She was composed on the outside. Her clothes and makeup was flawless, as always, her face showed no emotion. Only her blue eyes showed any sign of distress. They were filled with storming emotion, ranging from shock and betrayal, to cold rage.

As Derek entered her stylish office, decorated in soft greens and blues, he felt her rage as physical as a punch. She didn't rise to welcome him, giving him one of her ususal absentminded kisses. He realized with a pang of guilt and regret that he missed it.

"Addie, I'm so sorry," he started to say.

"You don't speak unless I ask you to. I speak, I ask the questions." She interrupted him with a cruel, feline smile. "I don't want your apologies. I want to know for how long you have been cheating on me."

"A couple of months" He seemed to deflate as he gave up information he never intended for her to know about.

"Why? Is she the only one? Have there been others?" She seemed so cool, so composed.

"Meredith is the only one. It started out as a friendship, and then I fell in love with her. I'm sorry Addison, but she is just… I fell for her." He spoke with great care, waiting for her eruption. After all, he had known her for five years, and when she was truly mad, she yelled and threw things.

"You're sorry? You're sorry you fell in love with another woman and broke my heart? You're sorry you stole five years of my life? You broke my heart, you filthy son of a bitch!" As she spoke, her voice rose, until she was almost screaming the last sentence.

"Addie, please calm down."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? You want me to calm down? I am dead calm you cheating bastard!" As she yelled, she rose and walked around her beautiful, antique, gleaming, wooden desk. "Don't you call me Addie, you fucking cheater! You lost that right when you decided to start feeling out your interns in the on-call room!

"Addison, please. Tell me how we can make this right." He spoke quietly, pleading with her, trying to make her see reason.

She turned her back at him without saying a word. Slowly, she walked to the bookshelf with medical books. She admired her perfect mails as she ran a hand down a heavy medical dictionary. Thoughtfully, she moved the hand to a heavy porcelain vase, holding pale pink roses.

Derek barely dared to breath, praying that her eruption was over and they could discuss things rationally. After all he needed her rational, he needed her to see that he couldn't have a divorce if he wanted to make Chief of Surgery. If he only could get her to see reason, realize that the advantages of being the wife of the Chief of Surgery were large enough that she could accept his mistress. He and Meredith had agreed on this as the best solution during Addison's lecture.

Deep in his own thoughts, Derek only avoided the heavy medical dictionary with a hares breath, and only because her aim was slightly off.

"You are going to give me a divorce, on my terms, and you will GET THE HELL OUT OF MY OFFICE!" Addison yelled this, as Derek ran towards the office door. Just before he got the door open and disappeared, she managed to heave the vase in his direction. It hit with a satisfying crash, right between the shoulder blades, soaking his navy scrubs.

She remained there, in the centre of the room breathing heavily, as the door closed. As feline smile spread slowly over her face as she returned to her desk. She picked up the letter and thought again. Maybe it was the best of times.

As she picked up the phone to dial the number given to her, her eyes fell on the shards of the vase near the door. She would have to get someone to clean that up. Men always underestimated her aim. But she never missed.