Meredith was quickly shaken out of her reverie by the piercing sound which could only belong to Marybeth, one of the chefs at the house. She has always been close to the servants - or friends, like she thought - but Marybeth and Manny were the ones she had a closer friendship with. Marybeth, a Nashville lady, was always more of a mother to Meredith than Ellis herself, so it's only natural she'd miss her a lot more than she'd care to admit.
"Marybeth! There you are! Oh, I missed you so much! And for the millionth time, it's Meredith," Meredith playfully groaned.
"Oh I know, I know, sweet pea, but I'm just so used to this strict code that it's hard to get it out of my system," Marybeth laughed.
"One day you'll learn to do it, I promise you that," Meredith laughed. "In the meantime, fill me in on the gossip, you cheeky lady!"
"Alright child, will you calm down," Marybeth laughed. "You only just walked through these darn doors, missy! Now I better go help Manny get your bags out of the car, I don't suppose he can do it by himself."
"Oh you don't dare say that to his face," Meredith giggled. "Too much male pride."
"I know better, sweet pea. We stay here all year together even though you're off in that big town of yours," Marybeth said sadly.
"Oh Mary, don't say that, I miss you guys all year, and I wish I was living here permanently every day," Meredith sighed.
"Well I know that, you beautiful lady," Marybeth said as she grabbed her carry on. "Don't work yourself up. Me and the old one here will get you all settled. You just rest."
"I don't need to rest," Meredith protested. "I'm ready to hear all about the town gossip. Especially all about the new neurosurgeon."
"Oh child... Don't get yourself into something you don't understand. He's very much older than you, more experienced. You're only seventeen, sweet pea," Marybeth shook her head.
"I didn't say I wanted that, Marybeth!", Meredith said, blushing furiously. "He just seems interesting. You know...gossip wise."
"Sure," Marybeth laughed disbelievingly. "Come on in and freshen up, me and Manny will get this done and I'll fix you something to eat."
"Okay," Meredith breathed. She was really only asking out of sheer curiosity. Or maybe that's what she tried to convince herself of. Maybe what she really wanted to know was whether that piercing man was available...no, no. She was only seventeen. There was no way she'd ever consider doing anything with an older man. Especially not since she has never been touched before, nor has she been intimate with anyone just yet. All these thoughts ran through her head as she ran upstairs to the washroom, leaning down by the sink as her eyes caught her embroided towels with the initials M.G. her mother had imported from Egypt. Life in the fab lane, so to speak. Not that she ever cared about such things. She quickly washed her face and looked at her still flushed expression in the mirror. Hopefully the crimson complexion would fade away before her snack with Marybeth. She started descending the stairs until she heard another greeting, this time from Ana. She thought this was a great opportunity to get something out of her, especially since she's been in direct contact with the neurosurgeon.
"Meredith Grey, you get back in here!", Ana mock shouted.
"Ana! It's so good to see you! You look beautiful!", Meredith grinned while hugging the woman.
"Oh flattery will get you nowhere! You don't call, you don't write," Ana playfully frowned.
"You know, this is starting to sound like a horrible breakup," Meredith joked.
"Don't you get funny with me, lady!", Ana laughed. "I believe we may have to talk."
"What about?", Meredith inquired.
"You're gonna tell me you spent another whole year in New York and still no boyfriend? No lover? No one popped that cherry?", Ana joked.
"Will you keep it down?", Meredith hissed. "I don't need people to know about my private life...or something."
"Oh honey, everyone knows you're a sweet girl. It's only natural," Ana smiled. "If anything, they're relieved you're not off doing those things. They love that you're so focused on your school work."
"Yeah, I suppose. Manny told me there's a new neighbor next door... Do you know anything about that?", Meredith asked, trying to keep it casual.
"Oh, Dr. Shepherd?", Ana's voice rose to an excited tone. "He's hot. Really hot. He's not a man of many words, in fact it took me about two days to get an hello out of him but he's great. He has a great body if you manage to get past all the brooding and the roughness."
'Oh, I can definitely work past the roughness and brooding', Meredith thought. No, no. Bad thoughts. She should have nothing to do with that man. She didn't know the first thing about him anyway, so it shouldn't be hard.
"I guess," Meredith shrugged. She sucked at this casual thing.
"You guess? Why do I read something more into that?", Ana raised her brow.
"Who? Me? I can hardly vouch for anything...I mean, I hardly know the man. I mean...I don't know him at all except for some...uh...random stares as we pulled into the driveway...", Meredith stammered.
"Oh, now you definitely need to spill those beans, girl," Ana giggled.
"Sweet pea! Your cheesecake is out the fridge and I got us some iced tea!", Marybeth shouted from downstairs.
"Oh, gosh, guess we're gonna have to reschedule our talk...or whatever," Meredith winked.
"Oh I'll get it out of you sooner or later, Meredith Grey, don't you doubt that," Ana laughed.
"We'll see," Meredith threw over her shoulder as she made her way downstairs. Man, that was close. She really needed to get ahold of her stammering and rambling, she almost got caught out there. Not that there was anything to catch, though. No, Meredith Grey certainly did not have the hots for anyone...much less Dr. Shepherd. Now all she needed to do was convince herself of that.