DISCLAIMER: The Devil Wears Prada and its characters belong to Lauren Weisberger and 20th Century Fox. No infringement intended.
BETA: A big thanks to Magwriterus who helped going over this!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Before and After
By pure_ecstasy6
Part 1
September 13, 2006.
16:00 EST.
Dalton School, NYC.
Andy was sitting alone at her desk in her classroom when Deb scurried inside.
"Ms. Priestly has arrived." Deb announced as she stood in front of Andy.
Andy looked up from her papers and nodded her head. "Please send her in." Andy replied with a smile.
Deb nodded her head and scurried out of the room again only to reappear a couple of seconds later with the most divine woman standing behind her.
When Andy's eye's locked with Ms. Priestly's blue orbs her heart began to beat faster and the palms of her hands had begun to sweat.
Miranda on the other hand had to remind herself to breath.
'I guess the saying "Love at first site" really can happen...' Andy thought to herself before she peeled her gaze away from Miranda to Deb who was still standing in the room and gave her a glare.
Deb's eyes widened at Andy before she got the clue and took it as her cue to leave.
Then Andy was in her classroom alone with this stunning white haired woman.
Andy cleared her throat before looking back at the white headed woman standing in front of her. "Please have a seat, Ms. Priestly." Andy said as she waved her hand in the direction of her desk.
Miranda glanced over at the small desk which had papers piled all over it before she nodded her head and glanced back at Andy and a small smile crept onto her face. "Call me Miranda." Miranda said as she made her way to the small desk and took a seat.
Andy followed suit and quickly took her place behind her desk and went on to talk about how Miranda's children were going in her Journalism class.
About half an hour later Miranda peeled her gaze away from those amazing doe brown eye's to glance at her watch and saw she should be finishing things up here and be getting back to the office. "I appreciate your time to speak with me about my daughters. They're always speaking very highly of you." Miranda said as she rose from her seat and for a moment she thought she had seen disappointment in Andy's eyes.
Before Miranda could think what she was doing she reached into her hand bag and pulled out one of her cards which had her personal home and cell number on there including her email address and fax number and handed it to Andy.
Andy reached out and grabbed the card from Miranda's hand and their fingers brushed each others' slightly before Andy cleared her throat and quickly pulled her hand away and stared down at the card "Ah. Thanks." Andy said before looking back up into those beautiful blue orbs again.
A small smile crept on Miranda's face. "I'd very much like it if we could speak again soon." Miranda said and Andy nodded her head.
"That sure would be fantastic." Andy replied with a nervous laugh and she felt her palms begin to sweat again.
"It was a pleasure meeting you Andrea." Miranda said before she turned and wandered to the door. "Feel free to call anytime." Miranda said with a smirk as she walked out of the door before Andy even got the chance to reply. Andy just stared at the closed door and then back down to the card she was still holding. "Wow..." Andy muttered under her breath.
September 13, 2006.
22:00 EST.
Andy's Apartment, Lower East Side, NYC.
Andy was sitting on the couch in her apartment thinking about her day and found herself thinking about Miranda Priestly. The gorgeous white haired woman.
Andy leaned forward and grabbed her wallet from where it had been sitting on the coffee table and then opened it to find Miranda's personal card with the womans number on it and Andy contemplated whether or not she should call her or not because part of her was dying to speak with Miranda again. Before she could decide if she should call or not, there was a knock on her apartment door.
Andy remembered that she had told Liv she should come around tonight and they could have their usual girly chats over a couple of glasses of wine and so Andy made her way over to her door and opened it to reveal her friend who was wearing a bright smile on her face.
"Hey!" Liv beamed as Andy moved to the side so that her friend could walk inside.
"G'day." Andy said and leaned in to kiss Liv's cheek. "How's things?" Andy asked.
They both walked over to the couch where they began chatting about their day and so on...
"I met Miranda Priestly today." Andy said as Liv stopped talking about Daniel.
"Oh my god! What's she like?" Liv asked as she begun to get excited.
