The barista made two coffees for the customer who just paid for them and put a crisp twenty dollar bill in the tip jar.

For all those times rushing with Miranda's coffee orders and never having the chance.

Holding both cups and navigating the packed coffee house, seeing her earlier, just sitting alone at one of the tables. The dark eyed journalist thought she could use a pick me up.

The whole be kind to a stranger mantra guiding her over.

Standing right in front of her. ''Miss, the seats are reserved for customers.''

Annie looked up and flushed, feeling pretty embarrassed. She was writing her dissertation on anthropology, she'd lost track of time, glancing at her watch, it was half past two already.

Her order from this morning was cold now. Hastily clearing up all her notes.

Andy smiled at the flustered brunette. ''But, I've got one more drink. Do you like latte or espresso?'' Holding out a cup of each to her to choose from.

''Espresso please. Thanks I'm Annie…Annie Braddock.'' Taking the espresso from the friendly brunette.

''Andy. Andy Sachs nice to meet you.'' Annie began pushing her many papers aside for her, as Andy sat and joined her, grinning at her copious notes. ''You, writing a book?''

Annie bit her lower lip, ''No. Just observations of mating rituals of NY. I'm majoring in Anthropology.''

''Oh. That's interesting. I work at The Mirror.'' Andy shared with her.

Annie smiled at her, teasing. "I've at times read that. Let me pay you back for the coffee, here Andy.'' Reaching into her wallet.

''Coffee's on me.'' Andy insisted.

Immediately clicking, both talked about their break ups, comparing her ex Nate to Annie's Hayden. Mrs. X was right. Hayden just thought of her as just a quick fling.

It turned out he was slumming it.

Annie discovered that Andy's ex, Nate was now in Boston and Andy heard all about how Hayden just dumped her because she voiced she still missed Grayer and also her.

Annie scrolled through her phone to put Andy's number in it, Andy leaned over and saw him on her phone. ''He's cute. How old's your kid?''

Glancing down at a smile she missed.

On the screen was a little boy with a big smile on his face, from their day at The Natural History Museum when Groves asked her, if his Mom, Mrs., X was like a Tyronansauras Rex.

Annie found her to be exactly that many times. Especially to her.

Living with Mrs. X, day by day was a lesson in observing the rituals of Upper East Side dwellers who revolve around their own demanding superficial bubbles.

Annie didn't miss tofu burgers and kale. Ugh. Months living on that was purgatory. She really appreciated greasy cheese burgers now with a worshipping reverence.

She also really missed Grover and crazily sometimes even her.

Not that Annie missed remembering to handwash Mrs. X's bras that's cost could feed the island population of Vanuatu.

Mrs. X had a maid but ever since that night, she launched into Annie's staff accommodation the size of a closet, insisting a bra was hers, it wasn't.

Annie had to do Grover's laundry as part of her duties and of course her own but she didn't own a bra like that, and Mrs. X's ended up invading her shoebox room a few times.

Yes, Annie still cared about Groves and even Mrs. X. She knew she shouldn't care. Lynette was completely crazy at what she thought, how Annie felt about her last employer.

Annie was not in any way attracted to her last boss. No way. She was not in love with Grover's Mom.

The woman drove her nuts.

Mrs. X was an uptight snobby pod person but a part of her was in how amazing Grover was. A deep recessed part.

He did have her smile and her eyes though. Mrs. X did have pretty eyes, Annie had noticed that.

Often.

No, she didn't.

Groves was sweet and interested in everything Annie shared, like that night under the stars as Annie pointed out the constellations to him and if Mrs. X just stopped shopping and taking countless Watsu massages at the spa, she'd have experienced getting to know how terrific her son was for once.

Perhaps she'd finally get around to converse with him as he packs for college.

''That's Grover, no, sorry he's not mine. I was his nanny. It ended suddenly. Very suddenly.''

Andy understood, her job at Runway was the same. Walking away from Miranda was hard but she had to. Being in love with someone as unobtainable and straight as Miranda Priestly just wasn't easy on Andy anymore.

''I had a pretty interesting boss. Grayer's Mother. Her name's Alexandra.'' Annie's face said it all.

''My last boss Miranda was pretty interesting as well. I found her to be very challenging.'' Andy shared this.

"My last employer was the same, most times." Annie shook her head. Mrs. X was quite a challenging employer to navigate every day.

Annie's brows furrowed at the way her job ended, swiping her phone screen. It was still fresh. How she left Grayer still really upset her, she knew she hurt him leaving, Mr. X that pig coming onto her and then everything with what Mrs. X said about not fitting in Hayden's world ever.

Hayden giving her that letter later and then the second letter she'd received. What Mrs. X really truly felt, about her, actually hurt a lot.

Mrs. X still got under her skin and pushed her buttons like nobody else could.

''You wouldn't believe some of the things I did in my job.'' Annie shook her head at Mrs. X's demands on her. One of the most humiliating was dressing up as Betsy Ross.

Annie never wanted to see a bonnet again.

