City Lights || Mamma Mia/Devil Wears Prada

12: The Name of the Game (part I)

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.
——————
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.