Andy had barely sat down from a long day of looking through records at the court house when she heard the dulcet tones of her editor, wafting through the bullpen.

"SACHS!"

She sighed and dragged herself into the bellowing man's office, "Yes, Chief?" Andy grinned because she knew the man kind of liked the nickname. It was appropriate too, because Andy thought he was a perfect blend of the fictional editors Perry White, from Superman and J. Jonah Jameson from Spiderman.

She was exhausted and her eyes hurt from looking at microfiche records, plus she'd barely had any sleep last night. After leaving Miranda's yesterday she had walked around the city for hours, then spent most of the night thinking about all the possibilities of dating Miranda. Some of them were more pleasant than others but she still hadn't decided what to do about the astounding offer and so she hadn't phoned, emailed or texted Miranda since she'd left the townhouse yesterday. "What's up?" She noticed a single pink rose with streaks of red running through it, in a vase on his desk, and grinned, "Secret admirer?"

He grunted and barked at her, "You know that article you wrote about the resort..."

"Yeah, kinda hard to forget since I nearly killed myself after the interview, driving home on icy roads..."

"Well, it's crap." He leaned back and watched her, "It was so crappy I sent it to a friend of mine at another paper and he laughed so hard he sent it on to a friend of his at AP..." His eyes twinkled at her flaring nostrils, saw her hands beginning to become fists at her sides and softened his voice somewhat, "It's going on the front page tomorrow... and will be in my buddy's paper the next day and will probably be online via AP soon." He chuckled as he watched the wheels in Andy's head grind to a halt and her hands slowly relaxed. "So be expecting some checks in the mail." He cautioned, "but you still work here... so go.. write..."

Andy smiled and saluted, "You got it, Chief." She started to turn to leave when he grunted again.

"Sachs..."

"Hmm...?"

Pointing to the flower, he told her, "That's for you."

Laughing, Andy picked up the bud vase, "Thanks, Chief... I didn't know you cared."

"Pffft," He growled, "It's not from me. It came while you were gone. I don't do that mushy junk..."

"How is it you're still single?" Andy grinned and sniffed the flower. She was a bit puzzled by the fragrance and tried, for a moment, to place the oddly familiar scent before looking at the card. Her grin morphed into a soft smile.

"Taymor misses you.

M"

Andy carried the flower back to her desk and placed it next to her computer, so that she could see it easily while she worked. It was beautiful, but still had its thorns which was only right as far as Andy was concerned. Stripping a rose of its thorns was not as terrible as declawing a cat, but it was the same concept. People wanted the pretty, without the possibility of hurt. A rose with its thorns, was an apt metaphor for Miranda. But then, so was a cat with its claws. She was beautiful with the capability of hurting anyone trying to handle her. They all had to protect themselves somehow, right? With a long, long look at the rose, Andy examined the feeling she got when she looked at it and read the note, then decided. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket, Andy began to compose a message and smiled.

Miranda

Tell Tay I'll be in the park in an hour. He knows where.

A

Isabel sat at her desk quietly contemplating which Miranda she was more afraid of, the one last week that raged against everything, or the one in Miranda's office right now. The Miranda today had barely said two words, the walk from the elevator to the office had been eerily quiet. The atmosphere in the office was one of, waiting. It was so quiet that Isabel heard Miranda's phone buzz but didn't hear her answer, so she decided it must have been a text message. Moments later Miranda was stalking out of her office.

"Coat, purse."

The hapless second assistant scrambled to retrieve the items and Miranda turned to Isabel. "I am out of the office for the next two hours." Taking her coat and purse from the current Emily, Miranda continued out of the office, calling her final order over her shoulder, "Coffee when I return."

Isabel watched their boss leave and then relaxed slightly. Two hours without the tension of Miranda's presence was like a gift, even if it did mean a late night, and Isabel wasn't going to ignore it. Relaxing back into her seat, Isabel closed her eyes for just a moment.

"Where do you think she went?"

Opening her eyes, Isabel looked at the new Emily and shook her head. "None of our business, just be glad she's gone for a while." Gesturing toward the computer, she ordered the girl, "Watch the time. Miranda said she'd be back in two hours, so make sure you leave to get the coffee before that."

