priestly's piece of paradise (6/?)
Priestly's Piece of Paradise
by Coco (i_heart_cuddy)
rating R
pairing Miranda/Donna
disclaimer I don't own the Devil Wears Prada or Mamma Mia or Meryl Streep: I'm just borrowing them. No money is being made off of this and no infringement is intended.
summary Caroline, Cassidy, Andy, Emily and Nigel come to see how Miranda is settling into her new life of leisure. Is retirement everything Miranda dreamed it would be or is it driving her slowly over the edge into insanity?
Author's Note Continuation in the fic verse set up in Letters to the Editor ♥
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five
Miranda groaned. "I just got back. This honestly can't wait?" She dropped her suitcases with disgust to further illustrate her irritation.
"I thought you had Cassidy with you."
She sighed, if nothing else, the man cared deeply for his children. "She went to a friend's house. She'll be back a little later. Pray tell, how did you hear of her return to New York?"
"She e-mailed me."
Miranda nodded, "of course she did." Miranda gathered her valises into her arms again with resignation. "Go on into sitting room, I'll be right in."
She watched him go into the sitting room before mounting the steps. She used to think that a fourth floor bedroom was a horrible inconvenience. After Villa Donna, a fourth floor bedroom was a godsend. Miranda set the suitcases at the foot of her bed and decided not to wallow just yet.
When she entered the sitting room, Lucas stood up. "I'd offer you coffee," she said, taking a seat on the chaise, "but I haven't gone grocery shopping yet."
"You mean you haven't sent your assistant grocery shopping yet?" He questioned.
Miranda laughed a little, "I don't have an assistant anymore."
Lucas tried to decide if she was kidding or not. He studied her face for a few long moments before he opened his mouth, "you're serious?"
Miranda nodded. "Lucas, please, we need to talk."
"I remember the last time you said those words to me." He crossed his legs, "we were here in this room. The furniture was different and neither of us had white hair." He ran his fingers through his own ivory hair with a small smile.
"Don't reminisce about our divorce." Miranda said without amusement. "Aren't you happy with Yvonne?"
He watched her for a moment. Miranda wished that he'd stop doing that and just speak, "she divorced me in January. The girls didn't tell you? You didn't hear?"
"I'm a little bit out of the loop these days."
Lucas grinned, "on your little island."
"I'm sorry, if that means anything to you." Miranda shrugged.
He nodded, "it does. It means a lot."
Miranda scoffed a little, "well, welcome to the club of multiple divorcées, just the same."
"That sounds like a toast."
"Well," Miranda smirked, "if you'd had the foresight to bring the alcohol we could be toasting right now. Just as well, I need to talk about the girls."
"So, you're happy with Donna?"
"Don't change the subject."
"It's just a simple question."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "it's not a simple question. It's a loaded question."
Lucas held up his hands submissively, "you should have been the lawyer. You have more of a talent for it than I do." He shook his head, "it's just a question. I just want to know that you're happy."
"Yes. I am." Miranda said simply. "Now. The girls."
"Yes, alright." He sat forward, "so, Cassidy gave me a few details. She dropped out of school?"
Miranda snorted an incredulous laugh, "oh that manipulative little child. No. She did not drop out of school. She was politely asked not to return for reasons pertaining to her abysmal academic transcript."
Lucas was stunned. "You're kidding! You never called me to tell me?"
"I didn't know until a couple of days ago, myself." She admitted, "the school sent me back my tuition check. Cassidy's just been living in London since Christmas. Not working."
He leaned back in his chair to take it all in. "She didn't tell you herself?"
"No."
"Well..." he ran his hand through his hair again, still trying to take it in. "What's her course of action?"
"She doesn't have one." Miranda's contempt for that decision was evident in her tone. "So, I'm cutting off her trust fund until she does something with her life. I refuse to support her financially if she's not even going to take any interest in her own well-being."
Lucas nodded, "I think that's a good idea. I'll do the same. Consider her cut off."
Now it was Miranda's turn to stare at him in confusion. "You think I'm right?"
"Absolutely. To be honest, I thought you were right a lot of the times I said you were wrong. It was mostly misplaced hostility."
Miranda huffed.
"But in any case, I think you're right. She should go back to school or get a job-"
"She should go back to school." Miranda interrupted him.
"Miranda, come on. Coming from you that's going to sound like hypocrisy." He reasoned, "she knows you didn't go back to university. She's not stupid. We have to give her the options. The trick is that they're both options that we've picked. I'm certain that she'll get a job. She'll hate it and she'll go back to university."
