Mrs. and Mrs. Priestly- Chapter 8
-Back to New York-
Andy walked into the Mirror building the next day, trying to be as quiet as possible. She went straight to her office, avoiding her assistant and the other people around, but unfortunately her invisibility didn't last very long. Her big boss was already waiting for her, sitting in her chair, and, as soon as she stepped in her office, he started yelling like a mad man at her regarding the disastrous mission of the night before.
A few minutes later, her boss slammed the door on his way out, almost hitting Lily in the process as she approached the room carrying a box.
"Wow, I'm glad I didn't have to deal with him like that," Lily giggled putting the box on the huge sofa across the office.
"This is not funny, Lily. He's pissed and someone has to pay. I have 72 hours to fix this mess or I'm fucked. Canceled. Dead." Andy said sitting in her chair now. She let out a tired breath, massaging her sore shoulder.
"Don't exaggerate. We just have to get the target and the files. We've handled situations way more difficult than this one before."
"Yeah, like taking candy from a kid," Andy said with a sarcastic smile. "So do we have anything about that damn guy in the hotel room? Because he will be the one paying in this equation."
"No, zero, zilch. The room was completely destroyed when the cleaners arrived. No fingerprints. No DNA. The rifle he had used had no serial number. The computer we found was completely burned. The cameras from the hotel were frozen with a program repeating the same images all day and no one noticed," Lily said sitting on the couch. "And guess what? The hotel room was in Brad Pitt's name. Yes, you heard right." She said when Andy raised a questionable eyebrow at her.
"Just great, so we're dealing with a professional?" Andy asked.
"Yes, and a high class one too. And you are only alive today because I do believe that I was the one who insisted you use that damn new Kevlar. The regular one would have been worthless against that bullet caliber." Lily said raising a finger to her.
"I know mommy," Andy said in a mocking voice and Lily started to laugh.
-Elias-Clarke building- Penthouse-
In her private office in the penthouse, Miranda is turning some people's life into absolute hell. They were all there trying to find some clue, any clue, about who caused her mission to fail and in Miranda's eyes, failing was simply not an option.
"I want that card in my hands NOW!" Miranda ordered over the cell phone when the office phone started to ring by her side.
"Miranda, the lab is doing everything they can to clean the damaged images," Serena informed her.
"You have 5 minutes to bring that card here." Miranda said hanging up her cell phone. She let out a sigh and picked up the other phone.
"The landlord is still with the worm." Miranda said.
"Our agency cannot afford mistakes like this one, not even from you, Miranda.", said the voice on the other side of the phone.
"I certainly know that." Miranda said in her usual cold tone. "Another player was in the field. The window is still open." She informed him.
"We do not leave witnesses behind, Miranda. You know the procedure. You have 72 hours to eliminate the player and close the window or we will have to do it our way." He said in a threatening voice.
"It won't be necessary," she said sure of herself and the call was ended.
Miranda looked at the audience that had stopped working to listen to the phone call. Miranda only sent them her stare signature and everybody immediately went back to their obligations.
xxxxxxx
Back at The Mirror, Andy and Lily were still evaluating the situation.
"So what do we do now?" Lily asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"I don't know," Andy let out a frustrated sigh. "Are those the objects from the room?" Andy inquired as she stood up.
"Yes," Lily replied.
"Anything we can possibly use?" She asked walking over to the sofa.
"Not really, the fire destroyed pretty much everything."
Andy opened the box and closely looked at the burned objects, one by one. She was getting agitated, nothing she was looking at could give them any clue to help identifying the shooter, until a particular item got her attention.
"Jesus Christ" Andy whispered.
"Yes, I know what you are thinking, but don't get too excited; because I already searched and Hermes sells thousands of those per year. There is no way we can find the owner. It was probably forgotten in the bathroom from the previous occupant of the room and missed by the maid service."
"Yes I agree. It's probably a waste of time." Andy said, trying to control her breathing after the new change of evidence.
Andy kept looking at the partially destroyed scarf in the plastic bag. 'It can't be', Andy thought. She slowly opened the bag and took the fine piece of silk in her hand, while Lily continued to go over the other objects in the box. Andy brought it to her face and sniffed. Even with the strong smell of smoke, the unique designer perfume could still be recognized. The scent went straight through her nose and quickly spread through her whole body. She could never, not in a million years, not recognize that perfume.
