VOCALISE - CHAPTER 6
Title: Vocalise
Rating: PG13
Warning: Established character death. T__T
Pairing: Andy/Miranda
Length: 7400 words (this chapter)
Prompt: based on a prompt by amles80
Summary: A/U - Miranda is a choral director and Andy is a journalist who enjoys singing. Miranda has a painful past and Andy has to learn to believe in herself. Miranda is 47, Andy is 26 in this story.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Devil Wears Prada.
Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
A/N: Okay, I haven’t actually gotten to the dinner part yet in this chapter, but I moved already way past the 7000 word mark and I decided to split it into two chapters, otherwise it would become too long. ^_^ I dunno, I just kind of kept writing and writing and they still haven't eaten... xD
Chapter 6
It felt unreal to be sitting in a booth at their local bar, surrounded by a jolly group of celebrating choir members, after she had just shared the sweetest and most intimate moment of her life with the silver-haired beauty who now sat across the table from her, absentmindedly playing with a coaster.
Andy could still not quite believe that less than an hour ago they had been in a church, slung around each other and kissed, so carefully and tender. The sweet sensation of the older woman’s lips on hers still ghosted across Andy’s skin and she felt nervous, giddy, overwhelmed and calm, all at the same time.
Miranda’s hair was glowing warmly in the bar’s Christmas lights and as she raised her blue eyes to meet Andy’s there was a shy smile playing on her lips. Andy felt herself grin back and they quickly dropped their gazes to the table again before their facial expressions could escalate and draw attention.
“Here you go, ladies,” Nigel placed their drinks in front of them and sat down next to Miranda, while Doug, carrying the guys’ drinks, slid next to Andy.
The tenor raised his glass, “To a successful performance!”
“Hear hear!” Nigel clinked their glasses together.
Gingerly raising her own drink to Miranda’s, Andy looked directly into the older woman’s eyes and said quietly, “To a successful evening.”
The conductor only gave a slight nod and touched her glass to the brunette’s, in her elegant, reserved manner, but once Andy had brought the vodka tonic to her lips, she suddenly felt a pair of high-heeled feet encircle her ankle, and she had to brace herself on the table in order not to choke on her drink.
With nothing but a tiny spark of amusement betraying her aloof features, Miranda took a sip from her own beverage and then gracefully set it back down on the coaster. She then folded her hands and glanced around the bar to study the cheerful crowd while her feet still firmly pressed against Andy.
It wasn’t as much a sensual gesture, as it was a way to reassure the brunette of her presence, much like the simple squeeze of a hand. It filled Andy with joy to find Miranda being so secretly affectionate and she shuffled her free foot around Miranda’s to gently keep her in place. Their gazes met for a brief moment and Andy had to take another sip from her glass to hide the happy twitch of her mouth.
“So...” Nigel began carefully. “Irv came to see me after the concert.”
Doug and Andy’s head jerked up and even Miranda turned to face him.
“And? How did he like the show?” Doug asked with a hesitant grin.
Rubbing the side of the glass with his thumb, the pianist raised his eyebrows and continued. “Well, I think he was impressed... to the point of actual shock. He did not seem to like it one bit, though.”
“Well, tough luck, because we were brilliant,” Doug said cheerfully before taking another swig from his drink.
Miranda merely raised an eyebrow but Andy could tell that the conductor did not disagree.
“So, does that mean he reconsidered shutting us down?” the brunette asked.
“Well, no. He just changed the rules.” Nigel looked up at each of his table mates. “He now wants us to enter the preliminary rounds of next year’s New York City Choir Off.”
Andy’s gaze immediately locked with Miranda’s.
“If we do well in the overall competition, he’ll leave the choir alone.” Nigel finished with another sip from his drink.
“That son of a... a... hobbit!” The brunette slouched back into the seat with her arms crossed, mindful of her words in the conductor’s presence. The conductor, however, just stared into her drink in thought, lightly tapping against the glass.
“Nigel, the Choir Off was not part of the deal,” she spoke softly without looking up.
Feeling her heart sink, Andy loosened her hold on the older woman’s feet. “Miranda...”
Silver locks bounced up when the conductor raised her chin to quickly meet the brunette’s worried eyes through lowered lids.
“I did not say I would quit, Andrea,” she reassured the younger woman. “It merely... changes a few things,” she added while tightening her hold on Andy under the table and dropping her gaze to her fidgeting fingers.
Andy’s shoulders visibly relaxed at the older woman’s words and she let go of the breath she’d been holding. She sheepishly placed her foot against Miranda’s again and spoke softy, “Good. That’s good.”
The four of them remained quiet for a while, each finishing their drink in contemplation.
Andy felt elated at the idea of Miranda leading them to an actual competition. She had been dreading the possibility of Miranda leaving as soon as the choir was safe, but then again, they’d always need a conductor and choral director. The older woman had a lot of experience with the Choir Off and the brunette was sure that it came with a lot of memories attached. Maybe Miranda would confide in her about all that in the near future.
Studying the conductor’s face, Andy noticed the worry lines slightly deepening and she gently rubbed against Miranda under the table until blue eyes met hers again.
“It’s late. I need to go,” the older woman spoke suddenly as she withdrew her legs. Andy became worried again but she saw no distress in Miranda’s gaze.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said quickly as Nigel and Douglas stood from their seats to let them pass.
Miranda grabbed her coat and bag and together they walked through the busy crowd toward the door. Their shoulders kept brushing when they tried to avoid some overly enthusiastic patrons, and once near the entrance Andy glided forward to hold the door open for the conductor, which earned her a small curl of the lips.
When they were outside on the cold sidewalk, Andy stopped, unsure of what to say. She didn’t think a goodbye kiss was appropriate yet, at least not in public, and half the choir could see them through the bar windows. She wasn’t wearing her coat and the crisp air quickly caused chill bumps to appear her bare arms.
Miranda’s eyes were glued to her skin and with another slight curl to her mouth she quietly spoke, “Now who’s cold?”
The brunette rubbed at her arms and sent her a smirk. “Will you take a cab?”
The conductor nodded and Andy swiftly stepped off the curb to wave down one of the yellow cars that buzzed by in a steady stream. Thanks to her scantily clad form, one of them stopped within seconds, and she leaned closer to a slightly blushing Miranda to reach past her and open the door.
“I will pick you up tomorrow at two in the afternoon,” the conductor breathed in a half whisper, stopping, with one foot already inside the cab.
Andy nodded and gave the sweetest smile she could muster in the cold air.
“Have a good night, Miranda.”
“You as well,” the older woman whispered as their fingers brushed on the cab door.
They shared a final look before Miranda disappeared into the vehicle, and then Andy closed the door with a delicate thud. Once the car had pulled into traffic, the brunette hurried back inside the bar with a crazy torrent of emotion running through her, curling from the back of her ears all the way to her toes.
She quickly slid back into the booth next to Douglas.
“So, what did I miss?” she asked the two men while she rubbed her hands together for warmth.
Doug snorted and patted her cold shoulder. “What did you miss?”
Andy looked from her friend to Nigel, both of which were nearly identically raising their brows at her now.
“Yeah, Little Sparrow. What was that all about? I’ve known Miranda Priestly for nearly twenty years, and I have never seen her play footsie with anyone before.”
The brunette’s doe eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Wh-what?!” she stammered.
“Don’t worry, Andy, it wasn’t that obvious. I didn’t even notice. Nigel just somehow picked up on it.” Doug reassured her.
“It... it was nothing like that!” she mumbled quite hysterically through her palms.
“We were just... holding feet.” As soon as she had said it, the three of them burst into loud giggles and Andy let her forehead fall onto the table.
“What’s so funny?” Lily asked as she walked up.
Quickly the brunette shot a warning look to Nigel and Doug and then shook her head. “Nothing, Lily, just my usual life fail.”
Lily leaned over and hugged her. “Aw, Sweetie, stop being so hard on yourself. You totally kicked ass tonight! Even the Snow Queen seemed impressed.” She pulled away to look around. “Speaking of which, where has she disappeared off to? I bet Nate fifty bucks that she can’t hold her liquor.”
“Miranda went home.” Andy informed her friend. She didn’t like that Lily and Nate were placing bets on Miranda involving alcohol.
“And I think that’s where I’ll head now as well.” She pulled on her coat and ignored the suggestive eyebrow wriggle from both Doug and Nigel.
“Oh, by the way, what time can we expect you tomorrow?” Doug asked as he handed Andy her purse.
“Oh shit,” the brunette placed a hand over her mouth and switched on her apologetic, puppy-eyed look. “Doug I’m so sorry, something came up and I made other plans.”
Her friend looked disappointed and confused for a moment until it slowly dawned on him.
“Ohhh! No way! Well. Go you!” He smirked and leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Have fun, then, alright?”
She nodded sheepishly and kissed him back. “I will. Tell your mom I’m sorry and I will come by some time next week for leftovers!”
Doug gave her an understanding nod and after a quick hug for Lily and Nigel, Andy rushed out of the bar.
As she made her way to the subway, she still felt slightly embarrassed at having been caught doing... well... whatever they had been doing under the table. At the same time, however, she felt happy, and thoroughly excited about the next day.
