They had come back to San Francisco, each of them feeling that it had been a most successful outing. Janet, in particular, was proud of herself that she had not succumbed to temptation and had not slept with Louis, that night, even though he nearly charmed her dress off her, once again. She turned him down but gave him her phone number and told him to call her, if he was interested. She had given him the opportunity to take the next step, without making herself look needy.

Cristina was pleased that they had managed to plan a very great surprise birthday party. They had pulled it off, without Owen even suspecting anything. Owen was happy for his mini-reunion with his college classmates. It made him even more aware of how much Cristina cared about him to have done this for him. He loved her so and it seemed to him that maybe, she felt the same way.

For the next few weeks after the party, they were a picture of domestic bliss. They went to work together and came home together, where they would have their dinner, watch television and then go to bed for the night. It didn't take much for them to be happy. They were just glad to be with each other, especially with their impending separation deadline hanging over them. Still, neither of them ever told the other what they felt about each other.

It was about seven weeks after the party in Vegas when he got the email from Human Resources in New York. As he read the email, he was most excited. He was being offered a Divisional Manager position, when he returned to the New York head office. The first person he automatically called was Cristina.

"Hey," he said. "Can you come to my office?"

"Sure," she answered. "I will be there in three minutes. I am just wrapping up this report, here. Is that okay?"

"Yes," he said. "Come as soon as you are done." True to her word, she showed up three minutes later, with her notebook in her hand. He observed the notebook and said, "Oh, I didn't call you as your supervisor."

"Oh, okay," she said, putting down the notebook on his desk. "What's up?"

"I just got an email from HR. I have been offered the position of divisional manager at New York head office," he said.

She came and gave him a hug. "That's great," she said. "I am so happy for you." The fact that he was being offered a promotion made it even clearer to her that he was leaving soon. "I think we should go out and celebrate your promotion."

"We don't have to," he said. "We can go home and have a quiet dinner."

"Yeah but we do that, every night," she said. "Let's go out, tonight. This deserves a celebration."

"Okay," he said. "You choose the place." She agreed. "Will that be all?" she asked. "I just need to get back to some work." He nodded. She left his office, with a heavy heart. She hadn't lied; she was happy for him. She was just sad for herself. He was leaving her and very soon, too. She had to prepare herself for his departure.

She went back to her office, closed the door behind her and slumped in her chair. She put her head on her desk, as she cried. There was a loud knock on the door and Janet came waltzing in.

"You wouldn't believe it, Cristina!" Janet exclaimed. "He called me!" Cristina looked up; her face was wet with tears.

"Hey, hey," Janet said, coming around to Cristina's side of the desk. "What's the matter, honey?"

"He's leaving very soon," Cristina said. "Now I am sure of it. HR just sent him an email, saying that when he gets back to New York, he will be placed as a divisional manager. It is something he can't turn down, right?"

Janet hugged her friend, as Cristina rested her head against her. "But you know it was going to happen," Janet said.

"I know but knowing that doesn't mean that it is going to hurt any less," Cristina whimpered. "He'll be gone in two weeks and I will be left all alone."

"I know, sweetie," Janet said. "Cry it out. Maybe it will make you feel better." She held her friend, until Cristina stopped crying.

"I am okay," Cristina said. "I have to be okay. We're going out tonight to celebrate his promotion. I have to put on a brave face."

"Oh, Cristina," Janet said, sympathetically. "I know it is going to be hard but it is going to be okay. I will be here."

"Thanks, Janet. You came in here to tell me something great before I started bringing you down with all of my weeping," Cristina said. "What was it?"

"Well, our good friend from Vegas just called me to see how I was doing," Janet responded with extreme glee. "He said he was coming to San Francisco and if I was free for dinner, while he was here."

"Louis? He called!" Cristina said. "That is wonderful, Janet. It certainly took him long enough."

"Yeah, seven weeks," Janet noted. "But given his lifestyle, it probably was hard for him to even consider a relationship."

"The fact that he called you is a step in the right direction, I think," Cristina said. "I am happy for you, Janet. I hope it works out for you."

"Well, it is very early days, so we will see," Janet replied with a huge grin. "He's coming this weekend."

"I guess he will probably want to hang out with Owen, too," Cristina thought. "Is he coming on Friday? Is that when you have your dinner date?"

Janet nodded in the affirmative. "Well, maybe you two can come around to the house on Saturday night for dinner and spend it with Owen and me for a bit," Cristina suggested. "Owen would like that."

"I was hoping you would ask that," Janet said. "Another reason to spend some more time with him. Thanks, Cristina."

"It's okay," Cristina said.

Back in his office, Owen was sitting there, pondering his departure in two weeks. He got up and stared out of his window, when his phone rang. He answered, "Owen Hunt."

"Hey, buddy, it's me," a familiar voice responded.

