Disclaimer - I don't own The Devil wears Prada movie, novel or characters. I am just borrowing them for a lil' bit :-D.
Widdle Holly is my own creation :-D.
Also . . . - Gotta say a big, huge like totally massive thanks to dragonwine for agreeing to be my beta and helping me. Sooooooo . . . . Thank you Thank you Thank you:-D.
Also . . . Also again – LOL – I have to say my darling Annalisa has been my number 1 support, so thank you baby I love you loads and thanks for pushing me to have a go at writing . . . love you xxxx
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Chapter 12
"Miranda, I'm so sorry. I got carried away with what I said back there, you really don't need to do this. I was just frustrated, I-"
"Two ice cubes in a small glass meant that he was savouring his drink," Miranda cut her off as though she hadn't been speaking at all. "That was an easy night," she said in a low and even tone.
"Miranda you don't have to do this. I'm so sorry I pushed you."
Again Miranda cut her off and continued on while pacing back and forth in front of Andrea, swirling her drink.
"That was the type of night I thought that it might be when you delivered the Book."
"Miranda..." Andy tried again. She didn't want it to go this far.
"Don't interrupt me again Andrea." Miranda had obviously had enough of the girl's rudeness. "You are the one who left me those messages, begging me to tell you something, anything about what happened. Not only that night but before that night also. That's what you asked me wasn't it?"
"Well I uh..."
"You want to know how long it went on for. How did it start? Was it just me? Were Cassidy and Caroline involved? If I needed to talk, I could always count on you, because of course you could understand. That's what you said in those messages wasn't it?"
"Yeah I know, but..." she replied in a small voice.
"Then you're going to sit there, swallow your pride and listen to what I have to say, and not interrupt me again is that clear?" Miranda said in a firm voice.
A tear made its way down Andy's cheek and she nodded her head in agreement. She couldn't quite get her head around this new side of Miranda. She was just so cold, so very cold. Usually she could sense a tiny bit of feeling in her voice but now it was the voice of someone, who had truly had enough.
"So I thought it was going to be easy, but then it changed and..." Miranda shook her head, her lips twisting at the memory, and took a sharp intake of breath. " well you know the rest."
Andrea just nodded again and looked down at her hands in her lap. She sniffled slightly, she could still see Miranda's face beaten and bruised, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
"It started when we got back from Paris. It was just threats at first. But he knew all of the right buttons to press. He knew the right threats to use so I couldn't risk it. Although I was still naive really to begin with. I remember about a month afterwards he told me to be home at seven o'clock sharp, when I came in at ten minutes past he was waiting right by the door and he dragged me by my hair up the stairs. I couldn't believe he was doing it. I thought they were all just empty threats but at the same time I didn't want to risk anything, which is why I came home at ten minutes past, I was just a little late. I thought that ten minutes would be alright. It wasn't even a deliberate thing as the girls were upstairs in their rooms, and I didn't want to risk an argument." She shook her head, still looking towards the ceiling. Her sapphire eyes started to water at the memory.
She sniffed slightly before continuing. "He literally threw me into the bedroom, closed the door and then proceed to punch me in the stomach. Jesus, the pain was such a shock to my system, if I'd have known what was coming I would have been able to prepare myself. Or get me and the girls into a hotel, or stay at their father's. Or better yet just keep my mouth shut and not admit that I love someone else."
'Oh man, speaking of a punch to the gut' Andrea thought as she felt her heart being torn to shreds.
"But then again it wouldn't matter. Everything in my journal, which he found," she said in a soft voice.
"Your journal? Is that how this started?" Andy asked.
"Essentially, yes. He found it while I was talking to him in Paris. I admitted I was in love with someone else and he confirmed it was y- who it was" she quickly stood up after that near slip of the tongue.
"So the name was in the journal?"
"Yes" she admitted.
Andrea sighed heavily.
"What?" Miranda snapped, she seemed to be calmer now, but she was still angry and numb.
"You don't need to tell me this stuff Miranda," she replied in a tired voice.
"You are the one who wanted to know Andrea. You are the one who wanted to know how it started, quite frankly I don't want to tell anyone this, but it seems that everyone else must know." Miranda was beginning to get frustrated again. One minute the girl wanted to know everything the next she didn't. What did she want?