"Right," She set the alarm to warn her when it was time to go, "I'll leave twenty minutes before..."

"I heard there used to be an assistant who could get the coffee and get back in under nine minutes." Isabel grinned at the astonishment on her co-worker's face.

"No way!"

Shrugging, Isabel laughed, "I got it straight from Emily Charleton, she worked as Miranda's assistant at the time."

"Well how'd... she do it so fast?"

Isabel held up her hands, "Emily didn't know and the girl, Andrea, never said, but Emily clocked her one time... from the first step out the door to setting the coffee on Miranda's desk, eight minutes and forty-six seconds."

"Wow..." The current Emily sighed, "Andrea must be some kind of wonder woman."

At this moment, Andy would have laughed at the Emily's description of her because she felt like anything but a Wonder Woman. She was so nervous, she thought she was going to throw up. Her knee was shaking so bad she had to put her hand on it to stop the tremors. What if she doesn't show up... A bit of terror sped up her heart, What if Miranda thinks I was just being a smartass... Oh God, Andy rested her elbows on her knees, threaded her fingers through her hair and studied the concrete between her feet, I don't want her to think I was being a bitch... I was just playing along with the joke... She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice someone sitting next to her until they spoke.

"Taymor sends his regrets."

Andy gasped and sat up quickly, "Miranda!" Without thinking, Andy wrapped her arms around Miranda's shoulders and hugged the older woman tightly.

Miranda returned the embrace and chuckled, "I wasn't expecting such a dramatic welcome."

"Oh!" Andy backed off quickly, "Um.. Sorry, I just... um..." She sighed, "I was worried you might think I was being a smartass or something, with my reply..." Andy smiled. "Thank you... for the flower."

Slipping her hand into Andrea's, Miranda's lips formed a soft smile, "You are welcome, Andrea." She clasped the younger woman's hand between her own gloved ones, "Andrea, your hands are freezing... I can feel the cold through my gloves!" She was appalled at the oversight, "Where are your gloves?"

"I never could find them after the accident." Andy shrugged, "I haven't had a chance to get another pair, I just stick my hands in my pockets." Now that Miranda had said something though, Andy began to feel the cold. She shivered and instinctively moved closer to Miranda. "I like this bench."

"Why is that, Andrea?"

Pulling her other hand from her pocket, Andy pointed toward the sky, "Because of the sunsets."

Miranda looked to see that the sky had indeed turned from the winter blue it had been into several shades of orange and red. "Ah..." Miranda rubbed the hand in hers, "A good reason," She smirked, "If you like sunsets."

"Well I do." Andy watched the colors in the sky slowly shift but almost her entire concentration was focused on her hand in Miranda's. She shifted a tiny bit closer to the older woman and laughed, "And what would the Emily's say if they knew you'd left work to hold hands with me in the park?"

Miranda moved a bit closer, crossing their arms at the elbows as she continued to warm Andrea's hand in hers, "Andrea, when have the Emily's opinions of me ever mattered to me?"

"Never." Andy sighed, knowing that was true even when she had been an Emily. But suddenly that reality hit home. "Miranda, should we be doing this... in public I mean." Looking around, Andy didn't see anyone with cameras. "What if someone sees us and gets the wrong idea?"

"What idea would that be, Andrea?"

"That we are... you know... together." Andy sighed, "I mean... we might be, sometime in the future, but now... we are just... I dunno what, but..." The air left her lungs for a moment and she paused to catch her breath before asking, "Why are you smiling?"

"You think we might be together, in the future?" Miranda smiled wider, "You're going to give us a chance?"

Andy's breath caught in her throat and she was mesmerized. Licking her lips, Andy composed herself and spoke. "I want to tell you something, but I don't want you to take it the wrong way..." She felt a small stab of pain in her heart as Miranda's smile disappeared.

"Alright," Miranda steeled herself, lifting her chin slightly, "Go ahead."

