The next Monday, Miranda woke up earlier than her usual time. Today Andrea and her husband would leave New York for London, to try giving their marriage another chance. She didn't even wait for her babies to wake up. She couldn't think about anything else.

It was only six a.m. and Miranda was driving all her employees crazy. She summoned two trainees to go with her to the fair, this was a part of her job she loved to do. Arriving early at the fair, the familiar smell of fresh vegetables and greens freshly harvested fruit, seafood which still smelt like the ocean and being able to have the best red and white meats. This part of her job was essential; to define the taste of the food she created. Because one thing Miranda did believe was that food was created, not just thrown in a pan and cooked.

This day, however, the poor souls that were following Miranda were suffering under the devil's breath. There wasn't anything new about how the chef led her kitchen; everybody who ever had the pleasure of going to her restaurant and eating her food knew that Mrs. Priestly dominated the kitchen with an "iron spatula".

Julianne, one of the trainees, was the little one that was brave enough to be next to Miranda on those days. She wanted to be a sous-chef and she knew that being aware of all the chef was doing was the best thing to do. Her two years of training was nearly over and she'd learnt most of Miranda moods.

"Soon she will be able to light the stove with her breath." Said Nick, the other trainee. "She put me on peeling potatoes!"

"So go peel the potatoes and shut up! Something's happened, but nothing here. Whatever it is has nothing to do with the restaurant. I'm going to check if there are enough ingredients for our most popular dishes. And we need to get everything done in advance: dice the onions and tomatoes, boil the cauliflower and rice. Let the shrimp soak and ask Kevin to clean the oysters."

"What about the potatoes?"

"Are you def? Peel the potatoes!"

"Okay, okay." He threw his hands in the air. "Uh oh, the devil's arrived."

Julianne glanced over at the stove area, Miranda already with two frying pans in her hands, frizzling some onions and grilling some mushrooms. From the look on her face, it was almost believable what Nick had said about her lighting the stove with her breath.


"Where is the rice? Why isn't it already on the plates?" Miranda took a deep breath. "Where is the meat? The mushroom sauce is ready."

"It's right the-"

"Why everybody is so slow today? Good God, aren't you capable of doing it all by yourselves? Do I have to tell you every time what you need to do? We do this every day, for God's sake!" With that, Miranda untied her apron and threw it at the table. "Take care of, this all of you!"

The chef went to her office, not caring about anything else. The restaurant was due to open in a few hours but everything needed to be in place when the customers arrived. She slammed the door shut and sat on the couch. Sighing heavily, she let her tears fall.

"Stupid, stupid woman, falling in love with a girl! She's young enough to be your daughter!"

"But she isn't."

Miranda was very angry and didn't notice Jonathan entering her office. She turned and glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

He sighed and sat next to her. "I heard when you shouted at everyone in the kitchen."

"And these brats ran to you crying, how mature."

"No Miranda, they didn't say anything." He closed his eyes, praying for strength to face his ex-wife, who he knew was a difficult person to deal with, and then turned to her. "Look, I don't know what happened yesterday, but you weren't this way on Saturday. So, what's happened?"

Miranda closed her eyes, leaned on the couch and whispered. "She is leaving today."

"What do you mean "leaving"?" He frowned.

"No, not this way. But," she opened her eyes and looked at him, a sad smile appearing on her face, "she is going to London with him today. They want to try again, to reconnect. A second honeymoon was what she said."

"Well, I don't know what to say. I told you if you want her, you should fight for her because I know you would love and take of her better than anyone else, better than that guy." He shrugged. "And I know right now isn't the best time, but this came today in the mail." Jonathan handed her an envelope. "I think you should open it."

Miranda eyed the envelope and her eyes widened when she saw the sender. "How did you manage that?" She opened it and read the letter inside. "Oh my God! Jonathan!"

He smiled; a smile she hadn't seen in ages. "I thought you may be interested. I sent your portfolio a few months ago. A friend of mine, who still lives in London, told me about it. And I always knew that you longed to go back to London."

Miranda smelled the letter, with her eyes closed, but was smiling too. "Le Cordon Bleu. I can't believe this!"

"Of course you'll need to go to the school, do the exams, interviews, but I'm pretty sure you can get the job. You being a professor there, I can imagine that."

"Oh my God! When do I need to go there?"

