Disclaimer: I don't own "Lizzie McGuire" or any of the characters you recognize from the show.

A/N: Thanks sooo much for the great reviews everyone!!! I really really appreciate them, and I'm really really sorry I haven't been able to update for such a long time! I was so caught up in other stuff (like my 25 page term paper that was due last Thursday, which I had just started Tuesday (just call me the procrastination queen!)), and some problems my friends were having (which I'm planning on making a story about it)… but it's finally SPRING BREAK so I'm updating! Sorry if it's not the greatest, but I'm leaving for LA tomorrow, and I just wanted to post for the awesome awesome AWESOME readers, you!!! So thanks for reading!!!!

Ocean Front

Chapter 9: Shattered

            Miranda bit her lip as she craned her neck to look up at the high-rise building. It was quite intimidating. Miranda took a steadying breath and pushed open the heavy door. She stared with wide eyes at the scene that greeted her.

            Abe and Lincoln Advertising was very different from her old office, that was for sure. The entrace was enormous and fancy. There were always people moving around on the go. Miranda's shoes clicked on the marble floor as she made her way to the receptionist.

            "Hi, I'm Miranda Sanchez, I have an interview-"

            "-at ten o'clock," finished the woman behind the counter, barely looking up. "Sixth floor, big office at the end. He may still be in a meeting, but just go ahead and wait for him inside."

            Miranda thanked her and hurried up the elevator. Along with a few other people, she got off at the sixth floor. Following the woman's instructions, Miranda found the office with no trouble. Seeing that the door was ajar, she peeked inside. She didn't see anybody, so Miranda stepped timidly inside. Boxes still littered the corners of the office and papers had been thrown haphazardly on the desk. Dozens of post-it notes were stuck on the computer and coffee cups were strewn everywhere.

            With nothing to do since Matthew was obviously still at his meeting, Miranda tried to tidy things up. She threw away the empty paper cups and straightened the papers into neat stacks. As she placed them back down on the desk, her hand bumped into a picture frame, knocking it over and causing it to tumble to the ground.

            "Oh, no!" Miranda cried, leaning down to pick it up. She knew from the crash that the glass had broken. "Oh, god," she muttered under her breath when she saw the frame had broken. What a first impression I'm going to make, Miranda thought to herself miserably. She knelt down and picked up the photograph that had fallen from the frame.

            Her eyes widened as she saw the McGuire family posing in front of their house.

********

            Matt stopped abruptly at the door to his office when he noticed a girl was inside, bending down and examining something on the floor.

            "Um, hi," Matt said hesitantly, stepping through the door. The girl gasped and whirled around to face him.

            "Matt!"

            "Miranda? What are you doing here?" Matt asked confusedly.

            "Um, actually, Lizzie gave me your business card, and I'm here to apply for a job," Miranda said, straightening up and clenching her hands into a fist. "Ouch!" she cried.

            "What happened? Are you ok?" Matt asked worriedly, stepping towards her. She opened her hand and Matt saw a gash on her palm beginning to bleed heavily.

            "Sorry, I accidently, dropped your picture frame, and I was picking up the glass…" Miranda winced in pain.

            "Oh, no," Matt murmured, carefully taking away the shards of glass Miranda was still holding in her hand and laying them on the desk. Matt examined her palm. There was a deep gash where the glass had cut her skin. "Yow," Matt grimaced. He quickly fished around in the cabinet until he found a first-aid kit. He started clean off the wound. Matt saw Miranda flinch as the disinfectant stung her.

            "Sorry," he said softly. Miranda just closed her eyes and set her jaw as he finished.

            Matt delicately wrapped a bandage around her hand and secured it.

            "All done," he said, touching her hand gently.

            "Thank you," Miranda said, looking at him with her warm brown eyes. They gazed at each other for a moment before Matt looked down and realized he was still holding Miranda's hand. He quickly withdrew his own and cleared his throat uncomfortably.

            "Um, so…" Matt mumbled.

            "Oh, here's my resume," Miranda said. Matt relaxed.

            "Right," he replied, taking it and sitting at his desk. He did a double take. "Did you clean up in here?"

            "Yeah," Miranda said embarrasedly. "I was just waiting for you and-"

            "Hey, thanks!" Matt said enthusiastically. "I'm ready to hire you on the spot for this!" Miranda laughed, and Matt didn't add what was running through his head. He was thinking that he would have hired her the minute he saw her, no matter what experience, or lack thereof, she had. Matt shook his head, wondering how thoughts like that had made his way into his brain. He glanced over the resume.

            "Looks good," he mused. "How did your last job go?" It was the customary question he asked when he interviewed a possible employee.

            "It was going great, I even thought I was going to get promoted…until the company folded," Miranda answered. Matt nodded sympathetically.

            "Well, everything seems ok. You're hired! When can you start?"

            "Just about any time is ok for me," Miranda said, looking surprised that Matt had taken her up so quickly. "It can be today, tomorrow, even now."

            "I'll leave the choice up to you," Matt decided. "Just come see me soon."

********

            David paced around the living room, not even dressed yet. He had gotten up at 5:30 after a horrible night's sleep. He tossed and turned the whole night, thinking about Lizzie.

            "What to do, what to do?" David muttered. His dog, Max, opened an eye to look up him warily, then whimpered and closed his eyes again. "Yes!" David exclaimed suddenly. Startled by his outburst, Max gave David a scathing look and scampered into another room. David went on the computer and looked up the phone number for Pure magazine. His phone didn't cover long distance this early in the morning, but David figured he wouldn't miss a few dollars missing from his millions.

            David rubbed his head as he was put on hold. He groaned as music began to play. Thankfully, the wait wasn't too long.

            "Hello, Pure magazine, how may I direct your call?" a woman chirped brightly.

            "Hi, I was wondering if I could get the number of Elizabeth McGuire?"

            "I'm sorry, sir, we don't have an Elizabeth McGuire here? Perhaps you're looking for Elizabeth Shires?"

            "No…" David said confusedly. Then something clicked. "No! I mean, Brooke McG- Brooke McIntire."

            "I'm sorry, she's not here, she's-"

            "She's in California, I know. Could I have the address and phone number of the hotel she's staying at?" David said impatiently.

            "I'm not authorized to give that information-"

            "My name is David Gordon, I believe Brooke was supposed to interview me," David interrupted with a hint of annoyance. "We never got to finish our interview, and I forgot to give her my contact information."

            "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr. Gordon," the woman said, obviously flustered. "Yes, let me just look it up." David scribbled down the address and phone number she told him. He thanked her and hung up.

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A/N: Thanks sooo much for reading, and please review!!!