Mrs. Priestly -- final chapter!
Title: Mrs. Priestly - The Seduction of Andrea Sachs
Fandom: The Devil Wears Prada/The Graduate
Rating/Genre: PG-13/femslash, crossover, AU
Characters/Pairing: Andy Sachs, her parents, Miranda Priestly, Elaine Robinson; Miranda/Stephen (briefly) Andy/Elaine (briefly), Andy/Miranda.
Summary: Andy shouldn’t have gone to that party where she finally met her favorite writer aka the daughter of Miranda Priestly. And yet, this new acquaintance proved to be useful when Miranda demanded an impossible thing… And then there’s Paris, and it looks like things are blowing up in Andy’s face. Will she lose Miranda forever?
Word count: 5 407
Beta readers: flyhiwithme2 and gabe12347 have kindly spent their time correcting this chapter. Their (including mxrolkr) support and advice throughout the process are much appreciated! <3
Spoilers/Warnings: It could maybe be considered a little spoilery for The Graduate, except that some major events are “re-invented” and other things added./No
Notes: The Graduate is a great movie but it has some major faults: Ben is not a girl (Mrs. Robinson/OFC, anyone?) and he made some bad choices… So that’s why I decided to turn it into a Mirandy fic! This patchwork is so crossed over that you can probably see the stitches, it has been fun to write, and it should be totally readable even if you haven’t seen The Graduate -- also note that this is pretty much AU when it comes to some details: Stephen is the twins’ biological father and his name is Priestly; he is an old friend of Andy’s father and Andy has known both of them her whole life before she starts working at Runway. Also, Nate isn’t in it! And for the rest, well… it’s in the fic. ;)
Notes2 This turned out to be much more dragged out than what I thought when I started it... Thank you all for your comments on the previous parts and for sending me encouraging messages during the hiatus. Your interest and support really mean a lot! This is, finally, the end and I hope you’ll like it!
“Look at you; you’re a vision. Thank God I saved your job.”
It was late and Andy was going home one night when Elaine Robinson was suddenly standing right before her. Elaine smiled as if she was genuinely happy to see her.
“Oh,” Andy mumbled, “ha ha…”
Andy didn’t know what to say. Elaine may not like that she had saved not only Andy’s job, but perhaps also her relationship with Miranda.
Well…if it could be called a relationship, since they weren’t even having sex anymore. Sometimes Andy thought about giving up, leaving Runway and Miranda, even leaving the city, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not as long as Miranda seemed to want her as her assistant, not as long as she caught Miranda looking at her in that way every so often. It wasn’t over.
Miranda had been a mystery to her right from the start. There was something appealing, after all, in a mystery. She was sure that Miranda had pursued her for a reason. And how could someone be so distant and cold, and yet so smoking hot in bed? There was something in Miranda that needed Andy, she was sure of it, even if Miranda didn’t understand it herself.
But Elaine looked at her like someone who wouldn’t be distant. Quite the opposite; she looked very, very interested. And yet, Andy wasn’t so sure that she really liked her.
“I guess you’re seeing someone,” Elaine said. “If it weren’t for that, I’d have to whisk you away here and now.”
“Do you actually say things like that to people?”
Yes. Elaine was the kind of person who actually did say things like that to people. Andy wouldn’t have thought that she was Elaine’s type. What was she? Just a bookworm after all, and Elaine was so successful and confident, but the woman just didn’t stop smiling at her. Then she talked about the pieces Andy had sent to her, of which she had read a few, and Andy was flattered by the compliments.
“So are you seeing anyone?” Elaine insisted. “You never really answered when I asked you before and you can’t blame me for asking, can you?”
Andy told herself again that it wasn’t over with Miranda. Or maybe it was? Was she just being pigheaded and stupid? If Miranda didn’t say that she wanted her, how could Andy believe that she did?
“I am,” Andy began, “or…I mean, I was… Like I told you before, it’s complicated, because the woman I’ve been seeing, she’s…”
“Oh, I get it,” Elaine said and Andy’s heart almost stopped before she went on, “you’ve been seeing a married woman, haven’t you? An older, supposedly straight woman with a husband?”
Andy nodded insecurely. She could admit that much, couldn’t she?
“Don’t worry.” Elaine laughed. “It happens to the best of us. But you know, being with a married woman won’t do you any good in the long run. You know that, don’t you?”
She had tried to kiss Miranda the night before when she dropped off the Book but Miranda didn’t let her.
“Yes, maybe I do,” she replied.
“Good,” Elaine grinned, “Now that that’s settled, tell me, are you coming to Paris? I’m profiling Gaultier for the Interview and making my Paris plans, I found myself wondering if you were going to be there. I’m staying in a fantastic little hotel in the seventh…”
“I’m sorry, I’ll be too busy working…”
“Oh, come on, I’m sure you’ll be free to have dinner with me at least one night.”
Andy had never been to Paris and she would have loved to explore the city guided by Miranda. But if that wasn’t going to happen, why not spend an evening with someone who obviously liked her?
“Yeah,” she said, “maybe. I don’t know, we’ll see.”
***
Paris was nice. Or at least she thought so, judging from what she could see from the hotel windows and from the car. That wasn’t much. A glimpse of the Eiffel tower, the sound of French voices… Paris was Fashion Week. It was work. It was following Miranda doing whatever Miranda wanted, just like always.
It doesn’t matter where in the world we are, Andy said to herself, life will always be like this. Isn’t Paris supposed to be the city of love and romance? Can’t Miranda feel it, or does she just not feel anything for me?
Andy tried to ask her. She came to Miranda’s room one evening and Miranda let her in but didn’t want to talk.
“Tell me what you want from me,” Andy insisted, “what is this game we’re playing?”
Miranda’s eyes were red and tired, almost as if she had been crying, and she wrapped her grey robe tighter around her body.
“There is no game,” she said. “Andrea, I really don’t want to talk about this. It’s as simple as that. I have a lot of important things on my mind, like the luncheon tomorrow. We need to rearrange the seating chart. When we’re done, you can go. You’re young, go out and enjoy the city.”
“But,” Andy said as she took out a pen and her notebook for the last minute changes Miranda wanted to do, “I’ve never been in Paris before. I’d much rather explore it with you.”
“The point is,” Miranda said as if she hadn’t heard, “we really need to figure out where to place Donatella, because she’s barely speaking to anyone.”
Andy didn’t say anything more.
Elaine called Andy when she had left Miranda, saying that Andy owed her for Harry Potter, so why not have dinner?
Yes, why not? Andy met Elaine at a beautiful restaurant with excellent food and a lot of really good wine. Elaine’s eyes were warm and she was full of mischievous humour that Andy enjoyed, except when Elaine started talking about what a devilish boss her mother was.