"Whenever you want. I can take care of the girls, of course. No need to worry about that."

"Oh, well…" She made mental notes in her mind, frowning and then nodded. "Next Tuesday. Jacob is staying at my apartment this week while Andrea… is out of the city. She'll come back Sunday. So, Tuesday is best. Not too early and not too late."

"Yes, that will do. I'll congratulate you when you get the job, which I know you'll get." He smirked.

Miranda closed her eyes again and sighed. "Thanks Jonathan, really."

They hugged and he patted her back. "I guess it's time for chef to go back to her kitchen. You scared everybody."

This time, her smile was devilish. "I'm aware of this. Maybe they needed some incentive."


Andy was in her bedroom putting the last clothes in her bag when Jacob peeked at the door.

"Can I come in, mom?"

"Sure, baby."

"I already finished arranging my suitcase."

"Ok, need anything else?" She sat on the bed and opened her arms. Jacob snuggled and she patted his hair. "You'll be ok?"

"It's ok mom. I'll miss you and dad, but it's ok, really."

"So, what about we stay here until your dad comes home? Then we can go out for dinner."

Jacob closed his eyes. "Hm, yes mom, that's good."

They fell asleep and woke up when Andy heard the front door. She glanced at the alarm clock. 6:00 p.m. This would be Nate, for sure. His suitcase was already done and they would just need a change of clothes and dinner. The flight was due to leave at 11:45 p.m., so they still had time.

"Jake, baby. Your daddy is home."

"Um. Oh." He stretched and ran. Andy smiled and got out of the bed too. She put her hair in a bun and left the bedroom.

When she reached the stairs, she knew something was very, very wrong. Nate was tensed up, his eyes were hard and his shoulders were straight.

"Hey baby, work was hard today?"

Without glancing up at Andy, Nate just patted his son. "Jacob, please go to your room."

Uh-oh.

Jacob ran towards the stairs, "Jake, be careful of the stairs! Don't run!"

"Sorry, mom!" Jacob squealed, but he was already in his bedroom.

Nate faced Andy and what she saw in his eyes wasn't good. It was bad.

"Andy, we need to talk."

Andy sighed and just mumbled an "okay."

They went to the office. Nate began to pace the room and Andy sat on the couch.

"So, what's up?"

"Something came up today. You know that Elias-Clarke had a big contract with Mercedes-Benz and they demanded that someone from Elias-Clarke should be there, because they're casting new limos. And, if we renew the contract, the interviews and photos would be all exclusive to Auto Universe. They want Elias-Clarke and Auto Universe doing all the advertising. Irv wants me there."

Still in shock, Andy just asked, to make sure, "So we are not going to London?"

Nate stopped pacing. "Yes and no."

"Go ahead."

"You can go on and wait for me, of course."

"I know there is a 'but' somewhere."

"But… this meeting is only happening on Friday."

Andy closed her eyes, counted until ten, took deeps breathes and looked up again. "You are going to Paris today and we will leave on Saturday and we'll come back Sunday?"

"Yes."

Andy stood up. "I. Can't. Believe. This. I can't believe you did this. I CAN'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT, NATE!" She fell on the couch again and covered her eyes with her hands.

Nate kneeled before her. "Sorry, Andy! You know I want to be with you-"

"You want to be with me?" She pointed to herself, and then shook her head. "No, you want to be at the top, that's what you want, everything for this fucking, damn magazine!"

"Hey, this isn't true! I left the magazine for nearly six months when Jake was born!"

Andy was pacing the room, pointing her finger to Nate. "You stayed with us because Irv made sure you were at home with your wife and son, who nearly died! If he didn't say anything, you'd have been out of here in a shot!"

Nate went after her and grabbed her writs. "Andy, you are being unfair!"

"Unfair? You love this magazine more than me, than your son, we are your family!"

"Which job paid this house? Paid your treatment to get pregnant?" Nate snapped.

They looked at each other. Andy felt her heart full of disappointment, anger, sadness. She couldn't believe what she had heard.

"Because I thought this," she gestured with her hands between them and the house, "him," she pointed to the roof, "was what we wanted. A family, Nate."

"Andy, listen, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

Andy closed her eyes, but the tears were already falling. "Yes, you meant it. You were telling me that my job it's nothing compared to yours and… the worse of all… you said you paid for Jacob."