Miranda contemplated what he'd said for a moment. "What if she doesn't go back?"
"Why wouldn't she?"
"I didn't. If she's taking my example to heart so deeply, why would she go back?" Miranda asked, "I think she'll coast by on being our daughter, get some cushy office job that requires two brain cells and she'll basically end up where she was. I think that given the choice, she won't go back to school."
"You may be right, Miranda." He acquiesced. "Regardless, it is her decision. Legally, she's an adult."
Miranda pouted. "Unfortunately."
Lucas laughed. "When they were young, you couldn't wait for them to grow up."
"So I could relate to them, not so they could defy me."
Lucas laughed, "you have a sense of humor, Miranda, don't let anybody tell you different."
"Who says different?" Miranda pursed her lips.
"Well... just about everybody."
Miranda shrugged, "c'est la vie." She crossed her legs and looked down at her shoes. "We need to talk about Caroline, too."
"You're kidding. She's not expelled, too, is she?" Lucas's eyes were wide.
"No, she's-"
"Is she in debt to a loan shark?"
"What? No, she's-"
"She's not pregnant, is she?"
"Lucas!" She snapped, remembering the resolution she'd made at the end of their marriage to never yell again unless in iminent physical peril. She glared at him. "Would you let me finish a sentence?"
"I'm having a strong sense of deja vu right now." Lucas quirked a small smile.
"I'm having such a strong sense of it, I'm feeling that migraine I had from 1994 to 1996." Miranda rubbed her temple. She waited a moment to make sure that Lucas had gotten his interrupting routine out of his system before she continued, "she wants to go to Iraq."
"No, seriously."
"She wants to go to Iraq." Miranda repeated, "she wants to do field reporting there."
"I think I'd rather she was pregnant." Lucas said in a daze.
Miranda explained about the internship and how determined she was to go whether it be next year or the one after that. She told him how she had reacted and how she'd refused to give her the internship at Runway. She also explained what Andy had said and admitted that she thought it was a good point.
"Geez, Miranda." He blew out a breath. "Drop all this on me at once, why don't you?"
"I have no sympathy for you." Miranda scoffed, "they both dropped it on me last week."
"Yeah, but they spaced it out, right?"
Miranda shrugged, "it wasn't the only thing that was dropped into my lap last week. I wish I only had to worry about the girls."
"What else-?"
It was her turn to interrupt him, "none of your business." They were silent for a moment. It felt uncomfortably like their marriage. "I think we should both do a little research into the program and then reconvene and talk about it again."
"Alright." He nodded, standing. On their way out to the foyer he added, "after this conversation I feel like I could use a stiff drink. Want to join me?"
Miranda shook her head, "I'm jetlagged. I'm going to go right to bed."
"Fair enough." He offered her a smile and opened the door. They were both stunned to Stephen on the other side of it.
He smiled awkwardly at them.
"Have I died and gone to hell?" Miranda put a hand on her hip, "all I need is Todd and it's a full house."
"I just had to see for myself." Stephen was awed. "I heard you were back but... wow... you're back."
"Apparently so." Miranda was not about to invite him in. "Now that you've seen me there must be somewhere better for you to be. Lucas is going for a drink, you could join him."
Stephen stepped closer to Miranda. Miranda glared and pursed her lips. "I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Since you retired and disappeared."
Miranda shot Lucas a sneer, hearing his muffled snickering.
"I... you look really beautiful, Miranda. I didn't expect..." he looked her up and down and her eyes widened in disgust. "I'd love to buy you dinner some time."
Lucas could no longer control his laughter. Miranda grit her teeth and said, "Stephen, even if I had lost all of my self-respect, I wouldn't accept that invitation."
"She's spoken for, sorry Steve." Lucas was nearly doubled over with laughter.
"You're back with Lucas?" Stephen was incredulous enough to ignore Lucas's use of the hated nickname. "But you said he was lousy in the sack!"
Miranda's eyes widened. Lucas stopped laughing and pouted. He turned to her, "you think I'm bad in bed?"
Miranda had all she could take of that conversation and turned and went inside, closing and locking the door behind her. "No more ex-husbands. No more." She ascended the stairs again, pulling out her blackberry as she went. The phone had to ring only twice before it was picked up.
"Hello, Villa Donna."
Miranda smiled peacefully, "hi. I just needed to hear your voice."
**
Miranda hadn't anticipated it being so difficult to get up for work. She felt like a child who'd just ended summer vacation. She got out of bed and went through the routine of showering and dressing. She knocked on Cassidy's door. She opened it, not expecting her to be awake. Miranda sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Cassidy's forehead.
