This is a short chapter, but it doesn't fit with the last chapter or the next, so it's best standing on its own.
Suggested soundtrack: 'Fools in Love' by Inara George
Derek wakes up with a jolt. Where is he? Oh, he's still lying in the same lounge chair where him and Meredith were snuggling last night. He must have fallen asleep. Too. Meredith. Where's Meredith? He looks out across the water, and down the beach to see two kids screaming as they run up to the waves and run away before the wave can touch them. That must have been what woke him up.
Did she go up to the room? He sits up and stretches his aching slept-all-night in a lounge chair body, and pushes himself to rest on the edge of the chair. She must be up in the room packing her things. Taking a shower perhaps? Dammit I never got a chance to tell her how I felt. He stretches his arms over his head and notices the sun barely peaking out over the eastern hills. It's still early, but not too early. She said her flight wasn't until the afternoon, so they've got plenty of time. But why didn't she wake him up? A bad feeling starts to grow in the pit of his stomach as he makes his way off the beach and to their room.
The keys are still in his pocket. How did she get in? He walks up to the door of their room and tries the door. Locked. He puts the key in the lock and finds…nothing. No sounds of the shower running, no sounds of someone getting ready in the next room, no sound of anyone present at all. Then he spies a mound of things piled on the bed.
"No, no, no." He says to himself in a rising panic.
There's the dress she wore last night, there's the bathing suit, hat, and sunglasses she wore yesterday. And lying gently on top of it all is a note. A note. His heart literally skips a beat in his chest. He literally has to stop his hand from shaking as he goes to pick up the single sheet of folded up paper. Maybe it was just a note saying that she had gone to town for something. But his shaking hand belies that thought. He opens it and immediately two photos fall to the ground. He bends down and slowly picks them up, to see the bittersweet photos from last night: his arm resting comfortably over her shoulder, her leaning into him like she's meant to be there. Plastered over both of their faces are joyous smiles.
Oh no. He turns the letter over and the first thing he notices is the feminine curves and loops dashing across the page. He reads:
Derek,
I know we planned on going to the airport together.
I woke up last night embraced by your warmth and realized
that that was how I wanted to remember you. Not sad and
mopey, but happy. That that's how I wanted to remember
this entire week: laying in your arms. You may call me a coward,
you may call me whatever names you can think of, but I simply
didn't want to say goodbye. Couldn't say goodbye. So instead,
I wish you buona fortuna. Good luck with you marriage, good luck
with your life, good luck with finding that happiness that you so
desperately seek. I will treasure this week always.
Simply yours,
Meredith
"Oh, Meredith." He says to himself. Why couldn't she have just stayed? Why did she have to flee? He didn't want to ever say goodbye either. He wants to wake up next to her every day.
Wait a minute, it's not that late. He looks at his watch and sees that it's only 8 am. Her flight isn't until this afternoon. Maybe he could catch her. Decision made, he throws all of their possessions into the garment bag from the night before and darts out of the room. He runs out to find the resort car just now pulling into the drive. Luck must be with him. He runs to the car and throws himself into the back seat before the driver can even turn the car off.
"How much to take me to the airport?" He asks gruffly, pulling his wallet out as he's talking.
"Um…this is the only car the resort has. I can only go to train station and back. You go on train instead?" The driver stutters, totally flustered by Derek's manner.
"You realize I own this resort?" Derek says in a steely don't-mess-with-me voice.
"Yes, sir." The driver stutters.
"Good. Then I don't see a problem here." He orders, clearly the Duke in that moment.
"Yes, sir." The driver agrees as he puts the car in gear and pulls the car around to pass out the resort's driveway.
They pull out of the dirt road and out onto the main road in complete silence. The driver too scared to say anything, Derek too worried that he won't make it in time. He spends the first couple of miles thinking about what he is going to say to Meredith when he sees her. He's not going to wait this time. He's going to shout it from the roof-tops. He's going to beg. He's going to plead with her to stay, if only for a little while. Enough time for him to ends things with Addie. Enough time for him to figure out how they can be together.
