Falling Apart, Barely Breathing
In Which Addison meets Meredith in a bar. Things spiral from there.
Chapter 56: Empire State of Mind
A week later, Meredith and Addison, plus Derek and Mark, are all on a plane to New York together.
"I'm nervous," says Meredith.
"It'll be great," says Addison.
"No, planes make me nervous. I can't put my finger on it but there's something about them that freak me out…" Meredith says.
"C'mere," says Addison, as she tucks Meredith into her shoulder. "Go to sleep, I'll wake you when we're there, Sugar," says Addison.
"Ok Spice," says Meredith, as she sighs, and tries to get some rest.
Meanwhile, Derek and Mark are holding hands, and watching an outrageously cheesy alien documentary together on Derek's screen.
Derek is leaning on Mark's shoulder, and Mark is grinning at him, while Derek rattles on about his alien conspiracy theories.
Even if Mark is holding his hand, Derek is still conflicted about confessing his feelings to Mark. When they had been camping, Mark had said that he might want to date Callie, and Derek is still very afraid of rejection from his best friend.
"We will be landing in twenty minutes," says the announcement on the intercom.
Addison keeps patting Meredith's hair, and she decides not to wake her girlfriend until they are on the ground, in case she gets anxious again.
Mark and Derek start clapping at the touchdown, and this wakes Meredith up, who grumbles into Addison's shoulder a little, as Addison keeps playing with her hair.
"We're here, we're here," Addison comforts her.
"Oh thank goodness," says Meredith.
They pick up their bags, and head out of the airport. And then Addison and Derek discuss who will stay in each of the properties for the weekend.
"So… Hamptons or Brownstone?" Derek asks Addison.
"Ha- if only we'd been this casual about the divorce," Addison laughs.
"Well, I offered you both at the time," Derek laughs.
"Could we take the Brownstone overlooking Central Park? Meredith's never been to New York, so it might be cool to stay closer to Manhatten," says Addison.
"Sure," says Derek. "Mark and I will hang out around the Hamptons," says Derek.
With that settled, Addison hands Derek her set of keys to the Hamptons, and she and Meredith work on getting a cab to Central Park.
"Would you like to meet up for dinner one of these nights?" Mark suggests.
"Yeah," says Meredith. "That'll be nice."
"Alright, we'll text you or something," says Mark.
"Sure thing," says Addison.
Unlike on the plane, Meredith gazes out the window all the way from the airport to Central Park.
"Wow, all the buildings are so tall," she exclaims.
"Yup," says Addison.
"And it's so big, and busy. Hey look, New York hotdog stands, I've heard about those," says Meredith.
"Classic," says Addison.
"So, is there anything you want to see here in particular?" Addison asks her.
"Let's see, the Metropolitan Museum of Art," says Meredith. "We're already seeing Hamilton the musical, because we got tickets, Time Square, the Empire State Building…" Meredith lists off in her head.
"We'll be the perfect tourists," Addison smiles. "Do you mind if we head to Columbia University for a bit? I have some colleagues I'd like to catch up with," says Addison.
"No problem," says Meredith. "Aaaaand," Meredith grins.
"And?" says Addison.
"And I'd also like to spend some time alone with you in this hotel room," Meredith smirks. "You're all the entertainment I need, Spice," Meredith grins.
"Okay, that too, Sugar," Addison smiles.
Addison and Meredith's first stop is Time Square, where they climb to the tops of the steps, and look at all the flashing lights and the stores.
It's crowded with people, and through all of it, Meredith points out their next destination.
"M & M world! We have to go!" Meredith squeals.
"Sweet tooth, huh?" Addison smiles.
"Come on! I hear they have them in rainbow!" Meredith smiles.
So off they head to M & M world, where they take baggies and scoop colors of M & M candies one by one into baggies, weigh them, and make themselves a huge reservoir of chocolate candy goodness.
Meredith is munching on them bit by bit as they walk around the center of town, admiring all of the shops and the little window displays.
Next, they head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and explore the galleries.
Meredith is especially entranced by the Vincent Van Gogh paintings.
They take in all the different art showrooms, and even splurge on a coffee in the gallery cafe.
"Did you come here all the time when you lived here?" Meredith asks Addison.
"I was working most of the time when I was here," says Addison.
"Right," says Meredith.
"I came here once in a while," she says. "At one point I considered studying art history before I went into Medicine.
"What changed your mind?" Meredith asks her.
"I wanted to be a doctor," Addison chuckles.
"Okay," Meredith giggles.
They decide to get some postcards to send to their friends back home. Meredith picks out a particularly gruesome one to send to Cristina, because it has blood on it and she thinks Cristina will like that.
For Izzie, she gets one with flowers, and for Alex and George, she gets them each one with an abstract painting.
Addison gets one for Callie, and for Bailey.
After the museum, Meredith and Addison are getting hungry, so they look up reviews of different restaurants nearby.
After attempting to get into a bunch of different places, they end up at the Olive Garden where they serve massive portions of pasta.
"We might want to share an entree," says Addison.
"Right," says Meredith. "Ooh, mushroom ravioli," Meredith points.
"Looks like that's what we're having," Addison smiles.
They sit on the same side of the table and share the gigantic plate, and after dinner they walk around town some more, until they come across an ice cream shop and get some ice cream cones.
And then they walk back to the Brownstone through Central Park together, hand in hand, and watch as the sun sets in the sky.
"Thank you Addison, this is the very best vacation," says Meredith.
"No problem. I'm having such a great time," says Addison.
Central Park is gorgeous in this weather, the trees are fully grown, the grass is green, and there are lots of benches to sit on.
When it gets chilly, they head back inside, and Addison gives Meredith a full tour of one of her and Derek's old houses.
"I can't believe you lived here," Meredith squeals. "It's gorgeous, spacious," she smiles.
"Well, you've probably figured out by now we were both well off," Addison smiles.
"No kidding," says Meredith. "I mean, not in a bad way. It's just pretty," Meredith bushes.
"It is," Addison smiles.
"I have an idea," says Meredith.
"And that is?" Addison smiles.
"I'd like to take a shower with you," Meredith smirks.
"I thought we weren't having sex yet," says Addison.
"We won't be, but we can still shower together," Meredith offers.
"Alright," Addison smiles. "That sounds lovely."
Meredith helps Addison get undressed, and Addison helps undress her.
They giggle as they turn the water on, and test it before they both hop in, and help soap each other up.
"You are beautiful Addison," says Meredith. She takes in the sight of Addison's body, glorious under the water, and she leans in and kisses her.
"So are you, Meredith," Addison sighs. "I can't wait to spend the next few days with you," she smiles.
They kiss for a while under the shower, until Addison starts kissing Meredith more and more hungrily, and Meredith reluctantly has to pull away from her so they can take a break.
"Irresistible," Addison teases.
"I like that," Meredith smiles.
They shut off the shower, and get dressed for bed, and cuddle up on Addison's queen-sized bed.
As they sit there, Addison contemplates the past memories she's shared here with Mark and Derek over the years, and she decides she'll hold onto the good ones, and she's grateful she's making new ones here now with Meredith.
Meredith pulls Addison close to her chest as they shut the lights off.
They'll have to thank Archer for this fantastic vacation idea later.
***** END OF CHAPTER 56