The Chief and his wife rented out a Ferry boat and said their vows in the middle of Elliot Bay. They held the short ceremony on deck and the weather, uncharacteristically warm and sunny for Seattle, cooperated.
The boat's transformation into what was essentially a floating reception hall stood as a testament to what the salary of a chief of surgery could accomplish. Not only was the Ferry cleaner than any boat Alex had ever been on, it was also beautifully decorated. White table clothes fluttered in the summer breeze, each table topped with an arrangement of lilies and a forty-dollar bottle of champagne. The boat's railings were wrapped with cords of electric lights, and lamps hung from wires suspended over the deck, in preparation for sundown, still several hours away.
Alex guessed the net cost of the wedding must have run close to a million dollars. He was amazed, but also kind of freaked out to think that one day he might make enough money to pay for this kind of thing.
Of course that day was a long way off and he was currently sweating in a cheap rental suit. Not that it really mattered. He was at a table with Christina, Izzie, Meredith, Shepard and Burke and while he was fairly certain the other men had paid a couple hundred dollars more than him for their clothes, he was still only slightly out of place.
O'Mally on the other hand, was the only intern at his table. Alex almost felt bad for the guy. Apart from Callie, he was seated with some very intimidating guests, Bailey, a cousin of the Chief's, Mark Sloan... And her.
Alex almost felt bad for George, except for the fact that he would have given just about anything to trade places with him and be sitting at that table. Next to Addison.
When he'd seen her arrive his breath had caught in his throat. God, she was beautiful. Her hair was swept back loosely and shone copper in the sun. She'd always had beautiful skin, even under the hospital's fluorescent bulbs, but under natural light her face seemed to glow.
He wasn't the only one who'd noticed her appearance. The Chief's wife had made a good natured joke about it. Something along the lines of,
"Shouldn't I get to be the most beautiful woman at my own wedding," which had earned a nervous smile from Addison and a wide grin from Sloan.
Even Izzie had remarked,
"Wow, she looks hot."
Izzie, who he'd asked to come with him. Izzie who he was supposed to be paying attention to. He'd come determined to show her a good time, thinking a wedding might be a painful reminder of her plans with Denny.
When he'd asked her if she was o.k, she'd replied,
"Are you crazy? I love weddings," but it was pretty clear she was putting on a brave face.
They'd danced for a while and they'd talked and he hadn't left her side all day. But his attention kept drifting across the crowd.
Addison's dress hung weightlessly on her body, letting him imagine the curve of her hip beneath the fabric. A stray piece of hair curled at the back of her neck. Her shoulders were bare. She always wore her lab coat at the hospital. He hadn't seen her shoulders since...
He remembered the feel of her skin, soft beneath his lips. Remembered placing a kiss between her breasts and feeling her heartbeat against his mouth.
It had been more than a month and still his pulse quickened whenever he was near her.
He couldn't even pay attention to the hot ex-model who was sitting across from him because he was too transfixed by Addison's bare arms, elbows resting on the table, hands dancing gestures as she talked with Bailey.
Finally he realized that Izzie was trying to tell him something and dragged his eyes away.
"Thanks for being my date," she smiled.
For a minute he thought she was joking.
"You don't have to... I know I'm not that good at this type of thing."
"No, I'm serious," Izzie laughed. "I'm having a good time. I figured I'd be stuffing my face with cake and I'm not so... Yay! I'm glad we're here together."
He nodded and she continued.
"I mean, Meredith and Cristina have like their own little thing and the things with Burke and McDreamy and now George and Callie are... So anyways… I'm glad that we're friends."
"Yeah. Me too."
"So... Since we are now officially friends... Feel like telling me who you've been making googily eyes at all day," Izzie teased.
He found it didn't really bother him anymore.
"Maybe some other time. It's kind of a long story."
So this chapter calls for a little suspended disbelief. The Chief was able to rent out a Ferry because I thought it would be pretty. O.k? And I frankly don't care whose running the hospital while the wedding takes place because I really wanted everyone to get to be on the pretty boat in the middle of the pretty water under the pretty, pretty sun.
Now that I've established this lovely setting I'm going to spend a couple chapters here. I'll probably be finishing up in about four chapters. I have a delightful little plot outline planned out in my head so...
GEE READY
Next
time: Saddison ensues. I actually cried while writing part of it.