DISCLAIMER: Grey's Anatomy and associated characters are the property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC. The story is my own.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
FEEDBACK: To medicone064[at]hotmail.co.uk
Time to Depart
By Medic One
Meredith Grey: As doctors we are obsessed with times and timing. As students we obsess over times of classes and deadlines for handing in papers. As interns we obsess over the times of rounds and the ridiculous number of hours we are on-call. And always as doctors we are obsessed with the patient's timings: When did this start? How long have you had it? How long have they been unconscious? And finally, inevitably: How long since the heart stopped?
Inevitably, it was raining. No major life event ever happens in Seattle unaccompanied by the sound of falling rain.
Meredith lay in the big bed, her back to Derek, as was his to her. Although the space between them was only 18 inches, it might as well have been 18 miles. Meredith was staring out the window at the moonlit rain and holding a folded-up pink Post-It note in her hand.
She checked her watch for the hundredth time: it was 1:15am. Only 45 minutes to go!
She let her mind drift back to that first meeting:
They were just about to leave Seattle Grace one dark and rainy night when a tall, slim woman stopped and turned to look at them. Derek had picked up his bag as they turned to exit but stopped as he saw her. She was a stunningly gorgeous redhead dressed in black from head to toe with a snarly expression on her face as she swaggered directly over to them. Derek turned to Meredith. "Meredith, I am so sorry."
The redhead stepped up and swung her hip into her hand like it was a gun and her hand the holster. "Addison," said Derek with a hint of animosity. "What are you doing here?" "Well, you'd know," she sneered, "if you'd bothered to return any one of my phone calls." She turned to Meredith.
"Hi. I'm Addison Shepherd." She held out her hand and Meredith took it. "Shepherd?" was all she could manage. Addison released her hand and pointed a finger at Meredith's chest. "And you must be the woman who's been screwing my husband." But even as she spoke the words her eyes had softened and swept over Meredith's body in a single all-encompassing glance.
Recalling Addison's voice and eyes (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) triggered another flood of memories...
She checked her watch: it was 1:20am. Only 40 minutes to go! The rain continued to wash the window.
She had been placed on Addison's service and within 2 weeks had the chance to watch as the surgeon separated co-joined twins. The surgery was a high risk, highly delicate procedure but Addison's long, strong lean fingers didn't miss a beat, manipulating her instruments with precision and confidence. Watching from the scrub room Meredith could feel the heat rising in her body as she wondered what those long fingers would feel like touching her, caressing her, controlling her…
As the surgery finished Addison looked up at Meredith over her mask with her eyes slightly hooded (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) and gave a quick wink. Meredith felt her knees go weak.
Later Meredith hung on the fringes of the crowd waiting to congratulate Addison as she came out of the locker room. She had changed into a red pencil skirted Armani shirtwaister with a viciously tight shiny black leather belt which emphasised her glorious figure. She smiled and shook hands as she accepted the plaudits of her colleagues and they gradually drifted away until finally the two of them stood alone. In her shiny black Christian Louboutin's with a 5" spiked heel she towered head and shoulders above Meredith.
"Dr Grey, could I have a word, please?" she gestured towards a stock room.
Once inside Addison locked the door and turned to Meredith with a gentle smile.
"Hard core surgery gets one so…hot, doesn't it?"
"Oh yes," agreed Meredith "It's a rush, like riding a roller coaster."
"Exactly, just so, so exciting…" Addison advanced on Meredith who backed up until she was hard against the wall. She leaned in, placing a hand on the wall by Meredith's head.
Her eyes were hooded (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) and as she moved ever closer her perfect lips, richly coated with a wet dark bronze lip color, parted and her top lip extended out almost as if it had a life of it's own (the lips, oh dear lord, those lips!). Her face was a scant 2" away from Meredith's and her breathing was slow and deep through her finely shaped nose, like a horse whisperer taming a young filly. She smelt strongly of Guerlain's Shalimar and the combination of strong scent and close proximity was making Meredith's knees go weak. Meredith gazed up longingly into her eyes, feeling as though she was sinking ever deeper into the beautiful smoky grey orbs. For a long 30 seconds Addison held her gaze and then she moved her head slightly to one side and leaned even closer. Meredith could feel Addison's soft, scented cheek gently touching hers and feel her warm breath in her ear. Her heat rose and her pulse pounded in her ears.
