Later that day Miranda went up to the Runway offices to see how things were running. She went into her old office, the new Editor was in the conference room talking to the board. She stared out of the window at the city, the same view she had for decades.

She sighed and thought of all of the many memories she had in this office, the good and the bad. She missed working but she knew it had been time to hand the reigns to someone else. She knew that it was time that she started a new part of her life where she concentrated on herself, though so far it was not going well.

Miranda got into an elevator alone to leave after she had finished. The car stopped on the 6th floor, and Emily was standing there, her eyes on her phone as the doors slid open. When she saw Miranda she smiled and put her phone into her purse. Her eyes lowered and she got into the elevator. The girl stood next to her, waiting for the doors to slide closed.

"What's wrong, Miranda?" Emily asked, her tone teasing instead of concerned. The older woman stared forward, choosing not to acknowledge her. "Weren't you supposed to be on a flight back to Washington this morning?" Emily asked, turning to her. Miranda pursed her lips and continued to stare forward, looking bored. They got to the lobby and Emily followed her. "Miranda…" the young woman said, trailing behind the former editor as she tried to leave the building.

Miranda kept walking, all the way outside where Roy was waiting with the door to her Mercedes open for her to climb in. "Wait" The redhead said before Roy was able to close the door. The driver looked at Miranda for approval. The older woman slid on her sunglasses and stared forward. "What is it Emily?" she sighed, relaxing into her seat.

The girl looked shifty standing at the door, she did not want Roy to hear this. She stepped closer to Miranda in the car. "I…I love you and seeing you last night made me realize so many things…" Emily began. The older woman rolled her eyes and nodded toward Roy to close the door now. "Ms. Charlton, Miranda needs to be going now" Roy said to her, pulling her gently by the arm away from the door. "Please don't go Miranda, please" the red head said desperately, resisting Roy's strength.

Miranda pulled off her sunglasses and stared up at her. The girl was taken aback by the anger her eyes. "I don't love you, I have never loved you and I never will" The older woman said coldly, her eyes conveying that truth very efficiently.

"I want nothing more than for you to leave me the hell alone" Miranda said finally, "I'm already late" she said, slipping her sunglasses back on.

Roy pulled the girl the rest of the way out and closed the car door in front of her. Emily stared passed her own reflection in the window to the beautiful and cruel woman on the other side. She was speechless, she stared with her mouth agape. She finally stepped away completely. She didn't know what she expected Miranda to say or do but it clearly wasn't this.

Miranda took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. She was stone cold sober and she was beginning to feel the madness pulling at her mind again. She tried to relax. She was about to go to Dinner with James Holt and a few other designers and their wives.

She already felt anxiety about showing up alone and having to somehow explain Andreas absence, Emily had not helped at all. She felt a memory flood back to her that she forgot was even there. She took off her sunglasses and felt the tears begin to fall from her eyes. Hot tears of shame and grief fell from her face. She knew Roy wasn't looking but she still hid her face.

"When she comes home you go on pretending I don't even exist" Emily said sadly, her body bare beneath white sheets in a luxury hotel room.

"I don't want to have this conversation with you" Miranda said firmly. They had had this conversation a million times but it seemed Emily never heard her answer. "I can't keep going on like this" Emily said, her voice on the edge of tears.

Miranda sat up in bed, holding the sheet around her breasts. "You know how I feel about Andrea and you know that I won't leave her" the older woman said, looking over at the girl, hardly able to stand the look on her face. She didn't like hurting Emily, but the girl made it impossible.

"I can't help the way I feel about you" She said, sitting up too, her hand reaching out to touch the soft pale skin of Miranda's back.

"I am very fond of you, Emily and I do enjoy the time we spend together but Andrea... she is the love of my life" she told her, feeling herself get hot with guilt as she said the words. She ran her fingers through her short tousled silver hair. What sort of person does this to someone that means everything to them? A very fucked up person, that's who.

"The love of your life" Emily scoffed, scooting closer to the older woman next to her. "She still isn't enough for you" she whispered next to her ear.

