Chapter Title: Serendipity

Author's notes: Please bear with my style of writing. I will now go back to the time before Derek and Meredith even dreamed of being physicians. This scene may remind you of a certain movie I won't mention so as not to preempt my story. Please read and review.

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I just love ferry boats, especially when riding one early morning. I am not a creature of habit; but this has been the only ritual that I've ever acquired: I ride the ferry boat to school, with my cream cheese bagel and coffee in tow. I absolutely enjoy the crisp sea breeze and salty spray on my face while I finish off my breakfast on the deck, watching the orangey-pink sunrise. I usually watch people and notice the little details. I wonder about them: who they are, what they do, et al.

Of all the people I've watched, I noticed this particular girl one morning.

I was seated on the last chair at the last row. There have only been five of us that morning. One woman was with her 4-yr old child, who lay sleeping on her lap. An old man with a white beard who was quietly smoking a pipe.

The girl's back was turned to me. She had strawberry blond hair and was wearing a heavy black coat. She was throwing things one by one from a shoebox that she held in her arms. Curiously, I got up, pretended to be seasick so I could lean over the railing and take a good look at her and what she's up to.

The first thing I noticed about her were her eyes. They were probably the saddest pair of eyes I've ever seen. Blue-gray, heavily lashed, and sparkling. With tears? I thought. She suddenly looked up and our eyes locked. She was the first to look away.

Now, I was a true-blooded New Yorker, indifferent and minds his own business. I was never the type who would approach total strangers and casually ask them if they were okay. Really now, who does that nowadays? But I surprised even myself that day when I found myself already infront of this sad young woman. "You know you could just dump everything from the box into the ocean and be done with it." I leaned on the railing and was pretending to look at the sky.

Surprisingly, she smiled. I will always remember that first smile as her signature smile, the way her lips crinkle just a little at the corners. "I agree. But it won't be half as satisfying to see one after the other float away."

"Ah," I nodded, smiling back at her. "Catharsis. Well that's good. They all say that to be able to move on, one must unload unnecessary baggage. Good point."

She laughed. "I guess you could call it unnecessary baggage. And it can either be a problem or a situation, depending on what the burden is."

I raised an eyebrow. She's witty. "A problem has solutions." I paused.

She sighed, such a long sad one, not looking nor smiling at me anymore. She stared straight ahead at the ocean. "When you're in a situation, there are no solutions. You can only brave the storm and wait for it to subside. You're helpless and with every counteraction you try to do, you run the risk of it backfiring on you, thus worsening things." She faced me again. "I'm Meredith by the way."

I shook her hand. "Derek. Listen, the boat's about to go into the dock. I was wondering if you'd like to have breakfast with me. There's a quiet cafe nearby, serves humongous blueberry waffles. A quick salve for heavily burdened souls who have just recently unloaded baggage into the ocean."

She laughed. "Blueberry waffles it is. Lead the way."

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Breakfast ended a long time ago. It turned out that this was Meredith's first time in New York. So we went to a small surplus shop, bought a blanket, and headed off to Central Park. She was so easy to talk to and fun to argue with.

I spread the blanket on the grass and Meredith sat down. "Don't you have anything planned today," she asked, squinting up at me as I was removing my shoes before I sat down beside her.

I gave her my best "hurt" look and she laughed. "I meant that I may be keeping you. In that case, I excuse you from any responsibilities you might feel in touring me across your fine city."

"If you want me to leave you alone, just say so," I demurred, smirking playfully and rolling my eyes. I leaned back on my elbows. "Why are you in New York anyway?"

It was her turn to smirk playfully and was looking straight ahead at a distance. "I broke up with my boyfriend. He cheated on me and I couldn't stomach it."

"How typical," I snorted. "I bet he feels jealous of you. His ego couldn't handle it." She looked at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. "What? I'm telling you, the man's jealous of your achievements. It's a macho thing, don't worry. I see it all the time." I laughed at her perplexed look. "It was never 'you' as the reason why you guys split up. It sounds cliche but I'll say it anyway." I paused for effect. "It's not you, it's him."

Meredith laughed out loud this time. She had a nice laugh, hearty but not too boisterous, and with a tinkling quality to it. Shaking her head, she replied, "How good you are for my ego. Maybe next time I should get me someone with a been-there-done-that attitude."

And that's how it was for the whole day. Meredith and I just roamed around Central Park, talking and laughing like old friends. It has been a while since the last time I talked to someone, as in really talked to. Although basically we didn't talk about anything relevant in our respective lives, it was the rapport, the easiness of our conversations, and the sincerity between the words, were what immortalized that day for me. How I loathed when it ended.

We were infront of Meredith's hotel on the sidewalk that night, facing each other.

Meredith spoke, her smile lighting up her blue-gray eyes. "Thank you for everything, Derek. It was a wonderful day. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it." She looked awkward, for the first time since we met that morning. Meredith offered her hand.

I smiled at her and engulfed her hand in mine. "Pleasure's all mine. Glad to be of service. I'm just doing my city a favor by touring a young lady on her first time here. Maybe she'll begin to like it enough to stay longer to get to know more of it," I hinted.

"I have to go," Meredith stammered a little and gestured with her hands. "Thanks again." She tiptoed to kiss my cheek while I bent down to kiss hers. We bumped noses in the process and our lips met. A warm feeling spread across my face. Finally, Meredith broke off from our kiss and hurriedly went to the revolving doors.

I shouted frantically. "I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

Before she pushed the door open, Meredith looked back one last time at me.

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The next morning, I went to the hotel where Meredith was staying and came looking for her. The concierge thought I was a little loose on the head. Fortunately, the bellhop remembered Meredith and told me her room number.

When I got there, the door was ajar. I went inside cautiously. "Meredith? It's me, Derek. Are you decent?" I was smiling, sniffing on the bouquet of wildflowers I got for her.

A Mexican-looking woman in a maid's uniform went out of the bathroom carrying a hamper with used towels. "I'm sorry but our previous guest checked out early this morning."

I stood there, frozen to the ground, as my spirits took a nose-dive.

That was the last time I ever saw her. I didn't know where she came from, nor at least what her last name was. It was like waking up from a beautiful dream I had.

Over the years, I still thought of Meredith once in a while. I never looked her up in the internet, once I got her name after bribing the concierge that day. It had been my theory that these things happen for some reason. There are some things that we can help ourselves to and there are some that any form of intervention would ruin everything. And I believe that this time, it was the latter. I just had to have faith.

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