"You are so sweet; a sweet, sweet darling." Addison whispered, her voice husky with desire. "The very first time I saw you I knew; I knew why Derek wanted you and I knew I wanted you. Right then in that moment I wanted you not just to take you away from Derek, to hurt him, which I knew I could, but for myself. In the end it didn't matter whether you were with him or not, I wanted you anyway. You're an exquisite little darling, so delicate and fragile like a butterfly that will break if I squeeze too hard."
Meredith swallowed; she wanted to speak but seemed to have lost her voice. Finally she whispered back: "I…I… think I knew too, even then. I went home; went to bed; all I could think about was you, about your eyes as you looked at me, (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) about your lips saying my name (the lips, oh dear lord, those lips!); even then I wondered what it would be like to feel your lips on mine."
"Seriously?" Addison breathed.
"Seriously!"
Addison moved her head back until she was face to face with Meredith. She gently let her lips brush Meredith's in a tentative kiss as Meredith sighed and moved ever so slightly to increase the pressure, opening her mouth as she did so. Addison took Meredith in her arms and plunged her tongue deep into Meredith's mouth. Like her fingers it was long, strong and capable and Meredith felt Addison could have performed surgery with her tongue if she put her mind to it.
Almost simultaneously both women gave a gentle moan of longing and desire; in a furiously passionate embrace their mouths pressed tightly together with an all-consuming hunger as their tongues vigorously explored each others mouths and their hips began to grind. Addison washed Meredith's teeth with her tongue, sweeping it from left to right between her top lip and teeth then back again.
Suddenly Meredith's pager sounded its shrill summons and they broke apart with a start. Meredith was breathing heavily and flushed, while Addison seemed perfectly cool. Meredith checked her page and pulled a face.
"Guess who?"
"Not…?"
"Yes…Derek, with his usual crappy timing. I'd better go. Kiss me." Addison obliged with a quick parting buss then said "Wait, sweet baby, you're all over Lancôme, let me wipe you off." A swift application of tissue and the incriminating evidence was removed.
Meredith dimpled "I like that."
"What?"
"When you call me 'Sweet baby'!" and she was gone...
She checked her watch: 1:25am. Only 35 minutes to go!
Silver Cloud Hotel, I-90 Eastgate, WA
The room was in warm semi-darkness, the drapes drawn against the late afternoon sun setting across Seattle. Two figures lay spooned against each other, naked under the bedcovers, the taller one with her arms wrapped around her smaller companion.
"I love you." A half-asleep voice murmured.
"Well that's hardly news by now is it, eh? And the events of the last half hour, sweet baby, certainly hinted at it." She chuckled. "But what prompted that delightful if unexpected declaration?"
"I just felt I wanted to say it out loud, make it real." Meredith yawned and turned in Addison's arms to face her. With the tip of one index finger she traced down the fine patrician line of Addison's nose, around her perfect lips (the lips, oh dear lord, those lips!) and back and fore along the firm skin on her jaw line. Meredith kissed the tip of her finger and planted it gently on each of Addison's eyelids. (The eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) "I'm so warm and comfy; it seemed the right time to say it. Am I really your 'sweet baby'?"
"Yes; you are my darling sweet, sweet baby whom I love very much."
"Mmmmm. That's nice." She gazed adoringly up into her lover's eyes. "I love you too, more than anyone I've ever met. I hate it when we're apart and can't wait until I see you again. All I think about is you. I love you with all my heart and soul. You are breathtakingly lovely and just being with you makes my head swim. I'd do anything for you, anything you asked: I'd kill for you; I'd die for you. I just wish we could be together all the time." Her eyes filled with tears and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"We will one day sweet baby, I promise. You are my everything and I want us to be together too. I'll love you and take care of you and never let anything bad ever happen to you. I promise I'll work to make it happen. But until I can we have to just carry on being discreet."
"I know I know," the voice was getting sleepy again, "It's just such a…." yawn "bore…"
She checked her watch: 1:30 am. Only 30 minutes to go!
A week later Addison had sat next to her in the canteen.
"Hello, my sweet baby."
"Hi, how's things?"
"Things, as you call them, would be a whole lot better if I was doing them with my baby instead of fighting off an overgrown frat boy who thinks he's Gods gift!"
Meredith smiled, she had heard the rumors about Addison and Mark which she knew were wildly exaggerated, Addison having described her apparent relationship with Mark as "protective camouflage".
"Will you do something for me, sweet baby?"
"What is it?"