To Elaine’s astonishment Andy tried to defend Miranda, but they soon decided to agree to disagree and dropped the subject. After a few awkward moments, filled with quite a lot of that delicious red wine that just kept coming to their table, everything felt good again. Andy enjoyed the sweet giddy feeling that was spreading through her body, making it tingle. Was it the wine? Was it Elaine’s eyes? Was it the cool night breeze, the magic of Paris?
“I never knew it was this beautiful,” Andy said when they were walking through the city after dinner.
It was dark and garlands of light were wrapped around the trees and they were alone on the street. Andy took a swing around a street light, smiling, and then Elaine’s lips met hers.
She feels so different from Miranda, Andy thought, but the hunger is the same…
She tried to pull away, there was a little voice in the back of her head that told her that she shouldn’t give in. But then she gave in anyway, she stopped fighting the hunger - Elaine’s, but also the hunger of her own heart, her wish to be wanted.
***
Andy woke up the next morning in an empty bed.
Had it been a good night? She wasn’t sure. Yes, there had been excitement, there had been pleasure, but both of them had been too drunk. Andy blinked, her eyes still heavy with sleep, and realized that she had never been drunk with Miranda. One glass of wine at the most, but she used to be drunk on love and arousal and always wide awake, thoroughly enjoying every moment. The nights with Miranda were always good, it was the mornings and sometimes the evenings, too, that could be improved. That should improve.
She tumbled out of bed, wondering what she was doing there, and as she was gathering her clothes that had been strewn across the room she knocked over a pile of stuff. Elaine’s hotel room wasn’t exactly tidy but Andy reached out instinctively trying to pick up the things she had spread out and, in doing so, saw a cardboard divider with a Runway cover.
That was strange… more than strange. It smelled of something suspiciously deceitful and Andy felt something cold run down her spine.
Elaine chose that moment to walk out of the shower, smiling.
“What the hell is this?” Andy waved the cover in Elaine’s direction, desperately hoping for an innocent and believable explanation.
Elaine looked at her as if she was surprised to hear such a stupid question.
“What does it look like? It’s a mock-up of what American Runway will look like when Jacqueline Follet is the new editor-in-chief.”
Andy stared at her in disbelief. Elaine sounded like it was the most natural thing in the world, as if Runway could get a new editor-in-chief just like the trees got new leaves in the spring.
“They’re replacing Miranda?”
That was what it seemed like but Andy had to ask anyway, just in case it was some kind of bad joke.
“Yeah.” Elaine looked like she couldn’t be more pleased with herself. “And Jacqueline’s bringing me in to run all the editorial content.”
Andy felt her thoughts begin to chase each other and then stand still. Her mind went blank when she tried to get a hold on them. Elaine had a better view than what she had in her room. Through the windows she could see the Eiffel tower. In front of her she could see Elaine, half naked, still wet from the shower and wrapped in a towel.
Andy could only stare at her, wondering how on earth it had happened that she had let herself be seduced by two women of the same family, two women who didn’t even like each other but who, apparently, both liked her.
Yes, because Miranda had brought her and not Emily to Paris. Surely that must mean something? Once again Andy asked herself what she was doing so far away from Miranda.
“You’re really surprised?” Elaine seemed surprised by Andy’s empty stare. “Jacqueline is a lot younger than Miranda, she has a fresher take on things. And she does the same thing for a lot less money and Irv’s a businessman, you know.”
“He can’t do that to her,” Andy said, finding her voice again, she just wished she could use it to tell Irv Ravitz what she thought of him, rather than Elaine.
“It’s done,” Elaine insisted as if she was talking to an unreasonable child. “Andy, it’s done. Baby, it’s done.”
“I’m not your baby,” Andy hissed, “but Miranda is your mother, how can you let them do this to her? You know what Runway means to her!”
Elaine dropped her towel and began to get dressed, without looking at Andy, as if she thought the discussion was ended, as if she didn’t even think she had to explain herself.
Andy didn’t leave. She wanted an answer. She could take uncomfortable silences, but could Elaine?
“Miranda doesn’t give a shit about me,” Elaine said after a while, “so why should I care about her?”
Is that the best excuse you can think of? Andy didn’t say it out loud, but she couldn’t believe that a woman could do such a thing to her own mother.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Andy tried, “I’m sure she cares about you. She’s your mother.”
“I don’t have a mother,” Elaine snorted, “I have a dad, and that’s all. Miranda sent money when I was younger and she came to see me once a year, or less, with the twins. You know, when I was their age, I used to ask her to let me come and stay with her but she only let me come twice - once when I was ten years old, that’s when you and I met the first time in case you’ve forgotten, and once when the twins were babies. As far as I’m concerned she’s their mother, not mine.”
Andy had to admit that she could see Elaine’s point, in a way. If her own mother had more or less walked out on her when she was little, wouldn’t she be bitter, too? Quite possible that she would. But would she really seek revenge - because that was what it looked like to her - instead of trying to reconcile, when they were both adults and successful professionals? Andy knew well enough that Miranda wasn’t easy but she did love the twins, she knew that. And if she was ready to give Miranda one more chance, why couldn’t Elaine?
“I understand,” Andy said, “and I’m sorry… but that doesn’t give you the right to do this to her. I won’t let you!”
“Why do you care anyway?” Elaine sniffed, obviously thinking that Andy was ridiculous. “No one’s that loyal to their boss, especially when she’s such a dragon. Miranda doesn’t care about anybody and nobody cares about her, her little brats excepted…”
“That’s not true, Miranda’s not a dragon, she’s an amazing and admirable woman and she’s the woman I…”
Andy could have bitten her tongue off when she realized that she was about to say too much, but it was too late.
Elaine’s eyes went wide; disbelief and horror fought for dominance in her face. Andy’s face was apparently too readable.
“Oh my god, you’re fucking her. She’s the one you’re ‘sort of seeing’… That’s why you care so much.”
Indeed, that was why Andy cared. If by ‘fucking’ Elaine meant ‘madly in love with.’
“Elaine, let me explain…”
Elaine stared at her, shocked.
“You’re fucking my mother! That’s insane.”
Is it really? Andy asked herself. She had thought about the age difference in the beginning, when she still thought of Miranda as ‘Mrs. Priestly,’ her parents’ friend’s wife, but then she stopped, for a long time, thinking at all about the fact that she was with someone so much older.
That is, until Elaine showed up, in both her conversations with Miranda and with her parents, and then in person.
“I thought you said she’s not a mother to you.”
“That’s not the point!”
The roles were suddenly reversed. It was no longer Andy who accused Elaine of betrayal but the other way around. Of course she could understand Elaine’s reaction and she felt that she had made the biggest mistake of her life by coming to her hotel room the previous night.
On the other hand, if she hadn’t done it she wouldn’t have known about the plan Elaine was a part of and now that she knew about it she could warn Miranda…
“This was a mistake,” she said, “I’m leaving now.”
***
Andy tried and tried to talk to Miranda but the editor was too busy to talk to her assistant, or even look at her. The big place full of golden decorations and flowers everywhere - but no freesias - began to feel like a nightmare labyrinth.
