Part 7
In Between Sightings 7 & 10

Andy opened her eyes and turned to the side to look at the clock sitting on the night table. Six a.m. on the dot. She sighed. She would have thought after being unemployed all this time, her body clock would have reset itself to what it had been during college, but no, she was up every morning at the same time no matter how late she went to bed.

She placed an arm over her eyes and thought about what she had to do that day. Between writing a boring five SEO pages, to looking for a job, to seeing Natalie when she got off work, Andy had a few things to look forward to, but she missed going to work every day. She especially missed Miranda at work and the fun things she got to do to Miranda at work. With a grunt, she pushed herself out of bed and all thoughts of Miranda out of her mind.

After her shower, she sat at Nigel's desktop computer and sipped her coffee as she scanned her email. She automatically deleted the ones from Miranda without reading them and opened the one from Emily.

Andy…you have a 1 pm job interview with Caren Carmichael at Go Magazine, 305 W. Broadway. Herself is finally letting your incompetent replacement handle the book so meet me for drinks at 9 at the bar that actor went to last March. Call if you can't. E.

Andy quickly Googled the magazine and then leaned back her head in exasperation. She heard Nigel's door open and he walked out, fully dressed and ready for work.

"Morning, Mary Sunshine," he greeted as he made a beeline for the coffee maker.

"Hey, Nige," she answered.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he sipped his coffee and perched on the edge of the desk.

"Emily got me an interview at Go Magazine," Andy said.

Nigel raised his eyes. "The lesbian rag?" he asked with a smile. "Fantastic."

Andy looked at him incredulously. "You think I should go?"

"What? Afraid people might think you're gay?" he said, matching her look. "Go is the most widely-distributed magazine for queer women and growing by the minute. You'd be a fool to turn them down."

"Look at this," Andy pointed to the screen where the magazine's website was displayed. "They're calling Ellen and Portia celesbian chic."

Nigel chuckled. "So avoid appalling turns of phrase like the plague, but at least talk to them."

"Tired of me already?" she asked only half-jokingly. Nigel was an excellent roommate and Andy loved him for it, but she hated having to take advantage of his generosity.

He frowned at her. "No," he said. "In fact, I rather enjoy having you here and hope you don't leave simply because you got a job."

"Aww," Andy said with a smile. "That's sweet." She sighed and continued. "I'll think about it."

"Couldn't hurt to at least talk to them," Nigel agreed. "In any case, have a good day, my dear. In the meantime, I will be trying to deal with Miranda's disaster du jour."

Andy nodded abstractedly and turned back to her email. He took another drink from his coffee and with a sigh left to finish getting ready for work. Andy knew he often brought up Miranda's name and what was going on at Runway as a way to get her involved in both, but Andy wasn't having any of it. She was still pissed at Miranda and wasn't planning on getting unpissed any time soon.

As Nigel grabbed his keys, she threw over her shoulder, "Any suggestions on what to wear?"

He paused. "Hmm…go with the Chloé mid-calf skirt with the linen toile. Nothing less than four inches…in fact, try the Dior platforms. They'll make your legs look so stunning, you'll have to fight off every lady in the Go offices."

Andy scowled and waved him out the door.

When Andy stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby, she found Squash chatting with the security guard sitting at the desk. She sighed. Andy never knew when he would be waiting to escort her where ever she needed to go; it usually depended on when she made it into the news.

"Hi Squash," she said.

"Andy," he nodded. "I've got a car."

"Okay," she said pulling her sunglasses from her purse. She knew it was useless to argue. "Let's go."

Nigel's building was more upscale than her apartment's had been and the doormen were used to dealing with the press, so the path under the awning from the door to the black SUV waiting at the curb was clear. Andy had become a pro at ignoring the questions shouted at her and she simply seated herself and gave the driver the magazine's address.

"So, what was it this time?" Andy asked Squash as the car drove off.

He handed her a copy of the Post's weekend Page Six Magazine. She grimaced at her photograph and then her grimace turned into a frown as she read the article.

"Do you know which 'friend' gave the interview?" Squash asked.

"You don't?" she turned to him and gave him a pointed eyebrow.

He returned her look with a wry grin. "Lily James, formerly of Cincinnati, graduated from Northwestern University same year that you did and is now assistant manager of the Lucerno Gallery."

"Yeah," Andy smirked. "That's what I thought." She fell silent as she looked down at the glossy photograph of herself. She hadn't spoken with Lily since the time she called to speak with Nate and Lily had hung up on her. She pulled her phone out and called the gallery. The receptionist answered and Andy asked to speak with Lily.

"This is Lily," she answered after a few minutes and Andy's throat closed up. Lily had been a part of her life for so many years she could barely remember a time when Lily had not been there.

"Hey Lil," she finally said, forcing the words out.

Lily was silent and Andy wondered if she was going to hang up again. Finally Lily said softly, "Hi Andy."

