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Andy was abruptly roused from her sleep by the loud banging sound on the front door. The first thing she could register was the throbbing pain of her head as if someone was knocking on it with a hammer. Must had been the two bottles of cheap wine she’d drunk to the very last drop last night. Lately, booze was the only substance that could help her sleep without being haunted by any dreams of a particular white-haired beauty she’d been yearning for months now, which only got worse since she’d walked away from her job at Runway, walked away from the object of her affection.There was no way Andy could deny the attraction she had towards Miranda Priestly, her deadly intimidated and extremely ruthless ex-boss. Despite all that horrible things the press had to say about her and those unreasonable demands she’d had to endure during her tenure at Runway, Andy’s feelings for the Editor had only grown stronger and stronger throughout the time. Miranda was a beautiful woman, no doubt about that, whom the brunette couldn’t help but discreetly staring every time they were in the same room. But aside from that, Andy had acknowledged how those articles on Page Six or any other tabloids didn’t do Miranda’s justice. Had the Editor been a man instead, they’d have undoubtedly praised her for her brilliant mind and determination on what she believed was best for her magazine in particular and for the fashion industry in general. But just because she was a woman, they’d distorted facts and turned her into this greedy, career-obsessed, power-driven bitch who always put her job before her own family. No, that was utterly wrong. Somehow, Andy’d had a few chances to peak into Miranda’s personal life; from the weariness when she tried to apologise to her douchebag of a husband for not able to make it to their dinner date, to the unconditional love that oozed from her every pore when she was with her daughters. Andy was quite certain none of the previous assistants had been privy to the real Miranda, the woman Miranda under that stone-cold Ice Queen façade. At some point, the brunette had noticed the pull towards both sides of Miranda: the sharp-witted businesswoman and the vulnerable human-woman. She’d manipulated her own mind to believe it was simply hero-worship. Maybe a little bit of a crush. Just a teensy weensy bit.Then Andy saw those signs. Signs indicated that it wasn’t just Andy who held the fascination. Potentially, Miranda felt the same way about her, too. There had been times when Andy caught Miranda staring at her with a hint of softness in her eyes, obviously not a word to describe the Dragon Lady, but there was no better word. And that tiny spark of guilt in those clear blue eyes when Miranda called her ‘the smart, fat girl’ as if she’d instantly regretted saying it. And the mouthed ‘thank you’ at the annual benefit Runway hosted when Andy had saved her from being further humiliated by her husband which made she felt like she’d earned a gold star. And the list went on. Those moments melted her heart until eventually she admitted to herself that she’d bit by bit fallen in love with everything Miranda Priestly.Nevertheless, Andy was self-conscious. There was no way someone like Miranda would have feelings for someone like her, despite all the undeniable signs. She’d convinced herself it was ‘acceptance’. Maybe Miranda looked at her differently just because she was good at her job. That was enough for Andy, knowing she could help the woman she loved having a smoother working day. And even if there had been something special in her glints, Miranda was still a married woman. Andy would never be anyone’s the other person, no matter how much she and that person loved each other. Hence, Andy didn’t dare to bring her hopes up.And then, Paris. Seeing the glamorous Goddess she worshiped dressed in that dull grey bathrobe with her hair out of place and her eyes all red and swollen from crying, it felt like someone had ripped out Andy’s heart. That bastard had served her with divorce papers when she was occupied in one of the busiest weeks of the year – Paris Fashion Week. Via fax. Son of a bitch. That night in Miranda’s hotel suite, Andy believed she’d seen a tiny spark of longing for comfort in her beautiful blue eyes. The brunette had felt the urge to go against all odds to come and hold her white-hair Queen in her arms, soothe her worries and reassure her that everything would be alright, that she would stand by her for all ups and downs. But Andy had managed to restrained herself and asked for what she could do instead. That’d been when the spark in Miranda’s eyes disappeared. Her expression the usual unreadable, the Editor had emotionlessly told Andy to do her job as a way of warning her to stay away.How stupid had Andy been? Obviously, Miranda would never seek comfort in someone like her. She could never be with the woman of her dream as they’d never be equal in every aspect of life. There’d always be that enormous gap between them, not just their age but also experience, influence and finance. Not to mention the news of Miranda Priestly coming out as lesbian/ bisexual would be a bombshell and the tabloids would wreak havoc with her and her precious daughters’ lives. Why would Miranda want to go through all that trouble when she could just simply walk into one of those fancy functions she’d normally attend with all that goddamn effortless charm and any man she randomly picked would be a better fit? Andy never stood a chance. So why bothered staying and had her heart tortured when walking seemed to be a much wiser choice? And walk away, Andy did, without even a proper goodbye let alone a two-week notice. Now, she suffered from that choice she made. It’d tortured her even more not being able to see Miranda anymore. It felt like she’d lost her soul and all she had left was only a lifeless body trying to survive another day instead of truly living it.Moving to cover her ears with the lumpy pillow beneath, Andy decided to ignore whoever it was outside to go back to sleep. At this point, she didn’t really care about most things around.The knocking sound finally came to a stop, allowing Andy the little peace and quiet to return to the land of slumber. But not long afterwards, she jolted awake when her bedroom door swung open, hit the wall with a loud bang and her two best friends, Lily and Doug, crashed into the room.“Andy Baby! Are you alright? Are you still with us?” Doug quickly sat down next to Andy on the bed, his large warm hands cupping her cheeks.“How did you get in here?” Andy groaned as the terrible headache got worse when she moved out of a sudden. She shuffled the fringe that already grown way pass her eyebrows, now annoyingly poking in her eyes. She needed to get it trimmed before it skewered them. Or maybe not. She didn’t really care.Seeing the empty bottles of wine on Andy’s bedroom floor, Lily couldn’t suppress a sigh. She started explaining while walking towards the bathroom.“Mrs. Miller, your neighbour, recognised us and let us enter the building. We tried to knock but you didn’t answer so we afraid there’s something wrong with you. I know you always keep a spare key taped inside your mailbox so I took advantage of that.” Lily emerged from the bathroom a moment later, placed a glass of water and two pills of ibuprofen on top of the nightstand next to Andy, which she immediately took with no protest.Andy glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It read 10:13 in the morning. Not that she could recall what day it was. She lost track of the date since that moment she turned her back on Miranda and denied her one true love. Her eyes stinged thinking about it; her chest was heavy. When would this pain subside and allow her to be back to normal? Probably never.“Earth to Andy!” Doug waved his hand in front of Andy’s face to catch her attention.“Y-Yes?” Andy felt a little disoriented being pulled out of her trance.“There you are. I think we lost you for a moment.” Doug offered her the sweetest smile ever, which did help cheer her up a little bit.But nothing was enough to fill the emptiness in Andy’s heart. Nothing but Miranda Priestly.“What day is it? Aren’t you guys suppose to work?” The ibuprofen finally kicked in, clearing her alcohol-clouded mind.“It’s Sunday, honey! We don’t have to work on Sundays, in case you don’t remember how things work with all that booze you’ve downed,” Lily had that stern expression which reminded Andy of her own mother whenever she's in trouble. “Anyway, we’re here on a mission.” Her face lightened up at the mention of said mission. And is that a hint of mischief Andy saw in her eyes?“What… mission?” Andy looked between her two best friends, concerned. God knew what their wicked minds had come up with.