Chapter 2

Experiencing the curious feeling of being observed, Nigel raised his head and looked around. His office door was open, but nobody was in the hall. A few minutes later, after returning his focus to his work, he heard a soft noise, followed by a small giggle. Not able to find the source of the disturbance, he stood and looked around. In a corner, behind the curtain, he saw what appeared to be a pair of very small bare feet. Looking up, he saw the shape of a small body as another giggle caught his attention. He approached slowly and moved the curtain.

A pair of beautiful doe eyes looked up at him with curiosity and he blinked, startled, not believing his eyes. A very young yet familiar girl was smiling at him, happy because he had found her secret spot.

"You found me! Should I hide again? Do you want to play with me?"

The art director looked around him, trying to understand where the little girl had come from. She couldn't be more than five years old, so she shouldn't be alone. She was probably someone's daughter, certainly lost in the building. Maybe she had come from another floor, because no one would be so stupid as to bring a child to Runway, unless this person was trying to get fired. He felt a hand pulling the leg of his trousers.

"Have you seen my pink dragon, sir? I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find her."

Trying to decide what to do, he knelt down in front of her. "Hello, little one, I'm Nigel. Could you please tell me your name and how you got here?"

The girl was gorgeous, with pale skin, those beautiful doe eyes, and soft long chestnut hair that curled at the shoulder. The only strange thing was her dress, which seemed to belong to an adult. Looking closer, Nigel gasped, realizing the dress was from the Closet and had been on Andy Sachs' body a few minutes ago. The girl smiled, extending a small hand.

"Hi, my name is Andy Sachs. Do you want to be my friend?"

Nigel rocked back on his heels in shock. Widening his eyes, he noted the girl was in fact a small copy of his best friend. His brain tried to process the information. "What did you say your name was? Are you Andy Sachs' relative? Her niece, maybe?"

The girl chortled. "You're so funny, Uncle Nigel. I'm Andy Sachs. The name of my aunt is Joan and my mommy is Rachel."

Looking at her fingers, she recited, "My father is Richard, my brother is John, and my pink dragon is named Alicia. I also have a dog. Her name is Elise. And my best friends are Doug and Lily. What is your mother's name?"

Nigel stood and took a step back, as if the girl would bite him. She looked at him curiously and walked over to his desk.

"Oh, you have so many pencils and coloring pens. Can I draw something for you? My mommy loves when I draw for her. What do you like? I can make you a flower or a kitty. Do you like kitties?"

Oblivious to Nigel's stunned state, the little brunette in the oversized clothes sat at his desk and picked up a piece of paper. Looking again at the babbling girl, so focused on her task, he noted, for the first time, a necklace resting around her neck: a jade frog.

He closed his eyes but the girl didn't move or disappear. She was just there, acting like a regular five year old girl would in most circumstances. His brain worked fast, trying to understand how on earth his friend could have been transformed into a child, if that was even possible. The amulet hanging around her neck was a clue, but not exactly an explanation.

His inner musings were interrupted by Emily's hysterical voice. "Nigel! Come quickly! There's an unknown person in Miranda's office and I have no idea what to do about it. Andy bloody Sachs decided to disappear just when I need her."

Smiling, the young brunette looked at Emily. "I didn't disappear. I'm right here making a flower for Uncle Nigel. Do you also want to be my friend? I can draw a kitty for you."

Emily covered her mouth to prevent a scream. "Oh. My. God! Another one! This is a disaster!"

Nigel grabbed Emily by the elbow and pushed her into a corner. His nervous whisper was louder than he intended. "Emily, pay attention. Something very strange is happening here and I need you to find Serena immediately!"

The redhead looked at him, then at the girl. "Are you deaf? There's a stranger in Miranda's office completely ignoring me when I try to talk to her. If Miranda comes back, she will fire me. I need to solve this, not run around Runway looking for Serena!"

Emily seemed more nervous than normal, so Nigel decided to spare her what he knew was a huge explanation. Knowing perfectly well that Emily was always calmer when she had a job to do, he gave her some orders.

"First of all, take some deep breaths or you will faint."

As if his voice was a guiding force, she obeyed, regaining her balance.

"Great. That's it, relax. Now, find Serena immediately and I'll deal with whoever is in Miranda's office. Please, bring Serena there as soon as possible. Go! This is really important!"

