of a nerd?

"You remember me. How touching." Jessica looked Miranda up and down as if sizing her up for something. "I thought you would have forgotten all about me, like you did when you tied me up and left me naked in the janitor's closet." She circled around Miranda like a lion stalking its prey. "And you have the nerve to ask me why I am here."

"Listen, if it's about the past.." Jessica didn't give her a chance to finish.

"I don't want to hear your fake apologies. You're not getting off the hook for all the things you did to me that easy." Jessica's face was scrunched in anger. But as quickly as her anger had appeared, it was gone.

"Jessica, can't we just sit down and talk about this?" Miranda pleaded.

"Sure! Open your door, and let's go inside and have a nice friendly chat over tea and crumpets." Jessica smiled sarcastically.

One thing Miranda didn't want was to stand outside where all the neighbors could see what was going on. If she could just get Jessica inside, maybe she could calm her down, and they could have a nice long talk. She put her key in the door, and opened it. She walked through the door, and turned. "Please, come in Jessica. I really would like to talk things out."

Jessica entered the house, and Miranda showed her to the living room. "Just have a seat. I'll make us some drinks. Is Jack and Coke all right?"

"Sure. That'll be fine" came Jessica's answer.

Miranda left the room, and took a long deep breath. She made her way to the kitchen where she grabbed two tumblers. She took a bottle of Jack Daniels, and filled each tumbler about a quarter of the way. Then she pulled two cans of Coke out of the fridge, and poured it on top of the Jack. She wanted to make a strong drink, but not overly strong. She picked up the drinks, and headed back to the living room.

When Miranda entered the living room she found Jessica looking at a photo of her three children. "I see you have kids" Jessica commented.

"Yes, they're my pride and joy." Miranda handed one of the tumblers to Jessica. She took a sip from her own drink.

"Married?" Jessica inquired as she took a sip of her drink.

"Divorced, actually. You'll probably get a thrill out of this. He left me for a Latin hottie."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but I didn't get a thrill out of it. I always thought you were beautiful, and I still think you are. You didn't deserve to be treated that way. No woman does."

Not knowing what else to say Miranda said "Thank you Jessica."

Jessica smiled at her for the first time. "You're welcome." She took a drink, then went on. "When I first came here, I was mad and all I wanted was ****. Now I'm not so sure. But I would like to tell you some things you never knew." She sat down on the sofa. "I always admired you, and looked up to you. Even when you were mean to me. I just wanted to be your friend. I guess it just wasn't meant to happen."

"I never knew you felt that way. I never even stopped to consider how you felt" Miranda admitted. She sat down beside Jessica. "I wish I could go back and change everything, but I can't."

"Hey. listen! It's all right. It's also because of you that I turned out to be something more than a mousy little nerd girl. What you did for me is worth all of the things you did to me."

Miranda looked at Jessica, a bit confused. "I don't understand."

"What you did for me was give me the initiative I needed to turn my life around. Right now, I am a very successful model who has her own modeling agency. I have all the glitz and glamour that I can handle, and it's because of you. The way you treated me drove me to be a better person. I wanted to say thank you."

Miranda bowed her head in shame. "I can't say you're welcome, because that wouldn't be the right thing to say. I'm glad things turned out so well for you. I really am."

Jessica lifted up Miranda's chin, and smiled. "Thank you. I know you are. I also wanted to ask you to come and work for me."

"Me?" Miranda was startled by this.

"You are still one of the most beautiful girls I know. You're top model material. With the money you could make you'd be financially independent of your ex and his Latin slut in no time. What do you say? Will you come and work for me?"