Unbeknownst to Andrea, Mary had been working with Elise to get Nicholas and his uncle down.
She was making her way towards Mary´s apartment; she knew her sissy always preferred to stay at her house when she had free time but she was truly hoping for the woman to listen to her.
After ringing the apartment's doorbell she simply turned to look at the area. It was a really beautiful Sunday with the sun shining brightly; she´d hated having fought with Maria and thankfully Miranda had been there to hold her while crying and sooth her before encouraging her to speak with the woman. She felt truly blessed to have the white haired woman with her and loved her twins.
¨Who is it?¨ Andrea jumped from the voice from the intercom of the apartment´s doorbell and cleared her throat before replying softly
¨I have ice cream¨
Andy got nervous now that no one answered back; she hoped food would make her sissy open the door. After a few seconds she felt relief at the sound of the door opening to let her in.
Mary had been playing in her computer to an online game; she was aware she was too old to play and yet she couldn´t help herself since she truly enjoyed it. At the sound of Andrea´s voice through the intercom she felt simply glad the game depended on herself so no one would send a report by quitting the play and stood to open the door to wait for Andy
¨That ice cream better be good¨ Mary said simply and turned back leaving the door open to open a wine bottle and get things for the ice cream
¨Only the best for you¨ Andy said entering with confident steps and followed the Latina before closing the door ¨That wine better be good¨
¨Only the best for you¨ Mary copied before leading Andrea to the couch with a tight face ¨To what do I owe the pleasure your Highness?¨
Andy flinched at the comment before answering softly
¨I´m sorry¨
¨I know, I forgive you¨ Mary said softly before giving out a sigh ¨I overstepped my place and trust, I apologize Andy¨
After a few minutes in silence while eating some ice cream Andy gave out a chuckle making her heart sister look up amused
¨I´m happy the ice cream worked¨ Andy started laughing at Mary´s eye roll but join in the laughter after saying
¨I would never turn down free food¨
¨Oh, I know!¨
After calming down the Latina simply needed to know
¨How was your chat with Nicholas?¨
¨I didn´t speak; Miranda told Kyle to let that piece of shit know I was busy after our fight¨ Andy said softly before adding ¨She respects you a lot you know? That´s hard to earn…; I´m sorry I hit you and judged your actions. I didn´t know how to act and I felt threatened at the thought of you doing a better job than me¨
Mary shook her head softly and stood to hug Andy tightly
¨I would never try to take your place, I was trying to help but I should´ve told you my reasoning instead of giving orders away . It was not my place¨ Mary told Andrea softly
¨No, it wasn´t¨ Andy said making the brunet nod ashamed ¨But I understand why you did that; you´ve always protected me but I need you to trust my judgment or inform me what mistake you think I make¨ she finished with teary eyes
¨I´ll do my best, I promise sissy! I love you and I only want your happiness¨ Mary said with tears in her eyes and stood to hug Andrea
Once they separated from the hug they updated each other on what´d happened but Mary avoided telling Andrea about her plans with Elise
¨Will you come to the Annual Ball? Please; I´d love for my sissy to be there¨ Andy said softly
¨I´ll need your help with my appearance sweetie¨ Mary said making Andy smile widely who answered simply
¨Miranda will love to take that job from me¨ the answer made them laugh hard enough to lift the tension from their talk so they simply decided to make plans and involving Miranda via text who loved the challenge of dressing the Latina for the ball.
-.-.-.-.-
It was now four days until the Annual Ball where Maria was entering the huge building to get her final fitting. While walking through the Runway halls with her scrubs she felt quite uncomfortable but in awe of the beauty surrounding her; she loved couture yet never found the chance to dress nicely since it would not be useful to wear heels while treating patients.
