Fanfiction: Opera (and) Love [2/3]
She stretches herself lazily and lets her thoughts wonder to Miranda. You know, Miranda Priestley: the brain and heart of the fashion magazine Runway, with a romantic past of two husbands, mother of two - and her lover for the past two and a half years.
Andy remembers how a month after she had walked away the older woman stormed into her house demanding some explanation. The brunette told the truth and nothing but the truth. She was becoming too much like Miranda; she didn’t want to stab anyone’s back; their relationship had become too toxic and she had developed the wrong feelings towards her boss.
They had kissed and Miranda had walked away, confused. She came back a week later, so Andy was okay with that. And the editor came back again and again, to a point where they couldn’t deny that they were having an affair. They finally decided to talk about it; there are no words to describe the relief both felt when they agreed to stay in the closet for a while.
Andy’s phone rings, making her go to an empty room to have some privacy.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“Hey.” Miranda sighs. “I bought us tickets to the opera, so you should leave your Friday night open.”
“Baby, I’d prefer if-” Andy tries to argue. Opera’s not her favorite way to pass time.
“No, no time for pleasantries, Andrea. Everyone’s gone crazy around here and I have to take care of the mess. Just make sure you have an outfit for that evening.” The editor hangs up, leaving an astonished journalist staring at the phone.
The brunette’s mind enters and spiral into dangerous thoughts. What does “I bought us tickets to the opera” mean? Are they going as a couple? Are they outing themselves? They shouldn’t, it would be a mess for their careers and family!
She can even picture a family dinner: “Hey mom, remember my boss, Miranda? Yeah, we’re together”.
No. The brunette shakes her head. Plus, she really dislikes opera. It’s boring, full of pseudo-intellectuals and people just trying to show off. She also doesn’t have a proper dress, already has Lily’s opening to go to, and hates the feeling of being pressured to do something. She’s fierce, and she does what she wants.
Andy is starting to get quite annoyed.
---
A few hours later, she’s in the townhouse, arguing. Dinner had been calm. They had spaghetti, the girls had told her all about their week and they had played scrabble before the redhead’s bedtime.
Now everything is just a mess. She tried to tell Miranda her reasons, she really did. Miranda wouldn’t listen, and the brunette is feeling quite hot tempered. “I don’t want to go.” Her voice is stone cold and she has already made her decision.
“Andrea-” Her lover tries to argue, looking more flustered than Andy has ever seen.
“Don’t ‘Andrea’ me, Miranda. I’m not your toy, and I’m not bound to bow to your every wish. I’ve told you: I hate the opera, I’m afraid to get outed, and I already have plans for that evening.” She’s arguing a bit louder than she does normally, and that can’t be good. Would it hurt Miranda not being so inflexible sometimes?
“So this is your last word. You won’t listen to me, you won’t discuss this like a grown-up, and you’ll just throw everything in my face.” The older woman’s gaze is hard, full of a bitterness strange to the brunette.
It takes everything Andy has not to answer to that presumptuousness. “It’s better if I sleep at my place tonight. I’ll call you.” She feels like walking away and not talking to Miranda for a whole month. No, she feels like not talking to Miranda at all until the older woman come to her senses. Damn.
The twins choose that precise moment to enter the study, with big eyes and small steps. “Please stop fighting.” They say in unison, tears threatening to fall down their cheeks. It breaks Andy’s heart, and before she knows it she’s opening her arms and hugging the redheads, who immediately start sobbing all over her blouse.
“Don’t go Andy, you said you wasn’t gonna leave.” Caroline whispers. “You promised.”
The brunette looks at her lover, who has sit on a chair, and feels lost. “It’s okay, girls. I’m not leaving.”
Cassidy’s tone is hard. “Yes, you are.” Perhaps she was, Andy realizes.
“Grown-ups argue sometimes, baby. But I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Andy realizes she really isn’t going anywhere. Despite this fight, she loves Miranda, Cassidy and Caroline. Their balance is great. Andy and Miranda give the twins the sense of family they ought to have and the journalist had been lacking since she’d moved to The Big Apple. They have a good time together. They care about each other.