Andy took a deep breath. "Can we talk?" she asked.

"Not now," Lily said. "Got meetings all day."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, after seven, okay?"

"Fine," Andy answered and gave Lily the name and address of the bar she would be meeting Emily at.

Lily barely acknowledged the information before hanging up. Andy sighed as she snapped shut her phone.

"What are you going to say to her?" Squash asked.

Andy glanced at him and shrugged. "I don't know yet."

"She sounds like she cares very much," he said.

"Yeah," Andy said bitterly. "She cares so much she had to tell Page Six."

"Maybe this is her way of reaching out to you," he suggested.

She shrugged again and then put Lily out of her mind as they arrived at the building for the Go offices. Andy didn't even bother protesting when Squash accompanied her up the elevator. For a brief moment she wondered if she should adopt Miranda's habit of not riding in elevators with anyone just to see if she could get away with it, but then she scowled at herself and made a concentrated effort to put Miranda out of her mind. It worked. Mostly.

In the reception area, Squash simply took a seat while Andy announced herself to the receptionist.

Andy only had to wait a few minutes and spent that time looking at the glossy cover prints decorating the walls. She glanced at Squash and saw he was flipping through a copy of the magazine.

"So what do you think?" she asked, indicating the magazine in his hands.

He shrugged without looking up. "Looks promising," he muttered.

Andy snorted. "You just want me to get a job so you can stop following me around," she said, jokingly.

He glanced at her over the top of the magazine and then went back to reading.

"Andrea Sachs?" A blonde-haired, slender and tall woman stepped out into the reception area and approached Andy with a hand held out.

Andy stepped forward to meet her and shook the woman's hand. "Andy," she automatically answered. "Hello."

"Caren Carmichael," the woman answer. "But everyone calls me Cici."

Andy raised her eyebrows. "Okay," she answered.

"Come on to my office," Cici said. "Will your friend be okay here for a while?"

Andy glanced at Squash who ignored them both and then smirked back at Cici. "He won't bother anyone," she said. "As long as I'm here for a job interview and not an exclusive, then you've got nothing to worry about."

"Gotcha," she answered with a laugh. She led Andy into a small, but nice office and sat down behind her desk.

Andy decided to take the initiative. "So I'm a little confused," she said. "I got a message from Emily Charlton saying I had an interview with you today, but I don't recall sending you my résumé."

Cici smiled. "That's because you didn't," she answered. "I called over to Runway to see how I can get a hold of you and she took the liberty of setting up an appointment for you."

"Okay," Andy said slowly. "So since I know she only has my best interests in mind, perhaps you can tell me what I'm doing here then?"

Cici leaned forward. "Go has been primarily a source for social news and events of interest to lesbians, but there's exciting change coming…political change and we need contributors to cover that for us."

"Me?" Andy asked.

"You," Cici answered. "Your writing is solid Andy, and we think you're just the writer who can lead us into this new direction."

"Whoa, wait a second," Andy said, holding up a hand. "Where did you see my writing?"

"Do you remember Jan Wilson of the Lesbian Cancer Community Project in Chicago?" Cici asked.

Andy thought a moment. "Oh yeah," she finally said. "I did a set of articles on women's health centers for The Daily Northwestern. Jan was my primary source for the LCC Project."

"Well, your article did a lot of good for the center and Jan remembered you," Cici explained. "She's an old friend of mine and when your name hit the news, she forwarded your series to me and told me I should hire you. She's right, so I'm making an offer." She pushed a sheet of paper across the desk.

Andy picked it up and saw it was a standard contributor's contract offering to pay her a handsome sum for each contribution she made to the magazine. It was not a full-time job offer and was a bare step up from freelance work, but Andy would retain the rights to her work should she wish to republish it later on and she would maintain the freedom of being able to do other work.

"How much work are we talking about?" Andy asked.

"A minimum of two articles per issue and I'd like you to start an opinion blog, twice a week, but I expect that will increase to daily or more as your popularity increases."

"You're so sure it will?" Andy asked. She did some quick calculating in her head, trying to see if she could meet her expenses with that. She could, but barely.

Cici nodded. "Andy, you're the face of the Go reader…young, professional, gay…"

"Whoa, wait," Andy said. "Look, I never said I was gay, okay? I mean, every paper in New York City says I am, but I haven't. I'm not sure exactly what I am and I don't know if I'm ready to start placing labels on myself for the entire world to read."

"Look Andy, we don't care if you're gay or straight or whatever," Cici said. "You're a good writer and I think you can bring much to the magazine. I'm know getting forced out of the closet is not the most ideal situation, but you seem to be the kind of person who can turn a problem into an opportunity. This is an opportunity."