‘Baby, it’s done,’ Elaine had said, but Andy thought that if she could tell Miranda at once, the situation could be fixed. She knocked on Miranda’s door, knocked again and again. As if she were in a fever induced nightmare, Miranda didn’t appear to hear a word she said, just looked at her as if she were insane, trying to interrupt her important meeting.
Then, at the luncheon, Miranda went up to the stage and gave her speech. It was only then that Andy realized that the reason why Miranda didn’t care about the warnings was because they were unnecessary. Miranda already knew, she had fixed it on her own, and Jacqueline Follet was no longer threatening her position.
Even this, Andy thought when they sat in the car together when it was over, even this evil scheme could she handle and avoid. If she can do everything on her own, what does she need me for at all?
They sat in silence in the car; they didn’t look at each other. When the silence was about to become unbearable, Miranda finally spoke:
“You thought I didn’t know.”
It wasn’t a question. Her tone of voice was hard to decipher but Andy had learned to read her. Wasn’t there a small smile on Miranda’s face?
“Yes,” she said, “but you seemed to be well prepared…I only happened to find out because…your daughter…”
Andy didn’t know what to think of the whole thing, and Miranda’s voice didn’t reveal any emotions beyond resignation as she said:
“Well, it doesn’t come as a surprise for me that Elaine doesn’t have any warmer feelings towards me and why should she have?”
She paused, and there was a spark of warmth in her voice, “But I was rather impressed by how intently you tried to warn me.”
“Why shouldn’t I have? Miranda, you know, you must know that I would do anything for you because I…”
Their eyes met and Andy was going to say the words for the first time when Miranda’s cell phone rang. Andy hesitated as if the signal was the presence of someone who could but shouldn’t hear her and Miranda’s hand went to the phone to pick it up and answer.
“Hello Elaine,” she said and Andy’s hand that was moving towards Miranda’s leg to caress the words she didn’t speak froze halfway when she heard what Miranda said.
“Is who with me? ... And who, if I may ask, might your ‘girlfriend’ be? I don’t have time to… Oh. I see. That explains how she knew what you were up to. Yes, she’s here.”
Miranda lowered the phone and handed it to Andy without looking at her.
“Your girlfriend wants to talk to you.”
Andy took the phone and disconnected the call.
“No, Miranda, she’s not my girlfriend, you are! That is, if you want to be. Sometimes I don’t think so. But you were the one who seduced me…”
“I did,” Miranda nodded, “because it amused me to sleep with you and you seemed to think so, too. But clearly you prefer a younger edition.”
“No, Miranda!” Andy was horrified, and suddenly Miranda’s behaviour made sense to her. And at the same time, it did not make any sense at all. “No, that’s not what I want. Look, it’s not what you think, I can explain.”
“Andrea,” Miranda said as coldly as only she could say things, “the reasons behind your betrayal don’t interest me. Did I not tell you to stay away from Elaine?”
Wow, Andy thought, what a mess I’ve made! But it’s her fault, too. And if she’s hurt, for real, that means that she cares and that means that we may actually have a chance…
“You did,” Andy agreed, “but it was kind of hard as she kept showing up and doing me favors, and your husband didn’t make it any easier by telling my parents that I had to go out with her. What was I supposed to say? ‘No, I can’t, I’m already fucking her mother’…”
“Andrea, be quiet. I’m not interested in your petty excuses.”
“But Miranda,” Andy could no longer stop the tears from flooding, “if only you hadn’t - I don’t care about her. If you just let me tell you…”
“Did I not make myself clear?” Miranda cut her off with her voice of steel. “You don’t have anything further to say that is of interest to me. Get out.”
Right then, the car stopped.
“Miranda, please!”
“That’s all.”
Andy knew that no one could argue with Miranda after her ‘that’s all,’ and suddenly that seemed ridiculous to her. What gave Miranda the right to end every discussion like that? But it was Miranda’s right, according to everybody who knew her, and although Andy understood that Miranda was shocked and hurt, she was angry, and she opened the car door.
“Fine,” she said, “that’s all, then, Miranda!”
She slammed the door behind her and started walking away. Miranda went out of the car, too, but not to follow Andy. She didn’t look back; she was met and greeted by journalists and other people who would no doubt be thrilled to witness a lovers’ fight, but no such luck. Andy and Miranda went their separate ways in Paris without creating any headlines.
Not until then did Andy notice that she still held Miranda’s cell phone in her hand. It started ringing, and Andy thought that it was probably Elaine and Elaine was the last person on the face of the earth she wanted to talk to. Without thinking any further, she threw the cell in a fountain.
Doing that made her feel a little better, and she smiled. But only until she started crying, and then she thought that she was never going to be able to stop.
***
Andy had made a fool of herself in Paris by walking away; everybody said so, even if they had no idea why she had done it. Everybody but Miranda said so, because she didn’t even speak to Andy anymore. And Andy knew it, too, but there was nothing she could do. How did it all happen so quickly?
She only wanted to help Miranda, because she cared about her, and by doing so perhaps proving herself worthy of the other woman’s love. She never meant to sleep with Elaine, it just happened, but Miranda Priestly was not a woman who could tolerate that anything at all ‘just happened,’ even if - or perhaps because - Elaine and her first marriage had just ‘happened’ to her…
This was different, she would say, and sure, she was right. But Andy wouldn’t have done it if she had believed that Miranda really cared about her or her feelings. Hadn’t she, in fact, even said that she didn’t care? Maybe not in so many words, but that was exactly the point - if Miranda never said what she wanted, how was Andy supposed to know? Knowing her every wish as an assistant was one thing, but knowing as a lover was different.
Miranda, Andy said repeatedly to herself, is so stupid for not understanding any of this.
But the more Andy thought about it, the more she realized that she had been equally stupid.
She already knew that Miranda wasn’t really a goddess or the Queen of the Universe. She knew that Miranda was a woman of flesh and blood with a beating heart full of emotions, just like any other woman. She knew it. She just hadn’t thought it through properly.
Not until it seemed to be too late did it all fall into place, and she could see some logic in everything Miranda had said and done ever since Elaine Robinson first became an issue between them.
Miranda was an incredibly beautiful woman and amazing in every way, but her own daughter was also beautiful and successful, and a lesbian, and she was Andy’s age.
Did Miranda look into her mirror sometimes at night not seeing her own stunning reflection in it, but Elaine’s brown eyes?
Youth and beauty always wins, no matter how sexy and seductive the older woman thinks she is. In the end, her young lover always leaves her, leaving her nothing but old, bitter and lonely…at least, that’s what all the stories seem to say.
Miranda, Andy finally understood, had not been able to trust her own power over Andy’s heart and that’s why she hadn’t tried hard enough; her way of fighting what she believed was unavoidable had been the wrong way. By harsh words, commands instead of explanations, silence instead of the questions she was afraid to ask, she had acted her part only too well, making Elaine the princess and herself the dragon.