“We’re going on a vacation.” Doug almost screamed that piece of information in Andy’s face with bursting excitement.Andy was dumbfounded. A vacation?“Don’t worry! We’re definitely not going back to Ohio. Or any other states in this country. WE’RE GOING TO GREECE!” Lily shrieked. She rummaged through her purse before got hold of three plane tickets and enthusiastically shoved them into Andy’s hands.Andy, still astounded by the unexpected announcement, cluelessly stared at the plane tickets. It was clearly printed on each ticket with their names on it that they were going to fly to Skiathos, Greece.“Um… guys. What day is it today?” Feeling something odd, Andy asked.“Sunday the 12th, honey.” Lily grinned; mischief sparkled in her eyes.“Holy shit! We’re going today?” Andy immediately stood up from her bed, pulled the plane ticket closer to her eyes, re-read it one more time to make sure she didn’t misread the information.“Yes, baby. We’re going now. So, hurry up! Hit the shower, put on some decent clothes. Me and Dougie will pack a suitcase for you in the meantime. Let’s move, move, move!” Lily pushed Andy towards the bathroom door whilst Doug was already moving to retrieve Andy’s suitcase from underneath her bed.“Hold on one second. How did you… How much… When… Why…” Questions flooded her fogged brain, Andy was unable to form a coherent query.“We’ll explain everything on the way. Now, will you just go get ready? We only have a few more hours until our flight departs. Quick! And don’t forget to pack your toiletries when you finish.” Lily paused from where she was literally stuffing almost all of the clothes in Andy’s tiny closet into a medium-sized luggage to give her a nudge on the shoulder, urging her to move along.Andy took a quick shower in autopilot mode, still hadn’t got a clue what was going on. Opening the curtains separating the shower and the toilet, she found a stack of clothes and clean underwear placed on top of the closed toilet bowl. She put on the cotton briefs and sports bra, followed by a pair of old Levi’s ripped black jeans and a well-worn Northwestern hoodie; her hair, still slightly damp from the shower, was pulled into a messy ponytail with a few stubborn strands falling upon the sides of her face which she didn’t bother to tuck back it place. She also packed some necessary toiletries, not that she had a lot of them, into a small canvas zip bag after finished getting dressed.When Andy emerged from the bathroom somewhere around fifteen minutes later, Lily and Doug had done some sort of magic with packing her a suitcase and even cleaning up her bedroom a little bit to a presentable state. This must still be a mess in Miranda’s standard. She thought to herself, then inwardly let out a long, tiring sigh for thinking of the Editor, yet again. Andy pulled herself together, not wanting to ruin the trip her friends had planned for them. The three of them left Andy’s apartment laughing about another disastrous date Doug had gone to. Well, Andy wasn’t really in the mood but she tried to be.They stopped by a small coffee shop in the corner for some caffeinated boosters and an onion bagel for Andy before taking an hour-long journey from Queens to JFK on the subway. By the time they arrived at the airport, Andy was finally provided with all the answers she needed. Turned out, her mother was the mastermind behind all this. Mama Sachs, seeing how depressing her baby daughter was with those big transitions in her life, had decided to cheer Andy up with a surprise trip in hope with a change of scenery Andy would feel better and move on from where she’d tripped off; so, she’d contacted Lily and Doug to ask if they could accompany Andy. Of course, she’d offered to pay for all three of them but her friends had shut her down on that thought, saying they’d be happy to travel with Andy and pay on their own. Mama Sachs only had to pay for Andy’s part and it wasn’t expensive at all, according to the two awesome friends in question who refused to give her the exact number. All they told Andy was, Lily’s cousin, who worked for a travel agent, was able to secure them return tickets at only one-third of the original price. In addition to that, Doug said he’d found a very great accommodation deal of 50% off for groups of three, all meals included, and it even came with a ferry service from Skiathos to the island where they would stay for the next week. Well, it wasn’t the famous Santorini they were travelling to because it’s usually more crowded and much pricier there and both Lily and Doug insisted Andy needed some quiet time. Instead, they’d explore this wild, less busy island called… What was it again? Kalorie? Kaikery? Ah, Kalokairi.----------Meanwhile in the Upper East Side of New York, Miranda had already started her day hours ago. After another night of tossing and turning, she’d decided to get up at 4 o’clock. With all the time she’d got before the twins were due to get up, she’d done some yoga, then worked on The Book. By the time she finished with it at around 7:30, her daughters had been up and running around the house like little elephants. She’d prepared some breakfast for all three of them, always pancakes on Sundays when they stayed with her in the townhouse and just a mug of scalding black coffee for herself like usual. Once breakfast was consumed, she’d joined her daughters in the entertainment room for a movie with old Patricia napping on the floor next to her feet. Miranda wished she could take the girls and Patricia out for a walk, to have some fresh air like they normally did but given the throng of paparazzi that would no doubt follow them every step, that little simple happiness was temporarily taken away from them. Again, she blamed herself for dragging her daughters through another trouble with the media. Ever since the news of her divorce leaked out a few days after Paris Fashion Week, those vultures had camped outside her townhouse and Elias-Clarke building for even the tiniest bit of information about anything. This time, as her soon-to-be ex-husband had a lot to say about her, the press seemed to get even crazier. Some of them even had the balls to follow the girls’ car to school and tried to approach them for some quotes. Oh, Miranda had made sure those reporters who dared to came to her daughters would never have any future in the publishing and media world. But Dalton had still advised her that the twins should take at least a week off until the press calm down a little bit to ensure their own safety and that of all the other students. Hence, they’d been studying from home for the last couple of days.Now, while the twins were catching up on schoolwork, Miranda was sitting behind her laptop in the study with her mailbox opened and filled with hundreds of emails she was meant to read and answer but she just couldn’t find the energy to do it. Her mind was occupied by a certain brunette who had walked away. Miranda had to admit to herself that for the last couple of months she’d developed some sort of… attraction towards her former second assistant. It all came so naturally that she didn’t have a clue since when she’d begun to lower her defensive walls to let Andy in. Not until that faithful night in Paris when Andy showed up in her hotel suite during her most vulnerable moment had Miranda relised how much she craved for the young woman’s closeness to ease her weariness away. She could still remember she’d looked at the brunette with teary eyes, hoping she would come and comfort her.To say Miranda was astounded by her own feelings towards her now ex-assistant was an understatement. Not only had the object of Miranda’s affection been a much younger person but also a woman. A young, beautiful, talented and kind woman like Andy would never have any feelings for an old, grumpy, career-obsessed, ‘frigid’, twice married and divorced mother of twins like Miranda. She didn’t even want to think about what the tabloids would have to say once they learned about it, not to mention whether or not her daughters would oppose to the idea of having a lesbian/ bisexual mother. Those were the reasons why she’d chosen to react the only way she could at the time. She’d shut Andy out. That had to be the most idiotic decision she’d made in her life besides marrying Stephen in the first place. She figured that there was now a permanent hole in her heart that could only be filled by the presence of one Andréa Sachs, which she deemed to be impossible.Miranda didn’t relise she was crying until she heard the small sob escaped her lips. She wasn’t surprised as it wasn’t the first time she cried over Andy so she just let the tears fall. At least she had the freedom to gnaw her sorrow in the sanctuary of her home.A light knocking sound came with soft whisper.