Emily nodded, casting a last glance at the girl before she left. Nigel passed his right hand over his head in a vain attempt to calm himself. Miranda would kill someone if Andy Sachs was the victim of some kind of spell. Turning at the little girl, he smiled tenderly at her focused effort on the drawing.

"Here, Uncle Nigel, I made a flower for you. Do you like it?"

He approached and accepted the piece of paper. "Oh, thank you, sweetheart," he said, caressing her hair. "It's very beautiful!"

The girl's smile was so big and bright, he could almost swear she really was Andy Sachs. Taking another piece of paper, she offered, "Do you want me to make you a kitty now? I can draw a kitty for you."

"That would be great, sweetie, but first Uncle Nigel needs to solve a problem and I can't leave you here alone. Would you please come with me?"

She thought for a moment and her eyes widened as if she remembered something crucial. "I can go and help you, if you find Alicia. I don't know where I left her and I'm so sad without her."

"Who is Alicia?"

The little Andy Sachs clone took his hand and stood. "My pink dragon! I already told you about it!"

"Oh, your dragon? Come with me and we will look for it together, okay?"

"Okay."

They left his office, crossing the hallway. The oversized dress was dragging on the floor. "Uncle Nigel, where's my mommy?"

Not sure how to respond, he answered absently, "Don't worry, darling. I'm going to take care of you until she comes back."

Apparently accepting the answer, the clone walked by his side. "This place is so beautiful. What is it called?"

"It's called Runway and I work here."

"My dad is a lawyer and my mommy is a teacher. I already visited their workplaces."

Every new piece of information was making him even more worried. Was it a coincidence that this little child who claimed to be Andy had parents who performed the same jobs? The girl looked so much like Andy she could pass as a relative. What was even stranger was the fact that, for someone who never had children, he was very comfortable with the little brunette. Maybe it was because her attitude was so similar to his friend's. She was sweet and talkative, loving all the attention she received. Perhaps this was really Andy Sachs, or he had fallen asleep over his sketches and this was all a very crazy dream. He led the little girl to Miranda's office, but a moment before they crossed the threshold, she stopped suddenly.

"Uncle Nigel, where's Alicia? You told me we would look for her."

Her insistence was very charming, but he had more important problems to deal with now. "Andy, you can't have Alicia now. I promise we will look for her later."

The brunette crossed her arms and refused to move. "But you told me we would find her here. Where is my dragon?" Her small lips curled into a pout as her tears began to fall. "You don't understand! I need my Alicia. I can't sleep without her."

Nigel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Andy, you don't need to cry. If we don't find Alicia, I'll give you another dragon."

She was sobbing now. "But I want my Alicia. What if this other dragon doesn't protect me from my nightmares?"

He was going to insist, but the noise of glass shattering caught their attention, prompting them to enter Miranda's office. Unable to believe his eyes, Nigel froze in place. Another child the same age as Andy was playing in Miranda's chair. The girl pushed on the desk in front of her, spinning in the chair. She was so absorbed in her task she didn't notice their presence. Andy stopped her crying and hid behind Nigel's back, casting a curious glance at the blonde child.

"Look at her, Uncle Nigel. She's a little girl like me."

The girl looked at Andy. "No, I'm not like you. You're such a baby, crying over everything. I'm a big girl."

Andy furrowed her little eyebrows and tapped her foot. "I'm not a baby! I'm a big girl too!"

The girl raised an eyebrow, looking at the little brunette. "If you say so."

The child continued her spinning motion, ignoring her audience. She was wearing a familiar oversized dress and had bright blonde hair and expressive blue eyes. Nigel felt like fainting, as his brain tried in vain to understand the sudden appearance of a second child around the office. This girl too was very similar to someone he knew.

Approaching carefully, he decided to ask the girl, even if deep inside he was afraid of the answer.

"Hello there, sweetheart. Are you here alone? I'm Nigel. What's your name?"

The girl didn't stop playing with the chair as she answered in a soft voice, "I don't know you and my mother said I should never talk to strangers."

Serena and Emily rushed into the office, but Nigel stopped them with a gesture. Smiling shyly, Andy bravely walked toward the other girl.

"My name is Andy. Do you want to be my friend? What's your name?"

The little blonde stopped her spinning and rested her chin on her hand, elbow on the desk, contemplating her companion. "Your name is not Andy, because Andy is a boy's name. It's silly."

