Miranda's Greatest Disappointment part douze
Chapter 12
They had taken to phone calls when schedules didn’t lend them time to see one another. After their dinner it was as if Miranda’s schedule was suddenly completely full. She was constantly working; and when she wasn’t working, she was at home working, or tending to her daughters needs.
Phone calls to Andrea were sporadically worked in to her day. And as soon as she heard Andrea’s voice, all the stress of the day just flowed right out and a feeling of calm settled in its place. It was like Andrea was keeping her sane.
Today in particular, Miranda felt like pulling out all of her hair and firing everyone. The poor level of work that day had left her frustrated and irritable. Everyone was on edge, expecting her to calmly snap at them at any moment for any little fault. She needed to get out, to go away. She told Emily she was going to lunch, grabbed her coat from her incompetent new second assistant, and then feigned leaving. But instead, she found her way to the roof-top.
The roof of Elias-Clarke had become her new get-away. She moved to her private corner, lit up a cigarette, and watched as both the smoke and her breath came out of her mouth on an exhale. She dialed the all so familiar numbers and felt a sudden sense of relief and release wash over her upon hearing a simple, “hello,” from a certain, younger brunette.
“Good afternoon, Andrea.” Miranda took another long inhale.
“Smoking?”
“Long day.” Miranda sighed.
“I’m glad I’m not there.” Andrea bristled. Miranda could hear her typing something on the other end of the phone, she was working.
“Yes, well…”
“Well…how are the girls?” Andrea knew to take Miranda’s mind off of her job.
“They’re good, I suppose. I haven’t been able to see much of them.” Miranda guiltily admitted.
“Miranda, you really need to do something with them. Just watch a movie tonight, relax with them.”
Miranda snorted. The mere mention of the word relax was laughable. Miranda never relaxed.
“I’m serious, sweetie.” Andrea stopped her incessant typing.
“I have a dinner tonight, but maybe afterwards. Unless it’s too late.” Miranda shrugged, surprised at how maternal Andrea made her feel. Stephen would insist they needed to go eat out, and Henry would want her all to himself the moment she stepped in the front door. But Andrea actually wanted her to tend to her children over her. “I wish,” Miranda briefly inhaled on her cigarette, “I could see you tonight.”
“I do, too, Miranda.” Andrea sighed.
“What is it that you’re doing this evening?” Miranda frowned.
“I have to interview this man from the Green Party.” Andrea breezily reminded Miranda. They had already discussed their week, that Sunday, and they realized that there weren’t any open nights for them to get together.
“Right.” Miranda felt like she couldn’t go on like this. “I need to see you.”
“Miranda, sweetie, we can’t…this week.”
“I know.”
“It really sucks.” Andrea groaned.
Miranda laughed, butting her cigarette. “Well I have to get back to work.”
“All right, talk to you later.”
“Call me after your thing tonight.”
“What if it’s late?”
“I’ll be up.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
~*~
It was nearly midnight by the time Andrea arrived at her apartment. She tossed her messenger bag down and then flipped on a light. After sorting through her mail, she remembered that Miranda had wanted her to call her. Though, she wasn’t sure why. She could imagine that the woman might be asleep, or working, and most likely didn’t want to be disturbed. But, her insistence during their conversation earlier that day propelled Andrea to dial her number.
On the second ring Miranda picked up.
“How was it?”
“The interview?” Andrea was quite surprised by Miranda’s quick question.
“No, your trip to the zoo. Yes, the interview.” Miranda snapped, sounding a bit like she had just woken from sleep.
“Miranda, is this a bad time?”
“No,” she quickly responded, “I just fell asleep for a moment, I’m fine. I thought you weren’t going to call.”
“Well it lasted longer than I thought it would.” Andrea shrugged, pulling a water bottle out of the refrigerator and opening it.
“I see.” Andrea wasn’t sure how she felt about this new, almost over-bearing Miranda. This was such a change. The woman seemed almost…well…desperate. But Miranda Priestly was never desperate. She would never even allow such a thought to cross her mind. But the behavior was there.
“So, I should get to bed. It’s late. I have an early meeting in the morning.”
“As do I. Irv has something very interesting coming his way.” Andrea could hear the smile creep its way across Miranda’s lips.
“Sounds like you have a plan, Priestly.” Andrea laughed.
