Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Seven
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.
Note: Thank you all for your kind comments so far, they really do mean a lot


Miranda knew that Andrea had asked her a question and was waiting for an answer but she couldn’t seem to formulate one, her brain was betraying her again. So, instead of answering a very simple question Miranda stared at her young, beautiful former employee.

She took in the new outfit, perfect cut jeans, casual long sleeved white blouse with a loose knitted black sweater over the top. The lack of footwear brought a normally tall Andrea down to Miranda’s high-heeled level.

“Miranda?” Andrea tried again in an attempt to snap the older woman out of her daze.

Miranda’s treacherous brain continued to portray her as an awkward simpleton so her heart took over and she crossed the room quickly and took Andrea’s face in her hands and, before she had a chance to change her mind, kissed her fiercely.

Miranda has no idea what she was doing, up until five minutes ago everything in her world made perfect sense. Suddenly she was gay and nothing in the world mattered more than kissing Andrea. Andrea whose soft warm lips were such a stark difference from the men she had kissed in the past. Andrea whose soft pale skin was like soft silk under her hands. Andrea who seemed to be returning the kiss.

Slowly she relaxed the iron grip she had on Andrea’s face and gentled the kiss as she realised the girl was not about to flee. Andrea took a step closer and wrapped her arms gently around Miranda.

“Mommy?”

The soft voice from the upper landing prompted both women to pull apart instantly while gasping for breath and staring wildly into each other’s eyes.

“Mommy?”

“Yes, I’m coming,” Miranda called up the stairs as she continued stand rooted to the spot.

“Go,” Andrea whispered, “I’ll be here..” she assured.

Miranda slowly nodded and stepped out of the room and made her way to the stairs.

The very second Miranda was out of sight Andy started pacing the study. She had just kissed Miranda, more to the point Miranda has just kissed her. Miranda Priestly has just kissed her. And she had returned the kiss as if her life had depended upon it.

Andy flopped down on the sofa and put her head in her hands, gently touching her face where Miranda’s soft warm hands had been only moments before. She touched her lips, her lips where Miranda’s had made contact with such force and passion.

Andy smiled. Kissing Miranda had felt so right. Even though her brain was screaming that this was wrong on so many levels every fibre of her body wanted more.

Andy stood up again and poured herself a glass of water and downed it in one. She had just kissed Miranda Priestly. She was gay. When did this happen? How had Miranda known she was gay when even she didn’t know? How long had Miranda been gay?

Andy softly laughed at herself. Who cares? She has just kissed Miranda Priestly and it felt great.

Miranda hurried back into the room wringing her hands, “Andrea, I am so sorry, I have no idea what came over me, please forgive my..”

“Shut up,” Andy said and pulled Miranda into her arms for another kiss.

After a few moments has passed Miranda gently pulled back for air and, with a small smile and a large blush covering her face, whispered, “I seem to be at a loss for words..”

Andy smiled and pushed a silver lock of hair away from Miranda’s face, “me too.”

“What is this?” Miranda asked gently, not wanting to break the mood but wanting to understand what was happening between them.

“I have no idea,” Andy beamed, “fun?”

Miranda snorted and smiled as she stepped away and started pacing the study again, “I’m old enough to be your mother,” she muttered as she shook her head.

“Actually, my mother is younger than you,” Andy commented with a cheeky smile.

“Oh good heavens!” Miranda cried and folded her arms and started muttering to herself as she walked.

Andy perched herself on Miranda’s desk as she watched the editor pace, “how long have you been … you know … gay?”

Miranda looked at Andrea and then over to the wall clock, “about eight and a half minutes.”

Andy stared at Miranda in disbelief.

“Oh, and Merry Christmas by the way,” Miranda continued as she walked to the kitchen in search of some alcohol.

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Six
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.
Note: Thank you all for your kind comments so far, they really do mean a lot

Miranda quietly poured herself some more tea as she composed herself with her back to Andrea.

“Forgive my outburst,” she whispered quietly.

“There's nothing to forgive, it must have been terrifying,” Andy replied softly, trying to will Miranda to understand that this was not a sign of weakness just a sign of humanity.

Miranda nodded slowly before taking a deep breath, “anyway you really must get changed, you can't spend Christmas Day in your current ensemble.”

Andy frowned and looked at the clock on the wall and gasped at the time, it was ten minutes until midnight. Christmas Day would arrive in just ten minutes but somehow it felt like she had only been at the town house for a short amount of time but she had actually spent the entire evening there.

“Miranda, about that..” Andy started.

“You better not be forming some ridiculous sentence about going home for Christmas, Andrea, it simply won't do. You've interrupted all of my Christmas Eve where I should be preparing for the girls big day so you'll now stay and help me,” Miranda firmly stated.

Andy opened her mouth to speak but then stopped and smiled a lopsided grin, “what preparations are they?”

Miranda sighed and seemed to close her eyes in despair but Andy thought she was secretly making up a list of tasks, “well there's the tree to finalise and the food to prepare and the last minute presents to wrap and the .. the carrot for that deer and the sherry to be half drunk. Of course there's the, the last minute things that we do around here. Family traditions and so on.”

Andy laughed outright and Miranda looked at her in shock, “the tree, as we both know, was put up weeks ago by your professional decorator and I can't see what finalisation it could need. You don't prepare any food, that's all pre-ordered and will arrive in the morning. Emily has probably bought and wrapped all the gifts and the carrot for the REINdeer and the sherry to be half drunk will take all of a minute. And what family traditions? Explain them to me so I can fit in properly.”

Andy allowed Miranda to flounder for a few moments before handing her a verbal olive branch, “unless, you just want some company? Because I would very much like to spend Christmas with you, and the girls, as long as I won't be intruding?”

Miranda allowed a small smile to grace her features, “you wouldn't mind? It does get a little draining to be the only adult here. There's only so much one can take.”

“I'd love to, now let me go and get changed before the clock strikes midnight,” Andy smiled that warm smile that Miranda had missed so much and left the room with the stack of folded clothes in search of the guest bathroom.

Miranda let the breath she had been holding escape and smiled. She'd done it. She'd shown Andrea that she was a human being with feelings and she'd asked her, in her own roundabout kind of way, to stay for Christmas. And the girl had said yes. She had even implied that she wanted to stay for Christmas Day.

She allowed herself to flop onto the sofa as she started to piece everything together. Andrea had said she would love to stay for Christmas Day, she had held her as she cried, she had shown real sympathy and genuine kindness. Was this normal behaviour? Maybe Andrea did have that concussion and she wasn't thinking straight?

Miranda stood up and begun to pace. And what of her own feelings? She had never invited anyone to stay for Christmas before and certainly not an ex-employee who abandoned her in her hour of need. Why was she so ecstatically happy that Andrea had agreed to stay? Why was she trying so hard to appease the young girl? Why did she make that ridiculous comment about the girl being pretty?

Miranda stopped dead in her pacing. She'd felt this feeling before. Panic begun to rise within her. Suddenly everything started to fall into place in her mind. Why had she not noticed this before? Why had this eluded her until now? What would she do about it? How could it be that she was gay and didn't realise?