Head spinning, Andy agreed to consider the offer and give her answer within a few days. Squash silently followed her out of the office and to the car. Back at the apartment, she called Nigel and recounted the details of the interview. He urged her to accept their offer and gave her the name of a literary agent who would be glad to represent her. Andy called the woman and set up an appointment for the next day.

She spent the next few hours working on her boring freelance projects and then she got ready to meet Lily. She was nervous as her and Squash entered the bar. She immediately saw Lily sitting at a corner booth with a pitcher of beer and a couple of glasses already on the table. She left Squash to it at the bar while she walked over and sat down across from Lily.

"So," Andy said after a few agonizing minutes of silence where Lily tried to look anywhere except at Andy.

"So," Lily answered. She jerked her chin in the direction of the bar. "Who's that guy?"

"That's Squash," she answered. "My bodyguard."

"Your bodyguard?" Lily exclaimed, astonished.

"Yeah," Andy nodded. "And he's here tonight because of you."

Lily finally looked at her. "What do you mean, because of me?"

"Squash's job is to protect me from the paparazzi that tend to come swarming like vultures every time I appear in the press. This time it's thanks to your little tidbit to Page Six this weekend." Andy knew Lily well enough to tell her friend was blushing with shame. "Why'd you talk to them, Lily?" she continued.

"I don't know," Lily shrugged. "I haven't heard from you in weeks…all I get is second-hand news through Doug. I spoke with your parents and even they don't know what's going on with you."

"So that gave you the right to talk to the Post?" Andy fought to keep her voice low.

"No, but shit Andy, this guy walks into the gallery and starts asking about you…I didn't know what to do or what to say," Lily admitted. "And frankly, I was pissed off."

"At me?" Andy asked.

"Yeah," Lily said. "For hurting Nate, but mostly I was pissed at Miranda."

"You don't even know her," Andy said, hating the defensive tone in her own voice.

Lily looked at her. "Doug tells me you're pretty pissed off at her yourself."

"Well, yeah, but I've got a reason to be," Andy defended.

"And I don't?" Lily shot back. "She ruined the lives of two of my closest friends and I shouldn't be pissed?"

"I did that, Lily," Andy said. "That was me, not Miranda. I made the decision to cheat on Nate."

Lily stared at her. "We used to make fun of people like her and her whole beau monde, Andy. So why?" she asked. "Why did you do it then?"

"There's really no simple answer to that, Lily," she answered after a long and thoughtful pause. "There were lots of reasons…mostly it was because I loved having power over a powerful woman and I was willing to risk everything for it. I'm not proud of what I did, but it happened and I can't change that."

"Take responsibility for it all you like, Andy," Lily said with a shurg, "But you weren't the one who blackballed Nate."

Andy sighed. "No, which is the main reason why I'm not with Miranda anymore."

They were both silent for a few moments. "Doug said you were seeing someone else. Rebound thing?"

Andy shrugged and traced her finger in the condensation weeping off her glass. "Probably," she finally answered.

"So wow," Lily said. "I mean, we never considered this scenario when we were plotting out our lives on those endless weekend sleepovers in high school."

"What do you mean?"

"Not exactly on the agenda," Lily explained. "Graduate Northwestern, find the dream guy, move to New York, find the dream job, turn gay…" Lily paused. "Well, I must have missed that last one on your list."

Andy chuckled. "The Big Apple is famous for bringing out the best in people, even if they don't plan on it."

"Well geez, Andy…you'd think after spending the last sixteen years surrounded by my stunning good looks you might have figured it out sooner." Andy felt her heart lightening as Lily's grin turned mischievous. "But no, you had to go gay for a gray-haired old woman."

"Lily!" Andy exclaimed. "Miranda's hair is silver and she's not old."

"She's twice your age Andy, that makes her old."

Andy knew that Lily did have somewhat of a point. Miranda was a lot older than her, but that didn't change the fact Miranda was the most beautiful woman she had ever known. "Still…she's got a great body," Andy said with a wicked grin. "I mean…hot."

"Eww, please girl," Lily waved a hand as she emptied her glass.

"Anyway, what the fuck Lily? You sound like you're jealous," Andy said with a playful smirk. "Why didn't you ever tell me you wanted my luscious bod all these years?"

Lily gave her a long look and then returned Andy's smirk with her own. "I love you Andy, but I don't think I could go down on you."

Andy felt the pain in her heart ease even more at their shared laughter. She knew she didn't totally forgive Lily yet for what she had done, but she also recognized that she had damaged her friendship with Lily as well through her actions. And she could admit to herself that she had been harboring a lot of resentment against Lily since that night Lily had acted like such a jerk about Miranda while at the same time enjoying Miranda's expensive Marc Jacobs hand-me-down. Still, it was a start at reconciliation and with the beer flowing as smoothly between them as it had always done they spent the next hour chatting about subjects which had nothing to do with relationships or work or how very fucked up Andy's life was at the moment. For that, Andy was very glad.