Leaving her left hand where it was, firmly in Miranda's grasp, Andy pulled her right hand out of her pocket and gently cupped Miranda's cheek, brushing her thumb lightly across Miranda's lips, "You're beautiful when you smile, Miranda. You should do it more often."

Leaning into the touch, Miranda locked her gaze with Andrea's and smiled again, "I believe I might. So long as you are around to give me something to smile about." Pulling out of the touch, Miranda asked, "How could I take that the wrong way?"

Andy grinned, "I thought you might think I didn't find you beautiful when you weren't smiling. Because I do, and you are... but when you smile," Andy swallowed hard and admitted, "You take my breath away."

"Andrea..." Miranda felt herself moving closer, focusing on Andrea's lips, then Andrea shifted away.

Gazing toward the fading red sky, Andy spoke quietly, "I'm not going to kiss you." She smiled at the small sound Miranda made and turned to face the older woman, adding. "Not yet."

Nodding once, Miranda understood and murmured, "Too soon."

Andy did not confirm or deny that assessment. It was too soon, but that wasn't the only reason she was holding back. It was, however, the only reason she would admit to at the moment.

Miranda licked her lips, "Have dinner with me?"

"When?"

Miranda just stopped herself from saying "Tonight.", instead she pretended to think about it and named the day and place. "Friday, at the townhouse." It was almost four days away, but Miranda was sure she could deal with that minor annoyance appropriately.

"I would love to." Andy squeezed the hand that had never left hers, "I'll see you on Friday then." She stood, bringing Miranda up with her. "Thank you, for meeting me here."

"Thank you, Andrea, for sharing the sunset with me." She looked to see that the sky had lost most of its color into the blackness of night. "They are fleeting things aren't they? I appreciate you spending this time with me, even though I..."

"Prefer sunrises," Andy finished the sentence and grinned, "I know."

With a step forward, Miranda could feel the heat from Andrea's body, "I am beginning to have a certain appreciation for sunsets." She didn't release their hands and asked, "Need a ride?"

"No," Andy gestured over her shoulder, "I'm going back to the office for a while. It's out of your way to go to the townhouse."

"Ah," Miranda laughed, "But I'm going back to Elias-Clark this evening as well." She grinned, "I left rather abruptly earlier. I must finish my work."

"What about the girls?" Andy was appalled that her impromptu meeting had taken Miranda's time away from her children.

"They are spending the evening at a friend's house. Samantha is with them." Miranda assured the younger woman, "I will be home to greet them when they return."

"You're a wonderful mother, Miranda. Half the time my mother never knew where we were or what we were doing..." Andy saw a tiny shift of Miranda's eyes as one of the automatic lights lining the pathway flickered on.

Suddenly a series of memories flashed through her head. Andy recalled the house, when the power was out, she hadn't realized it because the room Miranda was in was so brightly lit. She recalled the mad dash drive back to the city when it seemed as though Miranda was racing the sun. She realized that Miranda had been very tense on the drive back to the house the next weekend. Thinking about their one rest stop, she realized that Miranda had stayed well within the lit area's of the small park that Patricia had loved so much. Maybe the reason Miranda didn't care for sunsets was because afterward, it's dark.

The revelation hit Andy hard and it gave Miranda a humanity that many people didn't realize was even present, Miranda doesn't like the dark. She wouldn't go so far as to think that Miranda was afraid of the dark, but the woman definitely didn't like it.

"And since you're going that direction anyway, I would love a ride." Andy twisted slightly and wrapped her arm around Miranda's, linking their elbows as well as their hands. Andy knew that although there were street lights illuminating the pathways, there were surely patches of darkness between here and Miranda's car. Patches she was not about to let Miranda walk through, alone. "Shall we?"

"Of course," Miranda leaned against Andrea as they walked toward the Porsche, especially when they were out of the comforting circles of light.

Miranda looked up from her perusal of the Book as her children rushed into the room.

"Mom!" Caroline rushed to Miranda's side, "How'd it go?"

"Yeah," Cassidy was also curious, "What happened?"

"Hello to you too." Miranda looked past them to the diligent bodyguard, "Thank you, Samantha."

Bowing slightly, Sam grinned, "You're welcome." She waved at the girls, "See you tomorrow..."

