying her own hand on top of the one on her shoulder, she shook her head in the negative.
"No, thank you. I just wanted a moment."
Andrea slowly leaned forward, and even more slowly pressed her lips against Miranda's and pulled away after an all-too-short moment. Letting out a small sigh, the younger woman smiled
"Hello."
Miranda quickly abandoned stroking the hand under hers, and hooked her arm around the younger woman's neck, pulling her into a much firmer kiss.
"Hmmm…Hello indeed."
Miranda chuckled and wrapped both arms around her girlfriend's waist, letting her forehead rest against the shoulder so conveniently there. Dropping the moleskine she'd carried over on top of the photos Miranda had been looking at, Andrea then allowed her hands to gently rub up and down Miranda's back.
Miranda melted into the simple embrace revelling in the fact that even though their relationship had been going from strength to strength for over a year now, unguarded moments like this could feel so new and fragile. Sighing, she tilted her head so she could rest her chin on Andrea's shoulder and glanced down at the table.
"Andrea?" she questioned
"Hmmm?"
"Interesting choice in stationery."
Andrea quickly untangled herself from Miranda's warm body, spinning quickly on the spot and half fell over the table, knocking most of the photos to the floor in an attempt to grab the book.
"Oh gosh….well, you see…shi-I mean shoot…"
Miranda chuckled and kept quiet, content on watching a rather becoming blush spread across Andrea's cheeks and work its way down her neck while her girlfriend stuttered in a way she hadn't achieved since first asking Miranda on a date. Andrea coughed and gathered herself together
"I must have left my work notebook at your house with-" Miranda placed her hand on Andreas upper arm causing Andrea to quickly glance at the door and lower her voice, "with my torn shirt, which really is all your fault, and when you called the meeting I grabbed my spare notebook from my bag and well, it was this or nothing…" Andrea started to fidget, playing with the elastic band wrapped round the notebook and pen.
"Darling.." Miranda spoke soothingly, for fear the pen would suddenly fling across the room "…there is nothing wrong with it."
Andrea suddenly expelled a massive sigh in relief, she had been mortified earlier to realise she'd left her work notes at Miranda's house. She'd only been at her new job as a copy editor for a few months and she wasn't keen to make mistakes and give anyone ammunition against either Miranda or herself. She'd earned her promotion.
"Star Trek though, Andrea?" Miranda smirked.