Andy's heart skipped a beat just thinking about the woman. "She's amazing Liv. We just clicked the first moment we laid eyes on each other. And she gave me her card!" Andy replied as she picked up the card from the coffee table.
Liv just stared at her for a few moments with her mouth slightly open. "She gave you her card?" Liv asked completely shocked. "Do you know how many people would kill to have that?!" Liv added as she plucked the card out from Andy's hand to have a better look at it and she looked back up to her best friend who was blushing like crazy. "Oh my god." Liv replied with laughter. "You've got the hots for her?" Liv said and it wasn't a question she didn't even need an answer as she could read her friend like a book and could tell by Andy's facial impression that it was true.
"My my, Andy Sachs has a thing for the Editor." Liv added smirking.
"Shut up!" Andy replied still blushing as she playfully nudged her friend and then Liv was suddenly chatting about Daniel again and Andy couldn't help but let out a sigh as she listened to her friends ranting.
".... I mean you think he could at least propose to me already!" Liv was saying as Andy replied with "Mhm." And "Oh yeah." At the appropriate times but her mind really kept drifting to Miranda.
September 13, 2006.
23:00 EST.
Miranda's Townhouse. Upper East Side. NYC.
Miranda was sitting in the study on the first floor of her townhouse as she went over "The Book" for the evening as Emily had just dropped it by not long before.
Miranda found that she could not concentrate as her eye's kept lingering to the phone as she wished Andrea Sachs would call her. She had not been able to stop thinking about the woman which was insane -she thought- as she was married, straight, and had twin daughters she told herself but still that didn't matter; she wanted to talk to Andrea...badly.
With a sigh Miranda closed "The Book." Pushing it aside, she laid her head on the back of her chair and closed her eyes and what she saw behind her eyes was the younger brunette woman. With an even more frustrated sigh Miranda opened her eyes and stood from her chair and made her way up the staircase of the townhouse to the second floor where she walked down the hallway towards her girls' rooms and checked on them and saw that they were sound asleep. On her way back towards her room she passed Stephen's office and noticed the light that crept out from underneath the door and she let out a sigh as she knew he'd probably be drunk. She'd hoped that he'd just stay in there for the night as she could not be bothered to have to deal with him tonight. So, Miranda made her way down the end of the hall way to her bedroom where she got herself ready to turn in for the night.
September 18, 2006.
10:00AM EST.
Runway Offices, Elias-Clarke, NYC.
Five days later after her encounter with Miranda Priestly, Andy found herself walking through the Elias-Clarke building, hopping inside an elevator and pressing the button for the 18th floor. Soon enough she found herself standing in the offices of Runway staring down a snooty English woman.
"If you could just tell her I'm here, I'm sure she won't mind seeing me." Andy said to the English woman who wouldn't budge.
"I'm sorry but I can't do that. Miranda is busy and does not want to be interrupted." The woman replied to Andy and Andy let out a frustrated sigh as she took another glance around the fancy offices as she tried to buy some more time of something else to say to convince this woman to let her see Miranda.
Miranda had been sitting behind her desk in her Office when she heard her voice and her heart begun to beat faster and had to will herself to calm her breathing as she had rapidly begun to breathe faster.
"Look I'm sorry but you don't have an appointment so I can't let you in." Miranda heard Emily saying and then heard Andy let out a small sigh.
"Emily." Miranda said just above a whisper.
Emily jumped at the voice and pulled her gaze away from the annoying brunette woman who found she wanted to stare her down and try and let her see Miranda when she heard Miranda's voice and she jumped into action and rounded her desk before opening the double doors to Miranda's office. "Yes Miranda?" Emily asked as she hovered in the door way.
"Tell Andrea that I'd like to see her. That's all." Miranda said without even looking up at Emily.
"Right." Emily replied and nodded her head before she quickly turned back around and scurried back into the outer officers where she gave Andy a glare before speaking to her. "She wants to see you." Emily said.