So, eventually, Andy had it all figured out. The only question was what she was going to do about it.
She didn’t know. There was no way back now, the doors of Runway were going to remain as closed as Miranda’s stubborn heart had seemed to be. Miranda didn’t return any of her calls, just like Andy didn’t return Elaine’s calls and they soon stopped coming.
Then she thought that maybe ignoring Elaine was the wrong approach. She had been a fool not to resist Elaine’s seduction, yes, but she could also see that she had treated Elaine badly too by not being honest with her
She walked around in her parents’ house, brooding day out and day in until they finally lost their patience and told her that she had to do something with her life.
“Yes,” she agreed, only listening to half of the things they said, “I can’t just sit here and wait. And I’ll never make her understand unless I do something radical. I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
Her parents choked on their morning coffee.
“What?” Her mother stared at her in disbelief. “Who are you going to propose to?”
Andy realised that she had said too much but it was too late to hold anything back now. If she succeeded in winning Miranda back they were going to find out anyway. If not, well, she was desperate.
“I’m talking about Miranda Priestly,” she said, “I’m going to marry her.”
“Ha ha,” her dad said, “very funny. We already guessed that you were seeing someone, so stop joking and tell us who your secret girlfriend is.”
Andy smiled. She liked the ease with which her father took the word ‘girlfriend’ in his mouth when he looked at her. To say ‘wife’ wasn’t going to be a problem.
“I told you,” she said, “Miranda.”
Silence in the kitchen as if she had dropped a sound-killing bomb.
“Sweetheart,” her mom finally said, hesitatingly, “don’t you think you’re a little too late for that? I mean, Miranda is… an admirable woman and all that, I guess I can see why a young girl would have a crush on her but she is already married, you know…”
Andy felt sorry for her mother who only wanted to protect her but who knew better than her what Miranda’s marriage really was like?
But when Andy had explained the whole thing to them, carefully excluding some delicate details, her father dropped a bomb of his own.
“I’m sorry, Andy. I truly am sorry to hear this. Sweetheart, whatever it is that has been going on with you and Miranda, it’s over now. She is Stephen’s wife. I know that their marriage have been shaky for quite a while but I also happen to know that they are going to try again.”
Andy felt the whole room spin around her and she had to hold on to the kitchen table for support. She refused to believe what she heard at first but her father and Stephen were partners and apparently they talked about more than business. About things like ‘second honeymoons’ with their wives, for example. When the information began to sink in Andy was grateful for the information.
She knew what she had to do now. She had to act quickly. And she didn’t see it as a problem, she hadn’t been working as Miranda’s assistant for so long for nothing. Andy had learned to move quickly from one place to another. Miranda Priestly’s assistant was not allowed to be late, to fail. Miranda Priestly’s lover had to use those skills.
***
Andy couldn’t really remember afterwards how she got to the airport so quickly but she did it. She did not, however, get there quickly enough to catch Miranda before she passed through the first passport control.
Stephen was by her side.
“Miranda!” Andy shouted but the only ones who turned their heads around were the twins, who were standing on each side of a blonde woman Andy knew only too well. So for some reason she had been restored to favor and was now acting, as it seemed, babysitter to her little sisters.
Elaine turned around, slowly. Her eyes were even colder than what Miranda’s could be but the impersonation was ruined by a triumphant little grin on her face - Miranda wouldn’t display her feelings so openly - as if she wanted to say: ‘You’re too late, you can’t have her!’
Miranda was now on the other side of the roped-off area and Andy was soon going to loose sight of her.
“Miranda!” she shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd, past Elaine and the twins.
Andy repeated the name a third time. Both Miranda and Stephen turned around to look at her, the shouting lunatic who was probably going to be carried away by a security guard any minute now - at least that was the message in Stephen’s eyes when he met her gaze for just a second before he grabbed his wife by the elbow and made her turn around again.
“Miranda!” Andy cried desperately, as loud as she could. She knew that Miranda could hear her, that wasn’t the problem - but could she shout loud enough to get a reaction, the reaction she wanted? She knew of course that Miranda hated shouting but, in Andy’s mind, an extreme situation called for extreme measures.
“Miranda!”
Andy was going to loose her voice if she continued but she was beyond caring. Miranda didn’t move. Stephen tried to make her move but she didn’t. Miranda turned around.
Miranda’s eyes met hers and Andy could only whisper her name.
This is it, Andy thought, it’s now or never…
When Stephen tried to drag her along and disappear behind the corner, Miranda shook off his hand and she took one step closer to Andy. And then one more.
“Miranda…”
It wasn’t a cry of desperation, it was a call of love, could she hear it? Did she understand it?
Miranda began moving in the opposite direction of all the other travellers. She walked back through the line, past the roped-off area and through the crowd of people who were there to see people off.
“Mother!” Elaine hissed, but Elaine’s mother didn’t appear to see any of her daughters. She took one more step and then she was in Andy’s arms.
“Andrea, I…” she began, but Andy interrupted her.
“Stephen is coming after you.”
Stephen’s first reaction had been to witness the scene silently and without moving but as soon as Miranda reached Andy he, too, began moving through the people who were mumbling and whispering quite loudly, looking nervous, confused or amused.
Their eyes met, locked, and as if with one single shared thought they joined hands and began running to the nearest entrance.
Later in life, Andy would smile affectionately at the memory of Miranda running like that but while it happened she didn’t see anything remarkable about it, even though she should have known that those Prada heels weren’t made for running.
The only thought that was in her head was that Miranda was by her side with her hand in hers, following her as if it was natural that Andy took the lead for once.
When they were out, Miranda began looking for Roy, who was going to drive Elaine and the girls home, but Andy pulled her impatiently in another direction in the parking lot, towards the buses.
There was one now, just about to leave.
“Where does it go?” Miranda asked.
Andy grinned,
“Does it really matter now?”
Miranda smiled - Andy didn’t remember ever having seen anything more beautiful than that smile - and shook her head, and they entered the bus.
When they were seated in the back of the vehicle, so flushed and giggling so wildly that they attracted curious looks from the other passengers, they shared a wide, happy smile until Miranda said:
“Andrea, darling, we really need to talk.”
Andy grinned even wider.
“I think that’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever said to me. You know that, right?”
Miranda shrugged her shoulders.
“I get your point… Like I said, we really need to. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes!” Andy said loudly, “yes, yes!”
Then she remembered that she was the one who was going to ask a question answered by that word. Not that there was such a hurry. The fact that Miranda acknowledged their need to talk was important enough, and a huge step forward.
“Does this mean that you have forgiven me,” she asked, “that you trust me now, that we can start over, like a real couple this time?”
“Yes, Andrea.” Again, such a wonderful smile. “Yes, I believe that is what this means.”