Although Christmas dinner loomed over her like two large, ominous clouds labeled “too soon” and “too fast”, she looked forward to meeting Miranda’s parents and Miranda’s daughter. It meant a lot that the older woman wanted to share these things, and it wasn’t like her feelings for Miranda were that new. Andy had kind of been hooked from the moment they had met, a month ago, when they had collided outside of Starbucks.
Snuggling into her thick coat, and ignoring the icy bites to her calves, which were barely protected by her pantyhose, she hurried down the subway steps, with a silly, love-sick smile on her lips.
-----
Miranda drove through the eerily sleepy streets of Manhattan on the young Tuesday afternoon. Christmas Day always held a certain magic as it draped a serene blanket of stillness over the entire country, even over a metropolis like New York City. Most of the sporadic traffic consisted of yellow cabs, bringing people to their family dinners in a safe manner that would prevent later drink-and-drive incidents.
She stopped at a traffic light and allowed a shudder to ripple across her spine. No, she would not let such thoughts bring her down anymore. Drumming her fingers in their driving gloves against the leather steering wheel, she gazed at the red light swinging above her in the steady December wind. She recalled Andrea’s face when they had said their goodbyes the previous night. The young brunette had smiled like an angelic apparition, shivering in the cold night and yet so gallantly holding open the cab door for Miranda. Andrea’s attentiveness had really struck a sensitive point in the conductor’s heart.
Her physical attraction for the young woman hadn’t really come as a surprise to Miranda. How could you not be pulled toward the radiant beauty, with the perfect body, the silky hair and the dark eyes so full of passion? What had startled the older woman, though, was how quickly Andrea had found a way into her cold, broken heart in just a matter of weeks.
The persistent honking of a car horn pulled her out of her thoughts and she realized that the light had changed to green. Skillfully releasing the clutch and pushing down on the gas she sped off, leaving the noisy cab behind in a metaphorical cloud of dust.
Within minutes she pulled up in front of Andrea’s apartment building and was pleased to see the brunette already standing on the sidewalk. She was wearing the silly green hat again with the all important scarf and Miranda had to smile.
Signaling for the conductor to remain inside the car, Andrea hurried around and slipped into the passenger seat. She made a small ‘brrr’ sound as she shook her shoulders and then pulled off her hat to greet Miranda with a warm smile.
“Hi,” she said shyly, and gave a little wave with her candy-cane-gloved hand that made the older woman’s sides hurt with adoration.
Before she realised what she was doing Miranda leaned across the small space and kissed Andrea sweetly on the mouth.
“Hi,” the older woman whispered once she had pulled away again.
The brunette’s face turned a delicate shade of pink and her red and white gloves shot up to cover glowing cheeks. They gazed at each other silently, but communicating so much with just the sparkle in their eyes and the gentle curve of their lips.
“We should go. It’s a two hour drive,” Miranda said after a minute and Andrea nodded and reached for the seat belt.
The older woman checked for traffic and then pulled away from the curb and in the direction of the highway. They did not speak but Andrea kept glancing over at her with a strange expression on her face, which Miranda could not decipher.
“Is something wrong?” she inquired after a while.
“Uhm... no,” Andy said in a timid voice that worried the conductor.
“Andrea, if something is on your mind, please share it. This,” she waved a gloved hand between them while she kept her eyes on the road, “needs to be built on complete openness.”
“Uhm... yes, it’s not that, Miranda... uhm... it’s just...” her voice was barely a whisper and Miranda had to strain her ears to hear her over the loud German engine. “Watching you drive a Porsche is just really... hot.”
The conductor looked over and caught Andrea doing a fanning motion with her hand. Their gazes met and they both blushed.
“Oh, I see,” Miranda said as she tried to concentrate on the traffic again.
A laden silence followed, but it did not really feel awkward, just heavy, and the older woman, fueled by Andrea’s comment, gripped the steering wheel tighter and lowered her foot a bit more firmly onto the gas pedal.
Had she just imagined the brunette gasping? Dear god, Miranda inhaled deeply to get herself under control. She wasn’t a teenage boy who wanted to impress his girlfriend with his first car and reckless driving skills. There was no way she would endanger Andrea’s life with something so ridiculous.
“How about some music?” She said to cover the fact that she was slowing the car back down to a more or less acceptable speed. She motioned to the iPod that was attached to the dashboard and asked Andrea to find something nice.
“Any special wishes?” the brunette asked cheerfully.
“No,” Miranda said, briefly glancing over. “Surprise me.”
And so Andrea scrolled through the large selection of music on the device and kept pushing buttons.
“What are you doing?” Miranda inquired.
“Creating a playlist,” the younger woman replied, while her thumb enthusiastically flew over the dial.
“What? It can do that?” The conductor moved her eyes from the road for a moment to glance at the small device in wonder. She only knew how to push the main buttons and so far it had always been enough to just chose a single album to listen to.
“Yes, I can show you how, later.” Andrea said with a smile. ”You seem to have a lot of music on here that I like. Our tastes must be very similar,” she beamed at Miranda as she placed the player back in its holder and pressed ‘play’.
Shortly after, the soft, first notes from Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” danced from the surround speakers and filled the narrow interior of the sports car, loud enough to drown out some of the engine noise.
They listened to the piece in silence as the Porsche sped over the highway. Miranda found herself profoundly enjoying the shared quiet moments with Andrea, especially when they involved music. It seemed to be something that bound them together, that lulled them into a soft cocoon of experiencing beauty.
She stole a few side glances at the brunette who seemed lost in the sleepy world passing by outside the window. She wondered what was going on in Andrea’s head. Was she committing the thinning houses and emerging woods to memory, the writer in her, seeking out words to describe each scene as she watched them unfold? Or was she picturing the music as the notes took shape, watching the piano keys as they were bent to the performer’s will, in her mind’s eye?
Miranda realized that she still knew so little about Andrea and for a moment she second-guessed her decision to bring the younger woman out to the Hamptons so soon. They hadn’t even discussed if they were going to begin a relationship or not. It had been the rising panic at finding herself lost so deeply in another person so quickly, that had forced her to see this as the only valid option.
If she truly wanted to consider making this work with Andrea, the brunette would have to see and accept everything, and everyone in Miranda’s life. There was no way around it. She would not allow herself to fall even further for the beautiful young woman, if there was no way to combine both, a potential relationship with Andrea and what she had planned for her own future and that of her daughter.
“What are you thinking about?” The brunette asked softly from beside her.
“You.” Miranda stated truthfully and sent her a brief, but sincere look.
“Only good things, I hope,” Andrea said while self-consciously tugging at her scarf.
“Hmmm...” the older woman hummed, but did not speak further. How could she tell Andrea that she wanted to be with her, but was afraid? How could she say that, although she longed, so much, to be intimate, she would not fully be able to give herself to Andrea unless there was a definite promise of it becoming much more than just a meaningless fling?
Then again, this could never be meaningless. Miranda knew they were already way past that stage. They had been, at the very least, since the previous Friday when Andrea had pulled her out of the lonely cold and into warm life with one single act of kindness and affection. And even before that, something had been binding them, pulling them ever closer, each time they interacted. This already felt so different from her... adventure... five years ago.
Back then, she had made a point of ignoring the twins’ existence. Miranda had kept both her love affair, and her family life completely separate because neither had seemed to want to know the other. The result had been countless compromises, the harshest of which was the loss of one of her babies. A price way too high to pay for anything.
“Hey.” The sweet sound was accentuated by a warm palm on her thigh. “Are you alright, Miranda?”
The older woman briefly looked back to Andrea and gave a halfhearted smile. “I will be.”
Not fully convinced, but seemingly content for now, the brunette pulled her hand away and leaned back against the seat.
“Is today some kind of test?” Andrea asked quietly while studying the dark clouds that were hanging drearily on the horizon.
Miranda’s heart leaped in her chest, and she was afraid that her behavior would lead to alienating Andrea before anything could even happen between them.
“Hmmm, I think you could say that... in a way.”
She remembered her mother’s surprised voice when she had mentioned bringing a friend along for Christmas dinner. Miranda’s parents had always been very protective of her, especially since they had become aware of her exact situation five years ago, and they had not taken it lightly. She knew that there would probably be more than just one ‘test’ today.
“I’m sorry, Andrea.” She exhaled while speeding past another car. “I know this is all so fast and... confusing. I, myself, am not even really sure what I’m doing... or why...” she trailed off and Andrea’s hand resumed its earlier position on the older woman’s thigh, where it now gently traced a reassuring pattern.
“I just know... that I want you with me,” she added quietly, reaching down to squeeze the younger woman’s hand.
“It’s alright Miranda. I will be fine,” the brunette said sweetly as she laced their fingers together. “I feel honored that I get to meet your family. I will simply be myself today, and then we’ll see where that leads, okay?”
The conductor nodded and gently drew their hands up to kiss Andrea’s fingers.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” she said with a timid smile.
“You haven’t seen nothing yet, lady!” the brunette joked back, and Miranda was hit with many different variations of anticipation at that very true statement.
