Don't Give Up The Day Job 6/?
Title: Don’t Give Up The Day Job
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Author's Note: I have been hanging out here for a while but this is my first post, comments and critiques are more than welcome.
Don’t Give Up The Day Job 6/?
Miranda crept into Andrea’s hospital room quietly hoping that the girl would be asleep and Miranda could say she fulfilled her promise but didn’t wish to wake her. Unfortunately Andy was sat up in bed eating a sandwich and watching a children’s cartoon on the television.
“Spending your time productively I see, Andrea,” Miranda quipped.
Andy smiled, “who doesn’t love SpongeBob?”
“Is that what that is?” Miranda asked as she took a few steps into the room so she was able to see the television and watched it quietly for a couple of moments before pursing her lips.
“Well then, that’s the end of Mr SquarePants,” Andy said as she turned the television off with the remote.
“Mr whom?” Miranda queried, thoroughly confused.
“SquarePants, SpongeBob SquarePants,” Andy clarified as Miranda sat in the chair next to the bed. Miranda simply raised an eyebrow and looked at Andy with disapproval.
“And we’ll never need speak of it again,” Andy continued with a small smile.
“You look improved,” Miranda commented as she cast her eyes over Andy slowly, taking in every detail.
“Yes, I’m feeling a lot better. My doctor won’t let me go home yet though, it was really odd. He said I could go today but then a couple of hours later he come back and had changed his mind, I asked why, in case he had got some tests back or something but nothing had changed. Just his mind.”
Miranda hid a knowing smirk, she’d be damned if some incompetent medical student was going to release her Andrea early. She’d let him know when Andrea was ready to be discharged and not a moment before and he knew it if the hospital wished to continue to receive her large donations every Christmas.
“Anyway,” Andy continued as she sense Miranda would be content to sit in silence for sometime, “that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Miranda stiffened in her chair but feigned boredom she knows, she thought to herself.
Andy forged on, “collapsing like that and waking up here was a pretty big shock to my system. I’ve had diabetes for years and usually it’s not too bad to live with but sometimes I really struggle and then I get ill and I am reminded how serious the condition can be.”
Miranda couldn’t hide her confusion, she had expected rage, to be served with legal papers and maybe even a slap across the face but not this speech on the difficulties of living with diabetes.
“I suppose really it opens your eyes a little about your life. It makes you think about what you have achieved and what is still on your to do list. It really highlights all the things you wished you had done but hadn’t done because you were scared of how it might turn out.”
Miranda nodded her agreement even though her face plainly showed her bewilderment.
“So,” Andy took a deep breath, “I want to tell you something but you may hate me after I say this, you may want to fire me, or you might want me to just pretend I never said it. But either way I have to tell you because honesty is important, isn’t it?”
Miranda just slowly nodded again, desperately wishing that Andrea would just get on with it and say whatever it was she needed to say.
“I,” Andy started, not sounding like someone who had spent all day deciding how to approach this subject, “I wanted to tell you that I think I like you, as in like you..”
Miranda felt her blood run cold, her throat go dry and realised she was staring and gawping. She opened her mouth and then closed it again as she continued to stare at Andy. Then she stood up and silently walked out of the room leaving Andy bewildered and clueless.
-=~*~=-
Miranda walked into the townhouse in a daze, so much so she almost didn’t notice the twins sitting on the stairs waiting for her.
“It’s late Bobsies,” she said softly as she hung her coat up in the hall closet.
“Where’s Andy?” Cassidy asked from in-between the banister spindles.
Miranda frowned and walked over to the stairs and sat down, “why do you ask?”
“Emily brought The Book,” Caroline answered, “Andy always brings The Book and now Emily is bringing it again.”
“Did you fire Andy?” Cassidy asked.
“No,” Miranda answered, “would you be upset if I did?”
“Yes,” both twins whispered in unison.
“I didn’t know you knew Andrea that well?” Miranda asked examining the girls’ faces for information.
“She’s been helping us with our essay’s in English class,” Cassidy said.
“And she lends us books to read,” Caroline added.
“And she got us the Harry Potter book before Charlotte’s mother got them and Charlotte’s mother works for J. K. Rowling’s publicist,” Cassidy continued.
“She got us the cool boogie boards,” Caroline pointed out.
“And she tucks us in when she brings The Book and you’re not going to be home until really late,” Cassidy whispered.
