A/N- Hey guys, so this is my one shot and first try at a Devil Wears Prada fic. (I love this film), It's mainly about Andy and Emily's friendship. Think there's a lot to play around with there hehe.
Hope you like it.
I own nothing, all rights go to their respective owners.
IT'S OK
Andy was surprised to find the English girl not at her desk like she always was.
The brunette frowned as she looked around, wondering if the red head might pop out from some hidden nook or maybe she was in Miranda's office, sorting out her magazines, water and the morning schedule, but no, she wasn't.
Nigel walked through just then and Andy called out to him.
"Oh, Nigel!"
He stopped and gave her a bored look.
"Yes?"
"Have you seen Emily?"
He frowned for only a second and then shook his head.
"No, but I'm sure she's around. I think the girl lives here anyway."
He walked off before Andy realised that was his attempt at a joke but then people here at Runway didn't seem to joke, they only made sarcastic comments or snarky little digs at each other.
Andy sighed and frantically looked for Emily.
She needed to be here before Miranda showed up.
Andy hadn't been at Runway long but she knew that she couldn't handle all of Miranda's demands without Emily helping her through it. Not that the red head helped her but she sometimes explained what Miranda wanted to her as though she were losing patience with a very slow child.
Serena then walked through.
"Serena, have you seen Emily?"
"Bathroom." Emily's friend said without looking directly at Andy.
She frowned.
"Is she ok?"
Serena shrugged.
"I don't know."
Andy sighed, licked her lips and then proceeded to make her way to the bathroom.
Emily obviously was human and so did need to go to the bathroom but Andy was pretty sure that she had trained herself to go at certain times in order not to conflict with Miranda's arrival, so Emily should be here, ready to take up all tasks and requests only...she wasn't.
Andrea walked into the bathroom and found all cubicles empty, save for one.
"Emily?"
"Go away." Emily drawled, her voice sounded strange.
"Emily, Miranda will be here soon."
"I know that. I'm not stupid." She snapped.
Andy bit her lip in frustration.
"Then you need to come out, she'll be expecting to see you there."
Silence.
"Em?"
"What?! My God, Andrea, don't you have anything better to do than talk to me?" She raged.
"What's wrong with you?" Andy asked, her tone calm and sounding nothing like Emily's which was nothing short of hostile.
"Nothing! Now go away!" She barked, punctuating each word.
"Not until you tell me what's wrong."
She heard Emily make a strange sound in her throat that was similar to a growl.
"Emily, please...just talk to me."
Andy waited patiently and then the door clicked and Emily walked out.
Her head was held high and she wore that haughty expression but her eyes were red and her mascara was smudged.
Andy felt a pang of sympathy for her although God knows why, she'd been dreadful to the brunette ever since she first set foot into Runway's highly polished doors.
"Emily...have you-have you been crying?"
The red head stiffened and frowned as she checked herself in the mirror.
"What? No, of course not." She said irritably.
"It's just-"
"It's just what?" Emily snapped, tossing a glare at Andy over her shoulder.
"Well, you look like you have been...crying I mean."
"Then you need an eye test because I am perfectly fine."
Andy bit her lip and felt a little awkward.
The Brit was lying to her, trying to appear together when Andy imagined she'd been falling apart only minutes ago before Andy interrupted her.
"It's OK y'know."
"What is?" Emily asked sharply, re-applying her mascara and eyeliner in the mirror.
"To cry."
"I told you-"
"I get it. The pressure, the constant demands, no life of your own because you're focusing on someone else's."
Emily's bottom lip trembled and she bit it to try and get herself under control again but Andy could see that Emily was about to crack again.
"I don't mean to upset you-"
"You're not." Emily lied quickly.
"But it's tough. Your personal life is suffering because of this job and when you get home, you're just praying that that phone doesn't ring and that even if it does, that it's not Miranda on the other end because all you want at the end of a long day, is just to crawl into bed and sleep."
Emily was now blinking fast and tilting her head up slightly, it was a trick that sometimes helped you to stop crying, Andy had read about it in a magazine before.
Andy took a step forward to stand next to the Brit and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Em, I know we're not friends but if you ever need to talk, I'm here. I mean I don't mind people crying, I understand life gets tough sometimes-"
Suddenly, Emily broke down, sobs wracking her body as she cried, ruining that newly applied mascara and eyeliner.
"It's just so hard...Miranda, she never-she's never grateful for anything I do, my family don't invite me home anymore because they think I can't because of my job, which is true I suppose. The only friend I have here is Serena and she's not really what you would call a friend, I haven't had sex in three years-"
Andy held up a hand.
"OK Em, little too much information."
Emily shook her head and brushed a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry, Andrea, I never talk to anyone about this sort of thing. I let it build up inside me and then things like this happen...only I'm usually on my own in the bathroom when it does." She explained, shooting a warning glance at Andy.
Andy knew that this was Emily's process now and by being here, she'd interrupted it.
"I'm sorry but I guess I worried..."
"About me?" Emily asked with a disbelieving smirk.
"Well...yeah."
"Why? No one else is." She muttered unhappily.
Andy gave her a sympathetic smile and handed her a tissue that she'd pulled out of her purse.
Emily took it gratefully.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, and Emily, not all girls are like what you've encountered at Runway."
Emily looked up and looked at Andy as though she wasn't sure about her, maybe even a little nervous.
"I don't know...I don't mingle much."
"No, I don't suppose you have time."
Emily nodded in agreement and sniffed as she dabbed at her nose with the tissue.
Her blue eyes sought Andy's.
"I want to go home." She practically whispered.
Andy's own eyes widened.
"You do?"
Emily nodded.
"I'm tired, Andy. I do want to do what you said; I want to go home, crawl into bed and just sleep."
Andy realised that if Emily did this, then all the pressure would be on her. She would have to carry out every single one of Miranda's demands on her own, without Emily's help and she would probably mess up, incur the dragon lady's wrath and maybe even get fired but when she looked at Emily, saw how tired she was and how upset all this was making her, Andy caved.
Putting a comforting hand on Emily's arm, Andy gave her a warm smile.
"Alright, go home, Emily. I've got this."
Emily's blue eyes widened and a smile threatened to break out on her usually stoic face.
"Really?"
Andy nodded.
"Yeah, really. Go home, get some rest. You'll feel better tomorrow. I'll tell Miranda you've been throwing up in here, you know how she hates anyone being sick."
Emily chuckled, her eyes widening slightly.
"Yes, she does."
Andy smiled a little more.
"Go on. I'll call to check on you later."
"Oh you don't have to."
"I want to." Andy insisted.
Emily gave in, nodding her head in agreement.
She then sniffed once more, went back into her make up bag, re-did her mascara and binned the tissue.
She looked better. More Emily-esque.
Andy gave her a kind smile to confirm that she looked good, and Emily's haughty expression returned.
The ice bitch facade was back in place.
"Thank you, Andrea, I appreciate this." She said with a tight smile, her tone clipped.
"You're welcome."
As they walked out of the bathroom, Andy following Emily, the red head turned back quite quickly, her voice lowered as she spoke and it came out as kind of a hiss.
"And Andrea-"
"Hm?"
"-If you tell anyone about this, I'll make your death look like a nasty accident."
Andy bit back a grin and nodded, making a locked lips gesture and throwing away the invisible key.
Emily nodded once and then sauntered down the corridor towards the elevator.
With any luck, she'd be out of here before Miranda arrived.
A/N- Short and sweet but hope you guys liked it. Feel free to review and let me know if I should do any others like this.
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