OLIVIA.

“You just let us know what you need and we’ll take care of it, Ms. Priestly. We’re delighted to have you as our guest,” the golden-haired beauty assured the frigid, unemotional woman who stood in front of her.  Miranda pursed her lips into what Olivia surmised to be a frown. “Was there… anything else… that you needed, Ms. Priestly?”

Miranda tipped her sunglasses down and glared. “I need to get back to New York to see my daughter’s play, but you can’t do that for me, can you, Ms. Spencer?”

“Well I…”

“No, no. You can’t. So you were wrong is saying that you could take care of anything that I needed, weren’t you, Ms. Spencer?”

“I…”

“Simple question.”

“The storm is…”

“That’s all,” Miranda dismissed with a flippant wave of her delicate fingers.

Olivia gulped, wondering if she’d just been out-Spenced. No one out-Spences Olive freakin’ Spencer. “Actually, that’s not all, Lady. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make you comfortable, but I’m not a magician.  I can’t change the weather!  Either you can stay in our four-star hotel and be pampered, or you can wander around town trying to find another hotel that’s even half as accommodating as the Beacon. I said that it would be our pleasure to have you as a guest, but I’m not begging you to stay here.”

Miranda’s eyebrows arched as if she were impressed. 

“Ms. Priestly?” a faint voice called out from the crack in the doorway. A beautiful brunette revealed herself and took a wary step into the office. “Hi, I’m Natalia,” she greeted holding out her hand. 

Miranda shook it and gave the younger woman an appreciative once-over. She let her eyes linger on Natalia’s footwear. “They carry Christian Lou’s in this God-forsaken town?” she drawled.

Natalia blushed. “They’re Olivia’s. She’s kind of a shoe fiend, but I’m trying to get her to stop—because I manage her budget, I mean. We— she got them while she was on vacation last month. Um… Anyway your assistant is getting settled in the suite. There’s a bedroom, a sofa-bed in the living room, a kitchen, a full bath…  You should have everything you need.”

Olivia sighed. “Thank you Natalia. Why don’t you get Kyle to take her up?” 

“Sure. Okay,” Natalia agreed she opened the door and beckoned a young bellhop to the room. “Kyle, can you take Ms. Priestly—“

“Miranda,” the editor corrected.

“…Miranda up to her suite? It’s next door to Olivia’s in 411.”

He nodded and led the woman out of the room.

“Thank God,” Olivia gasped once they were alone. “She’s really something…”

“Aw,” Natalia sing-songed. “My poor baby... Did the big bad lady upset you?”

“It’s not funny,” Olivia insisted. 

“Who’s laughing?” Natalia husked as she slipped her arms around Olivia’s neck and pulled in for a kiss. 

Olivia felt herself get lost in the soft warmth that was Natalia Rivera, as the younger woman’s hands cupped her butt cheeks through her skirt. “You really need to stop doing this…” she heard herself groaning. 

Natalia immediately backed off as though she’d been rejected. “Is it too much? I’m sorry, I know… It’s the workplace—you’re my boss. It’s too much.”

“Too much?” Olivia snorted. “Natalia… I love it when you touch me—more than anything else! But it makes me want to touch you back… And I don’t want to push you into anything that you’re not ready to do, so…”

“Okay,” Natalia agreed. “Point taken. I’ll be more careful.”

Olivia took her words as a heavy blow. They meant that Natalia was still hesitant in furthering the physical side of their relationship

“I should go check on our special guest to see if she needs anything else,” the brunette teased. 

“See? That’s why I hired you. You’re always thinking on your toes, Rivera,” said Olivia, forcing a smile on her full lips.

“That’s why you pay me the big bucks, boss.” Natalia hovered in the doorway with dimpled cheeks. “Hey,” she said, turning back around. “I will be ready soon. I promise.”

