A Harsh Winter Chapter 2
"Berlin." Miranda whispered.
Matt's green eyes lit up and he shook his hand, disturbing the brown hair that had gently settled unto his forehead.
"Alex?"
"Yes it is. Now is there a problem with me spending the night with them? I mean if that is okay, then I'll go, if not.." Miranda pouted. She usually got what she wanted in the end, if she kept her head in the fire long enough.
"Yes. Do I need to stay with you for you so called interview?"
"Nah, I think I'll be fine. I'll walk to her house instead." Miranda ran up the stairs, and entered her room. Her room was a light purple color, with her double bed in the corner. She had two windows facing the north and the south. In her closet there was a small window that faced the south. Her chocolate brown carpet complimented her walls and the trunk in front of her bed stood out like a sore thumb. It was her mother's trunk she used to have when she was a little kid. Her wardrobe was in a walk-in closet with a mirror on the door and a mirror near the window facing the north. Her mahogany bed frame, with the gloss and shine, stood out and brought out the canopy above her bed.
Miranda Lee was living the good life. Until she found out her mother was a spy. Then it all changed. As Miranda packed her things and items into the bag, something fell. Putting down her packed bag, she bent over and found out what it was. An old photo album. She sat down on the purple comforter and opened it. Tears formed in her eyes as the first picture. Her mother, holding little tiny Miranda Alexandra Lee. Miranda was a skin head, with bold blue eyes and in a church outfit. Amanda Lee was holding Miranda and in the other hand, held a certificate. Miranda squinted to read what it said:
Certificate of Christening..
Name: Miranda Alexandra Lee.
DOB: 6 -12 - 22
Mother: Amanda Lynn Lee
Father: Michael William Lee
Church: St. Teresa's Catholic Church
Priest: Miguel Panatela
Witness: Kenny Chase and Alex Rider
Time: 12:30 pm, Sunday, December 17, 2022
Day of certification: 12–17- 22
Miranda was still for a moment and kept quietly. A silent tear drifted off her delicate porcelain like face and hit the page protector. She turned the page and froze. There, a picture, of her mother and a man she recognized. Both of the people held two babies, one had one and the other. She recognized the woman and the baby as her and her mother. The man and the other baby, she couldn't believe. It was Alex and baby Shakira Ann Rider also in a church outfit. Miranda was just too shocked to cry. She had to be tough; she was going to do something she never thought she would ever do. She slammed the book shut and stuffed it on the side of her clothes.
"Miranda!" Matt screamed. Argh, she though bitterly. Quickly running down the stairs, she grabbed her cell phone.
"Miranda, here take this. It's your medication." Matt smiled and let a tear fall, as she was taking a big step in her life. She was becoming her mother, which was a good thing because she wanted to serve her country when she came of age. Now she was getting n early chance. She would see the horrors and terror of war and war on the home front. She is a tough girl, Matt Lee thought sweetly.
"Hey, Matt?"
"What is your real name?"
"I can't tell you until you sign the Official Secret Act."
"Good bye." And with that Miranda opened the French white door and walked out.
Alex Rider was a friend of Amanda Lee before her death a month after Miranda's christening. She had died in Alex's arms.
"Where is she?" Shakira paced across the room. Alex commanded she sit down before she had a stroke. Once again, after ten minutes, somebody knocked on the door. Shakira was already at the door when Alex thought about getting up. Shakira swung the door open and found Miranda sopping wet. Her hair was black from the rain and her clothes soaked.
"Are going to let me come in?" Miranda kidded. Shakira smiled and moved out of the way.
"You're shivering, Miranda. What'd you do? Miranda, did you walk?"
"Maybe…Yes I did. No big deal. Stop worrying. I'm fine. I just need to get dry and warm." Miranda laughed.
"Shakira, take her up stairs. Then when you are ready come down stairs. We're going to be in there a long, long, long time." Alex went into his room and shut the door. Shakira and Miranda, both acknowledging the spy and curiosity, gently put their ears on the door. They heard a click of something metallic and then a draft. After that, the sounds were drowned out by bathwater running and Papa Roach playing in the speakers in his room.
"Cut my life into pieces, this is my Last Resort! Suffocation, no breathing…." Was all Miranda and Shakira heard and they both figured he was relaxing. Well Shakira thought so. Miranda on the other hand, didn't think so. Who listen's to Last Resort when relaxing? Sure, some people listen to it for relaxation, but she didn't take Alex for that. He could because he lived a hard core life style.
Miranda took a shower and got dried and warm before migrating down stairs for the meeting. She was nervous, excited and argumentative at the same time. She wanted to answers; her heart had been yearning to be answered for so long. When she was younger, she had wished her mother would open the door and sweep Miranda off her little feet, liker it was effortlessly. She yearned to actually meet her mother and have long discussions from her. In spite of all this, Miranda had never met her father. Matt had told her, Michael Lee was her father and that he left Amanda when she had lost her first child. Michael's child and that they had break up sex and that was how Miranda was here. Miranda didn't like that idea at all.
"Ready?" Alex smiled.
"Yes sir," Miranda mumbled. "As ready as I'll ever be."
"Your about to be exposed to a world you never knew."
