Fic: Is Sorry Enough? (1/9)
Title: Is Sorry Enough? (1/9)
Author: cmhepple
Genre: Mirandy
Rating: NC17 - This is probably overkill, but given the subject matter I wanted to warn readers to expect some adult themes.
Disclaimer: The usual blurb - I’m doing this for fun, not making any money out of it and I don’t own DWP.
Summary: Miranda sees her worst nightmare come to life. Will sorry be enough to set things right?
Comments: Okay, so I started writing this story a couple of years ago and finally got around to finishing it. To make up for my absence I’ve made it a bit longer than normal (19k+). Don’t flame me until you’ve read all of part 1. There are 9 parts in all. Enjoy.
****
It was late when Miranda ascended the stairs to her townhouse. Irv Ravitz, CEO of Elias-Clark, and Miranda's proverbial thorn in her side, had railed at her for two hours straight about the budget that afternoon. Then he insisted that she wine and dine potential investors as penance for her financial overspend. Though she had initially balked at his presumption, especially the evil glint of amusement she saw in his little piggy eyes, she conceded that this type of power play was thankfully few and far between and decided she could accommodate his request for now. His time would come and Miranda would inevitably have the last laugh.
As a consequence, she had missed dinner with her family again. Andrea and the children had understood, but it still pained her to lose yet more precious time with them when she had been making a concerted effort. Her twin girls, Caroline and Cassidy, were now in their teenage years and she knew that sooner or later they would no longer be interested in doing something as mundane as eating dinner with their parents. She smiled at that last thought, as an image of her beloved Andrea drifted into her mind.
Since her arrival in their personal lives four years prior, Andrea had never shied away from her assumed parental duties. She had eased into the role so naturally that it felt like it had always been so and the girls had benefitted immeasurably. Of course, her children had also grown up along the way and that had brought a new maturity about them. But the expected tantrums and acting out that she had steeled herself for over their relationship had never really materialised.
For her own part, Andrea had started as a friend and gradually became everything that Miranda had wanted in a partner, but never dared to wish for. The girl had thrilled and excited her on every level, so deliciously that Miranda had proposed only a few months into their romance. She shivered as anticipation skittered sensually down her spine at the thought of how engaging Andrea could be, especially if the Editor were sufficiently apologetic about her recent late hours. Andrea would forgive her, she always did and they both would reap the rewards for Miranda’s thoughtfulness.
Passing along the second floor landing, she heard voices coming from Cassidy’s room and she changed direction to pay a visit to her darling girls, grateful that she had not missed the opportunity to wish them goodnight before they went to sleep.
The door was ajar when she arrived in front of it and she was about to knock, as politeness dictated, when she caught movement on Cassidy’s bed. The young girl leaned back and as Miranda shifted a little, she saw that her daughter was naked to the waist.
“Lie back and relax. I don’t want to hurt you so tell me if anything does.”
Miranda stopped dead. An icy bead of something she couldn’t quite name made her shiver violently before it settled into the nauseous pit her stomach had suddenly become.
That voice had belonged to Andrea.
She watched in horror as her wife helped Cassidy into a prone position on the covers and then leaned in to say something that made the red-head giggle nervously. Miranda hadn’t heard what it was; she couldn’t make out any of the conversation over the thundering of blood rushing through her ears. A million questions swam through her mind as she struggled to make sense of the visage.
The inevitable dawning comprehension of the situation was too much to take and as Andrea reached out to touch one pale white breast, Miranda acted on impulse. Bawling her hands into fists in barely restrained fury, she flung open the door sending it crashing into the wall behind.
The two occupants of the room sat up and screamed in fright and Cassidy attempted to shield her bare chest behind Andrea’s back, even as the brunette moved to provide the protective barrier.
“Honey, you scared the shit…um…shoot…out of us.”
Andrea stood, clutching her own, fully-clothed chest, in shock, like a seasoned harlot out of a trashy romance novel as Cassidy hurriedly shrugged on her crumpled tee-shirt.
The sight of her daughter dressing flipped a switch in Miranda’s brain and with an impressive turn of speed, she lunged across the room and belted Andrea across the face with a satisfying crack.
The young woman faltered, disbelief swimming in her eyes as the force of the hit sent her tumbling to the bed. Miranda wasted no time in pouncing on her, delivering clumsy blows one after the other to the cowering woman.