Cassidy stirred and yawned, "what time is it?" She mumbled sleepily.
"It's early. You don't have to get up yet." Miranda soothed, stroking her hair, "I just wanted to tell you that I'll be home at six and I'm looking forward to eating dinner with you again."
Cassidy yawned, "kay."
Miranda had to stifle her own yawn as she kissed her daughter's forehead one more time before going about the rest of her morning routine. She stepped out into the cold air and recoiled. She almost made the decision to go back inside for another hour but was deterred when her driver pulled up to the curb and got out to open her door.
She slipped her sunglasses on. It was going to be a long morning. Fuck that, it was going to be a long six months.
**
The usual parting of the red clacker sea was colored with shock and awe. The clackers who'd known her stared in surprise to see the elusive fashionista freshly returned from god knows where. The new clackers who knew her only as the legend stood prepared to worship at her feet should the need arise.
Not a single person was on the elevator, it was as if the entire world had stopped. When her elevator reached Runway, she pulled the glasses off and looked nostalgically out into the offices. The familiar chaos of her arrival was no comfort. She had truly come to value other things.
Emily stood in the atrium to welcome her back into the depths of the magazine. Emily handed Miranda a clipboard and took her bag, "this is the schedule for today." She explained, "we have a Holt runthrough today at noon."
"So the schedule says." Miranda pursed her lips, skimming over the schedule. "Move it to ten."
Emily stopped. Miranda turned to look at her questioningly. "That's not how we do it anymore, Miranda. We make the schedule and we pretty much try to stick to it."
"People get lazy when there are no surprises. People sink into a comfortable routine, they get soft, they make mistakes. Human beings require stimulation of the senses." Miranda chastized, her blue eyes piercing into Emily's. "Move the run through."
"Yes, Miranda." Emily said, conceding defeat. She stopped short in the outer office as Miranda continued on.
Miranda halted when she reached the glass doors of the room she'd spent the better part of her career in. Cautiously, she took the handle in her hand and pulled it open. The pictures on the wall, the two black and whites of her daughters, were missing, but other than that the room was exactly the same. The desk was the same, the flower painting given to her so many years before by Christian Lacroix was still hanging in its place of honor behind the desk as the first thing an entrant would see. The desk was the same simple glass desk. Her mirror, a Christmas gift from Vera Wang, was on the adjoining wall.
Everything was the same.
Miranda turned, Emily was right behind her again. "The office. It's the same. You never redecorated?"
"You didn't. The office was the same for six years." Emily reasoned, "it seemed almost sacrilege to change it."
Miranda sighed with annoyance. "Emily."
"We don't do a lot of work here, anyway." Emily explained, "we do a lot of work on location and... at home."
Miranda looked up at that last remark with scorn but remained silent.
"We couldn't share an office. We fought too much." Emily went on, feeling as though she were digging a hole. "We certainly couldn't share your office."
"It's not my office anymore." Miranda intoned even as she took her seat behind the desk, settling in comfortably. "It's yours."
Emily nodded as she looked on. "I have the most recent book here. If you'd like to see it?"
"I want to meet the new art director. The layout is hideous." Miranda pursed her lips, flipping through the pages of the issue on the desk. "A hire of yours?"
"Irv hired him actually."
Miranda scoffed, "I see. A cheap new hire who knows absolutely nothing about art." She tossed the magazine down, "it's my guess the whole magazine is now riddled with these subpar employees? Get me a list of all the recent hires. That's all."
"Yes, Miranda." Emily nodded, turning and leaving the office.
Miranda watched her go. She had a horrible feeling of deja vu, the second in less than 24 hours. She sat back in the chair, half expecting Nigel to walk through the door. The office was the same but the important things were wrong. She'd panicked the first time she almost lost him. In 2006, when she'd lost Andrea, she hadn't realized that what she fought so hard to keep wasn't so much her job, but it was her family.
Nigel, Emily, Andrea. She loved them all. How ironic that she be ascribed heartless by the press when she knew that she had so much love inside her.
She thought then of Donna. The one person in her life that had always seen her goodness, who had never doubted her for even a second. How she missed her already.
Miranda shook her head and slid her glasses onto her face. She took the schedule and started moving things around, there was no rhyme nor reason to Emily's scheduling and Miranda aimed to fix that.
"Emily!" She called out when she was done only to realize that there was no one at the desks in the outer offices. She dialed Emily from her Blackberry only to be met with an automated recording telling her that Emily was unreachable.