Miranda flopped back onto the sofa before her knees gave out and stared in wonderment into thin air as the thoughts in her brain flew around. She was in love. With Andrea. Ergo, she was gay. How had she not noticed this before? How could she be gay and not notice? She worked in fashion for heaven's sake, what a cliché. Was this how it happened, bang and one day you're gay. Was she completely gay, just gay where Andrea was concerned, would she now be mauling lingerie models at photo shoots?

Miranda shook her head to try to rationalise her thoughts. She was making this far too complicated, much more complicated than it needed to be. She cared deeply about Andrea, she loved Andrea. That much was clear. When she had picked out the clothes for her earlier she had allowed herself a brief moment to picture Andrea getting dressed. Miranda gasped. She was gay. She'd pictured Andrea in her underwear.

Miranda stood up and started to pace again. When did this happen? And why didn't she know about it? She felt for a moment like her brain was an intruder, like it had betrayed her in some way. Here she was going about her life and all the while her brain was secretly being gay. How on earth had she not noticed this change? And what did she do with the information now she had it?

“Miranda?” Andrea called from the doorway as she watched the editor pacing the study.

Miranda stopped pacing and stared at Andrea.

“Miranda, is everything all right?”

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Five
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.
Note: Thank you all for your kind comments so far, they really do mean a lot

Andy sat and drank her tea and started to take in her surroundings. The study was typical Miranda, stylish, classic. But there were homely elements that Andy hadn’t noticed before in her few brief previous visits to the room. The cushions on the sofa were soft and slightly worn and Andy could easily imagine the girls lying on the sofa, cuddled around a cushion. Family photos littered the room, tastefully of course, casual shots of the girls with Miranda and all smiling warmly like they didn’t have a care in the world. Such a marked difference from the Miranda Priestly of Runway.

Andy stood up and approached the sideboard to get a closer look at some of the photos on display there, almost magnetically drawn to the happy family scenes that were captivatingly laid out for her. One photo in particular stood out, the frame was not as sophisticated as the others and it wouldn’t have looked out of place in a child’s room. The photo itself showed Miranda and one of the girls playing in a park, throwing handfuls of dried leaves at each other and laughing and screaming with mock panic all at once. She picked the photo frame up to closer examine the scene and smiled to herself, it was a beautiful shot and taken just at the right second.

“Caroline took that one,” Miranda quietly stated and Andy froze as she realised that Miranda was stood right behind her. She had quite forgotten about Miranda’s habit of having one of two entrances, a blizzard of icy barbs and activity or as silent as an assassin.

“We’d gone to the park, I thought for a nice walk and to take in the change of seasons,” Miranda started to explain as she walked over to the sofa with a handful of folded clothes, “but my darlings had been plotting and a leaf fight was on the cards instead.”

Andy replaced the photo and turned to face Miranda who had sat on the sofa and placed the clothes on the table in front of her, “obviously I lost. Leaf fights are not my strong point it seems.”

Andy smiled and nodded sympathetically as she took a seat next to Miranda on the sofa.

“A few days later Caroline showed me the photo she had taken, she had made that frame herself at school. I didn’t know whether to be more impressed with the photo or the frame, both are so beautiful. She really does have a talented eye,” Miranda looked over at the sideboard and the collection of photos and her voice took on an even lower and hushed tone.

“It was a few days after that when she started to cough. Of course at first I thought she had a cold, winter was well on the way and she will insist on leaving her coat in the car. But it was such a strange cough, very dry. Soon after that her breathing became laboured and I took her to the doctor. Incompetent fool couldn’t find anything wrong with her. Then her cough changed and she would cough and hack for minutes at a time, practically unable to breath. And at the end of it all she would bring up this .. this .. phlegm. It was awful.”

Miranda turned to face Andy again and Andy could see the unshed tears gathering in her eyes. She wanted so much to comfort the woman in someway but she didn’t know how.

“We were watching a movie the girls had chosen for movie night, something with that not too unattractive girl in, what was it?” Miranda looked at Andy expectantly.

Andy sighed, here she was, a year later and back to answering Miranda’s questions about that film she watched a month previous. Like the restaurant where she had the fish, the piece of paper in her hand yesterday afternoon or the lamp she liked in that shop. If she was honest Andy was still shell-shocked that the Priestly’s engaged in movie night at all.

“I.. I don’t know, what was it about?” Andy tried despite her confusion at the change of topic.

“Oh some silly children thing, she’s a spy and he’s a buffoon with a silly name,” Miranda breathed with disappointment.

“Get Smart?” Andy queried.

“Yes!” Miranda smiled, all traces of tears leaving her face, “yes, Get Smart. We were watching that. Caroline was bundled up on the sofa with her favourite blanket and I was on that infernal beanbag thing with Cassidy on the floor.”

Andy wisely kept her surprise concealed but inside her heart melted at the very idea of Miranda cuddling up on a beanbag.

“Well, Caroline started to cough. Keep in mind that she had been ill with this cough for two and a half weeks now and coughing between twenty and thirty times a day. I didn’t pay it much attention and she coughed for a few seconds and then stopped and after a few moments I glanced back to ask if she wanted some water .. and, well..”

And there they were. The tears were back, this time falling down Miranda’s perfect white skin as her voice hitched, “she was s-slumped over the arm of the chair. I could see she was practically foaming at the mouth and her eyes were rolled up in her head. My God, Andrea, I thought I’d lost her. She’d been choking and she’d passed out, what if I hadn’t turned around when I did? What if it had happened at night? What if I hadn’t been able to wake her? What if I’d lost my baby girl?”

As Miranda became more distressed Andy threw caution to the wind and her arms around Miranda and drew the older woman to her in a fierce hug.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, “she’s okay, everything is fine.”

Miranda brought her arms up to return the hug and cried in earnest. Andy held her tightly and distantly wondered how long Miranda had kept all of this bottled up inside her. Having a sick child at home while single-handedly running the fashion industry and all with no one to confide in, no one to lean on, no shoulder to cry on.

They sat like that for sometime until Miranda’s tears subsided, Andy knew Miranda would be embarrassed about having had such an emotional outburst so she knew she had to say something to diffuse the situation.

“Some people say I look a bit like Anne Hathaway,” Andy commented offhandedly.

“Who?” Miranda frowned as she pulled away from the hug and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

“Anne Hathaway, the ‘not too unattractive’ actress in Get Smart,” Andy replied with a smile.

Miranda contemplated this for a few moments before shaking her head, “no.”

Andy’s smile vanished as she waited for Miranda to make some snide comment.

“No, you’re much prettier than her,” Miranda sighed quietly as she got up and poured herself some more tea.

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Four
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.
Note: Thank you all for your kind comments so far, they really do mean a lot.

“Yes,” Andy replied groggily, “I’d love some tea, thank you.”

Miranda turned to look at Andy and peered over her glasses, “I didn’t wake you, I assumed you would need the rest.”

Andy nodded, “thank you, I’m sorry, I don’t normally fall asleep like that..”

“Unusual circumstances,” Miranda cut her off by waving her hand dismissively and standing up to pour some tea from a pot sat on her desk, “however, now you are awake I would like to speak with you about .. some things.”

Andy took a deep breath and sat up, “Miranda, I’m sorr..”

