widdy26

Title: Driving Miranda – Chapter 6

Author: Widdy
Disclaimer: I don't own the Devil Wears Prada, or Miranda or Andy, unfortunately someone else does so I'm just borrowing them I will return them after I'm done.
Rating: PG for now!

Feedback: Yes feel free to feed me.
Pairings:  Andy/Nate, Miranda/Stephen, Andrea/Miranda eventually.

Summary: While Roy is ill Miranda gets an interesting new driver.

Beta: Amelie (thank you so much for your help!!)

Chapter 6

Andy’s morning had been as busy. Miranda hadn’t stopped all morning. Andy had rarely driven so many places in one day; she certainly had never driven to so many designer boutiques in one given day.

The morning had started with her arriving at the townhouse. She had retrieved Caroline, Cassidy and Miranda who looked as near perfection as humanly possible. Before their mother had emerged, the twins had then proceeded to test her knowledge of ‘who was who’. Again, her identification was spot on, much to their exasperation.

After they had arrived at Dalton, Andy had observed an almost identical scene to the one she had witnessed on Monday morning. Miranda had kissed her daughters goodbye and then hurried them from the car. Then it was straight to Elias-Clarke. Miranda had been in the building all of thirty minutes when Andy’s had received her very first schedule change.

Andy could recall how her jaw had dropped as she had reviewed the new schedule. Her morning had been open, now it was full with seven separate appointments. All were accompanied by highlighted times. Andy had thanked god that the majority of the locations where situated no more than 15 minutes apart. So, she had anticipated that getting from A to B wouldn’t be a problem.

However, Miranda was a problem.

Over the course of the morning, Andy had been forced to listened to her complain endlessly. Tiffany, her junior assistant had accompanied her, while Emily had stayed at runway to man the fort. Tiffany had the pleasure of addressing every issue. Miranda had mainly complained about the incompetence of her creative staff. She had apparently she had been unbearable the moment she had stepped from the elevator. She had scrapped some sort of layout, fired those responsible. She had refused to pay one of the photographers for his work, because it was below par. She had then ordered the art department to compile a new layout, and find a new photographer for a reshoot. All of it had to be completed by 2 o’clock that afternoon.

The true strain of reorganising everything was evident on the face of poor Tiffany. Andy didn’t even want to imagine what Emily looked like. Andy sympathised with the girl, her voice hadn’t stopped saying yes Miranda all morning. Every time they had been in the car Andy had listened to Miranda give her orders. Tiffany had completed them only to receive a stinging insult.

Andy sighed, her face reddened as she recalled the memory of her first dress down. Miranda had finished with her fourth appointment, which to quote the devil herself had been a ‘disaster’.

Then the car had gotten stuck in a traffic jam. She had felt eyes burning in the back of her skull, Andy hadn’t even dared to look in her rear-view mirror, and instead she had used her side mirrors.

She had been five minutes late.

That was unacceptable, Andy knew it, Tiffany knew it, and worst of all, Miranda knew it. It had been unavoidable; they were in New York for God’s sake. She also knew that Miranda didn’t care.

Then the voice had come. It seemed to be almost sweet at first; it was so deceptive that if you hadn’t been in her presence, you would never have known she had been ripping out people’s souls all morning.

Andy had felt the hairs upon the back of her neck stand upon end as her name had seemed to drip like honey from Miranda’s lips.

The next words had been a calm question.

“Do you value your job Andrea?”

“Yes, Miranda!”

“Really? Andrea? Do you really value your job?”

“Yes, Miranda.” Andy could recall glancing in her rear-view. She saw Tiffany looking away from the scene playing out, staring at the traffic that had been streaming past the window in a blur. Miranda however was paying close attention. Her gaze had been fixed upon the back of Andy’s head.

“Then tell me Andrea, why I seem to be late for my appointment?”

Andy remembered she had considered telling the truth, she was late for her appointment because she had come out of the building four minutes late. As a consequence a truck had been attempting to parallel park, it had blocked the way and they had gotten stuck. She had even considered blaming the cab driver who had pulled up next to the truck impeding its movement. Andy rejected all; she knew that excuses would not be tolerated. No matter what chain of uncontrollable events had caused Miranda Priestly to be late, the blame was hers alone.

“You’re late for your appointment because of my error in judgement Miranda.”

“If I am behind time again, at any point during the remainder of today Andrea, not only will you be looking for a new job, you will be looking for a new life, because you will never work in this city again!”

With that Andy has watched as her boss had exited the car with a cowering Tiffany hot on her heels. Andy recalled feeling as if her skin was literally melting from her bones as Miranda’s stare and words had washed over her being. Andy knew a threat, and Miranda was apparently and expert at delivering them.

They had returned to Elias-Clarke at lunch. Andy had never been so glad to get someone out of her car. Miranda, in the way Andy had come to think of her usual style, flew from the vehicle. That had been three hours ago.

Now it was 3:30 and Andy was standing outside Dalton waiting for the twins to emerge, they where late but that was to be expected. Children were rarely on time. Andy scanned the crowd, after a few minutes she laid her eyes upon the twin redheads as they came barrelling towards her.