She sighed with annoyance and walked out to the second assistant's desk. She started to scroll through the phone's contacts and finally found one that she recognized. She dialed and waited.
"This is Serena Beauchamp."
**
Emily graced the office with her presence in an hour and a half. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Serena standing at the desk with Miranda. Serena had been promoted to international liason around the time when she'd broken up with Emily. As far as Emily knew, this was the first time she'd been back at Runway since because she had an office in a completely separate building on a completely different street.
Emily almost decided to turn around and leave when Miranda looked up and caught her eye, beckoning her into the room.
Emily took a deep, calming, breath and entered the office. "What's up?" She systematically avoided looking at Serena even though she could feel her eyes boring into her.
"I needed an assistant." Miranda replied quietly, looking over the plans for the next issue's main photo shoot, obviously oblivious to the implication for Emily of inviting Serena into the office.
"I see."
"And I was more than happy to help." Serena quirked an eyebrow at Emily.
"I'm so glad that you were available, but I wouldn't want to keep you from your actual job." Emily looked to Miranda, "I'll hire you your own assistant."
"Actually, I have a bit of a lull right now. I'd like to be here for a while."
"I'm sure that Miranda-" Emily started.
Miranda cut her off, "I'd prefer Serena." She said curtly. "She knows how things ran when I was editor and that's what I need."
"I'll get you an assistant who you can mold and meld however you want." Emily was beginning to feel desperate.
"In due time." Miranda was annoyed by Emily's blathering.
"Is there a problem?"Serena asked softly, raking her eyes over Emily.
"No, of course not." Emily shook her head, giving up, "I can't even imagine why there'd be a problem. I just wouldn't want to take Serena away from anything, but whatever."
"I'm on call."
"I'm sure you are." Emily supressed a sneer. She looked down, "so, I have a meeting with the photographer for-"
"The photoshoot tomorrow? No, you don't." Miranda said softly, looking down at the preliminary sketeches. "This was pathetic."
"We've already... spent... so much..." Emily was nearly speechless.
"And you should count yourself lucky that you didn't go through with shooting it." Miranda narrowed her eyes, daring Emily to contradict her. "Now, I can appreciate that the photoshoot needs to take place as soon as possible to make it into the issue, so I'm making some preliminary notes before we get the art team together."
"Great." Emily tried to smile. "May I?" She held out her hand for the layout.
Miranda scowled but handed it over, aware that her return to Runway wasn't as editor but as co-editor. She would have to deal with all that meant.
Emily looked the paper over and was struck by the elegance of it, not the shoot itself, but the drawing, the talent for composition, the skill and swiftness with which it had been executed. She nodded, "it looks good. I see you've utilised a lot of the same things?"
"Yes." Miranda nodded, "the idea was there but it hadn't been eeked out yet."
**
After berating the art staff Miranda had felt as if she'd returned to full form. She felt that perhaps her return to New York and to Runway wasn't as futile an effort as she'd originally thought. The photoshoot would take place in the park at dawn, she'd given Serena the task of acquiring all the permits while Emily went to the closet to talk the lackeys through the changes in wardrobe.
Miranda felt herself starting to think about Nigel again so she picked up her Blackberry and dialed Andy. "Andrea," she said, after the journalist picked up her phone, "let's do lunch at noon."
"Noon... yeah, I have a 11:00 meeting, but I'm sure I can do lunch at noon. Where do you want to eat?"
"Delicatessen on fifth."
Andy laughed, "Miranda, I'm sorry... that's deli's been a McDonalds since March. We could meet there and figure out where else we wanted to go."
"Fine." Miranda pursed her lips, feeling annoyance that so many things had changed while so many things had remained deceptively the same.
"So, how's your morning going? Oh, hold on, my other line's beeping. It might be my editor, I'll be right back." She switched over and answered, "hello, Andy Sachs."
"It's true, isn't it? Miranda Priestly's back in New York?" Christian grinned on the other end.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Get your scoop from elsewhere."
Christian laughed, "I'm not looking for a scoop. It's not my department, I don't care. But all the tabloids are abuzz, you haven't noticed?"
"I've been on location all morning." Andy admitted.
"There's a million dollar payout for the first paparazzi who gets a picture of Miranda back in New York." Christian explained, "if she's feeling playful, she could probably dodge them all day. That would be funny."
"I have to go, Christian, I have someone on the other line, I'll call you soon."
"Someone who doesn't like to be kept waiting? Someone Miranda Priestly?" There was only silence on the other end. "Andy? Hello?"