“Mommy?” Caroline asked, hesitantly.Her head peaked through the gap of the door, followed by another one only few inches behind.Miranda quickly reached for some tissues to dab her tears away, fixed her hair and clothes a little bit then cleared her throat.“Yes, Bobbseys?” Her voice hoarse from crying.“M-May we come in?” Again, Caroline was the one to speak first, then Cassidy. “If not, we’ll just go back to our room.”“You may come in.” Said Miranda. She even managed to give them a small encouraging smile.The two red-headed little girls gingerly entered their mom’s study and stopped in front of the desk Miranda was sitting at. They were uncharacteristically quiet, only exchanged glances. Miranda, more than anyone, knew her daughters were communicating in their telepathic language so she just sat back silently, giving them all the time they need to finish discussing whatever the topic was. Not long after, they seemed to come to conclusion.“Mom. You’re not happy.” Caroline stated matter-of-factly with a deep frown on her face. She looked exactly like Miranda when she did that.“And we’re not happy if you’re not happy.” Cassidy added. Her features showed no particular emotions but her big blue eyes were filled with worries.“What are you trying to say, Bobbseys?” Miranda knew her daughters were much more mature for girls at age eleven but it never seized to amaze her how mature they could be.“We think you should go on a vacation.” They declared in unison.Miranda signalled for the twins to come closer and they did without any protest. Cassidy crawled on their mother’s lap and buried her face in the crook of her neck while Caroline stood next to them interlacing her hand with their mother’s. Miranda held Cassidy close to her and gently rub her thumb against Caroline’s palm.“And why, pray tell, do you think that I need to go on a vacation?” Miranda asked Caroline, knowing her elder daughter by twelve minutes was always the spokesperson of the twins while Cassidy was the brain of all their schemes.“Because you’ve been miserable, mom. You tried to be home earlier and spent more time with us, but we can see sadness in your eyes. You were crying when we walked in just now. We don’t want to see you this upset mom. We want you to be happy. We thought that a vacation would make you feel better, cheer you up a little even.” Caroline explained with unshed tears filled her eyes.Miranda looked down and caught Cassidy’s also misty and melancholy ones. The little one gave her a nod in agreement with her sister. Looking back on the last two weeks, Miranda relised her daughters were right. She had been miserable without Andy. There’d been literally nothing that could cheer her up, not even her precious daughters. God knew how much she loved these girls but she had to admit that Andy’s disappearance had a huge impact on her. And now it also affected her children. Miranda could suffer her heart broken but she would never tolerate things that upset the girls.“You know what, Bobbseys? Let’s go on a vacation together.” A small smile tucked at the corner of her lips as Miranda told her daughters.“Really, mom? We can go on a vacation with you?” Caroline queried excitedly.“Of course. How can I enjoy any vacation without my two favourite girls by my side?” The mother gave each girl a light peck on the cheek.“Where are we going to, mom?” Cassidy softly asked.“Anywhere you girls want. Why don’t you two little geniuses go to your room and do some research for a nice place for us to go? Just let me know when you finally find a place and I will have Emily book us the plane tickets and hotel.” Miranda stated softly.“You would really let us do that?” Caroline’s eyes turned big as a saucer.“Why not? You’re more than capable for the task. Trust me, sometimes I think you two are even more competence than my employees. You’re my daughters after all.” Miranda snorted elegantly, which caused the twins to giggle.Cassidy turned to look at Caroline then the two of them quickly retire to their joined bedroom to do the research. Miranda couldn’t suppress a proud grin looking after their small figures running out of the study with stomping steps. She then silently reminded herself to be more discreet about her negative feelings as it could greatly affect her daughters. No matter how terrible it felt without Andy in her life, she’d never let that worry those precious girls again.Upstairs in their bedroom, Cassidy was working on the laptop and noting down some needed information for where should they go. She’d found a promising destination, far different from where they’d usually go on vacation, but she believed it’d be lovely for a change. In the meantime, Caroline was pacing the room with her thumbnail firmly captured between her teeth, a thing she only did when in disquietedness. There was this one thing that still bothering the little girl’s mind.“What’s bothering you, sis? Your brain is rather loud today.” Cassidy paused her research project to look up to her sister. Basically, the younger twin could hear all the noise in her sister’s head.“There must be a reason for mom to be upset like this and I strongly believe it has nothing to do with Stephen. I just can’t figure out why. It’s so annoying.” Caroline groaned, flopping on the bed next to her sister.“I agree with you. Mom doesn’t love Stephen, that’s for sure.” Cassidy closed the laptop to join the other twin.“So, she can’t be upset about him leaving.” Caroline affirmed.“Leaving?” Brows furrowed in confusion; Cassidy tried to recall her memories of the last few months. Her mother had been her old self: demanding at work, indifferent to Stephen and all loving to them. But she’d also been unexpectedly tolerant of one particular person, the only one who had been granted permission to speak to them and have their contacts. She’d even allowed said person to attend their recitals and concerts at Dalton in her stead, which had never happened before. Cassidy’s face lightened as the thought popped up in her mind. “Oh my God, that must be it.”“What is it?” Caroline was eager to find out what had her sister discovered.“Mom is not sad because Stephen left. But she is sad because someone else left. Why have we never relised this?” The younger twin grabbed her sister by the shoulders and shook it as if she was trying to shake some senses into her brain.“Oh my God! Andy!” Caroline cried at the knowledge.“Exactly! Just think about it. Even Emily wasn’t allowed to talk to us, let alone attend our recitals and concerts when mom couldn’t make it. And Andy has our contacts. Which other assistants of mom have our contacts? None!” She listed the proofs.“Oh, do you remember those nights when they work late together. I swear I saw something different in the way mom looked at her but I couldn’t figure at the time. Now it all makes sense.” Added Caroline.After a moment of considering all the clues, important questions were brought up.“Are we okay with mom being a lesbian or a bisexual, whichever title she wants?”“Are we okay with Andy as her girlfriend?”The girls looked into each other’s eyes. Silence dominated the whole room. A while later, both girls nodded and murmured at the same time.“Yes, we’re okay with both.”“Do you think Andy feels the same about mom?” Caroline tapped on her lower lips, a little confused.“I think she does. I saw her staring at mom on multiple occasions and trust me, she can’t hide her feelings, not with those big brown eyes.” She assured the older sister.“So, what should we do now?” Caroline shrugged.“I think after this vacation, we have a match-making project to work on.” A mischievous grin graced her face as Cassidy declared.