“How could you? How could you?” she cried.
“Miranda, please…” Andrea whimpered as she tried to parry the punches, “you don’t understand…”
She was dimly aware of fingers digging into her arms as their owners tried to pull her away but she wouldn’t be deterred.
“What don’t I understand, Andrea; that you’re a sexual predator preying on the innocence of a young girl?”
“Mom, no.” she heard, but it came from a long way away, so she paid it no heed. All she could see was Andrea’s hands on Cassidy’s young body again and again and it fuelled her frenzied attack.
“How long has it been going on Andrea? Whilst I’ve been staying late at the office? Is that when? All those nights you understood and commiserated with me that I couldn’t be here. Tell me; were you secretly preying on my children?”
Suddenly, she felt herself lifted and pulled back and she snapped out of her blood-lust haze long enough to stare into the scared eyes of her twin girls.
Behind them Andrea was sobbing, curled up on the bed, arms held in protection of her head and upper body. She felt the sharp stab of remorse, before she quickly squashed it under a ton of righteous fury. That woman no longer had the right to deserve her pity.
Breathing raggedly, she was dimly aware of the dull ache in her hands and took a few necessary seconds to control herself. She stepped forward, but made no attempt to push past either of her daughters.
Her entire world was unravelling. She had no frame of reference for dealing with the abuse that she imagined Cassidy would have endured, but she could understand and react to the fact that Andrea had betrayed her trust in the worst possible way. Andrea, who had seemed so perfect, so safe, for them, for her, had managed to hurt her family more deeply than anyone could have planned to.
Betrayal was something that she had guarded herself from every day of her adult life and, until now, had thought she knew exactly how to handle. Schooling her emotions behind the icy façade of the Editor in Chief of Runway, she turned cold eyes towards the stranger on her daughter’s bed.
“We’re finished.” She managed her voice steady and eerily calm, even to her own ears. “I’m calling the police. I want you out of my house and out of our lives immediately.”
Andrea shifted a little, uncoiling from her position to half-sit up. Her face was a mess; mascara ran freely down her cheeks, carrying in the tracks her tears had made.
“Miranda, I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t like that, Cassidy was just …” she began, but was unable to finish her explanation as Miranda rushed at her again and grabbed a fist full of hair.
The brunette cried out as Miranda yanked her head back painfully and brought their faces close. “You don’t get to say her name again, do you understand?” You don’t get to look at her again, or speak to her again, or touch her again.” She spat. “Now get out!”
Before the twins could get proper purchase on her again she pulled the young woman off the bed and dragged her out of the room. Andrea shrieked as Miranda’s manicured nails dug into the soft skin of her underarm through the long-sleeve of her shirt.
“No, please, Miranda…” she cried, as Miranda pushed her forward at the top of the stairs and watched as she slipped down the top three steps before catching hold of the bannister.
Andrea continued down to the ground floor quickly under her own volition as she followed; the twins hot on her heels.
“Andy, don’t go.” She heard Cassidy shout from behind her and she saw something like genuine remorse in Andrea’s eyes as she opened the front door and looked back up at them.
The young woman shook her head, “I’m sorry.” She said and walked out onto the street.
****
An hour earlier…
Cassidy took a breath as she approached her mother and Andy’s study. She was dreading this conversation, but knew that she needed to have it now or else she would lose her nerve. Crossing the threshold, she made a beeline to the chunky walnut desk and softly cleared her throat.
Andy’s eyes never left the laptop as she held up a finger that told Cassidy that she needed to wait a minute as she tapped out her current train of thought. Then she looked up, ready to give her undivided attention. That was something the young teen loved about her step-mother; she always gave a hundred per cent of her focus.
“Hey, you ok?” Andy said, concern etching her features.
Cassidy paused not knowing how to kick things off, but seeing the love in warm brown eyes she bit the bullet.
“I wanted to know if you could help me with something.”
Andy smirked, “English assignment giving you a headache already?” she teased.
Despite the situation, Cassidy smiled back. Andy had been instrumental in tutoring her through many a troublesome project, though she had actually had to do all the work herself.