-----
The world outside went by in a blur as Miranda piloted them through the dim Christmas afternoon and Andy knew that this image would stay with her forever, through lonely nights and dark days. The poised way the older woman was sitting in the driver’s seat, silk pantyhose covering her slender, yet strong calves, as she pressed her four-inch heels onto the gas pedal so commandingly, just captured the brunette and did wonderful things to the area below her bellybutton.
Of course she was insanely nervous about the dinner and about meeting Miranda’s family, but right now, the only things that registered were the soft sound of Chopin, the strong engine propelling them seemingly through time and space, and the occasional conversation they shared, where Miranda told Andy details about her parents and how they had taken in Caroline after the accident.
They had entered the town of Southampton and Andy watched in awe as they approached a large, white iron gate which readily swung open when Miranda pressed the little remote attached to her sun visor. As the Porsche’s wheels slowly ground over the gravel path toward the large building, Miranda turned to face Andy.
“You should know that I notified my parents about you accompanying me today.”
Andy wasn’t sure how she should feel about that. It certainly ruled out a majorly awkward surprise, but it would have also given the Priestly family time to prepare excruciating questions.
The car stopped and Miranda shifted into ‘neutral’ and pulled the handbrake before she turned off the engine.
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Andy said with a grimace but then sent Miranda a brave smile.
They stepped out of the car and as if on cue, all of a sudden tiny snowflakes began to fall. Andy gazed up against the flurry of white descending onto them and Miranda walked around the vehicle and came to stand by her side.
“The first snow of the season,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s a sign?”
When the brunette looked over at the conductor, she noticed the small crystals adorning her silver hair, and sparkling from her long eyelashes.
“Wow,” Andy exhaled in a small cloud of condensation. “You truly are a Snow Queen.”
“I beg your pardon?” Miranda looked at her through lowered lids with a purse to her perfect, red lips.
Andy just reached up to brush a lock away from the older woman’s eyes. “You’re beautiful.”
“Oh... Well...” Miranda blushed and began walking toward the house.
A satisfied smirk playing on her lips, Andy rushed to catch up and felt the conductor take her hand as they approached the door. The older woman rang the doorbell and chewed on her bottom lip as they waited.
After just a few seconds the door swung open and the housekeeper greeted them and offered to take their coats and scarves as they stepped into the largest hallway Andy had ever seen inside a home. It was elegant and Edwardian, but had a warm feel to it, and the banister of the stairs was decorated with little twigs of evergreen and a few red ribbons. In dazed wonder she followed the stuccoed lines of the high ceiling with her eyes and inhaled the clearly defined smell of Christmas dinner wafting from somewhere in the large building.
“Miranda Darling, you’re early,” came a warm voice from behind them.
Andy spun around to watch an older woman, whom she recognized from the news photo in the article about the accident, approach them with a curious gleam in her eyes. There was a definite resemblance and Andy saw where Miranda had gotten her elegance and sophisticated nature from. Mrs.
Priestly was wearing expensive looking slacks and a red sweater, no doubt cashmere, atop a white-collared shirt, and her snowy hair was pulled up in a tight bun. Andy studied the lined features and imaged how similarly beautiful Miranda might look in thirty year’s time.
“Hello Mother,” The conductor stepped forward and embraced her mom. “I want you to meet Andrea Sachs,” she gestured toward the shy brunette. “She is a soprano in the choir I lead.”
Andy hesitantly stepped forward as a very Miranda-esque evaluation stare was directed her way, before her offered hand was clasped in a firm, but ladylike shake.
“Andrea, this is my mother, Marianne Priestly.”
“How do you do,” Miranda’s mom said warmly.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Priestly,” Andy said while fighting the urge to curtsy, her heart racing faster than Miranda in a Porsche.
“Please, call me Marianne,” the older woman smiled as she glanced contemplatively from the brunette to her daughter and then back again.
“Your father is in the sitting room.” Marianne informed and they followed her quietly past a beautifully furnished study, through a tall archway and into a spacious room with blue, diamond-patterned wallpaper.
“Charles, Miranda is here.”
A gentleman in about his late sixties, peered at them over the top of his newspaper and through his dark-rimmed spectacles.
“Mira, nice to see you,” he folded the paper, rose from his chair and walked up to hug his daughter.
“And you brought a friend,” he said after pulling away. It made Andy slightly apprehensive, but she could not really spot anything hostile in the man’s blue eyes.
“Father, this is Andrea Sachs. Andrea, meet my father, Charles Priestly,” she introduced them and Andy gave her best professional handshake, one she had practiced many times with Doug and Nate when she had first begun working at the Mirror, in anticipation of any potential future interviews with important people.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Priestly,” Andy said in a sincere and determined manner and she saw the faint traces of a familiar sparkle in his eyes.
“The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Sachs.” He said evenly, and the brunette knew that Miranda’s ‘business face’ was also, most definitely, a genetic trait.
“Please, call me Andy. Uhm... here,” she reached inside her bag and pulled out a bottle of red wine. “I know it’s probably nothing fancy, but... thank you for letting me join for dinner.” She handed the bottle to Mr. Priestly, and was glad for Nate being an up-and-coming sous-chef who always gave her a good selection of wines for her birthday. This one was a 2004 Mirabile Tannat from Italy, and her friend had highly praised its coffee and tobacco undertones.
Mr. Priestly read the label and gave a pleased nod. “Thank you, Andrea. And you’re welcome. We’re glad to have you.”
He placed the bottle on a nearby side table and turned to his daughter.
“Caroline is upstairs playing her game,” he said with affection colouring his voice.
Miranda’s mother chimed in. “We told her to wait for you but she already unwrapped all her gifts this morning.”
“Well, teenagers,” Miranda sighed and Andy gave her a small, understanding grin.
“We’ll go say hello,” the conductor said as she gently pulled the brunette by the elbow.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour, so take your time,” Marianne called after them as the two women moved up the carpeted stairs.
Andy took a deep, audible breath and Miranda paused to run the back of her fingers tenderly over her cheek.
“So far, so good,” the brunette whispered and the conductor smiled.
“Come on.” She tugged Andy up the last few steps and down the well-lit hallway toward the faint sound of Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia’, until they stopped in front of a large, white door that had wooden letters nailed to it, spelling out ‘Caroline’, and Miranda knocked.
“Gramps, I’m about to beat this level, so please don’t interrupt. I’ll be right down!” They heard through the guitar riffs echoing from behind the wall.
Miranda quietly turned the knob and the door swung open to reveal a very large, and quite messy teenager room. The light blue walls and stuccoed ceiling were the only thing tying this space to the rest of the house. Clothes, books and plastic CD cases lay strewn across the room as if a tornado had hit. The walls were covered with band posters and there was a king-sized bed in one corner and a large flat-screen TV in another, which had a concentrated strawberry-blonde twisting on the couch in front of it.
Caroline sat enthusiastically clicking away at a plastic guitar controller, bopping her head along with the rhythm as she focused on the game on the large screen in front of her.
Once the song had ended and the teenager had punched a fist in the air with a happy ‘Yeah!’, Miranda knocked on the open door again and the girl spun around.
“Mom!” she yelped excitedly once she saw Miranda, and she reached for the two crutches that rested against the couch, and struggled to stand as quickly as she could manage. The conductor swiftly stepped around a pair of shoes and a few t-shirts and enveloped her daughter in a tight hug.
“Hello, darling. I see that you are enjoying your presents.”
The girl pulled away sheepishly. “Yes, sorry, I couldn’t wait. I love the game! Thanks mom!” Her eyes finally found Andy, who still stood shyly by the door.
“Who’s that?”
Miranda waved for Andy to come closer. “That’s... Andrea. My friend, from the choir.”
Caroline nodded and shook the brunette’s hand.
“Hi. You can call me Andy.”
The girl’s eyes looked so much like Miranda’s and her long hair was the same shade Andy remembered seeing when she had googled for older photos of the conductor.
Caroline nodded and looked from her mother to the younger woman, as if to figure out the reason why on earth her mom would bring a friend over for a family Christmas dinner.
“Is that Guitar Hero Three?” Andy pointed at the paused game on the screen.
“Uhm... yeah.”
“Oh cool, and you have the limited edition Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster Wii controller?”
Caroline nodded.
“Wow, you have like, the coolest mom ever!” Andy said excitedly as she put her hands on her hips and faced Miranda.
The conductor was studying her with a thoughtful expression from behind Caroline, her hands still resting on her daughter’s shoulders. The girl looked at Andy with a mix of careful interest and scepticism.
“So, you’re left-handed, huh? Me too!” Andy pressed on, wriggling her left fingers while giving a shy smile.
“That reminds me, I brought you a present,” she reached into her messenger bag and retrieved a flat, rectangular package. Miranda raised both her eyebrows in surprise but remained quiet, as Andy handed the gift to Caroline.
“Me coming here was a bit short notice and all the shops were closed, so I thought I’d just give you my own copy.” Andy babbled, as she fidgeted with her fingers. Mother and daughter had a look of curiosity on their faces as the teenager removed the white bow and dark blue wrapping paper.