That one was a revelation to Miranda; certainly she didn’t know that the girls had developed such a close bond with the girl but the girls were notoriously difficult to get along with and never let anyone too close. They hadn’t even let Stephen tuck them in. Miranda briefly debated having a word with the girls’ nanny to ask why she had not been informed of Andrea’s socialising with the girls but decided against it. Enough meddling had been done in the last few days and she didn’t want to risk further damage, especially where her girls were involved.
“So why is Emily delivering The Book?” Cassidy pushed.
Miranda stood and walked up a couple of steps and sat between the two girls and gathered them up in her arms, “Andrea is a little poorly at the moment, she is in the hospital.”
She felt each girl clench beneath her arms and held them tighter, as much as they may appear monstrous at times they were actually incredibly sensitive, “she will be fine and back here delivering The Book in a few days, she just needs to make sure she fully recovers.”
“What is wrong with her?” Cassidy whispered as she wrapped her arms around Miranda’s waist.
“It must be her diabetes,” Caroline replied.
“You knew Andrea has diabetes?” Miranda questioned in surprise.
“Yes,” they both answered in unison.
Miranda silently hung onto her girls for a few more moments before standing up and leading them both up the stairs and to bed.
Later on, the twins were safely in bed and Miranda was ensconced in an armchair in the sitting room with The Book lying unread and untouched in front of her. She stared ahead at the rug on the floor and slowly twirled the glass of vodka and tonic in her hand.
Her eye caught some movement as Patricia lumbered into the room and fell onto the rug, why I got such an ungraceful beast, I’ll never know, Miranda mused.
Patricia looked up at Miranda with big brown doe eyes that reminded her of someone not too far away from her thoughts.
“Don’t look at me like that again,” Miranda stated sternly.
Patricia continued to stare back at her blankly.
“Good Lord, this dog will be the death of me,” Miranda muttered as she shook her head. She picked up the telephone and called her nanny service to watch the girls while she went out. Again.
-=~*~=-
Andy awoke with the feeling that she was being watched, she opened her eyes and tried to focus in the dark hospital room. Eventually her eyes focused on Miranda standing at the end of her bed with her signature sunglasses covering her eyes and with it any indication of her mood.
Silence hung between them for a few minutes before Miranda finally spoke in an impossibly quiet voice, “I think I like you too..”
Rating: PG-13.
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Author's Note: I have been hanging out here for a while but this is my first post, comments and critiques are more than welcome.
Don’t Give Up The Day Job 6/?
Miranda crept into Andrea’s hospital room quietly hoping that the girl would be asleep and Miranda could say she fulfilled her promise but didn’t wish to wake her. Unfortunately Andy was sat up in bed eating a sandwich and watching a children’s cartoon on the television.
“Spending your time productively I see, Andrea,” Miranda quipped.
Andy smiled, “who doesn’t love SpongeBob?”
“Is that what that is?” Miranda asked as she took a few steps into the room so she was able to see the television and watched it quietly for a couple of moments before pursing her lips.
“Well then, that’s the end of Mr SquarePants,” Andy said as she turned the television off with the remote.
“Mr whom?” Miranda queried, thoroughly confused.
“SquarePants, SpongeBob SquarePants,” Andy clarified as Miranda sat in the chair next to the bed. Miranda simply raised an eyebrow and looked at Andy with disapproval.
“And we’ll never need speak of it again,” Andy continued with a small smile.
“You look improved,” Miranda commented as she cast her eyes over Andy slowly, taking in every detail.
“Yes, I’m feeling a lot better. My doctor won’t let me go home yet though, it was really odd. He said I could go today but then a couple of hours later he come back and had changed his mind, I asked why, in case he had got some tests back or something but nothing had changed. Just his mind.”
Miranda hid a knowing smirk, she’d be damned if some incompetent medical student was going to release her Andrea early. She’d let him know when Andrea was ready to be discharged and not a moment before and he knew it if the hospital wished to continue to receive her large donations every Christmas.
“Anyway,” Andy continued as she sense Miranda would be content to sit in silence for sometime, “that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Miranda stiffened in her chair but feigned boredom she knows, she thought to herself.
Andy forged on, “collapsing like that and waking up here was a pretty big shock to my system. I’ve had diabetes for years and usually it’s not too bad to live with but sometimes I really struggle and then I get ill and I am reminded how serious the condition can be.”
Miranda couldn’t hide her confusion, she had expected rage, to be served with legal papers and maybe even a slap across the face but not this speech on the difficulties of living with diabetes.