They kissed. The bus moved, unaware of everything they left behind, towards the future.
Fandom: The Devil Wears Prada/The Graduate
Rating/Genre: PG-13/femslash, crossover, AU
Characters/Pairing: Andy Sachs, her parents, Miranda Priestly, Elaine Robinson; Miranda/Stephen (briefly) Andy/Elaine (briefly), Andy/Miranda.
Summary: Andy shouldn’t have gone to that party where she finally met her favorite writer aka the daughter of Miranda Priestly. And yet, this new acquaintance proved to be useful when Miranda demanded an impossible thing… And then there’s Paris, and it looks like things are blowing up in Andy’s face. Will she lose Miranda forever?
Word count: 5 407
Beta readers: flyhiwithme2 and gabe12347 have kindly spent their time correcting this chapter. Their (including mxrolkr) support and advice throughout the process are much appreciated! <3
Spoilers/Warnings: It could maybe be considered a little spoilery for The Graduate, except that some major events are “re-invented” and other things added./No
Notes: The Graduate is a great movie but it has some major faults: Ben is not a girl (Mrs. Robinson/OFC, anyone?) and he made some bad choices… So that’s why I decided to turn it into a Mirandy fic! This patchwork is so crossed over that you can probably see the stitches, it has been fun to write, and it should be totally readable even if you haven’t seen The Graduate -- also note that this is pretty much AU when it comes to some details: Stephen is the twins’ biological father and his name is Priestly; he is an old friend of Andy’s father and Andy has known both of them her whole life before she starts working at Runway. Also, Nate isn’t in it! And for the rest, well… it’s in the fic. ;)
Notes2 This turned out to be much more dragged out than what I thought when I started it... Thank you all for your comments on the previous parts and for sending me encouraging messages during the hiatus. Your interest and support really mean a lot! This is, finally, the end and I hope you’ll like it!
“Look at you; you’re a vision. Thank God I saved your job.”
It was late and Andy was going home one night when Elaine Robinson was suddenly standing right before her. Elaine smiled as if she was genuinely happy to see her.
“Oh,” Andy mumbled, “ha ha…”
Andy didn’t know what to say. Elaine may not like that she had saved not only Andy’s job, but perhaps also her relationship with Miranda.
Well…if it could be called a relationship, since they weren’t even having sex anymore. Sometimes Andy thought about giving up, leaving Runway and Miranda, even leaving the city, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Not as long as Miranda seemed to want her as her assistant, not as long as she caught Miranda looking at her in that way every so often. It wasn’t over.
Miranda had been a mystery to her right from the start. There was something appealing, after all, in a mystery. She was sure that Miranda had pursued her for a reason. And how could someone be so distant and cold, and yet so smoking hot in bed? There was something in Miranda that needed Andy, she was sure of it, even if Miranda didn’t understand it herself.
But Elaine looked at her like someone who wouldn’t be distant. Quite the opposite; she looked very, very interested. And yet, Andy wasn’t so sure that she really liked her.
“I guess you’re seeing someone,” Elaine said. “If it weren’t for that, I’d have to whisk you away here and now.”
“Do you actually say things like that to people?”
Yes. Elaine was the kind of person who actually did say things like that to people. Andy wouldn’t have thought that she was Elaine’s type. What was she? Just a bookworm after all, and Elaine was so successful and confident, but the woman just didn’t stop smiling at her. Then she talked about the pieces Andy had sent to her, of which she had read a few, and Andy was flattered by the compliments.
“So are you seeing anyone?” Elaine insisted. “You never really answered when I asked you before and you can’t blame me for asking, can you?”
Andy told herself again that it wasn’t over with Miranda. Or maybe it was? Was she just being pigheaded and stupid? If Miranda didn’t say that she wanted her, how could Andy believe that she did?
“I am,” Andy began, “or…I mean, I was… Like I told you before, it’s complicated, because the woman I’ve been seeing, she’s…”
“Oh, I get it,” Elaine said and Andy’s heart almost stopped before she went on, “you’ve been seeing a married woman, haven’t you? An older, supposedly straight woman with a husband?”
Andy nodded insecurely. She could admit that much, couldn’t she?
“Don’t worry.” Elaine laughed. “It happens to the best of us. But you know, being with a married woman won’t do you any good in the long run. You know that, don’t you?”
She had tried to kiss Miranda the night before when she dropped off the Book but Miranda didn’t let her.
“Yes, maybe I do,” she replied.
“Good,” Elaine grinned, “Now that that’s settled, tell me, are you coming to Paris? I’m profiling Gaultier for the Interview and making my Paris plans, I found myself wondering if you were going to be there. I’m staying in a fantastic little hotel in the seventh…”
“I’m sorry, I’ll be too busy working…”
“Oh, come on, I’m sure you’ll be free to have dinner with me at least one night.”
Andy had never been to Paris and she would have loved to explore the city guided by Miranda. But if that wasn’t going to happen, why not spend an evening with someone who obviously liked her?
“Yeah,” she said, “maybe. I don’t know, we’ll see.”
***
Paris was nice. Or at least she thought so, judging from what she could see from the hotel windows and from the car. That wasn’t much. A glimpse of the Eiffel tower, the sound of French voices… Paris was Fashion Week. It was work. It was following Miranda doing whatever Miranda wanted, just like always.
It doesn’t matter where in the world we are, Andy said to herself, life will always be like this. Isn’t Paris supposed to be the city of love and romance? Can’t Miranda feel it, or does she just not feel anything for me?
Andy tried to ask her. She came to Miranda’s room one evening and Miranda let her in but didn’t want to talk.
“Tell me what you want from me,” Andy insisted, “what is this game we’re playing?”
Miranda’s eyes were red and tired, almost as if she had been crying, and she wrapped her grey robe tighter around her body.
“There is no game,” she said. “Andrea, I really don’t want to talk about this. It’s as simple as that. I have a lot of important things on my mind, like the luncheon tomorrow. We need to rearrange the seating chart. When we’re done, you can go. You’re young, go out and enjoy the city.”
“But,” Andy said as she took out a pen and her notebook for the last minute changes Miranda wanted to do, “I’ve never been in Paris before. I’d much rather explore it with you.”
“The point is,” Miranda said as if she hadn’t heard, “we really need to figure out where to place Donatella, because she’s barely speaking to anyone.”
Andy didn’t say anything more.
Elaine called Andy when she had left Miranda, saying that Andy owed her for Harry Potter, so why not have dinner?
Yes, why not? Andy met Elaine at a beautiful restaurant with excellent food and a lot of really good wine. Elaine’s eyes were warm and she was full of mischievous humour that Andy enjoyed, except when Elaine started talking about what a devilish boss her mother was.
To Elaine’s astonishment Andy tried to defend Miranda, but they soon decided to agree to disagree and dropped the subject. After a few awkward moments, filled with quite a lot of that delicious red wine that just kept coming to their table, everything felt good again. Andy enjoyed the sweet giddy feeling that was spreading through her body, making it tingle. Was it the wine? Was it Elaine’s eyes? Was it the cool night breeze, the magic of Paris?