Once Caroline had unwrapped the book and turned it face-up, Andy continued in a more timid voice, “It’s my all-time favourite. Maybe you’re already a bit too old, but I hope you like it.”
It was the original 2002 hardcover edition of Neil Gaiman’s ‘Coraline’ and the girl held it up to Miranda.
“Look mom, they spelled my name wrong, just like Cass always did.”
Oh crap, shot through Andy’s head. She had not intended to bring up any painful memories for either of them. She had only wanted to share something that she cherished with Miranda’s daughter.
Biting on her lower lip she watched as the older woman took in the book title and then leaned her head over Caroline’s shoulder to hug her daughter tightly.
“I think this is a wonderful gift, don’t you agree?” The teenager nodded and looked shyly over to the weary brunette.
“Thanks, Andy.” A genuine smile appeared on the girl’s lips.
“No problem, Caroline,” the brunette smiled back, relief falling off her shoulders like a ten-pound rock.
“Hey Andy, do you want to play Guitar Hero? I have a second controller,” the teenager motioned to another, large package lying on the floor. “There’s a two-player mode, and I had nobody to play with.”
Andy’s heart ached for the single twin.
“Yeah, sure, but don’t you want to catch up with your mom?” Andy looked at Miranda who still had her arms around her daughter.
“Oh that’s okay, I saw mom just last weekend,” the girl said as she twisted from her mother’s grasp and hobbled back to the couch on her crutches.
“Go ahead, Andrea. I will just sit down and watch.”
There was something warm in Miranda’s eyes and the soft smile tugging at her lips caused Andy’s heart to leap.
“Well, okay then. It’s on!” she exclaimed cheerfully while crouching down to get the second controller from its box.
------
Miranda leaned into the soft couch cushion next to her daughter as she watched how Andrea beat Caroline at the noisy video game for the sixth in a row. The brunette kept apologizing, but Caroline, very much like her mother would, just kept at it, getting better and creeping closer to Andrea’s high-scores with every round.
The conductor was filled with pride, but her daughter had already proven many times before how determined she could be. The years of physiotherapy and operations had shown that, and it had all finally paid off when, one month ago, doctors had succeeded in removing the remaining scar tissue that had pressed against Caroline’s spinal chord.
After the accident she had still felt sensation in her feet and legs, but the motor function had been largely inhibited, in what the doctors called an ‘incomplete spinal chord injury’. Caroline had bitten through each and every therapy session, had suffered many tears of frustration and pain, and finally she was rewarded with this tremendous progress.
The teenager could now move through the house freely on her crouches, albeit still in a slow pace. Therapy was going well and the doctors were positive that, with enough training, Caroline could actually walk without aid in the near future.
“Ack! Nearly!” the girl said exasperatedly. “Why are you so good at this Andy? How can your fingers move so fast?”
“Uhm... I play guitar, so I guess that kind of helps with the finger movements,” the brunette shrugged as she selected a new song from the menu.
“That is so cool, Andy! Can you teach me one day?” Caroline asked with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to play in a band!”
“Sure, if it’s okay with your mom.”
Both her daughter and Andrea turned around to look at Miranda with a hopeful sparkle in their eyes and the conductor suddenly felt weak with emotions. She was amazed at how quickly Caroline had warmed up to the brunette, and it had erased a lot of her initial anxiety. Andrea had not only immediately treated her daughter as an equal, but had also brought a thoughtful gift, and now she had even offered music lessons.
Miranda looked from one expectant face to another and could no longer keep in the large smile that had slowly been building over the last few minutes.
“Yes, of course it’s okay!” she said warmly and felt her eyes burn with affection.
Caroline pumped her fist in the air with a happy ‘Yes!’ and Andrea just returned Miranda’s deep gaze with a large smile of her own.
“You two keep playing. I will go down and help set up, alright?” The conductor elegantly rose from her seat, eyes not leaving the brunette.
“Yeah, yeah, mom,” Caroline shooed her away from where she blocked the girl’s line of sight to the TV, and with a final, gentle touch to Andrea’s shoulder Miranda left the room.
She held her hands to her chest as she descended the stairs, grasping at this glowing feeling that felt so unreal and good inside of her. As if her body had been in a draught for five long years and now finally felt the first drops of a monsoon, with the promise of thick rain hanging heavily in the air.
Miranda walked into the kitchen with a silly grin still plastered on her face and sat down on one of the stools by the kitchen island. Her mother, who stood by the fridge had watched her come in and was now eyeing her with an analytical Priestly stare.
“What?” the conductor asked after losing the battle with those eyes on her.
Marianne put down the jug of grape juice she had been holding and stepped up to the island counter.
“She seems like a nice girl...”
“Mother...”
“No, Mira, let me say my bit.” Mrs. Priestly crossed her arms and giving her daughter a long look she continued, “I know why you brought her here today.”
The conductor raised a quizzical eyebrow at her mother and squared her shoulders.
“You brought her here, so you would not make the same mistake as with that French woman and because you needed, above all else, for her and Caroline to work.”
Miranda dropped her gaze to a fixed spot on the oak counter top and remained silent as her mother continued in a more gentle tone.
“You brought Andrea here, because you felt like you needed our permission to have a shot at happiness, and because your heart is still so riddled with guilt that you don’t trust yourself to make the right decision.”
The salty liquid quickly built on her lower lids, and as soon as she blinked two thick streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. Her mother was so right.
“Mira,” Mrs. Priestly spoke softly and stepped closer to her weeping daughter. “Let me tell you, that Andrea truly seems like a wonderful young woman and the way she looks at you is honest and full of devotion. She’s different.”
The conductor nodded and used the back of her hand to wipe at her tears in a clumsy and non-elegant way that could only be triggered by sobbing like a baby in her mother’s kitchen.
“And the most important thing is,” Marianne spoke sweetly as she put a hand on her daughter’s back. “The most important thing is... that you, Mira, more than anyone else in this world, finally deserve some happiness.”
Miranda leaned across the short distance and hugged her mother tightly.
Yes. Andrea was so very different, and she wasn’t the kind of person who would just use Miranda and throw her away. That the brunette would be kind to Caroline was also clear, and the way Andrea had behaved over the past month, Miranda knew her to be genuinely caring and very affectionate.
Maybe her mother was right and she didfinally deserve happiness. Letting go of what happened was still a hard thing to do, but maybe she didn’t have to do it all by herself.
The conductor gingerly pulled away with a sniffle and Marianne gave her an encouraging smile.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Mrs. Priestly rubbed Miranda’s shoulder one last time and then proceeded back to the fridge to continue with dinner preparations, leaving the conductor to dry her face on a checkered paper towel.
“Have you given some thought to what we spoke about on Saturday?” Miranda said once she had fully regained her composure.
“Your father and I had a talk and we both agree, that Caroline could transfer at the beginning of the new semester,” Marianne replied as she warmed up a large bowl of gravy in the microwave. “Depending on how her therapy goes, she can decide whether or not she’ll use the wheel chair for school, but I’m certain that Dalton is adequately equipped either way.”
“Yes, I’ve spoken to the principle and it wouldn’t be a problem. She used to love it there when they... she... was little.” Miranda shared a meaningful look with her mother and rested her chin on her left hand. “I will ask her tonight. I know that moving back to New York is not a small undertaking, and I’m sure she will miss her friends here.”
Tracing small circles across the counter with her right index finger, she continued quietly. “I just really want her to live with me again. I think it will do both of us good.”
Marianne nodded and removed the turkey casserole from the oven.
“Of course we will miss her, Mira,” she placed the hot dish on the cooking range. “But she needs to be with her mother. Charles and I are nearly seventy, I think we’re getting too old to handle a teenager.”
She smiled ruefully and Miranda gave a sweet chuckle. “Yes, when I hear the music she listens to nowadays I’d be happy to keep Andrea around just so someone other than me can deal with the noise.”
Mrs. Priestly turned around and looked at her daughter warmly. “You’re really serious about her, aren’t you, Mira.”
The conductor tried to shrug away her blush. “Yes. I guess so... you know... we haven’t... well. We kissed for the first time yesterday, and it was careful and sweet. We haven’t even really talked about whether we’re actually in a relationship or not.”
Suddenly she felt very silly. Essentially her and Andrea weren’t even dating yet, unless you could call inviting someone over to your parents’ house for Christmas dinner, just one day after a first kiss, ‘dating’.
“I think you should have that talk with her soon, Mira.” Marianne gazed lovingly at her daughter.
“Yes, you’re right,” Miranda whispered and tapped a finger against her lips contemplatively.
The clacking sound of crutches came from the hallway and a few moments later a radiant Caroline pushed through the swinging door.
“Mom! I won!! I beat Andy!!” The teenager moved to where her mother sat and leaned in for a hug.
Across the girl’s shoulder, the conductor watched as Andrea slowly followed into the room and the brunette’s face lit up as soon as her eyes found Miranda.
Yes, they would have to talk, soon.
------
To be continued...