Miranda bit her lip as the sound carried through her body. "Nothing and no one is ever enough for you".

"You don't know what you're talking about" Miranda said dismissively, shaking her shoulder free from her hand. "I know exactly what I'm talking about" Emily said, fisting her hand in the older woman's hair and pulling her back to kiss her. Her tongue lovingly traced her bottom lip and she smiled when she felt Miranda's breathing change. The young woman pulled off the sheet and crawled on top of her.

"I wouldn't be jealous, or possessive, I would let you be yourself, I would love you for who you are, not who I want you to be" Emily said to her, taking her head in her hands this time and kissing her lovingly. "Andrea doesn't know the real you" she whispered between their lips, "But I do".

Miranda kissed her back but tried to ignore her words; her fingers gripped the thighs on either side of her. She groaned and Emily felt it vibrate through her body as she ground her hips down into her.

"I love you Miranda" she whispered before kissing her again. The older woman froze and began to push her away. "Emily..." She said nervously.

"I can't hide it anymore" She said, sitting up and Pushing Miranda's hands away and placing them back onto her thighs. The girl ground her hips again, the older woman could feel the warmth of her crotch against her and it made her shiver with desire. "Tell me you want me to leave and I will… I'll never bother you again" Emily told her.

"I don't want you to go" Miranda confessed, unable to look her in the eye. She didn't want to be alone. She enjoyed her company and though she hated to admit it, the girl had begun to mean a lot more to her than she intended her to.

"Do you love me?" The young woman asked, leaning forward and making Miranda look her in her eyes, needing to know if it's the truth that she will speak.

"Oh Emily please don't do this" the older woman said, her nails digging into her thighs. "Do what?" she asked innocently. Miranda couldn't say it, she did not want love from Emily, she did not want a relationship with her, she's never felt that way about her. "Don't make me lie to you" she answered.

Emily stared at her, the sly smile disappearing. "That's alright Miranda" she said, getting off of her and putting her clothes back on. "You won't have to lie to me, you won't even have to speak to me" the girl said. "Tomorrow I'll put in my two weeks, you won't even have to see me again" she said, her voice almost hysterical. "Oh Emily, please don't quit" she reached for her but the girl was already out of the bed.

Miranda watched her, not wanting her to leave, unsure what she wanted from this young woman anymore.

"Emily" she said in a low voice. The girl ignored her and kept gathering her things. "Emily, stop. Please don't leave" The older woman asked. "There's nothing for me here" the girl told her. She was nearly out the door before Miranda shouted toward her, "You always run out like this and it's never changed anything". Emily stopped and turned around to look at her. "You do this to me. Do you think I want this? All this sneaking around and lying, do you think I enjoy it?" Emily asked, her face turning red with anger.

Miranda stared at her, feeling her face become rude in its expression. "Do you really want me to answer that?" she asked coldly. Emily shook her head and Miranda saw the tears beginning to form in her eyes. She felt a stab of guilt but she wouldn't take it back. She couldn't bring herself to care enough to apologize. "You're a fucking asshole, Miranda Priestly" the redhead said before turning around and slamming the door behind her.

Miranda shook off the memory. She had many nights like this with Emily. She should have let her go long before her feelings had a chance to root deeper but she couldn't stop herself. Emily was right, she was an asshole. She was good at hurting people and she had hurt many girls like Emily. She couldn't help thinking to herself that she deserved all that was happening to her. That this was the world's way of making things right, that for all she's done she must suffer this way.

She managed to gather herself before the car pulled up outside of the restaurant. She felt like she was going to explode but she bottled it and pushed it away. She was usually very efficient at compartmentalizing her feelings, though today it was especially hard to keep them tucked away.

In spite of her nervousness and her sobriety, Dinner went well. She was able to fake it when she had to. Although by the end of the dinner she did feel like the smile on her face was genuine, she found herself missing Andrea even more.

Her friends were happy and smiling at their wives; talking about their futures together. She felt her heart ache now even more intensely than the night before. Roy was there to pick her up and on the drive back to the penthouse she eyed every liquor store on the way. She chose not to stop.