Upon entering Miranda´s outer office she walked confidently towards the secretary to inform her of her meeting and yet was shocked at the woman behind the desk
¨What do we have here? I´m sure the cleaning crew didn´t tell you the right floor¨ the blonde woman said with a sneer making the Latina narrow her eyes. Thankfully she´d had a lot of practice with this kind of people
¨Oh really? I was unaware Miranda Priestly worked with the cleaning crew. What´s your name?¨ Mary said shocking the blonde into silence but recovered with a raised eyebrow
¨I fail to see why you need to know that, knowing Miranda Priestly works here doesn´t mean i´ll allow some scrubs and crocks wearing woman interrupt her; She´s about to start a meeting¨ the woman said icily
¨I know, I am that meeting¨ Mary said raising an eyebrow at the blonde´s laugh
¨Oh, that´s funny, go away now¨ thankfully for the blonde, Miranda´s first assistant Michelle, walked in avoiding the dumb woman pissed the Latina off since she´d seen pictures of the woman thanks to Emily
¨Maria, it´s nice to see you, Miranda is waiting for you¨ Michelle glared at Janet who went white at recognizing the name of the woman that was part of her boss´s family so she started trying to amend her mistake
¨I…¨ Janet started to try an apologize but was stopped by a raised hand from the Latina who said simply and strongly
¨You know why wearing scrubs is harder than wearing couture little girl?¨Mary asked while staring at the blonde with a neutral face
At the shaking of the girl´s head she continued
¨Because you have to prove you´re worthy of wearing them for yourself and your professionalism if you want to keep them; though I´m sure my patients also think I'm funny. It´d do you good to understand scrubs and crocks mean more than the credit you give them¨ Mary said strongly yet neutrally before thanking Michelle and went inside Miranda´s office with confidence
Both Michelle and Janet could hear Miranda welcoming the Latina happily before the door closed behind her
¨Seriously Janet!? What the hell were you thinking? You didn´t even ask her who she was!¨ Michelle whispered angrily since she had been in the kitchen but jumped back into the outer office when she´d heard the words scrubs being said
¨I… I didn´t know¨ Janet said worriedly. She didn´t know whether to quit or hope for the best.
It was after about ten minutes that both Miranda and Mary left together so Maria could get her final fitting.
¨Maria why don´t you call the lift; I'll be there in a minute¨ Miranda said in her usual whisper and waited until the woman closed the door before turning to Janet who held her breath
¨You are lucky that woman asked for me not to fire you; first lesson Emily…¨ Miranda waited until the woman looked at her again ¨This may be a fashion magazine, but wearing couture does not mean a person is worthy as a human been. It´d do you good to ask first and respect everyone even if they wear dirty clothe or, in this case, scrubs¨
Once she made sure the woman heard her given the nod she got she continued
¨I will explain this once and to you both¨ she started again also looking at Michelle ¨We work here to try and show the beauty of designs, clothing and the importance appearance has to the world. But our work is shown to people and everyone looks even better wearing respect and good manner since no couture can be able to hide the lack of them¨
Miranda made sure both girls had heard her before turning to Michelle again ¨Emily, let Nigel know we´re on our way; have coffee along with a hot chocolate with cinnamon; confirm Demarchelier´s meeting in two hours and make sure this necklace is here by tomorrow. Go to Tiffany; That´s all¨ she finished before leaving
After a few minutes in silence both assistants let out a breath they´d been holding before Michelle turned to Janet
¨Please don´t do that again; you´re lucky Miranda truly considers that woman´s opinion¨ and let out another breath and the furious nod she received
-.-.-.
¨Oh finally! Why would you take so long! I was hoping to meet you! I´ve heard so much about you Maria¨ Nigel said while removing his glasses and jumping up and down making both woman chuckles
¨Well Mr. Kipling it´s a pleasure, I hope you can help make me look pretty¨ Maria said smiling softly at the man, she already liked him; he reminded her of Doug
¨Oh no no! That won´t do! Mr. Kipling is my father! Nigel it is!¨ Nigel said before making his way in between both woman and linking his arms with theirs while leading them to the closet making both women let out a laugh
¨Maria you´re already beautiful! Now come on Nigel! ¨ Miranda said chuckling before leaving to call Emily and Serena so they could arrange makeup and hair styles for the woman
It´d taken them an hour to get the Latina ready so she now, stood in front of a mirror looking at her own reflection.
¨You look beautiful Maria, I knew Nigel would make a wonderful job¨ Miranda said proudly while looking at the tight black and golden suit.
Even if it was a simple design she´d been asked by the brunet for it to be a suit; it´d shocked the white haired woman since she´d planed more than one beautiful dresses but she knew the woman´s figure would be shown either way
¨Thank you Miranda, how do I pay for it?¨ Mary said softly while staring at herself with awe.