Rating: PG13
Warning: Established character death. T__T
Pairing: Andy/Miranda
Length: 7400 words (this chapter)
Prompt: based on a prompt by amles80
Summary: A/U - Miranda is a choral director and Andy is a journalist who enjoys singing. Miranda has a painful past and Andy has to learn to believe in herself. Miranda is 47, Andy is 26 in this story.
Disclaimer: I don’t own The Devil Wears Prada.
Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
A/N: Okay, I haven’t actually gotten to the dinner part yet in this chapter, but I moved already way past the 7000 word mark and I decided to split it into two chapters, otherwise it would become too long. ^_^ I dunno, I just kind of kept writing and writing and they still haven't eaten... xD
Chapter 6
It felt unreal to be sitting in a booth at their local bar, surrounded by a jolly group of celebrating choir members, after she had just shared the sweetest and most intimate moment of her life with the silver-haired beauty who now sat across the table from her, absentmindedly playing with a coaster.
Andy could still not quite believe that less than an hour ago they had been in a church, slung around each other and kissed, so carefully and tender. The sweet sensation of the older woman’s lips on hers still ghosted across Andy’s skin and she felt nervous, giddy, overwhelmed and calm, all at the same time.
Miranda’s hair was glowing warmly in the bar’s Christmas lights and as she raised her blue eyes to meet Andy’s there was a shy smile playing on her lips. Andy felt herself grin back and they quickly dropped their gazes to the table again before their facial expressions could escalate and draw attention.
“Here you go, ladies,” Nigel placed their drinks in front of them and sat down next to Miranda, while Doug, carrying the guys’ drinks, slid next to Andy.
The tenor raised his glass, “To a successful performance!”
“Hear hear!” Nigel clinked their glasses together.
Gingerly raising her own drink to Miranda’s, Andy looked directly into the older woman’s eyes and said quietly, “To a successful evening.”
The conductor only gave a slight nod and touched her glass to the brunette’s, in her elegant, reserved manner, but once Andy had brought the vodka tonic to her lips, she suddenly felt a pair of high-heeled feet encircle her ankle, and she had to brace herself on the table in order not to choke on her drink.
With nothing but a tiny spark of amusement betraying her aloof features, Miranda took a sip from her own beverage and then gracefully set it back down on the coaster. She then folded her hands and glanced around the bar to study the cheerful crowd while her feet still firmly pressed against Andy.
It wasn’t as much a sensual gesture, as it was a way to reassure the brunette of her presence, much like the simple squeeze of a hand. It filled Andy with joy to find Miranda being so secretly affectionate and she shuffled her free foot around Miranda’s to gently keep her in place. Their gazes met for a brief moment and Andy had to take another sip from her glass to hide the happy twitch of her mouth.
“So...” Nigel began carefully. “Irv came to see me after the concert.”
Doug and Andy’s head jerked up and even Miranda turned to face him.
“And? How did he like the show?” Doug asked with a hesitant grin.
Rubbing the side of the glass with his thumb, the pianist raised his eyebrows and continued. “Well, I think he was impressed... to the point of actual shock. He did not seem to like it one bit, though.”
“Well, tough luck, because we were brilliant,” Doug said cheerfully before taking another swig from his drink.
Miranda merely raised an eyebrow but Andy could tell that the conductor did not disagree.
“So, does that mean he reconsidered shutting us down?” the brunette asked.
“Well, no. He just changed the rules.” Nigel looked up at each of his table mates. “He now wants us to enter the preliminary rounds of next year’s New York City Choir Off.”
Andy’s gaze immediately locked with Miranda’s.
“If we do well in the overall competition, he’ll leave the choir alone.” Nigel finished with another sip from his drink.
“That son of a... a... hobbit!” The brunette slouched back into the seat with her arms crossed, mindful of her words in the conductor’s presence. The conductor, however, just stared into her drink in thought, lightly tapping against the glass.
“Nigel, the Choir Off was not part of the deal,” she spoke softly without looking up.
Feeling her heart sink, Andy loosened her hold on the older woman’s feet. “Miranda...”
Silver locks bounced up when the conductor raised her chin to quickly meet the brunette’s worried eyes through lowered lids.
“I did not say I would quit, Andrea,” she reassured the younger woman. “It merely... changes a few things,” she added while tightening her hold on Andy under the table and dropping her gaze to her fidgeting fingers.
Andy’s shoulders visibly relaxed at the older woman’s words and she let go of the breath she’d been holding. She sheepishly placed her foot against Miranda’s again and spoke softy, “Good. That’s good.”
The four of them remained quiet for a while, each finishing their drink in contemplation.
Andy felt elated at the idea of Miranda leading them to an actual competition. She had been dreading the possibility of Miranda leaving as soon as the choir was safe, but then again, they’d always need a conductor and choral director. The older woman had a lot of experience with the Choir Off and the brunette was sure that it came with a lot of memories attached. Maybe Miranda would confide in her about all that in the near future.
Studying the conductor’s face, Andy noticed the worry lines slightly deepening and she gently rubbed against Miranda under the table until blue eyes met hers again.
“It’s late. I need to go,” the older woman spoke suddenly as she withdrew her legs. Andy became worried again but she saw no distress in Miranda’s gaze.
“I’ll walk you out,” she said quickly as Nigel and Douglas stood from their seats to let them pass.
Miranda grabbed her coat and bag and together they walked through the busy crowd toward the door. Their shoulders kept brushing when they tried to avoid some overly enthusiastic patrons, and once near the entrance Andy glided forward to hold the door open for the conductor, which earned her a small curl of the lips.
When they were outside on the cold sidewalk, Andy stopped, unsure of what to say. She didn’t think a goodbye kiss was appropriate yet, at least not in public, and half the choir could see them through the bar windows. She wasn’t wearing her coat and the crisp air quickly caused chill bumps to appear her bare arms.
Miranda’s eyes were glued to her skin and with another slight curl to her mouth she quietly spoke, “Now who’s cold?”
The brunette rubbed at her arms and sent her a smirk. “Will you take a cab?”
The conductor nodded and Andy swiftly stepped off the curb to wave down one of the yellow cars that buzzed by in a steady stream. Thanks to her scantily clad form, one of them stopped within seconds, and she leaned closer to a slightly blushing Miranda to reach past her and open the door.
“I will pick you up tomorrow at two in the afternoon,” the conductor breathed in a half whisper, stopping, with one foot already inside the cab.
Andy nodded and gave the sweetest smile she could muster in the cold air.
“Have a good night, Miranda.”
“You as well,” the older woman whispered as their fingers brushed on the cab door.
They shared a final look before Miranda disappeared into the vehicle, and then Andy closed the door with a delicate thud. Once the car had pulled into traffic, the brunette hurried back inside the bar with a crazy torrent of emotion running through her, curling from the back of her ears all the way to her toes.
She quickly slid back into the booth next to Douglas.
“So, what did I miss?” she asked the two men while she rubbed her hands together for warmth.
Doug snorted and patted her cold shoulder. “What did you miss?”
Andy looked from her friend to Nigel, both of which were nearly identically raising their brows at her now.
“Yeah, Little Sparrow. What was that all about? I’ve known Miranda Priestly for nearly twenty years, and I have never seen her play footsie with anyone before.”
The brunette’s doe eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Wh-what?!” she stammered.
“Don’t worry, Andy, it wasn’t that obvious. I didn’t even notice. Nigel just somehow picked up on it.” Doug reassured her.
“It... it was nothing like that!” she mumbled quite hysterically through her palms.
“We were just... holding feet.” As soon as she had said it, the three of them burst into loud giggles and Andy let her forehead fall onto the table.
“What’s so funny?” Lily asked as she walked up.
Quickly the brunette shot a warning look to Nigel and Doug and then shook her head. “Nothing, Lily, just my usual life fail.”
Lily leaned over and hugged her. “Aw, Sweetie, stop being so hard on yourself. You totally kicked ass tonight! Even the Snow Queen seemed impressed.” She pulled away to look around. “Speaking of which, where has she disappeared off to? I bet Nate fifty bucks that she can’t hold her liquor.”
“Miranda went home.” Andy informed her friend. She didn’t like that Lily and Nate were placing bets on Miranda involving alcohol.
“And I think that’s where I’ll head now as well.” She pulled on her coat and ignored the suggestive eyebrow wriggle from both Doug and Nigel.
“Oh, by the way, what time can we expect you tomorrow?” Doug asked as he handed Andy her purse.
“Oh shit,” the brunette placed a hand over her mouth and switched on her apologetic, puppy-eyed look. “Doug I’m so sorry, something came up and I made other plans.”
Her friend looked disappointed and confused for a moment until it slowly dawned on him.
“Ohhh! No way! Well. Go you!” He smirked and leaned up to kiss her cheek. “Have fun, then, alright?”
She nodded sheepishly and kissed him back. “I will. Tell your mom I’m sorry and I will come by some time next week for leftovers!”
Doug gave her an understanding nod and after a quick hug for Lily and Nigel, Andy rushed out of the bar.
As she made her way to the subway, she still felt slightly embarrassed at having been caught doing... well... whatever they had been doing under the table. At the same time, however, she felt happy, and thoroughly excited about the next day.
