Chapter 62: Caught Red Handed

"Hey!" he greeted Gretchen who looked up from her microscope curious about the cheerfulness in his voice.

"Hi yourself," the brunettes slipped from his stool and walked up to him. "Someone's happy?"

"Yeah," he threw with a smile and proceeded to his workplace feeling the almost imperceptible weight in his pocket.

"Any particular reason?" Gretchen moved up to stand beside him battling her eyelashes.

"Uhm, it's my birthday," he quickly came up with an excuse. He was acting way to carelessly, but he couldn't contain his enthusiasm.

"It's your birthday!" exclaimed Gretchen and here brows arched mischievously. Surely Derek wouldn't mind if she wished him happy birthday a bit more affectionately… Just as he turned to face her, she jumped up bringing her hands around his neck to pull him into a searing kiss…

Meredith looked at the clock with a big silly grin, it was time to take Derek to his surprise. She was fidgeting on the spot for the past hour, bubbling with excitement. She walked out of her office and grinned, she was going to kidnap Derek still in his scrubs. It would be easier and quicker to peel them off anyway. She took a peek into his office, empty. His name wasn't on the surgical board, so he was probably working in the lab.

She was there in no time. Her hand reached hurriedly for the handle and her eyes lifted up to look inside through the glass door… which she didn't open. Her heart froze just like in her dream. But there was no dead Derek this time. In fact, he was very much alive. He must be, if he stood on his own two feet, slightly hunched, his lips connected to those belonging to no other Gretchen Miles… She had her arms around his neck, while his hands were tightly grasping her shoulders.

Meredith's fingers flew to her throat desperately; she seemed to forget how to breathe. What she mostly felt at this point was shock, shock and disbelief. But there was really no sense in questioning what she saw, the irrefutable proof was just before her eyes. She whirled on her heel, unable to stand the view that was making her sick to her stomach. She walked blindly to her office passing Patricia that was squinting at her from under the thick glasses.

"Dr. Grey…?" she asked with a frown. Only five minutes earlier, the Chief left her office with a bounce in her step. Now she looked as though she was struggling to keep it together. "Dr. Grey, do you need-"

Her unfinished question was answered with a violent slam of the door.

Derek turned towards Gretchen who was apparently willing to wish him happy birthday and was instantaneously taken aback by the sudden feel of a woman's lips on his, lips so different to the ones that he grew accustomed to. Those foreign lips, unfamiliar arms, the odd perfumes surprised him. Not in a good way, though. He pulled away, pushing her arms from his neck. Great, that was just what he needed while carrying an engagement ring for his girlfriend, kissing another woman. He might have omitted telling Meredith about Gretchen's previous pass at him but a kiss… It felt like cheating. How could he propose to Meredith without having a clear conscience?

All these uneasy thoughts flew through his head while he held Gretchen's hands at a distance from his body.

"What… was that?" he asked curtly.

"I just… sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Gretchen licked her lips with a grin. "I only wanted to be nice."

He let go of her hands. "We talked about this," he said firmly. "I'm with Meredith."

"I know, I respect it," she assured him and glanced at him coyly. "It was nothing Dr. Grey needs to be concerned about or hear at all."

Derek turned away from her, suddenly tired. There was still a month at least to go before the end of the trial and although the work was gratifying, he couldn't wait to say goodbye to Dr. Miles. She was a real trial for his nerves.

Meanwhile, Gretchen's musings went into a completely different direction. She had only one month left to get Derek Shepherd into bed with her and she was sure that after today she was one step closer.

Meredith took the surprise plane tickets into her hands and held it high before her eyes. They burned her fingers like hot coals. Each hand tugged in the opposite direction and the paper tore apart with a heart ripping sound.

The initial disbelief was gone now, as well as the desperate need to explain and justify Derek's behavior. At first, she was catching at the straws, trying to find a reasonable explanation… but there couldn't been any. The sweet words, looks, loving embraces were all lies. For a brief second, she blamed herself, that she was unlovable, that she failed him, made him wait for her too long. Then again, nothing, absolutely nothing, justified dishonesty and betrayal. She had thought he was special, different from the rest…

Liquid ice ran in her veins. The self-doubt was replaced with pure hatred. If the past months were a lie, she was the same Meredith Grey she had been before, and she would act like it. She would not let Derek Shepherd and his ageing slut humiliate her in front of the whole hospital. She wouldn't be the sad little girl screwed over by a guy.

Meredith fumed at the way he treated her. He was making out with Miles in broad daylight, in plain view for everyone to see. She cringed thinking how many nurses might have already seen them together. But she would get her revenge, gone was the weak pathetic woman Derek tried to turn her into. Welcome back Meredith The Bitch Grey.

She pressed the intercom, "Patricia, let Dr. Nelson know he doesn't need to take over Dr. Shepherd's cases. Thank you."

Meredith went through her contacts and pulled out a business card. She took a deep breath; her fingers clasped her phone… she was a step from making all hell break loose. But if she didn't, someone else would do it for her, which she couldn't allow. Her mother's sneering face appeared in her mind and she felt… ashamed. She couldn't believe how reckless she had been; she risked all she had, the career, the reputation. She became a hospital laughingstock. It was ending now, right now.

She dialed the number. "Hi… Yes, it is me… Yeah… I'm fine but… you told me to call if I needed you…"