"What the hell is your problem?!" Addison Forbes Montgomery shouted as she followed the tiny blonde Chief of Staff, also known as Charlotte King, down the hall.
All she needed was one signature to make her surgery happen, just one. She couldn't help it if her pregnant patient was a minor and therefore unable to make her own decisions. Her patient, Sarah, needed this surgery or the baby would suffer damage, but Sarah's parents would not allow surgery until, their family witch doctor or shaman, or whatever, showed up and gave them the okay.
Yeah, she respected other people's cultures and religions, but this was not the time for that. If Charlotte signed the form she had in her hand at this very moment, she would be able to override the parents' veto, but by-the-book Dr. King was of course following hospital protocol down to every last detail and refusing to sign it. Apparently she was not willing to risk the hospital's reputation.
Crap. Now she had lost the tiny blonde somewhere among the crowded halls of the hospital, but she figured Charlotte would be in her office. It was, after all, on this floor.
"Dr. King!" She yelled as she burst through the door.
"Dr. Montgomery," Charlotte replied dryly. Addison cringed at the way her name sounded with that grating southern accent. "You can't wait another half an hour?"
"No, I can not. She needs surgery now. Both the mother and the child could sustain permanent damage if we don't get them into the OR soon. Can't you overlook it, just this once? You don't have to follow every damn rule in the book."
The blonde glared at her. "Now see here Montgomery."
She didn't let Dr. King finish, it was clear to her that the stubborn blonde was not going to budge, so she left and went to talk to Sarah's parents again.
0ooo0ooo0
Sarah's surgery was a success, mostly because the witch doctor, shaman person showed up ten minutes after she left the Charlotte's office. Addison was angry and embarrassed. Maybe she could have waited, but she was new to L.A. and just testing out her privileges at St. Ambrose. At Seattle Grace she was a highly revered god and here she was a no name, co-op surgeon. Even her Oceanside coworkers were not too happy with her. But whatever, she was here to stay and she would get respect one way or another.
She was done in St. Ambrose at eight thirty exactly and all she wanted to do was go home. She made a beeline to the locker room only to discover public enemy number one sitting on a bench changing her shoes. She did her best to ignore the Charlotte, but it was just the two of them in there and she felt she had to say something.
"Going home?"
The blonde snorted. "Home? Yeah right. I'm just changing into some different shoes. These ones kill," Charlotte said, pointing to her blue satin Prada pumps. "But I'm a sucker for pretty shoes."
"Mmm, they are very nice." There was an awkward pause and Addison resumed opening her temporary locker that held a clean set of clothes and her purse. "Dr. King, look, I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have forced that form on you. It probably could have gotten you into a lot of trouble."
Green eyes meet her blue ones. "You only did it because you thought it was best for the patient. I take no personal offence to that."
"Good. That's…thank you."
Charlotte finished tying the laces on her pristine white sneakers and stood to face her. "And I was just doing my job. I'm not here to make friends." And with that Dr. King walked out the room, and she was left feeling sorry for the bitter, overworked doctor.
0ooo0ooo0
The next time Addison saw Charlotte was one week later at Oceanside when the blonde was there bringing in some files for Sam's patient. Charlotte looked so run down. She knew being Chief of Staff of such a prestigious hospital was no picnic, but didn't Charlotte ever rest? She watched the blonde disappear into the break room and then reappear in her office.
Charlotte leaned against the doorframe and cocked a pale eyebrow at her. "So why aren't you hanging out with the rest of the Oceanside pansies. Not part of the cool crowd?"
"Mmm, no. They don't want me to be here. There was this thing with voting and I put my foot down. I had this speech and everything. Well, basically I told them I was going to work here whether or not they liked it. So, I'm here, in my office."
Charlotte laughed and shook her head, "I knew you were different from those people."
Addison leaned forward on her desk, resting her chin in her hand and giving Charlotte a look. "Oh come on, you only like me because I'm a double board certified neonatal surgeon and because I do kick ass surgeries at your hospital."
"Well of course there's that. I have exceptional taste. But you're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks, Dr. King."
"Call me Charlotte."
"Well, then you can call me Addison.
0ooo0ooo0
She knew Charlotte wasn't exactly a people person, but she never knew that so many people hated the blonde. Everyone hated her. She heard numerous stories of the blonde verbally destroying others or simply melting people with her death glare. It didn't seem like she had any friends at St. Ambrose, which was sad because everyone deserved someone.
As she passed a pair of doctors, she could hear the name Cruella floating around. She rolled her eyes and continued her path to the NICU. Unfortunately she wasn't paying attention to what was in front of her as she turned the corner. And as a result she collided with another person.
"Watch where you're going!" It was Charlotte who spat out these words.
"Well it's nice to see you too, Charlotte."
The blonde looked up at her and her smoldering green eyes softened just a fraction. "Oh, sorry Montgomery." The blonde straightened herself and went on her way. "Try not to plow me over next time."
Addison laughed and watched the tiny blonde stride to her destination. Sure, Charlotte was a little rough around the edges, but she made for an interesting friend.
0ooo0ooo0
Addison placed the cup of coffee on the counter in front of the blonde. She knew Charlotte hadn't left the hospital last night and to be honest Dr. King did not look like she was doing too well. She had seen Charlotte at Oceanside everyday this past week. Pete said he was treating Charlotte's insomnia with no luck.