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After an uneventful flight, the trio of friends finally landed in Skiathos. It didn’t take long for them to check in and claim their baggage as there weren’t many people coming to Greece during this time of the year. Half an hour later found the three of them ambling through the exit door into the warmth and humidity of the island. It was a bright and sunny day in Greece and the sky was so blue without even a hint of cloud. Dragging in a full lung of faint ocean scent and allowing sunlight to caress her smooth skin, Andy felt some of the tension on her body evaporated. This whole spontaneous vacation might actually do good for her lovelorn after all.Thanks to the sparse of people at the airport, it was effortless for the three of them to spot a dark-haired man holding a sign with Doug’s name on it. The man – Demetrios as he introduced himself – helped them with their luggage then guided them to the port where their speedboat was waiting. It took them about half an hour on the water, a ten-minute car trip from the port to the hotel and another ten of climbing up all those stairs before they reached their destination: Hotel Bella Donna.Dropping the messenger bag from her shoulder, Andy gasped at the view and felt herself immediately fall in love with this place. The hotel appeared to carry most of original Greek architectural style with white stone walls and bright blue painted doors and windows. Cerulean. The name of this particular shade of blue suddenly popped up. Memories of her first lesson about fashion came rushing back with images after images of an exquisite white-haired beauty. Her heart soared and tears prickled her eyes. Andy quickly wiped a hand against moist eyes as she pretended to go observe the architect to buy herself some time to calm down while the other two was busy taking pictures. So much for a healing trip.Not long after their arrival, a young girl emerged from behind the entrance and approached them. She seemed to be around their age, maybe a bit younger, with petite figure, long blonde waves pulled into a neat ponytail, and she also had a small baby bump.“Good afternoon! Welcome to Hotel Bella Donna. My name is Sophie, I’m the manager of this hotel.” The girl, Sophie, greeted them with a bright smile on her face.“Nice to meet you, Sophie. My name’s Lily.” Lily stepped over to shake her hand.“Hi, I’m the Doug who have exchanged emails with you.” Doug faked a hat removing gesture and bowed.Sophie giggled at his little act before turning to Andy who was standing a few feet away, still deep in her thoughts.“Psst. Hey!” Doug took a step towards Andy, gave her a light nudge on the shoulder to catch her attention. “The manager is greeting us.”Andy escaped her own head, turned to face Sophie with a weak smile.“I’m Andy. Lovely to meet you.” She introduced herself.“I’m Sophie, in case you didn’t catch it the first time.” Sophie gave her a cheeky look.As Andy locked eyes with the blonde, she was stunt by pools of blue that resembled those of the woman she loved. Not only did they share the same shade of blue but the shape was also identical. No, you’re just having a hallucination. Pull your shit together, Sachs. Andy sternly scolded herself in her head. She couldn’t keep going on like this, letting every little thing around reminded her of Miranda, had she wished to move on from the woman.As Sophie began to rub her belly awkwardly under Andy’s stare, Lily came to her friend’s side and elbowed her. The brunette was pulled back from her stupor, relised she was staring and making the hotel manager uncomfortable. She darted her gaze over the surrounding area with a sheepish grin.“Let me show you to your room. Follow me!” Sophie tilted her head towards the entrance, signalling the trio to follow her.All their luggage had been brought to their room so they leisurely walked a few steps behind the blonde further into the hotel. Once passed the entrance, the three were led to a spacious stone-paved ground with a glamourous fountain stood proudly right at the heart of it. The fountain was in the shape of a woman standing on an open seashell, carrying a vessel on her shoulder, from where a stream of water cascaded down to the pond below. Andy gaped at all the details of the statue, from her voluminous tailbone length curls, the delicate features of her face, the feminine curves, to the smallest wrinkle on what supposed to be a piece of fabric wrapping around her hips. Miranda would also love this statue if she happened to be here. Not again. Andy groaned internally. She quickly shook herself off of thoughts about the other woman.“This fountain is phenomenal, Sophie.” Andy complimented in awe.“Yes! Look at all these details.” Lily nodded in agreement, leaning over the pond to touch the statue.Sophie moved to their side and carefully sat down by the edge of the fountain. Being pregnant made it hard for her to stand on both feet all the time.“This is a hand-carved statue of what we imagine Aphrodite would look like. You see, this is where the site of Aphrodite’s fountain used to be. According to local myth, if you drink the water from the fountain, you’ll find the love of your life and live happily ever after. I also met the love of my life here on this island.” The blonde said excitedly. Her voice was so warm and melodic as if she was singing to them.“In that case, I’d love a glass of that.” Lily grinned mischievously.“I’ll have a bucket please.” Doug laughed.Andy was immensely intrigued by the myth but she chose to ignore it. She’d found the one she loved, yet the idea of them lived happily ever after together was impossible.“I also appreciate how much space was saved for greenery instead of building more rooms. This place is simply Heaven on Earth.” Andy said while turning around, taking in the unique construction of the hotel.“We’ve actually had the whole place reconstructed over the last two years. My dad is an architect, he designed this beautiful place as the dream home for him and my mom. This used to be their dream after all, running a small hotel on this island that he introduced her to all those years ago and live happily together. For now, let’s just say it’s their dream-come-true.” Explained Sophie; her eyes shone with sparks of joy.“If that story is not romantic, I don’t know what else is.” Doug said, holding a hand against his chest as if his heart would fall out any second.“My sentiment exactly.” A male British accent caught their attention.Turning around, the group saw a middle-aged, good-looking man stood there with a friendly smile gracing his lips.“Dad!” Sophie cried.The man rushed over just in time she stood up from her sitting position to give her a warm welcome hug and she hugged him back tightly.“Hello, darling.” Harry planted a kiss on the crown of her head. “How are my daughter and grandson doing so far?” Asked the gentleman with a loving smile adorned his face.“He’s started kicking me like crazy for the last month, dad. Mom said he’s practicing football in here because he knows what a big football fan Grandpa-H is.” The young blonde rested her head on her dad’s shoulder, gently rubbing her baby bump.“Toché, my darling.”Andy took the few steps to their side as their conversation came to a pause.“Hi, I’m Andy. You must be the one who designed this place. I have to say I really love whatever magic you’ve worked up to brought this heavenly hotel to life.” Andy offered the man her hand.“My name’s Harry. Sorry for disappointing you, dear, but I’m not the one who designed all this. I’m a banker, not an architect. That’s Sam’s job.” Harry, as awkward as he felt, still took Andy’s offered hand out of manner.“But I thought Sophie’s dad design the place?” Now Andy was confused.“Yes, that’s Sam, Sophie’s other dad.” The Brit man tried his best to explain.Seeing the deep confusion on the three guests’ face, Sophie chuckled.“It’s a long story. Let’s just say that I have three dads. Sam, the architect. Bill, the author. And Harry,” Sophie gestured at him with a loving smile, “the banker. We’re having a little family gathering this week so you’ll probably meet all three of them at some point, along with my mom and my aunties.”“I know how it feels to be a member of an extended family. Every Christmas, we’ll all gather at my uncle Don’s farm for celebration. Imagine twenty adults and nearly a dozen of kids under one roof.” Andy beamed as she mentioned her big family. She’d always had close relationship with them and lucky for her, they were all supportive as well.“Tell me about it. Oh, that reminds me. We’re having a karaoke night here by the bar the night after tomorrow. You’re all welcome to join if you’d like to.” Sophie, ever the sentimental person, felt an unexpected connection and fascination towards Andy. Hence, telling her more personal information about her family than she’d normally tell other guests at the hotel.Doug chose that moment to yawn, a big one.“Excuse me. The long flight must have taken its toll on me.” He said bashfully after swiftly moved a hand to cover his open mouth.“I’m so sorry. I have quite the reputation for babbling. Let me show you to your room so you can all rest.” Sophie said before turning back towards Harry. “You need your rest as well, dad. Your room is ready for you. Mom and S-dad will be here in an hour. I’ll see you later.”She then gestured the hotel’s guests towards the building on their right, leading the way.“Right this way.”Doug had booked for a double room and asked for an extra single bed to be added so that the three of them could all stay together. The room was decorated in minimalism, yet elegant style. The wall was a crisp white; the wooden doors, windows and wardrobe were painted in cerulean. A big queen-sized four-posted bed with a nightstand on each side was the centre of the room. A few inches from it, closer to the wardrobe, was the added single one for Doug. There was a door leading to the balcony and the two big windows on its either side allowed sunlight to filled the room. The adjoining bathroom was located in the room’s corner.