"I want you to…" and Addison leaned to whisper her demand in Meredith's ear. Meredith giggled "I can't; I couldn't; could I? Seriously?"
"Seriously. I do it; it'll be such fun if my baby does it too."
"Well, I guess…" Meredith left the sentence hanging as Christina and Lexie approached the table and Addison excused herself with a quick whispered "bye, sweet baby. Love you."
As Meredith half-listened to whatever inane drivel was spewing forth from Lexie's mouth she flicked a look at the door as Addison was leaving and was rewarded by Addison's quick glance back at her and a flash of a smile, there and gone before anyone would have noticed.
Later that same day she watched as Addison left the surgeons locker room. Slipping in through the door Meredith went straight to the dirty linens bin and recovered the scrub top Addison had just deposited there. Scrunching it up in her hands she buried her face in it and inhaled deeply, revelling in the scent of Addison's body: a heady mixture of fresh perspiration, soap and Shalimar. She thrust the top into a plastic bin liner and slipped away from the locker room. That night she secreted the top under her pillow and slept with one hand tucked up into it.
She checked her watch: 1:35am. Only 25 minutes to go!
Several days later Addison found Meredith in the ER.
"Dr Grey, could you come with me to Trauma 2 please?"
Once inside they fell into each others arms in a passionate kiss.
"Well sweetie, did you do it?"
Meredith stepped back and slowly raised the shirt of her scrubs to reveal a ¼ cup black lace bra which left her nipples exposed and pushed her scrub pants down, exposing her nude lower half, depilated to perfect smoothness. She smiled.
"Ohhhhhh that's my sweet baby," praised Addison, "Has anyone seen?"
"No I wear normal underwear to work, change into my scrubs in the locker room then discard paper panties in the bathroom."
"Mmm my clever, clever baby!" Addison opened her white coat to reveal she was nude beneath it. Dropping the coat to the floor she glided towards Meredith who let her pants drop to the floor and lifted her arms for Addison to pull her top over her head. Completely naked they desperately fell into each others arms, revelling in the feel of each others warm skin. The heat from Addison's belly radiated against Meredith's. The touch of Addison's nipples against her own felt like an electric shock. Addison's lips (the lips, oh dear lord, those lips!) moved down, she traced the line of Meredith's collarbone with her tongue, out and back then moved down to a nipple and sucked furiously sending waves of heat across Meredith's body. Meredith felt hot sweat start to break out all over, her breathing quickened and became ragged and her eyes glazed over as she revelled in the hot pressure of Addison's naked flesh against hers. Addison knelt down, slowly trailing her tongue across her lover's body as she did so and took a long slow look at Meredith's freshly denuded private parts. With a look of extreme relish she leaned in and buried her face into Meredith's belly, her wonderful tongue smoothly sliding deep against Meredith's clitoris, flicking gently until Meredith was biting her lip to keep from crying out in ecstasy and desperately supporting herself against the table.
Recalling that day Meredith pulled an edge of the purloined scrub top out from under pillow and held it to her face. It still retained a lingering hint of Addison's scent. Her free hand crept down inside the waistband of her pj's and her two middle fingers found her clitoris. Slowly at first then faster she rubbed at the tender spot, her breath coming faster and her skin heating up again as, with eyes closed, she relived Addison kneeling in front of her nude body and leaning in with her eyes half closed (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) and her mouth moving with tantalising slowness towards Meredith's naked labia, her lip extending as if filled with its own desire for Meredith's body. (The lips, oh dear lord, those lips!). Swiftly she brought herself to a shattering orgasm, biting down hard on the scrub top in an effort to stay silent.
"Nnnnnnng! Ahhhhhh!"
To both her relief and chagrin Derek never stirred…
She checked her watch: 1:40am. Only 20 minutes to go!
Late one night a luxury convertible car parked on a picnic point overlooking Puget Sound. Through the steamed up windows a hypothetical observer could have seen two figures moving in unison, heard their cries and seen the car rocking with their movement.
1:45am. Only 15 minutes to go!
