Six
and a half years into the marriage ... Mark had noticed his
wife had become slightly more distant. They still talked, but they
were getting busier and they had been so close before and he saw it
slipping away. He had forgotten their last two anniversaries and he
wanted to make up for it in any way possible. He was determined to
make the marriage last, so he was cooking dinner that night. They
would start with a nice shrimp cocktail and then have ceaser salad,
followed by the main course of lobster tail, blue cheese mashed
potatoes, and his mother's recipe for broccoli casserole. He'd been
planning it for a couple of weeks and was nervously awaiting her
arrival. The past few nights, she'd been on-call at the hospital, but
tonight she was free and he had told her he had something planned. He
had sent her gifts throughout the day ... flowers, candy, jewelry ...
with little cards hinting at what was to come. The clues were short,
silly poems and he was rather proud of them. He had only seen her
once that day -- when she ran up to him at lunch to give him a quick
kiss and to thank him for the flowers. She promised she'd be home by
6 and ran off to scrub in on surgery. The large clock in the
kitchen now read 7:45 and Mark was slumped in a chair, drinking the
bottle of wine he had just opened, not even bothering to get out a
glass. She hadn't called. He assumed she had run late in her surgery
and she didn't want to trouble one of the nurses to call. After all,
he never did. He only called when he would be staying at the
hospital. And so, when his phone rang at 8:15, he knew what was
coming. One of her patients had had complications and the surgery had
run long and now he was having more complications in recovery and she
would have to operate again. She was the type to always follow a case
through to the end, and he loved that about her. He was the same way,
though, and it was a major reason why their marriage was in the state
it was today. She didn't know how long she'd be and he told her they
would re-schedule, that she should feel free to get a drink with her
friends before coming home. She promised him they would do it
tomorrow night and he tried to believe her.
GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA
Three
Year Anniversary ... Each had planned a "date". Mark
started things off with a picnic down by the docks. Meredith:
I can't wait to see what you "cooked". Mark: Hey I
can cook. Meredith: I bet you packed peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches. Mark: They're your favorite. Meredith:
Sweetie, I only tell you that to make you feel better. Mark:
Seriously? Meredith: No. I love them. Just like I love the
strawberries and champagne you packed. Mark: How did you know?
Am I that predictable? Are we getting into a rut? Three years and
we're already an old married couple. Meredith
giggles. Meredith: Did you just call me old? Mark:
What? NO! No ... no ... I meant ... Meredith: God you are way
too easy. Mark: I resent that. Meredith: No you
don't. Mark: Very true. Meredith: So these
strawberries aren't going to put themselves into my mouth ... Mark:
We're very demanding today. Meredith: I thought I'd try
something new. Izzie's being rude and sarcastic and cold. I'm being a
diva. Sarah's being sweet. Mark: Sarah cannot do
sweet. Meredith: Of course she can't. And to think, I'm
missing out on watching it all go down just so that I can sit here
and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with you. Mark:
Oh, you poor thing. Meredith: This diva thing is kind of
fun. Mark: I always knew you had a power hungry whore in you
just itching to come out. Meredith: It's very
addicting. Mark: Just think ... in a few years, you can really
be a diva. And I'll be your King. Meredith: Ooh! We can be the
royal bitches of medicine! Mark: You do know I'd have to
divorce you if you kept this up. Meredith pretends to looked
shocked. Meredith: Oh please. You wouldn't know what to do
without me. Mark: Did I tell you Derek called? Meredith:
No! What did he want? Mark: Just called to wish us a Happy
Anniversary. Meredith: And ... Mark: And ... Meredith:
What aren't you telling me? Mark: He told me if I screwed this
up, he was getting me a mug that said "World's Biggest Idiot."
And he saw your mother last week. Meredith: So how about those
strawberries?
