'Derek? What are you doing here?', Addison asked, frozen in a state of shock. He was supposed to be in England - at least that's where he was rumoured to have fled to after she turned down his proposal. He was supposed to be 3000 miles away, across an entire Ocean, not here in this tiny Starbucks outlet where there were no decent places to hide. She tightened her grip on her purse and set her jaw as she became aware of her cheeks flushing, embarrassed by how unprepared she was to see him again. Painful memories flooded back to her like a tidal wave of regret; Derek sobbing in the rain as she uttered the simple word 'no', Derek begging her to call him her husband. She gulped hard, the beginnings of tears forming in her glassy eyes, not knowing what to expect. 'To be perfectly honest it's none of your business Addison' he started in a scathing tone, 'but I will be polite and start over, given that our last encounter was one that I would rather forget.' Derek enjoyed watching Addison squirm at the sight of him, clearly mortified. At least this would ease the tender burn of being rejected. 'It's true that I lived in England for a while, but there's only so long that a person can spend in a house surrounded by fields and sheep without going crazy, so I jumped ship to Seattle. The reason why I'm here now in the city is because I decided to take a well-deserved holiday, and where is more romantic than the Big Apple? he laughed, eyes sparkling as he flashed her his infamous pearly teeth in a wide smile. Romantic? Addison was confused as to why he wanted to be surrounded by romance when he was travelling alone. Surely that would just be depressing?
Her question was answered when a thin, beautiful blonde eagerly sidled up beside Derek and wrapped her slender arms firmly around his waist. She was pretty, Addison would give her that, but she was also practically twelve years old. A baby. Derek was dating a baby. Addison couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy burning in her stomach which she hated herself for - Derek was her past, not her present. But this girl was prettier and younger, and clearly much more appealing to the arrogant Derek Shepherd, angling for a perfect 10. 'This is Meredith. We came to the city together' he explained, gently tugging the girl even closer towards him as they smiled coyly to each other, as though they shared an outrageous secret. Addison felt out of place watching him happy with another woman and she wanted nothing more than to escape this unfortunate encounter. But Derek wasn't going to let her get away that easily - he wasn't done torturing her yet. 'So are you here alone?' he mocked, expecting her to clam up and stutter some pathetic reason about why she hadn't mustered up the courage to go on a date yet. She had always been a shy woman with fragile emotions underneath, once you got past the confident exterior. Most people were entirely unaware of this, but Derek was one of the few who knew every painful secret about Addison Forbes Montgomery.
Determined to win, Addison decided she wasn't going to give him the pleasure of breaking her down. Meredith was still hanging from his arm like a clingy child, the bitter aroma of coffee was still wafting through the air, snowflakes were still falling daintily outside - the world hadn't stopped moving at Derek Shepherd's presence. Addison could do this. She could tell him. Their love was in the past - she had no shame in her future; the present. Mark. Kind, warm, loving Mark. She could do this - right? Just as Addison had managed to muster up the courage to break the news of the past 5 years to Derek, a shadow hovered in the doorway. The room suddenly grew quiet, all individual noises blurring into nothing, all senses going numb as Addison's throat ran dry. She desperately wished that the ground could swallow her whole.
The figure rubbed the stubble on his chin, and took a wide stance. 'Oh. Well this is awkward.'