"No, I didn't say it at all! You are putting words in my mouth!"

The journalist left the office, stopping just at the door. Without glancing back, she said "Go, Nate. Go fetch your dream. Go do what you do the best."

"Andy…"

"No. And please ask the driver to take Jake to Miranda's. He knows where she lives. Tomorrow I'll go bring him back home. But tonight I want to stay alone."

What the couple didn't know was that Jacob heard the whole argument.

Andy went to her bedroom and put Nate's suitcases in the hallway. She closed the bedroom door and went to bed. Staring at the ceiling, the first thing she remembered was how Miranda made her feel safe. She was caring with Andy, always saying good things to her to boost her confidence, and most of the time it worked. Miranda said she was beautiful. Andy smiled. Well, she is so beautiful too. No, gorgeous even.

"What?"

Startled with her thoughts, Andy hid her head under a pillow and curled in a fetus-form. Stop thinking about it, Andrea Sachs-Finnegan. Miranda is your friend, you idiot!

She heard a knock on the door, but didn't move an inch.

"Andy, we're leaving."

She didn't say a word.

Nate sighed. "When I come back, we'll talk about it. I promise."

Then, he left.


When the girls heard the buzz, they ran to open the door and nearly crashed into their mother.

"Hey, be careful!"

Cassidy looked back. "Jake is here, mom!"

"Yes, he is!" Caroline said, opening the door.

When Miranda saw him alone, her heart sank a little. She was hoping that Andrea would come with Jacob. "Did you come alone?"

"No, daddy came with me, but he didn't get out of the car."

This caught her attention. "Your daddy? Just him?"

Caroline and Cassidy eyed their mother and Jacob and ushered him inside Caroline closed the door. "What's wrong?"

Jacob bit his lip and crossed his legs; a shy position that Miranda knew very well. "What happened, Jacob?"

"Mommy is at home." His face fell.

"She is home alone?"

He shook his head up and down. "Uh-uh. They had a fight because daddy is going to work and mommy got mad at him and she told him to leave. She locked herself in her bedroom."

Miranda felt her face burn. The idiot couldn't help being an asshole. She knew Andrea enough to be sure the journalist wouldn't do anything stupid, Andrea was a very sensible person, but she knew she would need a friend.

"You both take Jacob to his room. I'm calling your father to stay with you here. I'm going to check on Andrea."

"Okay mom." Caroline said, taking Jacob's hand.

"We'll take of him." Cassidy completed, taking Jacob's bag with her.

"Thank you, my darlings."

Miranda called Jonathan and asked him to come over and look after the children.

"What's wrong, Mira?"

"Andrea. I need to see her."

The chef explained what Jacob had told her and Jonathan reassured her that he was on his way to her apartment.

"Call the girls when you arrive."

"Okay. Take care of her Mira. She doesn't know yet, but she needs you. She needs your love."

"Thanks, Jonathan. I mean it."

"I know. Now, go!"

"Okay. Bye."

She hung up, took the car keys and left. Of course Andrea would know why she was there as soon as Miranda turned up. And she wouldn't lie. She would tell Andrea that she could rely on her. She would tell Andrea that she could trust Miranda.

Because that is what friends are for.


Andy was trying to sleep, but she couldn't even close her eyes. She rolled in the bed for what seemed like hours and still she couldn't sleep. So, she gave up, put her robe and went to the kitchen. The fridge was nearly void, because no one would be at home this week. She thought about calling the pizzeria, but opted calling the sushi bar. The attendant told her 20 minutes until her food would arrive.

Wandering in the kitchen, her thoughts went to her friend again and Andy shivered. She didn't know why she was reacting this way about Miranda, but she wasn't game about trying to find out. She was sad, hungry and lonely. Opening the cellar, she retrieved a bottle of wine and a glass. She poured some and drank it as if it was water. The wine burned in her throat, but it felt good. She poured some more and did the same.

The doorbell interrupted the pouring of a fourth glass of wine. In the foyer, she saw her handbag and took the money.

"Coming!"

However, it wasn't the deliveryman at her door.

"Miranda?"

The white-haired woman smiled. "Here is your food." She handed the box to Andy.

"Uh?"

"The sushi-boy just delivered it."

"But-" Andy showed the money.

"Don't worry." Miranda glanced over Andy. "May I come in?"

