Thank to DuVe Gleek for betaing this update. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

That evening, Meredith was in her room at the Ritz getting ready for the reception, this would be the opportunity she hoped to meet Derek Shepherd in person. She wanted to write a book on him - he was going to be one of the greats after all - as he would be as honoured as her mother was. No doubt in her mind he would be up there with her mother. She was just applying the last of her make-up which went well with what she was wearing; a deep blue baby doll dress. She didn't have a lot of make-up with her as her husband had never liked her wearing it, so she'd had to buy some at JFK. She would normally have just taken the small make-up case that was in her desk drawer, but she knew that Mark would look through what she had packed so it was probably a good idea to have forgotten it. She didn't want to make him angry, especially not before this conference. There was a knock at the door and guessing it was Susanna, she yelled for her to come in.

"Meredith"

"I'm just in the bathroom, I'll be out in a moment" Meredith looked over her appearance one more time, before walking out of the bathroom.

"Hey Susanna" Meredith said.

"You ready?"

"I am, just let me call Mark quickly"

"Meredith come on, we'll be late"

"It'll be quick. I promise" Meredith quickly grabbed her mobile and dialled Marks all too familiar number, but only getting his voicemail. Which she wasn't at all surprised about considering the fact that 4 in the afternoon in New York. "Hey, it's me, just checking in. I have a reception tonight, I'll give you a call when I get back to the hotel room. Oh I won't be taking my phone, so don't worry if you can't get hold of me, bye" she motioned to Susanna that she was ready.

Derek is in his room. Having just gotten out of the shower, he wraps a towel around his waist, not bothering to dry himself off and walks into the bedroom. With his hair and torso dripping wet, he went to grab his boxers, as his phone rang, he looked at the caller ID, seeing that it was Addison.

"Hey Addie"

"Derek, are you in Paris?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised Mark didn't tell you"

"He mentioned something about it. I'm, here on a consult and I was wondering if you fancied meeting for dinner"

"I have a reception tonight, why don't you join me?"

"Are you asking me out on a date, Dr Shepherd?" Addison teased him.

"Yes, I am Dr Montgomery"

"Just don't tell Mark"

"Our little secret" Derek laughed.

"I can be there in an hour"

"Okay, it's at the Ritz Carlton, give me a text when you're outside"

"Bye" Addison says, hanging up. Derek was looking forward to seeing Addison; he hadn't seen her in two years so it would be nice to catch up.

He couldn't believe that it had been two years since Addison and Mark's wedding, since he had last seen both of them. He knew that needed to change, that he needed to slow down, but if he did it would only go to prove how lonely he actually felt. Sometime he found himself missing Addison, not so much her, or their relationship, but having someone in his life, apart from the odd relationship here and there none of them lasted because Derek wasn't willing to put his career in second place. Derek got dressed; he couldn't be bothered with wearing a tuxedo or a suit, so he decided on trousers, and a button down shirt. He knew exactly what to expect from these receptions, which is why he had ask Addison to join him, to give him a bit of company without her constantly asking question about his work.

Meredith and Susanna arrived at the reception a little later than it started but they knew that no-one would get their much before 8 o clock, Meredith couldn't help but look around the room, and see if Derek Shepherd had arrived yet.

"Meredith" Susanna said handing her a glass of champagne.

"Yeah"

"He will be here don't worry"

"Who?"

"You know exactly who I mean, now relax and enjoy yourself, it's your night off, so make the most of it"

Derek left his room, to meet Addison, he had just exited the elevator, when he saw her walking into the hotel. She was wearing a black pencil skirt and a halter neck top, she gave Derek a wave and he walked over to her, giving her a hug.

"It's nice to see you, Addie. How's Mark?"

"He's still Mark, he told me to tell you to phone him, it been months Derek and he's worried about you, so am I" Derek took her arm and walked her toward the lounge where they are holding the reception.

"Addie, I'm fine"

"You're always fine, Derek. Now tell me something I will believe" Derek went straight to the bar, ordered himself a scotch and Addison a cosmo, before anyone of his peers saw him. He just wanted a moment to catch up with Addison.