Although Christmas dinner loomed over her like two large, ominous clouds labeled “too soon” and “too fast”, she looked forward to meeting Miranda’s parents and Miranda’s daughter. It meant a lot that the older woman wanted to share these things, and it wasn’t like her feelings for Miranda were that new. Andy had kind of been hooked from the moment they had met, a month ago, when they had collided outside of Starbucks.
Snuggling into her thick coat, and ignoring the icy bites to her calves, which were barely protected by her pantyhose, she hurried down the subway steps, with a silly, love-sick smile on her lips.
-----
Miranda drove through the eerily sleepy streets of Manhattan on the young Tuesday afternoon. Christmas Day always held a certain magic as it draped a serene blanket of stillness over the entire country, even over a metropolis like New York City. Most of the sporadic traffic consisted of yellow cabs, bringing people to their family dinners in a safe manner that would prevent later drink-and-drive incidents.
She stopped at a traffic light and allowed a shudder to ripple across her spine. No, she would not let such thoughts bring her down anymore. Drumming her fingers in their driving gloves against the leather steering wheel, she gazed at the red light swinging above her in the steady December wind. She recalled Andrea’s face when they had said their goodbyes the previous night. The young brunette had smiled like an angelic apparition, shivering in the cold night and yet so gallantly holding open the cab door for Miranda. Andrea’s attentiveness had really struck a sensitive point in the conductor’s heart.
Her physical attraction for the young woman hadn’t really come as a surprise to Miranda. How could you not be pulled toward the radiant beauty, with the perfect body, the silky hair and the dark eyes so full of passion? What had startled the older woman, though, was how quickly Andrea had found a way into her cold, broken heart in just a matter of weeks.
The persistent honking of a car horn pulled her out of her thoughts and she realized that the light had changed to green. Skillfully releasing the clutch and pushing down on the gas she sped off, leaving the noisy cab behind in a metaphorical cloud of dust.
Within minutes she pulled up in front of Andrea’s apartment building and was pleased to see the brunette already standing on the sidewalk. She was wearing the silly green hat again with the all important scarf and Miranda had to smile.
Signaling for the conductor to remain inside the car, Andrea hurried around and slipped into the passenger seat. She made a small ‘brrr’ sound as she shook her shoulders and then pulled off her hat to greet Miranda with a warm smile.
“Hi,” she said shyly, and gave a little wave with her candy-cane-gloved hand that made the older woman’s sides hurt with adoration.
Before she realised what she was doing Miranda leaned across the small space and kissed Andrea sweetly on the mouth.
“Hi,” the older woman whispered once she had pulled away again.
The brunette’s face turned a delicate shade of pink and her red and white gloves shot up to cover glowing cheeks. They gazed at each other silently, but communicating so much with just the sparkle in their eyes and the gentle curve of their lips.
“We should go. It’s a two hour drive,” Miranda said after a minute and Andrea nodded and reached for the seat belt.
The older woman checked for traffic and then pulled away from the curb and in the direction of the highway. They did not speak but Andrea kept glancing over at her with a strange expression on her face, which Miranda could not decipher.
“Is something wrong?” she inquired after a while.
“Uhm... no,” Andy said in a timid voice that worried the conductor.
“Andrea, if something is on your mind, please share it. This,” she waved a gloved hand between them while she kept her eyes on the road, “needs to be built on complete openness.”
“Uhm... yes, it’s not that, Miranda... uhm... it’s just...” her voice was barely a whisper and Miranda had to strain her ears to hear her over the loud German engine. “Watching you drive a Porsche is just really... hot.”
The conductor looked over and caught Andrea doing a fanning motion with her hand. Their gazes met and they both blushed.
“Oh, I see,” Miranda said as she tried to concentrate on the traffic again.
A laden silence followed, but it did not really feel awkward, just heavy, and the older woman, fueled by Andrea’s comment, gripped the steering wheel tighter and lowered her foot a bit more firmly onto the gas pedal.
Had she just imagined the brunette gasping? Dear god, Miranda inhaled deeply to get herself under control. She wasn’t a teenage boy who wanted to impress his girlfriend with his first car and reckless driving skills. There was no way she would endanger Andrea’s life with something so ridiculous.
“How about some music?” She said to cover the fact that she was slowing the car back down to a more or less acceptable speed. She motioned to the iPod that was attached to the dashboard and asked Andrea to find something nice.
“Any special wishes?” the brunette asked cheerfully.
“No,” Miranda said, briefly glancing over. “Surprise me.”
And so Andrea scrolled through the large selection of music on the device and kept pushing buttons.
“What are you doing?” Miranda inquired.
“Creating a playlist,” the younger woman replied, while her thumb enthusiastically flew over the dial.
“What? It can do that?” The conductor moved her eyes from the road for a moment to glance at the small device in wonder. She only knew how to push the main buttons and so far it had always been enough to just chose a single album to listen to.
“Yes, I can show you how, later.” Andrea said with a smile. ”You seem to have a lot of music on here that I like. Our tastes must be very similar,” she beamed at Miranda as she placed the player back in its holder and pressed ‘play’.
Shortly after, the soft, first notes from Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” danced from the surround speakers and filled the narrow interior of the sports car, loud enough to drown out some of the engine noise.
They listened to the piece in silence as the Porsche sped over the highway. Miranda found herself profoundly enjoying the shared quiet moments with Andrea, especially when they involved music. It seemed to be something that bound them together, that lulled them into a soft cocoon of experiencing beauty.
She stole a few side glances at the brunette who seemed lost in the sleepy world passing by outside the window. She wondered what was going on in Andrea’s head. Was she committing the thinning houses and emerging woods to memory, the writer in her, seeking out words to describe each scene as she watched them unfold? Or was she picturing the music as the notes took shape, watching the piano keys as they were bent to the performer’s will, in her mind’s eye?
Miranda realized that she still knew so little about Andrea and for a moment she second-guessed her decision to bring the younger woman out to the Hamptons so soon. They hadn’t even discussed if they were going to begin a relationship or not. It had been the rising panic at finding herself lost so deeply in another person so quickly, that had forced her to see this as the only valid option.
If she truly wanted to consider making this work with Andrea, the brunette would have to see and accept everything, and everyone in Miranda’s life. There was no way around it. She would not allow herself to fall even further for the beautiful young woman, if there was no way to combine both, a potential relationship with Andrea and what she had planned for her own future and that of her daughter.
“What are you thinking about?” The brunette asked softly from beside her.
“You.” Miranda stated truthfully and sent her a brief, but sincere look.
“Only good things, I hope,” Andrea said while self-consciously tugging at her scarf.
“Hmmm...” the older woman hummed, but did not speak further. How could she tell Andrea that she wanted to be with her, but was afraid? How could she say that, although she longed, so much, to be intimate, she would not fully be able to give herself to Andrea unless there was a definite promise of it becoming much more than just a meaningless fling?
Then again, this could never be meaningless. Miranda knew they were already way past that stage. They had been, at the very least, since the previous Friday when Andrea had pulled her out of the lonely cold and into warm life with one single act of kindness and affection. And even before that, something had been binding them, pulling them ever closer, each time they interacted. This already felt so different from her... adventure... five years ago.
Back then, she had made a point of ignoring the twins’ existence. Miranda had kept both her love affair, and her family life completely separate because neither had seemed to want to know the other. The result had been countless compromises, the harshest of which was the loss of one of her babies. A price way too high to pay for anything.
“Hey.” The sweet sound was accentuated by a warm palm on her thigh. “Are you alright, Miranda?”
The older woman briefly looked back to Andrea and gave a halfhearted smile. “I will be.”
Not fully convinced, but seemingly content for now, the brunette pulled her hand away and leaned back against the seat.
“Is today some kind of test?” Andrea asked quietly while studying the dark clouds that were hanging drearily on the horizon.
Miranda’s heart leaped in her chest, and she was afraid that her behavior would lead to alienating Andrea before anything could even happen between them.
“Hmmm, I think you could say that... in a way.”
She remembered her mother’s surprised voice when she had mentioned bringing a friend along for Christmas dinner. Miranda’s parents had always been very protective of her, especially since they had become aware of her exact situation five years ago, and they had not taken it lightly. She knew that there would probably be more than just one ‘test’ today.
“I’m sorry, Andrea.” She exhaled while speeding past another car. “I know this is all so fast and... confusing. I, myself, am not even really sure what I’m doing... or why...” she trailed off and Andrea’s hand resumed its earlier position on the older woman’s thigh, where it now gently traced a reassuring pattern.
“I just know... that I want you with me,” she added quietly, reaching down to squeeze the younger woman’s hand.
“It’s alright Miranda. I will be fine,” the brunette said sweetly as she laced their fingers together. “I feel honored that I get to meet your family. I will simply be myself today, and then we’ll see where that leads, okay?”
The conductor nodded and gently drew their hands up to kiss Andrea’s fingers.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” she said with a timid smile.
“You haven’t seen nothing yet, lady!” the brunette joked back, and Miranda was hit with many different variations of anticipation at that very true statement.