“Breakfast is served from 6 to 9AM, lunch from 12 to 2PM and dinner from 7 to 10PM. You can always call for room service for snacks if you’re in the mood. The bar normally opens from 11AM but it also depends on how drunk the bartender the night before, ‘til 1 in the morning. Besides exploring the island or swimming in the beach, we have some activities you can sign up for like scuba-diving or sky-diving. My husband, Sky, will give you the list later. Also, we have a casino on the boat, or boatsino, as we usually call it. Please feel free to come to me whenever you need anything.” Sophie deliberately went through all the details with them. Once finished, she padded towards the door. “Now, I think I should leave you guys to rest.”“Thank you, Sophie. We’ll see you later.” Said Doug, smiling at her.“I’ll see you later, guys. Enjoy your staying here.” And with that, Sophie left the room.Doug was so tired after the flight so he immediately flopped himself on the single bed for a nap, whilst Lily found their luggage behind the door and started unpacking. Andy didn’t really bother about unpacking, so she went to stand on the balcony. She took in the magnificent view of the island, inhaled the soothing smell of the ocean. Cool breezes threaded their way through fuzzy locks, gently massaging her scalp. She let out a long, heavy sigh and felt her muscles relaxed, her head much lighter than she’d been the last couple weeks. Everything will be okay, Andy. She consoled herself.----------Once the riddle of what had been wreaking havoc with their mom’s emotion was solved, the Priestly twins got back to their assigned task. Caroline went through all the necessary information that Cassidy had noted down with a furrow of eyebrows.“I like the place, Cass. I really do. But do you think mom will approve of this?” Caroline scrolled through the website in doubt.“I know this place is a far cry from where we’d normally go. But… There’s something about this place that just feel right. You know what I mean?” Cassidy tried to explain but found herself lack of words to express her mind.“I’m not entirely sure.” Caroline was still hesitated.Cassidy grabbed Caroline by her shoulders and slightly moved their body so that they were sitting face to face on their bed. She looked straight into the older twin’s eyes, silently sending waves of signal her way. Had the two of them been in a movie, there would undoubtedly be electric sparks effect inserted where their gazes met in the air. For a short moment, silence filled the space of their bedroom and time somehow seemed to slowed down a bit. The little grimace on Caroline’s face soon faded away, replaced by a knowing grin. She still hadn’t got a clue why the place but she was persuaded that it was the right place.Caroline blinked once, twice before breaking their eye contact to look back at the website on the laptop.“This is the place then. The question is, how are we going to talk mom into this?” Caroline slightly tapped her forefinger on keyboard, thinking hard. “It’s not like you could send mom your thoughts like you did me.”“We’ll do the usual way.” Cassidy shrugged; her features neutral as ever.“And what if it doesn’t work?” Asked Caroline in uncertainty.“Then, we’ll use the ace.” A cheeky grin quirked up from the corner of her lips.Caroline couldn’t agree more so the two quickly picked up their laptop and launched themselves down three flights of stairs to their mom’s study.Miranda, finally had her uneasy mind in place to actually get some work done, was in the middle of answering emails when her daughters crashed into the study like twin tornadoes.“Mooooom!” Caroline acclaimed with an immeasurable amount of excitement as soon as she was inside the room. Cassidy was hot on her heels with the laptop firmly clutching against her chest.“Girls.” Miranda didn’t have to raise her voice; the sternness in her tone was much louder than that.Twin tornadoes came to a halt just before they would stumble upon the desk from running so fast.“What have I told you about lady-like behaviours?” Abandoning what she was doing to give the girls her full attention, Miranda casted a questioning arched eyebrow their way.“No running around the house.” It was always Caroline to speak first.“And we have to knock first.” Cassidy added.“Sorry, mom.” Both said at the same time, their little heads almost down to their chest.“Good.” Satisfied with their reaction, Miranda then continued. “Now, tell me. What brought you two in here?”Excitement instantly fuelled them; Cassidy rounded the left side of the desk to place the laptop in front of Miranda and opened it. The website of a hotel located on an island in Greece was presented to her.“So, we’ve done the research to find where we should go on a vacation and we really like this place.” Caroline stated enthusiastically, moving to take the space on the right side of her mom.Miranda fixed the reading glasses residing on the bridge of her nose before briefly checking out the website. It was a website of a hotel on a Greek island. Hotel Bella Donna. Donna.Miranda shook her head, refused to let her mind wander off that path again. She’d been successfully avoiding it for years now, there’s no reason to fall back into it now. Especially not with such silly reminder. There must be thousands of Donnas in this world…Back to the hotel of her daughters’ choice. Miranda had never heard of it and judging from what was shown before her, the hotel was just of average standard. In addition to that, the island, though beautiful, seemed quite deserted. If Miranda felt the urge to purse her lips looking at pictures of monotonous hotel rooms with same boring furniture, she attempted to not do it. Still, it was obvious that she didn’t fancy the place.Scrolling down the website, the only thing that caught Miranda’s attention was photos of a gorgeous fountain with an attached note.
Kalokairi used to be the site of Aphrodite’s fountain. Myth says that when one drinks the water from the fountain, one will find true love and live happily ever after.
Closely observing the fountain through provided photos, it wasn’t difficult for someone like Miranda to recognise the statue as a handicraft. A splendid one. Whoever did this had done an outstanding job. She paused at this one photo, a close-up of the statue and suddenly she froze. Staring into the eyes of the statue as if she was hypnotised, chills ran through her spine as she could vaguely hear a distant voice whispering in her ears. No. Not whispers. More like siren calls.“So, what do you think mom?” Caroline asked.Her voice pulled Miranda out of her trance.“I don’t know, Bobbseys. This island is tiny and has only one hotel. It seems… deserted to me.” Miranda replied hesitantly, trying to find the right words so that it wouldn’t hurt her daughters’ feelings.It was no surprise to the girls that their mother didn’t like the place. They’d come prepared.“But you said we can decide where we’ll go.” As sentimental as Caroline had ever been, she got fretty almost immediately.“If you wish to go to Greece, I’m sure Santorini will be a much better choice. Emily could undoubtedly find us somewhere… with nicer décor there.” Answered Miranda gently, pulling Caroline into a loose embrace.“I know this place is nowhere near St. Regis or Four Seasons standard but we like it.” Cassidy snuggled up to her other side, looking up at Miranda with sparkling blue eyes.“I knew she’d hate it.” Caroline stamped her feet heavily on the carpeted floor. She was pouting; a hint of wetness threatened to spill from her waterlines.Miranda stifled a sigh as she relised the girls were offering her the ‘hand-in-a-velvet-glove’ treatment with Cassidy as the pleading one whereas Caroline played the demanding one as usual. Why they were so insistent on travelling to this place to pull out their best card was beyond her comprehension. Looking back and forth between her daughters and that one particular picture of the fountain which she had an unexplainable attraction to, Miranda just knew she was left with no choice.Removing her arms around the girls to reach her phone, Miranda pressed the quick-dial key to call Emily. The British woman answered the phone after just one ring.“Yes, Miranda!” The female British voice could be heard through the phone without even being put on speaker.“Emily, reschedule all my appointments for the next seven days. Me and the girls are going on a vacation, starting tomorrow. I’m sending you this link of where we are travelling to. Make all the arrangements you have to and hopefully you will not disappoint me this time.”Miranda rattled off her demand then hung up the phone with her signature ‘That’s all!’, not even given Emily any chance to utter a single word. The terrible two on her sides summarily beamed at her.