♥
by Coco (i_heart_cuddy)
rating R
pairing Miranda/Donna
disclaimer I don't own the Devil Wears Prada or Mamma Mia or Meryl Streep: I'm just borrowing them. No money is being made off of this and no infringement is intended.
summary Caroline, Cassidy, Andy, Emily and Nigel come to see how Miranda is settling into her new life of leisure. Is retirement everything Miranda dreamed it would be or is it driving her slowly over the edge into insanity?
Author's Note Continuation in the fic verse set up in Letters to the Editor ♥
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five
Miranda groaned. "I just got back. This honestly can't wait?" She dropped her suitcases with disgust to further illustrate her irritation.
"I thought you had Cassidy with you."
She sighed, if nothing else, the man cared deeply for his children. "She went to a friend's house. She'll be back a little later. Pray tell, how did you hear of her return to New York?"
"She e-mailed me."
Miranda nodded, "of course she did." Miranda gathered her valises into her arms again with resignation. "Go on into sitting room, I'll be right in."
She watched him go into the sitting room before mounting the steps. She used to think that a fourth floor bedroom was a horrible inconvenience. After Villa Donna, a fourth floor bedroom was a godsend. Miranda set the suitcases at the foot of her bed and decided not to wallow just yet.
When she entered the sitting room, Lucas stood up. "I'd offer you coffee," she said, taking a seat on the chaise, "but I haven't gone grocery shopping yet."
"You mean you haven't sent your assistant grocery shopping yet?" He questioned.
Miranda laughed a little, "I don't have an assistant anymore."
Lucas tried to decide if she was kidding or not. He studied her face for a few long moments before he opened his mouth, "you're serious?"
Miranda nodded. "Lucas, please, we need to talk."
"I remember the last time you said those words to me." He crossed his legs, "we were here in this room. The furniture was different and neither of us had white hair." He ran his fingers through his own ivory hair with a small smile.
"Don't reminisce about our divorce." Miranda said without amusement. "Aren't you happy with Yvonne?"
He watched her for a moment. Miranda wished that he'd stop doing that and just speak, "she divorced me in January. The girls didn't tell you? You didn't hear?"
"I'm a little bit out of the loop these days."
Lucas grinned, "on your little island."
"I'm sorry, if that means anything to you." Miranda shrugged.
He nodded, "it does. It means a lot."
Miranda scoffed a little, "well, welcome to the club of multiple divorcées, just the same."
"That sounds like a toast."
"Well," Miranda smirked, "if you'd had the foresight to bring the alcohol we could be toasting right now. Just as well, I need to talk about the girls."
"So, you're happy with Donna?"
"Don't change the subject."
"It's just a simple question."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "it's not a simple question. It's a loaded question."
Lucas held up his hands submissively, "you should have been the lawyer. You have more of a talent for it than I do." He shook his head, "it's just a question. I just want to know that you're happy."
"Yes. I am." Miranda said simply. "Now. The girls."
"Yes, alright." He sat forward, "so, Cassidy gave me a few details. She dropped out of school?"
Miranda snorted an incredulous laugh, "oh that manipulative little child. No. She did not drop out of school. She was politely asked not to return for reasons pertaining to her abysmal academic transcript."
Lucas was stunned. "You're kidding! You never called me to tell me?"
"I didn't know until a couple of days ago, myself." She admitted, "the school sent me back my tuition check. Cassidy's just been living in London since Christmas. Not working."
He leaned back in his chair to take it all in. "She didn't tell you herself?"
"No."
"Well..." he ran his hand through his hair again, still trying to take it in. "What's her course of action?"
"She doesn't have one." Miranda's contempt for that decision was evident in her tone. "So, I'm cutting off her trust fund until she does something with her life. I refuse to support her financially if she's not even going to take any interest in her own well-being."
Lucas nodded, "I think that's a good idea. I'll do the same. Consider her cut off."
Now it was Miranda's turn to stare at him in confusion. "You think I'm right?"
"Absolutely. To be honest, I thought you were right a lot of the times I said you were wrong. It was mostly misplaced hostility."
Miranda huffed.
"But in any case, I think you're right. She should go back to school or get a job-"
"She should go back to school." Miranda interrupted him.
"Miranda, come on. Coming from you that's going to sound like hypocrisy." He reasoned, "she knows you didn't go back to university. She's not stupid. We have to give her the options. The trick is that they're both options that we've picked. I'm certain that she'll get a job. She'll hate it and she'll go back to university."
Miranda contemplated what he'd said for a moment. "What if she doesn't go back?"