They all heard the front door close and Miranda regarded her eager children thoughtfully, "I should never have told you that I was meeting Andrea this evening."

"What... but..." Caroline stopped her protest at Miranda's upraised hand.

"Your intervention has made me aware of the need to initiate a relationship with Andrea," Miranda pressed her lips into a tight line for a moment then shook her head, "But there are aspects of that relationship that must remain between Andrea and me..." She raised her eyebrow, "I did not keep you appraised of my activities with Stephen..."

Caroline started to protest, but Cassidy stopped her, "She's right, Ro." Cassidy shrugged, "It's none of our business."

"We are involved! Andy is going to be part of our family!" Caroline sighed as both her mother and sister gave her a look she knew all too well. Miranda's next statement helped alleviate some of the the tension Caroline was feeling.

"There will be times that Andrea will spend with us, as a family. But there will be other times when Andrea and I are alone. Those times are for us, the details of which will not be discussed."

"Right." Cassidy bumped her sister's shoulder with her own, "C'mon, Ro... Give Mom a chance to do what we asked."

"I..." Caroline realized what her sister was saying, "Okay... I get it."

Miranda relaxed slightly as the girls understood she would need time alone with Andrea. She also realized that they would want to know what was happening in her life. Details were not appropriate, but general plans could be divulged. "I will be having dinner with Andrea, Friday night."

"Yeah?" Caroline asked, "Where?"

"Here." Miranda cautioned. "I hope to be much further into the relationship before the press becomes part of the mix."

"Right." Cassidy and Caroline had discussed what a circus the Press would be for a long time before they'd even confronted their Mom with their idea. "C'mon, Ro. Let's go get ready for bed."

"Maybe, one night," Caroline suggested, "we could all have dinner together."

Nodding at that, Miranda smiled, "Excellent suggestion... I'm sure that can be arranged at some point. Andrea seemed amicable to spending time with all of us."

"Cool." Caroline kissed Miranda's cheek, "G'night, Mom."

Cassidy kissed Miranda's other cheek, "Sweet dreams, Mom."

"Good night, my Darlings..." Miranda watched them head up the stairs. "Sweet dreams." For a moment, Miranda wished that the girls were still young enough to tuck into bed. She still did, occasionally, and they always allowed it. But often, as they had done this evening, they said their goodnights down here and put themselves to bed.

They were growing so fast. Miranda took a deep breath as she realized why the girls were so adamant about she and Andrea getting together. They want a family, a real family, and they're running out of time to have one. She had meant to take things slowly, and would, but now understanding the time aspect of the undertaking, Miranda decided that a little pressure might not be such a bad thing.

Andy rushed around her apartment like a crazy woman. She had spent another sleepless night thinking about Miranda and had only managed to doze in the very early morning hours. Now she had to hurry or she was going to be late for work. She could just tell, this was going to be a sucky day. She was just pulling on her coat when the intercom buzzed. Pushing the button she responded, "Yes?"

"Andrea Sachs?"

"Yes?" Andy made sure she had her keys and her ID.

"Delivery."

"Huh?" Rolling her eyes, she didn't have time to think about what someone might be delivering to her or who it may have been sent by. "Hold on.. I'll be right down."

The clean cut delivery man was waiting patiently for her when she exited the building. "You have a package for me?"

"Andrea Sachs?" He held a clipboard and a pen toward her when she nodded affirmatively. "Sign here."

She signed and accepted a smallish, box. "Thank you."

He touched the brim of his hat with his gloved fingertips and smiled, "Have a nice day."

Andy looked at the box as she walked. There was no return address, but she shrugged and opened it, laughing out loud at the contents. There was a note lying on top.

"Andrea,

Although I am not adverse to holding your hands to warm them, perhaps these will do when I cannot be there?

M "

Tucking the note into her pocket, Andy removed the soft leather gloves from the box and slid them onto her hands. They had a thin lining of soft fleece and were incredibly warm. She pulled her phone from her pocket and was amazed to find that the gloves fit well enough that she was able to type a text with them on. Sending the message quickly, Andy walked down the steps to the subway station with a slightly lighter attitude. This day wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Where is that girl with my coffee? Is she growing the beans herself?"

