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English
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Part 4 of Writer Bingo Challenge Four
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Published:
2018-10-19
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1,777
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1/1
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Feeling Cerulean

Summary:

Miranda felt her gaze become icy as she turned to look at her interrupting assistant. “If this isn’t worth the interruption, you’re fired.”

“Your wife called, she’s on line one. She said that she couldn’t reach you, so she called the office.”

Notes:

Not edited, cause I don't do that often.
This is an emotional release for me. I might write a companion piece, but I say that often and don't always follow through.
For Bingo Card One: Cerulean
Thanks for reading,
CBC

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

“No. Absolutely not. Whe-”

“Excuse me, Miranda.”

Miranda felt her gaze become icy as she turned to look at her interrupting assistant. “If this isn’t worth the interruption, you’re fired.”

“Your wife called, she’s on line one. She said that she couldn’t reach you, so she called the office.”

The room was silent for several seconds before she said, “All of you get out.”

The woman fled with the accessories team hot on her heels.

Miranda snatched up her office phone, cursing that she’d put her cell on silent for the accessories meeting. Her heart was in her throat, and her mind raced, full of terrible thoughts about what could be wrong.

Pressing the button to connect to line one, she was instantly greeted with the sound of harsh sobbing. Her dread, and fear, increased.

“Andrea!” She spoke firmly, hoping she was loud enough to catch her wife’s attention.

“Mir-anda,” Andrea’s voice was choked and garbled. “My.. my… my. He. I-” she dissolved into incoherent sobs.

Miranda took a deep breath, and swallowed down her emotions. She had to figure out what was going on. “Andrea. Darling. Listen to me. I am going to ask you yes, or no, questions. Yes or no. Can you do that?”

It took a moment but she got a heavy sounding, “Yes,” in a reply.

“Good. Are you physically safe?”

“Ye-es.”

“Are you injured?”

“No.”

Miranda felt some of her worry ease. “Good. Is this about the girls?”

“No!”

Miranda let her eyes slip closed in relief, feeling the heavy stone in her stomach become lighter. Andrea was safe, and nothing was wrong with Cassidy and Caroline. “Okay. Is this about work?”

“No.”

“Are you at work?”

“No.”

“Are you at home?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Andrea," she paused briefly before saying, "Do you want me to come home?”

Her wife’s crying was the only thing she heard for several seconds. “Bu-”

“Yes, or no, Andrea. Do you want me to come home?”

She barely heard it, it was quiet, and hesitant, and immediately followed by a hiccupping sob, but she got her answer.

“I am going to hang up the phone. I am on my way. I will call back when I’m downstairs.”

Her heart hammered in her chest. Something had happened. Even if Andrea wasn’t injured, or in danger, something was terribly, horribly wrong.

She gently hung up the phone and stormed out of her office, her mission in mind, and barking out orders as she went.

She had to get home.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Roy is pulling up to the house right now, Andrea. I’m home,” Miranda spoke as she opened the car door and made her way towards the house.

The car ride had been fraught with anxiety as Andrea cried into her ear, trying to speak but stuttering and stumbling, and Miranda had felt completely helpless in her attempts to sooth her inconsolable wife.

The door flung open, and she barely made it inside before she had her arms full of a shaking Andrea. Miranda took only a second to close the door before wrapping her arms tightly around her. “I’m here, darling. I’m here. Let’s go sit down, so I can hold you more comfortably.”

It wasn’t an easy feat, but Miranda finally managed to maneuver them into the sitting room and down onto the couch. She stretched out, and Andrea climbed onto her lap, burrowing her face into Miranda’s neck as she cried, her tears soaking into Miranda’s blouse.

Miranda held on tight, and rested her cheek against the top of Andrea’s head. She rubbed her hands up and down her wife’s back and began to hum a quiet little tune, prepared to wait as long as she needed until Andrea calmed down enough to talk.

Minutes ticked by, and slowly the tears trickled to a stop, and Miranda could feel just how tired Andrea was. She was resting heavily atop her, head tucked right underneath Miranda’s chin. Miranda felt her yawn, and then had to strain her ears to hear the quiet words, “My mom called.”

Miranda stayed silent and brought one hand up to caress at the back of Andrea's neck.

"My dad-" the words caught in Andrea's throat: Miranda could feel the hiccup of breath. "he died." Andrea's voice cracked and a new wave of tears soaked through Miranda's blouse.