"Why wouldn't she?"
"I didn't. If she's taking my example to heart so deeply, why would she go back?" Miranda asked, "I think she'll coast by on being our daughter, get some cushy office job that requires two brain cells and she'll basically end up where she was. I think that given the choice, she won't go back to school."
"You may be right, Miranda." He acquiesced. "Regardless, it is her decision. Legally, she's an adult."
Miranda pouted. "Unfortunately."
Lucas laughed. "When they were young, you couldn't wait for them to grow up."
"So I could relate to them, not so they could defy me."
Lucas laughed, "you have a sense of humor, Miranda, don't let anybody tell you different."
"Who says different?" Miranda pursed her lips.
"Well... just about everybody."
Miranda shrugged, "c'est la vie." She crossed her legs and looked down at her shoes. "We need to talk about Caroline, too."
"You're kidding. She's not expelled, too, is she?" Lucas's eyes were wide.
"No, she's-"
"Is she in debt to a loan shark?"
"What? No, she's-"
"She's not pregnant, is she?"
"Lucas!" She snapped, remembering the resolution she'd made at the end of their marriage to never yell again unless in iminent physical peril. She glared at him. "Would you let me finish a sentence?"
"I'm having a strong sense of deja vu right now." Lucas quirked a small smile.
"I'm having such a strong sense of it, I'm feeling that migraine I had from 1994 to 1996." Miranda rubbed her temple. She waited a moment to make sure that Lucas had gotten his interrupting routine out of his system before she continued, "she wants to go to Iraq."
"No, seriously."
"She wants to go to Iraq." Miranda repeated, "she wants to do field reporting there."
"I think I'd rather she was pregnant." Lucas said in a daze.
Miranda explained about the internship and how determined she was to go whether it be next year or the one after that. She told him how she had reacted and how she'd refused to give her the internship at Runway. She also explained what Andy had said and admitted that she thought it was a good point.
"Geez, Miranda." He blew out a breath. "Drop all this on me at once, why don't you?"
"I have no sympathy for you." Miranda scoffed, "they both dropped it on me last week."
"Yeah, but they spaced it out, right?"
Miranda shrugged, "it wasn't the only thing that was dropped into my lap last week. I wish I only had to worry about the girls."
"What else-?"
It was her turn to interrupt him, "none of your business." They were silent for a moment. It felt uncomfortably like their marriage. "I think we should both do a little research into the program and then reconvene and talk about it again."
"Alright." He nodded, standing. On their way out to the foyer he added, "after this conversation I feel like I could use a stiff drink. Want to join me?"
Miranda shook her head, "I'm jetlagged. I'm going to go right to bed."
"Fair enough." He offered her a smile and opened the door. They were both stunned to Stephen on the other side of it.
He smiled awkwardly at them.
"Have I died and gone to hell?" Miranda put a hand on her hip, "all I need is Todd and it's a full house."
"I just had to see for myself." Stephen was awed. "I heard you were back but... wow... you're back."
"Apparently so." Miranda was not about to invite him in. "Now that you've seen me there must be somewhere better for you to be. Lucas is going for a drink, you could join him."
Stephen stepped closer to Miranda. Miranda glared and pursed her lips. "I've been thinking about you a lot lately. Since you retired and disappeared."
Miranda shot Lucas a sneer, hearing his muffled snickering.
"I... you look really beautiful, Miranda. I didn't expect..." he looked her up and down and her eyes widened in disgust. "I'd love to buy you dinner some time."
Lucas could no longer control his laughter. Miranda grit her teeth and said, "Stephen, even if I had lost all of my self-respect, I wouldn't accept that invitation."
"She's spoken for, sorry Steve." Lucas was nearly doubled over with laughter.
"You're back with Lucas?" Stephen was incredulous enough to ignore Lucas's use of the hated nickname. "But you said he was lousy in the sack!"
Miranda's eyes widened. Lucas stopped laughing and pouted. He turned to her, "you think I'm bad in bed?"
Miranda had all she could take of that conversation and turned and went inside, closing and locking the door behind her. "No more ex-husbands. No more." She ascended the stairs again, pulling out her blackberry as she went. The phone had to ring only twice before it was picked up.
"Hello, Villa Donna."
Miranda smiled peacefully, "hi. I just needed to hear your voice."
**
Miranda hadn't anticipated it being so difficult to get up for work. She felt like a child who'd just ended summer vacation. She got out of bed and went through the routine of showering and dressing. She knocked on Cassidy's door. She opened it, not expecting her to be awake. Miranda sat on the edge of the bed and kissed Cassidy's forehead.
