Chapter 32: Commencing Stage Two

Meredith's Point-of-View

"Hey Amber, I need a favor." I said, trying to catch my breath as I caught up to her.

She stopped walking and turned to me with an inquisitive look.

"Sure Whore, what's up?' She asked, smiling.

"I need Derek's house keys." I told her.

Awareness washed over her features.

"Ah…cooking dinner tonight?" She asked.

"No, not cooking. I'm not that mad at him. I am going to go make a huge mess though." I said.

Amber grinned and reached into her lab coat pocket and twisted his spare key off, handing it to me.

"Have fun." Was all she said and with a wink, she was gone.

I took a deep breath and looked at the simple silver key.

"Fun, right." I muttered to myself.

Two hours later, I surveyed the damage to his kitchen. The take out boxes were stuffed to the bottom of the garbage and it looked and smelled as if I had cooked…well kind of…no putrid stench, thank God…but there were two pots, that were caked with 'ingredients'…in other words, I took the take-out food and poured it into the pots and then served from there, making sure to get it on the stove. I had taken the pots of the stove and turned it on so the mess would cake to it. A carton of eggs was out on the counter, two of them 'accidentally' broken and oozing all over his beautiful fantasy inspiring countertops and down to the floor. Flour from the cake I 'baked' was scattered all over, everything covered with a dusting of white. Milk was spattered here and there. Chocolate from the cake icing was on the stainless-steel refrigerator. Dishes, knives, spoons, measuring cups…all covered in stuff, littering the cooking area.

Well it was certainly a mess.

I grabbed my glass of wine and sipped it. I then looked at my wine glass and deliberately tipped it a little, causing the deep red liquid to splatter on his hardwood floors.

"Oops." I said to myself.

I heard a key being jiggled in the door lock and I stiffened. I looked again at my mess and wondered if this was a good idea.

Oh yeah, Mer, nice time to regret this. Right as he is walking in the door.

Oh well, here goes nothing. I moved to the stove and stirred the food. I heard his keys hit his entry table and the rustling of fabric that suggested he was hanging up his coat, before I heard his solid footsteps heading my way, whistling some aimless tune. I took a deep breath and pretended I didn't hear him come home.

The whistling abruptly stopped and he took a deep breathe.

"Wha…huh?" He stuttered out. I pasted a smile on my face and looked up.

"Hey! Welcome home! I cooked." I said unnecessarily.

"I see that." He said with forced enthusiasm. "Weren't we supposed to go out to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Yeah, we still can. I just wanted to thank you for taking care of me last night." I told him, reaching up to get plates and making one slip and fall to the floor and shatter.

"Shit!" I said.

Derek burst into action, by my side in an instant as I bent down to pick up the pieces. He moved my hand away.

"No, let me do this. I don't want you to get hurt." He said, moving me to the side away from the carnage. He went to his kitchen closet and got a broom and a dustpan and began clearing the mess…well that mess anyway. He stayed quiet.

"Are you mad?" I asked.

"No." He shook his head. "It's just, this was from a set that my dad gave to my mom on their tenth wedding anniversary." He told me, with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Oh God, I am so sorry!" I said, my hands clapped over my mouth. That was not in the plan, and I felt like shit for it. I felt the familiar burn in my eyes as they filled with tears.

Derek noticed and instantly got up to comfort me.

"Hey, now. No tears. It's…it's okay. Really. It's just a plate. It would've been really bad if you had hurt yourself." He said, wrapping his arms around me.

"I just…I was trying to do something nice to you and I ruined it." I sniffled into his shoulder and decided while I was emotional, I would play it up. I felt bad it happened, but I still had some revenge to serve up.

"Shhh…" He murmured.

I moved away from him slightly with a sheepish look on my face. He got a tissue from a shelf and gave it to me. I blew my nose and instantly gave him back the tissue.

"Um…thanks." He said, looking distastefully at the tissue and quickly disposing of it.

"Welcome!" I said brightly. "You hungry?"

He looked at the food, then at the huge mess and back at me.

"Yeah, but why don't we eat in the dining room?" He suggested.