Emily, the real Emily, smirked at the familiar complaint and strode past Isabel's desk. She laid a folder on Miranda's desk, "The designs you requested."

Miranda reached for them, "At least someone around here can do their job." She opened the file and began to peruse the contents.

Smiling at that, Emily actually asked, "Anything else I can do for you, Miranda?"

Before any kind of sarcastic response could be formulated, Miranda's phone indicated an incoming text message. She read the message and a small smile touched her lips as she absently answered Emily's question, "No, Emily. Thank you. That will be all." She knew Emily had left her office, but paid no attention, as she read the text again.

Miranda,

They aren't quite as soft and warm as your hands, but these are wonderful.

Thank you.

A.

Nigel shook his head and then tilted it as if to hear a little better, "She said what?"

"Thank you!" Emily paced the Art Director's office, "And then... then she said... 'That will be all'." Emily suddenly stopped her forward motion and turned toward Nigel, "Do you think she's sick?"

"You say she was reading an email at the time?"

"A text on her phone."

Nigel pondered that and began to smile. "Not sick in the traditional sense."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's seeing someone." Nigel chuckled. He knew Miranda better than any of them; having worked with her for the better part of the last twenty years.

"No..." Emily couldn't imagine what Nigel was suggesting. Miranda Priestly was not some love-struck school girl, distracted by a note from her paramour, No... that's not possible. "You're mistaken."

He nodded, to appease her. "I could be, yes." But he thought back to Miranda's erratic behavior since her return from her normal respite after Paris and knew. She's met someone. Now, he thought, all I need to do is to ferret out, who.

"Delivery for Andrea Sachs..."

At the sound of her name, Andy looked up from the story she'd been engrossed in and smiled, this delivery was not a surprise in a box. "That's me." She indicated the flower on her desk that matched the one the delivery man held in his hand.

He grinned and handed her the flower, "Lucky guy."

Laughing at that, Andy winked and smiled at him as he turned to go, "Thanks." She took a moment to sniff the rose's delicate fragrance before placing it in the bud vase with the one from yesterday. Only when they were side by side did she realize that the new one was exactly the same shade of pink as the previous one with the red veins still running through the petals. It occurred to her that if this was going to keep up, she might have to get a larger vase at some point.

Thinking of you.

M

Andy took a picture of the flowers with her phone and sent it along with a text to Miranda then got back to work. She smiled as she looked up the statistics she needed for her article and glanced at her flowers often. It had been a long time since anyone had sent her flowers, and the fact that it was Miranda making the gesture was just amazing. She closed her eyes for a minute and pictured Miranda, smiling. She was smiling because I had agreed to give us a chance. But what have I done to contribute to that?

It was a good question, but she didn't have time to think about it now. She had a job to do and was determined to do it. Much later, but still early in the day, Andy left the Mirror offices and walked absently down the street thinking about everything, and nothing in particular. It wasn't until she looked up at the building looming over her that she realized where she was, the Elias-Clarke building. She had often walked this way when she first got the new job, on the off chance she could catch a glimpse of someone she knew. Sometimes she would see Nigel, or Serena, less often she'd seen her co-worker Emily entering the building, and rarest of all she would catch a glimpse of Miranda. She continued walking, past the familiar subway station and merely wandered for a while, losing herself in the throngs of people that gave the city its pulse, day or night.

When she happened on a news vendor stand and a postcard caught her eye, she was thrilled. Taking the card, Andy paid for it, a lottery ticket, because she was feeling rather lucky tonight, and a stamp, then asked the merchant if he had a pen she could borrow. Writing quickly, Andy smiled and, backtracking a bit, deposited the card into the dropbox of the post office that handled the letters to and from the mailroom of Elias-Clarke. She knew that the card would reach Miranda tomorrow. Feeling a bit better about the whole situation, Andy decided she needed a little fun. Maybe Dougie will be free for drinks... She tucked the lottery ticket deeper into her pocket then pulled out her phone to call, reminding herself not to say anything to him about Miranda. Not yet.