"There's nothing to tell you, the trial is coming along well"

"Derek I don't want to hear about your professional life, I can read your articles, I'm talking about personally" Derek looks around the room, desperate not to look at Addison, when his eyes settle on her, the same woman from the conference that captured his attention and when he saw who she was with, he knew exactly who she was. He quickly excused himself from Addison and walked over to them.

"Susanna" Derek said, giving her a hug. "How are you? It's been a while"

"Derek, it's so good to see you again. I'm good, how are you?"

"You know me, working hard as usual" Susanna nodded remembering that Meredith was standing beside her.

"Meredith, this is Doctor Derek Shepherd, an old friend of mine, Derek I would like you to meet Meredith Grey" Meredith holds out her hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Dr Shepherd, I've read all of your articles" Meredith, trying not to feel the effects that he was having on her, couldn't meet his eyes, but could feel his stare.

"Ms Grey, call me Derek and I am well aware that you have a deep understand of medical procedures"

"Derek, its Meredith. I studied pre-med before I did journalism and my mother was a doctor"

"How come you never went to medical school?"

"I came to realise that I only did pre-med because of who my mother was and she had always wanted me to become a doctor, so I decided to follow what I had always wanted to do"

"I bet your mother wasn't happy"

"She died, when I was doing pre-med"

"I'm so sorry"

"It was a long time ago"

"Susanna, would you and Meredith like to join me and Addison?"

"Addison is here?" Susanna asked, knowing that she was married to Mark Sloan.

"Yeah, she agreed to accompany me tonight" Susanna looked at Meredith who nodded her head. Derek placed his hand on the small of her back and she tried to ignore the sparks that travelled up her spine.

"Meredith, Addison Montgomery-Sloan, Addie, this is Meredith Grey"

"Dr Montgomery, it nice to meet you"

"Ms Grey, I will admit I am a fan of yours"

"Thank you and it's Meredith. Ms Grey is my mother"

"You can call me Addison, then"

A waiter came over to them with champagne and Derek ended up being dragged off by an old colleague of his from his work with the 'Doctors Without Borders' program, but he couldn't keep his eyes of Meredith. He noticed that she kept playing with her wedding ring. He was a little disappointed that she was married, in the short time he had known her, he had felt more for her, than he had for any woman he had ever met, it was a shame that she was unavailable.

It was towards the end of the evening before Derek managed to get back to Susanna and Meredith; Addison had left a couple of hours before, having been paged back to the hospital. Every time he heard her giggle, he found it completely adorable, usually it would annoy him and whenever he noticed another doctor talking to her, he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously, which was wrong considering he hardly knew her and she was married. He found his way back to them, and slid in the seat next to Meredith.

"Ladies I'm so sorry about that"

"Derek its fine, your trial is ground-breaking, people are going to want to talk to you about it" said Meredith

"Derek, Meredith, I'm going to retire for the night, it's been a long day. Meredith I'll meet you at 8.30 for breakfast and we can discuss your article"

"Sure, Susanna, I'll see you in the dining room in the morning" Susanna left and Meredith, for the first time that night, finds herself alone with Derek.

"Derek, it was a pleasure to meet you, but I should be going too. I had no sleep last night"

"Would you care to join me at the conference tomorrow? I don't have any more speeches for a couple of days, so I'll be sitting in on some of the other lectures"

"Yeah, okay, I think that it would be quite helpful as there are some medical procedures here that I don't quite understand and your assistance could be invaluable"

"Always thinking like a journalist?"

"Yeah, good night Derek"

"Goodnight Meredith" said Derek, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She smiled before disappearing out of sight. Derek sat back down, with a smile on his face. For the first time in a long time, he can see a chance of having everything that he had always wanted, but the question was; is he brave enough to go for it?

Meredith was relieved to find the elevator empty and leant up against the wall. She couldn't believe the effect that man had on her and she had never felt anything like it. He was the complete opposite of her husband, but she was married, and these feelings were wrong. No good could come of it. She entered her suite and had a quick shower before getting into the big King sized bed. She fell asleep almost instantly, with a smile on her face.