"I can't believe it has been two months since I started working as Andrea's assistant." Miranda thought as she walked into work. "Time really does fly." Just like every single day of those two months, Emily receives her warning text from Roy, Nigel warns the office in his colorful wording, and just like always the quiet moment right before the elevators dings, and then right back to work.
Miranda is sitting at her desk when the quiet call of "Miranda" is heard. She looks up wide eyed at Emily, who is just as shocked. Soon a louder "Miranda" is heard coming from inside Andrea's office. Miranda scrambles around her desk and rushes into the office. "Yes Andrea."
Andrea doesn't look up from the pictures she is holding, "You are with me for the show today. Call David and let him know we will be there at 11:45 sharp." Andrea looks up with the smirk on her face, "that's all."
Miranda is in a slight daze as she walks back to her desk. She flops down into her seat. "Well what did she want?" Emily whisper-yelled.
"She is taking me to David's show."
"She is taking you to the show. Today's show." Emily said skeptically.
"Yes. That's what she said." Miranda looks up at Emily, "What do I do at the show? Who will be there? What happens there?"
"Whoa whoa. I don't want to deal with your problems. Go find Nigel. He will be at the show. Go bother him." Emily said with a sniff and a flick of her hand. Miranda stands up and walks off to find Nigel.
She finds him very quickly. He is, of course, in the closet. "Are you ever going to come out of the closet?" Miranda asks with a smirk.
"Mir! What are you doing here?" Nigel says with a smile. "And only I decide when to come out of the closet. It is pretty comfy in here, plus all these clothes! What's not to love in the closet?"
"Andrea is taking me to David's show."
"What? When did that happen?"
"Just now. She called me into her office, by my name, and told me I was going with her."
"Wow Mir. You're growing up so fast." Nigel wipes away a nonexistent tear.
"Oh shut up. Now tell me, what goes on at a show and what am I expected to do?"
"Well we go and watch what the designer has to offer. They will model the clothing for us, but you only glance at the clothing, what you need to focus on is Andrea. Andrea has three signs. One: nothing. If she doesn't do anything then the piece is acceptable. That is what she does most of the time. Two: she will nod. That means she loves it. There are very few nods that I have ever seen and I have been working with Andrea for years. Finally three, this is the most important one. If she purses her lips then the piece is awful. If a piece gets the pursed lips then it basically couldn't be sold at Target." Nigel says very seriously.
"Ok, so three signs: nothing, nod, and pursed lips. Got it. Now, what exactly am I supposed to be doing?"
"You, my dear, are there to watch and learn. If Andrea wants you there then she has some reason for it. I would be taking notes. Real close notes."
"Got it. Notes. Ok." Miranda runs her hand through her short grey hair.
"Nothing to worry about." Nigel says with a smile. "You will be fine, promise."
"Ok. Yeah. Fine." Miranda says distractedly. "I'll just go back to my desk. Call David. And um do something."
"Good plan." Nigel says with fake seriousness. Miranda turns and walks slowly out of the closet in a slight daze. "Poor girl. Probably scared out of her mind." A smile slowly spreads across his face, "This ought to be fun."
—
Soon 11:15 rolls around and Andrea flies out of her office. "Bag." She extends her hand towards Miranda, who then scrambles to get her bag out of the side closet. As soon as Andrea has her bag in hand, she is walking off towards the elevator with Miranda following closely behind. Once they reach the elevators Andrea steps in, Miranda stops to wait for the next one. Andrea smirks and raises and eyebrow, "Well? Are you just going to stand there or are you going to get in?"
"O-oh well, uh…" Miranda stutters and awkwardly shuffles into the elevator.
"No use in you waiting for the next one, then I would end up waiting for you at the bottom." Andrea says casually.
"Of course Andrea." Miranda says slightly confused. They ride down in complete silence. However both of their thoughts are flying a mile a minute.
"Did she just explain herself? I thought Andrea never explained herself? And she is sharing the elevator? What is with that? I'm going to have to talk to Nigel…She does smell nice. I don't think I have ever been this close to her. I wonder what perfume she wears..." Miranda shakes her head in confusion.