“I’d really just like to clarify some points with you, Andrea,” Miranda said as she walked over to the sofa with two cups of tea and placed them both on the coffee table. She sat in an armchair and closed her eyes for a brief moment to collect her thoughts.

“After you .. left .. me .. in Paris things didn’t go decidedly well for Elias Clark either,” Miranda started as she opened her eyes and leaned forward to retrieve her tea and idly stirred the hot liquid with a teaspoon.

“When you left you took all my notes with you, schedules for the remaining shows, fund raisers, meetings and dinners. Telephone numbers of important designers, publishers, writers, merchandisers, artists, photographers that we had met while in Paris, all stored in your mobile phone, all gone when you left. Flight numbers, tickets, chauffeur details, all with you. All gone. And while I didn’t have an assistant, Irv Ravitz did and so, naturally, Irv felt the need to step in and clean up the mess.

You see, Andrea, you leaving was not just you leaving, it was a disaster for Runway. It cost us literally tens of thousands of dollars. Not having the information we needed, not speaking to the right people at the right time, not signing those must-have contracts. The cost of it all was immeasurable.

And after what had happened with Irv and his little plot, well, Irv was angry of course. He made the connection between you and,” Miranda paused and practically spat out the word, “Christian. And when he realised you had left he focused his energies onto you.”

Miranda looked up and made eye contact with Andy, “he blacklisted you, Andrea. He cancelled your plane ticket. He took control of everything. I had no assistant so I didn’t know what he was doing until a long time after we returned from Paris.”

Miranda stood up and started to pace in front of her desk, “everything was a mess, I was trying to get control of the magazine, stop Irv’s scheming, calm the board down, get the information we needed from Paris and get a new second assistant.”

Miranda paused and looked down at her feet, “and all because my second assistant left me because she was so terrified of,” Miranda looked up at Andrea with tears in her eyes, “becoming me. She would rather run away from her job, her responsibilities and her life while in a foreign country than even consider the possibility of resembling me.”

Andy shrunk further into the sofa and opened her mouth to speak but no words came out as Miranda continued on.

“Such a terrifying thought, horrific enough for you to leave me without a word. One moment I was sitting beside you in the car and the next you were gone. A flight of stairs, that was all it took, Andrea. One flight of stairs and I turned round and you had vanished,” Miranda turned around to put her back to Andy to get some emotional control back.

Andy stood up and tentatively walked over to Miranda and stood silently besides her as the older woman tried her silent tears.

“I am so sorry, Miranda, I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble and I had no idea of Irv’s involvement in all this. And I’m very, very sorry if I upset you, I didn’t mean to .. to hurt you this much, I had no idea,” Andy said sincerely.

Miranda held a tissue to her face and took a calming breath as she nodded, “and, I am sorry too, Andrea. I had no idea your situation had become so dire, once I learnt of the blacklisting it was too late..”

Andy smiled, “we make a right pair, don’t we?”

Miranda smiled back, “that we do,” she turned to face Andy, “am I forgiven?”

Andy nodded emphatically, “absolutely, I shouldn’t have even brought it all up I was just so angry but I still had no right to come in here and say what I said and I am so, so sorry that Caroline overheard.”

Miranda’s face instantly softened at the mention of her daughter’s name, “she’s heard worse, I’m sure,” she whispered sullenly.

Andy hung her head, not really knowing what to say to that.

“Anyway,” Miranda said as she looked at Andy, “what’s done is done and we really need to get you out of those clothes.”

Andy snapped her head back up to meet Miranda’s stare and opened her mouth in confusion.

“Your clothes, Andrea, they are ripped and ..” Miranda started to vaguely gesture towards the dried on blood but found she couldn’t say the word, “.. well, they have .. you have to change, obviously. My niece is about your size, I have some things upstairs I was going to send her that you can wear.”

Andy nodded, “thank you, Miranda. I really am sorry about my .. outburst earlier. I didn’t mean to, well, I was..”

Miranda waved her hand to indicate that this was the end of the conversation, she clearly didn’t have the strength to revisit the topic and Andy closed her mouth and nodded her understanding.

Picking up a tissue from her desk Miranda gently dabbed her eyes to remove any and all traces of the tears that had been threatening to fall earlier, “sit, drink your tea and I’ll get you a change of clothes and then you can explain to me why you share a dress size with my fourteen year old niece.”

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Three
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.


Andy sat on the sofa and waited for Miranda’s return, to say this hadn’t been the best of days would be an understatement. In fact it hadn’t really been her best of weeks, months or years recently either.

Miranda had been right, she shouldn’t have ridden her bike this morning, it was too dangerous. The snow had started to fall lightly over the city and the rain from the previous night had created dangerous patches of black ice on the roads. But Andy was determined to get to work; if she didn’t work she didn’t get paid, simple as that.

Andy had cursed Miranda daily since she got back from Paris, she had dreams about confronting the editor and telling her exactly what she thought of her, tearing her down like she had torn Andy down so many times before. To say she’d toughened up over the last ten months would be an understatement, to say she had a hell of a lot of barely concealed rage would be more accurate.

She had told herself time and time again that if she ever saw Miranda she would march up to her and let that rage pour out at a deserving target. But something had happened earlier on when she saw Miranda step towards her at the accident scene, somehow she felt relieved that someone was there. Even if it was Miranda. Suddenly it was ten months ago again and she was relying on Miranda to make everything all right.

And Miranda had looked so concerned and it had completely thrown Andy, she’d never seen Miranda actually express concern towards one of her employees never mind an ex-employee who had abandoned her in the middle of Paris Fashion Week.

Andy had kind of gone along for the ride, enjoying the feeling of being looked after for a change. Absorbing the soft warm leather of the town car as they drove in comfort towards Miranda’s house. Feeling the soft warm skin of Miranda’s hand as she took care of Andy’s cut with such care and delicacy.

Andy closed her eyes and remembered the sensation, revelled in it, relived it. She wondered when Miranda had turned into a human being and thought back to Caroline. Miranda had looked terrified as she clung to the girl like she was her lifeline, if Andy knew one thing about Miranda Priestly it was that her girls came above all else, even Runway.

She deeply regretted her outburst, not because it didn’t need to be said but because of the way it had come out. She knew she had shocked and hurt Miranda and that was only compounded by the fact she had scared her daughter as well.


Miranda glided down the stairs and across the hallway to her study taking a deep breath to steady herself before she entered for round two with Andrea. The girl had a chip on her shoulder the size of Runway’s September issue and it was aimed squarely at Miranda.

For weeks and months she had been battling to forget about the girl, trying to shake off that feeling of loneliness and cold that had accompanied her wherever she went. But it never worked, Andrea was never far away in her mind and she just couldn’t forget about the girl. She had even gone so far as to make enquiries as to where the girl had ended up but she’d heard nothing so she assumed she had gone back home.

Her heart had stopped beating when she had caught a glimpse of that familiar face in the street earlier, knowing immediately that Andrea had been involved in some kind of accident had filled her with dread and that familiar feeling of loneliness and cold.

She knew in that second that she had to act and take control of the situation, to take possession of her Andrea again. She had seemed to move and speak on autopilot the whole time, just focused on her goal of ensuring Andrea’s safety.

