Chapter 17: Getting Ready for Lunch

The bellboy showed Meredith to her suite. She was amazed at the size of it. It was just after 9. She had to meet Derek at one o clock, she needed to check in with the office, let them know she had arrived, and that she would pop in after her lunch. She tried to keep him off her mind, but she couldn't, all she could think about was that kiss, how perfect it felt, she wanted to run away, but seeing him just rooted her to the spot, he was all she ever wanted, and she knew that for sure, but right now she didn't want to deal with it. She ran herself a bath, feeling all gritty from the plane, and surprisingly not tired.

Derek got into his car and drove into the office; once he arrived there, he was surprised to see Miranda.

"Miranda, I thought I told you to take a few days off." Derek said, unable to keep the smile off his face. Miranda looked at Derek strangely, shocked to see him smiling for the second day in a row. Derek never smiled. In the 8 years that she had worked for him, she had never seen him look so happy.

"Why are you so happy?"

"What am I not allowed to be happy?"

"Of course you are Derek, but i have never seen you so happy."

"Let's just say, I have finally seen what I wanted, and nothing is going to stop me from getting it."

"Well, I'm happy for you."

"Good, now go home."

"Yes Mr. Shepherd." Bailey said.

"And don't come back until Monday. Do you hear me?"

"Monday got it. Have a good weekend Derek." Bailey walked out of the office building. Derek popped into his office, got the relevant paperwork that he needed, and locked up the office for a long weekend. It had been so long since he had taken a weekend off; he just hoped that he could find a way to get Meredith to spend it with him.

Meredith had just gotten out of the bath when her cell phone rang, she wondered who it was, she just hoped that it wasn't Derek, and to her surprise she found it was Serena.

"Where the hell have you been Serena?"

"It's nice to hear from you too, Meredith."

"Serena, I have been trying to get ahold of you for days."

"Sorry, Meredith, I was in Las Vegas with friends."

"You didn't get married, did you?" Meredith held her breath, praying that she didn't.

"No, I didn't."

"Thank God, you have some sense. I am in LA now, at the Renaissance Hollywood, we have a premiere tonight, so I need you here in my suite at 4 o clock, is that clear"

"Yes, Meredith."

"Good, I have a meeting with Derek Shepherd this afternoon. I'll fill you in when you get here okay?" Meredith tries to ignore how her heart races faster when she says Derek's name.

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye." Meredith hangs up and looks at her watch, seeing it's now 10 o clock, Meredith decided to look over her paperwork concerning Passions, not really having time to look at it before. She looks and sees the name, Derek Shepherd, and wonders why she had never noticed it before. It had been right in front of her eyes for these past few months. Meredith can feel the tears pricking at her eyes, she goes into her handbag, pulls out a picture of a little boy who has the same piercing blue eyes as his father. Meredith can feel the tears running down her face, as the sobs overtake her body. Meredith pulls her legs up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. As she rocks back and forth, it's only the ringing of her cell phone that pulls her together. She gets up and looked at the caller ID and see that it's Alex. She realized that she forgot to call him and let him know that she arrived.

"Alex, I am so sorry."

"I should hope so, I have been worried."

"I'm sorry." Alex can hear that she had been crying.

"Meredith, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Meredith, you have been crying, don't tell me you're fine."

"Okay, I'm not, but I don't want to talk about, at least not yet."

"Okay, I'll let it drop for now."

"Thank you, Alex. Look, I have a business meeting with Serena's new producer in a couple of hours, so I need to sort myself out. Tell Iz that I will call her tomorrow with the gossip."

"Have fun tonight, Meredith, god knows you deserve it"

"Thanks Alex, bye." Meredith hung up the phone, went to grab her suitcase, dug out a black pencil skirt, and a top, taking her time dressing, since she still had several hours before meeting Derek. She made sure that she wore her hair down in waves, remembering that Derek always liked her hair like that. She still had to call the limousine company and the hair stylist for tonight.

Derek went home and had a shower before his lunch date with Meredith; he got a cab down to the restaurant, deciding to leave his car at home. He arrived at the restaurant 15 minutes early, he decided to have a scotch to help to calm his nerves. Even though he had seen her this morning, he couldn't help but feel nervous, he had a lot to prove to her, but he just hoped that she would allow him.

Derek had to attend a premiere that night, which he was not looking forward to, he hated those things, but he knew that his new show relied on the exposure. He had asked Addison to come with him, like she generally did, if she didn't have a surgery. Derek was glad that Addison had always accompanied him, it saved a lot of questions from the media. Once Derek had got out of the showers, he dug out khaki trousers and a white shirt, remembering how Meredith had liked him dressed like that.