Cassidy stirred and yawned, "what time is it?" She mumbled sleepily.
"It's early. You don't have to get up yet." Miranda soothed, stroking her hair, "I just wanted to tell you that I'll be home at six and I'm looking forward to eating dinner with you again."
Cassidy yawned, "kay."
Miranda had to stifle her own yawn as she kissed her daughter's forehead one more time before going about the rest of her morning routine. She stepped out into the cold air and recoiled. She almost made the decision to go back inside for another hour but was deterred when her driver pulled up to the curb and got out to open her door.
She slipped her sunglasses on. It was going to be a long morning. Fuck that, it was going to be a long six months.
**
The usual parting of the red clacker sea was colored with shock and awe. The clackers who'd known her stared in surprise to see the elusive fashionista freshly returned from god knows where. The new clackers who knew her only as the legend stood prepared to worship at her feet should the need arise.
Not a single person was on the elevator, it was as if the entire world had stopped. When her elevator reached Runway, she pulled the glasses off and looked nostalgically out into the offices. The familiar chaos of her arrival was no comfort. She had truly come to value other things.
Emily stood in the atrium to welcome her back into the depths of the magazine. Emily handed Miranda a clipboard and took her bag, "this is the schedule for today." She explained, "we have a Holt runthrough today at noon."
"So the schedule says." Miranda pursed her lips, skimming over the schedule. "Move it to ten."
Emily stopped. Miranda turned to look at her questioningly. "That's not how we do it anymore, Miranda. We make the schedule and we pretty much try to stick to it."
"People get lazy when there are no surprises. People sink into a comfortable routine, they get soft, they make mistakes. Human beings require stimulation of the senses." Miranda chastized, her blue eyes piercing into Emily's. "Move the run through."
"Yes, Miranda." Emily said, conceding defeat. She stopped short in the outer office as Miranda continued on.
Miranda halted when she reached the glass doors of the room she'd spent the better part of her career in. Cautiously, she took the handle in her hand and pulled it open. The pictures on the wall, the two black and whites of her daughters, were missing, but other than that the room was exactly the same. The desk was the same, the flower painting given to her so many years before by Christian Lacroix was still hanging in its place of honor behind the desk as the first thing an entrant would see. The desk was the same simple glass desk. Her mirror, a Christmas gift from Vera Wang, was on the adjoining wall.
Everything was the same.
Miranda turned, Emily was right behind her again. "The office. It's the same. You never redecorated?"
"You didn't. The office was the same for six years." Emily reasoned, "it seemed almost sacrilege to change it."
Miranda sighed with annoyance. "Emily."
"We don't do a lot of work here, anyway." Emily explained, "we do a lot of work on location and... at home."
Miranda looked up at that last remark with scorn but remained silent.
"We couldn't share an office. We fought too much." Emily went on, feeling as though she were digging a hole. "We certainly couldn't share your office."
"It's not my office anymore." Miranda intoned even as she took her seat behind the desk, settling in comfortably. "It's yours."
Emily nodded as she looked on. "I have the most recent book here. If you'd like to see it?"
"I want to meet the new art director. The layout is hideous." Miranda pursed her lips, flipping through the pages of the issue on the desk. "A hire of yours?"
"Irv hired him actually."
Miranda scoffed, "I see. A cheap new hire who knows absolutely nothing about art." She tossed the magazine down, "it's my guess the whole magazine is now riddled with these subpar employees? Get me a list of all the recent hires. That's all."
"Yes, Miranda." Emily nodded, turning and leaving the office.
Miranda watched her go. She had a horrible feeling of deja vu, the second in less than 24 hours. She sat back in the chair, half expecting Nigel to walk through the door. The office was the same but the important things were wrong. She'd panicked the first time she almost lost him. In 2006, when she'd lost Andrea, she hadn't realized that what she fought so hard to keep wasn't so much her job, but it was her family.
Nigel, Emily, Andrea. She loved them all. How ironic that she be ascribed heartless by the press when she knew that she had so much love inside her.
She thought then of Donna. The one person in her life that had always seen her goodness, who had never doubted her for even a second. How she missed her already.
Miranda shook her head and slid her glasses onto her face. She took the schedule and started moving things around, there was no rhyme nor reason to Emily's scheduling and Miranda aimed to fix that.
"Emily!" She called out when she was done only to realize that there was no one at the desks in the outer offices. She dialed Emily from her Blackberry only to be met with an automated recording telling her that Emily was unreachable.