It had all been going so well, until she spoke. As was so often the case for Miranda things began to rapidly unwind when she spoke her feelings on a subject. Normally she ensured the person she was speaking to was so insignificant and inconsequential to her that it didn’t matter. But on the rare occasions that it was someone who did matter she always ended up putting her foot in it.

Miranda stepped into the study ready for the next battle but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Andrea curled up asleep on the sofa. Miranda mentally kicked herself for being so long and for not realising that Andrea would be exhausted after such a day.

She quietly opened up a cupboard door and took out a large blanket and unfolding it covered Andrea up carefully so as not to wake the young woman. Miranda again noted the painfully thin frame and she wondered what the cause behind it was, money issues, stress, overworking or all of the above. She frowned as she stood up and walked around to sit behind her desk and work on the book as she waited for Andrea to rest and recover from her ordeal.

~*~

Andy woke up but kept her eyes tightly shut. She didn’t want to wake up just yet, she was still exhausted but something in her mind told her she had to wake up. As she slowly returned to the waking world she distractedly began to wonder why she was in pain.

Her knees hurt like hell and her back felt like she had taken a seriously tumble. Her head was throbbing and her wrist felt like it was broken. But she felt calm, safe, warm and happy. With her eyes still closed she tried to piece together some more memories to figure out what was happening.

She clearly wasn’t at home as it was far too warm to be her apartment where the heating had to be used sparingly. She also wasn’t in a bed if the slightly awkward position was anything to go by. She felt comforted by the thick material that lay across her and cocooned her in a feeling of safety.

Slowly everything started to come back to her, the car hitting her bike and flying through the air to land on the hard, cold sidewalk with a thud. The feeling of shifting in and out of consciousness and hearing the blare of the ambulance sirens getting closer and closer.

And then seeing Miranda. In between all of the chaos the editor had glided onto the scene with a determined air and just took care of everything. Andy gently opened her eyes and in front of her, leaning over her desk was the woman herself. Andy allowed herself a few moments to watch Miranda working, presumably on the book, her glasses perched on her nose and her soft sighs of disgust when she came across something that displeased her.

Without looking up from her work Miranda quietly muttered, “would you like some tea?”

Andy smiled softly, the dragon must have forgiven her outburst, at least for the meantime.

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part Two
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Mirandy
Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.
Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.

Part One

Andy had been in some surreal situations before but this one was sure to top them all. She briefly considered that maybe she did have a concussion from when her head impacted with the sidewalk. Perhaps this was all some delusion conjured up by her subconscious because there was no way she could actually be sitting on a sofa in Miranda Priestly’s home study.

And there was absolutely no way that said Miranda Priestly could be using a ball of cotton wool from a first aid kit to clean a cut on Andy’s forehead. And there was certainly and absolutely no way that said Miranda Priestly was gently holding her face steady by holding her cheek with the palm of her warm, soft hand.

“I still don’t understand why you were using that ridiculous contraption,” Miranda muttered as she retrieved a bandaid from the first aid kit and began to affix it to the cut above Andy’s eye.

“It’s an accepted mode of transportation,” Andy replied with a small sigh.

“In Beijing, perhaps,” Miranda consented as she gently pressed the bandaid tightly, “but not in New York City, in December, with snow in the air and ice on the ground, on one of the busiest days of the year..”

“There was no ice on the road when I left this morning,” Andy interrupted Miranda, something she never would have dreamed of doing a year ago.

“..madness,” Miranda continued on as if no words had been spoken, “did you feel you should try some other unique way of getting around town? What next? A unicycle, maybe? Is the subway not dangerous enough?”

“I can’t afford the subway,” Andy mumbled but Miranda heard and took a step back.

“You can’t afford the subway?” Miranda looked at her in shock as if Andy had just told her she no longer required oxygen to live, “Isn’t it a quarter to ride the damn contraption?”

Andy rolled her eyes, “it’s about two dollars, do we have to get into this?” Andy stood up with the assistance of the arm of the chair she had been sat in.

“Look, thank you for helping me out and bringing me here and fixing me up but I really would like to go home to my cold and lonely apartment now if you don’t mind?”

The second Andy spoke the words she instantly regretted them as she saw the hurt flash across Miranda’s face. She knew her pride was getting in the way and Miranda was just helping, being kind to her for some reason. In fact this was the first kind thing Andy had ever seen Miranda do and she was treating her terribly in repayment.

Miranda stood back holding the bloodied cotton wool ball in her hand and clearly confused and trying to figure out what was happening, “why can’t you afford the subway, Andrea?”

Andy sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. Why now, after all these months, did Miranda Priestly have to go and develop a side of her personality that someone could actually like? Why, when Andy finally had the opportunity to say everything she ever wanted to say to this woman, did she stand in front of her looking so utterly beaten before Andy had even managed to take a breath?

“Because I was blacklisted and I can’t work in publishing, Miranda,” Andy quietly spoke while staring the older woman in the eye.

Miranda finally made eye contact and rolled her eyes, “there are other jobs besides publishing, Andrea.”

Andy took a couple of shaky steps forward and stared down at Miranda, “when you have to pay $1,340 to fly home because your flight was cancelled and then you find out your boyfriend has left you and you have to pay his share of the rent as well as your own and then you spend two weeks running all over the city trying to find a job only to discover that you can’t get a job in your industry because you’ve been blacklisted and then you take out a loan to cover your next month’s rent and little things like, oh I don’t know, food. And then you try to get other jobs but you can’t because everyone asks why you’re getting out of publishing and why you don’t have a reference from your previous employer, and then when you have to take out an additional, bigger, loan to pay back the first loan and the next month’s rent and other little things like FOOD, then you end up in a spiralling circle of debt that you can never get out of and you CAN’T AFFORD TO RIDE THE DAMN SUBWAY!”

“Mom?” a timid voice asked and both Andy and Miranda snapped their heads round to see one of the twins standing in the doorway to the study with a large stuffed teddy bear in her arms and a frightened look on her face.

Andy wanted to kick herself and looked apologetically at Miranda.

Miranda smiled that big fake smile Andy had seen so many times before, “Bobsie, what are you doing up?”

The girl took a tentative step into the room, “Mom, are you okay?” she asked as she looked at Andy with a fearful stare.

“Mommy is just fine,” Miranda said as she took a step towards the girl and enveloped her in a hug, “what are you doing out of bed though?” Miranda kept the girl in a tight hug as she checked the temperature of the girls’ forehead with the back of her hand.

“Caroline has been recovering from a very nasty bout of bronchitis,” Miranda addressed Andy in a soft voice, “she’s been at home for nearly three weeks now.”

Andy nodded slowly remembering the nanny leaving when her and Miranda had arrived; she hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re up and around now, Caroline,” Andy smiled warmly at the girl.

“She had us all quite worried for a while,” Miranda continued quietly as if she had needed to tell the tale for a while but hadn’t been able to, “the doctor didn’t think she would be walking around for Christmas but he doesn’t know my little Bobsie, does he?” Miranda held Caroline tightly to her as a small tear tracked down her cheek that made Andy’s heart break. Here she was ranting about the cost of the subway and one half of Miranda’s pride and joy was sick.