Nigel frowned and looked at the other adults to see their reaction. Both women were standing in the doorway, watching in amazement. He could sense they shared the same sense of familiarity.

Despite the little blonde's impertinent tone, Andy insisted, "My name is Andrea, but everybody calls me Andy. I'm a little girl like you, so we could play together, don't you think?"

The other child's bare feet were hanging from the oversized chair and Nigel saw a pair of high heels discarded under the desk.

The girl looked up to Andy again. "I like Andrea more than Andy."

Andy smiled and approached closer, apparently happy to have made a new friend. "So you can call me Andrea. What's your name?"

The child looked around for a moment, as if wondering if it was safe to speak in front of these people. Finally, her attention returned to Andy, who extended her smooth little hand to touch the blonde girl's long hair.

"You have such a beautiful hair. It looks like the sunshine."

The blonde girl was clearly surprised by the touch, but didn't pull away. Looking at Andy with curious eyes, she answered, "My name is Miranda Priestly."

Emily gasped as all blood drained from her face. "Oh. My. God. Could someone explain to me what is happening here? Did she just say her name is Miranda Priestly?"

The blonde girl looked at her with a challenge in her eyes. "Your mother should clean your ears if you can't hear what I say."

Emily widened her eyes in shock, her face pale. "Bloody hell, she is indeed Miranda Priestly!"

Clearly shocked, Serena looked from one girl to another. "Nigel, could you please tell me what's going on here? Is this some kind of joke?"

The bald man turned his back to the children and crossed his arms in annoyance. "If this is a joke, it is the worst I have ever seen. Actually, I asked Emily to find you, because I was hoping you would have a good explanation for this mess." Pointing to the girls behind his back, he added, "After all, it seems to me this is entirely your fault."

The girls were silent, but looking up at them curiously. Emily sat on the couch and put her head between her knees. "Oh, my god. This is not happening. Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs are not in front of me as five year olds. I'm just having a very, very weird nightmare. I love my job. I love my job."

Her mouth hanging open, Serena walked to Nigel. "I don't understand what this is about and why you think I'm responsible for this madness."

Pointing at Andy's neck, he gave her some time to process the information. Serena's features changed from shock to fear. With a horrified frown, she extended a trembling hand in the direction of Andy's neck, but stopped when the girl flinched and hid behind the man's legs.

"Uncle Nigel, why is she looking at me like that? Make her stop!"

Tilting his head, Nigel locked eyes with Serena. "I can see by the look in your eyes that you finally reached the same conclusion I did. The amulet is on the wrong neck, obviously acting upon the wrong people. Now stop looking at the girl like an idiot or you'll scare her."

Serena blinked and looked around frantically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare her, but I'm just… confused. Do you think the amulet is responsible for this?"

He nodded. "Do you have a better idea?"

Emily stared at the girls. "Could anyone here explain to me why I'm looking at miniature replicas of Andy Sachs and Miranda Priestly? And why are you talking about an amulet as if it was an obvious explanation?"

Nigel paced nervously across the room. "Emily, please, not now and not in front of the children. I believe I have a theory about this phenomenon and Serena has a lot to explain to you, but first we need to devise a plan of action to deal with those two."

Now immersed in each other, the girls were not paying attention to them anymore. Andy smiled and Miranda tilted her head. "Miranda, would you like to play with me? We can hide and Uncle Nigel can find us and we can draw and paint and you could help me find Alicia."

Miranda stood up and approached the little brunette. "Who is Alicia?"

Andy rolled her eyes. "My pink dragon. She protects me all the time. You are going to love her!"

Nodding vigorously, little Miranda took one of Andy's hands. "We can play together and look for Alicia, but I won't hide here, because this place is very boring and I don't like these people. Let's find something fun to do. Come with me."

When they turned to leave the office, holding hands, their path was blocked by Nigel's body. "Nobody leaves this room until we have a plan of action."

Pulling Miranda closer to her, Andy smiled sweetly at him. "Uncle Nigel, we just want to play and there's nothing for us to do here. Miranda is right; this place is boring and we really need to find Alicia or I won't sleep at night."

He knelt down in front of them. "Look, I understand this is not a good place for children, but you need to give us some time to decide what to do. Could you please be good girls and sit on that couch for a few moments? We will spend a very fun weekend together, I promise. We are leaving soon, okay?"