Olivia nodded her head and sighed. “I know. I’m not going anywhere.”

~~~

ANDY.

“God, Miranda! Please!” Andy moaned. The older woman had slipped into the bathtub only moments before, surprising her assistant with less than honorable intentions.  The editor smirked and kissed along the brunette’s spine while the girl shuddered uncontrollably against her chest. She embraced her body from behind until Andy finished trembling and clenching around her fingers. 

“Jesus, Miranda…” Andy finally sighed, freshly sated. Her center throbbed to the beat of her pulsating heart.

A loud knock on the door resounded throughout the bathroom, and Miranda obligingly moved to get out of the tub.

“I’ll get it,” Andy insisted. “Just relax.” She dried off and slipped into Miranda’s silk robe, which had been hanging on towel rack. With one final kiss to Miranda’s nose, she fumbled out of the bathroom and opened the door.

“Hi,” Natalia greeted. “Andy, right?”

Andy nodded her head. “Yup. Natalia is it?” The woman smiled and nodded back. “Sorry,” she said gesturing towards her appearance. “I just got out of a bath.”

“No worries,” Natalia insisted. “I just wanted to check and see if you or Miranda needed anything else. Isn’t the bathtub amazing? You could fit an army in there!”

“It is pretty spectacular,” Andy agreed, blushing at the thought of just how easily Miranda had slipped into the bath behind her.

Natalia hesitated for a long moment before coming to some sort of internal decision. “Olivia and I would love it if you joined us for dinner. Our treat. How about it?”

“That’s really sweet of you. Um…” Andy considered. “I’ll ask Miranda when she gets out of the tub.” Natalia’s brow rose, as Andy immediately realized her mistake.  Shit. Wide brown eyes locked with wide brown eyes in an uncomfortable moment of silence. If Andy’s slip hadn’t alerted Natalia of the Mirandy affair, her flushed cheeks were certainly doing the job. 

“Just call down to let us know if you’re coming—GOING—joining us for dinner!” the slightly darker woman squeaked. She nervously backed out of the doorway, fidgeting as she excused herself. 

Shit. Andy collapsed on the gargantuan bed in the bedroom and buried her face in her hands. They’d always been so careful—so good at covering their tracks. Yet, within 5 seconds of conversation with a total stranger, she’d given their secret away. 

Miranda breezed into the room, wearing nothing but a black, lace LaPerla set. “Who was at the door?” she asked— her voice thick with disinterest.

“Olivia’s assistant,” Andy groaned. 

Miranda arched an eyebrow. “She’s… pleasant. Did she find us a flight?”

“No,” Andy snorted, “that’s not her job, Miranda. And she didn’t use her powers to change the weather either.  Not everybody’s assistant is superhero—just yours.” The editor shot her a warning look. “Um, she and Olivia offered to treat us to dinner,” Andy explained, slightly deflated from the ice of her lover’s eyes. 

Miranda opened the closet and pulled out a cocktail dress. “It’s the least that Olivia woman can do.” 

Andy rolled her eyes, and refrained from reminding Miranda that Olivia was, in fact, innocent.

~~~

NATALIA.

Natalia rushed downstairs into the lobby and into Olivia’s office excitedly. She closed the door behind her and sat in the chair across from her girlfriend’s desk. 

“You okay?” Olivia asked with her eyes deeply focused on her work. 

“Look at me,” Natalia whispered. She cupped Olivia’s cheeks and tenderly touched her lips to the older woman’s. When she backed away from the kiss, she was amused to see Olivia still frozen in bliss. 

“What… What w-was that all about?” the green eyed beauty stammered. 

Natalia’s cheeks dimpled, and she leaned in closer as if she were about to share some sort of scandal. “We’re not alone…”

Olivia’s brow scrunched in confusion. “Hmm? You locked the door, didn’t you?” she asked, still feeling intoxicated by the taste of her lover’s lips. 

“Nevermind,” Natalia giggled. “So, you have to promise not to be mad…”

“I knew there had to be some sort of catch. What did you do…?” the older woman huffed.

“I kinda sorta offered for us to treat Miranda and her assistant to dinner.”

Olivia smiled over her clenched teeth. “Nataliaaaaa, I thought we were going on a… y’know, a date.”

