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Miranda had a penchant for wearing beautiful coats.
They varied in size, color, and most importantly, softness, and Andy loved them. No. Not to wear. She loved holding them in her arms, running her hands over the fine details, and weaving her fingers through the soft fur.
Miranda, however, had long since delegated the task to Emily, so Andy no longer got to hang the coats, or even touch them and inhale the expensive scent that clung to the fabric.
“You want to take over the task?” Emily asked, her brows furrowed suspiciously as Andy swayed nervously on her feet. “You want to hang the coat?”
Andy felt a sudden wave of heat creep up her neck, blushing furiously as she tried to avoid Emily’s calculating gaze. It was embarrassing. Andy would never have subjected herself to this kind of scrutiny, but she was human and humans had their needs… didn’t they?
“Yeah,” Andy nodded, forcing a casual shrug. “You already do the errands. I can take this off your shoulders.”
Emily frowned, her eyes narrowing. “You didn’t have to rub it in my face.”
“No. Emily, no. I… I just… want to help, is all.”
Andy watched Emily make a face, her eyes squinting slightly as she went around her desk to fetch Miranda’s coffee.
“Go then,” Emily said, shaking her head as she walked out the door, leaving Andy looking right at Miranda’s coat lying haphazardly on Emily’s desk.
Miranda had chosen a long coat today. It was jet-black in color and had huge belts around the waist. Its’ folds were decorated with metallic black fur that shifted like liquid velvet, and somehow resembled a spider.
Miranda had looked amazing in it.
Pulling the coat gently into her arms, Andy imagined what it would feel like to have this very fabric wrapped around Miranda’s body—to hug the editor and feel this exact softness pressed against her own chest
Andy stole a lingering glance inside Miranda’s office and found the editor engaged in a phone call. She pressed her face deep against the fabric of the coat, imagining it was Miranda’s chest she was buried into.
Andy longed to have Miranda in her arms.
Andy had realized she loved Miranda rather casually one quiet afternoon.
She always knew she adored her. The editor possessed a certain charm that constantly seemed to pull Andy into her orbit. She, of course, tried to deny the fact. She loved Miranda, but she knew she could do nothing about it.
Miranda was Miranda, and Andy was just her assistant. No matter how badly Andy wanted there to be more.
The elevator dinged open and Miranda stepped out of it, already launching into a tirade of tasks, which Andy listed diligently. She always wanted to be on top of her duties if it meant things would be a little easier for Miranda.
Miranda was wearing a pink coat over a knee-length, body-hugging dress. Andy wanted to feel it in her hands; she desperately wanted to slide her palms against the fabric and feel Miranda’s body heat radiating through it.
“Are you listening, Andrea?” Miranda asked, already sliding the coat off her shoulders.
“Yes. I…” Andy offered both hands for Miranda to drop the coat into.
Miranda looked at her with a raised eyebrow, the coat dangling from one hand as if she were prepared to throw it somewhere else. She pursed her lips and handed Andy the heavy garment before walking into her office.
Andy inhaled sharply, closing her eyes as Miranda’s perfume filled her senses. When she opened her eyes, she saw Miranda watching her from her desk. Blushing, Andy turned around and practically ran to the coat rack.
Andy tried her best to avoid Miranda’s eyes for the rest of the day.
Miranda had an important meeting with an advertiser and she demanded for Andy to tag along to take notes.
Andy happily obliged, of course. She loved being with Miranda, even if by the end of the grueling day, her feet ached so badly she wanted to rip them off.
Andy smiled politely at the receptionist as they walked into the advertiser’s office, already offering her own coat for the girl to take care of. When Andy turned to Miranda, the editor opened her arms wide. Andy stepped behind her, placing both hands on Miranda’s shoulders to carefully ease the coat off her.
Miranda’s choice of coat today was mid-length and navy blue. It had fur ruffles in the shade of brown around the neck and a hem that fell just a little below the knee.
“Be careful with it, Andrea,” Miranda told her, her voice a low warning.