The suit was indeed beautiful it had a gold looking low cut vest tight enough to allow nothing else but a bra to be beneath and beautifully tight black pants along with black Prada high heels. The fabric had a beautiful pattern making it look sexy yet discreet which came along a tight fitted black jacket with golden discrete stripes following her curves
¨Don´t make me hit you in the head Maria, this is a gift from me…¨ Miranda said with a tight voice before continuing ¨It´s the least I can do and you will not complain. That´s all¨ she finished while looking up regally and strong as if daring the younger woman to argue
¨Miranda…¨ Mary turned to the white haired woman and waited until she knew the woman was paying attention ¨my family´s happiness is the least you can do which includes yours but thank you¨
¨Maria…¨ Miranda started and cleared her throat
¨What?¨ Mary asked confused and worriedly
¨You´re an ass¨ Miranda finished making the Latina cackle hard enough to turn everyone´s head since their boss was chuckling as well
¨Thank you, I aim to please¨
Miranda rolled her eyes before joining in the laughter and saying ¨You´re lucky you´re Andrea´s best friend…¨ replaying what she´d said the first night they´d met
¨Oh, come on, I thought by now I'd make you hate me¨ the Latina said making Miranda cackle which had everyone in the room almost peeing themselves
-.-.-.-.-
Elise had been knocking nonstop on Mary´s apartment's door and stepped back when said door opened almost making her fall since she´d been about to knock again
¨Do you mind? I was in the bathroom dude!¨ Mary said rolling her eyes before adding ¨You could´ve let me know you were on your way here instead of assaulting my door¨
¨Where would be the fun in that? ¨Elise said smirking while making her way inside along with a man who was chuckling
¨Maria, this is Luke, my ex partner and the finest Interpol agent¨ Elise said shocking Luke who looked at her as if she was crazy at giving away information. Elise rolled her eyes before telling him ¨Have fun¨
Elise had not wanted Luke there mostly since she knew the woman would help either way but she needed to prove him the Latina would not be able to be controlled
Luke didn´t even argue since she´d always been able to make any suspect or person speak but he had needed to see if he could change things; maybe Elise had lost her touch by being away too long.
¨Take a sit and I'll get a coffee for us¨ Mary said while going to the kitchen. She´d not been expecting a man she didn´t know to be there so she decided to play it safe and fidgeted with her phone before joining the others
¨Madam, I have been speaking with my partner here about our operation. You will be answering to me throughout the operation since we are facing dangerous suspects. You are to not engage directly and we will be giving you a specific code and an earpiece to let you hear us while we guide you¨ Luke said professionally
¨What do you mean by dangerous?¨ Mary said neutrally while sipping at her coffee staring at Luke and also Elise through the corner of her eye who seemed to be having fun
¨That is of no importance for you to know; you only need to follow our directions¨ Luke said sipping his coffee
¨I fail to see how it cannot be of importance for me to know given that I will be the one facing them¨ Mary said not missing a beat making Luke raise an eyebrow at her already seeing how fun this woman would be to speak with
¨You will be looked after and safe; we will ensure that madam¨ he said without giving anything away
He actually did understand the woman but it was strange to have a person question so much when being in the victim´s side of the case.
¨That does not settles the fact that I need to know who i´d be facing¨ Mary fired back strongly making Elise smirk into her cup; She had looked the woman up and had found she had no legal studies and it was amusing to see the Latina in action. Even if it was not unheard of people having knowledge about their rights not everyone faced agents this way.