"Hey, Louis. How ya going? Got some great news," Owen replied. "As I mentioned to you, the promotion came through. I have been promoted to divisional manager."

"Congratulations, Owen. That's great. Well, my timing couldn't be better. I am coming to San Francisco for this weekend and I thought I would check up on you and Cristina," Louis said.

"Yeah, that would be wonderful. Maybe you can come across to our place on Saturday for dinner. When will you get here?" Owen asked.

"Friday but I have a dinner date with Janet," Louis said.

"What? An actual dinner date," Owen said, the mirth in his voice was clearly evident.

"Yeah, I am seeing whether this could work out," Louis replied. "I really do like the girl." Owen laughed. "Well, okay then, see you this weekend," he said before he hung up.


On Saturday night, Cristina cooked a roast with vegetables, rice and potatoes, while Owen laid out the settings for four. Cristina brought out the food and put them out on the table. Then, they heard the doorbell.

"Right on time," Cristina said. She went and opened the door to reveal a very happy Louis and Janet. "Hey, guys," she said. "Good to see you." They came in with Louis and Janet, both giving Cristina a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, buddy," Owen said, as he and Louis hugged. "Great that you all can make it. Seems things are going well."

"Yes, they are," Louis admitted. "Janet and I had a wonderful date, last night."

"Did you spend the night alone in your hotel?" Owen whispered, watching Janet follow Cristina to the dining room.

"I did," Louis said. "We're taking things a little slow, even though we already slept with each other, once before. How did you and Cristina do it?"

"Oh, we didn't fall into bed, right away. In fact, she just wanted to keep everything professional and then, when we realized we were only fooling ourselves because we wanted to be with each other. Our first date, we just attacked each other," Owen said. "We had no self-restraint."

"So you have a week again here. So how are things?" Louis asked, patting his friend on his back.

"It's hard," Owen admitted. "She doesn't want to talk about it. She is just pretending like everything is normal, when we both know that it is not."

"I keep asking – why don't you take her with you?" Louis said. "You love the girl."

"She hasn't expressed any interest in going with me. Plus have you seen this house," Owen said, looking around.

"Yes, I have. I must admit it is one of the most gorgeous Victorian houses I have ever seen. It is so well preserved," Louis said. "It is fully detached so there is a lot of light. This house is a multi-million dollar house."

"Yes, she loves this house," Owen said. "I can't take her away from this house." Louis shook his head.

"Come on, guys," Cristina called out from the dining room. The two men acquiesced to her request and went to the dining room.


For the last week of Owen's stint in San Francisco, he began wrapping up his work. He passed on projects, still in progress, to other managers. He cleaned up his desk and as he packed away his boxes, he was becoming more depressed. Cristina, he thought, seemed to have accepted his imminent departure and was acting quite normal. Why wasn't she as broken up about it as he was? He was dying on the inside and she didn't seem to care that he was leaving.

But he was wrong. Cristina did care. She cared quite a lot. She was putting on a brave façade so that he wouldn't feel bad about leaving her. When she was alone in her office, she would cry by herself. When it was time to face him, she would dry her tears and pretend everything was alright. At the farewell party the office held for him, she smiled and laughed because she knew everyone was looking at her to see how she would react. After an hour of fake smiling and laughing, she had gone into the bathroom and cried. Only Janet was with her, as she sobbed uncontrollably.

He got up early on Saturday, the day he was supposed to leave. He was taking an early flight and had packed the night before. He was surprised that Cristina was not next to him. She was already up, it seemed. He got up, took a shower, brushed his teeth, dressed and headed down to the kitchen. She was there and had made him breakfast. They didn't say much to each other during breakfast. They had already decided that it would be best to end the relationship and they would not be contacting each other. Truth be told, he hadn't decided that. That was Cristina's decision.

He looked at his watch and realized it was time to go. He put his luggage in the trunk of her car and they headed to the airport. He checked in his baggage before they headed to the security line.

"Well, I guess this is it," he said. She nodded, not looking up. He put his thumb under her chin and pushed up her face to look at him. He gently kissed her, which quickly deepened as their kisses became more urgent and desperate. Then he stopped as he realized she was crying. This was the first time that she had broken down in front of him.

"Oh, Cristina," he said, as he pulled her close to him in a tight hug. He stroked her head as she cried on his chest. He couldn't help the tears, himself. He found it hard to let her go. She finally pulled away and told him he had to go. He brushed away the tears from her face before he found himself in the security line. Halfway up the security line, he was tempted to turn back but when he looked around, she was gone.

Cristina had gone running to her car in the parking lot. She got in the car and rested her head against the steering wheel, as she let out a heart-wrenching wail. She pounded the steering wheel in frustration and sadness. She drove home with tears still streaming down her face. Her heart was broken.


A/N: Please leave your comments. Thank you for leaving your thoughts. I do appreciate when you take the time to leave a review.