Then there had been what Meredith would always think of as 'The Night of the Page'. After a hard Friday in the ER with the prospect of a free weekend ahead Meredith had finally gone home to find the house in chaos; full of her roommates, all in either the kitchen or living area talking non stop about whatever trivial concern was bothering them this time. She went looking for Derek in their room only to find him with his laptop open; the moment she entered he began a description of some new procedure he was researching. Meredith just grabbed a fresh bath towel and tried to go for a shower only to find slut-ho Lexie in there with whatever male nurse she had brought home tonight. Ignoring an offer to join them in the shower she despairingly went down to the crowded kitchen to try and make a PBJ sandwich, only for her Blackberry to page her 9-11 back to the hospital. Feeling actually relieved at an excuse to get out of the house she shoved her bare feet into a pair of Nikes, grabbed her coat and ran to her car.
She had only gone half a mile down the road when her Blackberry buzzed again.
"Oh no." she groaned, thinking the page had been cancelled. But her disappointment turned to excited pleasure after she pulled the car over and she read:
"Hello sweet baby. Ignore that page, it was me. Come to Suite 2036 Renaissance Marriott, Madison St. ASAP. LUV U XOXOX"
With a big grin on her face Meredith slipped the car into gear and turned towards downtown Seattle.
She rode the elevator up to the 20th floor with her heart beating a loud tattoo in her chest and almost ran down the corridor to room 2036. Outside she paused and ran her fingers through her hair before knocking.
The door opened and Meredith's jaw dropped at the gorgeous sight that confronted her: Addison stood posed just inside the room wearing a skin tight strapless black satin knee length pencil skirted dress with a little black veiled pillbox hat and shiny black pumps with a 6" heel that looked like a steel spike. Her hair had been brushed until it shone like burnished copper. Her eyes (the eyes, oh dear lord, those eyes!) were heavily mascara'd and lined with black eyeliner.
'Ah HA!' she exclaimed her dark red lips (the lips, oh dear lord, those lips!) twisting in her impeccably made up face. 'I am zee Black Widow and zee leetel baby has walked rrright into my Web of lust and enchantement!' she continued in a fake French accent.
Meredith was suddenly conscious of her bare feet in dirty sneakers, her ragged jeans and scruffy, grubby parka. She gulped twice then her face crumpled and she burst into tears. Addison quickly moved to take Meredith in her arms and once again a wave of industrial strength Shalimar scent filled Meredith's nostrils as Addison drew her into the room and shut the door.
"Oh sweet baby, whatever's the matter?" she asked, abandoning the fake accent.
"You're so…so beautiful and elegant." Meredith snivelled, her nose starting to run. "And I'm so scruffy, I'm all sweaty and dirty and I haven't changed and I've got no socks on and my jeans are torn… and… and I haven't had any dinner and I want a bath and…and…" as the tears started again she wiped her nose on the sleeve of her parka.
"Awww that's alright, my baby, at least you're here! I've been waiting here for my spy to tell me you'd gone home!"
Meredith gasped. "You have people watching me?"
"Not all the time, sweet one, just today I wanted us to have a special couple of nights so I asked a nurse I know to text me when you left for home. We're going to think of excuses to stay here until Monday morning."
She took Meredith's coat and tossed it into the closet. "I'll run you a lovely hot bath with all the expensive oils this hotel provides and order up room service. By the time I've washed your back and wrapped you up in a great big fluffy white robe our dinner will be here for us. Now let's get you undressed", she smiled wickedly, "you know that's my second favorite thing to do with you!"
An hour later the two women, bathed, fed and warm in giant oversized fluffy robes sprawled on the King size bed. Meredith tucked up against Addison's shoulder as they lay peacefully enjoying a box of chocolates. The lights were dimmed and music played quietly in the background.
"We can't go on like this, sweet baby," started Addison. Meredith sat up with a start, spilling the chocolates and tears welling up in her eyes again.
"You're dumping me!" she wailed.
"No, no, no! I'm not, stop crying silly baby. I didn't mean to scare you. I love you." And Addison kissed her adoringly, causing her to melt into her shoulder again. "You are an insecure little thing, aren't you?"
"Well so would you be: a drunkard of a father who left you and your mother for another woman; a mother whose idea of day-care was to dump me in the paed's ward in my pj's while she spent the day with the her own lover or the patients she found far more interesting than a child who was an inconvenient reminder of her cheating husband. I love you too you know, so don't scare me. What did you mean then?"
"I still want us to be together properly, not just sneaking around with stolen moments. Don't you?"
"Yes, of course, but it would be impossible. Our personal lives are all tangled up with the hospital, there's no way we could live together here without it causing huge problems."
