Because I forgot it on the other chapter: I, of course, do not own anything.
Great. Andy thought. She comes. She disappears. And leaves a mess to deal with. How classic.
Looking at the bags she quickly categorized them into last seasons and 'older'-ones. There wasn't really a pattern, about half of them recent. Did she get them together? One at the time? Did she get them herself or where they meant for Runway in general? Were they sent at all? Or was it just a mistake from her new assistant in picking up the wrong bags (Hardly possible, but still)?
Rolling her big brown eyes Andy tilted the bags off her desk, opened up her laptop and started typing.
Dear Miranda,
She didn't know how to continue.
Dear Miranda,
Thank you for visiting today. I missed you terribly and even though I acted like your equal and tried to impress you with your own behaviour I felt like jelly and wanted to melt like caramelized sugar. No,not really the right tone. Or right lines for that matter.
Dear Miranda,
Who do you think you are? Insulting me (or rather my workspace, but since I love my work, that still counts the same), demanding me, leaving/'that's all' me with a thousand questions and a bunch of ugly bags? Seriously?! Nope. Let's not write that too. There was no use at being angry or love-sick. It would not do her case any good. Respectful and distant were the words.
Dear Miranda,
Please forgive me for leaving you in Paris and for you know… Well, you know. I shall have a look at the bags, but I really do not want to work for you anymore. Since that would mean that I would have to be around you. And you know very well that being around you makes me both mean and trembling towards you. She sighed. This would not work. She didn't even know why she mentally offered to help Miranda. Yes. She probably owed her. Just like every human being owed her by accidently breathing in oxygen that perhaps the Ice Queen may or may not wanted to breathe herself. And the other reason why you owe her. But she shouldn't, wouldn't, not like some 'second assistant', help her with something that was absolutely not her job anymore. She would simply not allow her to be used again. Last time it costed her already more than enough. Standing up to pour herself some coffee, Josh walked in, smirking in surprise to find a decade of bags in the office.
'Couldn't restrain yourself? Didn't think you were the emotion-shopper-kinda-girl, but it suits you actually. Or perhaps, suitcases-you.' He winked.
Andy smiled. Josh was her colleague who was 'the-new-one' before her. He had brown curls and watery blue eyes. He was boyish and quite friendly to her, sometimes on the edge of flirting. She liked him a lot, considered him as an at-least-work-and-potential-personal-friend. 'I admit I am tempted to buy things when I'm stressed, but they are more the grilled-cheese sandwich and chocolate chip cookies kind of products.'
He laughed. 'Well that makes two of us. People should keep any form of chocolate away from me within a range of 500 meters at least.'
'Really? How feminine.' Andy teased. 'But good to know, if I ever need anything from you I'll just buy you some big Easter egg made out of different types of chocolate.'
'That would make me absolutely and completely at your mercy. I would keep an parasol above your head or wave you cool air like some Egyptian slave to keep you happy… And keep the chocolate from melting.' They both laughed. 'But, consider this knowledge top secret. The valuability of information is sometimes opposite to the amount of people holding that information.' He winked again. 'So… Your turn'
'Turn for what? I already told you about the cookies and..' she got interrupted.
'No no, my secret for your secret. Tell me something about you, you're such a mystery. The hard-working, always-friendly, intelligent beautiful brown-eyed girl. Who never talks about her personal life, not even when she gets tipsy at drinking night on Friday.' He leaned to his desk and examined her face with genuine curiosity.
'Well, ehm, I don't know.. I…' she got stuck in her sentence. A blush crept to her face.
Deciding not to pressure her, Josh looked reassuring to her and nodded his head to the side of her desk. 'Or you could tell me about the bags of course. They're almost as much a mystery.'
How true that. 'They are for research. For ehm, my ehm, new article… about, about if the fashion industry is affected negative or stimulated by the making and selling of false copies of haute couture.'
'Really? New article? Nice! Good subject, you'll probably know a lot about it since you worked at Runway. I gotta go though, just came by to pick up a few journals and my laptop.' He shoved a dark green rucksack on his shoulder and smiled another time to Andy. 'See you later.'
Andy smiled back and waved. 'See you.'
Walking back to her desk she made up her mind. She would do it. In the end she knew very well she was not able to deny Miranda anything. But she wouldn't do it on Miranda's conditions. The least she could do was pretend to have some armor around her. Perhaps she could buy a horse.
Quickly she wrote:
Dear Miranda,
Though I am unaware of your reasons why you want my help, I shall try my best to find out the reason why you receive those bags. But, as I am not your employee anymore, you'll need to provide me with some information about how you got them and if they were accompanied with other possible information. Notes perhaps?
I know I owe you. I just didn't think you would ask this in return.
Sincerely,
Andy.
Pressing the 'send' button, she closed her laptop and grabbed her coat. Where better to start a quest than the market?