Work Text:
Emily wasn’t really planning to hide the relationship. She just desperately wanted to do this right.
Andy isn’t another arm candy—though arguably, nothing was candy about her previous boyfriends—for her to parade around. Unlike her previous patrons, being with Andy isn’t performative; it’s not meant as an indicator of wealth, or a metric of success, or a symbol of social status.
She has always expected whispers to go along with each of her relationships. She isn’t foolish, she knows the rumor mill is one way to stay relevant. And it’s especially effective in creating a common understanding of the power she wields.
It’s clearly evident in her last relationship: How do you think she managed to date Benji Barnes? Oh it’s not like he dates her because she’s accomplished, just a pretty face. But oh God, Benji can easily acquire any business, can he? Yeah, better not to get on her bad side, he seems to be on her beck and call.
And while it’s not all good, she’s used to ignoring the nasty comments, and can admit some truth about them. Plus, she has thick skin, she can easily throw mean comments back at them and it would immediately shut them up.
But with Andy, it’s different—she truly likes her. And all the nasty comments would be wrong and presumptuous and who knows what it’s gonna do to Andy? And who knows what she will do if Andy’s hurt? So she asks, no, begs Andy to keep the relationship just between them at work. Just until Emily figures out how to do this right.
“Em, you know I’m not some fragile porcelain who easily breaks, right?” Andy’s tone was gentle, thumb pressing soothing circles on the inside of her wrist. Emily hadn’t really explained everything, but it seemed that Andy got the gist just from who knows what people will say.
“I know you’re not,” Emily sighs, frustrated, and just eager to get this over with.
“Whatever people say will not change how I feel for you.”
“I know,” She already felt the fight draining out of her. Her voice was small when she said, “Andrea, please. I’m not asking you to hide this from your friends or my kids. Just at work.”
“So no friends from work either. That practically narrows it down to just Lily.”
Emily set her jaw, closing her eyes in an effort to keep her voice level. She understood that Andy had always been the type of person who wears her heart on her sleeve; she tried to be patient, she knew she was asking a lot from Andy. “Yes.”
Andy let out a breath, clearly not satisfied that she wasn’t able to convince Emily. But then she nodded. Because Andy was also always kind, she would never push Emily to do anything she wasn’t ready for, “Okay. I’ll follow your lead.”
Emily smiled, pulling her hand up to kiss it, right on the ridges of her knuckles. “Thank you.”
And so it was decided that they were going to hide their relationship. Emily took a couple of days to set out a list of rules.
When she was finally ready, she brought it up during one of Andy’s sleepovers at her place. She made Andy put her book down and started reading from the Notes app on her phone.
Rule #1: Never touch in public.
“You know this is ridiculous, right?” was Andy’s first response.
“I think it’s perfectly reasonable.”
“Everyone knows us as friends, Em. Wouldn’t it draw more suspicion if we didn’t touch?”
“You know what kind of touch I mean, Andy.”
There was that crease between Emily’s eyebrows, the one that grew deeper every time she tried to appear serious, but was clearly annoyed. Andy reached over to try to smooth it, Emily swatted her hand away.
“It’s not like we’re gonna make out whenever we meet.”
Emily knew she meant to tease her, but she clarified anyway, “I meant holding hands, lingering touches, or just— resting your hand on my waist.”
“Oh no! So we can’t touch like we do now?” Andy gasped dramatically, gesturing to themselves. Andy was sitting on the couch, Emily facing her, her legs over Andy’s lap. One of Andy’s hands had been kneading Emily’s sole for the past 10 minutes, sore from standing in heels all day. The other was resting over Emily’s thigh.
Emily shot her a look, moving to fold her leg. Andy was quick to hold her by her calf. “Keep this up and you’re never touching me in private, either.”
And so after some playful begging on Andy’s part, they agreed to keep their hands to themselves in public. They moved on to the next rule.
Rule #2: Never leave together.
Andy had agreed to this rule easily. Leaving together, especially if the event runs late, would draw suspicions neither of them could explain.
Emily read the next one.
Rule #3: Never text anything you wouldn’t want someone else reading.
Andy frowned in thought, “That sounds pretty broad.”
“It’s easy enough. No overly lovey-dovey text.”
“Everything is overly lovey-dovey for you, Em,” Andy raised an eyebrow, her hands were moving up her calf now. Her thumb pressing into the knots there.
Emily shot her a look, but didn’t say anything to object. She decided to narrow down the criterias for Andy, “No good morning texts. No petnames. No sweet messages or anything that shows we are involved romantically.”