"I want to be alone Lily" Andy said holding tight the scarf in her hand.
"Alright. I will go back to the lab and see if there's any good news about the laptop or if they found any other evidence." Lily said walking out of Andy's office, closing the door behind her.
As soon as Lily closed the door, Andy broke down. She walked back to her chair and sat down still holding the scarf in her hands, finally allowing involuntary tears to freely pour down her cheeks. A sharp throb radiated inside her chest. It was the pain of betrayal.
xxxxxxx
A few blocks away, Serena ran into Miranda´s office holding the card. She handed it to her and Miranda put it immediately into the SD card reader hooked to the monitor in front of her.
Miranda was going over the images. So far, nothing was conclusive. Because of the fire, the SD card in the digital video recorder that had been set up on the ceiling was severely damaged, and for that reason some parts were lost and pretty much all they had was some early images of the maid and some of Christian at the restaurant. She kept going over and over the images until she rewind it to the first image of the intruder coming into the room pulling the cart. The body form was not totally strange to her sense or the way those hips swayed as she walked.
Serena leaned over the table so she could see with more exactitude the image when Miranda froze the image on the screen.
"Go do something useful. Go and pick a hot Starbucks for me.", Miranda ordered. Serena nodded and in seconds, she was gone.
xxxxxxx
Meanwhile, Andy was pacing in her office, still holding the scarf in her hand. Her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts.
"It can't be, it can't be," Andy was whispering to her self. "Not her, not my wife."
She sat down in her chair and picked up her phone.
xxxxxxx
Back at the penthouse office, Miranda turned her attention back to the screen and pressed play. She started to zoom in on the person on the video fully examine them in detail. Her cell phone started to ring and she only looked at the assistants in front of her.
"Are you deaf?" Miranda asked making one of them ran over to answer it.
Suddenly, the one thing she feared the most appeared on the screen. The picture showed a very well known orchid tattoo on the back of the intruder's neck. She only saw it for a second when the fake maid fixed her wig. 'It can't be a coincidence', she thought.
"Miranda it's Andy.", said the assistant who had answered her cell phone.
"Yes it is," Miranda whispered, closing her eyes.
"Emily has Andy on the office line downstairs. She is back from Phoenix and she wants to know about dinner time." She said.
Miranda opened her eyes again and stared at the image of the tattoo she had kissed, nibbled and licked so many times while making love to Andy. A simple act that she has missed these past several months.
"Tell her…", she cleared her throat, letting any trace of emotion disappear. "Tell her, dinner is at the same time as always, at seven." Miranda said, never taking her eyes off the computer screen.
"Emily," the assisted started, "she said dinner is at seven like always."
On the other end of the phone, Andy was getting her answer from Emily, exactly the same way as she was told.
"Of course as always." Andy muttered, ending the call.
xxxxxxx
- Priestly Townhouse- 6:59 pm-
Andy entered the townhouse, walking into the dark foyer, as quiet as a mouse. Her Stella McCartney leatherette ankle boots were barely touching the polished wooden floor. She continued down the foyer to the kitchen when Miranda appeared in front of her, out of nowhere.
"Perfect timing," Miranda said and handed Andy a glass of red Valdicava Brunello 1995.
"As always, sweetheart." Andy accepted the glass and went on, "You never cease to amaze me." She locked eyes with Miranda while passing by her but Miranda immediately turned around so they could be face to face again.
"I hope so," Miranda said, her unreadable blue eyes staring at Andy. "You're home earlier than I thought."
"I missed you so much last night." Andy said, still holding her glass, "So I couldn't wait to get home."
"Mm. I missed you too darling." Miranda replied and caressed Andy´s face with the back of her hand. She missed the closeness but right now she had things more important to think about, like not being stabbed in the back by her wife.
"Where are my girls?", Andy asked.
She wanted to know that because if the girls were home, it meant that there would still be a tiny chance of everything being normal and of the day's events being nothing but a creation of her imagination, but if they weren't home, then she would have to face the reality that she was still trying to deny.
"Still with their father," Miranda informed and Andy took a deep breath. "Come with me?" She asked walking into the dining room.
"Always and forever", Andy said, smiling and following her, but not after tossing part of the liquid into the orchid vase in the hallway.