They fit, and the opera is just a small detail in the middle of that. Andy stretches her hand to Miranda, and the four of them stand there for a couple minutes.
---
The twins finally go to bed. Andy is much calmer - and even a little bit regretful of her bad temper. Moments like these make her realize how immature she can be. She sighs and lies on the bed on her side, facing Miranda. She looks into those blue eyes and lets her index finger touch all those little wrinkles, the shape of her nose, the elegant crook of her neck.
“I’m sorry” The brunette finally says; it’s barely a whisper. “I overreacted.”
“Yes, you did.” Miranda kisses her lover’s finger. “But it doesn’t matter.” She intertwines their fingers. They stay there, looking quietly in each other’s eyes, for a couple minutes, before the older woman continues to speak. “You didn’t let me say why I wanted us to go to the opera.”
“Tell me now.”
“It’s a part of me I wanted to share with you.” The editor begins explaining quietly. “I’ve always loved the opera. The first time I attended one I was precisely your age. It was overwhelming and heartbreaking. I can’t even explain how I felt. Something inside me clicked, making sense in a way I had never realized before." She sighs. "We’ve been together for almost three years now; I want you to understand that part of me.”
Andy is moved by that, beyond words. She kisses Miranda softly on the lips.
“It’s poetry in movement and sound.” The older woman continues, looking at their hands. “This one I want us to go to has a cast that won many awards. The plot is about love and sacrifice. The rare type of unconditional, deep love.” She looks back at Andrea with soft eyes.
“Wow.” Andy says, a little breathless.
“But you’re right, you’re not a child. I can’t make you do anything.” Miranda sighed. “We can always go another time, when you feel more inclined to.”
“No, I want to.” It was hard to say no to Miranda when she got that sweet. Lily would understand that she would have to miss her opening. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’m glad.” The older woman smiled. “I even got us one of the upper boxes. It doesn’t have to mean anything for the rest of the world.”
“C’here.” Andy says, gesturing for her lover to come near. They snuggle together. “It’d be a pleasure for me to be your date.”
They realize, just before falling asleep, that the twins had entered the room and were lying down on the bed. The four of them have a comfortable, dreamless night of sleep.
Andy remembers how a month after she had walked away the older woman stormed into her house demanding some explanation. The brunette told the truth and nothing but the truth. She was becoming too much like Miranda; she didn’t want to stab anyone’s back; their relationship had become too toxic and she had developed the wrong feelings towards her boss.
They had kissed and Miranda had walked away, confused. She came back a week later, so Andy was okay with that. And the editor came back again and again, to a point where they couldn’t deny that they were having an affair. They finally decided to talk about it; there are no words to describe the relief both felt when they agreed to stay in the closet for a while.
Andy’s phone rings, making her go to an empty room to have some privacy.
“Hey,” she says softly.
“Hey.” Miranda sighs. “I bought us tickets to the opera, so you should leave your Friday night open.”
“Baby, I’d prefer if-” Andy tries to argue. Opera’s not her favorite way to pass time.
“No, no time for pleasantries, Andrea. Everyone’s gone crazy around here and I have to take care of the mess. Just make sure you have an outfit for that evening.” The editor hangs up, leaving an astonished journalist staring at the phone.
The brunette’s mind enters and spiral into dangerous thoughts. What does “I bought us tickets to the opera” mean? Are they going as a couple? Are they outing themselves? They shouldn’t, it would be a mess for their careers and family!
She can even picture a family dinner: “Hey mom, remember my boss, Miranda? Yeah, we’re together”.
No. The brunette shakes her head. Plus, she really dislikes opera. It’s boring, full of pseudo-intellectuals and people just trying to show off. She also doesn’t have a proper dress, already has Lily’s opening to go to, and hates the feeling of being pressured to do something. She’s fierce, and she does what she wants.
Andy is starting to get quite annoyed.
---
A few hours later, she’s in the townhouse, arguing. Dinner had been calm. They had spaghetti, the girls had told her all about their week and they had played scrabble before the redhead’s bedtime.