Similar thoughts are going through Andrea's mind. "Oh god… I explained myself. Why? Just because she has pretty eyes doesn't mean you have to go all soft on her! She is your assistant! You are Andrea freaking Sachs! You don't explain yourself. But she does have really pretty eyes… No! You do not explain yourself. You do not share your elevator! And just because she has really pretty eyes, eyes that you can just drown in for days… no. She does not get special treatment!" Eyes hard and a firm nod of her head, Andrea straightens her stance and waits for the elevator to reach the ground floor.
Ding! The elevators doors slides open and Andrea rushes out. She fishes her sunglasses out of her bag and slides them on. She quickly walked out the door and into her town car that Roy had ready and waiting for her.
Miranda was following quickly behind, but once she reached the car she slowed to a stop. "Uh… Andrea?"
Andrea sighs, "I'm going to regret this." She glances over, "Get in. We are going to be late at this rate." Miranda stands shocked for a second. "Come on already. I don't like to be kept waiting." With that Miranda rushes into the car with a gulp.
—
The car ride over to David's studio was filled with a tense silence. Miranda sat in confusion, while Andrea berated herself over being nice. They couldn't arrive quick enough. Once they arrived Andrea fled the car much like she had done with the elevator.
Andrea was still able to keep the perfect look of the renowned fashion editor, even after a tense drive, with New York traffic no less. Once they were inside, a small group gathered and sat down behind Andrea, with a simple flick of her hair, she was able to capture everyone's attention. And she did have everyone's attention, even though it was David's show, Andrea was all the small group could focus on.
Miranda followed along with the group. She studied Andrea closely as the different outfits were shown. She watched as each piece received the same judgement, acceptable. Once Andrea made her decision on the piece, Miranda allowed herself to look at the clothing. Some of the pieces were just breathtaking, and they still received that same, a blank face of acceptable. Then it happened. The final piece was being shown, and Andrea pursed her lips. Immediately David started making excuse about "how it wasn't finished yet" or "how he was rushed to get it done in time for the show" Andrea still pursed her lips.
"Come Miranda. We are done here." Andrea stood up and started walking out. She pauses when she was beside David, "Fix it." And then she was gone.
—
Andrea exhales slowly as she sits down in her chair in her home office. She takes a healthy sip of her wine and relaxes into her chair. "Well today was interesting. I can't believe I'm letting her get to me. I don't know what I'm going to do…" With a sigh Andrea opens up the Book and starts editing.
Before she realizes it, two hours has gone by and so has a bottle of wine. Andrea sits up with a groan, "I'm going to have to go to a chiropractor. All this hunching over is killing my upper back and neck. Mmmm, I'll text Miranda and let her know to make me an appointment." She fumbles around looking for her phone. "Aha! Here is the bloody sucker! Mkay… 'Miranda, I need you to set up an appointment with my chiropractor as soon as possible, please. My neck is killing me.' annnnd send. Alright now that is taken care of, I will head off to bed." Andrea looks around the room, "And maybe someday I will stop talking to myself, maybe I need to get me a pet… maybe a cat, I like cats..."
Across the city, Miranda's phones goes off. "What on earth is someone texting me at this hour. I swear if that is Cassidy again I will take her phone for a month!" Miranda puts down her book and walks over to the dresser to check her phone, "Oh, it's from Andrea. How strange of her to text me at this hour, or well how strange of her to text me at all." Miranda shakes her head.
She quickly reads over the text, "she said please! Please! I wonder what has gotten into her… First she shares her elevator, then her car, now a please! Why is she being sooo not Andrea, so… well, nice? It's a little nice to see this side of Andrea. And it is a little nice that she is just doing it for me." Miranda thinks with a small smile. "Admit it, you like it." A small voice whispers in the back of her head. Miranda laughs nervously, "No, it's just late and it has been rather stressful at the office with the deadline approaching soon. And she is probably just tired, it was a long day with the show and everything. I know I am tired so I am sure she must be tired as well. That's all. Just tired. There is nothing more to it." Miranda says firmly. "And I am talking to myself, I really must be tired." And with that final thought Miranda returns to bed and picks up her book to finish the chapter before getting some much needed sleep. "Only 303 more days."
Ending Notes: Hey guys! I am trying to update as soon as I finish the chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews! Reviews make my day and make me write faster! ~NinjahMonkey