New Fic: I just called to say... something really stupid
Chapter One: Desperation
It was a stupid idea. She was sitting there in a bar, middle of December, at two in the morning after the sixth or seventh glass of Jack Daniels. She pulled out her wallet to pay and leave, when she found that stupid little note. She didn’t know it was still there, perfectly hidden in a corner.
She unrolled it and froze. It was her number.
Miranda Priestly, Townhouse.
Tears came up and fell down her already tear-stained face. Of course it was her; of course it was her number she had to find. Why not?
She could quit the job two months ago, in Paris, but she was never able to quit the woman.
“Is everything alright, Miss?” the Bartender asked her.
She wiped her eyes. These useless tears.
“Yes, I’m alright.” she simply said, paid the man and left the bar. The note was still in her hands.
It was cold outside and snow was falling from the sky. She felt sick, cold and lonely. Things with Nate didn’t turn out as she had hoped, and even her friends Lily and Doug were no better. They were all the same. They didn’t understand her. No one did.
And now the fight with her parents was just what she needed. She wanted to drown herself in work, but that didn’t help either.
They were talking about Miranda Priestly, every time she was near someone. Her friends, her family and especially her co-workers.
“Hey Andy, tell us these crazy things when you worked for the dragon lady!” they yelled and laughed. They did not only laugh about Miranda, they laughed about her, too.
First, she defended Miranda only because she had helped her to get the job at The Mirror. That’s what Andy thought. But deep inside her, she knew that there was something else. Something she never thought about it could even exist.
Dragon Lady… Career obsessed…
These words, spoken with a slightly broken voice and the image of Miranda’s face, streamed with tears, so helpless, crossed her mind over and over again. Miranda Priestly, nothing but a broken woman.
How much Andy wished not to see that image again, but failed.
Now she was there outside the bar, in the dark, leaning against a cold wall, feeling the snow falling on her coat.
Andy decided to walk. She couldn’t stay here, but didn’t want go home. Not to that dark empty flat.
The streets were dangerous at this time of night but she didn’t care. She didn’t care about the possibility of being robbed or even raped, and stumbled her way through the night. But nobody crossed her path as she made her way to the Hudson River.
The water was icy cold, but she knew it would transform into a nice, warm blanket, when she became one with the water.
She looked around. The river was quiet, far away from the busy streets of New York City.
A smile spread out from the corner of her mouth. She was crying again, although she knew she never stopped crying.
Her fingers, cold because she wasn’t wearing any gloves, ran tenderly over the little unrolled note in her hand.
Reaching for her cell phone, she made the worst decision of the evening; she dialled the number and waited.
The house was big, dark and empty. Her girls were at their father’s for the weekend and they had taken the dog with them.
It was half past two in the morning; every light was off, except for the study in which Miranda Priestly was sitting, going through The Book once again.
She couldn’t sleep, as much as she wanted to. It had been weeks since she last slept through the night, and Miranda knew that was not good.
She should probably make an appointment with her doctor very soon.
But at this late hour, alcohol made for a great substitute doctor so she had her second drink for the night.
She closed the book and stretched her arms and legs a little. She was tired, but not enough for sleep.
There she was, the powerful Miranda Priestly, the fashion queen of New York and the rest of the world, lonely and lost. They all had left her. Three husbands, her countless assistants and now her girls. They wanted to spend the Christmas holidays with their father and their half-siblings. She had to respect their wish, even though it broke her heart.
“Yeah, just leave me alone. It is so easy to leave me. No big deal.” Miranda said to herself and took another sip from her drink. She sighed and stood up to walk to the window.
She parted the curtains and watched the snow slowly falling.
She looked like snow white. Miranda couldn’t help but think about the beautiful, young brunette who left her in Paris when she had needed her the most. She thought a lot about her those weeks. As much as she tried to fight these thoughts, she failed every time.
Miranda almost got lost in her thoughts, when the sound of the telephone ringing in the foyer suddenly got her back to reality.
“Who the hell has the nerve to call my home at half past two in the morning?” she cursed.
At first, she wanted to wait, to see if the caller might give up.
But Miranda knew that only a handful of people had the number of her townhouse. And immediately a shocking thought run through her mind. What if something had happened to her girls?
So she nearly ran to the telephone and picked up.
“Yes?” she said, in a voice with a slight anxiousness.
“Miranda?” asked a small sniffling voice over the other line. Definitely not one of her daughter’s voices, but Miranda knew that voice sound familiar.
“Who is this?” she nearly barked with annoyance, now knowing that nothing happened with her girls. Maybe it was just one of her incompetent assistants. The voice sounded young and feminine.