''Mine was the same. Never a dull day with Miranda for me.'' Andy grinned broadly.

"Really? I think mine was pretty much the worst." Annie challenged back.

'Uh. No way. I walked out in the middle of fashion week in Paris on my boss, her name's Miranda, and I threw a phone with her calling me, into a fountain and just walked away.'' Andy just smiled hugely at that memory.

She had to that day.

Annie grinned as she shared hers.

"I got fired. Given just forty bucks in my pay owed and drank their Jack Daniels and told them off on a nanny cam hidden in a teddy bear that evening, encouraging their new puppy they couldn't handle for one day to pee everywhere.''

Andy had been topped, holding her paper cup up, she listened intently to her new coffee companion, with Annie telling her all about more experiences at her last job with Mrs. X, concluding that possibly her last boss Miranda had a long lost twin.

Assuring Andy that Mrs. X was an only child. Annie shared that with her.

Annie's phone rang interrupting Andy's offer of going out to a movie together this weekend. ''Hi. Ma, no Lynette's friend's place on Hudson & Jane just fell through. No I don't have a place to stay now. Yeah. I guess, I'll really be moving back in on Sunday with you.''

Slumping, she was just overjoyed to move back to her old bedroom in Jersey.

God she was a loser.

She'd probably end up working in her Uncle's place selling tires or with Gina her best friend in grade school at the pizza place in her neighborhood.

Her Mom still thought she should have taken the internship at Goldman Sachs and was hurt by her lying to her about not telling her the truth of being an uptown nanny instead. She also thought Mrs. X treated her baby like trash.

She'd read the letter.

Judy wanted more for her kid.

All her shifts at the hospital were for Annie to move up in the world. Do things, she hadn't. Have chances.

"Yes I will. No Ma, please no…please, no welcome back home parties."

Andy was really trying not to eavesdrop on Annie's call.

Annie needed a place to live. Taking the phone from her. ''Hi, Annie's Mom. Can Annie call you back about where she'll be living in say an hour.''

Annie's mom Judy was so shocked she agreed on the line.

Andy quickly just pressed end call.

''Do you want to still live in the city and not go home to Jersey?''

''Yeah. Sure. But Andy, I can't afford a place on my own and I have a dog.'' Annie had looked at listings midtown and downtown with no luck.

Being a non-smoker didn't matter.

Having a furry friend did and that vetoed most places immediately for her.

She'd been turned down constantly, having a pet. Grover's gift, which she was foisted with, she loved the huggable puppy and she wasn't taking him to a shelter, he was a four month old golden retriever called Jack D' after the bottle she slurped down, as Jack D' peed on The X's carpets and now he chewed on everything, in sight, all her books and her shoes.

And anyone else's.

That was one reason Lynette didn't want Annie staying with her.

''This place I know of, it takes pets. Do you want to live in it?'' Andy began telling her all about an apartment she knew about, it was perfect, she just had to see it and agree to split the rent with a roommate and share half the utilities.

''When can I see it?'' Annie asked eagerly.

''Is now good for you?'' Andy got out her apartment key.

Stan, Mr. X wanted his son to go to Collegiate but settled for Dalton instead. It was all Alexandra's fault and mostly that last nanny, that college kid with the nice toned ass.

Her commonness of taking Grayer onto the West Side every Saturday, and giving him concentrate orange juice and not freshly squeezed Seville blood orange juice every morning, letting him eat a hot dog with the works from a street stand ruined his chances clearly.

Stan knew for a fact, that nanny did not ever read the Financial Times or the Wall Street Journal to his son every day or discuss the complete works of Sun Tzu he'd requested, she'd played a huge part in stunting and screwing up Grayer's fluency in french, letting him watch loads of cartoons on cable, playing superheroes with him, all of that contributed to not getting accepted at Collegiate.

Sandy had screwed Grayer's chances. All of that lack of proper nannying and her being crass from Jersey, made his son slip up in his entry exam.

Dalton was the only choice. To Stan it was second best.

Grayer was always saying Mandy this and Mandy that. Still.

Alexandra was still legally married to him, he had been dragging their divorce out, just to upset her.

And, it did.

He didn't live with them, no, Alexandra wanted absolutely nothing to do with him.

Discovering him with Britt from Chicago on her knees between his pinstripe legs at a company party in his office made her demand a divorce.

She just didn't understand he was a man, a red blooded man with needs, urges and occasionally those needs were salved with a few minor indiscretions.

It was just sex. Alex didn't exactly go to great lengths to fulfill and satisfy him in bed lately.

Sure she was a great lay once, before impregnated with Grayer, but she was always even then frigid and Alex was minus below when hitting the sheets under him. Holding back.

Especially when Sandy that nanny lived with them.

She refused to sleep with him. For months they'd not had sex, just in case the new nanny heard them in bed.

He paid his staff to be deaf.

Alexandra had to understand this soon, being Grayer's father he had rights. Grayer was his son. His future titan of industry.

