With her coat draped over her arm, Meredith pulled open the spotless glass door of the Archfield Hotel. Her failed attempts to get Mark alone had led her here, to let him off the hook. She held her breath as the elevator doors opened. An automatic reaction from her past relationship with misfortunate encounters at inappropriate times in her life, this could very well be one of those times. A little old man shuffled off the lift, looking at her strangely, as she exhaled deeply.
Stopping at two other floors, the ride was slow. As she reached her destination, Meredith took a step forward and crashed into the man who had been waiting there. He scowled at her before noticing who it was that rammed into him. "Hey." He looked down the hall, nervously. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to see Sloan. I'm giving him the chance to back out of our date." Her eyes traveled in the same path as his, wondering what was so interesting. "What are you doing here?"
He spun back around quickly and took a step around her, getting onto the elevator. "Me…nothing. Just heading home."
He was acting strangely, almost secretive. Not just tonight, but in the past month he had been hiding something from them. She wondered if he was seeing someone or if he was just randomly hooking up with women and taking them back to the closest hotel for a little fun. "Hot date?" The doors closing cut off his answer. Either way, it didn't matter. She had her own problems and right now they were more important than who Alex Karev was spending his time with at the Archfield.
Mark's room was right around the corner, she remembered from the time she and Derek gave him a ride home after finding him at Joe's, too drunk to get himself home. That was the night Derek told her he broke things off with Rose. A shimmer of hope was soon squashed with the news that he had found his way back to the woman he once loved enough to give his name to, Addison Montgomery.
With no hesitation, she knocked on the door to his suite. "What are you doing here Grey?" The gravely voice came from behind her. She turned to see Mark standing in the hallway wearing a sweat soaked t-shirt and a pair of shorts; he had been at the gym.
She tried to ignore the cling of the damp shirt against his tight stomach. "I wanted to talk to you about the wedding, I'm sorry I got you involved in my…"
"Lie?" Lifting his brow, he smirked in amusement. He knew why she was there; she was there to back out, as he expected she would do.
"I didn't lie." She paused, rolling her eyes because he was right. She did lie. "Well okay, technically it was a lie." She shifted nervously from one foot to the other, letting him off the hook wasn't as easy as she thought..
"A lie you dragged me into." He pointed out.
Guilt seeped in, he didn't ask for this. "I know. I'm sorry about that. If you want out, I'll understand." It was unfair for her to expect him to go along with it.
"I don't want out." He brushed past her, swiping the card to unlock the door. "I have every intention of taking you to that wedding. I might even show you a good time if you play your cards right…" He pushed open the door. "…and if you come in, I'll give you a little preview." He teased, knowing she would say no.
"You don't want out?" Surprised and a little worried, she asked him why. She did not intend to sleep with him, so why was he doing this?
"I'm doing you a favor." He grinned. "I'm doing you a favor and when the time comes, you'll do me a favor in return. That's what friends do." There it was. The reason she should run and not look back. He wanted something from her and she was afraid of what that something was.