Anon Prompt: (not established) Andy catches Miranda singing or talking to herself in the shower.
Summary: In Paris, BEFORE the scene where Andy walks in on Miranda crying, she realizes she forgot to leave a file for Miranda. So she goes back up to the suite and hears the shower running. Hoping that that means Miranda didn't realize the file had been forgotten, she slips into the room and that's when she hears a familiar voice… singing… and catching… as if she was crying. (And then we can assume that this changes the outcome of when Andy walks away… cause no way after this does Andy just walk away from Miranda)
Shit.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit…." Andy grimaced and spun around, practically falling in her rush to get back to the elevator, "Oh shit, shit, shit, shit…. She's going to kill me. I'm dead. This is it. I am so dead."
Tumbling over her feet, she slapped her hand against the up arrow, and continued to mutter curses under her breath. She had forgotten to give Miranda the files from the last show, the ones she needed to review before her evening dinner.
Fuck.
The elevator dinging, and Andy swore she could hear Angels singing, "Thank God. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Shit… shit… shit…."
Fumbling into the elevator once everyone had filed out, she drilled her finger into the number that would take her to Miranda's suite, hoping with every cell in her body that Miranda wouldn't be upset about the brief lapse of memory.
"Come on… come on! Damn it! Move faster!" She shifted anxiously on her feet, wringing her hands together as the elevator slowly climbed up the shaft, "Move faster. Move, move, move, you piece of shit."
After what felt like hours, but in reality was only a two and a half minute trip, Andy flew out of the elevator in direction of Miranda's suite, still silently cursing under her breath.
Coming to the suite door, she took a deep, somewhat frazzled, breath, before pushing the door open, and stepping inside the threshold.
Listening intently, she let out a quiet breath when she heard water running through the pipes… which meant that Miranda was in the shower, and not about to skin her alive for forgetting the files.
Slipping off her heels, she tiptoed through the outer sitting room, and carefully made her way into the inner sitting room… realizing that between herself and Miranda was only a door.
Swallowing, she was about to continue with her mission when a hum like sound caught her attention.
What in the-
Slowly inching towards the heavy door that lead to the humongous, lavish, bathroom, Andy gaped when she realized that the sound was not just hum like… it was humming! Miranda was humming, and it-
"Everyone thinks that I have it all, but it's so empty, living behind these castle walls…"
Oh… shit…
Andy felt her jaw drop open as her boss's voice filtered mutely through the heavy door. Miranda was singing. Miranda Priestly. Was singing. In the shower. Miranda Priestly was singing. She was singing… in the shower….
"... Would anyone hear me screaming behind these castle walls? There's no one here at all…"
Miranda was singing a popular Aguilera hit… in the shower… and it was beautiful.
Andy closed her mouth and swallowed.
"Nobody knows I'm all alone…"
It was beautiful. Miranda's voice was so warm, and rich, so unlike her usually icy tones.
It was so sad. Miranda sounded horribly sad… should Andy dare to say it… Miranda's tone sounded somewhat broken.
"They say that money is freedom, but I feel trapped inside it all…." Miranda's voice hitched and cracked.
Miranda was crying.
Andy startled at the revelation.
"I wonder how I can feel this low. On top of the world…" Miranda's voice hitched again, "it's beautiful…" and again.
Miranda was crying about something. Alone. Singing in the shower.
Is this really how she felt? Did Miranda feel trapped?
Andy's brain began to churn painfully in her head as Miranda continued to hum, and sing, her voice catching with shaky breaths and sobs that only continued to grow louder.
"If I should tum…ble, if I sho…uld fall…" Miranda's voice cracked again… and all was silent- besides the sound of the water from the shower- before an earth-shattering sob reached Andy's ears. The heartbreaking sound was followed by another sob, and another, until Miranda was no longer singing or humming… just sobbing. Each hitch of breath, and crack of sound coming from the editor's throat more heart wrenching than the ones before.
Startled, and well aware of how Miranda would react if Andy was caught in the suite, Andy shuffled backwards away from the bathroom door. Tears threatened to spill down her own cheeks as she listened to Miranda's shattered weeping.
She was about to turn and leave when she heard words being spoken through hysterical crying, "I'm… only hum…an…. An old wo…man who… makes… mis…takes…."
Andy felt her heart pound as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.
She had to get out of here.
She was invading a very personal, very private moment.
Shaking a little as she turned, she didn't even bother to leave the file like she was planning to. She wouldn't give Miranda any reason to believe that her moments of humanity, and perceived weakness, were witnessed by anyone.
Grabbing her heels off of the floor by the front door, she quickly exited Miranda's suite, and continued about her day.
She had to return in just over an hour, and she needed all the time she could get to shove the broken sounds of Miranda's sobbing from her mind.
Whatever the reason was behind Miranda's break down, she must never let anyone know what she had heard… so she steeled her eyes, stepped into the elevator, and swallowed her emotions.
Miranda's secret was safe with her.
She wouldn't tell a soul.
She would hear Miranda's screams from behind the Castle Walls, and she would answer them to the best of her ability.
A/N:
Hope you liked it.
Reviews are loved and appreciated! :D
All my love,
CBC