“I… I am…” more sniffling and Miranda could hear the girl crying at the other end. Suddenly and without a warning she recognized the voice.
“Andréa… Is that you?” she asked in disbelief.
The reply was more crying and there was a sound in the background Miranda could not classify at the moment.
“Yes… Yes it’s me… Sorry to call you this late at night….” The young woman finally said.
How dare she call me? After two months since that brat has left me. What the hell does the girl want? Miranda thought, feeling her blood boiling with anger.
“How did you get this number?” she tried to stay as calm as she could. Miranda Priestly never raised her voice and she would not do it this night either.
“Your… Your housekeeper gave it to me I think…. Three month ago… For emergency calls…” Andrea slurred.
“And you honestly think this is an emergency, Andréa? Calling me at half past two in the morning and two months after you quit my employ. I’ve helped you to get that job at The Mirror. So tell me Andréa. What. Do. You. Want?” she asked sharply.
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “I don’t know. I just… Had to call you…” she cried.
Miranda recognized the slur in her voice. “Are you…. Are you drunk?”
Andy suddenly laughed. She was still crying, but she laughed. “Oh yes, I’m very drunk, Miranda. Drunk as a Skunk you can say.“
That was it. Miranda was very close to hanging up and she told Andy so. “This silly conversation is over, Andréa. You better never call me again. That’s all.” She almost hit the button.
“Wait! Don’t hang up on me!” the girl screamed desperately.
Whatever possessed her, Miranda didn’t know, but she obeyed. She put the phone back to her ear.
“How dare you speak to me in that tone. You should know that I don’t have much patience for you, so what do you want to say?” she hissed.
Andrea took a few deep breaths. “I just…. I just called to say… Oh god, something really stupid… I can’t.”
Miranda grinned. “What? Now you can’t? What happened to your courage? You have the dragon lady on the line. Do you know how lucky you are? To catch me at this time at night alone in my house?”
Damn! How could she confess that?
She tried to move on, as if nothing has happened. “Now what, Andréa? You can do anything. You’ve proved that often enough. Including leaving me. Now tell me what you wanted to say and then you can go to hell.”
“I love you.” The girl was shocked how easily these words could come out of her mouth, without any hesitation. “I love you. I miss you. So very much.” The last sentence was nearly a whisper. She cried harder than ever before.
Miranda nearly dropped the phone. Her face was pale and her heart hammering wildly in her chest.
“Andrea, what…. This… This is not funny.” she stuttered. Miranda Priestly stuttered. What was wrong with her?
“No, it is not funny to love you or to miss you, Miranda. It’s such a bad joke. But it’s the truth. Alcohol always speaks the truth, doesn’t it?” Andy replied. “And as for going to hell… I will go there in a few minutes, I think.”
“What do you mean?” Miranda was confused. Did the girl just confess that she loved her? The Ice queen?
Andrea had feelings for her, just as she had for Andrea. It could not be true. Miranda’s mind was suddenly dizzy. She wanted to say something, but failed.
Miranda listened to Andy’s heavy breathing and finally recognized the sound in the background. Water. Lots of water, a river.
“Andrea…. Where are you now?” she asked.
“Hudson… Hudson River…” was all Andy managed to say.
“What are you doing there at night? It’s snowing and it’s freezing outside! You must be clearly out of your mind!”
There it happened. Miranda raised her voice. She heard the alarm clocks ringing inside her.
“I know it’s cold. I don’t care. Do you know Virginia Woolf? Of course you do… Do you know how she died?”
Miranda jumped out of the chair she was sitting.
No, that can’t be! That silly girl was not going to…
“Give me your cell phone number!” she barked.
Andy froze. “What? Miranda I…”
“Don’t make me repeat myself. Give me the number.”
And Andy told her. Miranda grabbed a note and wrote it down quickly.
“Good. Now listen, I’ll hang up now and call you in five minutes. And you’ll take that call. Don’t you dare to take one step further near that disgusting water.” Her voice was sharp as a razor.
“You cannot… Miranda…” Andy wanted to protest.
Miranda cut her off. “Five minutes, Andrea. That’s all.” With that she hung up.
Andy sank to her knees and pushed the end button. How stupid she was. Goddamn stupid.
Anger flowed in her mind. How did Miranda dare to think she still can boss Andy around?
She could easily stand up, put some heavy rocks in her pocket and throw herself into the icy cold river. Then everything would have an end. Finally.
But she could not stand up. She stayed seated on the ground, cold and covered in snow, waiting for Miranda’s call.
TBC.......