“That’s hell!” Andy threw her hand up in despair. “Just—tone down the brightness of your phone or something. No one would be able to read it.”
“And you think I’d be able to use it with the brightness down, Andrea? At our age? Let’s be more self-aware.”
Andy grumbled at that, putting her head into her hands. This rule seemed to be the most upsetting for her so far.
Emily could understand. Andy did always show her affection through her words; you’re so pretty, you did such a good job today, and random I love yous throughout the day. Something in her heart softened.
She pulled her knees closer to her chest, scooting closer towards Andy. Andy looked up from in-between her hands, her eyebrows were pulled together, her lower lip jutting out slightly. She genuinely resembled a kicked puppy.
“You can still be lovey-dovey over call.”
Something her eyes lit up, her posture immediately straightened. But then, doubt clouded over her face. “Are you sure? What if someone overhears?”
“I can send people away from my office, Andy,” Emily pressed a kiss to her temple. “Consider this my way of compromise.”
“Okay,” Andy practically beamed. “Let’s go over the next rule.”
Emily chuckled, then went over the next rule.
Rule #4: Always lie whenever we have plans together.
“Like, if someone asked what my plan was for the weekend? I should lie about it?”
“Yes.”
Andy nodded, lips pursing in thought. She agreed quickly enough.
She finally moved on to the last one.
Rule #5: The Rules don’t apply when you’re alone.
Andy grinned at that, her hands immediately going around Emily as she tackle-hugged her. Emily made an embarrassing shrieking noise that immediately dissolved into laughter as Andy started pressing kisses all over her face.
They didn’t intend to ever break two rules at once. They were easy enough to follow, but Andy basically forced her hand.
It happened after one of those important fashion events. The Runway employees were talking among themselves, Emily could hear whispers about continuing the party and Jin’s birthday here and there. Andy was talking animatedly at the center of it.
Nigel caught her lingering close, quickly sidling up beside her. “Exciting plans for the rest of the night?”
Emily imagined that her plan for the night probably wouldn’t involve Andy, judging by how the conversation had escalated to finding nearest clubs. A part of her was disappointed, the kids are over at their Father’s place, she had been looking forward to a bit of cuddling to unwind.
(Which of course, she would never admit to Andy).
“Just some family time and a date with my book,” Emily answered easily instead. “And you? Are you going to join their exciting adventure for the night?”
There was a shriek from Runway’s little group up ahead. Jin was throwing her hands up, making exaggerated bowing movements at Andy. Andy threw her head back in laughter, the sound ringing warm and clear across the distance.
Emily couldn’t help the tug of a smile on her lips. She looked quite in her element.
Nigel followed her line of sight, humming an affirmative. Emily was reminded of his company, shifting her gaze and clearing her throat just in time as Nigel said, “They keep me young. You should come along.”
“Oh, because I’m also getting old?”
“No, because it’d be fun. A foreign concept to you, it seems.”
Emily made a dismissive sound, waving her hand.
Then, Jin called out to him from up ahead. “Nigel, you’re coming, right?”
“Of course! Emily is coming with me!”
Emily opened her mouth to object. But Jin seemed delighted; she thrusted two thumbs up into the air, “The more the merrier!”
Emily sighed just as Andy stole a glance back past her shoulder, raising an eyebrow at Emily. She avoided her questioning gaze, instead narrowing her eyes at Nigel, “You and your games, Nigel.”
“There’s no games here, Love. You need to unwind a little,” Nigel said, clasping his hand on her shoulder. “You’ll thank me later.”
And that was how they found themselves in a club. Emily, in the ripe age of 42 years old, amidst the young bodies of 20 year-olds, dancing to pounding music beneath the strobing, vibrant light.
She was ushered between Amari and Andy. Jin handed her a tequila shot and lime. She then raised her glass, her voice ringing above the crowd as she yelled, “Happy birthday to me!”
The rest of the group cheered, downing their drink and slamming the glass back down to the table. She heard Andy let out a whoop beside her. Charlie poured her another shot and she giggled before downing another drink.
Amari leaned in to let her know that Andy had offered to pay their tab for the night. Her gift to her first assistant at Runway, she had said. Emily nodded, half-distracted, watching in concern as Jin and Charlie continued urging her to drink more. Andy looked over her shoulder, hand reaching for Emily to urge her to join.
But Emily simply shook her head, something tells her the two of them, drunk, in public, wouldn’t exactly help them hide their relationship. And with the rate Andy was going, she was gonna get drunk soon enough.
They managed to rope Nigel in, then they took another shot together. Amari muttered something about them drinking too fast, so she quickly moved to usher them to the dance floor instead. Jin and Charlie were delighted to go, Nigel and Andy stayed behind.
