Author's Note: Oh dear oh dear. For those of you who are looking forward to the date, well, I think you may end up just as disappointed as Addison. But trust me on this one, it will still be a good chapter. It's going to be the next one though, just to really drive you crazy. In the meantime, please accept this offering instead.
Disclaimer: As before. And with reference to the disclaimer in the last chapter, you can consider Steve the Bartender as included in that.
As soon as Addison was safely out of the way, Alex set off in search of Michael. It was time to come clean. He wasn't particularly worried at how the other man would react; over the last weeks Alex had found himself taking to his boss, and knew him to be reasonable man.
Besides, although the gossip tree had nothing like the same juicy offering as at Seattle Grace, there were still a few morsels to be had, and most of them tended to relate to Michael Newton-Jones. A gifted doctor, intelligent, and extremely charming, he had had more wives that hot dinners and had an unfortunate penchant for nubile young nurses. Turns out Seattle Grace doctors didn't have the monopoly on screwed up personal lives. Perhaps that was why they got on, Alex reflected.
He wondered if Michael might still be at the reception, but he wasn't sure it was the wisest thing in the world to go back in there; he knew how conspicuous he and Addison would have been by their sudden departure and continuing absence. Besides, it was bound to be all over and done with by now.
He made his way to Michael's office, but to his annoyance was greeted, if you could call it that, by his dragon of a secretary. 'Yes?' Her tone was positively arctic.
'I'm after Michael, do you know where he is?'
'Mr Newton-Jones was attending a surgical drinks reception this afternoon,' she said in a hoity toity tone.
Alex groaned to himself quietly. This woman was bloody hard work, and had a reputation for guarding her position as Michael's personal assistant with a jealous ferocity. 'Yes, as was I,' he replied, trying his hardest to curb his impatience. 'But that's over and I was hoping he might be here. I need to speak with him.'
'I can take a message.'
From the way she said it, he could already see the sheet of paper she wrote it on sitting at the bottom of her wastepaper basket. 'No thank you. I need to speak with him.'
'Well, he is a doctor. You could always try one of his wards. I believe it is time for afternoon rounds,' she said sarcastically.
Alex didn't bother thanking her (being that unhelpful couldn't possibly deserve gratitude) and hurried off to the surgical wards. Michael's speciality was cardiothoracics so he would probably be on that ward… if only he knew where the cardio ward actually was.
Fortunately he was saved from having to embark on yet another futile adventure around the hospital when he saw the man he was looking for standing by an elevator. He broke into a light jog to catch up with him before the doors opened.
'Michael, do you have a minute?'
'For you Alex, of course.' He indicated towards the elevator, the doors of which had just slid open with a tinny ping. 'Come with me. I'm on my way to a consult on a three year old in need of a replacement heart valve due to a birth defect. Not exactly your field, but interesting nonetheless.'
Alex was thankful as the doors shut again with only the two of them inside. 'It's, uh, about Addison.'
The older man smiled knowingly. 'Ah, I thought it might be. You and the lovely Ms Montgomery did disappear rather swiftly earlier.'
'Actually, I was paged and Addison came with…' He realised he was getting sidetracked. Michael was a busy man and he knew a few minutes was all he was going to get. 'I think it is as well to tell you now that she and I… Well, it was something and nothing really. We were never involved at all, but –'
'You did sleep together,' Michael finished, a stern look on his face.
'Uh, yes,' Alex squirmed, feeling like a schoolboy.
Then, to his relief, Michael laughed. 'Oh relax Alex, you should have seen your face. I appreciate it that you felt it necessary to come and tell me – it was definitely the right thing to do – but you really didn't need to.'
'I didn't?'
'No. You'd have to be blind not to see the steam rising off the pair of you earlier.'
Alex thought for a moment how he would have reacted had anyone from Seattle just made that comment. He'd have knocked their heads off, even Izzie's. He wasn't going to do that to Michael, but a line had to be drawn, boss or not. 'It may be as well to warn you that Addison is a slightly sore subject for me, and I suspect I may be for her,' he said, as diplomatically as he could.
'That's your exceedingly polite way of telling me to keep my comments to myself I don't want to court a bloody nose, isn't it?' Luckily Michael did not seem at all perturbed by the warning.
'Well,' said Alex, a little more relaxed now, 'I thought it only fair to warn you.'
'Quite right. Now, to do the "boss" bit, if you don't mind me asking, is this likely to affect your ability to work together?'
'No,' Alex replied emphatically. 'That's what I wanted to say to you. Addison and I are a long way into the past now, and I can say, absolutely categorically, for myself and for her as well, that it would never, ever get in the way of our jobs and our standard of patient care. She is the consummate professional at all times, and, in fact, so am I. I can guarantee it.'
Michael nodded, but Alex couldn't help but feel that he looked a little unconvinced, and told him so.
'It isn't that I doubt your word Alex,' he answered. 'In fact, I can think of very few people I know whose word I trust more, but you seem so very sure that whatever there was between you is dead and buried. From what I saw this afternoon, I would dispute that.'
Alex sighed. It would be so easy if that spark was dead and buried, but he feared Michael might be right. 'Look, for me, Addison was always the one that got away,' he explained. Or the one that I utterly fucked up. 'And I can't say for definite that at some point in the future perhaps things might happen again. But I can tell you, for certain, that whatever goes on,' However badly I screw up, 'we will be able to maintain a cordial working relationship.'
'You sound as if you know that for a fact.'
Alex laughed wryly. 'Believe me Michael, this is a tried and tested situation.'
'Well, in that case, I will take you at your word. And Addison at your word as well. You must know her rather well to be able to speak for her,' he probed.
He sidestepped the question. 'Thank you about this. If the, uh, situation changes, I will inform you. I trust that this conversation will go no further, by the way?'
'Of course not. I am not a fan of gossip, so you won't find me doing anything to perpetuate the problem.'
Alex suppressed a smile; from what he had heard, Michael perpetuated it with every new divorce proceedings. 'Thank you.'
'Not a problem. Just so you know though, I do not tolerate my doctors bringing their personal lives into the workplace.' Alex raised an eyebrow, and Michael caught the question. 'I do quite enough of that for everyone, as you have obviously heard. I'm leaving this one in your hands Alex. I trust you.'
The elevator doors opened. 'Do you want to do observe this consult?' Michael offered.
'Um, thank you but no. I…'
'Of course you did,' he pre-empted him. 'I know nice French place down by the river if you need any ideas.'
Alex shook his head. If this was what Michael was like, God forbid that Izzie should ever find out. She'd be out buying a hat the second she was off the phone.
'I'm going now. Enjoy your consult.'
'Enjoy your dinner,' he countered.