They are a couple of miles out when he realizes that he doesn't even know what flight she is on. He takes his cell phone out of his back pocket and begins to dial a travel agent. Then he realizes he doesn't even know what time her plane leaves. Or even what airport she's flying in to. Why did he never ask? He just assumed they were going to the airport together. Idiot! Why didn't you ask? Why didn't you tell her when you had the chance?
He calls airline after airline trying to figure out what flight she is on. He is regaled with flight plan after flight plan that is making its way from Rome to Boston. There's straight shots and one shots, shots through London, and Amsterdam, and New York, and every other European and coastal American city. What does afternoon mean anyway? Did she mean noon or three? Did she mean she had to be there in the early afternoon for an evening flight? What the hell was he doing?
He spends almost the entire drive making calls back and forth to travel agents and airlines and anyone else who could help him. But by the time they reach the airport, he decides his best bet is to just grab a ticket agent and cajole, bribe, beg, or cheat his way into getting the information. The driver pulls up to the departing flights terminal, and Derek jumps out. He turns to the driver though and says, "Drive around, do whatever you want, but I want you to be here when I get back."
"Yes, sir." The driver agrees, and heads off to not block traffic.
He runs into the airport and up to the nearest open ticket booth and says breathlessly, "I was wondering if you could help me. My girlfriend seems to have left her passport here, and I need to get it to her. Could you tell me what gate she's at?"
An older blonde woman in a navy blue outfit looks at him shrewdly. He must look a site wearing the same suit he slept in last night. He's pretty sure his hair is standing on ends and there's bit of sand clinging to his ankles. She doesn't look like she believes him. "I can have her paged here, but persons without boarding passes are not allowed past security." She replies professionally.
Dammit. "Yes, yes, that would be great." He says with his most charming smile.
She seems a little taken aback by the charm, but quickly looks down at her computer. "If you can tell me her name, I can have the appropriate terminal paged."
"Meredith Grey." He says with a sigh, finally able to relax that he may be getting somewhere.
"Is she on this airline?" The woman asks as she flips through various computer screens.
"I think so." He says hesitantly, not wanting to say he doesn't know. He didn't need her any more suspicious than she already was.
"Oh, here she is. Oh, but it looks like you just missed her. It looks like she got on to our earlier 10 am flight, and it's half past now." She says with a professional point of her finger to the nearest clock.
He looks to where her hand points and sees that she is telling the truth. Shit. His world comes crashing down. All of the buoyant energy that had been holding him up suddenly deflates. His shoulders droop and he stands there stunned. She's gone. She's really gone. He utters an absent thank you to the attendant and walks blindly back to the airport entrance. He picks up his phone and dials the driver. He stands on the sidewalk outside of the departure doors in defeat. What is he going to do now? Does he go back to Villa D'este and get married anyway? Isn't that what Meredith wanted for him?
No. He can't do it. He can't go from the euphoria of this week to the blandness that was his life with Addie. Now that he has experienced the headiness that was Meredith, he can't step back and accept anything less. And then it hits him. He does know something about Meredith Grey. He knows her mother is Ellis Grey. The world famous surgeon. He's a surgeon. Richard is a surgeon. They should be able to find her no problem. Just because she is gone now, doesn't mean she is gone forever.
But he has to fix his mess first. The driver conveniently pulls up to the curb. He opens the passenger side back door and gets in a more confident man than the one who had arrived. He sits back in the seat and orders, "Villa D'este." The car pulls away and forward. Onward to the place he has been avoiding all week. Onward to a conversation that he is dreading. He steals himself for the scene to come, but in his heart he knows it's the right thing to do. He loves Meredith. He is going to find her and tell her as soon as he can. But first he has to be a free man. First he has to call off a wedding. His own.
Please remember to review!