All For You
Her stilettos clicked over the familiar tile foyer of the small Manhattan law office. They all recognized her. Everyone knew that she was Gregory's fiancée. She was a familiar visitor there, though she normally didn't show up during business hours, since she was usually busy at her own job. The couple had established a mutual understanding early on that there were separate times for work and play.
The male patrons and employees stared unabashedly, admiring her almost ethereal beauty. Miranda Priestly's pale blond hair was up in a sleek knot, her icy blue eyes enhanced tastefully with makeup, her tall, slender body showcasing a sophisticated, tailored outfit. Her fair skin was flushed with color from the cold; perhaps from her excitement too. She ignored their stares, her eyes immediately seeking out one man in particular. He had stolen her heart almost exactly a year before, after a chance meeting one frigid evening in a downtown pub.
He was a young, handsome prosecutor that had been swept up by his extremely demanding employer only a month after graduating from Harvard law. She was a lovely English major from the United Kingdom, who had dreams of making it big in journalism upon her arrival in New York, only to find that she couldn't get anything more than an entry level job at a local newspaper.
He had seated himself beside her at the bar that night, kindly offering her his coat when he noticed her shivering. They bonded over cups of coffee and their hardships at work late into the night. He had been hopelessly devoted to her ever since. Under the encouragement of the other, they threw everything they had into their work, to glowing results. Gregory received a promotion to junior partner at the firm. After people began to take notice of her impeccable style, Miranda was offered a position as a style columnist at the paper, which she eagerly took. Exactly ten months after they met, Miranda accepted something else- Gregory's proposal of marriage.
The aristocratic features of her face carefully masked the mixed emotions sweeping over her as she walked to Gregory's office. Something important had happened that morning. Something she never intended to tell Gregory. She had gotten to work to find a phone message already waiting for her. It was from a magazine she interviewed with when she first came to New York. The magazine, a well known magazine published all over the world, had heard about her work. They liked her articles and wanted to offer her a position in their fashion department.
The offer was exactly what Miranda had hoped for. She knew Gregory would be happy for her too, if he knew about it. Ironically, that was the exact reason why she knew she couldn't take the job. The magazine, all the way across the city from where she and Gregory both presently worked and lived, would require her to work longer hours than she already did. The pay would only be marginally better than what she was receiving at her current job. They would also expect her to travel out of the country for the important fashion shows each year to assist her department in picking up the current runway trends.
She had no doubt that Gregory would encourage her to follow her dreams and accept the job, so she planned not to say anything about it at all to him. He would insist that everything would remain the same between them. Miranda knew that wouldn't necessarily be true, especially since her taking the job would mean considerably less time for them to spend together. She hoped to find a job at a fashion magazine eventually, one even better than what she had been offered, but she felt to her core that she wasn't ready for the job then. Not when she was still quite new in her field. Not when she was just beginning a life with Gregory. She would have everything one day, a loving family, a successful career, when she felt that she would be capable of balancing the two.
Miranda stopped abruptly when she saw Gregory's office door closed, its lights off. She looked at her watch. They had agreed to meet at his office so they could go out to lunch together. She was exactly on time for the date, as usual, so where was he? Had he forgotten their plans and gone out already? No, that wasn't like him. Maybe an unexpected meeting had come up? But he would have called her. Had he stood her up? Perhaps he finally realized what her parents had told her for so many years; that she was a nobody, there was nothing special about her, she wasn't overly intelligent or particularly talented at anything.
"Miranda?" The voice of Peter, one of the senior partners at the firm, broke her out of her disheartening thoughts. He easily recognized her from the pictures on Gregory's desk and the nights when she waited for her love to finish up so they could go back to the apartment they shared together.
"Yes. Hello. Could you tell me where Gregory is? We were supposed to go to lunch."
Something about the look on his face when she mentioned Gregory's name made Miranda extremely uncomfortable. "He didn't come in today. Something happened . . ."
The confident young woman suddenly looked very vulnerable. She was in front of him in an instant. Her hand closed around his arm in a grip that belied her small frame with it's strength. Kind eyes suddenly cracked with fearsome emotion. "What happened? Where is he?"
She was being lead to a chair in Peter's office. He gently pushed her so she sat in it, then he knelt down next to her. "There was an accident this morning. A chance shooting close to where Gregory got off the subway . . . he didn't make it . . ." Peter was saying something more, something about how sorry he was; it had been quick, painless; that he knew how much Gregory loved her, but she couldn't comprehend any of it. He touched her hand, trying to comfort her, telling her that he had already been in contact with Gregory's parents, they would make the arrangements. Miranda didn't care. She didn't want to hear about any of it. All she wanted was the man she loved.
Suddenly, it all disappeared: the job offer, their plans for lunch, memories of kisses under the mistletoe at the office Christmas party weeks before. It all faded away, leaving only the face of the man in front of her, who was looking at her with such pity she had the sudden urge to slap him.
After sitting frozen in shock for a few seconds, she doubled over, as if in physical pain. Blue eyes filled with tears, then disappeared from sight when her face dropped to her hands. What frightened him the most was the sound that came from her. She let out a sob -just one- so heart wrenching that it made him want to wail alongside her. Instead, he took her hand in his. "I'm so sorry, Miranda." Tears stung his own eyes as he studied her shaking figure. He would morn the loss of a good friend and a fine employee, but this woman would mourn for much more. She had lost a part of herself.
Hours later, Miranda picked herself up from the bed. She had somehow made her way to the apartment when she stepped out of the car Peter personally called for her. The driver viewed her sympathetically through the rear view mirror all the way to her destination, but offered no interaction more than a comforting smile as he held the door open for her. Miranda was grateful for that. Upon getting to her apartment, she promptly collapsed on the bed. Their bed. There, she could faintly smell the scent of his cologne on the sheets and see his belongings all around her.
A splash of cold water on her face in the bathroom washed away salty tears, doing nothing to help eyes swollen from hours of crying. Her breathing was steady, though, her mind clear. A chill ran down her spine when she looked at her eyes in the mirror. There was no softness in them anymore. They only looked cold. She had a feeling that all she would be from then on was cold.
A business card in her purse drew her attention. She took it in her hand, making her way to the kitchen. After a quick drink of water, she picked up the phone and dialed. "This is Miranda Priestly," she told the person on the other end. "I was calling back to say that I'd like to accept the position in the fashion department I was offered." After listening for a minute, she spoke again. "I'll be available to start as soon as I'm needed. My current employer will understand." She stopped talking again, nodding in agreement with what the other person was saying. Truly, she had no desire for the job, but a smile quivered over her lips as she realized he would have wanted it for her. "Yes, this is very competitive field, you're right. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to represent Runway," she forced out in reply. Somehow, she vowed to transfer her devotion from him to this opportunity she had received, as her last gift to him.
FIN