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After a couple hours of resting, the trio of friends started their vacation with a long swimming and tanning session by the beach, followed by enjoying the magnificent view of the sunset and only made their way back to the hotel when the sky had turned into a mixture of a darker shade of blue with a dash of orange and pink. They had a light supper, which was incredibly delicious, before hitting the bar with the intention of drinking until all three of them pass out and have some of those handsome staff members carry them back to their room. Apart from anything related to Runway and Miranda, they talked about everything and nothing in particular; the roaring sound of their laughter caught some of the other patrons’ attention but none seemed to be annoyed by it. At some point during the night, Doug dragged the girls out on the dance floor. Andy had never been a good dancer and normally she’d be too shy to dance. But with three drinks in her system and determination of loosening herself to enjoy this vacation to the fullest, Andy joined them with her clumsy dance moves. Her friends were nothing if not supportive as they kept cheering and encouraging her despite how much of a robot she resembled. For once in quite a while, Andy was finally able to feel the weight rolling off of her body. As the music slowed down and a romantic love song was played, the trio returned to the bar for more drinks. They were in the middle of their who-could-remember-how-many-drinks journey when Sophie approached them.“Hi, guys! How are you doing so far?” With a smile on her lips, Sophie asked.“Hey! We’re all good here.” Andy greeted the blonde with her signature megawatt smile.“Oh, we’re having the best time of our lives.” Doug cried, raising his glass of martini in the hotel manager’s direction.“Yeah, gurl! This place is so cool. I’m not a big fan of the 70s music but lemme tell ya, I love these songs.” Taking another sip of her drink, Lily cheerfully swayed her body at the beat of the song playing in the background.Sophie paused a little to listen to the music and then beamed when she relised whose song it was.“You like it? Oh, my mom would be thrilled to know.” She proudly breathed.“Why?” Andy queried as she saw a hint of pride in her blue eyes. “My mom sang this song.” Sophie couldn’t suppress a giggle. “Really? Your mom’s a singer?” Lily was even more excited at the news.“She used to. See that over there?” Sophie said, pointing at one of those posters on the wall of the bar. It was a picture of three female figures doing poses in black colour and on top of it wrote Donna and The Dynamos . “She’s the Donna and along with her two best friends, my aunties, they formed a girl band in their 20s.”“Sounds like they had a wild youth.” Doug hummed.“You said there’ll be a karaoke night, right? Will she perform then?” Asked Lily with a great amount of interest.“Of course! She won’t miss the fun, especially when my aunties will be here to be her backup singers.” “I can’t wait to meet your mom. She seems so cool.” Doug was also fond of the woman though they hadn’t met.“Actually, she was right behind me when I got here, said she wanted a drink. Now, where is she?” Sophie casted her eyes around the bar to search for her mom. It wasn’t very crowded so she spotted the woman in no time.“There she is. MOM!” Sophie exclaimed, waving her hand at a blonde woman dressed in a loose white shirt and a pair of navy dungarees a few feet away from them.Donna, Sophie’s mom, was talking to Harry and another good-looking man by the entrance to the bar when she heard her daughter calling for her. The moment she turned around to face them, Andy froze. If Sophie’s eyes had reminded her of Miranda’s, then Donna must have shared the same face with the woman of her dreams. From the slightly crooked nose, her proud cheekbones, to the shape of her jawline, everything was identical. For a brief moment, Andy felt like someone was grasping her heart tightly. Every beat ached. There was this lump in her throat that she tried to swallow but couldn’t and it almost made her choke. Tears, out of nowhere, immediately gathered from the corner of her eyes and threatened to spill. Without even a cue, both Doug and Lily looked at each other and then at Andy in concern as they also recognised the similarity between the two women.“How many drinks have we had?” Lily asked, looking down at the glass in her hand.“Who knows?” Doug shrugged. “But you’re seeing what I’m seeing, right?”“Yup!” She answered with a rather loud pop at the ‘p’. “This is impossible!”Andy turned to face the bar and threw her head back to finish the rest of her half full drink in one go. Her hands trembled uncontrollably as she put the glass back on top of the bar’s worktop and gestured for the bartender to pour her another shot. Her heart rate picked up, beating violently against her chest and in her ears. Her vision blurred by the tears that filled up to the brim. Her lower lip was firmly captured between her teeth, so hard that it almost drew blood, to prevent any sobbing sound to escape. This couldn’t be real. There’s no way this could be real.Lily quickly found some tissues and helped dab her tears away.“Andy? You alright?” Doug asked, hesitantly. His warm hand was already on her shoulder, offering some much-needed comfort.“I’m alright. Just… gimme a second.” Andy replied; her voice was shaky and breathy. No, she’s not Miranda. She doesn’t have that force of gravity that attracts everyone in the room. She doesn’t hold the power to make my heart leap and my soul sing. They look the same but she’s not my Miranda. Andy took a large gulp of her drink, trying her best to compose her running wild of a mind.Donna reached the bar where they were all gathered and gave Sophie a kiss on her temple.“You need me, Soph?” She asked the younger blonde while sending a warm and genuine grin at Lily and Doug who were now facing her with an awkward smile.“I just want to introduce you to some of our guests. Lily here really likes your songs, mom.” Sophie tilted her head in Lily’s way as she leisurely explained.“You do?” Donna’s eyebrows nearly got to her hairline in surprise. “I’m flattered. You should come to the karaoke night. Me and my girls will rock that stage with our best performance.” Her cheerfulness caused Sophie to giggle.“Oh, I’d love to join the night.” Lily put down her drink to give her a proper handshake. She was so confused as Donna was a dead ringer for Miranda, only with a more relaxed and carefree attitude.Harry and the other good-looking man, Sam as he was introduced, soon joined them at the bar. Doug got engaged in the conversation along with the others, almost completely forgetting what a spitting image of Miranda was the elder blonde. As they started laughing at one of Donna’s old jokes, Sophie then suddenly relised Andy had been distancing herself from the lot. She moved to stand next to the brunette, who was staring blankly at the drink in her hand. There was a hint of pain and lost in her deep brown eyes that Sophie caught a glimpse of.“Hey! You alright, Andy?” Placing a gentle hand on Andy’s shoulder, Sophie questioned worriedly at her sudden moody state.“S-Sophie. I’m okay. A little tipsy, maybe.” Dragging in a shuddering breath, Andy managed to flash a smile at the blonde and even herself knew it was such a terrible fake one.“Come join us. You’re missing all the fun.” Sophie grabbed her by the elbow, decidedly tugged her in the others’ direction.Andy opened her mouth to protest but a bit too late as she was already dragged towards the small crowd that was her friends and Sophie’s family. When she was finally able to breathe a weak whimper of resistance, she was already standing among the lot and facing Donna. Looking straight at the elder blonde’s face, Andy found herself a mixed emotion mess. Part of her knew for sure the woman in front of her was not Miranda when the other part urged her to surge forward and hold her in her arms in search for even the tiniest bit of comfort. She felt the pricking sensation from the back of her eyes as a sign of the tears trying to make its way back.“Mom, this is Andy. Andy, meet my mom.” Sophie briefly introduced them.“Hi, Andy. Welcome to our hotel. I hope you enjoy it.” Wide smile never left her face, Donna leant forward to give the brunette a quick welcome hug.The hug was the final straw for Andy. Despite her attempt to smother the sobbing sound by firmly pressing her hand on her lips, it burst out at the first feeling of Donna’s touch against her skin. Donna instantly pulled back from the brunette with a concerned look covering her features. The rest of the lot, aside from Doug and Lily, were also dumbfounded by her unexpected emotional breakdown. And to everyone’s astonishment, instead of backing off from the young woman, Donna pulled her in for a proper hug as her inner mother instinct got the best of her. After all, Andy was just about Sophie’s age and it deeply worried Donna seeing the brunette in her arms sobbed convulsively.