It took forever to actually get through to Richard Webber: Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital, not that Addison had expected it to be easy, but when she finally got him on the phone she'd nearly forgotten why she was calling in the first place. He sounded surprised to hear from her.
"I heard about you and Derek," he tried.
"I would really rather not discuss that," she answered, and awkward silence fell over them before Richard changed course.
"Then I can only hope that you're finally willing to take me up on that job offer?" He asked and she agreed that, that was indeed her reason for calling, and it was agreed that she would come out to Seattle to hash out all of the details of her contract. She would start as soon as she could make the arrangements to relocate. And just like that she had a new job.
She bought the beach house, repercussions be damned. She had her car transported from New York. Mark had offered to drive it out there himself, but he was very busy and didn't necessarily have the time. However he had made sure her car was in pristine condition before it was picked up for its west coast adventure. She would be getting a Washington license and plates, and the prospect of it all made her genuinely happy in a way she hadn't been in a long time.
While Addison was excited about the prospect of finally moving on with her life, it was also difficult to let go of Los Angeles. Her time in LA represented a transition in her life, she had finally come to terms with her sexuality, she had gone on her first real dates with another woman, and she had the safety of her friends. In Seattle she was going to be on her own, she wouldn't know anyone besides Richard. She would be working with new doctors, driving down new roads, and experiencing a new climate.
She was worried that she would not be able to adjust fast enough. She was worried that she would lose it again and have no friends to help bring her back, but it was something she had to do. In one of her last sessions with Dr. Kline she'd mentioned this fear and the nagging doubts she had. Dr. Kline had reminded her that things weren't like they were in New York. Mark was only a phone call away, Nai was only a phone call away, Sam was a phone call away. Unresolved issues she had in New York had been resolved. She was taking medication to help with those overwhelming feelings and things would be different. She would make new friends and form new relationships with new colleagues.
It was hard saying goodbye to Naomi. They had lived together for eight months and had shared practically everything in that time.
"This isn't goodbye forever Nai, I bought a house, I'm coming back with or without a girlfriend." Her friend had laughed and they had hugged and Addison drug her feet about leaving in her mostly packed car. "And you can come to Seattle and visit once I get settled in," Addison added. Naomi smiled.
"You're moving into an apartment," Naomi said shaking her head.
"It's not tiny Nai, it has a guest bedroom and an office, I'm not buying an over the top house for just myself." Naomi laughed and commented on her new beach house which they'd fully furnished already though Addison had settled on it just last week. Addison laughed too. She hugged Naomi again and Sam and Maya and it was time for her to be off. "I'm going to miss you guys. I promise I will come back." She hugged them all at least a dozen more times before waving her final goodbye.
Richard knew that she needed time to adjust, and he was more than willing to give it to her. Luckily her arrival in Seattle was in the month leading up to the Intern exam. She had plenty of company in the practice lab, and the hospital was playing host to several lectures. She attended them all. There had also been a refresher seminar for more of the seasoned surgeons to get back to the basics, and Addison had been there too. She met some of her new colleagues. Dr. Preston Burke head of cardio and Dr. Nelson who was the go to neurosurgeon at Seattle Grace. Addison wasn't sure how she felt about them, they seemed nice enough, but she was leery of neurosurgeons right now, and Dr. Burke seemed overly confident. While these events certainly helped her put faces with the overheard names of her new colleagues, she didn't necessarily feel a connection with any of them.
When she was ready to step foot in the OR once again Richard had assigned a small third year resident to her service. Dr. Miranda Bailey had a reputation, some interns referred to her as "the nazi" but Richard assured her that there was nothing to worry about. Miranda Bailey was a promising surgical resident and Addison nodded. They were in the scrub room and Addison's hand was trembling and the third year resident was watching. Nothing was wrong with the damn hand, it was fine, she just needed to stop shaking. She stopped scrubbing and turned the facet off.