The girls looked at each other and nodded. Hand in hand they sat on the couch, even though he could swear he saw a hint of stubbornness in Miranda's eyes. He decided to ignore them for a few minutes so he could collect his thoughts. Turning his attention to Emily, he ordered, "Cancel Miranda's appointments for the day. At least it's Friday, so there shouldn't be any problems."

"But Nigel, she has a full day of meetings and appointments! I can't just cancel! She will kill me!"

Rolling his eyes, he snarled, "And may I ask you what exactly your plan is? Maybe you should call Patrick and ask him to come here now and let her take a look at the pictures for the next issue!"

Emily was sat still on the couch, looking at girls in silence. Miranda tilted her head and inquired, "What's an appointment?"

Miranda's voice, so sweet and unguarded, prompted him to make a decision. "Okay, it seems that I'm the only one thinking straight here, so this is what we are going to do. Emily, you'll clear Miranda's schedule today through the weekend so we can work on this situation. That's an order. Blame me later if you need to."

Turning to the other woman, he continued, "Serena, you'll carefully research the amulet and bring us everything you can find about this frog witchcraft or whatever is related to it. Find me some answers, immediately. I'll call Doug so he can help me with them until we find out how to reverse this situation. In the meantime, I'll take the girls somewhere, feed them, and find them new clothes. We will take care of them."

Andy clapped hands. "Doug is coming here? Yay!"

Turning to Miranda, she smiled. "Oh, Miranda, Doug and Lily are my best friends. We're going to play together and you will be my new best friend. It will be so fun!"

Miranda shook her head. "No, I'm not playing with anybody else, only with you."

Suddenly, Emily stood, startling everyone. "Oh, my God! What about the twins?"

Looking at Miranda, she lowered her voice. "They are scheduled to spend the weekend with their mother. Their father is out of town."

Nigel paced around the room to calm his nerves, then stopped in front of Miranda's desk. "Oh my god, two other children to worry about. Do they have any relatives that could take them for the weekend?"

He had never seen Emily so scared. "I'm afraid not. What are we going to do?"

They looked at each other and Serena murmured, "This is getting better and better. Now what? Four children instead of two? Perfect!"

Looking at the girls, who were obviously confused, Nigel thought about their options. They knew very little about the magic or its aftereffects. Maybe Serena would be able to gather some information to give them a better idea about what to do. Regardless, two five year girls were under their supervision and they would need attention. The twins were a little older, but still, only children. How difficult could it be to take care of four girls? Extending his hand, he announced his decision.

"Emily, give me the townhouse keys."

"What? Are you mad? I won't do that! You know perfectly well how private Mir… our boss is. I don't even want to think about the consequences if we intrude into her home."

He raised an eyebrow. "I don't care! You heard me. I have no place to take them and my apartment is too small to accommodate four children. The townhouse will be a perfect place, considering you and Serena are coming along with us. We'll need all the help we can get."

Serena looked at the girls and then at Nigel. "What's your plan? To raise them? We should look for help. Someone must know what to do to reverse this!"

"What kind of help? Are you out of your mind? This thing, whatever it is, begins here and ends here. You started this mess and involved us, so stop complaining and go find some answers. Something is happening and we are the only ones that know. Look at those girls, they are defenseless, and Uncle Nigel, Uncle Doug, Aunt Serena, and Aunt Emily are going to take care of them! We will do what we do best: we will work as a team, solve this problem, and bring them back to us!"

Taking a step in Serena's direction, he offered her a menacing glare. "We are taking this to the grave, do you hear me?"

Emily and Serena nodded silently after his outburst. Realizing he was yelling, he looked at the girls regretfully. Andy's eyes were wide and Miranda was holding her protectively. Sighing, he approached.

"Sorry for yelling, my darlings. Uncle Nigel is just worried about you, okay?"

Both girls nodded and he sat by their sides. "Look, you don't have to worry because we are going to take care of you. We're are leaving now and we're going to a beautiful big house, where you are going to meet two very special girls. There are lots of toys and games there, so you're going to love it. We're spending the weekend together. It will be so much fun!"

Andy offered him a wide smile, but Miranda looked at him suspiciously. Standing up, he extended his both hands to the girls. "Let's go. We have a long and amazing weekend waiting for us."

Andy promptly reached for his hand and smiled at Miranda, who slowly stood. Nigel offered his other hand, but she refused, taking Andy's little hand instead of his. Sighing, he thought that even as a child, Andy was still the only person Miranda truly trusted.

….

TBC