“I suppose really it opens your eyes a little about your life. It makes you think about what you have achieved and what is still on your to do list. It really highlights all the things you wished you had done but hadn’t done because you were scared of how it might turn out.”
Miranda nodded her agreement even though her face plainly showed her bewilderment.
“So,” Andy took a deep breath, “I want to tell you something but you may hate me after I say this, you may want to fire me, or you might want me to just pretend I never said it. But either way I have to tell you because honesty is important, isn’t it?”
Miranda just slowly nodded again, desperately wishing that Andrea would just get on with it and say whatever it was she needed to say.
“I,” Andy started, not sounding like someone who had spent all day deciding how to approach this subject, “I wanted to tell you that I think I like you, as in like you..”
Miranda felt her blood run cold, her throat go dry and realised she was staring and gawping. She opened her mouth and then closed it again as she continued to stare at Andy. Then she stood up and silently walked out of the room leaving Andy bewildered and clueless.
-=~*~=-
Miranda walked into the townhouse in a daze, so much so she almost didn’t notice the twins sitting on the stairs waiting for her.
“It’s late Bobsies,” she said softly as she hung her coat up in the hall closet.
“Where’s Andy?” Cassidy asked from in-between the banister spindles.
Miranda frowned and walked over to the stairs and sat down, “why do you ask?”
“Emily brought The Book,” Caroline answered, “Andy always brings The Book and now Emily is bringing it again.”
“Did you fire Andy?” Cassidy asked.
“No,” Miranda answered, “would you be upset if I did?”
“Yes,” both twins whispered in unison.
“I didn’t know you knew Andrea that well?” Miranda asked examining the girls’ faces for information.
“She’s been helping us with our essay’s in English class,” Cassidy said.
“And she lends us books to read,” Caroline added.
“And she got us the Harry Potter book before Charlotte’s mother got them and Charlotte’s mother works for J. K. Rowling’s publicist,” Cassidy continued.
“She got us the cool boogie boards,” Caroline pointed out.
“And she tucks us in when she brings The Book and you’re not going to be home until really late,” Cassidy whispered.
That one was a revelation to Miranda; certainly she didn’t know that the girls had developed such a close bond with the girl but the girls were notoriously difficult to get along with and never let anyone too close. They hadn’t even let Stephen tuck them in. Miranda briefly debated having a word with the girls’ nanny to ask why she had not been informed of Andrea’s socialising with the girls but decided against it. Enough meddling had been done in the last few days and she didn’t want to risk further damage, especially where her girls were involved.
“So why is Emily delivering The Book?” Cassidy pushed.
Miranda stood and walked up a couple of steps and sat between the two girls and gathered them up in her arms, “Andrea is a little poorly at the moment, she is in the hospital.”
She felt each girl clench beneath her arms and held them tighter, as much as they may appear monstrous at times they were actually incredibly sensitive, “she will be fine and back here delivering The Book in a few days, she just needs to make sure she fully recovers.”
“What is wrong with her?” Cassidy whispered as she wrapped her arms around Miranda’s waist.
“It must be her diabetes,” Caroline replied.
“You knew Andrea has diabetes?” Miranda questioned in surprise.
“Yes,” they both answered in unison.
Miranda silently hung onto her girls for a few more moments before standing up and leading them both up the stairs and to bed.
Later on, the twins were safely in bed and Miranda was ensconced in an armchair in the sitting room with The Book lying unread and untouched in front of her. She stared ahead at the rug on the floor and slowly twirled the glass of vodka and tonic in her hand.
Her eye caught some movement as Patricia lumbered into the room and fell onto the rug, why I got such an ungraceful beast, I’ll never know, Miranda mused.
Patricia looked up at Miranda with big brown doe eyes that reminded her of someone not too far away from her thoughts.
“Don’t look at me like that again,” Miranda stated sternly.
Patricia continued to stare back at her blankly.
“Good Lord, this dog will be the death of me,” Miranda muttered as she shook her head. She picked up the telephone and called her nanny service to watch the girls while she went out. Again.
-=~*~=-
Andy awoke with the feeling that she was being watched, she opened her eyes and tried to focus in the dark hospital room. Eventually her eyes focused on Miranda standing at the end of her bed with her signature sunglasses covering her eyes and with it any indication of her mood.
Silence hung between them for a few minutes before Miranda finally spoke in an impossibly quiet voice, “I think I like you too..”