Andy watched Miranda walk into the conference room with a sway of her hips, the coat gently draped across Andy’s arms. The younger girl felt elated throughout the entire meeting, keeping Miranda’s coat neatly folded in her lap; taking care of it meant that she got to hold it.
It didn’t help that, from her peripheral vision, she could see Miranda’s eyes on her. The editor was watching her with an expression that—if Andy didn’t know better—looked a lot like fondness.
How badly Andy loved Miranda.
“What do you think of this?”
Andy looked up from her notepad and followed Miranda’s line of sight, which was directed at a white leather coat with fur trim. Large black buttons adorned the tailored front, and a black belt cinched it together.
It was a new release from a prominent brand, and Miranda always got the exclusive first look, obviously.
She looked at Miranda and, absentmindedly, ran her eyes up and down the editor’s body. Oh, it would definitely look good on the older woman.
“Beautiful. It’s… It’s beautiful.”
“You think so?” Miranda walked over to the coat and ran a hand along the fur. “Hmm. It’s soft. Come. Feel.”
Andy swallowed, her feet stepping closer to where Miranda stood. She pinched one side of the coat between her thumb and index finger and nodded dumbly.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “It’s soft.”
Miranda hummed, turning around to sit back in her chair.
“Shall I call them to send one in your size?” Andy asked after a moment, her voice dropping to a soft whisper.
“If you like,” Miranda said with a sniff. “You seem to have a lot to say about my coats, so if you like to, go ahead.”
Andy blushed but said nothing to counter Miranda’s assumption. Of course Miranda had found out and realized her obsession. Weirdly, however, Andy couldn’t find it in herself to be mortified.
Miranda knew Andy liked her—or her coats, rather, but still—and that was progress.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“What have you done?”
Andy raised her head and found Emily staring at her—or, more specifically, at the coat on the floor—in absolute horror. Fuck. Right. Of course someone else would bear witness to her doom.
“I… I spilled coffee on it. I didn’t mean to. I just… is she coming? Is her meeting done?”
Andy tried frantically and uselessly to scrub the stain off Miranda’s previously pristine custom maroon coat. The quickly drying remnants of the coffee stretched in an ugly line from the shoulder all the way down its furred cuff.
“Oh my god, Andy. She is going to kill you. I can’t be here for this disaster. Bye.”
“Emily. Emily!”
Andy watched the redhead exit through the glass doors, her heels clacking quickly and loudly down the halls of Runway.
She picked up the coat from the floor and laid it across her desk, grabbing a handful of tissue to blot what she could still wipe. Shit. Miranda was definitely going to kill her. How much did this coat cost? How long did dry cleaning even take?
And as if fate had a personal vendetta against her, Miranda stepped through the same door Emily had just exited and demanded her coat. She had a meeting at two o’clock and—Andy checked the time—it was already ten minutes past that.
Shit.
“Miranda, I—”
Miranda looked at her, then down at the ruined coat, and back at her face again. Her eyebrows quirked subtly before she turned on her heel and walked away without a word. She requested that Emily join her instead, leaving Andy behind to go home feeling painfully dejected.
It was a struggle to carry the Book, Miranda’s dry cleaning, and her own clunky bag all at once up the steps.
She had promised Emily the world and a week of coffee runs just to be allowed to deliver the Book tonight; they do it alternately. The townhouse was already dark which meant the twins were already in bed. Stephen had long since left the estate, and Miranda usually had the house to herself, especially on nights when the girls were with their father.
Andy carefully shut the door to the closet after hanging up the dry cleaning, then placed the Book carefully on the table across from the staircase.
Usually, that was the end of her task. She would leave the house, go home to her apartment, and get as much sleep as she possibly could.
But Andy had something wild and reckless in mind tonight. Clutching her bag tightly under her arm, she looked up the winding stairs and swallowed. Rules be damned, Andy was going to find out where Miranda was.
She had only just made it past the second floor when she found Miranda sitting around the corner near the kitchen.
Miranda’s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of her, and Andy felt her heart plummet. What was she doing in here?
