"So what are you going to do?"
"I have to file for a divorce." Her heart felt heavy as soon as those words came out of her mouth.
"A divorce," repeated Cristina.
"Yes. I have to do it. I need to do it," she said with determination in her voice. "I'll tell him tomorrow on our date."
Cristina nearly choked on her drink when she heard Meredith utter those last few words.
"Wait! You're going on a date with him?" she asked with disbelief.
"Yes. Well it's not really a date…date. The Chief asked me to show Derek around town since he's new here and I kinda got tricked into agreeing." She tried to explain, but from the look on Cristina's face, she knew she wasn't making any sense.
"You're going to take him out on a date, then tell him that you're divorcing him?"
"Yes," she said, unsure of herself.
"Way to bring out the welcome wagon, Mer."
"I know I--," she said before they were interrupted.
"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late. Did I miss anything exciting?" asked Izzie, sitting down next to Meredith.
"Did you ever," mumbled Cristina.
Meredith shot her a look, pleading with her eyes not to say anything to Izzie. The fewer the people that knew about this, the better. She decided that she was going to cancel their date tomorrow and tell him about the divorce as soon as she sees him.
Meredith woke up at 4am the next morning in a pool of sweat. She was dreaming about Derek again. She'd spent four weeks trying to forget him and just when she was finally over him, he shows up and ruins everything. Lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling, she thought about the note. She put herself out there by leaving him the note and he didn't have so much as an ounce of decency to at least call. Even if he wasn't interested, a call to say "no thank you" would've been better than his blatant disregard for her feelings by not calling. She had to do it. Today was the day she was going to tell him about the divorce. Pushing back the covers, she went to take a shower.
It was mid-morning when she finally saw him. She was going to the lab to return some files when she spotted him waiting by the elevator. He was busy typing on his blackberry and didn't notice her walking up until she moved to stand a few feet in front of him. Looking up from the blackberry, Derek smiled when he saw her.
"Seattle has ferryboats," he said, still typing into the blackberry.
"Yes…," she replied, smiling with her back to him.
"I didn't know that. I've been living here for four weeks. I didn't know there were ferryboats," he said, looking up momentarily before returning to stare at the small screen.
"Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides," she said, her smile getting bigger.
"Hence, the ferryboats," he said before placing the blackberry into his coat pocket. The elevator doors opened and following her inside, he continued "Now I have to like it here. I wasn't planning on liking it here. I'm from New York…genetically engineered to dislike everywhere, except Manhattan." Turning back to give her a brief sideways glance, he said "I have a thing for ferryboats."
Meredith's heart began beating wildly in her chest as soon as the doors closed. She had him alone in the elevator which provided her with the perfect opportunity to talk about the divorce, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. The silence was deafening and she was struggling to find something to say.
"I'm not going out with you," she said, staring at the back of his head.
"We have a date. You promised to take me on a date," he said, smiling to himself.
"I'm not dating you and I'm definitely not sleeping with you again – you're my boss," she paused, letting the enormity of that realization sink in. "Look, I'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There's a big…line."
Derek could hear her shallow breathing from where he stood. She was nervous which he found endearing. Turning around to face her, he said "So this line. Is it imaginary or do I need to get you a marker?"
As soon as their eyes met, Meredith lost all self-control. Dropping the files onto the floor, she pushed him back against the elevator wall and kissed him frantically. Derek was taken aback by her sudden change in attitude, but he quickly recovered. Shifting their positions so she had her back against wall, he softened the kiss, taking his time in coaxing her lips apart so his tongue could invade its soft interior. He heard her moan, which excited him more. His hand moved up behind her neck to pull her closer to him. His other hand strayed inside her lab coat, moving further still until he felt her bare midriff underneath her scrub top. Gently stroking the soft skin, his fingers moved up her ribcage to cup her breast through her silk bra.
The loud ring of the elevator snapped Meredith out of her haze and letting go of Derek, she bent down to retrieve the files. As soon as the doors opened, she rushed out without looking back.
"We'll talk later?" he called after her. Moving aside to allow the people in, he adjusted his lab coat to hide the very obvious large bulge in his pants.
A half an hour had passed and Derek was still thinking about the kiss he'd shared with Meredith. If the elevator doors hadn't opened, he probably would've made love to her then and there. Absently touching his lips, he could still feel her warm breath against his lips as they kissed. The memory of her soft pliant body pushed up against his was making him aroused all over again.
When she left him in Vegas, he never dreamed he'd see her again. She had made it pretty clear that she didn't want anything to do with him, regardless of the fact that they were married. He tried to get over her, convincing himself that her leaving him was a blessing in disguise. He thought he'd succeeded until he walked into the conference room and saw her again. He didn't know what Fate had in store for them, but now that he's here, he wasn't ready to give her up just yet.