“I never knew it was this beautiful,” Andy said when they were walking through the city after dinner.
It was dark and garlands of light were wrapped around the trees and they were alone on the street. Andy took a swing around a street light, smiling, and then Elaine’s lips met hers.
She feels so different from Miranda, Andy thought, but the hunger is the same…
She tried to pull away, there was a little voice in the back of her head that told her that she shouldn’t give in. But then she gave in anyway, she stopped fighting the hunger - Elaine’s, but also the hunger of her own heart, her wish to be wanted.
***
Andy woke up the next morning in an empty bed.
Had it been a good night? She wasn’t sure. Yes, there had been excitement, there had been pleasure, but both of them had been too drunk. Andy blinked, her eyes still heavy with sleep, and realized that she had never been drunk with Miranda. One glass of wine at the most, but she used to be drunk on love and arousal and always wide awake, thoroughly enjoying every moment. The nights with Miranda were always good, it was the mornings and sometimes the evenings, too, that could be improved. That should improve.
She tumbled out of bed, wondering what she was doing there, and as she was gathering her clothes that had been strewn across the room she knocked over a pile of stuff. Elaine’s hotel room wasn’t exactly tidy but Andy reached out instinctively trying to pick up the things she had spread out and, in doing so, saw a cardboard divider with a Runway cover.
That was strange… more than strange. It smelled of something suspiciously deceitful and Andy felt something cold run down her spine.
Elaine chose that moment to walk out of the shower, smiling.
“What the hell is this?” Andy waved the cover in Elaine’s direction, desperately hoping for an innocent and believable explanation.
Elaine looked at her as if she was surprised to hear such a stupid question.
“What does it look like? It’s a mock-up of what American Runway will look like when Jacqueline Follet is the new editor-in-chief.”
Andy stared at her in disbelief. Elaine sounded like it was the most natural thing in the world, as if Runway could get a new editor-in-chief just like the trees got new leaves in the spring.
“They’re replacing Miranda?”
That was what it seemed like but Andy had to ask anyway, just in case it was some kind of bad joke.
“Yeah.” Elaine looked like she couldn’t be more pleased with herself. “And Jacqueline’s bringing me in to run all the editorial content.”
Andy felt her thoughts begin to chase each other and then stand still. Her mind went blank when she tried to get a hold on them. Elaine had a better view than what she had in her room. Through the windows she could see the Eiffel tower. In front of her she could see Elaine, half naked, still wet from the shower and wrapped in a towel.
Andy could only stare at her, wondering how on earth it had happened that she had let herself be seduced by two women of the same family, two women who didn’t even like each other but who, apparently, both liked her.
Yes, because Miranda had brought her and not Emily to Paris. Surely that must mean something? Once again Andy asked herself what she was doing so far away from Miranda.
“You’re really surprised?” Elaine seemed surprised by Andy’s empty stare. “Jacqueline is a lot younger than Miranda, she has a fresher take on things. And she does the same thing for a lot less money and Irv’s a businessman, you know.”
“He can’t do that to her,” Andy said, finding her voice again, she just wished she could use it to tell Irv Ravitz what she thought of him, rather than Elaine.
“It’s done,” Elaine insisted as if she was talking to an unreasonable child. “Andy, it’s done. Baby, it’s done.”
“I’m not your baby,” Andy hissed, “but Miranda is your mother, how can you let them do this to her? You know what Runway means to her!”
Elaine dropped her towel and began to get dressed, without looking at Andy, as if she thought the discussion was ended, as if she didn’t even think she had to explain herself.
Andy didn’t leave. She wanted an answer. She could take uncomfortable silences, but could Elaine?
“Miranda doesn’t give a shit about me,” Elaine said after a while, “so why should I care about her?”
Is that the best excuse you can think of? Andy didn’t say it out loud, but she couldn’t believe that a woman could do such a thing to her own mother.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Andy tried, “I’m sure she cares about you. She’s your mother.”
“I don’t have a mother,” Elaine snorted, “I have a dad, and that’s all. Miranda sent money when I was younger and she came to see me once a year, or less, with the twins. You know, when I was their age, I used to ask her to let me come and stay with her but she only let me come twice - once when I was ten years old, that’s when you and I met the first time in case you’ve forgotten, and once when the twins were babies. As far as I’m concerned she’s their mother, not mine.”
Andy had to admit that she could see Elaine’s point, in a way. If her own mother had more or less walked out on her when she was little, wouldn’t she be bitter, too? Quite possible that she would. But would she really seek revenge - because that was what it looked like to her - instead of trying to reconcile, when they were both adults and successful professionals? Andy knew well enough that Miranda wasn’t easy but she did love the twins, she knew that. And if she was ready to give Miranda one more chance, why couldn’t Elaine?
“I understand,” Andy said, “and I’m sorry… but that doesn’t give you the right to do this to her. I won’t let you!”
“Why do you care anyway?” Elaine sniffed, obviously thinking that Andy was ridiculous. “No one’s that loyal to their boss, especially when she’s such a dragon. Miranda doesn’t care about anybody and nobody cares about her, her little brats excepted…”
“That’s not true, Miranda’s not a dragon, she’s an amazing and admirable woman and she’s the woman I…”
Andy could have bitten her tongue off when she realized that she was about to say too much, but it was too late.
Elaine’s eyes went wide; disbelief and horror fought for dominance in her face. Andy’s face was apparently too readable.
“Oh my god, you’re fucking her. She’s the one you’re ‘sort of seeing’… That’s why you care so much.”
Indeed, that was why Andy cared. If by ‘fucking’ Elaine meant ‘madly in love with.’
“Elaine, let me explain…”
Elaine stared at her, shocked.
“You’re fucking my mother! That’s insane.”
Is it really? Andy asked herself. She had thought about the age difference in the beginning, when she still thought of Miranda as ‘Mrs. Priestly,’ her parents’ friend’s wife, but then she stopped, for a long time, thinking at all about the fact that she was with someone so much older.
That is, until Elaine showed up, in both her conversations with Miranda and with her parents, and then in person.
“I thought you said she’s not a mother to you.”
“That’s not the point!”
The roles were suddenly reversed. It was no longer Andy who accused Elaine of betrayal but the other way around. Of course she could understand Elaine’s reaction and she felt that she had made the biggest mistake of her life by coming to her hotel room the previous night.
On the other hand, if she hadn’t done it she wouldn’t have known about the plan Elaine was a part of and now that she knew about it she could warn Miranda…
“This was a mistake,” she said, “I’m leaving now.”
***
Andy tried and tried to talk to Miranda but the editor was too busy to talk to her assistant, or even look at her. The big place full of golden decorations and flowers everywhere - but no freesias - began to feel like a nightmare labyrinth.