“I do.” Miranda was very serious. “Well, goodnight.”
“Night.”
~*~
On the way to a run through later that week;
“Miranda, is your assistant in the car with you?” Andrea’s voice teased the stolid looking woman on the other end of the phone.
Miranda merely strained her eyes to take in her new assistant Bridget…or Blake…or was it Beth? She couldn’t quite remember. The girl looked like she was shaking beside her, and she suppressed the urge to laugh. “Yes.” Miranda simply stated.
“So you don’t want to talk dirty to me?” Andrea evilly laughed, knowing full well that Miranda would blush at such a remark and would have to turn away from her assistant further. Which she did.
“Yes, we’re almost to the run through. I expect everything to go as planned…” Miranda’s voice calmly answered Andrea, stressing the planned part of the sentence, accenting it with a hint of a warning for Andrea to cut it out.
“So if I were there, would you kiss me like you did last week? Remember that kiss when you…”
“No, no, no.” Miranda quickly ran her tongue across her suddenly very dry lips, abhorring this conversation. “We’re almost there. I’ll call you later.”
“All right, I’ll be thinking dirty thoughts about you until then.”
~*~
“Never, ever, do that again, Andrea.” Miranda snapped.
“What? I was just having some fun with you.” Andrea could hardly take Miranda’s condescending tone seriously. The woman knew she wanted it, so why did she have to pretend like she didn’t?
“I can’t have my new assistant Brittany, or Belinda, or whatever the fuck her name is, thinking that I’m human.” Miranda quickly realized what she had just said and let a small chuckle escape from between her lips.
“You’re not human, Miranda.” Andrea grinned.
“Shut up, Andrea.”
“You know, you can call me Andy. Perhaps then people wouldn’t question why you were talking to me, if you ever happen to talk to me on the phone in public. People might assume you have some secret boy toy named Andy.”
“Andrea, you are not a boy toy.”
“Ah, ah, ah. Just try it once for me. Just say Andy.”
There was a slight pause where Miranda sharply inhaled and then exhaled.
“Andy.”
“Very nice,” Andy grinned.
“Well…it might take me awhile.”
“I understand.”
~*~
“Andre…Andy?” Miranda was in between work and a banquet.
“Yes, Miranda.” Andy smiled, rolling the noodles she had just made in the microwave around and around on her fork, cradling her phone against her ear.
“Would you mind…well would you like to have dinner at my house on Saturday?”
“This Saturday?”
“Yes, this Saturday. I thought you didn’t…”
“No. I’m free.” Andy laughed. She was always so surprised and amused by how scared Miranda sounded when she thought Andy might reject her. “I’ll be there.”
“All right, but the girls will be there too. Is that all right?”
“Of course.” Andy had dealt with them before, she could handle them again. “We’re not going to…I mean…we haven’t even…and…”
“No, no. None of that. I just haven’t seen them much, but I would really like to see you…”
“No, I completely understand, Miranda. My God, they’re your daughter’s after all.” Andy grinned.
“Don’t remind me.” Miranda chuckled. “Oh God.” She exhaled, “I’ve arrived.”
“Well knock’em dead. Just think of me, eating these horrid microwave Thai noodles and watching scary crime shows on A&E.”
And just when Andy thought she’d get a sarcastic come back, she was hit with an airy, longing remark. “That sounds nice.”
“Not half as nice as the event you’re about to go to, I suspect.”
Miranda laughed. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Or tonight…when you get home.” Oh God, she sounded desperate.
“Oh…all right.” Miranda agreed, much to Andy’s surprise.
~*~
It was nearly two in the morning when Andy’s phone began to ring. The vibrating of her phone stirred her from sleep, and she glanced down beneath her. She realized she’d fallen asleep on top of her cell phone waiting for Miranda to call.
“Hello?” her voice was sleepy.
“Oh. Did I wake you up?” Miranda sounded genuinely concerned.
“No, well kind of, but it’s…”
“Well you told me to call so I…”
“Miranda, it’s fine.” Andy laughed.
“Well go back to sleep. I just wanted to say that the thing was long. I had to talk to thousands of people. I’d rather of been there with you.”
“Aww…Miranda getting sentimental. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Yes, well don’t go spreading it around.”
Andy just laughed. “I won’t.”
“Goodnight, Andre…Andy.”
“Goodnight, Miranda.”
TBC...