Waking up from her daydream, Andy cleared the way for Miranda. "Oh, sorry. Please, come in."

They went to the kitchen. Andy opened her box and picked up the hashi. She dipped the sushi in soy sauce and put it in her mouth.

"God, this is so delicious!"

Miranda smiled. "Well, what do you think isn't delicious?"

"Oh no, not this again!"

Miranda looked at her lap, playing with her hands. "You haven't asked why I'm here."

Andy put her hashi aside. "I know why you are here." She sipped her wine. "Do you want some?"

"No, thanks." Looking right into Andy's eyes, she asked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Andy sighed. Thinking about it, she answered. "Not really. He went to Paris, I stayed in New York. End of story."

"Jacob was worried about you…"

Andy's eyes bugged out. "What did he say to you?"

Miranda told her what Jacob said to her. "I don't like when that happens, hearing what he shouldn't have."

"He loves you, Andrea." So do I. "It's obvious that he would be worried about you." Miranda took Andy's hands and squeezed lightly. "So am I."

Andy swallowed and felt her knees going weak. "I didn't mean to worry you, Miranda."

Miranda let go of her hands and smiled weakly. She stood up and got closer to Andy. "I care so much about you, Andrea." Facing the journalist, Miranda got her courage and said. "You mean so much to me, more than I could've ever imagined and more than you know."

Andy just nodded and her right hand went automatically to Miranda's waist. Miranda caressed her cheek and Andy's eyelids fluttered. Her grip on the chef's waist got stronger and Miranda, closing her eyes, bent down.

Then their lips touched. At first, they were uncertain; their lips brushed only slightly, seeking for approval. Miranda's right hand travelled to Andy's neck, her fingers massaging her scalp. Andy opened her mouth a little, but it was enough to Miranda catch her bottom lip between hers and slowly sucked it. Andy squeezed her waist in response and kissed Miranda back.

When Andy finally realized what she was doing, that she was kissing her best friend, she froze. This is wrong, very wrong.

"Oh my God!"

Andy opened her eyes and pushed Miranda aside, leaving the other woman astonished.

"Um?"

Andy looked back to Miranda. "This shouldn't have happened. This couldn't have happened. What were you thinking?"

Miranda was still startled. "Um. I thought you wanted it to..."

"I don't know what I want, Miranda. I don't know what I am thinking. I'm sorry." Andy tightened her robe. "You should leave. I can't do this."

Miranda straightened her shoulders, her face blank. Andy wanted to go after her and hug her, but right now she couldn't move any closer to Miranda. Her mind was a mess and she would die before hurt the other woman, even though she was doing it right now.

"I guess I should. I'm sorry, Andrea." Miranda's voice was cold and controlled.

"No, no talking. We… we'll talk about it, just not now."

"Very well then."

Andy followed Miranda and opened the door. "Um. Good night."

"Have a good night as well."

Andy watched Miranda leaving and, when she was out of sight, she closed the door. Leaning against it, she cried.


Miranda fumbled with her keys, her eyes were wet and she wasn't wearing her glasses, which probably wouldn't help right now. She closed her eyes, counted from one to ten and tried again. This time the key entered and she turned on the engine. She hit the gas a little forcefully, but left the street without any problem.

She cursed herself all the way towards her apartment. Stupid! You took advantage of her when she was feeling weak,, you kissed her, you stupid woman! Before she got out of the car, she cleaned up her face and took a deep breath. Jonathan would see through her in a beat, she was sure. But she had already made her decision.

"Hey, you're back! The children are sleeping, thank God!"

"I'm going to apply for the job." She said, throwing the keys in the center table, her voice already stabled.

"Uh?"

"London, Jonathan. I'm going to London this week."

Jonathan was slightly confused, then it hit him.

"What happened with Andy?"

Miranda sighed and crashed on the couch. "I did a stupid thing." She massaged her temples. "I kissed her."

"Oh."

"Please don't say anything. I'm already disappointed with myself."

"So?"

"I will do anything to get this job."

TBC


Hello guys! Thanks for all the reviews, your support means a lot to me. This chapter is a little angst, but I promise they'll resolve this "problem" as soon as possible. You know, every love story has its problems, hope you'll understand. Due the Holiday Season, may the next chapter will be posted only next year. Well, this it is.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!