Hey stranger, just landed at the airport and will be with you in an hour. VERY excited to see you. Want me to pick up some dinner? xx
As she read the text Cristina felt a flutter of excitement. She'd be fooling herself if she said she hadn't spent the last four months counting down to this particular moment. She'd even done the unthinkable and booked a half day off work – not a full day obviously – to ensure she was adequately prepared for their reunion. In 4 short hours she had cleaned the house (well, supervised the housekeeper), stocked up on his favourite red wine, shaved her legs and dug out matching underwear.
Leaving the text unanswered for a respectable ten minutes (can't be seen to be too keen, even now), she replied: I guess I'm excited to see you too. Don't worry about dinner. I'm not hungry…. For food any ;)
Cringing ever so slightly about the winky face emoji she curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine to calm her nerves. It was weird; she hadn't felt this way since her and Owen started their flirtation all those years ago – the stolen glances, unexpected kisses and long drawn out sexual tension that made her feel like a giddy love-struck teenager. In truth she never thought she would feel that way again, especially given what was to follow. But she had to admit that this long distance relationship thing was working well for her.
Before her thoughts drifted too deep, right on schedule she received a call from Shane. Just because she was on a half day doesn't mean the work stops, and she had demanded an update before he went home for the day.
"Talk to me Ross."
"Hi Doctor Yang- not much to update on since you left four hours ago," She could detect sarcasm in his tone which she'd reprimand him for on Monday. "The prints are going well and are on schedule to be finished on Monday, I'll be checking in on them over the weekend. Mr. Klein's transplant went well and he's recovering nicely"
"Okay, good. Any news on the Ortho clinical trial progress?"
"No not yet, I chased Peterson for an update but he simply said that he can't rush his craft. I said you had requested an update but he wouldn't budge – you know he's not scared of me like he is of you."
She sighed. "What have I told you Sharky, you're too smiley. You're a cardio fellow now, and if you want people to be scared of you then you need to be scary. I'll email him and give him a piece of my mind; if he wants to continue to receive my funding then he needs to be making at least some signs of progress. This hospital isn't a charity case. Anything else?"
"One more thing - the agenda for the medical innovation conference has been finalised, I've emailed you the schedule, but you should be aware that…"
"Oh goody!" she squealed, cutting him off. The Klausman Conference for Medical Innovation and Advancement had been the highlight of her year ever since she had the genius idea to set it up 3 years ago. The finest surgeons from all specialities gather from across the world for a week's worth of speeches, demonstrations and idea sharing. Last year she even managed to get Mer over to present - although their week focused much more on tequila drinking and dancing as opposed to networking with other medical professionals.
"Any surprises to make me aware of?"
"Well, as you know, Doctor Burke will be doing his presentation on the progress of the holographic heart."
No surprises there; he had come every year. As much as it was awkward at first, Cristina had to invite him, this work was a breakthrough and the conference gave other specialities the chance to develop similar technologies. And, on a personal level it was also quite satisfying for her to show him just how well she was doing in his former role, even if that meant them having to occasionally socialise and exchange small talk.
"Yeap." She said nonchalantly.
"And Doctor Karev just confirmed today."
"Evil Spawn!?" She couldn't help but contain her excitement. She had been bugging him to come to Zurich for years. She had to admit that the boy had done good, even being shortlisted for a Harper Avery last year which he narrowly missed out on to her, obviously. He was fast becoming one of the most sought after paediatric surgeons on the west coast.
"And, umm. Well there's one other thing. Err." Shane only stumbled like that when he knew he was in for a Cristina Yang- style reprimand.
As he continued to babble on Cristina was distracted by another text that popped up.
Oooo, a winky face? Well now I'm even more excited. GPS says I'm less than 15 minutes away. ;) ;)xx
Crap 15 minutes. She still had to jump in the shower.
"Okay thanks Doctor Ross, have a good weekend and see you on Monday bye." She ended the call without giving him a chance to speak.
After the world's quickest shower she slipped on her sexiest matching underwear and threw on a comfortable but figure hugging sweater dress when she heard the doorbell go.
He's here.
It took all of her self-control not to sprint down the stairs. Instead she took her time, clinging on to the exciting anticipation for as long as she could. Steadying herself for a second at the front door she took several deep breaths as she caught sight of his tall shadow on the other side of the door which she slowly opened to reveal those piercing blue eyes and welcoming smile.
Standing there motionless for a while they took each other in, sizing each other up and down. It felt like an eternity before one of them spoke.
"Hey Cristina"
"Hey you"
…..
They collapsed in a heap on a living room floor, having spent the best part of two hours getting re-acquainted with each other. She should have known that tidying her room and changing the sheets was a waste of time, it was a miracle they even made it past the hallway.
