A/N: The ones in bold are flashbacks and yes even if they're scattered throughout the chapter, that's just one event that was cut so that I can insert things happening in the present.
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Miranda Priestly was the type of woman that always got what she had wanted. She was not used to hearing the word—no. That's probably why Sam Carmichael drives her crazy. He never says yes to Miranda Priestly. In the two years that they were together, Sam was in charge. He was not bossy nor demanding. He was actually sweet and supportive. The best husband and father to their growing family. He just always wanted what was best for their family. Sam was the best thing that happened to Miranda. It was unfortunate that she hadn't realized it sooner. She had chosen her career over her family. She knew that it wasn't ideal or the smartest thing to do. Sam and the kids made her happy, yet she gave that up. Miranda, at that time, was afraid of losing everything she had worked for, so she accepted the job offer to go to Paris. That's why she left. By the time she got there, Miranda realized that she may have gained a flourishing career, but she had lost her family.
The worst part was it was already too late for her to change her mind.
Once Sam and Miranda were able to reach the elevator, Miranda looked straight into Sam's eyes. He was confused.
"What are we doing Miranda?" You can hear the anger and confusion in his tone.
"I thought maybe you would like to have something to eat. After, we are going to go to Tiffany's to get the necklace I had made for the girls. I was going to ask my assistant to do it, but then I realized that you could join me. You can help me figure out if Olivia would like what I had chosen. And maybe around 5, we would have Roy bring us to the Brooklyn." She paused. "The details for that trip would need to be a surprise." She added.
"You're unbelievable." Sam ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm not in the mood to play these games with you Miranda." Sam was now frustrated. "If you have a busy day ahead of you then count me out because I did not sign up for this." He leaned on the far end corner of the elevator trying to say as far away from her as he could.
"I had already canceled all my plans." Miranda said nonchalantly. "These are things I normally do on a regular day."
Sam glared at her. He didn't have the time for this. He did not want this. He just wanted to talk to Miranda about Olivia. He wanted this to be a quick meeting, and it should be. Miranda has not been a constant presence in Olivia's life. Miranda did not even pay any child support; not that Sam needed help. Aside from the random gifts Olivia got from her mother, there was no monetary contribution coming from the famous Runway editor. Sam knew there was no chance in hell that Miranda could get Olivia.
Sam took a step closer to Miranda. He looked at her straight in the eye.
"Listen to me. We both know that you have no chance in hell to get custody of my daughter. Also, you won't even dare to risk another scandal. Seeing as Stephen is already planning to file for divorce. So why don't we just make this quick?"
Sam and Miranda had both unconsciously started stepping back. Now, Miranda's back was already pressed up at the end of the wall. Sam slowly went down to her level. Their eyes were at the same level, and so were their lips.
"What do you really want from me Miranda?" Sam whispered.
Miranda suddenly froze. Her throat went dry. She had already been eyeing her ex since she had seen him in her office. This was pushing her over the edge.
Sam felt how uncomfortable Miranda was getting, so he cleared his throat and started to back away. He didn't need to corner her.
"Fine! We'll do what you want, but that's only if we also talk about what happened between us before I left for Greece." Sam said accepting his defeat. He knew that Miranda was the type of person that hated to share the details of her life. If Sam won't push the topic, then they won't talk about it. That's just how things worked. At least this way, Sam would get to explain to Miranda what he felt for her then and what he felt for her now.
"You have got yourself a deal Mr. Carmichael" Miranda replied in a flirty way.
She had not felt this way in a really long time. Probably the last time she had felt this way was when she first met Sam.
November 19, 1996
"Do I really have to go out with her?" Sam asked one last time.
"Yes!" His mother and his brother said in unison.
Sam's brother, Luke, turned the door knob.
Sam rolled his eyes. "Maybe it isn't too late to cancel." He tried again.
"It is." Elizabeth yelled as she fixed Sam's collar.
"What if the boys need me? I promised Nate that I'll read him the book that he likes, and well James always has to wear his special pajamas when he goes to bed" Sam was stubborn.
"Well Luke and Emily will be here to watch the kids." His mother replied dryly. They didn't have time for Sam's games.
As soon as Elizabeth found Sam's appearance to be acceptable, she had motioned for her other son to open the door.
"Time to go Sammy." Luke said to try and annoy his brother. Luke was Sam's older brother, and they have always been very close. They both studied architecture. They even worked at the same firm. It was owned by their grandfather, but still. They need to work for their rightful position. Their grandfather wanted them to earn it.
Elizabeth grabbed Sam's coat and threw it at him. "Go or you'll be late."
"I really don't want to go." Sam tried one last time.
Luke just laughed and closed the door. Completely locking Sam out of his own house.
"That's just great" Sam muttered.
Sam didn't want to go on this date, or any date as a matter of fact. He had just gotten promoted, and the boys were at the age wherein they always wanted to play. Sam didn't have the time or energy to get into a new relationship. Plus he didn't want to introduce anyone new to the boys just yet. They are both still very much traumatized by the divorce. Introducing someone new that could potentially be their new mom was just not ideal for Sam right now.
The restaurant Aileen, his date, had chosen was not far from Sam's house, so he had decided to just walk to avoid the Friday night downtown Manhattan traffic. As he was walking, Sam heard a familiar tune. There was a street performer playing an Irish March song on the bagpipes. Sam couldn't help but smile.
No one really liked the sound of bagpipes. A familiar voice in his head whispered. Donna said that to him years ago. Donna Sheridan. The bagpipes reminded him of that enchanting and life changing summer. Where could she be right now? Sam thought to himself.