"I thought you only broke this wine out for special occasions." Andy said removing her leather jacket and staying only in a white Ralph Lauren tank top and tight fitting Givenchy leather black pants.
"This is a very special occasion."
"Oh really?" Andy asked faking surprise. "What are we celebrating?" she picked her glass up again.
"The Undeniable Truth," Miranda said with a wicked smile on her lips. She was looking daggers at Andy.
"To the truth then" Andy said raising her glass smiling back with the same defiant look.
Miranda stepped closer and took the glass from Andy´s hand drinking the remaining wine in it.
"Are you hungry?" She asked.
"Starving." Andy answered.
"Perfect, I cooked something very special for you." She smiled again and went straight to the kitchen.
Andy remained in the dining room roaming around the perimeter in search of something that she could possible use to save her life from a potential set-up. Miranda came back a few minutes later carrying a silver tray in her hands, she placed it on the table and lifted the lid in front of Andy.
"Hum. Macaroni with meatballs, my favorite." Andy said with a smile but it was evident in her face that she was not thrilled at all.
"I told you this is a celebration," Miranda said back. "But this is only the beginning."
"You're amazing, you've been cooking just for me. I can't thank you enough." Andy immediately thought that it was her last meal before her execution.
"Anything for you my dear", Miranda said and picked up the salad plate.
"If I didn't know who Miranda Priestly truly was, I would have sworn you were the perfect housewife."
"Same goes to you darling." Miranda snapped back.
"So, how was L.A?", Andy innocently asked.
Miranda flinched and looked back at her, "You know how I feel when I have to deal with problems and we had a problem with the September layout."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Andy said faking a concerned look.
"Double booking with another magazine wanting the same model." Miranda walked over Andy again. "Tofu?" She offered.
"No thank you, you know I don't like that." Andy said, an artificial smile all over her face.
"You'll have some." Miranda put some of the fake cheese into her plate. "It's good for you, it's healthy."
"I hope everything works out fine at Runway." Andy said.
"It hasn't yet, but I can guarantee you that it will." Miranda said to her as she sat at the other end of the table with visible emphasis on the last words.
"Hum. Macaroni with meatballs really is my favorite meal." Andy said looking at the food in her plate. "Sweetheart, could you pass the chee…!" Andy chuckled when she saw the cheese pot right in front of her, Miranda nodded at her with her fingers intertwined in front of her.
Andy put the cheese on her food and soon the fork was traveling to her mouth.
"Did you try something new?", Andy asked as she tried to chew the food in her mouth.
"Yes, I'm glad you noticed", Miranda said with her blue eyes fixed on Andy's brown ones.
If Andy was not seeing the food in front of her, she would have sworn she was eating a rock instead of a meatball. She smiled at Miranda and swallowed the hard food. She could feel the meatball ripping her throat apart. Andy picked up the water glass and drank half of it, in effort to help the food go down quickly.
"So, how was Phoenix?", Miranda asked before starting to eat.
"I had a few problems as well, you know how the journalism business is," Andy stood up from her seat, "people wanting to shoot us in the heart to get an exclusive."
Miranda stopped a minute to take in Andy's words. She could´ve have killed Andy if she had dealt with the mission the way she always shot her targets down. One shot through the heart and another through the head.
"You poor thing," Miranda said with a smile trying to focus on Andy once again. "Was it that bad?"
"To live or die for", Andy said, closing the distant between them. "You fancy some wine?"
"No thank you," Miranda said.
"You will have some," Andy said already filling her glass. "It's good for the heart. It's healthy."
When Andy finished pouring the wine, she handed the glass to Miranda. As she did, the glass slipped from both of their grasps and crashed on the floor. They looked at each other trying to guess what one another will react and do.
"I'll get some paper towel." Andy said and ran out of the dining room.
"No, I'll take care of this, Andrea", Miranda said going to the back of the townhouse.
A minute later, Andy came down the stairs from her office carrying her 92SSGR-17 Taurus silenced. She walked down the foyer and into the kitchen.
"Miranda", Andy called out with her finger on the trigger. "Honey!"
As soon as Andy came back from the kitchen and started to move up the stairs to reach the second floor, she heard the garage door of the townhouse opening and tires squealing. Andy ran back and opened the main door of the house but Miranda's silver Porsche was already reaching the street.