Miranda's heart broke for her wife. She blinked away her own tears, and swallowed down the knot that formed in her throat. "I'm so sorry, Andrea," she murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of Andrea's head. "I'm so sorry."

Miranda held on even tighter as Andrea cried again, her body shaking with the weight of her grief. "He--hea--rt at--att--ta--ck," the words were garbled and messy, but much easier to understand in person than over the phone. “He’s go-gone.”

"I'm here, darling. I'm right here. I've got you."

Losing her own parents had been devastating, and she hadn’t been nearly as close to her father or mother as Andrea was with her parents. She swallowed as she thought about how her relationship with Richard Sachs had been better than with her own father. His loss echoed painfully in her heart and she squeezed her wife a little tighter.

She would do whatever she needed to do to help Andrea, and she would make sure that Helen Sachs was well taken care of as well.

“My daddy’s gone.”

Miranda couldn’t hold back a few tears that slipped down her own cheeks. “I’m so sorry, my love.”
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Richard Sachs, was the best dad I could ever ask for. He did his absolute best to spend time with me, and with Jacob. He was there for everything he could be. Hockey games, dance recitals, soccer games, back-to-school nights, you name it, and he would find a way to be there. He lo-” Andy took a shaky breath and blinked furiously, trying to make the painful lump in her throat disappear. A moment passed, and she continued, trying to reign in her emotions, “My dad- he loved us so much, and taught us to be kind, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving. He was always there for me. From picking me up during a sleepover because I was being bullied, to coming to the restaurant and having dinner with me after I was stood up on a date. After Grandpa Vincent died, he drove all the way to my college so he could hold me as I cried.”

Andy placed the back of her hand against her lips and turned away from the mic just in time to not sob directly into it. She gasped a few times and struggled to catch her breath, her heart pounding much too fast.

“Excuse me,” she whispered into the mic, taking a moment to leave the stage and grab several tissues. She dabbed at her eyes while she walked back up to the podium, and cleared her throat before speaking again. “My dad, he cared about everyone, and wanted to make his little piece of the world the best place he could. In elementary school he would always send extra food with me, so that in case anyone forgot their lunch money I could give them something to eat. He had the biggest-” her breath caught, “he had the biggest heart, he loved everyone.”

Andy closed her eyes and hung her head, her shoulders jumping as she fought the wave of tears that burned behind her eyes. Taking a gasping breath, she lifted her head and continued, “Several of my friends always felt safe talking to him. They could ask him for help, or advice, and he would try his best to comfort them and guide them, just like he did with Jacob, and with me. He was a confidant—he was my confidant. In seventh grade, he was who I went to when I was confused about why I didn't feel the same way as my friends when it came to boys, and he told me that he liked girls and boys, and that whatever I was feeling was okay. In eighth grade, he was who I told first when I had a crush on the cute girl who sat next to me in English. In Ninth grade when I was heartbroken she was dating a boy in our math class, he comforted me and told me about the time he had a crush on his best friend, Jeremy Squires."

Andy made eye contact with the very man she spoke of, noting the tears on his cheeks. She gave him a quivering smile. "The man who I knew like an uncle, who didn't return my father's feelings but remained his greatest friend, and eventually introduced my parents to each other. My father told me about how he could relate to the heartbreak I was experiencing, but how his whole life lit up when he met my mom, and that I too could recover from heartbreak to find something grand."

Her eyes shifted to meet those of her wife. "Which I did, finally, after a number of heartbreaks, I found my forever after. My dad asked me one question when I told him that I had fallen in love with the woman who had once been my boss. He asked me if I was ready to communicate and compromise with a woman who was in the spotlight, and who had once held so much power over me. When I told him that I was, he wished me the best of luck, offered me his support, and reminded me that he would be there for me if I needed him. He said that he was still my dad, even if I was all grown up, and that he loved me and would be there no matter what."

"He walked me down the aisle at my wedding, and gave my wife a big kiss in front of all our guests. He asked her, without my knowledge, if he could do it, and she agreed. It made headline news, and he was so proud of himself,” she paused as a soft wave of sniffling chuckles swept through the room. “He danced with us both that day, happily and full-heartedly, and he partied with his new grandchildren. Embracing my wife and her kids as part of his family, he loved them with his whole being, and made me the happiest daughter in the world, because I had the most wonderful man to call dad."

Her voice caught and she began to sob, her chest heaving as she failed to get her emotions back under control. "He was. Everything. I miss you, Daddy."

Notes:

Thank you for reading.
I hope you let me know what you thought.
CBC

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