Now everything is just a mess. She tried to tell Miranda her reasons, she really did. Miranda wouldn’t listen, and the brunette is feeling quite hot tempered. “I don’t want to go.” Her voice is stone cold and she has already made her decision.
“Andrea-” Her lover tries to argue, looking more flustered than Andy has ever seen.
“Don’t ‘Andrea’ me, Miranda. I’m not your toy, and I’m not bound to bow to your every wish. I’ve told you: I hate the opera, I’m afraid to get outed, and I already have plans for that evening.” She’s arguing a bit louder than she does normally, and that can’t be good. Would it hurt Miranda not being so inflexible sometimes?
“So this is your last word. You won’t listen to me, you won’t discuss this like a grown-up, and you’ll just throw everything in my face.” The older woman’s gaze is hard, full of a bitterness strange to the brunette.
It takes everything Andy has not to answer to that presumptuousness. “It’s better if I sleep at my place tonight. I’ll call you.” She feels like walking away and not talking to Miranda for a whole month. No, she feels like not talking to Miranda at all until the older woman come to her senses. Damn.
The twins choose that precise moment to enter the study, with big eyes and small steps. “Please stop fighting.” They say in unison, tears threatening to fall down their cheeks. It breaks Andy’s heart, and before she knows it she’s opening her arms and hugging the redheads, who immediately start sobbing all over her blouse.
“Don’t go Andy, you said you wasn’t gonna leave.” Caroline whispers. “You promised.”
The brunette looks at her lover, who has sit on a chair, and feels lost. “It’s okay, girls. I’m not leaving.”
Cassidy’s tone is hard. “Yes, you are.” Perhaps she was, Andy realizes.
“Grown-ups argue sometimes, baby. But I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Andy realizes she really isn’t going anywhere. Despite this fight, she loves Miranda, Cassidy and Caroline. Their balance is great. Andy and Miranda give the twins the sense of family they ought to have and the journalist had been lacking since she’d moved to The Big Apple. They have a good time together. They care about each other.
They fit, and the opera is just a small detail in the middle of that. Andy stretches her hand to Miranda, and the four of them stand there for a couple minutes.
---
The twins finally go to bed. Andy is much calmer - and even a little bit regretful of her bad temper. Moments like these make her realize how immature she can be. She sighs and lies on the bed on her side, facing Miranda. She looks into those blue eyes and lets her index finger touch all those little wrinkles, the shape of her nose, the elegant crook of her neck.
“I’m sorry” The brunette finally says; it’s barely a whisper. “I overreacted.”
“Yes, you did.” Miranda kisses her lover’s finger. “But it doesn’t matter.” She intertwines their fingers. They stay there, looking quietly in each other’s eyes, for a couple minutes, before the older woman continues to speak. “You didn’t let me say why I wanted us to go to the opera.”
“Tell me now.”
“It’s a part of me I wanted to share with you.” The editor begins explaining quietly. “I’ve always loved the opera. The first time I attended one I was precisely your age. It was overwhelming and heartbreaking. I can’t even explain how I felt. Something inside me clicked, making sense in a way I had never realized before." She sighs. "We’ve been together for almost three years now; I want you to understand that part of me.”
Andy is moved by that, beyond words. She kisses Miranda softly on the lips.
“It’s poetry in movement and sound.” The older woman continues, looking at their hands. “This one I want us to go to has a cast that won many awards. The plot is about love and sacrifice. The rare type of unconditional, deep love.” She looks back at Andrea with soft eyes.
“Wow.” Andy says, a little breathless.
“But you’re right, you’re not a child. I can’t make you do anything.” Miranda sighed. “We can always go another time, when you feel more inclined to.”
“No, I want to.” It was hard to say no to Miranda when she got that sweet. Lily would understand that she would have to miss her opening. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’m glad.” The older woman smiled. “I even got us one of the upper boxes. It doesn’t have to mean anything for the rest of the world.”
“C’here.” Andy says, gesturing for her lover to come near. They snuggle together. “It’d be a pleasure for me to be your date.”
They realize, just before falling asleep, that the twins had entered the room and were lying down on the bed. The four of them have a comfortable, dreamless night of sleep.