"Addison, what are you doing here?" Derek asked flatly, now with Meredith out of sight. She had ran out in anger and confusion upon Addison's arrival.
"Your hair's different." she said, purposely avoiding his question. "Alot of things are different"
"It's longer. I like it. It's very...Russell Crowe. " she said, reaching up to touch his hair. Derek shifted, ducking away from her touch.
"What are you doing here!" he asked again.
"What are you doing here? You just pick up and leave everything? Your house, your practice, your friends? You had a life in Manhattan." she said, her voice soft, not competing with his volume.
"Had." he pointed out.
"And now you have a girlfriend in Seattle." she continued. "She seems...sweet."
"And that's wrong?" he asked, starting to walk away.
"She's young." Addison retorted, causing her husband to stop in tracks and turned around. "The whole wide-eye 'Ooo he's a brain surgeon' thing happening." she taunted, turning around to face Derek. "But still, sweet. Which is what you're going for, right? The anti-Addison?"
"If you came out here to try to win me back, you can forget about it." he spat out.
"I did." she raised an eyebrow and started walking towards Derek. "I flew all the way across the country. Remmiscing our wedding photos, get drunk, fall out of bed and make you realise you can't live without me." Derek stared at her, saying nothing in response. "Relax, Derek. I'm here for work." she explained. "I'm helping the TTTS case you guys admitted last week. After Richard's briefing I should be"
"Richard knew you're coming out here?" he cut her off.
"He asked me to come. Didn't he tell you?" she looked up at him. He called me, he said Derek's in Seattle. Derek should have been informed.
"No he didn't." he said firmly.
"Hmm. What a surprise." she said as a matter of factly, then made her way closer towards Derek, but only to brush by his shoulder from the side. She stopped, leaned in, her voice dropped into a whisper as she breathed into Derek's ear. He stayed, not moving back. "The hair though." she said. "You know I always have a thing for Russell Crowe." With that, Addison walked out of the hospital, leaving Derek to stare after her.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night, Addison returned to her hotel and replayed the image of watching Derek and Meredith in the hospital. She tossed her bag on the bed with a sigh, turning on the radio for classical music to flow into her ears. She sat down in front of the dresser and took off her earrings, putting them neatly in her jewelery box. Why that feeling? she asked herself, looking at her reflection in the mirror in front of her. She sighed, grabbing a scrunchie to secure her hair into a messy bun. Pulling her nightgown out of her luggage, Addison headed straight into the bathroom, adjusting the heater to the temperature of her liking and stepped into the shower. The hot water spilt down her face as she tilted her head up, closed her eyes to welcome the heat. She rubbed her face gently, then a hand reached behind to undo the bun, causing her red hair to fall over her shoulders. Oh god. Do I still love him? she thought suddenly, her green eyes snapping open. The water continue to carass her body. But what about the times I had spent with Mark? Addison shut her eyes with a sigh again, pushing the thought out of her mind. She brushed her wet hair out of her face, turned off the water briefly and reached out for the shampoo. She didn't need to, not right now.
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The alarm clock rang at 6am in the morning. Addison bolted up in bed, pushing her blindfold up in her hair and slumped her hands back on to the bed with a sigh. She pulled the blindfold off her head and slipped out of bed, pulling a bathrobe around her body. "Yay to first day at work." she mumbled under her breathe.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Knowing that Richard is under observation after his brain surgery, Addison went straight looking for the temporarily chief of surgery--Preston Burke. She turned the knob to the chief's office door after knocking briefly. Addison was already dressed, wearing her salmon scrubs from Manhattan and a white coat loaned from Seattle Grace. Her red hair was let down in perfect curls. "Dr. Burke." she greeted with a smile, standing by the doorway. Preston looked up. "Ahh, good morning. Addison Montgomery Shepherd, is it? Come in." he beckoned, shutting the file in front of him and pushed up his glasses. Addison entered, closing the door behind her. She sat down onto the chair opposite of Preston as he gestured towards it.
"I need a favour."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Sorry to interupt, Dr. Burke." she greeted the temporarily chief cheerfully, purposely interupting as she saw Derek and him engaged in a conversation.
"You're never interupting." Preston reassured her.
"She's always interupting." Derek grumbled. Preston casted Derek a brief glance while Addison purposefully ignored his comment and went on.
"I was just checking if Dr. Burke's secured the--"
"Intern you requested." a new voice interupted. Derek looked up at the familiar voice. Meredith had her hands shoved in her labcoat's front pockets, stopping in front of Addison. Her eyes shifted briefly to Prestonwith acknowledgement. "He did."
What! Derek thought, his eyes shifted from Meredith to Addison, then looking up at Preston. Unbelievable! he grumbled mentally as Preston simply walked away.
Now I can see what Derek sees in her. Addison thought as a smile crept across her face.