He shook his head to try to get himself to stop thinking about her. It took him a long time to get back to his life before he met her. I can't go back down that path again. He can't go back to falling for her again. He has the boys to think about now. He can't just drop everything and go searching for Donna; even if he really wanted to.
Maybe this date wasn't such a bad idea. True that this woman probably won't be the one he'll end up with, but it's a start.
"Sam?" Miranda called out. "Coming?"
Sam was so distracted that he had not realized that they had already reached the ground floor of the building. He just nodded then proceeded to follow her lead. The pair quickly walked out the Elias-Clark; still gaining head turns and unsubtle whispers along the way.
"So where are we going?" Sam asked as he tried to keep up with Miranda's pace.
"We are going to that place that was in paper last week. I have already asked Emily to get us reservations." Miranda replied.
"Oh no!" Sam had completely stopped.
Miranda had noticed Sam, and since she was a few steps ahead of him, she needed to walk back towards him. "What's wrong?" She asked half annoyed.
"It's just you have horrible taste in food." Sam admitted.
Miranda's has dropped. She was honestly offended by his statement. She was always invited to go to all the new and trendy restaurants. How could he say that?
"Excuse me?" She replied in her typical monotoned manner.
"It's just that you don't actually eat much. You only eat fishes and salads, so you shouldn't be given a chance to vote on the matter." Sam joked.
"I beg your pardon! Our daughter eats the same things I do. Does she not have a vote in your house too!?" Miranda is starting to get defensive.
"Our daughter doesn't eat like you." Sam said trying to hide his smile. He loved to annoy Miranda.
"She does!" Miranda tried to convince him once again. However, Sam couldn't contain his amusement. "I am not having this conversation with you right now." Miranda's tone was now more annoyed than normal.
"Alright fine. We'll go to the place you want to go." Sam let himself laugh. "Hey Olives! She loves Chicken and Waffles by the way. It's her favorite." Sam said casually to make Miranda feel better. Her mood would always get better whenever he would mention little facts about Olivia.
Although, the shift in her mood was not caused by the little trivia about their daughter. He had called her Olives.
"That was quite possibly the worst date I have ever been on." Aileen said angrily to Sam.
"Well you did choose the place." Sam bit back.
Her jaw dropped. Sam had been a complete gentleman all night long even with all the commotion. She was not expecting that snarky comment from him.
"I'm just going to get a cab home." Sam's date announces.
Sam nodded. Being the perfect gentleman that he his, he steps closer to the curb and hailed her a cab.
"We should try this again sometime." Aileen suggested.
Sam wasn't really interested in her, but thought it would be rude to decline her offer in front of the cab.
"Maybe" Sam said nonchalantly.
Aileen nodded and got into her cab.
There was no kiss goodbye or any greetings to formally end the night.
The night was an absolute disaster. Sam started to laugh. Only he could have a date as bad as that. It was not humanly possible that things like her dress catching on fire, the waiter dropping their food on his suit, the wine spilling all over the table would all happen in one date.
Sam looked at his watch. 8:45pm. "And just when I thought the date was bad enough." He whispered to himself. The date was so terrible and it happened to be under 45 minutes. That's definitely a first. He thought. At least now, he has a good funny story to tell. Sam can't wait to tell all of this to Luke.
"Oh shit" A blonde woman in a designer coat yelled. She was wearing heels that were probably too tall for New York standards. Then again people here loved their designer things. She had dropped all of her groceries, and some were already rolling towards the street.
Sam saw the desperation in her, and since they were in the glitzy part of the city, Sam knew that no one would be walking around here anytime soon. He rushed over there to help her.
She placed her tote bag to the side, and started to pick things up when Sam arrived.
"Need some help?" Sam offered. However, it was not a question. Sam was already crouching to the ground and picking up the vegetables that were on the ground.
"No no I can do it by myself." She replied.
Sam ignored her.
The woman was grateful for Sam. Her boss, Irv Ravitz, had asked her to come to his house to bring him the book and his weekly groceries. Even if Miranda was already slowly climbing up to the top, her boss was still her boss and if wanted to make a salad with the stuff he asked her to buy then be it.
Sam handed over the things that she had dropped. "Here you go."
"Thank you."
They both stood up at the same time. They were strangers who happened to be walking down the same route. They didn't need to have any formal greeting to say goodbye, nor did they actually have to talk to one another.
However, they were able to observe each other. She noticed his strong built. He noticed her beautiful blue eyes. She noticed his gorgeous smile. He noticed her intriguing lips.
"Thank you for helping me, but I really must be going." The woman blurred out.
"Yes of course." Sam muttered, but before he could finish, she had already ran off.
Sam was stunned by the whole thing. She was beautiful. As Sam was observing her, he carefully glanced at her left hand to check if she had a ring on. She didn't. Sam mentally kicked himself. You didn't even get her name you idiot. How do expect to see her again? He was now trying to create a hundred reasons as to why he would be following her. He scanned around to look for ideas, and there it was.
She had left a bottle of olives. Sam knew it was a lame excuse but he knew that it was still an excuse to go and follow her. He picked up the olives and started walking to the direction she had gone.
"So can we both just please go and eat?" Miranda rolled her eyes.
"Okay." Sam replied as they both walked towards the car.
Once they were seated, Miranda looked straight at Sam and smiled.
"What did I do now?" Sam asked in a playful tone.
"Nothing." Miranda tried to hide her smile.
Sam scooted closer to her. "What have I done to gain such a smile, Dragon Lady?"
"Dragon Lady?" She pretended to be offended. "What happened to Olive?" She said in a flirty tone.
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Hello again! I will be dividing this chapter into 2 parts because this part alone is already over 2 thousand words and I don't wanna bore you.
Anyway I hoped you liked it.