"I know and that's why I wanted to put an idea to you." Addison got up and moved to the mini-bar. She started to pace the room with her drink. "I have an old friend in LA who runs a health clinic near the beach, there's a big hospital nearby. She's invited me down to see it and I think she's going to offer me a job. If I can also get privileges or a post at the hospital that would suit me and we could move down there to be together." She looked hesitantly at Meredith over the rim of her glass as she sipped her drink. "What do you think?"
Meredith sat up, pushed the chocolate box away. "You really want me to come with you?"
"Yes of course. I would never have mentioned it if I didn't."
"And we'll live together as a couple? I love you but that means I won't be introduced to people just as your 'roommate' " Addison finished her drink in one large swig, put the glass down and glided elegantly over to the side of the bed, the white robe rustling on the floor as she did so. She knelt down and took Meredith's hands in hers. They were both shaking.
"Dear Doctor Meredith Grey, my sweet little baby, my fragile butterfly, will you marry me? Come and live openly with me in LA as my wife?"
"Seriously?" Meredith smiled as she said it.
"Seriously!"
Meredith's eyes filled and she had to try twice to speak. "Then yes! Yes, oh yes!" Addison flung herself into Meredith's arms and they rolled onto the bed, kissing passionately.
Some time later Addison sat up and examined the box of chocolates. "Hey! Where did all the strawberry creams go?"
Meredith gave a wicked smile and leaning back seductively against the pillow she opened her legs, letting the robe fall away each side.
"Huh?…Oh…OH!"
1:45am. Only 15 minutes to go!
So Addison had left for LA. Meredith had promptly been beset with doubts and fears: would Addison still want her when she came back? Would she even come back? Maybe she'd meet some elegant botox'd LA babe who suited her better than Meredith? She spent the better part of two weeks in an agony of mood swings between blackest despair, green eyed jealousy (over the hypothetical LA babe) and foul temper which she took out on everyone around her, so much so that both Derek and Christina started to avoid her except when absolutely necessary for work. In despair she finally sent a text: "I want you, I need you, I love you and I miss you like crazy." Her agitation lessened when the reply came back within an hour: "Oh me too sweet baby, me too!"
Finally she had been walking towards the OR when she saw Addison coming towards her, surrounded by a gaggle of OR staff, nurses and interns. Meredith's heart started to pound as her doubts re-surfaced. How would Addison greet her? Taking the bull by the horns Meredith walked straight up to her.
"Doctor Montgomery, welcome back, how was LA?" She asked, as casually as she could manage. Addison smiled at her and reached out to shake her hand.
"LA was fine Dr Grey, everything I expected it to be." She gave Meredith a quick wink and walked on, already lost in conversation with her entourage.
Meredith stood stock still in the corridor and glanced down at the piece of paper Addison had slipped into her hand: it was a pink Post-It note, folded in half. When she read it her heart leaped with joy and she spent the rest of the day with a silly grin on her face, nothing could upset her now.
1:50am. Only 10 minutes to go! She unfolded the pink Post-It in her hand and read it for the thousandth time: 'I got the job sweet baby! Our life together begins soon! XXX'
Two days later she was at the hospital when Dr Bailey approached her with a folder of files in her hand.
"Dr Grey, I have an errand for you." Meredith's heart sank; she hadn't seen Addison in private since her return from LA and had been hoping to find her today.
Hiding a sigh she reached out for the files
"Where and when, Dr Bailey?"
"Right now. You're to take a taxi to Dr Montgomery's apartment; she's going to operate tomorrow and wanted you and these files today to study."
"Me?" asked Meredith, stupidly.
"Yes, you Dr Grey, you are going to assist her operate so she wants you to go over the files with her. She said not to waste time changing out of your scrubs but to grab a cab and get over there straight away.
It was a rare hot summer's day in Seattle, with clear blue skies and heat shimmering on the roadway. The cab driver was a voluptuous Latina J-Lo look-alike with a mass of dark wavy hair piled up loosely on her head. From the rear seat Meredith could see a trickle of sweat making its way down the side of her neck onto her bare shoulders and she had a sudden urge to lean forward and lick it off the dark beauty's skin.
When they arrived at Addison's house, a small short term rental she had moved to from her hotel, Meredith asked "How much?" but the cabbie turned to fix her with a pair of dark eyes and said "It's on the hospital account." She reached back with a card. "If you ever want a safe cab ride chica, just call my cell" with a wink as her fingers lingered on Meredith's hand a fraction longer than required.