‘Baby, it’s done,’ Elaine had said, but Andy thought that if she could tell Miranda at once, the situation could be fixed. She knocked on Miranda’s door, knocked again and again. As if she were in a fever induced nightmare, Miranda didn’t appear to hear a word she said, just looked at her as if she were insane, trying to interrupt her important meeting.
Then, at the luncheon, Miranda went up to the stage and gave her speech. It was only then that Andy realized that the reason why Miranda didn’t care about the warnings was because they were unnecessary. Miranda already knew, she had fixed it on her own, and Jacqueline Follet was no longer threatening her position.
Even this, Andy thought when they sat in the car together when it was over, even this evil scheme could she handle and avoid. If she can do everything on her own, what does she need me for at all?
They sat in silence in the car; they didn’t look at each other. When the silence was about to become unbearable, Miranda finally spoke:
“You thought I didn’t know.”
It wasn’t a question. Her tone of voice was hard to decipher but Andy had learned to read her. Wasn’t there a small smile on Miranda’s face?
“Yes,” she said, “but you seemed to be well prepared…I only happened to find out because…your daughter…”
Andy didn’t know what to think of the whole thing, and Miranda’s voice didn’t reveal any emotions beyond resignation as she said:
“Well, it doesn’t come as a surprise for me that Elaine doesn’t have any warmer feelings towards me and why should she have?”
She paused, and there was a spark of warmth in her voice, “But I was rather impressed by how intently you tried to warn me.”
“Why shouldn’t I have? Miranda, you know, you must know that I would do anything for you because I…”
Their eyes met and Andy was going to say the words for the first time when Miranda’s cell phone rang. Andy hesitated as if the signal was the presence of someone who could but shouldn’t hear her and Miranda’s hand went to the phone to pick it up and answer.
“Hello Elaine,” she said and Andy’s hand that was moving towards Miranda’s leg to caress the words she didn’t speak froze halfway when she heard what Miranda said.
“Is who with me? ... And who, if I may ask, might your ‘girlfriend’ be? I don’t have time to… Oh. I see. That explains how she knew what you were up to. Yes, she’s here.”
Miranda lowered the phone and handed it to Andy without looking at her.
“Your girlfriend wants to talk to you.”
Andy took the phone and disconnected the call.
“No, Miranda, she’s not my girlfriend, you are! That is, if you want to be. Sometimes I don’t think so. But you were the one who seduced me…”
“I did,” Miranda nodded, “because it amused me to sleep with you and you seemed to think so, too. But clearly you prefer a younger edition.”
“No, Miranda!” Andy was horrified, and suddenly Miranda’s behaviour made sense to her. And at the same time, it did not make any sense at all. “No, that’s not what I want. Look, it’s not what you think, I can explain.”
“Andrea,” Miranda said as coldly as only she could say things, “the reasons behind your betrayal don’t interest me. Did I not tell you to stay away from Elaine?”
Wow, Andy thought, what a mess I’ve made! But it’s her fault, too. And if she’s hurt, for real, that means that she cares and that means that we may actually have a chance…
“You did,” Andy agreed, “but it was kind of hard as she kept showing up and doing me favors, and your husband didn’t make it any easier by telling my parents that I had to go out with her. What was I supposed to say? ‘No, I can’t, I’m already fucking her mother’…”
“Andrea, be quiet. I’m not interested in your petty excuses.”
“But Miranda,” Andy could no longer stop the tears from flooding, “if only you hadn’t - I don’t care about her. If you just let me tell you…”
“Did I not make myself clear?” Miranda cut her off with her voice of steel. “You don’t have anything further to say that is of interest to me. Get out.”
Right then, the car stopped.
“Miranda, please!”
“That’s all.”
Andy knew that no one could argue with Miranda after her ‘that’s all,’ and suddenly that seemed ridiculous to her. What gave Miranda the right to end every discussion like that? But it was Miranda’s right, according to everybody who knew her, and although Andy understood that Miranda was shocked and hurt, she was angry, and she opened the car door.
“Fine,” she said, “that’s all, then, Miranda!”
She slammed the door behind her and started walking away. Miranda went out of the car, too, but not to follow Andy. She didn’t look back; she was met and greeted by journalists and other people who would no doubt be thrilled to witness a lovers’ fight, but no such luck. Andy and Miranda went their separate ways in Paris without creating any headlines.
Not until then did Andy notice that she still held Miranda’s cell phone in her hand. It started ringing, and Andy thought that it was probably Elaine and Elaine was the last person on the face of the earth she wanted to talk to. Without thinking any further, she threw the cell in a fountain.
Doing that made her feel a little better, and she smiled. But only until she started crying, and then she thought that she was never going to be able to stop.
***
Andy had made a fool of herself in Paris by walking away; everybody said so, even if they had no idea why she had done it. Everybody but Miranda said so, because she didn’t even speak to Andy anymore. And Andy knew it, too, but there was nothing she could do. How did it all happen so quickly?
She only wanted to help Miranda, because she cared about her, and by doing so perhaps proving herself worthy of the other woman’s love. She never meant to sleep with Elaine, it just happened, but Miranda Priestly was not a woman who could tolerate that anything at all ‘just happened,’ even if - or perhaps because - Elaine and her first marriage had just ‘happened’ to her…
This was different, she would say, and sure, she was right. But Andy wouldn’t have done it if she had believed that Miranda really cared about her or her feelings. Hadn’t she, in fact, even said that she didn’t care? Maybe not in so many words, but that was exactly the point - if Miranda never said what she wanted, how was Andy supposed to know? Knowing her every wish as an assistant was one thing, but knowing as a lover was different.
Miranda, Andy said repeatedly to herself, is so stupid for not understanding any of this.
But the more Andy thought about it, the more she realized that she had been equally stupid.
She already knew that Miranda wasn’t really a goddess or the Queen of the Universe. She knew that Miranda was a woman of flesh and blood with a beating heart full of emotions, just like any other woman. She knew it. She just hadn’t thought it through properly.
Not until it seemed to be too late did it all fall into place, and she could see some logic in everything Miranda had said and done ever since Elaine Robinson first became an issue between them.
Miranda was an incredibly beautiful woman and amazing in every way, but her own daughter was also beautiful and successful, and a lesbian, and she was Andy’s age.
Did Miranda look into her mirror sometimes at night not seeing her own stunning reflection in it, but Elaine’s brown eyes?
Youth and beauty always wins, no matter how sexy and seductive the older woman thinks she is. In the end, her young lover always leaves her, leaving her nothing but old, bitter and lonely…at least, that’s what all the stories seem to say.
Miranda, Andy finally understood, had not been able to trust her own power over Andy’s heart and that’s why she hadn’t tried hard enough; her way of fighting what she believed was unavoidable had been the wrong way. By harsh words, commands instead of explanations, silence instead of the questions she was afraid to ask, she had acted her part only too well, making Elaine the princess and herself the dragon.