“No. I...um…I just…” she felt herself blush. “It's really...you’re a woman and mom’s a woman…”
“Yeah…” Andy agreed and Cassidy could hear the caution in her response.
“Well,” she took another breath, “then you would know a lot about…breasts…”
She left the statement hanging and hoped that Andy would pick up where she was going with this without her actually having to spell it out in all its graphic glory.
Instead, Andy just looked confused. So much for that idea.
“I, guess…” Andy hedged gamely.
Cassidy tried again, “So, you would know if there was something wrong…with them…”
“Hey,” Andy said gently, leaning forward on the desk, “I know at your age you’re going through a lot of changes. Are you worried about how yours look, because I promise everyone’s different?” She gave what Cassidy assumed was a reassuring smile, but she didn’t feel particularly reassured.
“No…I…” she turned her head away in embarrassment, ashamed that her voice had very little strength to it, “I wanted to...um...I…I think I found a lump.”
To her credit Andy didn’t freak out much, though Cassidy still felt sorry for dumping her concerns on her. She’d considered confiding in Caroline but she also wanted help so the only alternatives were her mom or an appointment with the doctor. Given the topic, she wanted make sure there was something to be worried about before telling either of them. Her mom had a tendency to overreact when she or her sister had something as trivial as a cold, there was no way of knowing how badly she would handle this sort of thing. Involving Andy had to be a win-win situation; she could help determine if there was something wrong in the first place and in the event that there was, she could help to keep her mother calm.
“Are…are you sure?” Andy stammered, rounding the desk to rest a maternal hand on her shoulder.
Cassidy shook her head and sniffed as tears collected in response to the gesture. She felt herself gathered gently into a loving hug and it seemed to be all the permission she needed to open the floodgates to her emotions. She clutched Andy tightly as she cried for all the weeks of worry she had already been through and for all of the ones she might have to endure from now on.
“Hey, it’s alright.” Andy cooed over and over as she rocked her.
Eventually, she got a hold of herself and pulled back to look into compassionate eyes. Andy really was the nicest person she had ever met.
“Can you help me, Andy?” she asked shyly.
Fortunately, her step-mother understood her request and after agreeing with a nod, they made their way upstairs to the privacy of Cassidy’s bedroom.
****
Part 2
Author: cmhepple
Genre: Mirandy
Rating: NC17 - This is probably overkill, but given the subject matter I wanted to warn readers to expect some adult themes.
Disclaimer: The usual blurb - I’m doing this for fun, not making any money out of it and I don’t own DWP.
Summary: Miranda sees her worst nightmare come to life. Will sorry be enough to set things right?
Comments: Okay, so I started writing this story a couple of years ago and finally got around to finishing it. To make up for my absence I’ve made it a bit longer than normal (19k+). Don’t flame me until you’ve read all of part 1. There are 9 parts in all. Enjoy.
****
It was late when Miranda ascended the stairs to her townhouse. Irv Ravitz, CEO of Elias-Clark, and Miranda's proverbial thorn in her side, had railed at her for two hours straight about the budget that afternoon. Then he insisted that she wine and dine potential investors as penance for her financial overspend. Though she had initially balked at his presumption, especially the evil glint of amusement she saw in his little piggy eyes, she conceded that this type of power play was thankfully few and far between and decided she could accommodate his request for now. His time would come and Miranda would inevitably have the last laugh.
As a consequence, she had missed dinner with her family again. Andrea and the children had understood, but it still pained her to lose yet more precious time with them when she had been making a concerted effort. Her twin girls, Caroline and Cassidy, were now in their teenage years and she knew that sooner or later they would no longer be interested in doing something as mundane as eating dinner with their parents. She smiled at that last thought, as an image of her beloved Andrea drifted into her mind.
Since her arrival in their personal lives four years prior, Andrea had never shied away from her assumed parental duties. She had eased into the role so naturally that it felt like it had always been so and the girls had benefitted immeasurably. Of course, her children had also grown up along the way and that had brought a new maturity about them. But the expected tantrums and acting out that she had steeled herself for over their relationship had never really materialised.
For her own part, Andrea had started as a friend and gradually became everything that Miranda had wanted in a partner, but never dared to wish for. The girl had thrilled and excited her on every level, so deliciously that Miranda had proposed only a few months into their romance. She shivered as anticipation skittered sensually down her spine at the thought of how engaging Andrea could be, especially if the Editor were sufficiently apologetic about her recent late hours. Andrea would forgive her, she always did and they both would reap the rewards for Miranda’s thoughtfulness.