Miranda took a deep breath and stood up straight, “anyway, you must get back to bed to rest if you’re going to be able to join us tomorrow to open your presents. Andrea, I am just going to put Caroline back to bed but I’d like it very much if you stayed so we can finish our discussion?”

Andy just nodded silently as she watched Miranda and Caroline walk out of the room hand in hand.

Title: The Whitemare Before Christmas – Part One

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Mirandy

Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.

Summary: Secret Santa for Morgana_dk – Prompt: Set after Paris, the two of them aren't together, but they meet again at Christmas eve and end up celebrating Christmas together.

 

 

“By all means, Roy, a glacial pace..” Miranda commented from the back of the Town Car which was currently stuck in thick New York traffic.

 

“Sorry, Ms Priestly,” Roy replied apologetically, “very heavy traffic and there seems to be an ambulance blocking the path up ahead.”

 

Miranda looked up from The Book and peered over the top of her glasses to survey the scene. Indeed there was an ambulance parked on the side of the road but creating a blockage on the already busy road.

 

“Inconsiderate,” she murmured, “on Christmas Eve too.”

 

“Yes, Ms Priestly,” Roy agreed as the car crawled slowly forward.

 

Miranda returned her attention to The Book, scrawling savage barbs on post-it notes and affixing them to each page which offended her, which was all of them. After a few minutes she glanced up again and sighed, “Roy?”

 

“Sorry, Ms Priestly,” Roy repeated, “there's not a lot I can do, we're nearly up to the ambulance though. Once we pass traffic will thin out.”

 

Roy risked a glance in the rear view mirror to see his employer shaking her head with displeasure.

 

“Ridiculous,” she muttered softly as she took her glasses off and started to pack her things into her handbag.

 

“I think a cyclist was hit,” Roy offered in the hope of redirecting some of the increasing anger from his frustrated passenger, “that police officer is removing what's left of the bike.”

 

Miranda squinted to get a glimpse of what Roy was pointing to amongst the emergency services vehicles ahead, when she couldn't seek out what Roy was indicating to she asked, “a motorbike?”

 

“No, a pedal bike, the tall officer behind the bus stop is carrying it,” Roy explained.

 

“What ridiculous fool rides a pedal bike in winter in New York City?” Miranda asked as she leaned forward to get a better look, “good lord, was that a bicycle?”

 

“Yes, he carried the front wheel and the handlebars off earlier,” Roy replied as he took the handbrake off and moved the car forward a few more feet to bring them parallel with the main scene of the accident. Police offices, paramedics and members of the public bustled around and Miranda watched the scene with interest.

 

“I suspect the cyclist was hit by that car,” Miranda added pointing to a car with a damaged front wing that was parked haphazardly in front of the ambulance.

 

“You know the stupidity of the general public never ceases to amaze..” Miranda begun but the rest of her sentence was lost as a female police office took a step to her left to reveal a familiar face sat on the ground being attended to by a paramedic.

 

Before Roy had a chance to ask what was wrong Miranda had exited the car.

 

“Andrea?” Miranda whispered in shock as she approached the girl.

 

“Excuse me, Ma'am,” the female police officer intercepted Miranda, “can you stand back, please?”

 

Miranda looked at the police officer, “that's my assistant, Andrea, Andrea Sachs. What happened? Is she OK? Why is she sat on the cold sidewalk?”

 

“Ma'am?” the officer tried to calm Miranda, “you're her employer?”

 

Miranda nodded as she tried to get a glimpse of what was happening to Andrea behind the paramedics who were crowded around her.

 

“Can I take your name?” the officer gently asked as she saw the lost expression in the older woman's eyes.

 

“Miranda Priestly, is she OK?”

 

“She seems OK, a little bruised and shaken up. She's refusing to go to hospital.”

 

“What?!” Miranda seethed, “let me speak to her, now.”

 

Years of training and shifts on the streets of New York were immediately forgotten by the officer as she faced the anger of Miranda Priestly, knowing she had no chance of stopping her she nodded and led her to Andrea.

 

Miranda brushed past the paramedics and knelt down besides Andrea, taking in the sight of the woman who had walked away from her 10 months ago. Andrea sat cradling her wrist in her lap, the material at the knees on her jeans had been ripped away and bloodied scars could be seen forming there.

 

“Miranda?” Andrea questioned quietly, “what are you doing here?”

 

Miranda took her eyes off Andrea's prone wrist and looked up at Andrea's face. A small line of blood trickled down her cheek from a cut above her eye and was pooling on her jacket. She'd obviously hit her face as her nose was slightly swollen and bloodied and there were various scratches across her pale skin. But the thing Miranda noticed more prominently than any of this was Andrea's frame. Her weight to be exact. Andrea was thin, dangerously thin. Runway model thin.

 

“Miss Sachs, you really need to attend the hospital,” a kindly paramedic broke the silence between the two women.

 

Andrea turned and looked at him with a smile, “I'm fine, really, I just want to go home. Couple of band-aids and a warm bath and I'll be just fine.”

 

“We'd really like to take an x-ray to check for broken bones, we need to check for head injuries,” he replied softly.

 

“Really, I'm fine,” Andrea smiled but Miranda could tell she wasn't at all fine. “I.. I just want to go home,” the young brunette stammered.

 

“Andrea,” Miranda whispered, “you really should go to the hospital, just to be sure.”

 

Andrea shook her head gently and Miranda could tell she was nearly in tears, “please, please, Miranda, I just want to go home.”

 

Miranda sighed, the girl had said please. Not once but twice. Miranda had always known she would never be able to deny the girl anything she pleaded for. She stood up and indicated for the paramedic and the police officer to join her as she took a few steps away from Andrea.

 

“She's obviously upset, I want to take her back to my house just to get her out of this freezing cold air. I'll convince her to go to the hospital and get checked out from there,” Miranda informed the both of them, giving no indication that it was anything other than an order.

 

The paramedic and officer shared a look and then nodded as the three of them turned to face the young woman.

 

“You're coming back to the house with me, Andrea,” Miranda informed her and with a small nod of the head gestured from the paramedic to the Town Car, “you can help her into the car, yes?”

 

Knowing that this too was more of an order than a request the paramedic knelt down and helped Andrea shakily to her feet and towards the car while Miranda oversaw the operation with detached interest.

 

“Ms Priestly?” the police officer approached Miranda with a tatty rucksack in her hand, “her belongings.”

 

Miranda nodded and took hold of the holdall noting the tears in the material and the bloodied hand print upon the handle. She took a deep steadying breath as she finally allowed the situation to sink in. All at once she remembered the horrible empty feeling that had filled her in Paris when she realised that Andrea had left her. The weeks of feeling cold and alone whether it be at the office or at the house, knowing that Andrea would not be returning with her warm smile and her chipper attitude. The months of trying to forget about the girl, convincing herself that she is better off without her.

 

And then a few moments ago the horror and the fear that something had happened to her Andrea. The feeling, so right, of staking a claim upon the girl and being able to sweep her into safety and ensure her that everything would be all right again. To safely cocoon her in the world of Miranda Priestly.