"But I have the table in here set." I objected. "Unless, there is something wrong with the kitchen?" I asked.

He swallowed hard.

"No. Nothing at all. The kitchen is…fine. Let's eat."

Derek's Point-of-View

My kitchen was a fucking mess.

That was the first thought when I walked in my previously spotless kitchen. I don't know if you all know this, but I am slightly OCD and this was making me cringe so much, I almost didn't notice how beautiful Meredith looked.

Almost.

When that plate broke, my heart cracked too. That plate was very meaningful to me, but it was my stupidity that it had gotten broken. It should have been put up, not in with the rest of my dishes. It's just no one was ever here but me and maybe Amber or Mark. My mom and sisters and their families had been here once or twice but other than that…

Speaking of which…

"How did you get in here?" I asked, picking up my fork.

"Amber." She shrugged.

Of course, I should make my sister come and clean up this mess. That would teach her.

"How is it?"

I focused again on Meredith.

"How is what?" I asked.

"Dinner." She asked sweetly, biting her lip. God how I wish I were biting her lip.

"Oh, it's great." I said as enthusiastic as possible.

"You haven't tried it." She pointed out.

"Oh…yeah." I said. I picked up my fork and shoveled something into my mouth. Hmmm…

"It's really good." I told her honestly. Maybe not worth the mess, but good.

Meredith smiled fully at me and focused again on her food.

Minutes passed in comfortable silence. I was amazed that this wonderful woman had made me dinner and was sitting here eating it with me.

I started to feel a little funny as I continued to eat the pasta with white sauce. I cleared my throat and smiled at Meredith when she looked up.

"I made dessert too." She said.

"Yeah, what is it?" I asked, clearing my throat again.

"Nuh uh, you will just have to wait and see." She teased.

I coughed.

"Okay." I took a deep wheezing breath.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I just feel a little funny." I told her. She looked at me oddly but continued eating.

I coughed several times until it clicked what was wrong.

"Um…Meredith? Is there by any chance peanuts in this sauce?" I asked.

"Yes. Why do you…oh my fucking God!" She said, as she looked up. "You're all swollen! You're allergic to peanuts?"

"Yes." I coughed again. My throat was getting really tight. I scooted my chair back and stood up.

"Where are you going?" She asked, following me.

"To get my Epipen."

"Oh thank God!" She exclaimed.

I reached the bathroom and got the epinephrine pen, taking off the cap with my teeth. I hazarded a glance in the mirror. Oh wasn't I attractive? Way to make an impression there Shep.

"Let me." She took it from me and gestured for me to slip down my pants. I stared at her stupidly. Finally, she rolled her eyes and reached for my belt buckle, unclasping it and unbuttoning my pants in short order. Before I knew it, my pants were around my ankles and the epinephrine was injected into my thigh.

"Nice boxers." She looked at me and winked.

I glanced down and almost blushed. Of course, I had these on today…they were my backup pair. The ones I kept at work in case of emergency…you know, didn't get to go home, got my spunk on my other ones…

"Tasmanian Devils, huh? Are you trying to tell me something?" She teased.

"No." I muttered, glad that my lips were more like Angelina Jolie's now than blow up doll status. I could come up with a coyer remark, but I didn't think I looked too sexy right now.

"I am just going to go now. Let you get better. I had a great time tonight. Bye." She cut out of the room quickly and before I knew it, I heard the front door close. What the hell? I wonder where she had parked. I eased out of my shoes and pants and froze when I got to the kitchen.

She left me with the mess. Great. I sighed. I felt better and there was no way I could go to bed with it looking like this, so I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I got out my trash can and removed the bag from it, intending to throw the trash in it first and then tackling everything else. It felt heavy, the bag, which was weird since I emptied it out this morning and it didn't look as if she had used it. I looked curiously into it and pulled out four Bella Italia boxes and a receipt for two pastas complete with spicy peanut sauce, bread and chocolate cake. Total = 62.45.

Why would she make a mess like this if she didn't cook?

I didn't know what was going on, but I was going to find out…

Soon.

Do you this what Meredith did was a good idea?