“Hush now, sweetie. Everything will be okay. It’s all gonna be okay.” Donna murmured in her ears while her warm hand gently rubbed soothing circles on the brunette’s back.“I-I can’t… It hurts… I miss her.” Andy said between hiccups. She hugged Donna tightly as if she was her Miranda and allowed her tears to fall freely, creating a wet patch over Donna’s shoulder which the older woman didn’t mind even one bit.The awkward scene of Andy crying on Donna’s shoulder soon attracted the other patron’s eyes. Everyone started to whisper and point in their direction. Donna didn’t wish for Andy to feel more embarrassed so she gave her one last stroke on her back then said.“Come on, sweetie. Let’s take you somewhere quiet so you can calm down.” She let go of the younger woman but kept a hand on the small of her back to guide her out of the bar.“Please!” Andy managed to utter a choking sound.When Doug and Lily made a move to follow them, Donna waved them off.“Stay and enjoy the drinks. Next round is on the house. I’ve got her.” She said before turning towards Sam, Harry and Sophie. “You three as well. Can’t leave our guests unaccompanied, right?” She then blinked at the bartender and the guy immediately got the cue and started preparing another round of drink for the party.With the most tender touch, Donna led Andy through the throng of patrons occupying the dance floor to exit the bar. The two kept walking side by side at a leisure pace in silence, only Andy’s soft hiccup sound could be heard, all the way past the outdoor restaurant and the fountain to the hotel entrance. They stepped through the entrance and made their way to a cliff away from prying eyes where Donna finally stopped. She ushered Andy to take a seat on one of those smoother rocks then sat herself down next to her. The elder woman just stayed there without a single word to keep her accompanied, allowing her to have a moment to collect herself. The sound of the ocean hitting the rocks below acted as some sort of white noise, putting Andy’s mind at a much calmer state. Letting the cool night breeze dry her tears away, she took in a deep breath to clear up her mind. She knew her emotional breakdown was uncalled for but she just couldn’t help it. She’d forced herself to push all thoughts about Miranda to the back of her mind to enjoy this vacation but it was now proven time after time to be impossible as even the tiniest thing could remind her of the woman she loved so dearly. Was it some sort of a cruel joke that God sent her way? How could she ever move on from someone like Miranda? She would never. Maybe she’d just have to live with it. One day, the pain she was feeling would subside until eventually thinking about Miranda would hurt less and the day when she forgot all those splendid details of Miranda would be the day she drew her last breath. Miranda had struck a deep root into her heart. Miranda was irreplaceable.It wasn’t until Donna shifted uncomfortably on the rock she was sitting on and grunted at the uncomfortable feeling on her bum did Andy remember her existence. She turned her head towards the elder woman; her lips curled into a sad smile.“Thanks Donna, for being here with me. You don’t have to, you know?” Her voice was raspy after all that crying.“Oh, I know, sweetie. But I want to. When I saw you cry, it felt like my little Sophie was crying and my defensive side just sort of made its appearance on its own accord. I hope it doesn’t bother you. Me intruding on your private moment, I mean.” Donna was suddenly aware of her impulsive action and felt slightly uneasy, afraid that she might’ve overstepped.“No, not at all.” Andy shook her head.“Do you want to talk about it? Let the weight roll off your chest a little? I promise I won’t judge.” The elder woman offered sincerely. If she was honest, she did waver a bit about whether or not she should make this suggestion. The last thing she wanted was to make Andy feel more embarrassed, or worse, delve deeper into her wound.Andy stayed silent for a while, just sat there and watched the woman facing her. The woman who coincidentally happened to be the spitting image of her Miranda. Carefully considering her current state, she just knew that she’d never have the chance to directly confess her feelings to the love of her life. So why not confide in someone she could, for a moment, imagine to be the woman she loved. Perhaps saying it out loud could somehow release the pressure weighing upon her chest, giving her the chance to finally partially move on. Not that a random woman thousands of miles away from the States could do any harm to her or Miranda’s life, right? And honestly, there was something in Donna that made her relax enough to willingly open herself and talk about her problem, something even her therapist couldn’t achieve at her first few sessions.“I don’t know where to start.” After some serious inner debate, Andy chose to follow her instinct and trust the blonde woman.“I think it’s best if you start from the beginning.” Donna joked in an attempt to somehow lighten the mood.“Yeah, you’re right.” A weak smile appeared on her face, then she continued. “It all started nine months ago. I just graduated from college and moved to New York with my boyfriend at the time and my childhood best friends, you know, Lily and Doug. With the hope of becoming a journalist like I’ve always dreamt of, I sent out hundreds of letters to different publishers but the only job offers I got was either a cub editor at Auto Universe or second assistant for the Editor-in-chief of Runway. Runway seemed to be the better choice at the time because, and I quote the lady in HR as well as many others, ‘a million girls would kill for this job’ and ‘work a year for her and you can get a job at any magazine you want’.” Andy softly chuckled as the words brought back so many memories from her first days working for Miranda. Yes, after just a month in, she’d started to consider herself working for Miranda, not Runway and certainly not Elias-Clarke. “Um… that’s a rather flashy description for a job as an assistant.” For no reason, Donna began fidgeting and darted her gaze away as if she was afraid of facing Andy. It looked like Andy had mentioned something that made her feel unpleasant but the brunette was too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice.“Indeed. Back then, I didn’t know that Runway was an internationally-acclaimed fashion magazine, let alone who the infamous Miranda Priestly was.” Her own naivety at the time caused her to shake her head.“So, you worked for this… Miranda Priestly?” Asked the blonde nervously with a shaky voice.“Yeah. Have you ever heard of her?” Andy finally sensed the weird reaction of the elder woman so she moved a little in order to have a better look at the expression on her face, to be able to read what was on her mind. Her initial thought was Donna, as experienced as she was, might have got a few ideas of how the story would go and now she regretted getting involved in all this mess.“N-No. What… what is she like?” Andy’s attempt to search her face for some answers failed as Donna quickly turned away, pretending to observe the bright full moon shining in its full glory.“She’s demanding, sort of a perfectionist and trust me, people try their best not to be anywhere near her when she’s in a foul mood. But I saw through that Dragon Lady façade and all I could see was an exquisite, passionate woman with a brilliant mind and a loving mother to her beautiful daughters.”“It does sound like her.” Donna mumbled as she suddenly found the ground under her feet to be of great fascination.“You were saying?” Andy didn’t quite catch what she’d said as the sound of the waves crashing the shore had drowned her low tone of voice.“No. Nothing. Go on!” A stiff smile displayed on her lips as Donna put effort in showing that she was all ears while in fact her mind was evidently wandering.