Andy who had sat down on a chair nodded at Emily before she grabbed her brief case and purposefully moved slowly towards Miranda's office as she tried to calm her own breathing down.
"Move!" Emily hissed at her before she glanced down at her brief case. "This is fowl! Don't let her see it." Emily added as she moved forward to grab Andy's brief case and put it on the desk a little too roughly.
Andy hurried inside to Miranda's office and the moment she laid eyes on the older woman all thoughts of what she had wanted to say left her mind and she couldn't think of anything to say when she opened her mouth.
When Miranda sensed that she was not alone in her office she glanced up over her glasses and a small smile crept on her face before she quickly managed to hide it and she took her glasses off and set them down gently on her glass see-through desk.
"Andrea. What a pleasant surprise." Miranda said to Andy and Andy jumped slightly but not at all visibly when she heard Miranda's soft calm voice speak her name. "Ah yes. Well I was in the area and well you know I remembered seeing on your card that your office was nearby The Mirror and...I know I should have called first but it was an impulse decision and so...here I am!" Andy trailed off as she babbled on nervously and Miranda couldn't help but not hide the smirk which now appeared on her face.
When Andy saw Miranda's smirk she stopped talking. "Oh gosh and now I'm babbling like an idiot." Andy said as her cheeks turned a slight colour of red.
Miranda let out a low chuckle but before she could reply Emily -who Andy assumed was Miranda's assistant- was knocking on Miranda's office doors. "I'm sorry to interrupt Miranda but everyone's here for the run through." Emily said as she once again hovered in the door way.
"As you can see I'm busy at the moment. Tell them to wait." Miranda replied and Emily's jaw dropped open. "But Miranda, They're...." Emily said but Miranda cut her off as Andy watched. "No, no buts, you will tell them to wait Emily." Miranda said. "That's all." she added firmly.
Emily nodded and quickly scurried out.
The whole time that Emily was standing in Miranda's door way, Miranda's eyes had not once left Andy's to acknowledge the assistant and Andy still couldn't help the blush which was still lingering on her cheeks.
"I should probably let you get back to work." Andy said after a few silent seconds went by.
"Mmm. I should get back to work." Miranda replied with a small chuckle before standing up from her chair and walked around her desk so she was standing in front of her desk as she leaned against it and faced Andy and gave her a small smile before speaking. "My girls will be away at their Father's this weekend and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me at my townhouse on Saturday evening?" Miranda asked Andy and the question suprised her a little. "I mean that is if you're not busy or..." Miranda trailed off.
Andy beamed with happiness and joy. "Offcourse. I'd love to, Miranda!" Andy replied smiling at the older woman. "What time would you like me?" Andy asked.
Miranda let out a sigh of relief when she heard Andy's quick reply. "Good. I can have my driver pick you up at 7PM sharp." Miranda replied.
"Oh no...that's alright. I can get there myself. If I remember correctly you're in the Upper East Side?" Andy asked but cursed at herself at the stupid question; '...Of course she lives in the Upper East Side, duh..!' Andy thought to herself. "I mean, of course you do...Haha." Andy said nervously. "I'll actually be visiting my best friend on Saturday afternoon at her apartment in the Upper East Side so I can leave her place a bit before 7." Andy replied smiling.
Miranda nodded and before she could say anything Andy stepped closer to her and invaded her personal space and leaned in to kiss her cheek and Miranda's breath hitched as she felt the younger woman's lips on her cheek.
When Andy stepped away Miranda narrowed her eyes at Andy and Andy felt another blush appearing on her face. "Well...." Miranda said and Andy nodded.
"I should get going. Have a wonderful day and I'll see you on Saturday evening." Andy replied before spinning around on her right foot and walking through the outer offices without giving a single glance to any of the people who were standing around and headed towards the elevators.
Miranda who had finally calmed her fast pacing heart beat and steadied her breathing, called Emily inside with the run through crew and began barking at the incompetence for the next couple of hours.
To Be Continued