Standing at the nurse's station, Meredith was flipping through some charts, but her mind was elsewhere. She was thinking about Derek and the kiss in the elevator. Her skin was still tingling from where he had touched her. How did she go from wanting a divorce to letting him kiss and grope her in the elevator?
"Hey!" said Cristina cheerily, walking up to stand next to her. Looking around to make sure they were alone, she asked "Did you ask McDreamy for the divorce?"
"No," she said.
"You haven't seen him yet?"
"No, I did. I saw him earlier in the elevator."
"And you didn't say anything?"
"I, uh…I…," she said, suddenly losing her ability to speak.
"Oh, what did you do?" Cristina asked, giving her a questioning look.
"Nothing! It's just that I may have…kind of…sort of…kissed him," she said, her voice trailing off.
"You did what?!" yelled Cristina, causing Meredith to wince.
Just then, they both looked up to see Derek walking down the corridor stopping at the opposite side of the nurse's station. He gave them a curious look and reached for a patient's file, pretending to read the charts. He would look up occasionally to look at her, giving her his playful dreamy smile. Meredith tried to look away, but she couldn't help herself and smiled back.
"Will you stop that?" said Cristina, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Stop what?" asked Meredith.
"You two are having eye sex!" she hissed.
Shocked by Cristina's comment, she turned to look at her and said "We're not having eye sex! We're not having any kind of sex."
"Whatever you two are having, do it in private."
Meredith was about to retort when she heard someone call her name from behind.
"Finn!" she said, putting a big smile on her face. "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you and wanted to stop by to see how my favorite doctor was doing," he said, walking up to pull her into a big hug. Pulling back slightly, he leaned down and kissed her.
Meredith could feel Derek's eyes on her. She didn't need to look over to know that he was watching them. Pulling out of Finn's arms, she asked "When did you get back?"
"My flight was delayed so I didn't get back until late last night. Boy, I've really missed you. Two weeks is a long time to be away from you."
"Were we supposed to go out tonight?" she asked. She'd been so busy thinking about Derek that she completely forgot about Finn and when he was due back from his trip.
"Actually, that's why I'm here. I know we were supposed to go to dinner when I got back, but I won't be able to make it. A patient of mine is about to deliver any minute so I need to be around when it happens."
"Oh, okay."
"Dr. Grey?"
She flinched when she heard Derek call her name from behind her. Putting on a fake smile, she turned and looked at him. Walking up, Derek went to stand next to Meredith, his arm brushing lightly against hers. Derek and Finn looked at each other, sizing each other up and then looked to Meredith expecting her to make the introductions.
When it became obvious that she wasn't going to say anything, Finn extended his hand and said "Hi. I'm Finn Dandridge, Meredith's boyfriend."
"It's nice to meet you Finn. I'm Derek Shepherd, Meredith's hus--."
"Head of Neuro!" Both men turned to look at Meredith. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she continued "Derek's the new head of neuro."
"Head of neuro?" Finn asked, giving Meredith a curious look. He thought he heard something else.
"Y-yes. Dr. Peterman retired and Derek, I mean Dr. Shepherd is taking over that department," she tried explaining.
Derek was standing there, but he didn't hear a single word that was being said. He was feeling angry and betrayed. She has a boyfriend? Did they get together before or after Vegas? Was that why she was in such a hurry to leave? All these questions were making his head spin and he was going to get the answers even if it kills him. But first, he needed to get rid of Finn so he and Meredith could talk.
"Meredith, I need to talk to you about tonight," he said, looking at Finn.
"Can we talk later?" she asked, her eyes pleading with him.
"What's happening tonight?" asked Finn.
"We're going on a…," Derek started to explain, but stopped when he felt Meredith pull his arm.
"Actually, let's talk now!" said Meredith, pulling Derek away. Turning back to look at Finn, she smiled and said "Give us a few minutes, okay?"
From a few feet away, Cristina was thoroughly amused as she watched the exchange between the three of them.
"Do you know what's up between those two?" she heard Finn ask as he walked up to stand next to her.
Rolling her eyes, she put on a fake smile, turned around and asked "What do you mean?"
"Do they know each other well?" he asked, looking curiously at Meredith and Derek. He could see that they were having a heated discussion, but was standing too far away to hear what was being said.
"They just met."
"Really? They're acting like--," he said, not taking his eyes off Meredith.
"Like an old married couple?" asked Cristina, smiling to herself.
Turning to look at Cristina, he asked "What?"
"Nothing!" Gathering her stuff, she flashed him another fake smile and walked away.
I'm happy you all like my fic. Writing this has become an addiction for me. :-)
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