Getting out the cab Meredith thought "What, am I suddenly a lezzie magnet now?" She buzzed the intercom at the front door and Addison's voice crackled "Is that you?"
"Yes, 'tis I!" Meredith replied dramatically and heard her lover's chuckle. The door clicked.
"I'm out back sweet baby, come straight through. Leave the files on the table." Meredith pushed her way in and heard the door lock behind her. Leaving her purse and the files on the table she stepped through the double doors into the blazing sun on the deck. For a moment she was blinded by the light and couldn't see Addison, until she slowly raised herself up from her sun lounger.
Meredith's jaw dropped: Addison stood poised, hands on hips, completely nude except for black court shoes with a 2" platform and 7" heels, her eyes hidden by large aviator sunglasses with mirror lenses. Her hair was scraped back into a tight bun and her statuesque body, bronzed all over, shone with oil on every curve, plane, line and fold. In the high summer sun Addison looked like a magnificent robot built out of polished brass and copper. Without speaking and her face impassive behind the shades she stalked towards Meredith, high stepping like a show pony. Transfixed with awe and lust Meredith simply stood and stared. Finally the robot halted.
"Come here sweet baby." She pushed the sunglasses up onto her head and held out her arms for Meredith to run to her, kicking off her white clogs as she did so. She almost fell into Addison's arms and clung tightly to her, burying her face between her lovers magnificent breasts, inhaling the heady aroma mix of Shalimar, cocoa oil and sweat that washed over her. Sobbing with the release of all the tensions of the past days she twisted and turned her head, loving the sensation as the oils and sweat coated her face, opening her mouth and letting her tongue hang out to slide across the smooth slickness of Addison's body, even turning her head to lap like a cat at the smooth skin of Addison's armpits, tasting every possible flavor she could find on her beloved's body.
"I love you," she gasped as tears ran unchecked down her face, "Oh I do so love you, love you, love you. Missed you so very, very much."
Tenderly Addison bent and planted a gentle kiss on the top of Meredith's head. "I missed you too, my sweet love."
Meredith tilted her head back to gaze into her lovers face. Addison bent down to bring their mouths together. Even Addison's kiss tasted of the sun oil and Meredith revelled in the novel taste mixed with her loved one's saliva. Addison thrust her long tongue deep into Meredith's mouth and she sucked on it hungrily, trying her best to pull it further from Addison's mouth into her own.
She bent her head and her mouth sought a nipple; she chewed and nibbled furiously to hear Addison groan with pleasure. Even as they embraced Meredith was pushing down her scrub pants to let them fall and Addison broke away just long enough to yank up her top. Now both nude they clamped together again, Meredith's body fitting to the curves and hollows of Addison's, a yin to her yang. They kissed again, Addison snacking hungrily on her sweet baby's mouth; a flavor of the two of them mixed into one heady cocktail more potent than any alcohol.
They turned and with Addison's arm around Meredith's shoulder they moved to a luxurious wicker based daybed in the shade of the house and sank into the big soft cushions. A long time passed with no more words spoken as they attempted to relieve the hunger the forced separation had created. Tongues and hands explored beloved mouths and flesh. Finally they came up for air, leaned back and gazed into each others eyes. Meredith's hair was mussed, her cheeks flushed and hot, her breathing heavy. Addison pulled her over to sit curled up in her lap, snuggled up to her lover's shoulder. Their bodies were slippery with sunoil and sweat in the afternoon heat. Meredith giggled, she suddenly had an absurd impulse to suck her thumb. Instead she settled for gently cradling Addison's right breast in her hand.
"Don't ever leave me alone again!!" she pleaded.
"I love you too you know; I missed you terribly while I was away. I promise, once we're in LA we'll never spend more than a night apart and then only for work. If I have to go far away to New York or London or somewhere, I'll take you with me, wherever I go."
"So we're definitely going?"
"Yes, one month from now. Does that work for you?"
"Yes, of course. I never doubted you'd get the job, so I've already spoken to my lawyer about the house and stuff. I have my exit strategy all in place."
"Exit strategy?" Addison laughed, "You've been watching to much spy tv!"
