Chance Encountered

Chapter 35

Derek stared at his reflection in the elevator door early the next day. His eyes were tired and he had not gotten much sleep. His fantasy about falling into a drunken stupor and blacking out was taken away when Preston took the scotch away from him.

And since then he had done whatever he could to keep thoughts about Addison and a certain husband away. He had done his best to not think about anything that had to do with her. He tried anything that would just keep thoughts of her away from his mind.

He wasn't all that successful. She would creep into his thoughts and make sure that he could not concentrate on much else. It was hard to think about her and apparently it was hard to not think about her as well.

If that wasn't enough on his soul when the elevator stopped to pick up a passenger it turned out to be Mark Sloan. And he was dressed in a white lab coat with a SGH badge on the pocket.

Fuck.

"Good Morning Dr. Shepherd." Mark greeted and boarded the elevator and turned to face the closing doors.

Derek just continued to stare in front of him and tried his best to ignore the man's presence next to him but it was hard to do that since he would not shut his mouth.

"So, how long have you worked here?" Mark asked sweetly.

Derek tried not to groan out in frustration, "Years."

Mark nodded, "Really? That's nice. So what is the best thing about this place, you know besides my wife?"

He clenched his jaw at that comment. Derek would not react to this man.

Derek just shook his head a little. "Well, let's see, Chief is the best boss a guy could ask for the cases are interesting and exciting and the food here isn't all that bad. All in all Seattle Grace has a lot going for it."

Mark chuckled. "Look buddy, why don't I just give you some advice, Addison is my wife. She loves me and you might as well step to the side and let the inevitable take place that way you might not get hurt."

Derek sighed as the doors opened and he rushed out. He was relieved to no longer be near that arrogant jerk but he could not help but thinking that he was so wrong.

There was no way he was getting out of this unharmed, he was already hurting.

"See you around Shepherd!" Mark yelled as the doors shut on him and muffled his voice but he knew the message had gotten across.

Hours later Derek stood at the nurses' station looking over some files and slowly sipping on his third cup of coffee of the day… and he had yet to feel the caffeine kick in. Except for the encounter in the elevator he had managed to avoid Addison and Mark. So that put him in a slightly better mood. Well as good as it could get considering his girlfriend had a husband.

Derek sighed and glanced at Miranda Bailey. She was leaning against the counter with one hand on her hip and had been staring at him for the last minute. It was starting irk him so finally he put down his pen and gave her his attention.

"Is there something you need Miranda?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

Miranda shook her head. "Nope, is there something that you need? Something I can do for you? Something you want to talk about?"

Derek sighed. "Oh, that."

"Yes that. Do you want to talk about it?" Miranda asked quietly.

She had been surprised to say the least that Addison had a husband. When the news had reached her she was concerned for Derek and how he was holding up. Looking at him now told her that he wasn't doing all that well. She could read people easily but Derek and she had been friends for a long time now and it was especially easy to read him. He was hurting and she could see it on his face. So it worried her.

Derek shrugged. "What is there to say? She has a husband. End of story."

Miranda smiled and continued to look at him with concern. "Well, you know if you need me. I could buy you a beer. I could go kick her ass if you want me to. I mean I like her and everything or hell I could go kick his ass. What's his name? Mark, I could give him a nice beating."

Derek chuckled to himself. "I would love to see that, I would love to see you beat up any guy even if it is not him."

"I could do it." Miranda said with a smirk.

"I never said you couldn't." Derek laughed but the smile fell from his face as he saw Addison come up behind Miranda.

"Derek—"

His entire body stiffened at her voice. Derek threw her a dirty look before picking up his charts and his coffee cup and walking down the hallway. He left without another glance at either woman.

Addison wanted to follow him but yet again she was stopped. This time it was Miranda. She put a hand on her arm to stop her from catching up with the dark haired surgeon and all she could do was watch the distance between her and Derek grow until he disappeared around a corner.

Addison glanced at Miranda and tried to blink back tears of frustration. She gave the smaller woman a weak smile and stepped away from her.

"I just want to speak to him."

Miranda gave her a sympathetic look and sighed.

"You know I like you but—" Miranda said and put a hand on her hips before continuing.

"But you are just going to have to save your declaration of love and remorse for when he is not saving lives. He does not need any other stress on his shoulders and you have humiliated him enough, I will not sugar coat it. You have messed things up. You will have to deal with that but not now. Go deliver babies, go save lives or better yet go plan on how exactly you will earn back that boy's trust."

And with one last look from the "Nazi" Addison was left to stand in the hallway with her emotions a jumbled mess.

Addison pushed open the door to a stairwell and sat down on the steps trying hard not to let the tears fall. She knew that Miranda was right. She had to figure out a way to let Derek know what was going on. The problem was that she had no idea where to begin. She had no idea what to tell him. Addison really had no good reason as to why she never told him about Mark. She couldn't explain any of it to herself much less to Derek.

Addison sighed as she heard the door open and smiled when she saw Meredith. Meredith was a good friend and that was exactly what she needed right now.

"Hey." She greeted.

"Hey." Meredith replied and took a seat next to Addison.

"So, a husband huh," Meredith asked after a moment of silence. There was no reason to beat around the bush here. So they might as well just get right into the conversation.

"Yeah," Addison said.

"For how long, I mean how long were you married," She asked.

"We were married for five years until I walked in on him and a good friend of mine screwing in my bed." Addison answered.

"Ouch." Meredith said.

"Yep," Addison sighed.

"Why didn't you tell Derek?"

Addison smiled at the sound of his name. "I guess, I wasn't looking for anything much when I got here. I just thought I would get a fresh start and Derek just kind of snuck up on me. I never thought I would fall in love with him."

Meredith nodded and fidgeted with her hands. "Still doesn't answer the question."

Addison sighed. "I guess there is no really good reason I did not tell him. I guess more than anything I was waiting for the divorce to go through."

"You filed?" Meredith asked.

Addison nodded. "Twice actually, he just kept sending the papers back. I just wanted that chapter to be closed fully and I guess, once I met Derek none of that mattered to me anymore. Not Mark or New York or my marriage or lack thereof."

"Do you love Derek?" Meredith asked.

"I love him so much Meredith, I just—" Addison sighed and wiped the remnants of tears off of her face. "I need a cup of coffee. Interested in joining me?"

"Absolutely, I never turn down coffee." Meredith joked as they both stood up and walked out the door.

And as they made their way out onto the floor Derek finished walking down the steps where they had just been sitting. He sighed and leaned on the railing. After overhearing that he had even more to think about.

End of Chapter 35.

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