It was the first day of week one of Addison's 'vacation' and already it was turning out to be one of the worst days of her life. Well, maybe that was a tad overdramatic but it was an awful day. She had been up since 5 AM and had yet to even taste a single drop of coffee. The heel on one of her favourite Jimmy Choo shoes had snapped clean off and when she finally did reach the hospital, the redhead found that Mark was waiting for her in the NICU like an overexcited puppy.
"Coffee for the Queen." He offered, holding out the large, white polystyrene cup.
"I'm not having sex with you." Addison replied instantly, taking the cup and bringing it to her lips. God, she loved coffee.
"C'mon, Addie!" Mark whined. "We can even go for dinner beforehand!"
Not bothering to justify the plastic surgeon with an answer, she turned and walked off down the hall to start her rounds. She would resist. She would not sleep with Mark Sloan. Glancing at her watch, she groaned quietly to herself. It was only 7:04 AM. Fantastic.
Derek Shepherd was having a good day. He had woken up at seven o'clock with Meredith in his arms and had spent fifteen minutes simply watching the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. Meredith had finally woken at half seven in a complete panic, but she had quickly relaxed after Derek reminded her that they weren't due in until nine.
"The Chief won't mind if we're a little late." Derek murmured, his lips trailing along Meredith's jaw.
"Derek..." She gasped, pressing her body flush against his.
Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey arrived to work at 9:58 AM.
"You're late." Addison remarked as her ex-husband sauntered up to the nurses' desk, looking as smug as ever.
Derek simply rolled his eyes and took the files from her outstretched hand. "Don't be like that, Addison. I'm not in the mood."
He knew that his snide comment would irk the redhead but he didn't actually care. Sometimes he found it refreshing to be a little petty towards her, especially as she was only here for a short period of time. Seeing the anger flare in Addison's eyes, Derek gave her a cheeky wink and wandered off down the corridor for his consult with Mrs Linde – the mother of the quadruplets that Addison would be delivering. Today was definitely going to be a fantastic day.
The cafeteria was ram packed with fellow staff members and Addison had absolutely nobody to sit with. Callie and Miranda were both in surgery and there was no way that she was going to sit with Mark. Resigning herself to the idea of a very lonely lunch, she sat down at the nearest table and was pleasantly surprised when Alex Karev sat opposite her.
"I thought you could do with some company." He stated as he spotted her slightly puzzled look. "You look a bit like the new kid on their first day of school."
"Just another reminder of how many friends I didn't make last time I was here." She replied, stabbing at the barely appetising mac and cheese.
A small, yet not uncomfortable, silence ensued as they ate. The spell was only broken when Addison made a disgusted noise from the back of her throat as she saw Meredith and Derek together, both of them completely oblivious to their surroundings as they made out by the coffee cart.
"Just ignore them," Alex muttered. Honestly, he was getting sick of the loved up couple and he knew how much the scene in front of them was hurting Addison. "Look at me instead."
Pulling her gaze away from the 'McCouple', the redhead found herself staring deep in to the eyes of Alex Karev. Soon enough his lips were on hers and they were kissing furiously, much to the amusement of everybody else in the canteen. The cheering and clapping had caught Meredith's attention and she pulled away from Derek to see what all the commotion was about.
"Why the hell is Addison kissing Karev?" Derek demanded, the anger and jealousy evident in his voice.
"Derek!" Meredith snapped, glaring at her boyfriend.
It shouldn't have bothered Derek that Addison was kissing Alex and yet that was all that he could focus on. It should have been him kissing her. Addison and Alex finally pulled apart and both of them burst in to fits of laughter.
"Well," Addison got out between giggles. "At least that got their attention."
With the show over, the rest of the staff returned to their lunches whilst whispering about what they had just witnessed. Derek had sat down with Meredith and the other residents but didn't speak. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on Addison and it remained their until she left the cafeteria. As Meredith ate her lunch, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander. Why had it bothered Derek so much that Addison and Alex had kissed?
This thought continued to plague Meredith as she walked with Derek to observe the first joint consult about the quadruplets. The burning desire to have this question answered intensified when the blonde found out that it would just be her, Derek and Addison in on the consult as the main one was not scheduled until the day after. Sitting in the corner of the room, Meredith watched as Derek and Addison explained their roles during the birth to Mr and Mrs Linde. She watched as they both gave the couple reassuring smiles then she watched their smiles drop as soon as the Linde's had left the room.
"This isn't going to work!" Addison groaned, falling back in to the nearest chair and running a hand over her face.
"It's good to know that you're feeling positive, Addison!" Derek huffed, rolling his eyes.
"Oh shut up, Derek! I don't need you and your attitude right now!"
"My attitude? You're the one who's getting defensive!"
As the argument dragged on and the insults became more personal, Meredith did her best to stay quiet and keep her head down for as long as possible but when Addison was taking shots at her boyfriend, the blond knew that she had to step in.
"Addison!" She yelled, standing up and storming over to where Derek was stood. "You have never been a mother and you don't deserve to be one!"
That was when silence fell.
"Get out." Addison growled. "Get out now."
"Meredith," Derek said softly, standing up and opening the door to the consult room. "I think it's best that you ask Dr Bailey to assign you to a new case."
The resident was in shock. She was only trying to stick up for Derek and now she was being kicked off the case. This was all Addison's fault! She left the room and headed down the corridor in search of Cristina. They had some serious talking to do.
Once the door had shut on Meredith Grey, Addison turned to her ex-husband and gave him a look that could kill.
"I do not need you to rush in and save me, Derek Shepherd!" She spat, stalking over and squaring up to him. "You are not my McDreamy or my knight in shining armour!"
Derek simply stared at Addison. He was completely drained. "Fine. Whatever." He shrugged at her and sat back down in the chair.
"Fine. Whatever." Addison repeated. She scooped up the charts in her arms and walked out of the room, leaving Derek alone with his thoughts.
The day was finally drawing to a close and all Addison wanted to do was go back to her hotel and take a nice, long bath. Apparently, judging by the way Meredith Grey was walking up to her with fire in her eyes, that wasn't going to happen just yet.
"I know what you're doing." Meredith spoke in a low tone that was obviously meant to make Addison feel threatened. "You're trying to make Derek feel guilty about something so that he'll leave me for you. So, let me tell you right now that it won't work. Derek is my boyfriend. My McDreamy. Not yours."
The redhead attending rolled her eyes. This was exactly what she didn't need right now.
"Derek and I were parents once." Addison kept her voice calm and there was no chance of her crying. At least, not in front of Meredith. "We were parents for five days, six hours and twelve minutes. We were parents to a baby girl. Alyssa Montgomery Shepherd. There's a lot that you don't know about your precious McDreamy, Dr Grey."
She did not bother to see how Meredith would react. Instead, she began the walk out of the hospital foyer and across the parking lot to her car.
She was going to need a lot of scotch when she got back to her room.