"Miranda!" Andy yelled but was too late to get her.
She ran into the garage and pressed a few code buttons and soon the floor opened in half and a black Kawasaki Ninja XZ-14 came rising from the depths.
Andy was impressed with how fast the agency engineers had worked. The team had equipped their townhouse with all of her weapons and hiding places without any apparent traces but still keeping it safe for Miranda and the twins. They could never hit a button by accident and end up hurt or finding out about her secret life. She would never forgive herself if that ever happened and the engineering crew knew better, especially if they wanted to continue breathing. Besides the safety issues, the worst part they had to deal with was to set up an elevator under the garage floor, Andy insisted of having it big enough to hide a bike in case she needed to leave the house in a flash. The crew only had very little time to do every change in the house, barely a week. They could only do it when Miranda was out attending London Fashion Week and when the twins were at their grandma's house.
Andy put the helmet on and adjusted her gun in her belt so she could sit on the leather seat and a few seconds later, the bike was roaring out the garage. She used the helmet phone to dial Lily's cell phone.
"Hello", Lily answered.
"Lily, I need Miranda's Porsche GPS location right now and don't ask any questions." Andy threatened her.
"All riiiiiightttt", Lily drawled.
Lily made a few typing noises on the keyboard and soon was back. "The car is at Park Ave with E 62nd moving fast."
"Stay with me", Andy ordered.
"What happened?", Lily asked innocently.
"It's none of your damn business", Andy said impatiently.
"Domestic dispute?" Lily tried again trying to muffle a laugh.
"Are you kidding me?", she asked harshly. "Just tell me where she is now."
"She took the W 57th with 11th Ave," Lily informed her as Andy was driving at the speed of light between the cars.
A few minutes later, Andy caught a glimpse of the rear of Miranda´s car.
"Thanks Lily", she said and ended the call.
She sped up and soon, she was side by side with Miranda´s car.
"Miranda!", Andy yelled and she hit the right side of Miranda's car with her gun. "Stop the car."
Miranda could not believe what her eyes were seeing and she blinked to see if this was a dream or worse, a nightmare.
"Miranda, pull over!", Andy yelled again.
"How could I be so brainless?" Miranda was shaking her head in disbelief.
Andy noticed Miranda had no intention to stop so she sped up and turned at 47th down the 12th Ave so she could intercept Miranda on 44th. As soon as she reached the 11th Ave again, she stopped the motorcycle. She could see Miranda coming in her way, she stood from the bike to make it clear to Miranda she would not get out of the way. However when she started to remove the helmet, her gun accidentally shot straight at Miranda´s car.
"Fuck!" Miranda slammed on the brakes. She looked at the mark of the impact right in front of her face. Luckily for her, the windows of the Porsche were armored.
"Oh sweet Mother of God", Andy mumbled looking at Miranda's fuming face.
Miranda accelerated the car but didn't move. She was clearly saying some very bad things but Andy couldn't but be sure what it was.
"Wait, wait!" Andy said raising her hands. "No, no, accident, totally an accident."
Miranda grunted, accelerating the car once more.
"Miranda, honey, it was an accident!", Andy said stepping towards the car. Blue eyes fixed on her.
Miranda accelerated again and the tires screeched moving the car in Andy's direction.
"Miranda, stop the car! Now!" Andy yelled, but it was too late, she was already jumping onto the roof of the car.
Miranda continued driving and tuned onto 43rd in the direction of Pier 83.
"Miranda, stop the fucking car!" Andy yelled, hitting her hand on the roof.
Inside the car, Miranda was smacking the steering wheel. She had never felt so naive, so used. She was literally sleeping with the enemy.
"Miranda, let's talk. I'm sure we have a good explanation for all of this, baby." Andy yelled again trying to keep her body on the roof as Miranda turned.
"This is not the right way to deal with our problems!" Andy was yelling trying to get a throwing knife from her back pocket to tear up the back of the roof and slip inside.
"Now look", Andy said when she finally got into the car but once again, she was too late. Miranda opened the door and jumped out of the car leaving Andy inside.
"Our therapist will not like this!" Andy yelled looking at Miranda from the back window as the Porsche plunged into the water.
TBC…