“Aren’t you guys going to join them?” Nigel asked, tilting his head towards the three.
“No,” Emily simply said, then went to address Andy, “You should go ahead if you want to.”
“Come on,” Andy threw her hands up, yelling over the music, “Dance with me, Em. We never go out clubbing!”
“I’m a mother, Andrea.”
“Mothers are allowed to have fun!”
Andy started moving her shoulders, her hands outstretched in front of her. She crooked her fingers, wiggling it playfully. “Just one song! If you don’t enjoy it, I’ll be out of your hair.”
She looked at Nigel for help. But he only shrugged, his lips pursed to hold back a smile.
“Fine,” Emily sighed, taking her glass. “Pour me a shot and we shall dance.”
Nigel immediately moved to fill her glass, Emily immediately downed it with a gulp. There was something playful in Nigel’s tone when he said, “Don’t have too much fun, ladies.”
And then Emily was whisked away to the dance floor. She couldn’t recognize the song that was playing, but the bass was loud, thumping and vibrating through the dance floor. Andy’s hand moved to give her waist, and Emily’s first instinct was to immediately stop it in its tracks and look around to make sure none of Andy’s colleagues had seen.
“The rules, Andy,” Emily hissed out, eyes darting anxiously.
“We’re just dancing, Em. Friends dance.”
“Okay, then we dance apart.”
Andy made a face at that, but shrugged and made no effort to push further. She started to move to the music instead, twirling around as her hips swayed. There was some slight bounce to her feet, Emily could hear her singing the lyrics as she danced.
Andy was captivating. By that point, she had her eyes closed, expression entirely unguarded as she rolled her head back. Her hair fell down in waves, brown against her ivory skin. She was wearing a tube top, Emily could see the muscles of her shoulders shift under her skin as she continued to dance, back arching as she got lost into the music. Some beads of sweat started forming on her collarbone.
And suddenly Emily was aware that she remained unmoving on the dance floor, watching Andy entirely too closely to just be considered friendly. She shifted her gaze away, her cheeks heating up.
Before she could excuse herself, Jin’s hand was around her shoulder. She was holding another shot glass, its content sloshing around and almost spilling on Emily’s blazer as she slurred, “I brought more drinks!”
She handed one to Emily, then to Andy. Andy snapped out of her dancing trance, eagerly taking the drink with a grin. Emily refused hers, so Andy also downed that one.
Soon, Charlie and Amari joined them on the dance floor, and Emily used the moment to slip out of the dance floor. She found Nigel back at their table, nursing a drink while observing.
“It’s your turn to go to the dance floor now. Go and be young,” Emily said to him.
“Ah, I’m just living precariously through them.” Nigel chuckled, eyes trained on the group, now jumping together on the dance floor. “You, on the other hand, are not allowing yourself to have fun.”
“I am having fun.”
“You weren’t even dancing. Andy was eager enough to ask you to dance and you just stood there.”
Emily let out a breath, her heart rate picking up. Someone had been watching. She was right not to let Andy touch her.
Another part of her was also embarrassed, being caught standing motionless on the dance floor. She must’ve looked stupid.
She tried to keep her tone impassive as she said, “I didn’t know the song. So I left.”
Nigel simply hummed in response, his eyes trained on Emily. It was like being observed, Emily was convinced he was about to say something condescending. But instead, he just took a sip from his glass.
The night went on, and it became increasingly apparent that Andy was wasted. By the time she made it back to their table, she was stumbling. Emily’s body moved before her mind could catch up. Her hand found the small of Andy’s back, supporting her body weight as she leaned over uselessly.
“I think it’s time we call it a night. I’ll make sure to get the birthday girl home safely,” Amari announced, already looping her hand around Jin to support her. Jin was simply giggling in response.
“Oh, but I’m starving,” Charlie whined.
“Alright, pal. I’ll go with you,” Nigel patted his shoulder. “Emily, be a darling and take her home, will you?”
It took her a second to process what just came out of Nigel’s mouth, because Andy was now leaning her head against her shoulder. And Emily couldn’t really focus with her senses being invaded by Andy—her warmth, the smell of her shampoo, perfume, and sweat, and her breath tickling against her neck.
But then, it hit her, Nigel’s words. They would have to leave together.
“Huh?” was all she could manage out her mouth.
“Make sure Six gets home safely,” Nigel said, gesturing to Andy, who by then was practically clinging to Emily. “It looks like she’s practically velcroed to you, anyway.”
