Etches of Meaning
Despite what the majority of people believed, Miranda Priestly did not often wish for people to fail. Every single hour of her very long days, Miranda avidly searched for small bits of successful brilliance that she could use to her advantage. She lived in a constant state of hoping that she would see something that honestly and truly impressed her. Unfortunately, those moments were very few and very far between, but still she stayed on constant alert, open to seeing the world's potential treasures hidden under all of the disappointments. Miranda Priestly was an optimist, and very, very few people understood that.
From the very beginning, Andrea Sachs had impressed her. Miranda had seen something beyond Andrea's needs straight towards the girl's possible future. She dismissed Andrea's plain attire, unkempt hair, and prideful poise, and she saw right down to Andrea's core. That was the sole reason Miranda did not fire the girl after the girl's early pathetic attempts at job performance. It was the reason why Miranda broke one of her many rules and bothered to explain herself to a peon.
When all indicators implied Miranda should direct Andrea to the nearest exit, Miranda had brought Andrea into her office and confessed to being an optimist, to living off of hope. She told "the smart, fat girl" how disappointed she was and let the silly girl run away from her office in tears not as of yet unemployed. The pep talk did wonders for Andrea's countenance and her job performance improved dramatically.
Miranda did not want Andrea to fail. She could only hope that her decision to call Andrea in the middle of the night to offer unsolicited advice would help the girl come up with an article that would not fall too far below her standards. As of the moment, it did not appear that Andrea was working on anything worth being printed out on paper. Miranda had not given Andrea a deadline, but hopefully Andrea understood that one had certainly been implied. Miranda would not wait on Andrea indefinitely. Twenty-four hours seemed fair enough amount of time to write one little article.
With a slight shake of her head, Miranda cleared any thoughts about the silly girl from her mind. She placed her glasses back on and then turned her attention back to the pages sitting in front of her. She still had a job to do beyond making sure Andrea was not wasting away precious time.
Miranda lost herself in the Book, intent on carefully scanning every page until there were no mistakes left to incinerate. A couple of hours passed, perhaps more until Miranda closed the pages and capped the red pen she had been using to mark through everyone else's mistakes. It was well past midnight and Miranda was just feeling relaxed enough to try and sleep.
She made it out of her study and was making her way towards a restful night when she heard an impossibly soft knock on her front door. She cautiously approached the door, quelling her first instinct to call the police. She was, of course, expecting no visitors but Miranda left room for certain amounts of spontaneity in her life.
"Your obvious intent to enact all of the atrocious habits you have acquired since leaving Runway, is not at all amusing," Miranda said as soon as she opened her door to Andrea's bedraggled appearance. There were dark rings forming under the girl's eyes, her hair had clearly not been combed, and for some reason she was wearing a t-shirt and jeans.
"I know it's late." Andrea pushed the door open further so that she could step uninvited into Miranda's home. She had just finished her sixth cup of coffee and could no longer hold back her desire to see Miranda. "I just wanted you to look over this before I officially gave it to you." Andrea thrust out a few sheets of crumpled paper towards Miranda.
Miranda widened her eyes and slightly tilted her head. "Clearly you are on some sort of hallucinogen."
"I don't want you to fire me." The arm Andrea had holding up the papers fell helplessly back down to her side. "I've spent the last year of my life chasing after something that won't make me happy. So please, Miranda, please just read this."
The girl was cracking apart. Miranda had not expected it would happen so soon. After the display Andrea had put on the night before, Miranda had assumed Andrea had somehow gathered up more internal fortitude than she had harbored as second assistant. "I was not aware that you were once again under my employ, Andrea."
"I will be," Andrea offered Miranda the bits of paper again. Somehow, also managing to pull herself back from the brink of complete collapse. "Read this, please."
Miranda closed her front door then looked over Andrea's body once more, searching for that bit of something that would tell her that it was okay to give into Andrea's request. With an irritated eye roll, Miranda reached out for the filthy bits of paper. "Stay here," Miranda ordered as she began to walk away towards her study, papers firmly in hand.
"Where are you going?"
Miranda gave Andrea a look that clearly conveyed she was only seconds away from setting the despicable girl on fire.
"Right, right," Andrea looked down at her feet. "I'll stay right here."
Miranda continued walking away. She entered her study, closed the door, and then settled herself against the front of her desk. She looked down at the papers Andrea had shoved at her. "God help you, Andrea, if this is trash," she said to the empty room before she began reading.
Her eyes quickly crossed over Andrea's words. She dissected them as she devoured them, seeking out etches of meaning that would reveal Andrea's talent beyond an ability to construct a sentence. She read through it four times before she dropped the papers away from her face, ready to face Andrea with her verdict.
Miranda opened the study's door, and then slowly stepped out of the room that had been witness to more than one of her disappointments. When she reached her foyer, she saw Andrea standing completely still with her eyes closed. The girl looked almost as if she was praying.
Miranda shook her head and sighed. "The next time you wish for me to read something, Andrea, email it to me. I assume you know how to do that."
Andrea jumped and fell away from the spot she had remained standing in per Miranda's previous order. "Of course."
"That being said," Miranda thrust Andrea's article back into the girl's hands, "it needs work."
"Does, does that mean you liked it?" Andrea took hold of the papers so that they would not fall to the ground.
"It means, Andrea, that it needs work." It had not been disappointing. It was raw, but it had enough potential as to not be outright dismissed.
"So you're going to hire me?"
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Andrea. I am no more likely to hire you than I am to employ James Holt."
"But I thought…"
"You thought?" Miranda raised a brow. "Clearly you haven't." She walked past Andrea to the front door, and then pulled it open.
"I don't, don't understand." Robotically Andrea started walking towards the open door.
No, the girl did not understand. How could she? "Fix it and have it to me by the end of the day."
Miranda closed and then locked the door as soon as Andrea had crossed the threshold. Eventually, she could see Andrea's shadow stumbling away. Miranda leaned against the closed door and rested the back of her head against the cold surface. Her eyes fluttered closed and she inhaled a heavy breath.
Andrea had not failed.