"Mmmmmmmm," Meredith stroked Addison's hair gently, brushed a stray curl back behind her ear. "I had to do something while you were away, I mean now I'm a lesbian there's all those yummy nurses at work to lust after…"
"Hmmmmmm, yes, well let me see if I can't convince you that surgeons are better than nurses…"
Addison slid around and sank to her knees on the soft outdoor carpet which covered the deck and kissed the smooth folds of skin between Meredith's legs. She thrust her tongue deep inside and sucked at the same time. As she did so she felt her lovers thighs settle on her shoulders and clamp her into position. It didn't take long under her enthusiastic ministrations to bring the already aroused Meredith to a mind-blowing orgasm and she was clamped firmly into Meredith's body by her legs.
1:55 am. Five minutes to go!
Her Blackberry buzzed silently in the pocket of her pj's. 2am. Time!
Meredith slid quietly out of the bed, taking Addison's scrub top as she went, and made her way downstairs. In the hallway she reached into the closet under the stairs and pulled out the backpack and clothes she had secreted there days earlier. She pushed the scrub top down into the pack. She pulled on jeans, her old green Dartmouth sweatshirt and a black body warmer with an attached hood; some worn out sneakers. In her pack were a few toiletry items, her mother's journals, some personal papers and photos; she took one last look around but there was nothing else here she wished to take with her. She was starting a new life; she wanted nothing from the old.
In the kitchen she left 3 post-it notes stuck to Derek's briefcase: 'I DIVORCE YOU' in black Magic Marker three times. 'Get married by stupid Post-It, get divorced by stupid Post-It' she thought grimly. Her letter of resignation from Seattle Grace would land on Chief Webber's desk Monday morning.
She was going to be with the one she loved, someone she loved like she had never loved anyone before. Oh, Meredith had loved before, well if not wisely. She had thought she loved Derek but had come to realise what an infantile, freshman crush that had been and love had soon turned to contempt. Nothing she had ever experienced could compare to the breathtaking, overwhelming, passionate, heart pounding love she felt for Addison; filled with the need to see her every day, to lay in her arms at night and hear her voice call her name in ecstasy.
She did not intend leaving any notes for the others. They would get the message soon enough when her lawyer's letter to each one of them arrived on Monday giving them one week to vacate the house.
She hated them, she hated them all: Derek and Christina were just career obsessed robots who cared nothing for anyone but how to get published, win awards and reach ever higher levels of surgical ability, no matter who they hurt doing so; Lexie was a slut and a vacuous little memory box with no talent trying to make it to the top by having thousands of facts in her dim bulb of a brain she didn't know how to use, pathetically trying to claim some sort of sisterhood with Meredith because their drunkard of a father had managed get it up enough times to impregnate two different women; Mark and Alex were a couple of self-centred, pretty frat boys who were so up themselves they thought every woman wanted them while Izzie and George were couple of whiny cry-babies who had run away as soon as things got tough.
Well let them all find out how they could cope with nowhere to live. She had left explicit instructions with her lawyer: in two weeks time the bulldozers would move in to level the house to the ground and he would sell the land for her, estimated value $2.5 million. The money would go towards her new life as Addison's wife in LA.
2:05 am – Time to Depart!
She put her arms through the straps of the backpack and without a backward glance stepped out of the house into the driving rain, pulling up her hood as she did so. She jogged down the drive onto the street and turned towards the city. Half a mile down the road she saw the luxury convertible parked on the berm in the shadows the headlights flicked briefly. She ran to the passenger door and got in, throwing her pack onto the pile of expensive suitcases on the back seat.
"Sweet Baby!" Addison took her in her arms and they kissed passionately, longingly. She looked at Meredith. "No doubts, my love?"
"None at all. No doubts, no regrets, no tears goodbye…"
"OK, let's get this show on the road! Eleven hundred miles south a new life awaits! Woohoo!" She slipped the car into gear and roared off down the road.
Meredith Grey-Montgomery: As well as obsessing over the times affecting our patients, it is equally important to get the times right in our own lives: when is it right time to leave an old life behind? When is it the right time of life to commit to a new love? And when is the right time to ask an important question so it is not too late to take action if the answer is not what we expected?
A hundred miles south of Seattle as dawn was breaking they stopped for breakfast and a nap, snuggled in each others arms on the back seat. Back on the road Addison yawned.
"We've another 1000 miles to go yet. Lets push on a few hours then we'll stop somewhere nice for the night."
Meredith turned in her seat to watch her lovers face as she concentrated on the road ahead.
"I'll be the best, you know."
"The best what, sweet baby?"
"The best surgeon on your team when we start work at the hospital of course." Then came the shock:
"Surgeon?" snorted Addison "No wife of mine goes out to work!"
The End