Andrea looked at her then with surprise clearly written all over her face. "Have you not spoken about this Miranda?"
"No. I've said to you once before I don't care about me what I care about is the people that I love, the people who look after me everyday, those are the people that I care about." The Editor sat down again on the opposite side of the room facing Andrea. "And that's exactly the people he used against me." She paused, trying to compose her self as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Her nostrils flared and her chin began to quiver slightly. "He would threaten Cassidy and Caroline, he would say he would do the same to them as he was doing to me. I had a feeling that he would never follow through with it but they are my babies."
Andrea had tears trailing over her cheeks, being a mother herself she could easily imagine how painful those threats would have been.
"Then he started to separate them. There was one night when we were watching a movie with the girls. Cassidy was cuddling him and Caroline was with me. The next day he said that if I made any noise he would go upstairs and hit Caroline while she slept, purely because she sat with me the night before. Then he would report me and say I was beating her up. He was on this huge power trip when it came to the girls because he knew that I would fold so quickly. So I took whatever he would throw at me to protect them." She said and quickly downed the rest of her drink and put the glass on the side table.
"Then he started to say that he would get their father." She barked out a sarcastic laugh. "He even threatened Patricia." Tears fell freely now. Miranda shook her head, her lips twisting in utter anger. "My dog! He threatened my dog!!" She looked up to see Andrea with her hands covering her face her shoulders shaking from crying. She wanted to comfort her, she wanted to say she was okay. But the truth of the matter was Miranda was not okay, and she couldn't stop herself from talking. She needed to talk, she had been holding this in for two years now it and it had been like a ticking time bomb, waiting to implode.
Her voice started cracking as she tried to get a control of her emotions, but after holding this in for so long she was unable to succeed. "Then it was Nigel, Emily . . ." She looked up. "Roy . . ." then straight into Andrea's eyes. " . . . and you." The Editor shook her head again. "But he got you Andrea. He made good on his threat. And I am so sorry that I couldn't protect you from it." With that last statement Miranda Priestly, the most renowned fashion icon in the world, one of the most difficult entities in the world, broke down in front of her ex-assistant.
Andrea reacted without thinking and got up and went straight over to where Miranda was sitting and held her close. She whispered words of comfort into her ear as Miranda cried like a baby in her arms. Two years worth of pain all rushing out in one big wave of emotion.
Andy rocked her gently backwards and forward and then pulled back slightly and brushed the hair away from Miranda's eyes. Placing both hands on her cheeks she leaned in and said, "Don't ever feel guilty about what he did Miranda. I understand that's why I was pushed away?" she inquired. Miranda simply nodded. "He did that not you. You have nothing to feel guilty over, you did everything you could to look out for, well for everyone including me. I mean it could have been Emily that had been delivering the Book that night. It was just bad luck either way," she said desperately trying to reassure her.
'You don't understand it would only ever have been you. He had the whole damn thing planned.'
"I think you should go," Miranda whispered trying to compose herself.
"What? Why? I can't just leave you here like this," Andrea said quite shocked at the sudden turn in the conversation.
"I'll be fine just please go. I need to be alone," Miranda said, taking hold of the hands that were still on either side of her face and placing them in their owner's lap. She couldn't handle the close proximity after such an emotional outburst.
Andrea briefly glanced at the clock and realized it was three thirty, she needed to get Holly in half an hour. "Shit look, okay, I have to pick up Holly. I'll call you when I get back home. Just . . ." She sighed heavily as she stood up and straightened her coat. "Just please answer my call, don't push me away again, please?" she begged.
Miranda looked at her and wiped her eyes. "Fine." She answered in a small voice, nodding.
"Okay." Andy said breathlessly. Without thinking Andrea leaned forward again and kissed Miranda on the cheek only to have Miranda turn slightly, so their lips met briefly. They both pulled back quickly as if they had just been burned.
"Sorry I just, um, ah, right I gotta go I'll call you," Andrea said nervously, shaking like a leaf. 'Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.'
"I'll answer," Miranda said, slightly dazed.
Andrea gave a small smile and quickly walked out of the townhouse.
Miranda sat there for the next half an hour perfectly still, her mind racing over what just happened.