She sighed with annoyance and walked out to the second assistant's desk. She started to scroll through the phone's contacts and finally found one that she recognized. She dialed and waited.
"This is Serena Beauchamp."
**
Emily graced the office with her presence in an hour and a half. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Serena standing at the desk with Miranda. Serena had been promoted to international liason around the time when she'd broken up with Emily. As far as Emily knew, this was the first time she'd been back at Runway since because she had an office in a completely separate building on a completely different street.
Emily almost decided to turn around and leave when Miranda looked up and caught her eye, beckoning her into the room.
Emily took a deep, calming, breath and entered the office. "What's up?" She systematically avoided looking at Serena even though she could feel her eyes boring into her.
"I needed an assistant." Miranda replied quietly, looking over the plans for the next issue's main photo shoot, obviously oblivious to the implication for Emily of inviting Serena into the office.
"I see."
"And I was more than happy to help." Serena quirked an eyebrow at Emily.
"I'm so glad that you were available, but I wouldn't want to keep you from your actual job." Emily looked to Miranda, "I'll hire you your own assistant."
"Actually, I have a bit of a lull right now. I'd like to be here for a while."
"I'm sure that Miranda-" Emily started.
Miranda cut her off, "I'd prefer Serena." She said curtly. "She knows how things ran when I was editor and that's what I need."
"I'll get you an assistant who you can mold and meld however you want." Emily was beginning to feel desperate.
"In due time." Miranda was annoyed by Emily's blathering.
"Is there a problem?"Serena asked softly, raking her eyes over Emily.
"No, of course not." Emily shook her head, giving up, "I can't even imagine why there'd be a problem. I just wouldn't want to take Serena away from anything, but whatever."
"I'm on call."
"I'm sure you are." Emily supressed a sneer. She looked down, "so, I have a meeting with the photographer for-"
"The photoshoot tomorrow? No, you don't." Miranda said softly, looking down at the preliminary sketeches. "This was pathetic."
"We've already... spent... so much..." Emily was nearly speechless.
"And you should count yourself lucky that you didn't go through with shooting it." Miranda narrowed her eyes, daring Emily to contradict her. "Now, I can appreciate that the photoshoot needs to take place as soon as possible to make it into the issue, so I'm making some preliminary notes before we get the art team together."
"Great." Emily tried to smile. "May I?" She held out her hand for the layout.
Miranda scowled but handed it over, aware that her return to Runway wasn't as editor but as co-editor. She would have to deal with all that meant.
Emily looked the paper over and was struck by the elegance of it, not the shoot itself, but the drawing, the talent for composition, the skill and swiftness with which it had been executed. She nodded, "it looks good. I see you've utilised a lot of the same things?"
"Yes." Miranda nodded, "the idea was there but it hadn't been eeked out yet."
**
After berating the art staff Miranda had felt as if she'd returned to full form. She felt that perhaps her return to New York and to Runway wasn't as futile an effort as she'd originally thought. The photoshoot would take place in the park at dawn, she'd given Serena the task of acquiring all the permits while Emily went to the closet to talk the lackeys through the changes in wardrobe.
Miranda felt herself starting to think about Nigel again so she picked up her Blackberry and dialed Andy. "Andrea," she said, after the journalist picked up her phone, "let's do lunch at noon."
"Noon... yeah, I have a 11:00 meeting, but I'm sure I can do lunch at noon. Where do you want to eat?"
"Delicatessen on fifth."
Andy laughed, "Miranda, I'm sorry... that's deli's been a McDonalds since March. We could meet there and figure out where else we wanted to go."
"Fine." Miranda pursed her lips, feeling annoyance that so many things had changed while so many things had remained deceptively the same.
"So, how's your morning going? Oh, hold on, my other line's beeping. It might be my editor, I'll be right back." She switched over and answered, "hello, Andy Sachs."
"It's true, isn't it? Miranda Priestly's back in New York?" Christian grinned on the other end.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that. Get your scoop from elsewhere."
Christian laughed, "I'm not looking for a scoop. It's not my department, I don't care. But all the tabloids are abuzz, you haven't noticed?"
"I've been on location all morning." Andy admitted.
"There's a million dollar payout for the first paparazzi who gets a picture of Miranda back in New York." Christian explained, "if she's feeling playful, she could probably dodge them all day. That would be funny."
"I have to go, Christian, I have someone on the other line, I'll call you soon."
"Someone who doesn't like to be kept waiting? Someone Miranda Priestly?" There was only silence on the other end. "Andy? Hello?"
♥