Passing along the second floor landing, she heard voices coming from Cassidy’s room and she changed direction to pay a visit to her darling girls, grateful that she had not missed the opportunity to wish them goodnight before they went to sleep.
The door was ajar when she arrived in front of it and she was about to knock, as politeness dictated, when she caught movement on Cassidy’s bed. The young girl leaned back and as Miranda shifted a little, she saw that her daughter was naked to the waist.
“Lie back and relax. I don’t want to hurt you so tell me if anything does.”
Miranda stopped dead. An icy bead of something she couldn’t quite name made her shiver violently before it settled into the nauseous pit her stomach had suddenly become.
That voice had belonged to Andrea.
She watched in horror as her wife helped Cassidy into a prone position on the covers and then leaned in to say something that made the red-head giggle nervously. Miranda hadn’t heard what it was; she couldn’t make out any of the conversation over the thundering of blood rushing through her ears. A million questions swam through her mind as she struggled to make sense of the visage.
The inevitable dawning comprehension of the situation was too much to take and as Andrea reached out to touch one pale white breast, Miranda acted on impulse. Bawling her hands into fists in barely restrained fury, she flung open the door sending it crashing into the wall behind.
The two occupants of the room sat up and screamed in fright and Cassidy attempted to shield her bare chest behind Andrea’s back, even as the brunette moved to provide the protective barrier.
“Honey, you scared the shit…um…shoot…out of us.”
Andrea stood, clutching her own, fully-clothed chest, in shock, like a seasoned harlot out of a trashy romance novel as Cassidy hurriedly shrugged on her crumpled tee-shirt.
The sight of her daughter dressing flipped a switch in Miranda’s brain and with an impressive turn of speed, she lunged across the room and belted Andrea across the face with a satisfying crack.
The young woman faltered, disbelief swimming in her eyes as the force of the hit sent her tumbling to the bed. Miranda wasted no time in pouncing on her, delivering clumsy blows one after the other to the cowering woman.
“How could you? How could you?” she cried.
“Miranda, please…” Andrea whimpered as she tried to parry the punches, “you don’t understand…”
She was dimly aware of fingers digging into her arms as their owners tried to pull her away but she wouldn’t be deterred.
“What don’t I understand, Andrea; that you’re a sexual predator preying on the innocence of a young girl?”
“Mom, no.” she heard, but it came from a long way away, so she paid it no heed. All she could see was Andrea’s hands on Cassidy’s young body again and again and it fuelled her frenzied attack.
“How long has it been going on Andrea? Whilst I’ve been staying late at the office? Is that when? All those nights you understood and commiserated with me that I couldn’t be here. Tell me; were you secretly preying on my children?”
Suddenly, she felt herself lifted and pulled back and she snapped out of her blood-lust haze long enough to stare into the scared eyes of her twin girls.
Behind them Andrea was sobbing, curled up on the bed, arms held in protection of her head and upper body. She felt the sharp stab of remorse, before she quickly squashed it under a ton of righteous fury. That woman no longer had the right to deserve her pity.
Breathing raggedly, she was dimly aware of the dull ache in her hands and took a few necessary seconds to control herself. She stepped forward, but made no attempt to push past either of her daughters.
Her entire world was unravelling. She had no frame of reference for dealing with the abuse that she imagined Cassidy would have endured, but she could understand and react to the fact that Andrea had betrayed her trust in the worst possible way. Andrea, who had seemed so perfect, so safe, for them, for her, had managed to hurt her family more deeply than anyone could have planned to.
Betrayal was something that she had guarded herself from every day of her adult life and, until now, had thought she knew exactly how to handle. Schooling her emotions behind the icy façade of the Editor in Chief of Runway, she turned cold eyes towards the stranger on her daughter’s bed.
“We’re finished.” She managed her voice steady and eerily calm, even to her own ears. “I’m calling the police. I want you out of my house and out of our lives immediately.”
Andrea shifted a little, uncoiling from her position to half-sit up. Her face was a mess; mascara ran freely down her cheeks, carrying in the tracks her tears had made.