 

Roy had gotten out of the car to assist the paramedic with getting Andrea safely seated in the back of the car and was now standing besides Miranda waiting to take the battered bag from her hands and assist his boss into the vehicle. Seeing her confused expression as she blankly stared at the sidewalk he gently cleared his throat and reached a hand to take the bag from her. Miranda blinked a couple of times before coming back to reality with a small nod of her head she handed him the bag and turned to give the police officer her business card before walking around the car and climbing in.

 

After a few moments Roy got back in the car and they pulled back into the traffic. Andy, still cradling her wrist and looking dazed decided to be the first to break the silence, “so, this is awkward..”

 

“Yes, causing all this commotion,” Miranda absently gestured to the traffic.

 

Andy sighed, “no, Miranda, I meant this, us.”

 

Miranda turned from the window and faced Andy, “I know what you meant, I was lightening the mood with humour.”

 

Andy blinked in surprise as a small smile appeared on Miranda's face.

 

“You can just drop me off at home,” Andy started, “no need to worry about me, I'm absolutely fine really, just a couple of scratches..”

 

“You'll stay at the house until I believe you are fit and well and then you will be accompanied home,” Miranda stated in a firm tone.

 

“But its Christmas..” Andy began quietly.

 

Miranda looked embarrassed as she suddenly remembered the date, “oh, of course, someone is expecting you?”

 

“No!” Andy said a little sharply before wincing and continuing in a lighter tone, “no, I mean, there's no one at home, just me.”

 

“Then you are travelling to see someone?” Miranda enquired.

 

Andy shifted in her seat, “well, no, it's just me this year..”

 

“Your boyfriend?” Miranda practically spat the word out.

 

“Nate left me after Paris,” Andy said quietly.

 

“There was a lot of that around that time of the year,” Miranda muttered though not unkindly, “your parents? Other family? Friends”

 

“No, no and no,” Andy replied with a small smile which told Miranda that she wouldn't be getting any further information on the subject just yet.

 

“Then I don't see why you are intend on going home to your lonely and cold apartment,” Miranda sniffed.

 

“Now hold on a minute, you don't know a thing about my living arrangements other than the fact I live alone. It's not cold and .. well, and I could have pets!” Andy replied.

 

Miranda raised her eyebrow, “and do you have pets?”

 

Andy blushed, “no, but I could have..”

 

Miranda smiled again, “yes, well, I apologise unreservedly for not considering your potential status as a pet owner. However, now the matter is satisfactorily resolved I presume we can proceed to the house without any further nonsense?”

 

Andy opened her mouth to argue but found she had no words and instead closed her mouth again and just silently nodded.

 

Miranda resisted the urge to smirk as she stared out of the window as the car made its way towards the house. Towards things getting back on track again.

 

“I hope you like goose,” Miranda added softly.

 

Andy looked up at Miranda, watching the graceful woman still staring out into the darkness of the New York night.

 

“Love it,” Andy replied in a whisper.

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Don’t Give Up The Day Job

Rating: PG-13.

Pairing: Mirandy

Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.

Summary: A misunderstanding on Miranda’s behalf leads to dire consequences for Andy.  Will she own up to her mistake?

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 9/9

 

“Oh for the love of God, Andrea, I nearly killed you!” Miranda shouted and immediately cupped her hand over her mouth after she had said it.

 

Andy blinked a couple of times and opened her mouth but no sound was forthcoming, eventually she managed “huh?”

 

Miranda stood to leave and Andy leapt out of the bed and grabbed her arm before she had the chance to escape, “oh no, no, no, you're not saying that and then running away.”

 

Miranda found herself being stopped and spun around to face Andy, surprised by her strength she found herself speechless as Andy grabbed both her arms and held her still, “why did you say that? What are you talking about?”

 

“Let me go,” Miranda ordered.

 

“No, not until you tell me what you're talking about,” Andy said as she gripped Miranda's arms even tighter.

 

“You're fired, now let me go,” Miranda refused to make eye contact with Andy and tried to escape but Andy was stronger than her and held her still.

 

“Fine, I'm fired, we're not going to have a relationship, whatever, tell me why you said that!” Andy shouted.

 

“This is all my fault!” Miranda shouted back, momentarily stunning Andy as she had never before heard Miranda raise her voice like that. Miranda could feel the tears falling down her cheeks, unable to cover them up or wipe them away while Andy held her so tightly in place.

 

“What is your fault?” Andy queried gently as she slowly released her iron-like grip on Miranda's upper arms and gently took a step closer and pulled Miranda into an uncomfortable hug, uncomfortable due to Miranda's complete lack of participation. Not that Andy was discouraged by that and held her tightly and rubbed softly on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

 

Miranda bit back a sob, “your collapse, it was my fault.”

 

“No it wasn't,” Andy assured as she kept rubbing soothing circles on Miranda's back.

 

“It was, I.. I was foolish, you see..”

 

“You thought I was on drugs, you sent me out on a million pointless missions and then held my insulin hostage because you thought the box contained drugs, I know. Nigel told me,” Andy said with a confused look, “you thought I didn't know?”

 

Miranda pulled back, still in Andy's arms but enough to see her face, “you know?!”

 

“Err, yes, like I said Nigel told me when he called up to see how I was doing,” Andy repeated, puzzled before realisation suddenly dawned on her, “oh, Miranda, did you think that what you did led to my collapse?”

 

At Miranda's small and hesitant nod Andy threw her arms around Miranda again, this time pleased to feel Miranda return the hug.

 

“Miranda, I had an infection, that is why I was off the day before. I caught a bug when we did that photo shoot in Canada a couple of weeks ago and I've been trying to fight it ever since but my diabetes was making it hard. Yes the hard day didn't help and I did kinda need my insulin but I was crashing anyway. I was way out of it, even in the morning, I was ill before you'd even started teaching me a lesson for being a crackhead.”

 

Miranda let out a small laugh and pulled back to take Andy's face in her hands, “I thought you didn't know.”

 

“Well you thought wrong,” Andy smiled back, “Miranda, I totally should have let you know about my diabetes. It was my fault that I ended up in here, you helped it to happen a bit quicker but it was going to happen anyway, I need to manage my diabetes better and go to the clinic more and eat more. It's just hard being at Runway and eating all the time, you know?”

 

Miranda nodded, “eat whatever you want, whenever you want. I'll make sure that not a word is said about it. And take your insulin at your desk if you must I don't want this to ever happen again, Andrea.”

 

“Miranda?” Andy whispered with her face inches away from Miranda's.

 

Miranda felt her breath clench in her throat as she breathed, “yes?”

 

“I hate to ruin a beautiful moment here but I'm kinda tethered,” Andy said indicating the trail of taut wires running from her body to the bed and the various machines surrounding it.

 

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Miranda said as she let go of Andy's face and helped her back into bed.

 

Andy gratefully got back into bed and adjusted her blanket; a thin hospital pair of pyjamas was not the best insulation at five o'clock in the morning in a cold hospital room. Once she was settled she reached forward and grabbed Miranda's arm and pulled her to sit on the edge of the bed.

 

Miranda smiled shyly, “I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner. I just thought you would react.. differently. I thought a lawsuit, perhaps?”

 

“Is that what all this has been about?” Andy asked as she reached for Miranda's hand and held it tightly.

 

Miranda nodded, “I don't seem to be doing very well, I played at being detective and failed miserably.”