They laid there for a while in comfortable silence, and she realised how much she had missed him. Right there in that moment, lying in his arms she felt absolutely content, and safe – like nothing else in the world mattered.
As if he could read her thoughts he leaned over and whispered, "Admit it, you've missed me."
Laughing seductively she replied, "Well, I certainly missed this part of you…" as she slowly slid her hands down his body.
Before she could continue he jumped up and laughed. "No. As much as I'd love to go again, a man has got to refuel. You've worn me out woman, you're insatiable." He looked down and winked at her, making her blush. "Let me get some food inside me and we can continue making up for the past four months."
She pouted, "Okay fine. While you're in there pour us some wine, I got your favourite Bordeaux from the vineyard you like so much."
He smiled. "Oh, you BEAUTIFUL woman. I knew I keep you around for a reason."
As he made his way to the kitchen, she got herself settled on the sofa and draped a blanket over herself – there was zero point in putting clothes back on – and started thinking about just how much fun they were going to have this weekend when her phone went off. If it were anyone else at this particular time she'd send it straight to voicemail, but that ringtone meant it could only be one person. Her person.
"Well hello Meredith Grey."
"You've just had sex haven't you?" Meredith said as more of a statement rather than a question.
Cristina snorted, "Err what makes you say that?"
She could practically hear Mer rolling her eyes. "Well firstly, I tried ringing through to your office earlier and was told you'd taken the afternoon off. Secondly, you couldn't stop banging on about your 'big reunion' coming up when we Skyped last week, and..."
"Oh please, I wasn't 'banging on' about-"
"And finally, your voice is all croaky and hoarse which means you've been screaming your lungs out."
A beat passed and then a shout came from the kitchen.
"Hi Meredith – this better be a short phone call, I have plans for Cristina this evening. Hope you're well."
"Oh, and late entry - the fact that he just spoke to me down the phone."
Cristina paused. "It's disturbing how well you know me sometimes. Since you clearly know my every movement and therefore know that I'm currently catching up on four months' worth of sex can I ask why are you calling me right now?" She asked with slight concern – they normally arranged their calls in advance, spontaneous phone calls on really happened when something was wrong.
"I thought it would be obvious." Her person said with slight bewilderment. "The finalised agenda for the conference next month. I'm not sure why you would invite him. Why did you?"
Cristina sighed. "Eugh, Mer we've been over this before. I don't actually have final say on who gets invited, I have a very capable staff who sorts that. Yeah, sure it was weird having Burke there the first time, but now it's fine - honestly. I can be in a room with that man and not want to bang my head against a table or roll my eyes every time he talks about reinventing surgery as we know it… Most of the time."
"I wasn't referring to Burke."
"Oh, Alex? Per-lease I'm excited about that. And if you're worried about it being awkward, it won't be. So what that I beat him to the Harper Avery last year, he'll win one soon enough. We both know that the natural order of things would have been thrown off balance if he got one before I did. We got drunk together after the ceremony and talked about…"
"CRISTINA!" Meredith cut in, sounding increasingly exasperated. "Stop avoiding who you know I'm talking about. Please tell me why you have invited him. Why you would ever think it was a good idea to invite Owen to speak at YOUR conference…."
Cristina went numb at the sound of his name as Meredith continued to reprimand her down the phone. She couldn't concentrate properly on what she was saying, but words like mistake, backsliding and trouble were mentioned more than once. As she tried to pull herself together Mer's voice came back into sharp focus.
"Ah shoot I'm late picking up the kids from day care, I gotta go. But we are not done talking about this Cristina. I'm half tempted to fly out to Zurich to keep you two at least ten feet apart at all times. You've got Stephen now, who is pretty damn perfect for you by the way. And Owen's happy too. Please be careful." And with that she hung up, not knowing the bombshell she had just dropped.
She couldn't move.
Owen's coming? No, Mer must be mistaken. Why on earth would my ex-husband be speaking at MY medical conference. And how could I not know?
She grabbed her tablet from the coffee table and frantically pulled up the agenda that Shane had emailed across earlier that evening. Scrolling through there it was in black and white, directly after Burke's name. The irony didn't escape her.
From Battlefield to ER: Major Owen Hunt, MD, F.C.A.S will be sharing the latest trauma surgery techniques from the field and how these advances can revolutionise an ER.
Before she could even begin to start processing this, Stephen snuggled up beside her on the sofa, pulled her in close, and handed her a glass of wine.
"Okay …" He planted a small kiss on the top of her head. "Given you basically jumped my bones as soon as I arrived, why don't you fill me in on what's new with you."