-----
The world outside went by in a blur as Miranda piloted them through the dim Christmas afternoon and Andy knew that this image would stay with her forever, through lonely nights and dark days. The poised way the older woman was sitting in the driver’s seat, silk pantyhose covering her slender, yet strong calves, as she pressed her four-inch heels onto the gas pedal so commandingly, just captured the brunette and did wonderful things to the area below her bellybutton.
Of course she was insanely nervous about the dinner and about meeting Miranda’s family, but right now, the only things that registered were the soft sound of Chopin, the strong engine propelling them seemingly through time and space, and the occasional conversation they shared, where Miranda told Andy details about her parents and how they had taken in Caroline after the accident.
They had entered the town of Southampton and Andy watched in awe as they approached a large, white iron gate which readily swung open when Miranda pressed the little remote attached to her sun visor. As the Porsche’s wheels slowly ground over the gravel path toward the large building, Miranda turned to face Andy.
“You should know that I notified my parents about you accompanying me today.”
Andy wasn’t sure how she should feel about that. It certainly ruled out a majorly awkward surprise, but it would have also given the Priestly family time to prepare excruciating questions.
The car stopped and Miranda shifted into ‘neutral’ and pulled the handbrake before she turned off the engine.
“Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Andy said with a grimace but then sent Miranda a brave smile.
They stepped out of the car and as if on cue, all of a sudden tiny snowflakes began to fall. Andy gazed up against the flurry of white descending onto them and Miranda walked around the vehicle and came to stand by her side.
“The first snow of the season,” she murmured thoughtfully. “Maybe it’s a sign?”
When the brunette looked over at the conductor, she noticed the small crystals adorning her silver hair, and sparkling from her long eyelashes.
“Wow,” Andy exhaled in a small cloud of condensation. “You truly are a Snow Queen.”
“I beg your pardon?” Miranda looked at her through lowered lids with a purse to her perfect, red lips.
Andy just reached up to brush a lock away from the older woman’s eyes. “You’re beautiful.”
“Oh... Well...” Miranda blushed and began walking toward the house.
A satisfied smirk playing on her lips, Andy rushed to catch up and felt the conductor take her hand as they approached the door. The older woman rang the doorbell and chewed on her bottom lip as they waited.
After just a few seconds the door swung open and the housekeeper greeted them and offered to take their coats and scarves as they stepped into the largest hallway Andy had ever seen inside a home. It was elegant and Edwardian, but had a warm feel to it, and the banister of the stairs was decorated with little twigs of evergreen and a few red ribbons. In dazed wonder she followed the stuccoed lines of the high ceiling with her eyes and inhaled the clearly defined smell of Christmas dinner wafting from somewhere in the large building.
“Miranda Darling, you’re early,” came a warm voice from behind them.
Andy spun around to watch an older woman, whom she recognized from the news photo in the article about the accident, approach them with a curious gleam in her eyes. There was a definite resemblance and Andy saw where Miranda had gotten her elegance and sophisticated nature from. Mrs.
Priestly was wearing expensive looking slacks and a red sweater, no doubt cashmere, atop a white-collared shirt, and her snowy hair was pulled up in a tight bun. Andy studied the lined features and imaged how similarly beautiful Miranda might look in thirty year’s time.
“Hello Mother,” The conductor stepped forward and embraced her mom. “I want you to meet Andrea Sachs,” she gestured toward the shy brunette. “She is a soprano in the choir I lead.”
Andy hesitantly stepped forward as a very Miranda-esque evaluation stare was directed her way, before her offered hand was clasped in a firm, but ladylike shake.
“Andrea, this is my mother, Marianne Priestly.”
“How do you do,” Miranda’s mom said warmly.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Mrs. Priestly,” Andy said while fighting the urge to curtsy, her heart racing faster than Miranda in a Porsche.
“Please, call me Marianne,” the older woman smiled as she glanced contemplatively from the brunette to her daughter and then back again.
“Your father is in the sitting room.” Marianne informed and they followed her quietly past a beautifully furnished study, through a tall archway and into a spacious room with blue, diamond-patterned wallpaper.
“Charles, Miranda is here.”
A gentleman in about his late sixties, peered at them over the top of his newspaper and through his dark-rimmed spectacles.
“Mira, nice to see you,” he folded the paper, rose from his chair and walked up to hug his daughter.
“And you brought a friend,” he said after pulling away. It made Andy slightly apprehensive, but she could not really spot anything hostile in the man’s blue eyes.
“Father, this is Andrea Sachs. Andrea, meet my father, Charles Priestly,” she introduced them and Andy gave her best professional handshake, one she had practiced many times with Doug and Nate when she had first begun working at the Mirror, in anticipation of any potential future interviews with important people.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Priestly,” Andy said in a sincere and determined manner and she saw the faint traces of a familiar sparkle in his eyes.
“The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Sachs.” He said evenly, and the brunette knew that Miranda’s ‘business face’ was also, most definitely, a genetic trait.
“Please, call me Andy. Uhm... here,” she reached inside her bag and pulled out a bottle of red wine. “I know it’s probably nothing fancy, but... thank you for letting me join for dinner.” She handed the bottle to Mr. Priestly, and was glad for Nate being an up-and-coming sous-chef who always gave her a good selection of wines for her birthday. This one was a 2004 Mirabile Tannat from Italy, and her friend had highly praised its coffee and tobacco undertones.
Mr. Priestly read the label and gave a pleased nod. “Thank you, Andrea. And you’re welcome. We’re glad to have you.”
He placed the bottle on a nearby side table and turned to his daughter.
“Caroline is upstairs playing her game,” he said with affection colouring his voice.
Miranda’s mother chimed in. “We told her to wait for you but she already unwrapped all her gifts this morning.”
“Well, teenagers,” Miranda sighed and Andy gave her a small, understanding grin.
“We’ll go say hello,” the conductor said as she gently pulled the brunette by the elbow.
“Dinner will be ready in an hour, so take your time,” Marianne called after them as the two women moved up the carpeted stairs.
Andy took a deep, audible breath and Miranda paused to run the back of her fingers tenderly over her cheek.
“So far, so good,” the brunette whispered and the conductor smiled.
“Come on.” She tugged Andy up the last few steps and down the well-lit hallway toward the faint sound of Muse’s ‘Knights of Cydonia’, until they stopped in front of a large, white door that had wooden letters nailed to it, spelling out ‘Caroline’, and Miranda knocked.
“Gramps, I’m about to beat this level, so please don’t interrupt. I’ll be right down!” They heard through the guitar riffs echoing from behind the wall.
Miranda quietly turned the knob and the door swung open to reveal a very large, and quite messy teenager room. The light blue walls and stuccoed ceiling were the only thing tying this space to the rest of the house. Clothes, books and plastic CD cases lay strewn across the room as if a tornado had hit. The walls were covered with band posters and there was a king-sized bed in one corner and a large flat-screen TV in another, which had a concentrated strawberry-blonde twisting on the couch in front of it.
Caroline sat enthusiastically clicking away at a plastic guitar controller, bopping her head along with the rhythm as she focused on the game on the large screen in front of her.
Once the song had ended and the teenager had punched a fist in the air with a happy ‘Yeah!’, Miranda knocked on the open door again and the girl spun around.
“Mom!” she yelped excitedly once she saw Miranda, and she reached for the two crutches that rested against the couch, and struggled to stand as quickly as she could manage. The conductor swiftly stepped around a pair of shoes and a few t-shirts and enveloped her daughter in a tight hug.
“Hello, darling. I see that you are enjoying your presents.”
The girl pulled away sheepishly. “Yes, sorry, I couldn’t wait. I love the game! Thanks mom!” Her eyes finally found Andy, who still stood shyly by the door.
“Who’s that?”
Miranda waved for Andy to come closer. “That’s... Andrea. My friend, from the choir.”
Caroline nodded and shook the brunette’s hand.
“Hi. You can call me Andy.”
The girl’s eyes looked so much like Miranda’s and her long hair was the same shade Andy remembered seeing when she had googled for older photos of the conductor.
Caroline nodded and looked from her mother to the younger woman, as if to figure out the reason why on earth her mom would bring a friend over for a family Christmas dinner.
“Is that Guitar Hero Three?” Andy pointed at the paused game on the screen.
“Uhm... yeah.”
“Oh cool, and you have the limited edition Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster Wii controller?”
Caroline nodded.
“Wow, you have like, the coolest mom ever!” Andy said excitedly as she put her hands on her hips and faced Miranda.
The conductor was studying her with a thoughtful expression from behind Caroline, her hands still resting on her daughter’s shoulders. The girl looked at Andy with a mix of careful interest and scepticism.
“So, you’re left-handed, huh? Me too!” Andy pressed on, wriggling her left fingers while giving a shy smile.
“That reminds me, I brought you a present,” she reached into her messenger bag and retrieved a flat, rectangular package. Miranda raised both her eyebrows in surprise but remained quiet, as Andy handed the gift to Caroline.
“Me coming here was a bit short notice and all the shops were closed, so I thought I’d just give you my own copy.” Andy babbled, as she fidgeted with her fingers. Mother and daughter had a look of curiosity on their faces as the teenager removed the white bow and dark blue wrapping paper.