"Dr. Bailey, I need you to take my hand." The shorter woman looked confused, but she did as Addison asked. "Rub my palm with your thumb." She did and Addison felt her hand relax.
"Are you alright Dr. Montgomery?" She asked.
"I'm alright, it just, I haven't done this in a while and I'm a little nervous," she said facing the woman. She smiled at Miranda Bailey before turning the facet back on to begin the scrubbing process again. "Richard says you're the best resident he's seen in a while," Addison added before they entered the OR, "I think we're going to be fine." Dr. Bailey smiled underneath her mask and Addison felt confident.
There was a bar across the street from the hospital and Addison was in the mood for a celebratory drink even if she was alone. There was a pretty blonde throwing back tequila shots two bar stools away.
"You're going to be sorry in the morning," Addison commented and the woman looked over at Addison and smiled before sliding over to sit next to the redhead. Her name was Meredith.
"What is a beautiful woman like you doing drinking alone in a place like this?"
"I just moved here a few weeks ago," Addison answered. "I don't really know anyone here yet."
"Well we have that in common Red."
"Addison," she whispered telling the blonde her name. Meredith repeated it "Addison" her name had never sounded as wonderful as it did passing through those pale pink lips.
"I think I'd like to get to know you better Addison," she whispered. Her hand had fallen to Addison's thigh. The skirt she had worn now had a warm hand beneath it and Addison felt like her skin was on fire at the touch. "How about we get out of here Addison?" She asked, and the redhead nodded and allowed herself to be lead out of the bar, which was how she found herself lying naked on the floor beneath a couch cushion the next morning, while Meredith groaned about being late for her new job.
"We should do this again Meredith," Addison said as she searched for her bra.
"We should," she agreed with a smile as Addison grabbed a sharpie that was lying on one of the unpacked boxes. She took Meredith's arm and wrote her number in bold black ink.
"Call me." Meredith ran upstairs to shower and Addison threw her clothes on and called herself a cab. While Addison was home in the shower Meredith had called and left her a message. "Hi Addison, it's Meredith. I just wanted to call and give you my number. I somehow made it to work on time. I'd really like to see you again. Call me and maybe we can go out later this week. I look forward to hearing from you." Addison practically danced her way through her morning routine. She felt wonderful. She had to call Mark and tell him all about it, but first she needed to get to work.
Addison didn't have any surgeries scheduled that morning, and the new interns were being introduced to the hospital, so Addison chose to go to her office. It was 9:15 which meant that it was noon in New York and hopefully Mark was eating lunch. She dialed and he picked up on the second ring.
"Hi Addie," he sounded happy to hear from her and she was happy to hear his voice again.
"Are you busy?"
"I always have time for you," he answered and she smiled. "How was your surgery yesterday? I meant to call you last night."
"It went well, and it's a good thing you didn't call. I wouldn't have answered," she responded. The line was silent and Mark probably wanted to ask, but he didn't, so she told him. "I met someone." She had been dying to tell someone, she was ecstatic.
"Oh really?" He teased. "Details Addie!"
"Her name is Meredith. She just moved to Seattle too, and," Addie was blushing, "I went home with her last night," she added and Mark wolf-whistled and Addison laughed.
"Way to go Addison!"
"I gave her my number and she already called," Addison gushed. "I'm going to call her back after I leave here tonight. I have to find someplace nice to take her for a date."
"I'm happy for you Addie. I'm glad you met someone."
"So am I. I have a good feeling about her."
"I bet she's a blonde." Addison laughed, it was a good thing Mark couldn't see her blushing. "You so have a type," he teased.
"How are you doing?" She asked.