Lily had just poured the last of their second pitcher into their glasses when she noticed Andy looking at her watch. "Got a date?" she smirked. "That pretty barista you're seeing?"

Andy snorted. "No, that's later tonight," she admitted. "Emily is supposed to meet me here at nine." She glanced at Lily's face to see if she recognized the name. Lily did.

"Oh, want me to clear out?" Lily asked looking at her own watch. It was a quarter to nine.

"No, it's okay," Andy said. "Besides, she'll be walking through the door any second now."

"What?" Lily asked confused and then followed Andy's glance to the door where the redhead had just entered, totally ignoring the admiring looks from the bar's patrons. She glanced around a moment and then made a beeline for their table. She dropped some packages on the table in front of Andy and then leaned down for an air kiss.

"Andrea," she said and then after regally sitting in her chair, turned to Lily whose mouth was hanging open. "You must be Lily," she said with a sneer in her voice. "I'd recognize you from Andy's tedious description anywhere."

"Good lord!" Lily exclaimed. "It's Miranda Junior."

Emily smirked and said, "Thank you." She turned to Andy, "So…what happened at Go?"

Andy briefly described the interview and the next day's appointment with the agent. Emily nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent," she said. "One thing off my endless list things to worry about."

"I haven't even accepted their offer yet and you sound as if it's a done deal," Andy said.

Emily snorted. "Of course you will accept the offer; don't be a fool Andy," she said with a wave of her hand. "You need work and it's work. Besides which, you'll be doing what you came to New York to do."

"Yeah, but writing for a lesbian magazine?" she asked.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Emily retorted looking down her nose.

Lily barked out laughing. "Yeah Andy," she said. "Got a problem with that? Some of my best friends are lesbians."

Andy narrowed her eyes at them both and then signaled for another pitcher of beer. "It's gonna be a long night."

As the drinks continued to flow, Andy was pleased that Lily and Emily seemed to get along. Lily wasn't put off by Emily's snarkiness and for her part, after Emily had quizzed Lily on her fashion sense, which was a lot better than Andy's had been before she started at Runway, the two of them fell into a drawn out conversation on the merits of neutral colors versus fluorescents.

"Look darling," Emily was saying, "neutrals might work for the hideous landscapes of whatever artist you're exploiting at the moment, but if you want to get noticed in this world, you must be bold."

"Noticed maybe, but for how long?" Lily returned. "That's the problem with fashion – it's just another fad, a flash in the pan. In order to go the distance, you need the stick with the classics. There are no classics in fashion."

"What?" Emily exclaimed, and Andy was amused to see a few red hairs stand up in outrage. Smiling to herself, she looked around to check on Squash and saw him talking on his cell phone with an odd look on his face. He looked up and met Andy's eyes and she whispered, "Oh god."

Emily stopped her rant about Dior and Valentino and looked at her. "What?"

"Trouble," Andy said just as Squash reached their table.

"Ladies," he said. "I'm sorry to have to end your evening, but we've got to leave."

Lily looked scared and slightly afraid as Emily drained her mug and Andy gathered up the packages of samples Emily had brought her. "It's okay, Lil," she said. "We'll give you a ride home."

Once in the SUV, Andy tapped Squash who was sitting in the front and said, "Okay, what is it?"

"National Enquirer," he said in his usual succinct manner. "They're doing an interview with one of Ms. Priestly's former assistants. It just popped up on their website and will appear on the front cover of tomorrow's issue."

"Oh my god," Emily whispered. "That bloody, bloody bastard!"

"Former assistant?" Andy said feeling all of the blood drain out of her head as Emily's words registered. Nigel had dropped hints on several occasions that Irv Ravitz was plotting against Miranda and she realized that the small man had finally succeeded. To her self-disgust, her first thought was to tell the driver to immediately head to Miranda's townhouse because if ever there was a time the woman needed a friend it was now.

"Andy," Lily said in a scared voice. "What's going on?"

She turned to look at her oldest friend and then at the woman who was her newest. Even though Andy had never been Miranda's victim, Emily had and if the story broke that Miranda had been sexually harassing her assistants for years, then Emily was now as much a target of the press as Andy. It was one thing to be exposed as Miranda's dirty little secret on the side, but quite another to be questioned about being an object of her exploitation. Emily also needed a friend and Lily deserved an explanation.

She leaned forward again and tapped the driver on the shoulder this time. "To Nigel's and step on it."

"Nigel?" Emily asked confused.

"Yeah, you don't have to worry about the book tonight right?" Andy said and at Emily's nod continued. "I think the three of us seriously need to raid Nigel's stash of twelve-year-old scotch."

"What about your date?" Lily asked.

Andy shrugged and said, "I'll cancel, don't worry about it."

"Date?" Emily gave Andy a fierce glare. "Bloody hell!"

TBC…