Natalia stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “I know, and I was looking forward to it. I’m sorry, Honey… I promise that it’ll be worth the wait.”

Olivia sat back in her chair and took a deep breath. “Fine,” she reluctantly agreed. 

Before she could stop herself, Natalia leaned in for the softest of kisses. “Mmmm,” she moaned, as she let her tongue venture out into a warm mouth.

 “God you feel so good,” Olivia moaned—though she was barely intelligible with her mouth full of her lover. She yelped when she felt delicate hands cupping her breasts.  

A gentle knock on the door warned them of an intruder, as they quickly sprung apart from each other’s warmth.  Mark from the front desk burst into the office just as they parted. “Miranda Priestly’s assistant just confirmed dinner with you. They’re on their way down,” he informed the couple. 

“Thank you,” Natalia growled, shooting the teenager a glare. He was gone within seconds of the Latina’s wrath. Natalia looked back over to her girlfriend, her cheeks red and her veins pumping. “I’m sorry. I thought I locked the damn door.” She crossed her legs to try to numb the ache that pulsed out from in between them. “ We should go into the lobby to meet them.”

Olivia nodded before forcing yet another smile onto her face. “Can you… Can you just give me a minute? I need to finish up here.”

Natalia’s heart clenched with guilt. She quickly got up and walked out into the lobby where Andy was sitting and reading the Springfield Reporter. “Hi,” she greeted, grabbing the younger woman’s attention. 

“Hi.” Andy smiled and gathered her things together.   “Miranda should be down in a minute.”

Natalia returned the smile. “Olivia’s just finishing up…”

They basked in the awkward silence for several moments before Andy’s phone interrupted. She glanced at the screen before answering. Natalia watched as the girl’s face fell in between “uh-huhs” and “I understands.” She finally hung up with a sigh and turned back around to face the shorter woman. 

“Um… Miranda isn’t going to make it to dinner. Work stuff.”

“Oh.  Should we try again tomorrow night?” Natalia asked.

Andy considered the idea before shaking her head from side to side. “We should probably just go and enjoy ourselves. She’s busy… Who knows what she’ll be up to tomorrow.”

Natalia felt a pang of sorrow pour out from the depths of the girl’s big brown eyes. “Does she cancel on you a lot?” she heard herself asking against her will. 

Andy scrunched her brow. “What do you mean? She’s my boss. She’s busy.”

The older woman placed a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Okay,” she whispered—disbelievingly.

“Listen,” Andy started with a heavy roll of her eyes, “whatever it is that you think you walked in on upstairs, you should really back off and stay out of it.”

Natalia remained calm and smiled. “Okay.  Consider me officially backing off,” she assured. She was distracted as three of the hotel employees rushed into Olivia’s office. 

Within seconds, the hotelier came storming out. She glanced at her lover with unspoken apologies on her lips. 

“Emergency?” Natalia asked in a voice full of compassion. And passion.

“Flood on the second floor. I can't go with you guys, but will you… come and say goodnight after you finish?” Natalia nodded which seemed to put Olivia somewhat at ease. “You girls have fun—dinner’s on me.”  She gave her lover one last longing, pining look along with an apologetic smile and—with that— she was gone. 

Natalia glanced back at her companion for the night, who was now eying her suspiciously. “What?” she demanded. 

“You little hypocrite…” Andy accused. 

“”What?” Natalia repeated, playing the unusually unconvincing role of an angel.

“Why didn’t you just tell me in the first place?” Andy whispered. 

Natalia shuddered out of nervousness, but decided to give in.  “I haven’t said it out loud to anyone else yet… We’re not even physical yet. God, I wish we could get there, but what if it ruins everything?  I mean, I've never been good at that stuff-- the first time I had sex,  I got pregnant.  That's got to be some kind of sign... Right?”   The words spilled out of her as if she’d been longing to let them out for a lifetime.

