Under the Night Sky

Chapter 10: Seeing Stars

Meredith Grey managed to baffle him one more time. She was a spitfire, that he knew since he met her. She was gorgeous with the mischievous spark in her eyes, sun reflecting in her blonde hair, her throaty giggle. She was a caring doctor for people and other living creatures alike. And she had the incredible talent of being able to avoid you while being stuck in the same relatively small building for nine hours.

He arrived at the practice when the clock was almost chiming nine a.m. Izzie Stevens greeted him with the usual smile and an offer to make him a cup of coffee on which he wholeheartedly agreed. He was suffering from caffeine withdrawal. Soon Meredith floated downstairs with a quick good morning and disappeared into her office before the nurse could even give her the schedule for the day.

That was basically all he saw of her today. True, it was a rather busy day due to the fact that it was beginning of the week but hell, it wasn't the surgical wing of New York Pres! Even back home with back to back surgeries he managed to find time to drink a coffee with Mark or chat up the nurses.

Only Meredith could make the practice in a town of about two hundred inhabitants look bustling with patients. She did it on purpose, no doubt. He was sure his little speech the previous day was the underlying cause. What surprised him was that she avoided confrontation at all costs. Why couldn't she voice that she didn't want to have to do anything with him like she did so far? Maybe she didn't trust herself around him? He pondered hopefully as he waited in his office, careful not to make any noise.

He needed her to think he had gone home already so she could come out of the safe haven of her loft. He chuckled, it was like waiting for a scared kitten to peek out from under the bed. Only he knew that the blond kitten upstairs could scratch him to death.

It was after six p.m. when he heard her footsteps on the stairs. He waited until he knew she was in the lobby and came out of the office opening the door impetuously. He intended to startle her, to outsmart her with a witty line but instead, he was instantly as flabbergasted with her looks as she was with his unexpected appearance.

They stopped abruptly in their tracks, staring at each other. Derek swallowed mechanically trying to moisten his parched throat as his eyes became glued to her form. Good God... She looked like a goddess. She was wearing a black knee-length dress with a most enticing neckline, her figure accentuated by the high heels on her feet. Her usually messy hair were smoothly clasped at the back of her head allowing him to admire the perfect contours of her face and neck. He reached to loosen his collar a bit, he needed to remember how to breathe.

She was clearly not excepting him to still linger at the practice this late. Damn, she thought he was gone! She was doing so well avoiding him all day and now... Crap, she paraded in front of him in one of the few clothes she had taken from New York. She liked this dress and it bore no memories of Mitch.

"What are you doing here?" she asked clearing her throat, her hands toying with her purse.

"Working... I was coming... I mean, going... home...." he stammered. The devil of a woman always managed to render him bumbling like an idiot...

"Work finished at five..." she remarked nervously.

"I was hoping for a patient to come late," he tried to collect himself. "I... don't have anyone else to talk to really..."

"Oh..." she said simply.

No invitation to hang out, not a simple offer to talk. What did he expect?

"Unless you count Bert but he's in the doghouse since Saturday..." he almost bit his tongue off at his lame joke. Even the mention of his lice adventure didn't soften her heart.