¨Well, if you must know Mr. Deveruox and his uncle have been looked after because of child and human trafficking as well as drug dealing and are considered to be prime suspects by financing perpetrators¨ Luke said strongly and continued ¨So, as Elise´s superior you will be answering to me alone¨
¨Answering to you? You seem to forget I will be the one there and not engaging is not an option; I´ll allow you to listen but if you´re expecting anything else you may as well contact a prepared agent¨ Mary said leaning back with a serious face shocking Luke who looked back to Elise for help who only held her hands in surrender as if saying ¨You try it¨
¨We´ve made you privy of information and let you participate and we can easily take away those privileges if you do not agree. I am your superior from now on until the operation ends¨ Luke said strongly with a no nonsense voice
¨Sir, your job is to catch them whilst mine is protecting my family; feel free to find someone else to be under your thumb because I can reach my goal while helping you or not¨ Mary said simply narrowing her eyes making the word ¨helping¨ stronger
Elise simply sat back letting her ex partner realize he would have to accept the woman´s idea even if he didn´t want to since it´d work anyways and she knew they would not be able to control her
¨Then you´d be going against the law by interfering with an international operation… you either do it our way or face the consequences¨ Luke said smirking
¨Have I agreed or asked for financial retribution for my participation?¨ Mary asked neutrally shocking both of them
¨Uh… No¨ Luke and Elise said together
¨Have I signed a participation agreement paper? ¨ Mary asked simply
¨Uh…¨ Luke stared at Elise who shook her head so he answered ¨No, but we have you recorded agreeing to help¨ he finished strongly. He knew Elise hadn't recorded their talk and yet he needed to get leverage
¨Then you have me recorded to agreeing to an operation without fully informing me the dangers and requirements the operation would need which can easily be taken as a direct endangering to my persona by not providing vital information¨ Mary said with confidence
¨I… Uh…¨ at Luke´s lack of response she continued
¨You´ll find that I cannot be interfering since your operation can also take place without me; I have no official paperwork signed and I cannot avoid interacting with the suspects given my relationship with everyone involved so, even if I tried, it is more than possible for me to be subjected to interact with them even without direct intention¨ Mary said not flinching a bit but shocking Luke and making Elise try and hide a smirk before composing herself to try and help
¨You had spoken to one of our agents before agreeing to be of help to our operation¨ Elise said professionally
¨Had said agent explain the dangers it´d bring me personally by helping?¨ Mary asked quickly pretending it had not been her she´d spoken with
¨Uh… I… ¨ Elise stuttered so Maria simply continued
¨Along with that, you´ll find that my rejection to answer to you gives you an even wider set of options towards succeeding with your operation since you´re welcome to use one of your agents so you´re basically settling for the easiest option given that I´m considered family with the victims of these case¨ Mary said without flinching. She was thanking every single thing she´d read at this point.
¨Well, you´ll find that I have you recorded right now which can be used against you against a court of law though you may ask for a lawyer but one can be given to you if you can´t afford one given your first acceptance to assist¨ Luke said leaning back with a smirk as if he´d won the discussion
¨Well, you´ll find that I also have you recorded right now which can easily make my case stronger given that you´re trying to force me into an operation without being fully informed about of the dangers it could bring to my integrity¨ At Mary´s statement both Elise and Luke stared wide eyed at the Latina who sat with a neutral face. The Latina gave thanks to all above that she´d thought to record the conversation whilst on the kitchen.
¨You said you´d help catch those bastards!¨ Elise said getting worked up even if she understood the woman´s stance. Luke was doing an awful job and she was feeling helpless
¨I did and yet I find myself being put against the wall sort of speak by this gentleman to perform the operation without previous knowledge of its danger or face a court of law given that he started the reading of my Miranda rights at my refusal to answer to him at the realization of how dangerous the operation truly is…¨ Mary said with confidence rendering them speechless for a few minutes
Luke and Elise stared at each other before Luke started laughing making the Latina raise an eyebrow
¨Gosh I thought you´d been exaggerating! ¨ Luke said to an amused Elise before turning to the Latina ¨Are you truly recording?¨
¨Are you?¨ Mary said softly
¨No¨ Luke said realizing he would not be able to lie
¨I´ll let that to your imagination; You´re welcome to leave¨ Mary said softly yet standing up shocking them
¨No wait… Will you help?¨ Elise said worriedly
¨I am not putting my legal stance at stakes for a push and pull with an international matter. I will be making sure ¨MY¨ family is safe though¨ Mary said strongly while putting a strong stance to ¨MY¨ while nodding to Elise letting both agents she had been actually recording everything
¨Wait. Ok, We can get a middle in here¨ Luke said strongly closing the front door Maria had opened
¨I will hear you with my own choice at making you leave at any time; Also I hold your word to accept if I choose to give a negative answer and not hold any legal action if I choose so¨ Mary said strongly
¨Agreed; may we sit¨ Elise said smirking at the younger woman. She´d never seen a person so well informed and was highly impressed; Most people found themselves scared enough to either agree or get their lives ruined and yet this woman was making the best agent the Interpol´s ever had put against the wall. She was highly enjoying this woman´s knowledge
¨We agree.¨ Luke said but added at Mary´s raised eyebrow ¨We agree to not hold any legal action if you decide to decline to help¨
Mary thought about it and decided to hear them out
-.-.-..-.-
I apologize for all the changes that maybe made a lot of alerts for you but having it being read makes it easier for me to hear the errors.
I´m trying to give this chapter another view from the general chapter making sure respect, personal values and knowledge about a person´s worth
I hope that´s ok, i felt it that way
I hope you enjoy!
XD