Mrs. X didn't even know how to work, she curated just a little art gallery, The Gagosian once and then she hit pay dirt becoming his wife who just shopped constantly and went to the spa and looked pretty on his arm.

He saw his afternoon was booked to get Grayer from school.

He couldn't swap. It was expected and arranged to be his day to pick up Grayer from school with this ongoing separation. Hoping Grayer didn't throw another tantrum wanting her again that Jersey girl.

He motioned to his new blonde assistant, he needed her skills. He was going to be an hour late to pick up his little conqueror of the world.

Dalton could take care of one kid waiting for his parent, with what they charged in fees.

He paid enough in tuition to them to mind Grayer for just another hour. Joan stepped inside his office with a smile spreading. Locking his office door as he unzipped himself.

Alexandra's honey colored hair was sleek and tied as she got on the elevator to her new position. Stan was wrong, she once worked.

She ran the Gagosian quite adequately, she once sold art on commission and before that, her time at Sotheby's was successful, but now to be working with someone as accomplished as Miranda Priestly was going to be a new experience for her.

Irving's wife Sheridan had suggested her for this position which was cataloging all of Elias Clarke's unsurpassed art collection which Alexandra couldn't wait to see and also to oversee Runway's Summer Ball was going to be planned by her, along with Miranda Priestly.

Staring at a mousy girl who looked a little like her.

Annie.

Alex mouth opened to speak, staring at the back of her.

The girl turned as she got off on the twelfth floor. Alexandrea read it was to 'Hike' magazine.

Realizing she wasn't Annie, as Alexandrea's face fell, disappointed, she turned back to the shiny doors. Her pulse and racing heart slowed down.

If it had been her, what on earth would she say to Annie now?

Hello again, I'm so embarrassed and so sorry with the way I behaved that day to you. Offer her a real genuine apology for the way she behaved to her at the beach house.

Take her out to lunch and let her order a cheeseburger this time and just talk about how she was right about her and Stan.

Her marriage was a complete disaster. Annie was right.

Alexandra's brows drew together at that absurdity, berating herself, right Alex can you be more foolish, Annie hates you. That boy probably trashed the letter she gave him to give to Annie.

Annie, her last nanny wasn't like any of Grayer's nannies before her.

Annie Braddock was one of a kind.

She was yes, gauche, and from Jersey, ate sugary and salty snacks with gusto which Alex had a feeling Grayer was sneakily introduced to all of them including pretzels and hot dogs from street stands and Annie took him on the West Side which she'd strictly forbid.

Annie made Grayer believe in Jedi mind control. Even bought him a lightsaber which he loved more than the mime.

Making her laugh silently when she'd attempted french with superhero action figures like Spiderman.

Alex couldn't steer Annie from Jersey.

To her abhorrence, on that teddy cam, she drank alcohol in her child's bedroom that night, there was no telling what else she got up to with Grayer out on play dates and cultural excursions.

Making him say Guggyheiny. Calling Grayer by a nickname. Grover!

Her son was not given nicknames.

She also wore faded cotton sweats cutoff shorts, and had a tattoo. Fornicated with that boy who Alex saw last night in the elevator that he was clearly cheating on Annie.

Annie was different though.

Likable.

Though quite rough around the edges.

Yet despite that, she'd liked Annie. Annie from New Jersey just grew on her. A little. Fine, admittedly a lot.

A fashionable redhead greeted her. ''Mrs. X. Miranda will see you now.''

Alexandra was shown into Miranda Priestly's 17th floor modern office.

Emily admired Miranda's ten o' clock's stunning outfit and designer shoes with approval.

She was a perfect fit for Runway.

Roy was here. Cassidy and Caroline waved and came back to the steps to Grayer.

Grayer gripped his backpack. His Dad forgot. Again. Annie never did this.

Grayer chewed his lip but Annie left him.

What did he do wrong? What made Annie leave him?

Did she not like him anymore?

She'd promised she'd never leave him. Yet she had.

Cassidy saw Cara got out of their waiting town car and was rushing up to her twin charges. Cass nudged him, ''Grayer come home with us. We have snacks and Xbox.''

Not seeing his Dad coming anytime soon, "Sure." Grayer quickly agreed with Cassidy.

Caroline's freckled face broke into a mischievous grin. ''You can meet Patricia."

"Who's Patricia?'' Grayer asked them, he sort of knew the Priestly twins, they were really gifted in music and always getting A+'s on science projects and both of his two classmates shared a knowing smile.

"You'll see, Grayer."

Grayer corrected both twins. "Call me, Grover."

"Grover!" Cassidy's blue eyes went wide.

"Yeah. Grover. It's my nickname. I like it." Grayer supplied.

Caroline smiled. "Cool. Groves. Come on."

'It's Grover, not Groves." Grayer groused at the freckled smiling redhead beside him, not sure if it was Cassidy or Caroline, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and leading him over to the town car with Roy waiting.

Roy smirked Caroline was a lot like her mother, leading the cute boy to the car.