"I've been better," he answered honestly. "I don't think I've been this tired since we were interns," he sighed. She knew he had been dealing with a lot of burn victims and disagreements with Derek about the practice weren't helping matters. "It's nice to hear your voice though," he said. "When you finally go on this date, call me and let me know how it goes okay?" He asked. She said she would before he told her he had to get back to work and they disconnected. She should get back to work too. She stepped out of her office and as she was walking to check on a couple of nonsurgical patients she swore she saw Meredith. She smiled to herself before realizing that it was indeed Meredith and the blonde was staring back at her and when Addison caught her looking she bolted and Addie followed.
"Dr. Montgomery," she said as Addison caught up with her in the stairwell.
"This morning it was Addison," she grinned. Meredith started rambling about how last night couldn't be repeated because they worked together and they were just girls in a bar and Addison wasn't paying any attention because Meredith was wearing a long sleeved shirt under her scrub top and Addie knew her phone number was on her arm and Meredith had called that number since she'd been at work. "It's a big hospital Meredith," Addison whispered teasingly. "We don't have to work together," she added. "I've been thinking about you all morning." And Meredith became flustered and her pager went off and she had to go and Addie called after her, "I look forward to taking you on a proper date."
Three days later Meredith pushed her against the elevator wall, dropped the charts she'd been carrying and kissed her, then spent the day avoiding her and told her they couldn't go out. Addison didn't know what to do when she got home that night so she called Mark.
"How did the date go?" He asked as a way of greeting.
"It didn't." He repeated her words as a question. "She is an intern," Addison said simply. Mark was speechless, and Addison couldn't handle the silence. "She kissed me in the elevator this morning, like pushed me against the wall and didn't stop until the elevator did, and then she spent the rest of the day purposely avoiding me, and then she asked for my help and said we couldn't go out because I'm her boss, but she's sending all of these mixed signals and what the hell do I do?"
"I don't know what to say Addie," he answered. He sounded so tired and she felt bad for coming to him with her problems, but he was her best friend, and she needed advice, because it felt like Meredith was into her and their work dynamic was the only thing holding her back, but Addison didn't want to push.
"I know it's always about me and my problems," Addison said softly. "I would drop everything for you if you needed me to Mark." He sighed.
"Don't come on too strong, she's obviously into you, I mean she called you right away and the work thing probably just freaks her out, flirt and let her come to you," he finally said. "It means a lot that you called to ask me for advice, I'm not mad, I'm just so tired Addie. Between all the burn victims from the arsonist on the loose and things with the practice," he sighed. "I feel burnt out. It's really nice hearing from you."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked and he sighed again. Derek was definitely at the heart of this and he didn't want to unload that on her and she knew it. "Just tell me what he did Mark, I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
"He's been worse since you moved to Seattle," Mark finally said. "We're arguing all the time about how to keep the practice running. I think I've finally convinced him that we haven't been having some sordid love affair for the last year at least, but he's unbearable and I think it's finally hitting him that you're not coming back. When you were in LA with Naomi it was like you were on an extended vacation and now you have a new job in Seattle and you're starting a new life and reality is setting in for him. Like you were serious about wanting a divorce and he's been in denial about it for so long he doesn't know how to react. I know he's been drinking and I'm worried about him, but I can't do anything because I'm working all the time and it's so exhausting Addie. I think he misses you."
"I would hug you if I was able to right now," Addison replied.
"I know, I'd like to hug you too right now." The line was silent for a couple minutes. "When they finally catch this guy that's setting shit on fire like a nut job I'll come and visit your new place in Seattle and possibly sleep the entire time," he said.
"That sounds nice, I can't believe this is still going on it's been four months of fires and burn victims. Hopefully they catch the guy soon because I really miss seeing your face."
"I miss seeing yours too. Try to keep it light and flirty with your blonde intern and tell me how it works out for you. I'm tired. Have a good night Addie."
"Goodnight Mark," she replied and they disconnected. She would try to be flirty, but not too obnoxious with Meredith and see if that worked, she had nothing to lose, as for her husband and the trouble he was stirring up for Mark and himself, she was going to try and put it out of her mind. He wasn't her problem anymore as far as she was concerned.