“Hey Andy!”

They stopped for a moment as she opened the door, “Caroline.” Andy nodded in her direction and Caroline in smiled brightly.

“Cassidy,” Cassidy also smiled, apparently satisfied with this little game they had begun yesterday.

“So, ballet?”

“Yes, you know Caroline stays and watches right?” For a minute Andy was thrown, there was no mention of Caroline staying behind with her sister. Emily hadn’t mentioned anything when she had called her a few minutes. The English woman seemed to think that she needed to remind her of every event that was in her schedule.

“Really? There’s no mention of you staying behind on the sced...”

Caroline’s voice interrupted Andy.

“That’s because it’s obvious. Why would you waste time taking me home, when you can just wait to pick us both up?”

Andy had no answer. Caroline made sense. By the time she had taken Caroline home, she would just have time to make it back to pick up Cassidy from her lesson. It didn’t make any sense to drive back to the town house. Still she couldn’t see Miranda caring about her carbon footprint.

“Ok.”

Ten minutes later, Andy pulled the car to a halt in the car park next to dance studio. The twins quickly shuffled to the other side of the car as Andy exited the vehicle. She moved to assist them. She opened the door and the Caroline followed closely by Cassidy leaped out and headed towards the building.

“Hey wait, I have to walk you in.” Andy was taking no chances with Miranda’s children. While they were in her care, she was responsible for their safety.

Caroline and Cassidy shrugged, but both stopped.

“It’s ok. Roy never does.”

“Just wait, ok?” Andy pressed the button on her key fob and the central locking engaged. Another beep was heard that indicated that the car alarm had come into play.

Andy observed Caroline and Cassidy rolling their eyes as she walked towards them. “We’re not babies you know, we can walk into a building unaided.”

“I know you’re not babies, but you’re still only twelve. Besides if anything happens to you, it will be me who is swinging by the end of the day.” Andy pushed her tongue to the side of her mouth and extended it she half closed her eyes she tipped her head to the side and with her left hand she held an imaginary rope. Andy saw the twins smile and she smiled back.

“Yeah, mom will kill you.” Then they looked at each other and smiled. Andy didn’t like that smile there was something about it that place her nerves on edge. It was a smile that spoke of secrecy. It told Andy ‘we know something that you don’t’. They had a secret that Andy wasn’t privileged enough to share.

After Andy had watched both the girls enter the class she quickly accessed the schedule, she had thirty minutes to kill before the lesson ended. Andy smiled as she bounced down the stairwell. In the front of the Bentley, nestled in the soft leather of the passenger seat sat an old friend. The Ramsey family where waiting for her to join them on the Isle of Skye. They waited for her to accompany them on their long awaited journey to the lighthouse.

****

As Andy sank deeper into the philosophical words Virginia Woolf, she almost missed the ringing of her cell phone. She placed the well-worn copy of To the Lighthouse onto the right-hand seat and then fumbled for her phone.

She had barely gotten the phone to her ear when she heard Emily hissing at her.

“Where is Caroline?”

Shaking her head Andy sat up straight, “what? Emily? What are you talking about?”

“I have just had the nanny on the bloody phone, now Miranda’s is on the war path. You do realise the...”

Emily’s voice faltered and was quickly replaced by another even more terrifying sound. Andy swallowed and felt her feelings of dread from earlier on in the day return with vengeance.

“Where is my daughter?”

Andy had thought Miranda had been bad this morning. Her tone now made Andy feel as if she were standing in the middle of a blizzard.

Naked. 

“Miranda.” Andy frowned as her voice came out as a mere squeak.

“Where is my daughter?”

“Which one?” Andy shut her eyes as the words traitorously escaped her mouth. Shaking her head Andy mouthed the word ‘stupid’ repeatedly. She waited with baited breath for Miranda’s stinging reply. She knew who Miranda meant, suddenly the image of the twin redhead smiling in a glee popped into her mind. They had set her up.

“Which one Andrea? Which one?”

 “I’m sorry, Miranda...”

“Caroline, Andrea, explain to me why is she not at home with Cara?” Miranda’s question was so quite Andy had difficult hearing her.

“She’s with Cassidy.”

“At her ballet class?”

“Yes she told me...” Andy’s voice trailed off as she heard Miranda inhale over the line.

“Your incompetence is astounding. Consider yourself lucky that the moronic chauffer service cannot provide me with a replacement driver anytime soon.”

Andy winced, had Miranda called Charlie?

“I’m sorry, they said...”

“I do not care what my daughters told you, the fact that you listen to the words of children is further proof of your lack of intelligence. After the class has finished return the girls home and then come back to Elias-Clarke. Do you think you can handle to carry out those simplest of instructions Andrea? Or do you think it will be too much for you to handle?”

“I think I can manage Miranda.”

“I am thrilled for you Andrea. That’s all.”

The line went dead and Andy slumped back into her seat, she had survived again.


Chapter 7