“So let me get this straight,” the taller woman began. “You’re in a relationship with your boss, but you’re scared to have sex because it might ruin things…?” Natalia nodded, and Andy continued.   “And I’m in a relationship with my boss, but I’m scared to get emotional because it might ruin things…?” She rolled her eyes and grabbed her new friend’s hand. “Okay, you and I are going to have a little girl talk. Take me somewhere with tons of booze and no people.”

~~~

ANDY.

“Where have you been?” the editor growled, watching as her assistant breezed into the master suite and started to peel her clothes off. 

Andy rolled her big wide eyes and continued to disrobe. 

Despite her annoyance, Miranda licked her lips at the sight of a nearly naked Andy Sachs. “I don’t enjoy waiting, Andrea,” she husked. 

Andy slipped into her pajama pants and wifebeater before staring directly into her boss’ eyes. “Yeah, well neither do I Miranda.” She crawled into the bed and tried to get comfortable. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Miranda demanded, still sitting on the loveseat across from the brunette. 

“It means that I’m drunk… And tired… And sick of your bullshit,” Andy yawned. Before she had time to worry about the repercussions of her words, everything was black and quiet. 

~~~

OLIVIA.                                                                                                                              

Olivia couldn’t help but grin as her girlfriend began to stir. Wide brown eyes fluttered open despite the intruding sunlight, and Natalia greeted her with a smile.

“Hi,” the brunette rasped. 

“Hi,” Olivia greeted in a voice even sexier than usual. She grimaced as the younger woman grabbed her head in pain, but quickly handed her a glass of water and two tablets of Tylenol.

“Thanks,” Natalia groaned. She swallowed the pills with a gulp of water and sat up. Slowly, her face brightened into a toothy grin. “Last night… was amaaaazing!” she drawled, pulling her lover in for a quick kiss.

Olivia grinned and rolled her eyes. “Yeah? Which part?”

After indulging in another kiss, Natalia seemed to search her foggy brain for answers. “Mmm… You and me… And the hot, sexy, unreal night of lovemaking…?” Olivia couldn’t help but laugh, which resulted in Natalia’s instant frown. “Wow, you could at least pretend like last night did something for you…” the younger woman griped. 

“Oh, it was an interesting night… But between convincing Andy to get into a cab and carrying your unconscious body up the stairs, let’s just say it was not very sexy.”

“What?”

“Baby, you were so wasted!” Olivia laughed. “What did you think happened last night? Did you really think we…?” Natalia blushed and Olivia covered her mouth in shock. “Oh.”

“I thought that since my inhibitions were out of the window, it’d be a good time to go for it...” the brunette whispered. 

“Natalia… How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not in a hurry?” Olivia kissed Natalia’s forehead and pulled the woman’s head to rest on her shoulder. 

“I know, but yesterday… I don’t want to wait anymore, Liv. Why should we have to suspend our own happiness while everybody else is having really passionate sex in bathtubs?” 

Olivia grinned. She loved seeing Natalia whine like an oversized three-year-old. “Who’s having passionate sex in bathtubs?” she asked, somewhat amused.

“What?”

“You said everybody else is having pa—“

“Okay, nevermind. Just… I love you. And I want to show you how much.”

“And you will!” the older woman insisted. “Why don’t we just say that it will happen soon—naturally and beautifully—but soon... Okay?”

Natalia’s cheeks dimpled as she stole another kiss. “Okay, but I’m holding you to the ‘soon’ part.”

Olivia stroked her lover’s face with the backs of her knuckles. “Deal.” She leaned in to whisper into a red ear. “And trust me… once we get there, I’m never going to want to stop fucking you…”

“Oh my Gosh,” Natalia gasped. “You know… right now is pretty natural and beautiful…”

Olivia suddenly jumped up.  “Shit. I’m going to be late for work. I’m sorry, Baby.” She gave Natalia a quick peck on the lips and grabbed her coat. “The weather’s clearing up, but still be careful when you drive over.”

“I will… I’m having breakfast with Andy at eleven, and then I’ll head back over with her.” 

“Okay,” Natalia whispered as she lingered in the doorway with a content smile. "Hey, how did you know to come over here last night?"

"I got worried when you didn't come say goodnight..."