“Miranda, I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t like that, Cassidy was just …” she began, but was unable to finish her explanation as Miranda rushed at her again and grabbed a fist full of hair.
The brunette cried out as Miranda yanked her head back painfully and brought their faces close. “You don’t get to say her name again, do you understand?” You don’t get to look at her again, or speak to her again, or touch her again.” She spat. “Now get out!”
Before the twins could get proper purchase on her again she pulled the young woman off the bed and dragged her out of the room. Andrea shrieked as Miranda’s manicured nails dug into the soft skin of her underarm through the long-sleeve of her shirt.
“No, please, Miranda…” she cried, as Miranda pushed her forward at the top of the stairs and watched as she slipped down the top three steps before catching hold of the bannister.
Andrea continued down to the ground floor quickly under her own volition as she followed; the twins hot on her heels.
“Andy, don’t go.” She heard Cassidy shout from behind her and she saw something like genuine remorse in Andrea’s eyes as she opened the front door and looked back up at them.
The young woman shook her head, “I’m sorry.” She said and walked out onto the street.
****
An hour earlier…
Cassidy took a breath as she approached her mother and Andy’s study. She was dreading this conversation, but knew that she needed to have it now or else she would lose her nerve. Crossing the threshold, she made a beeline to the chunky walnut desk and softly cleared her throat.
Andy’s eyes never left the laptop as she held up a finger that told Cassidy that she needed to wait a minute as she tapped out her current train of thought. Then she looked up, ready to give her undivided attention. That was something the young teen loved about her step-mother; she always gave a hundred per cent of her focus.
“Hey, you ok?” Andy said, concern etching her features.
Cassidy paused not knowing how to kick things off, but seeing the love in warm brown eyes she bit the bullet.
“I wanted to know if you could help me with something.”
Andy smirked, “English assignment giving you a headache already?” she teased.
Despite the situation, Cassidy smiled back. Andy had been instrumental in tutoring her through many a troublesome project, though she had actually had to do all the work herself.
“No. I...um…I just…” she felt herself blush. “It's really...you’re a woman and mom’s a woman…”
“Yeah…” Andy agreed and Cassidy could hear the caution in her response.
“Well,” she took another breath, “then you would know a lot about…breasts…”
She left the statement hanging and hoped that Andy would pick up where she was going with this without her actually having to spell it out in all its graphic glory.
Instead, Andy just looked confused. So much for that idea.
“I, guess…” Andy hedged gamely.
Cassidy tried again, “So, you would know if there was something wrong…with them…”
“Hey,” Andy said gently, leaning forward on the desk, “I know at your age you’re going through a lot of changes. Are you worried about how yours look, because I promise everyone’s different?” She gave what Cassidy assumed was a reassuring smile, but she didn’t feel particularly reassured.
“No…I…” she turned her head away in embarrassment, ashamed that her voice had very little strength to it, “I wanted to...um...I…I think I found a lump.”
To her credit Andy didn’t freak out much, though Cassidy still felt sorry for dumping her concerns on her. She’d considered confiding in Caroline but she also wanted help so the only alternatives were her mom or an appointment with the doctor. Given the topic, she wanted make sure there was something to be worried about before telling either of them. Her mom had a tendency to overreact when she or her sister had something as trivial as a cold, there was no way of knowing how badly she would handle this sort of thing. Involving Andy had to be a win-win situation; she could help determine if there was something wrong in the first place and in the event that there was, she could help to keep her mother calm.
“Are…are you sure?” Andy stammered, rounding the desk to rest a maternal hand on her shoulder.
Cassidy shook her head and sniffed as tears collected in response to the gesture. She felt herself gathered gently into a loving hug and it seemed to be all the permission she needed to open the floodgates to her emotions. She clutched Andy tightly as she cried for all the weeks of worry she had already been through and for all of the ones she might have to endure from now on.
“Hey, it’s alright.” Andy cooed over and over as she rocked her.
Eventually, she got a hold of herself and pulled back to look into compassionate eyes. Andy really was the nicest person she had ever met.
“Can you help me, Andy?” she asked shyly.
Fortunately, her step-mother understood her request and after agreeing with a nod, they made their way upstairs to the privacy of Cassidy’s bedroom.
****
Part 2