When she got home she grabbed her laptop and sat down on the couch. She called the twins on Skype, they had not spoken in a while but she knew that during the evenings was her best bet to catch them. They were all the way across the Ocean in England, attending Cambridge University.

When her daughter Caroline answered, the girl could tell immediately something was wrong. Aside from Andrea not sitting next to her like she always did when she calls, she could see the sallow look to her mother's face. It was very rare that a single hair was out of place for the older woman but something about her seemed to be in complete disarray.

"Oh my god mom, what's wrong?" She asked, leaning toward her computer and trying to look at her closer. "Is it that obvious?" She said, sighing and brushing the hair away from her forehead. "Yeah mom, don't take this the wrong way but you look like shit" she said, looking up from her computer and at her sister out of frame.

"That's very kind of you" Miranda answered, not sure she really wanted to share the details of her night before with her children. "Andrea and I are having some issues. We had to take a bit of a break so.. I'm having a hard time" the older woman tried to explain. "What? What did you do this time?" she heard her other daughter say, her face suddenly appearing on screen.

"I was selfish and I was cruel and I've hurt her too many times…" Miranda answered, squeezing her head between her fingers, feeling a headache coming with her tears this time. "Mom, you have to fix it" Cassidy said to her, taking a seat next to her sister on her dorm room bed.

"She's the best thing that has ever happen to you" Cassidy said, looking at her mother pointedly through the camera. Miranda nodded and wiped away her tears. Her children always loved Andrea too. They knew just how much they meant to each other. "I know, sweetheart" Miranda said, smiling through her watering eyes.

The girls smiled back at her through the video. "We miss you mom, we're thinking about flying to New York this weekend to visit while you're in town. How long will you be there?" Caroline asked. "I don't have any plans to go back right now. I want to fix things with Andrea. She is supposed to go on assignment to Syria soon" Miranda answered.

Caroline seemed distracted, she was looking closely at her computer screen and she casually asked, "Who do you have over?" she asked, her eyes trying to focus on something in the background of her mother's video feed. "I don't have anyone over, what are you talking about?" Miranda answered her voice dismissive at first but the look on Caroline face changed that.

"Mom… there's someone standing in the kitchen" she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. Miranda felt her spine tingle and all the hair on her body stand on end. She stood up, her hands dropping the lap top and setting it on the couch. The camera couldn't see anything but her daughters could still hear everything.

"You…" they heard their mother whimper, terror in her voice. "W-what do you want?" They heard her say. "Oh my god, mom" Caroline couldn't believe this was happening. "Please…" they heard her beg. They heard her groan in pain and struggle to breathe. "Girls" they heard her say faintly, seeing nothing but the living room on their feed.

There was a thud off screen and they saw their mother fall to the ground in front of the camera. She laid there, unmoving. "Mom" Caroline screamed. A look of absolute horror overtook her face as she watched her mother lying helplessly on the floor in the penthouse, thousands of miles away. "Cassidy, you need to call Andrea, right now… I don't even know where she's staying" Caroline said, her voice hysterical as her eyes continued to be glued to the screen.

Miranda had not moved and they had not heard another sound on the video. It was eerie, Caroline half expected see someone, she hoped she would get a glimpse of the face that did this to their mother. She felt her self-beginning to hyperventilate. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

"Andrea, there's something wrong with Mom… there was someone in her apartment and they hurt her…" Caroline listened to her sister talking to Andrea on the other line. "She's just lying on the floor, I don't know if she's dead or… " Cassidy said, beginning to sob at the words she spoke. "Andrea said she's calling the police and she can be over there in five minutes" Cassidy told her sister.

They kept the feed of their mother on their computer screen. Watching her closely; Caroline tried to tell if she was breathing or not but she couldn't see her well enough. "Mom, hang in there. Andy is on the way" Caroline told her through the video screen. Her and her sister sat curled up next to each other on their small twin bed, watching their mother and hoping the worst had not happened right in front of them.


TBC