To the bones

Dragons need love too

Crying. That's all Miranda had been able to do after she and Athena went home from Paris. She tried to hide it from her daughter though. But Athena heard the cries at night and Nigel had told her how his boss would lock herself up in her office while Emily did her best to make Miranda forget about Andy.

But how could anyone forget a woman like her? And the new second assistant didn't make things better... 'Incompetents' Miranda often said, each mistake from either of the two fashionistas making their boss burst into a mess of angry tears as this only reminded her of how much she needed Andrea in both work and home life. And while Nigel was trying his hardest to make work bearable for Miranda, Athena had to do something at home.

But she soon realized that since she had got out of hospital, the efforts both Priestly women had promised to do were actually one-sided. Too happy that her mother was finally taking good care of her and showed her her love, Athena had forgotten that her mother needed support too. Miranda never had an easy life: her childhood had been a nightmare, her parents died when she was still very young and now most of the people around her hated her for what she had become (a wealthy and powerful woman ? Unacceptable in the society we live in). And with Andy gone, her life was only worse.

The thing was that Miranda had built herself a thick and strong armor over the years so the remarks and insults would never hurt her. She never let anyone approach her unless extremely trustworthy and she certainly never let anyone get to know her. Even Athena, her own child, didn't know her mother the way she thought she should.
So the question was: how was she going to help her mother overcome Andy's departure? She had no idea. And perhaps Miranda would never get through it anyway.

So in the meantime she looked for a way to make her mother feel better, Athena could only try to comfort her. And thus, one night, when she heard her mother's usual cries, she got out of bed and came into her mother's room.
'Athena ? What are you doing here sweetheart ?' Miranda asked as she tried to hide her tears.
'Can't sleep...'
'Why ?'
'Heard you cry'

Miranda sighed, a bit ashamed to look this vulnerable in front of her child. Athena hesitantly came closer.
'May I ?' She said as she walked towards the bed.
'Sure' Miranda opened the sheets so her daughter could slip under them.
Athena then took her mother's hand and none of them spoke for a while. And then the young girl broke the silence.
'Can I have a hug ?'
'Athena, what makes you think you have to ask to get a hug from me ?'
She didn't know what to answer so she huddled against her mother instead and Miranda instantly wrapped her arms around her.

They stayed this way for a long while, Miranda slowly stroking her daughter's hair.
'Why did you dyed your hair white ?' She eventually asked.
Athena used to have natural very dark blonde, almost brown hair that she liked to dye all sorts of bright colors or cover with wigs but the day they came back to New York, she had decided to dye it white.

Athena took a long breath before saying:
'Because of Nigel.'
'What did he do ?' Her mother asked suddenly angry.
'Nothing ! He just... Listen. When we went to that last gala in Paris all people kept coming at me saying 'You look so much like your mother' and all but not Nigel. When he saw me his just eyes just turned... sad and he said 'Here's your father'. And if I were to believe someone it's him cos he knew our family before I was born, he knows better than all those people. And he's right, I don't look that much like you, except for the eyes. I don't wanna look like a man I hate even though not knowing him. Besides, these people saying I look like you are the same people insulting you in your back. I thought I'd show them how much I'm proud to be your daughter.'

Miranda smiled at these last words but panicked a bit at what Athena has said before.
'Why did you say you didn't know your father ? Of course you know him !'
Athena straightened a little bit so she could switch on the light and look into her mother's eyes.
'No, mom. No more lies. After what Nigel said I spent the night looking at myself in the mirror. Michael isn't my father, I know it. He was no better than Greg or Stephen, you just married him because you thought a father figure was needed in this house. Am I wrong ?'