Miranda didn’t move an inch. She only watched with an unreadable expression as Andy stepped closer to her, her trembling hand already fishing something out of her bag.
When she pulled her hand back out, she held a matte black box embossed with a famous designer logo. Andy bit her lip, her hands shaking. She placed the box on the table in front of Miranda, noticing the editor’s eyes follow the gesture with curiosity.
“I…” Andy started. “I’m sorry about your coat. I… I bought this as a replacement. It’s not exactly the same one, but the quality should be excellent. I… I made sure it was. It’s…It was one of the expensive ones,” she finished with a nervous swallow.
Miranda only stared at the box with an impassive expression. Andy thought then that her job was done. It was all she had ever intended to do anyway—hand Miranda the coat and leave. As she stepped back and readied herself to leave, Miranda spoke, her voice cutting clearly through the quiet stillness of the townhouse.
“Open it,” Miranda said.
Andy blinked. “Right. I…” She placed her bag on the floor and knelt across from Miranda, pulling on the box’ ribbon.
“How much did you pay for this?”
Andy blushed. “It doesn’t matter,” she said shyly.
Miranda’s lips twitched with amusement, but she said nothing as Andy lifted the lid of the box, revealing a black silk coat with a cloud of fur lining the collar. It had silver buttons and an oval-shaped belt. Andy had seen it instantly known how spectacular it would look on Miranda. It didn’t matter that she would be paying it off on her credit card monthly for the foreseeable future.
Andy stood up to fully show Miranda what the coat looked like.
The editor did the same, walking toward Andy and taking a handful of the fabric into her palm. She hummed, nodding her head. Andy held her breath as Miranda stepped even closer, examining the collar of the coat, her slender fingers dipping into the smoothness, weaving through the thick fur.
But that wasn’t what stole Andy’s breath away.
It was the fact that while Miranda’s hands continued to appreciate the clothing, her blue eyes were now locked entirely onto Andy.
“You bought this for me?” Miranda asked, her voice hushed as though she couldn’t fathom someone buying something for her—which was absurd, considering Miranda received gifts on a daily basis.
“I did. I… I’m really sorry about your coat.”
Miranda took the garment and slipped it on, securing the belt around her waist. Andy just watched, her gaze trained on the way the fabric complemented Miranda’s skin tone despite the dim lighting of the house.
When the editor was finished adjusting the coat, she huffed softly and turned to face Andy.
“How do I look?” Miranda asked.
Andy swallowed hard. “Good,” she croaked. “You…you always look good.”
Miranda’s lips stretched into a genuine smile, her eyes gleaming with mischief. She reached out with one hand to pull Andy by the collar of her own dress, feeling the younger girl’s pulse flutter wildly against the warm pads of her fingers.
“I don’t understand you sometimes, Andrea,” Miranda confessed, leaning in so close that her breath fanned across Andy’s face as she spoke.
“It’s…It’s okay. I don’t understand myself a lot of the time, too.”
Miranda blinked, then laughed, throwing her head back as her shoulders shook. Andy couldn’t help but smile along, mesmerized. Miranda had never been as beautiful as she was at that very moment.
When Miranda inched closer, Andy felt the contact before she even saw it coming. As with all the things that was Miranda, she was an excellent kisser. She tasted faintly of coffee, and mint, and everything that Andy had ever wanted. Andy could feel her heart hammering against her ribs. Her hands, which had been resting awkwardly at her sides, found their place around Miranda’s waist, and she couldn’t resist but pull her close, feel the fur collar of Miranda’s new coat tickle her chin.
Andy nipped gently on Miranda’s lower lip, eliciting a groan from the editor as she shuddered in Andy’s hold. When the need for air became too much to ignore, Andy reluctantly pulled back and leaned her forehead against Miranda’s.
Miranda chuckled, her breath coming out ragged, matching Andy’s uneven breathing.
“Was that enough to make up for the coat?” Miranda asked with a teasing grin.
Andy rolled her eyes, already leaning down for another kiss.
“Not even close.”