“When I started working there, I was this fat girl with ‘no style or sense of fashion’,” she moved her hands to make that air quote mark, “and I have to admit that I couldn’t care less about fashion at the time. Clothes were just clothes to me, there were no differences. But then my time at Runway had proven me wrong. Miranda, in her own way, had taught me to appreciate fashion and how much paying attention to the smallest details could help you gain a far greater achievement. All the initial intimidations about her seemed to vanish as I finally saw through her mask and got to the real woman underneath. She was the reason I grew into this more glamorous version of myself and my feelings for her grew at the same time. I loved staying in the office because it meant I got to spend more time with her, but my now ex-boyfriend, Nate, wasn’t very happy about it. We got into countless fights about how I always put my job first and then eventually he just couldn’t take it anymore. One night, I got back from work and he was gone along with most of our furniture. He left a note saying that he’d move to Boston and we were through. Honestly, I felt relieved when he left.” She ran her hand through her hair and breathed a sigh talking about Nate. The guilt she felt for him was still there since she’d developed feelings for someone else during their relationship but she knew they weren’t meant to be. Breaking up was just an inevitable outcome.“Earlier when you said you miss her , you meant Miranda, right?” Donna was still staring into the unknown. Moonlight shone upon her golden hair, transforming it into silver which made her look like Miranda more than ever.“Yeah. Like I told you, I was able to see the real woman under the bitchiness she shows the world. I’d trained myself into this wonder assistant who could achieve the impossible. I could foresee what she wanted and had them finished before she even asked for so that her day would go smoother and less stressful. I can’t say for sure which moment marked my falling for her but by the time Nate told me ‘the person whose calls you always take, that’s the relationship you’re in’, it dawned upon me that I’d already fallen in love with Miranda.” Her heart soared talking about the woman who had claimed it. Turning over in search of any disgust or disgrace from the elder woman, Andy could see tears glistening in her eyes as her head slightly tilted towards her. Her story couldn’t be that moving, could it?“Why didn’t you pursue her, if you loved her enough to willingly change yourself for her?” Came Donna’s rather hoarse voice.“I can’t. She was married at the time. I’ll never be a home wrecker no matter how much I love her. And even if she wasn’t married, she’d still be out of my reach. As beautiful and powerful as she is, men and women will bow before her begging for her love. What do I have to offer her when I’m just an inexperienced girl who struggles to make ends meet?” Hugging her knees close, Andy let her chin rest on them, feeling vulnerable and exhausted.“How about Miranda? Does she feel the same for you?” Donna asked. She was tempted to seek more information about Miranda from Andy. She needed to know how Miranda's life had been. If she was happy with whatever she was doing? Whether mother was still being strict and controlling? Anything was better than those articles Rosie and Tanya would update her with when they got the chance, and most of the time they were about either Miranda’s latest divorce or what a commanding bitch she was.“Honestly, I have no idea. She’s famous for being unpredictable, you know? But the way she looked at me. Though it’s different from the way she looks at others, how dare I hope for anything special from her when I’m just a piece of sand in her world.” Sadness filled her voice admitting this.“Don’t belittle yourself like that. You’re a bright kid, I can tell, and an absolute beautiful one as well. If she sees you differently, that means she has feelings for you. She might be a good liar and a master at concealing her emotions but her eyes always speak the truth.” Donna said with a snigger.“Are you sure that you don’t know Miranda? Because from the way you talk about her, it seems like you know her quite well.” Andy raised an eyebrow at the older woman.Donna instantly covered her mouth, knowing she’d let that bit of information slip. The two women found themselves in a rather uneasy silence; each had millions of questions in mind, itching to ask the other. Andy always knew she had a strong sixth sense and when it told her to believe in something, she followed it without a second thought. Right now, her sixth sense was literally screaming in her head that Donna had something to hide from her. It convinced her that the elder woman might actually know Miranda. Hell, they might even be related given by how much alike they look. Whatever the blonde woman was hiding, Andy demanded the truth.“I know this sounds weird but you and Miranda are like two peas in a pod. Never in my life can I imagine being thousands of miles away from the States, away from her, I find someone who looks exactly like the woman I love. That’s why when you hugged me, it kinda acted like a trigger to that little meltdown.” Not wishing to scare off Donna, Andy tried to approach the topic from a different angle.“Is that so? Y-You think we look alike?” Donna pretended to be clueless but her fingers twisted in an anxious mess, which added to Andy's suspicion, had betrayed her.“Look alike? You two are identical. If I didn’t know Miranda as well as I do, I’d say you’re her twin sister.” Andy looked straight into blue eyes in search of some much needed answers.“I…”Donna averted her eyes away from magnetic browns, biting her lips as hard as she could to not let anything slip. It had been too long that she'd forgotten the similarities of their look. It had been too long since she last met Miranda. And Ruby. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss them. She missed them dearly and there wasn't a single day went by that she didn't think about them. The wound in her heart still felt fresh as yesterday. If only things had happened in a different way... Donna knew Andy was curious, suspicious even, and somehow it felt like she owed the brunette an explanation. However, if she chose to tell Andy the truth, Sophie would undoubtedly learn about this one way or another and she wasn’t entirely sure whether she should reveal the secret that she’d kept all these years or not. She’d already disappointed her daughter once with the three dads thing, she didn’t dare imagine what Sophie’s reaction would be when she figured there was a bigger truth hidden.The awkwardness between them built up dramatically when Andy was determined to get the answers to her questions whilst Donna was avoiding them at all cost. The two women were seemingly caught in a battlefield of mental war, none of them willing to give in to the other. Their battle of wits didn’t last very long as it was soon interrupted by Sophie’s appearance. The younger blonde padded towards them as fast as her pregnant body could move, a deep frown dominated her face.“Hey! How are you two doing? Everyone started to get worried since it’s getting late.” Once made it to where the other women were sitting, Sophie came to stand by her mom’s side, gently draping an arm over Donna’s shoulders while her eyes fixed on Andy to check on her.“Oh, sweetheart. We’re grown women. We could take care of ourselves.” Donna reassured her daughter; her head tilted to the left to place a light kiss on Sophie’s hand resting on her shoulder. “Yeah, she’s right. We were just caught up in chatting and completely forgot about time.” Decided she should drop the subject for now, Andy managed to school her features to look as neutral as possible but there was this gleam in her eyes indicating that she would never stop until the truth was unveiled.“Let’s head back inside. It's getting colder by the minute out here.” Donna suggested, making an excuse to put off the conversation which she knew she'd no doubt have to revisit in the near future.“You two go ahead. I think I want to stay a bit longer.” Andy flashed a bright smile at the mother and daughter.“You sure you’ll be alright on your own?” Sophie was still concerned about Andy.“Yes. Don’t worry about me. Get inside before you catch a cold. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” The brunette shooed them away.Donna stood from the rock she was sitting on, took one last look at Andy's soulful eyes before ushering Sophie back inside. Looks like truth can’t be buried forever. She thought to herself catching the determination to learn the truth in those doe eyes, unconsciously pulled Sophie a little closer in her arm. Walking back to the hotel with her mom, Sophie looked over her shoulder at Andy’s slim figure sitting by the cliff. She didn’t mean to eavesdrop but curiosity got the best of her, especially when she heard Andy says her mom looked identical to a woman called Miranda. Ever since the “three dads incident” two years ago, Sophie had been more curious about her origin. She knew she had a grandma who’d disowned her mom relising she was pregnant with her. Could it be possible that her mom also had siblings? That she might have aunts, uncles and cousins? Question after question flushing her mind, urging her to go search for answers.