 

Andy smiled, “oh well, you're a better Editor anyway.”

 

Miranda gave a small laugh, “yes, Nigel informed me not to give up my day job.”

 

“Nigel would be right,” Andy agreed, “about a few things.”

 

“Oh?” Miranda queried.

 

“He told me what had happened, he said that you wouldn't tell me yourself because you'd fear me leaving or suing you. He then said that you were very concerned about me and that you'd probably bribe the doctor to keep me in here longer than necessary,” Andy rolled her eyes when Miranda broke eye contact to examine the upholstery on the hospital chair in front of her, “and he also said that you'd never ever make the first move.”

 

Miranda frowned and turned back to face Andy just as Andy leaned forward and cupped Miranda's face gently in her hands and pressed their lips softly together.

 

Miranda was pretty sure she gave a moan at the contact and she was pretty sure that it would be brought up for discussion and some light-hearted ribbing at a later date when this whole sage was revisited by her girlfriend.

 

Although Miranda knew that she never took the easy route even she had to admit that this had been a most convoluted journey. In her heart she silently hoped that now all of this was behind them they could get on with their future life in a far more civilised and straightforward fashion.

 

When Andy pulled back from the kiss she wore the biggest and goofiest grin that Miranda had ever seen causing her to roll her eyes. Andy laughed and grinned some more, “so, what do we do now?”

 

Miranda smiled at the repetition of her question that now felt like it had occurred days rather than hours ago.

 

“Easy,” Miranda said as she got to her feet, “we get you discharged and you can recuperate at the townhouse, that way I can keep an eye on you and you can busy yourself with some small tasks to ensure that the brain I have forced you to grow doesn't entirely rot away from lack of use. We get you a better doctor and make you appointments at this diabetic clinic you mentioned. I want to take Patricia to a dog spa, those kinds of things must exist somewhere in this country, surely? And then we give Nigel a raise, whether for thanks or for his silence I have yet to decide.”

 

Miranda smiled down at Andy who was beginning to fade under such an eventful evening, “but first you need to get some sleep, Andrea. You look like you've been up all night!”

 

Anything Andy was going to say was silenced by Miranda bending down to place a soft kiss on her lips and then another on her forehead before reaching over and turning off the bedside lamp.

 

THE END

 

Title: Don’t Give Up The Day Job

Rating: PG-13.

Pairing: Mirandy

Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.

Summary: A misunderstanding on Miranda’s behalf leads to dire consequences for Andy.  Will she own up to her mistake?

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 8/9

 

Sleep never came easily to Miranda, it never had.  Since she was a young woman, making her way in New York, she found her mind was too full of work matters to really relax and get to sleep.  This evening she had managed to fall into a fitful sleep but the dreams that plagued her had jolted her awake a few moments ago and now she sat panting and shaken, not just at the nightmare part of the dream but also at the dream in general.  Evidently her subconscious has very specific ideas about the direction at which she wants her relationship with Andrea to take. 

 

The dream had started off innocently enough, a dinner here and there and the occasional visits to the park with the girls.  They went boating with Patricia, who inevitably fell in, followed by Andrea trying to save her despite Patricia being the best swimmer of the entire group by far.

 

Then time seemed to fast forward and they were sharing a glass of mulled wine at Christmas, sitting on the sofa in front of an impressive Christmas tree in her home that seemed to feel warmer and brighter with little additions that she could only assume were from her and Andrea’s life together.

 

Then the dream became extremely sexual, which probably accounted for the heat Miranda still felt coursing through her body.  She shook her head to mentally shake away the images as she stood and walked into her ensuite bathroom to shower away the remaining strands of the dream that filled her mind.

 

As she undressed and stepped under the warm jets of water she recalled the end of the dream the part that had shaken her into consciousness.  Time had fast-forwarded on again and she was stood in a church in a fantastic Valentino white suit and Andrea was stood besides her in a glorious white wedding dress that had made Miranda’s head spin.  Just at the moment where the minister, who seemed to be Oprah, asked if anyone knew of any reason why they should not be married a tear-stained Emily had thrown herself through the doors of the church.  She looked at Miranda with disgust before pointing at her and loudly screaming, “she tried to kill Andy!  She’s too much of a coward to even admit what happened that day!”

 

Even under the warm water jets Miranda felt a shiver go through her as she recalled the fear that pierced her heart at that moment.  Andrea’s beautiful face had turned to her with a questioning look, “is Emily drunk?”

 

Before Miranda had time to open her mouth to reply Emily was grabbing Andrea by the arm and dragging her away, “the day you collapsed, she did it.  She thought you were on drugs so she run you ragged over the whole city, made sure you didn’t have time to eat or take your insulin.  Then when you stumbled back into the office half-dead she held your insulin hostage and you collapsed in her office!”

 

Andrea half-laughed as she stared incredulously at Miranda but when she saw the look of fear in Miranda’s eyes she knew immediately that it was the truth and the look of hurt filled her eyes in an instant.

 

“Andrea, please.. I..” was all Miranda managed to say before Andrea turned and left the church in tears.  And that was when she woke up, panting and shaken.  She must have been in the shower for quarter of an hour and still she couldn’t shake the images from her mind. 

 

Shutting off the water and with her mind made up she grabbed a towel from the rail and headed to telephone for the nanny service to watch the girls again.  As she picked up the phone Patricia lifted her head and looked at her from under the window; her new sleeping place since the divorce.

 

“Don’t even!” she said to Patricia as she dialled the number and rolled her eyes.

 

-=~*~=-

 

Andy had been enjoying a nice dream, something to do with a house made of cookie dough ice cream and she was fairly sure she was the owner of a magic wand too, when Miranda stormed through the doors and took her now customary chair besides the hospital bed.

 

“We need to talk,” she said as she took her sunglasses off and rested them on the bedside table.

 

Andy rubbed her eyes and smothered a yawn as she pushed herself up into a sitting position, “at twenty past four in the morning?”

 

“Yes, right now,” Miranda replied.

 

“Seriously, Miranda, you know I’m in hospital recovering don’t you?  I’d get more sleep on a bench in Central Park than I do here with you in and out all night,” Andy said with some good humour considering the situation. 

 

“This won’t work,” Miranda stated coldly, the ice queen persona back in power.

 

“I’m sorry?” Andy asked as she tried to shake the fog from her brain.

 

“This,” Miranda said as she gestured between the two of them, “us.  It won’t work.  We need to stop now before one of us gets hurt.”

 

“Now hold on a minute, what brought this change of heart on?”

 

“I’ve been thinking and I’ve made a decision,” Miranda said, “that’s all.”

 

“Oh no you don’t, you don’t get to ‘that’s all’ me on this!” Andy raised her voice, “you don’t get to swan in here like you own the world and tell me that you’ve thought for a few hours and now you’ve decided to change your mind because you’ve gotten scared and you certainly don’t ‘that’s all’ me!”

 

“I’m not scared, this just won’t work..” Miranda started.

 

“Bullshit,” Andy exclaimed.

 

“Andrea!”

 

“Well it is,” Andy whispered, “just tell me though, tell me why it won’t work?”

 

Miranda looked away from those big brown eyes, “you’ll end up hating me,” she whispered.