So, eventually, Andy had it all figured out. The only question was what she was going to do about it.
She didn’t know. There was no way back now, the doors of Runway were going to remain as closed as Miranda’s stubborn heart had seemed to be. Miranda didn’t return any of her calls, just like Andy didn’t return Elaine’s calls and they soon stopped coming.
Then she thought that maybe ignoring Elaine was the wrong approach. She had been a fool not to resist Elaine’s seduction, yes, but she could also see that she had treated Elaine badly too by not being honest with her
She walked around in her parents’ house, brooding day out and day in until they finally lost their patience and told her that she had to do something with her life.
“Yes,” she agreed, only listening to half of the things they said, “I can’t just sit here and wait. And I’ll never make her understand unless I do something radical. I’m going to ask her to marry me.”
Her parents choked on their morning coffee.
“What?” Her mother stared at her in disbelief. “Who are you going to propose to?”
Andy realised that she had said too much but it was too late to hold anything back now. If she succeeded in winning Miranda back they were going to find out anyway. If not, well, she was desperate.
“I’m talking about Miranda Priestly,” she said, “I’m going to marry her.”
“Ha ha,” her dad said, “very funny. We already guessed that you were seeing someone, so stop joking and tell us who your secret girlfriend is.”
Andy smiled. She liked the ease with which her father took the word ‘girlfriend’ in his mouth when he looked at her. To say ‘wife’ wasn’t going to be a problem.
“I told you,” she said, “Miranda.”
Silence in the kitchen as if she had dropped a sound-killing bomb.
“Sweetheart,” her mom finally said, hesitatingly, “don’t you think you’re a little too late for that? I mean, Miranda is… an admirable woman and all that, I guess I can see why a young girl would have a crush on her but she is already married, you know…”
Andy felt sorry for her mother who only wanted to protect her but who knew better than her what Miranda’s marriage really was like?
But when Andy had explained the whole thing to them, carefully excluding some delicate details, her father dropped a bomb of his own.
“I’m sorry, Andy. I truly am sorry to hear this. Sweetheart, whatever it is that has been going on with you and Miranda, it’s over now. She is Stephen’s wife. I know that their marriage have been shaky for quite a while but I also happen to know that they are going to try again.”
Andy felt the whole room spin around her and she had to hold on to the kitchen table for support. She refused to believe what she heard at first but her father and Stephen were partners and apparently they talked about more than business. About things like ‘second honeymoons’ with their wives, for example. When the information began to sink in Andy was grateful for the information.
She knew what she had to do now. She had to act quickly. And she didn’t see it as a problem, she hadn’t been working as Miranda’s assistant for so long for nothing. Andy had learned to move quickly from one place to another. Miranda Priestly’s assistant was not allowed to be late, to fail. Miranda Priestly’s lover had to use those skills.
***
Andy couldn’t really remember afterwards how she got to the airport so quickly but she did it. She did not, however, get there quickly enough to catch Miranda before she passed through the first passport control.
Stephen was by her side.
“Miranda!” Andy shouted but the only ones who turned their heads around were the twins, who were standing on each side of a blonde woman Andy knew only too well. So for some reason she had been restored to favor and was now acting, as it seemed, babysitter to her little sisters.
Elaine turned around, slowly. Her eyes were even colder than what Miranda’s could be but the impersonation was ruined by a triumphant little grin on her face - Miranda wouldn’t display her feelings so openly - as if she wanted to say: ‘You’re too late, you can’t have her!’
Miranda was now on the other side of the roped-off area and Andy was soon going to loose sight of her.
“Miranda!” she shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd, past Elaine and the twins.
Andy repeated the name a third time. Both Miranda and Stephen turned around to look at her, the shouting lunatic who was probably going to be carried away by a security guard any minute now - at least that was the message in Stephen’s eyes when he met her gaze for just a second before he grabbed his wife by the elbow and made her turn around again.
“Miranda!” Andy cried desperately, as loud as she could. She knew that Miranda could hear her, that wasn’t the problem - but could she shout loud enough to get a reaction, the reaction she wanted? She knew of course that Miranda hated shouting but, in Andy’s mind, an extreme situation called for extreme measures.
“Miranda!”
Andy was going to loose her voice if she continued but she was beyond caring. Miranda didn’t move. Stephen tried to make her move but she didn’t. Miranda turned around.
Miranda’s eyes met hers and Andy could only whisper her name.
This is it, Andy thought, it’s now or never…
When Stephen tried to drag her along and disappear behind the corner, Miranda shook off his hand and she took one step closer to Andy. And then one more.
“Miranda…”
It wasn’t a cry of desperation, it was a call of love, could she hear it? Did she understand it?
Miranda began moving in the opposite direction of all the other travellers. She walked back through the line, past the roped-off area and through the crowd of people who were there to see people off.
“Mother!” Elaine hissed, but Elaine’s mother didn’t appear to see any of her daughters. She took one more step and then she was in Andy’s arms.
“Andrea, I…” she began, but Andy interrupted her.
“Stephen is coming after you.”
Stephen’s first reaction had been to witness the scene silently and without moving but as soon as Miranda reached Andy he, too, began moving through the people who were mumbling and whispering quite loudly, looking nervous, confused or amused.
Their eyes met, locked, and as if with one single shared thought they joined hands and began running to the nearest entrance.
Later in life, Andy would smile affectionately at the memory of Miranda running like that but while it happened she didn’t see anything remarkable about it, even though she should have known that those Prada heels weren’t made for running.
The only thought that was in her head was that Miranda was by her side with her hand in hers, following her as if it was natural that Andy took the lead for once.
When they were out, Miranda began looking for Roy, who was going to drive Elaine and the girls home, but Andy pulled her impatiently in another direction in the parking lot, towards the buses.
There was one now, just about to leave.
“Where does it go?” Miranda asked.
Andy grinned,
“Does it really matter now?”
Miranda smiled - Andy didn’t remember ever having seen anything more beautiful than that smile - and shook her head, and they entered the bus.
When they were seated in the back of the vehicle, so flushed and giggling so wildly that they attracted curious looks from the other passengers, they shared a wide, happy smile until Miranda said:
“Andrea, darling, we really need to talk.”
Andy grinned even wider.
“I think that’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever said to me. You know that, right?”
Miranda shrugged her shoulders.
“I get your point… Like I said, we really need to. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes!” Andy said loudly, “yes, yes!”
Then she remembered that she was the one who was going to ask a question answered by that word. Not that there was such a hurry. The fact that Miranda acknowledged their need to talk was important enough, and a huge step forward.
“Does this mean that you have forgiven me,” she asked, “that you trust me now, that we can start over, like a real couple this time?”
“Yes, Andrea.” Again, such a wonderful smile. “Yes, I believe that is what this means.”
They kissed. The bus moved, unaware of everything they left behind, towards the future.