Natalia beamed.  “I love you so much…”

“I love you, too.”
 

~~~

MIRANDA.

The next morning Andy awoke to find empty space where a warm body should be. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal Miranda—still curled up on the loveseat. The woman was groggily watching her—her face free of expression. 

“Hi,” the brunette rasped. 

Miranda blinked hard and nodded in response. “You’re speaking to me again?”

Andy’s cheeks turned hot and crimson. “Miranda, about last night…”

“No need to explain—“

“No, there is a need. I’m not sorry about going off on you last night. But I’m really sorry that I’ve been keeping my feelings from you. I really really want to make this work with you, but…”

“But…?” Miranda’s wry voice prodded. 

“But this isn’t enough.   Either we’re together or we’re not. I’m sick of being your dirty little secret fuckbuddy… or whatever I am.  I want to be with you. I love you.”

“I…”

As if on cue, Miranda’s phone rang. She averted her eyes from Andy’s calculating gaze and answered. “Good morning.”

“G’morning Mom…” Cassidy yawned.

“Are you having fun with your father? How are rehearsals going?”

 “Everything’s fine, Mom. How are you? I saw how brutal the weather is on the news…”

“It’s… getting better. We should be able to fly out tomorrow night.”

“Good! Um, Is Andy with you right now?”

Miranda’s stomach clenched. “Yes…”

“Sweet! Put her on…?” the teenager requested.

Miranda raised a questioning eyebrow as she handed the phone over to her assistant. 

Andy grabbed the phone. “Hello? Oh, hey Cass! Sure!” She cleared her throat and walked out into the living room area, where Miranda could barely hear her. “He hath honoured me of late, and I have bought golden opinions from all sorts….”

Miranda’s lips twitched into a smile. Her daughter had called to go over lines with Andy. When had all of this happened?  Andrea was a part of her life-- a part of her daughters' lives.  She couldn't help but smile as showered and dressed for the day.  Nearly a half hour later, she rejoined Andy in the living room. 

“Alright, Lady McB. Knock ‘em dead. I know... we miss you too. I will. Bye,” The brunette ended the call and glanced up at her lover who sighed and joined her by sinking into the cushions of the couch. “I really hate that we’re going to miss the play. She’s going to be so ama—”

“I want to be with you, too,” Miranda blurted. She watched as her lover was uncharacteristically rendered speechless.  “I won’t give you up. I can’t. Even if it means… coming out.”

“Are- Are um… Are you sure? I know what that means for you. It won’t be easy.” 

Miranda cupped her lover’s cheeks. “It wasn't supposed to be this way... We were just supposed to get it out of our systems.... But my girls have never had a mentor like you.” She paused thoughtfully with a soft chuckle. “I suppose I haven't either.  I… want you to be there for us—with us.  For as long as you'll have us.”

“Okay,” Andy whispered, as she smiled through fresh tears.

Miranda kissed the girl gently on the lips, comforting her. “And when we get back to New York, we'll tell them the truth.”

Andy covered her mouth as she broke out in laughter. “They already know the truth, Miranda!” she giggled.

“What?” the older woman demanded. 

“Of course they know. They’re fifteen years old, for chrissakes! When they see me coming out of your bedroom at seven o’clock in the morning wearing yesterday’s clothes, they know that we haven't spent the entire night painting each other’s toenails. They’re just waiting for you to be comfortable enough to talk to them about us.” 

By now, Miranda’s blood was running cold. She took a deep swallow of her coffee. “Well that’s… How do you…?”

Andy grinned. “They’ve been dropping very gracious hints… I know, it’s completely out of character for the little monsters to be so nice, but… they love you.” She looked past her girlfriend’s stunned face at a nearby clock. “Shit! It’s so late! I have to meet Natalia for breakfast in an hour. Can you iron my pants while I take a shower?”

Miranda pursed her lips. “You would rather have me iron your clothes than join you in the shower?”

Andy considered the thought for a brief moment. “Yup,” she confirmed with the cheekiest grin she could muster. She stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind her, leaving Miranda longing for more. 

TBC…