Charlotte had been irritable, angry and pretty much unhappy all week. She complained about catching the quack disease from Oceanside. She was difficult when Violet tried to give her a Psych. Evaluation and she attacked anyone who got in her way, even Addison, but Addison happened to possess a vast sea of patience for her severe intimacy issued friend.
When Charlotte didn't look up from the chart she was filling out, Addison cleared her throat and pushed the cup closer to her. That caught Charlotte's attention. She eyed the coffee in front of her warily. "What?"
"Its coffee Charlotte, made specially for you."
Charlotte ignored her comment and took a sip. The blonde nodded her head approvingly and offered Addison a small smile. Addison thought she had a very pretty smile.
"Charlotte, are you busy tomorrow night?"
"No." The blonde's green eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to do something. You know, finally get out of the hospital. Come on, it'll be fun. We can get drinks, go dancing…"
Charlotte was giving her a dubious look. The last thing the sleep-deprived blonde needed was to be out in public, where everyone could see her falling apart.
"Or we could stay in and watch a movie at my place?"
"That sounds…okay." Charlotte took a longer sip from her cup.
Addison grinned. "Great."
0ooo0ooo0
They were watching Sleepless in Seattle; or rather Addison was watching Sleepless in Seattle. To her amazement, the blonde had fallen asleep halfway in. So much for all of Pete's hard work, she thought. Who would have thought Addison would've been the one to finally get the fierce little blonde to sleep?
She removed herself from the couch to fetch a blanket from the armchair and then draped it over Charlotte's sleeping form. The petite blonde looked so sweet and open, vulnerable even, when she slept. Addison watched Charlotte let out a contented sigh in her sleep.
Charlotte was so adorable when she slept. Addison just couldn't help, but lean down and place a kiss on Charlotte's head and then another one, more hesitantly, on her lips. It felt appropriate at the time and she really enjoyed the feeling of being that close to another person again.
0ooo0ooo0
Pete had paced around the lobby of Oceanside enough times to start worrying Addison.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yeah. Charlotte. She missed her appointment this morning," he answered.
"That would be because she was sleeping."
He turned to face her. "Sleeping?"
"She came over to my house last night. We watched a movie. She fell asleep, overslept and missed her appointment."
"Wait, she was at your house last night. You're friends with the Tiger?" He asked incredulously. Never mind that Charlotte had just broke her sleeping fast. "Really, Addison? Friends?"
She suddenly remembered the kiss she gave Charlotte last night. She wouldn't mind doing that again.
"Yeah, we're friends."
0ooo0ooo0
Addison was really drunk or maybe Charlotte was really drunk. She wasn't sure, but their glasses never emptied that night. She had invited Charlotte over again, lured her in with the promise of tequila. That was one good thing she picked up from Seattle.
So they were at her house, sitting on her patio under the stars and now drinking directly from the bottle.
"He cheated one me," was how she began her drunken rant. "Well I cheated on him first, but then he cheated on me with an intern. I was married to him for ten years and he chose her instead of me."
"My mm-mother drank a lot," Charlotte offered slurring her words. "She never loved me. She always hurt me. Everybody always hurts me."
The blonde leaned into her and she wrapped an arm around Charlotte's frail shoulders.
"I don't think anyone's ever loved me," Charlotte confessed.
"That's not true," she said as she leaned her face closer to Charlotte's.
She kissed the blonde gently at first and then more urgently. Addison wasn't surprised when the blonde kissed back and gladly allowed Charlotte more access to her mouth. She moved away from the blonde's lips and kissed a path across Charlotte's jaw as she tangled her hands in silky yellow hair.
She found that she liked the taste of Charlotte's collarbone and enjoyed the feeling of the blonde's hand reaching under her skirt. She felt very warm, very wet and very happy at the moment. Tendrils of pleasure reached out from wherever Charlotte touched and she moaned in appreciation.
She found her own hands fondling the blonde's breasts through the fabric of her expensive silk blouse and then cried out as Charlotte's fingers slipped inside of her.
0ooo0ooo0
The sun was streaming on her face and Addison could see the light even through closed lids. She cursed herself for not closing the curtains beforehand and then cursed herself even more for the splitting headache and churning stomach that had accompanied this morning's hangover. She didn't remember much from last night, but she did happen to notice that there was another warm body pressed up against hers.
She slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the hand that was draped across her sheet covered waist. She recognized that hand and when she rolled over she found Charlotte's smoldering green eyes looking at her. She glanced down beneath the covers and found that they were both completely naked, not a stitch of clothes on them. She was shocked, yes. She had never slept with another woman before, but then again Charlotte was the only woman that had ever remotely turned her head.
For a second Charlotte looked worried. She sensed Addison's shock. Hell, she was stunned herself, but she didn't mind it. Addison had been a really great friend to her. It had been a long time since someone actually cared about her or even cared for her. The blonde mentally prepared herself for rejection, disgust, to be thrown out of Addison's bed and never to be associated with again.
But Addison understood Charlotte's need for acceptance. And besides, she really did care for the blonde. She might not have been in love with the blonde now, but as she looked into those pained green eyes, she felt herself falling for Charlotte. She was starting to feel that funny fluttery feeling in her stomach again.
So she didn't reject Charlotte. She didn't hurt her in any way. She gave Charlotte exactly what she needed, and exactly what she didn't expect.
Addison kissed the blonde's soft lips, cuddled closer and settled in to sleep again.