All I Want Is This

14

The small couch from Meredith's living room proved to be very uncomfortable and painful for Mark's big stature. He started groaning and shifting from one side to another as his body became numb. Opening his eyes in exasperation for the rough place he was laying on, Mark suddenly jumped upright in his sit confused. He looked around the unfamiliar room, which was now sunken in a bright bath of light. Rubbing his eyes frustrated and exhausted, Mark tried to remember where was he and how did he get there. Beside him, on the couch's arm, a remote control was holding underneath a piece of paper.

"Don't freak out, you are at Meredith's Grey place. We tried to wake you but we couldn't find a fanfare. I took Alicia to kindergarten. I'll leave you a spare key. You already know where the kitchen and coffee are. Lock the door when you leave and return the key when you can.

-Meredith."

Reading Meredith's note, everything started come back to his mind. Mark put the paper down and looked again around him. He was indeed in Meredith's house. He threw away the blanket that had kept him warm and stood up. Meredith said in her note that he knew where the kitchen was. Mark took a moment to think about it and remembered.

Walking in kitchen, Mark found the room in the same bright light of the sun as the living room. "Coffee." He muttered slowly processing everything that he needed to do and where he could find things in her kitchen. The dirty mug of coffee from counter, beside the coffee machine, disquieted him. The fresh memory of him and Meredith beside that counter mesmerized him. He fixed a spot on floor in his sight and his stare became blank as if Meredith was there with him again. "I need to get out of here." He snapped back to reality shaking his head to banish the thoughts that were running through his mind. It was frustrating to him for not knowing the reason for his obsession. He had seen better... he had had better. As far as he knew, he could not allow that obsession to develop.

It was late in the morning when Mark left Meredith's house and headed to his. The rest of the morning and during the noon, Mark called some people to come help him with Alicia's room. By the afternoon, her room was clean and ready to welcome its dweller.

Mark knew that this was one of the days when Alicia had her dance lessons in the afternoon so, he didn't hurry when he left to pick her up from school. He kept his mind busy from Meredith with thoughts about Alicia; her reaction to the new look of her room, news that she would like to share with him about her day, plans he was making for his evening with his daughter. A dinner to restaurant, one of Alicia's Disney DVDs and a bedtime story seemed like a good pleasant time for Mark.

As he was driving thoughtful on the highway, Mark realized that the road he had taken wasn't familiar. He had been to Alicia's new kindergarten only one time; on her first day and he was the one that had driven her there... guided by Meredith. He pulled the car on the side of the road and hit his fist against the steering wheel. "Damn!" He muttered nervous. "She said north." Mark tried to remember Meredith's instructions. He looked up at the indicator signs "Lynnwood. That's west, I think."

The traffic was crowded, so Mark couldn't turn the car to go back and head to the right direction. He had to make a detour until he reached to a square and turned the car driving back.

After nearly 45 minutes, Mark entered the parking lot. Since that seemed to be a very bad day for him, Mark also found the parking lot very crowded. Wandering around it, he finally found an available spot. Nervous, he got outside in rain, shut the door and locked it. Being so nervous, he wasn't even bothered anymore that the rain was drenching him and walked at his normal pace.

Stepping inside the building, he shook the excess of rain off his hair and jacket and after a shiver started focusing on his next stop. "How was the name?" He muttered confused trying to remember the location and the name of Alicia's class.