Once Caroline had unwrapped the book and turned it face-up, Andy continued in a more timid voice, “It’s my all-time favourite. Maybe you’re already a bit too old, but I hope you like it.”
It was the original 2002 hardcover edition of Neil Gaiman’s ‘Coraline’ and the girl held it up to Miranda.
“Look mom, they spelled my name wrong, just like Cass always did.”
Oh crap, shot through Andy’s head. She had not intended to bring up any painful memories for either of them. She had only wanted to share something that she cherished with Miranda’s daughter.
Biting on her lower lip she watched as the older woman took in the book title and then leaned her head over Caroline’s shoulder to hug her daughter tightly.
“I think this is a wonderful gift, don’t you agree?” The teenager nodded and looked shyly over to the weary brunette.
“Thanks, Andy.” A genuine smile appeared on the girl’s lips.
“No problem, Caroline,” the brunette smiled back, relief falling off her shoulders like a ten-pound rock.
“Hey Andy, do you want to play Guitar Hero? I have a second controller,” the teenager motioned to another, large package lying on the floor. “There’s a two-player mode, and I had nobody to play with.”
Andy’s heart ached for the single twin.
“Yeah, sure, but don’t you want to catch up with your mom?” Andy looked at Miranda who still had her arms around her daughter.
“Oh that’s okay, I saw mom just last weekend,” the girl said as she twisted from her mother’s grasp and hobbled back to the couch on her crutches.
“Go ahead, Andrea. I will just sit down and watch.”
There was something warm in Miranda’s eyes and the soft smile tugging at her lips caused Andy’s heart to leap.
“Well, okay then. It’s on!” she exclaimed cheerfully while crouching down to get the second controller from its box.
------
Miranda leaned into the soft couch cushion next to her daughter as she watched how Andrea beat Caroline at the noisy video game for the sixth in a row. The brunette kept apologizing, but Caroline, very much like her mother would, just kept at it, getting better and creeping closer to Andrea’s high-scores with every round.
The conductor was filled with pride, but her daughter had already proven many times before how determined she could be. The years of physiotherapy and operations had shown that, and it had all finally paid off when, one month ago, doctors had succeeded in removing the remaining scar tissue that had pressed against Caroline’s spinal chord.
After the accident she had still felt sensation in her feet and legs, but the motor function had been largely inhibited, in what the doctors called an ‘incomplete spinal chord injury’. Caroline had bitten through each and every therapy session, had suffered many tears of frustration and pain, and finally she was rewarded with this tremendous progress.
The teenager could now move through the house freely on her crouches, albeit still in a slow pace. Therapy was going well and the doctors were positive that, with enough training, Caroline could actually walk without aid in the near future.
“Ack! Nearly!” the girl said exasperatedly. “Why are you so good at this Andy? How can your fingers move so fast?”
“Uhm... I play guitar, so I guess that kind of helps with the finger movements,” the brunette shrugged as she selected a new song from the menu.
“That is so cool, Andy! Can you teach me one day?” Caroline asked with excitement. “I’ve always wanted to play in a band!”
“Sure, if it’s okay with your mom.”
Both her daughter and Andrea turned around to look at Miranda with a hopeful sparkle in their eyes and the conductor suddenly felt weak with emotions. She was amazed at how quickly Caroline had warmed up to the brunette, and it had erased a lot of her initial anxiety. Andrea had not only immediately treated her daughter as an equal, but had also brought a thoughtful gift, and now she had even offered music lessons.
Miranda looked from one expectant face to another and could no longer keep in the large smile that had slowly been building over the last few minutes.
“Yes, of course it’s okay!” she said warmly and felt her eyes burn with affection.
Caroline pumped her fist in the air with a happy ‘Yes!’ and Andrea just returned Miranda’s deep gaze with a large smile of her own.
“You two keep playing. I will go down and help set up, alright?” The conductor elegantly rose from her seat, eyes not leaving the brunette.
“Yeah, yeah, mom,” Caroline shooed her away from where she blocked the girl’s line of sight to the TV, and with a final, gentle touch to Andrea’s shoulder Miranda left the room.
She held her hands to her chest as she descended the stairs, grasping at this glowing feeling that felt so unreal and good inside of her. As if her body had been in a draught for five long years and now finally felt the first drops of a monsoon, with the promise of thick rain hanging heavily in the air.
Miranda walked into the kitchen with a silly grin still plastered on her face and sat down on one of the stools by the kitchen island. Her mother, who stood by the fridge had watched her come in and was now eyeing her with an analytical Priestly stare.
“What?” the conductor asked after losing the battle with those eyes on her.
Marianne put down the jug of grape juice she had been holding and stepped up to the island counter.
“She seems like a nice girl...”
“Mother...”
“No, Mira, let me say my bit.” Mrs. Priestly crossed her arms and giving her daughter a long look she continued, “I know why you brought her here today.”
The conductor raised a quizzical eyebrow at her mother and squared her shoulders.
“You brought her here, so you would not make the same mistake as with that French woman and because you needed, above all else, for her and Caroline to work.”
Miranda dropped her gaze to a fixed spot on the oak counter top and remained silent as her mother continued in a more gentle tone.
“You brought Andrea here, because you felt like you needed our permission to have a shot at happiness, and because your heart is still so riddled with guilt that you don’t trust yourself to make the right decision.”
The salty liquid quickly built on her lower lids, and as soon as she blinked two thick streams of tears rolled down her cheeks. Her mother was so right.
“Mira,” Mrs. Priestly spoke softly and stepped closer to her weeping daughter. “Let me tell you, that Andrea truly seems like a wonderful young woman and the way she looks at you is honest and full of devotion. She’s different.”
The conductor nodded and used the back of her hand to wipe at her tears in a clumsy and non-elegant way that could only be triggered by sobbing like a baby in her mother’s kitchen.
“And the most important thing is,” Marianne spoke sweetly as she put a hand on her daughter’s back. “The most important thing is... that you, Mira, more than anyone else in this world, finally deserve some happiness.”
Miranda leaned across the short distance and hugged her mother tightly.
Yes. Andrea was so very different, and she wasn’t the kind of person who would just use Miranda and throw her away. That the brunette would be kind to Caroline was also clear, and the way Andrea had behaved over the past month, Miranda knew her to be genuinely caring and very affectionate.
Maybe her mother was right and she didfinally deserve happiness. Letting go of what happened was still a hard thing to do, but maybe she didn’t have to do it all by herself.
The conductor gingerly pulled away with a sniffle and Marianne gave her an encouraging smile.
“Thank you, Mother.”
Mrs. Priestly rubbed Miranda’s shoulder one last time and then proceeded back to the fridge to continue with dinner preparations, leaving the conductor to dry her face on a checkered paper towel.
“Have you given some thought to what we spoke about on Saturday?” Miranda said once she had fully regained her composure.
“Your father and I had a talk and we both agree, that Caroline could transfer at the beginning of the new semester,” Marianne replied as she warmed up a large bowl of gravy in the microwave. “Depending on how her therapy goes, she can decide whether or not she’ll use the wheel chair for school, but I’m certain that Dalton is adequately equipped either way.”
“Yes, I’ve spoken to the principle and it wouldn’t be a problem. She used to love it there when they... she... was little.” Miranda shared a meaningful look with her mother and rested her chin on her left hand. “I will ask her tonight. I know that moving back to New York is not a small undertaking, and I’m sure she will miss her friends here.”
Tracing small circles across the counter with her right index finger, she continued quietly. “I just really want her to live with me again. I think it will do both of us good.”
Marianne nodded and removed the turkey casserole from the oven.
“Of course we will miss her, Mira,” she placed the hot dish on the cooking range. “But she needs to be with her mother. Charles and I are nearly seventy, I think we’re getting too old to handle a teenager.”
She smiled ruefully and Miranda gave a sweet chuckle. “Yes, when I hear the music she listens to nowadays I’d be happy to keep Andrea around just so someone other than me can deal with the noise.”
Mrs. Priestly turned around and looked at her daughter warmly. “You’re really serious about her, aren’t you, Mira.”
The conductor tried to shrug away her blush. “Yes. I guess so... you know... we haven’t... well. We kissed for the first time yesterday, and it was careful and sweet. We haven’t even really talked about whether we’re actually in a relationship or not.”
Suddenly she felt very silly. Essentially her and Andrea weren’t even dating yet, unless you could call inviting someone over to your parents’ house for Christmas dinner, just one day after a first kiss, ‘dating’.
“I think you should have that talk with her soon, Mira.” Marianne gazed lovingly at her daughter.
“Yes, you’re right,” Miranda whispered and tapped a finger against her lips contemplatively.
The clacking sound of crutches came from the hallway and a few moments later a radiant Caroline pushed through the swinging door.
“Mom! I won!! I beat Andy!!” The teenager moved to where her mother sat and leaned in for a hug.
Across the girl’s shoulder, the conductor watched as Andrea slowly followed into the room and the brunette’s face lit up as soon as her eyes found Miranda.
Yes, they would have to talk, soon.
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To be continued...