Emily swallowed past the lump in her throat. This was them violating two rules already: they touched and they left together.
But it wasn’t like Emily would ever say no. So she simply nodded, adjusting Andy’s weight against her. She half-registered the others saying their goodbyes.
When she was sure that the others had left, she pushed some of Andy’s hair back to properly look at her. Andy’s face was red and she was mumbling something before she nuzzled closer to Emily.
Emily’s heart stuttered. Andy looked impossibly soft like this, and she found that she couldn’t even be mad at her… reckless drinking, at the situation they were in. Holding back a smile, she walked them towards the exit.
—
The next time, it was Emily who unintentionally broke the rule.
Emily was reading over some key points for an upcoming meeting when she received a call. The caller ID showed that it was Roark’s school. They informed her that Roark was feeling unwell and had thrown up after lunch. They were asking if she could pick him up soon.
Emily’s blood ran cold at the news. She was like 15 minutes away from an important board meeting, but she didn’t trust her assistant enough to pick Roark up and take him to the doctor. She considered calling Frank, but then remembered that he was out of town.
There was only one person she could trust with her children. Her girlfriend, who was also in the middle of a workday.
She mulled this over for a whole minute. Then after deciding that she should ask for Andy’s help, took another minute to debate whether to call or text her. She opted to text her instead, worrying that she may be in the middle of an interview or meeting.
Emily:
Hey
I hate to ask you this but do you mind picking Roark up from school?
The school called saying he’s unwell. You’re the only one I trust
Andy didn’t immediately reply. It was only after Emily was seated in the meeting room did she receive a reply.
Andrea Sachs:
I’m omw to pick him up
I’ll bring him to the doctor right away
Emily breathed out a sigh of relief. She called the school back to let them know that Andy was coming to pick Roark up. Then prepared herself for the meeting.
The meeting ended an hour and a half later. Andy had already sent her more texts.
Andrea Sachs:
Got back to your place
Making dinner for Roark
Will be waiting til you get back
Emily replied back.
Emily:
Thank you for taking care of him
Emily ended up going home early that day. The drive back was quick, she didn’t make any unnecessary stops along the way.
By the time she walked into her apartment, she was greeted with the smell of freshly cooked dinner from the kitchen. A chicken soup, by the smell of it. She heard murmurs of a conversation, Andy’s calm tone and Bronwyn’s eager one.
She took off her shoes, hung her coat, then made her way to the kitchen. Bronwyn was doing her schoolwork on the kitchen counter, a half-eaten bowl to her side. Andy was sitting beside her, observing the words her daughter had just written in her book.
They both looked up upon hearing Emily come in. Emily walked over, kissing the top of Bronwyn’s head as she touched Andy’s shoulder.
“Hey, Roark took his meds and fell asleep. He had a fever when I came to pick him up,” Andy said. Her hand moved over Emily’s, thumb moving soothing circles there. “It’s gone down now.”
“Don’t worry, Mum. Andy got it under control,” Bronwyn said. She understood how worried Emily usually gets when either of them got sick, bless her heart. “Andy just reheated the soup. You should eat, Mum.”
“In a bit, sweetheart” Emily said, offering her a smile. Then, she looked over to Andy, “Thank you. I’ll check on Roark now.”
She left the kitchen without another word. She made her way to Roark’s room, pushing the door open slowly, a part of her afraid that any sound would disturb his rest. He was sound asleep on his bed, blankets tucked all the way up his little body.
She walked over to his side, pressing her hand to his forehead. No sign of fever. Emily let out a sigh of relief, hand moving to brush his damp hair back from his face, kissing his forehead.
“You know, I was lucky Nigel was willing to cover for me,” a voice sounded from the doorway. Andy had gone after her. “He was the one who saw your message. He said that you needed my help. He was adamant that I leave, that I shouldn’t worry about work.”
Emily’s hand stilled on Roark’s hair. Nigel saw her text. He knew the kind of favor she asked of Andy. He knew the level of trust they had for each other, and by extent, the depth of their relationship. He knew to encourage Andy, knew of the kind of role she was willing to take for Emily.
And while something in the back of her mind was telling her that she should be alarmed that she had broken rule number three—sending a text that clearly gave away the extent of their relationship—she couldn’t bring herself to care.
Because Roark was fast asleep. And his meds were working. And he would be okay.
Their relationship basically got exposed after failing to follow rule number four and five. They had failed to lie and weren't able to wait to discuss relationship things in private.
Emily would argue that it was Andy’s fault. Although, it was also partly her fault for not clarifying that lying about your weekend plan also means that you have the option to dodge the question if you ever feel like you couldn’t come up with a good lie.
