A/N: So sorry for the wait: Here a last before trip chapter. Afterwards the journey will start (and the chapters will be longer :D ) Thank you all so much for the reviews and ideas! Will try to incorporate as many as possible!

Around the world and back again

Chapter 4

Oh the Phone

The next morning Andrea woke up to a pounding head. Moaning piteously, she turned away from the offending sunlight peaking in between the half-closed curtains, struggling to regain a logical flow of thoughts while wondering since when her blanket became so heavy. And what the hell was this stupid, insistent noise disturbing the sacred silence of her bedroom?

Slowly words and images filtered through cotton-like something that was once her brain. Mojito… more Mojito… shots… laughter… Cocktails… more shots… Okay, so alcohol would explain her current situation. Very well… First riddle solved. Andrea congratulated herself.

So, she was out, celebrating. With a spectacled man in a hideously expensive suit… Ceasar?... No, wrong name. Puck?... No, doesn't sound right either. Something with N… Nitti, Nicholas… NIGEL! That was it! She grinned at her excellent feat of morning genius and pierced further information provided by her memory together. There were three more persons present. And Doug… wait, Doug? When exactly did her ex-friend join the group? Whatever…

So there was Nigel, Doug… Another man who was called something rhyming with Boy… Troy? No, too many letters… Dropping the T, she finally gave him the name Roy… for now… could be she was wrong. The two women next… Something English… Victoria? Nah… Elizabeth? Neither, although she had a vague memory of someone singing God save the Queen. Emily! Of course… and her witch, eehhr wife… Serena! There you go…

Nigel, Doug, Roy, Emily, Serena… Yes, that made sense. Her former co-workers and Happy Hour. Celebrating their last day at Runway. Again Andrea couldn't help but grin at the hazy memories of carefree behaviour. They had started at the Golden Sunset, went somewhere in the middle and ended in her apartment, where the rest decided to stay over… The ringing started again and the handover mess that made up the young woman batted her hand in the direction of where it had its origin. Her fingers brushed over her phone and lazily she turned it over, so she could see what the emergency was. Squinting her eyes Andrea read: "Incoming call: Mir…"

"Oh Fuck!" The young woman leaped on her feet, causing Emily and Serena, who had been snuggled up on her side, to wake up groggily. Before she could answer, the call had already ended. Andrea stood petrified in the middle of her bedroom, in a pair of old boxers and her Nordwestern hoodie, with the worst bedhair ever and stared unbelieving at the screen. It was Emily's "Whatthebloodyhell?" that made her turn around to the half-awake pair.

"I missed a call from Miranda." Total silence. "Correction…" Andrea became even paler. "I missed three fucking calls from Miranda…" She met Emily's wide eyes. "She is going to kill me."

They just nodded, when, suddenly, the phone started ringing again. "Should I…?" Andrea looked beseechingly at both stunning women, hoping they would immediately come up with a plan to safe her. "Take the bloody call!" Serena winced at her wife's screech. Hitting the green button, Andrea stumbled over Nigel sleeping on the floor.

"Miranda?" She managed to breath out without stuttering.

"Honestly Andrea, is it too much to ask for my PERSONAL assistant to pick up their phone the first time I call? Obviously you have already forgotten everything you learned at Runway, in little over 12 hours? If this is any indication of what your work ethic will be on this job, than we will probably never leave this country or end up getting lost in the middle of a desert." Miranda's rant continued while Andrea scrambled over to her desk to get her notebook and pen. Scribbling down all instructions that poured through, she finally got one thing: Her Karma was real bad…

******Scene Break******

It had been a week since that first morning under Miranda's new employ. The older woman had Andrea running around practically 24/7 and when she wasn't on her feet, organizing one or the other thing for the upcoming trip, she poured over maps and traveling guides, figuring out the best route through Europe. The nearby bookshop had been bought out of every travel material they had available, and she maxed out her library card. Still, it had taken her two days to figure out what country to visit before France, as most of them really offered more than you could see in "a few days".

The solution had come in form of a skype call at 3 a.m. It had been months since she talked with Jo, but as the smiling face popped up in the middle of her screen, Andrea had almost screamed in joy. She had answered and the first question had been: "Do you still organize visiting tours?" Luck was for once on her side and the twenty-five year old agreed to work out a five day visit in her home country. Part of the burden pushed off, Andrea had focused on getting the appropriate clothing ready (Thank heaven for still generous designers), getting a tutor (hiring Serena and Doug for the job… Payback for the fun they made of her, when the memories of their celebration night came back), and getting a flight.

It was yesterday, when she finally got the OK for using Miranda's 'dear friend' Donatella's private jet, that Miranda had called and confused the hell out of her younger employee. Andrea still chuckled when she thought of that conversation:

Flashback

"Miranda." Andrea had answered her phone, while still typing her reply to Donatella's assistant.

"Andrea. How are you? Did you manage to work out everything for our journey?" Miranda's voice sounded off and her attempt at small talk let Andrea freeze immediately.

"I…I…I'm fine Miranda. I just organized our flights, the twins lesson plans were send over this morning by their school. Patricia will be brought back from her pre-journey trim in 30 minutes and…" She started to give Miranda a rundown of everything, thinking that maybe her boss was worried about the organization, when she was interrupted by a strange prolonged murmuring on the other side. Gathering her courage, she asked:

"Could you repeat that, Miranda? The connection must be…"

"I bought a jet." The answer was almost whispered and filled with a strange emotion that took Andrea a long moment to identify. Miranda sounded… guilty?

"You bought a jet." She parroted back.

"Yes. I bought a jet." Andrea really wanted to ask if Miranda was sick… But she was just too stunned.

"I… Well… Donatella's… Erhm… Okay." When no reproval for her stuttering came, she continued: "Is everything alright, Miranda?"

"Yes. I just bought a jet." Andrea was decide whether to call Miranda's doctor or the ambulance. "I thought it would make things… easier… for you." Apologetic Miranda was definitely even scarier than guilty Miranda.

"Yes… It… Okay…" Andrea took a deep breath. "That's great. Roy will be able to fly it. Will you send me over the information please?" Focusing on work, calmed both of them down, and soon her boss was back to firing orders, with her happily scrabbling them down.

So, in a few hours, the world trip would begin. Closing her laptop for the last time and going mentally a last time over her checklist, she fell into bed with the words:

"Luxembourg… here we come."

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