 

Andy laughed, “end up?  We crossed that bridge a long time ago!”

 

Miranda gave a small smile at that and Andy continued on, “seriously though, Miranda, I’ve seen you at your absolutely worse and up close and I’m still here.  I don’t hate you, I can’t see me ever hating you.”

 

Miranda sighed, “you will, Andrea, you will.  Just leave it at that and we’ll go back to the way everything was, forget all about this silliness.”

 

“No, I won’t.  And it’s not silliness!  It’s how I feel and I think it’s how you feel too.  Why do you think I would hate you suddenly?  I know you’re going to be a nightmare to live with but we’ve worked together for so long that I already feel like I’m living with you and I can’t see what you think would make me suddenly hate you!”

 

“Can’t you just accept that in this instance I know better?” Miranda replied with a hint of exasperation. 

 

“No, I can’t,” Andy replied, “talk to me.  Please!  For once, open up to someone and tell them what you are thinking”

 

“Oh for the love of God, Andrea, I nearly killed you!” Miranda shouted and immediately cupped her hand over her mouth after she had said it.

 

Title: Don’t Give Up The Day Job

Rating: PG-13.

Pairing: Mirandy

Disclaimer: Characters borrowed, no ownership rights implied.

Summary: A misunderstanding on Miranda’s behalf leads to dire consequences for Andy.  Will she own up to her mistake?

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 7/?

 

“What do we do now?” Miranda asked tactlessly.

 

Andy closed her mouth that had fallen open upon Miranda’s ‘I think I like you too..’ declaration.

 

“Erm, well,” Andy stuttered, “I don’t know, I hadn’t really gotten that far.  I expected you to fire me so I wouldn’t have to think about it that much.”

 

Miranda pursed her lips and tilted her head to examine the end of the bed.

 

Andy rolled her eyes knowing that the silent treatment would only end if she ended it herself.  She sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to tame her wild hair.

 

“Well, I suppose I should hand my notice in..” Andy started but drifted off as Miranda’s head snapped up and glared at her in outrage.

 

“..or not,” Andy continued wondering if Miranda was about to storm out of the hospital room again and leave her alone for another few hours.

 

“You will not be handing your notice in, if that is how you feel then I take back what I said!” Miranda spat through clenched teeth as she stalked to the window to again gaze out into the darkness.

 

“I don’t want to hand my notice in,” Andy said, “I just don’t want to make things harder for you, us working together and.. being together..”

 

Miranda turned around, “if you think you will find that difficult then I suggest we forget about this altogether!”

 

Andy was starting to get angry now, it had never been easy to talk to Miranda but sometimes she made it downright impossible and it really frustrated Andy, “I was thinking of you!  And before you storm out of here in a rage again, please remember that I am tied to this damn bed by wires and drips and I’d love to come after you but I can’t so please just don’t do that again!”

 

Miranda could tell that Andy was getting close to tears and took a deep cleansing breath.  She quietly nodded and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

 

Andy nodded in agreement, “thank you, now, about what to do next.. I don’t know.  I don’t have all the answers, this is something we have to work out together, what do we want and how do we want to do it.  All I know if that I like you and want to see more of you..”

 

At that Miranda’s lips curled into a knowing smile and Andy mentally kicked herself as she corrected, “I mean I’d like to see more of you.. socially, outside of work, I want to meet the real you and not the Runway you..”

 

“And how do you know the Runway me isn’t the real me?” Miranda enquired wistfully, secretly enjoying this new and more confident Andrea.

 

“Because the twins love you so much, you couldn’t possibly be the Runway you at home,” Andy laughed.

 

“Oh yes,” Miranda stepped away from the window and folded her arms across her chest, “my girls.”

 

Andy’s smile left her face and she swallowed.

 

Miranda sauntered closer to the bed, “my girls tell me that you and they have become very close, lending them books and tucking them into bed of an evening?”

 

“I like them,” Andy said bravely, even if she didn’t feel particularly brave as she was being stared down by an imposing and arm-crossed Miranda, “when you get to know them they are actually quite sensitive girls and I just started talking to them during the divorce..”

 

Miranda nodded and a small smile crossed her face, “yes, well, you seem to have achieved the impossible.  They seem to actually like you, they were concerned that I’d fired you when Emily delivered the book.”

 

Andy smiled, “Emily wouldn’t lend them her Kelly Clarkson CD..”

 

Miranda sat down in the chair besides the bed, “you’re under no illusions that this will be easy?  I’m considerably older than you, Andrea.  I have ex-husbands and children, responsibilities and the press.  And I’m me.  I’m aware I’m.. difficult to be around.  Not to mention the fact I’ve never.. been with a woman..”

 

“Neither have I..” Andy admitted quietly.

 

Miranda snapped her head up to meet Andy’s eyes, “you’ve never been with a woman?”

 

“No,” Andy shook her head slowly, “is that a problem?”

 

“Well, no, I just expected that you had, considering you admitting that you like me.  I also hoped that one of us would have a clue as to what to do!” Miranda said as she leaned back in the high-backed hospital chair to consider this latest turn of events.

 

“It doesn’t have to be difficult, Miranda,” Andy said, “there’s no rules or guidelines to follow or worry about breaking.  All I know is I like you and I want to spend more time with you.. well, that and that I really want to get out of this damn hospital.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll be discharged tomorrow morning,” Miranda said distractedly.

 

“I hope so, I’d like to get back to normality and come back to work too.  Did you mean it when you said that I had to stay away for three days?”

 

“Absolutely!” Miranda said as she stood up again to pace the room, “I won’t have you collapsing in the office again, you will stay home until I am certain you are fit and well to come back into the office.”

 

Andy frowned, “were you there when I collapsed, Miranda?”

 

Miranda spun around to face Andy and simply whispered, “yes.”

 

Andy nodded thoughtfully, “I’m sorry.”

 

Miranda frowned, “why on earth are you apologising to me?”

 

“It must have caused you distress to see me collapse and I know I never told you that I’m a diabetic, I should have I know but I just.. I didn’t want to give you a reason to fire me..” Andy broke eye contact with Miranda and started looking down at her folded hands in her lap.

 

Tell her, tell her right now and let this whole damn thing be over with, tell her now before you develop deeper feelings for her and she finds out some other way and hates you Miranda’s internal voice begged.

 

“It did distress me and I have to admit I was surprised to hear you are diabetic, especially to hear it from Nigel and the girls and not from you,” Miranda said pointedly, causing Andy to wince slightly.  “However, I’m hoping that is now behind us?  You have no reason to apologise to me, you obviously didn’t do it on purpose so I think we should just forget all about this little matter.”

 

Coward Miranda’s internal voice whispered bitterly.

 

Andy smiled and nodded and Miranda felt a small part of her heart go cold at deliberately lying to the girl and attempting to cover up her obvious guilt and push the issue aside.  She suddenly felt claustrophobic and had to leave, “I should go, the girls and The Book.. I will see you in the morning to see that you are discharged and to see that you go home and rest.”

 

Andy nodded and smothered a yawn with her hand, “thank you, I’d like that..”

 

Miranda smiled softly and gave a small nod of the head and breezed out of the room.