“What do you mean Nigel is coming to our brunch date tomorrow?”
“Yeah well, he asked if I was doing anything tomorrow,” Andy started slowly, as if to gauge more of Emily’s reaction, “and I said I wanted to try a new brunch place.”
“You were telling him the truth, Andy. You were supposed to lie.”
“I’m not finished! And then, he said if it was a date and I quickly said no, I was going alone.”
“And then he invited himself?”
“Sorta?” Emily sighed loudly over the phone. Andy immediately scrambled to explain herself, “He asked me to invite you, too. To spill tea, as Bronwyn always put it.”
“Oh, bloody hell,” Emily pinched the bridge of her nose. “You could’ve just said you’re babysitting for Lily or something.”
“Hey! A good lie always has some truth to it!”
“Well it’s not a good lie if he ends up joining our date now, is it? What are we, a polycule?”
“I’m impressed that you know what that is.”
Emily groaned, because of course that was what Andy was focusing on. “Okay, we’ll meet up with him tomorrow. But I expect that you’ll work to improve your lying skills.”
And so that was how she ended up seated across from Andy and Nigel, day drinking Margarita while he rambled about the latest office gossip involving colleagues Emily wasn’t familiar with.
“To cheat so blatantly,” Andy said in response, making a face. “Men have no shame.”
Nigel nodded at that, sipping his coffee. He then shifted his attention towards Emily, raising his eyebrows. “And you, any interesting thing happening? Any dates lined up?”
Out of her peripheral view, she could just make out the shape of Andy choking on her drink silently.
“Ah, no, Nigel. You could say I’m married to my job.”
“Oh but I’d love to set you up with my friend,” he said, “He works in tech. Tall. Rich. Pleasant to converse with. I think you’d get along well.”
She felt the weight of Andy’s gaze on her. Emily was used to this, playing along with any matchmaking attempt she wasn’t actually interested in. The key was to always appear interested, but shift the focus to what they have now, “Oh but today isn’t about that. We’ll have to talk more about it on another day.”
“Oh that’s a promise, then,” Nigel winked, then he stood up from his seat. “If you’ll excuse me. I’ll go hit the men’s restroom.”
Emily’s gaze found Andy’s as soon as Nigel walked away. She could tell that Andy was about to show disapproval of her response before she opened her mouth. Emily immediately held up her hand.
“We’re not discussing this now, Andy.”
“Now he thinks you’re interested!” Andy said anyway, gesturing to wherever Nigel had gone to. “He looked committed to setting you up, Em.”
“It’s not gonna happen. I’ll keep stalling,” Emily responded.
Silence fell over them. Emily could tell that Andy wanted to say more, but she was clearly refraining herself. This was the type of conversation to be had in private. And they didn’t want to break rule number 5, right?
Emily also tried to shift her focus to the meal in front of her. She cut through the croissant sitting on her plate, deciding that being silent might be the best course of action now.
“You should’ve just said you weren’t interested.”
“Andrea.”
“I’m just saying. You clearly don’t want to.”
“Why don’t you drop this?”
“Well I can’t drop this because of how I feel towards you, now can’t I?”
“My, my. That finally moved things along,” a voice said, belonging to neither of them. Their heads snapped at the source of voice. Nigel was back, standing by their table. “My work here is done. Enjoy the date, you two.”
And with that, Nigel walked away, then out the door. They both sat there, looking back to each other, dumbfounded.
“What just happened?”
“I think,” Andy started, “Nigel has actually been trying to set us up the whole time.”
Emily could only stare. Her mouth still hung open.
“You know, maybe…” Andy started again, “This is actually the best way for us to come clean about the relationship. I’ll tell Nigel the date went well, you felt the same, and that we’re now dating.”
Emily looked at her incredulously, “What happened to keeping the relationship a secret?”
“You were worried about the rumor mill, weren’t you?” Emily nodded slowly, trying to follow where Andy was going with this. “Now if Nigel is to be credited to how we got together, he would be eager to spread the news himself. People wouldn’t speculate when the news came from a respectable source like him. We can control the narrative through him. I’ll just need to feed him enough information.”
Emily’s jaw dropped yet again, this time in awe. Andy was right. This was the perfect moment for them to come clean about their relationship.
She was impressed that Andy could come up with this plan in a moment of crisis. Also slightly turned on.
“You and your journalist mind,” Emily reached over to hold Andy’s hand, bringing it up to kiss the back of it.
Andy smiled, all smug about it, “I take it there’s no more secret relationship then?”
Emily chuckled, “Go ahead and make it public.”