Extraordinary

Chapter 3

Meredith walked nervously through the front door of Seattle Grace Hospital for the first time in more than two decades. She walked down an unfamiliar hallway and tried to follow Richard's directions to his office. Few people looked at her as she walked by but most ignored her as it was still within visiting hours at the hospital and most assumed she was visiting a patient. She finally saw Richard updating a chart in front of what she assumed was his office and hurried her way towards him.

"Meredith" He greeted her warmly "It's so good to see you."

"Hi Richard. The hospital is looking good." And truly, Seattle Grace was an impressive hospital, with modern technology and great views of the surrounding woods. While it wasn't as big as Mass Gen, it was well established and enjoyed great rankings.

Richard looked like a proud father when his hospital was praised. "Well, let's get on with the tour, shall we." She said as he led her down another hallway. They took a brief round of the surgical floor and research labs and found themselves outside the room in which the intern mixer was about to take place.

"Do you want to pop in and meet some people?" Richard asked her as they approached the doorway.

"I might as well, if i came all this way" Said Meredith with a smile. "Plus it'll give me a chance to know my interns before they know me."

"Don't you think someone might recognise you? You have been published quite a bit." Said Richard looking faintly puzzled.

"Trust me, I've never been recognised. No one expects me to look like an intern despite knowing how old I am. It actually works out well if I go in there today I'll just blend in with the interns."

Having been sufficiently reassured, Richard led them into the room and he was immediately called over by someone to be introduced. Meredith wandered around the periphery of the room and tried to see if she knew any of the attendings there. It didn't take long for her to realise that the mixer was not going to improve from its dull state and decided she'd make a quick exit to the bar across the street where she was due to meet Stella.

She saw and listened to a few conversations that were taking place between interns at the mixer and was cornered by a guy with an Irish sounding name just as she was making her escape.

She walked fast out of the hospital and across the street to the bar. She glanced around and it didn't take her long to spot Stella, talking to a guy at a table near the bar. She headed over to Stella and reached her just as the guy left.

"Not my type." Was Stella's response to Meredith's questioning look. "Here, I got you a beer. We should start light tonight at least."

The previous night they had gone out to another bar with Stella's co-workers/friends and had gotten completely smashed. There had been a lot of tequila, dancing on tables and flirting and they were going for something different this night.

"Well I just met my coworkers who all think I'm an intern and I have to start a new job tomorrow where I am all of their boss, so I'm going to need some alcohol." Was Meredith's response just as Stella's phone rang.

She picked up her phone and exchanged a few words with whoever was on the other side as Meredith glanced around the bar. It seemed like a nice place with a more relaxed vibe and she knew she'd become a frequent visitor. She looked up just as Stella was returning the phone to her bag.

"I'm sorry I gotta go Mer. The morons at work messed up one of my case files and I need it ready by tomorrow. Have a little fun tonight for me." She said as she got up to leave . "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She yelled as she started walking away.

Meredith sighed and made her way up to the bar, now really needing a drink. She ordered tequila and asked the friendly bartender to keep them coming because she felt it was turning out to be one of those nights where she just needed to drink.

Derek was sitting on the other side of Joe's when he first saw her sit next to her friend. Dressed in a tight black dress, he could see she was younger than him but he couldn't help but stare at her. He watched as she made her way to the bar once her friend left and decided it was time to try his luck.

He approached her and ordered his drink then turned to her. "So is this a good place to hang out?" He wanted to punch himself for the lame line, but just looking at her made him lose a part of his sanity. As they headed out together to her house, he knew he wasn't the kind of guy who had one night stands but he just couldn't bring himself to stop, he couldn't get enough of her.

000

Meredith woke up the next morning and looked down at her naked body and the man lying on the floor covered with the throw from the crouch. She grabbed the throw to cover herself and picked up a cushion and threw it down at his naked butt, effectively waking him up.

He stirred with a muffled grunt and looked up, holding her bra in one hand.

"This is..." He began.

"Humiliating on so many levels." Said Meredith grabbing it from his hand. "You have to go" she added as she tried to gather her clothes.

""Why don't you come back down here and we'll pick up where we left off" He said as he slowly got up.

"No seriously, you have to go. I'm late, which isn't what you want to be on your first day of work. So..." this wasn't strictly true since she had to be in the hospital a few hours later, but she planned on visiting her mother that morning before work but he didn't need to know that.

"So.. you really live here?" He asked looking around.

"No." was her immediate response. "Yes. Kind of." She added.

"Oh, it's nice. Dusty. Odd. But it's nice" he laughed a little "So how do you kind of live here?" He added putting on his pants.

"I moved a few days ago from Boston. It was my mother's house"

"Oh I'm sorry"

"For what?" She was confused

"You said 'was'" He answered.

"Oh, my mother's not dead she-she's.. You know what? We don't have to do the thing" She said, realising she couldn't exactly explain her mother had Alzheimers to a random guy she picked up at a bar.

"We can do anything you want" He said, sending her a smirk.

"No, the thing. Exchange the details, pretend we care. Look I'm gonna go upstairs to take a shower, ok, and when I get back down here you won't be here. So, um, goodbye..." She wanted to smack herself. She wasn't even sure if she knew his name.

"Derek." He said as he extended his hand, looking a little amused.

"Derek, right, Meredith." She answered, shaking the offered hand.

"Meredith." He said as he jumped over the couch. " Nice meeting you" And he looked at her with a dreamy look on his face.

"Bye, Derek" She giggled a little as she ran upstairs to her room.

Just as Derek was almost done gathering his belongings strewn across the strange room, he heard the unmistakable sound of someone entering the house.

"Mer? You still here" He heard a female voice shout just as Meredith's friend he saw at the bar came into sight. "Oh hello." She greeted him as she saw him standing there in rumpled clothes. "I'm Stella." She extended her hand.

"Derek." He said, shaking her hand and muttering something about just leaving.

"Do you want some coffee?" She offered as she made her way into the kitchen. "Mer is usually nicer, she offers coffee at least. I'm sure you need it after last night's ...activities." She giggled as she poured some coffee into a paper cup for him. "Here you go" She said, handing him the cup.

"Thanks. I gotta go." He said as he hurriedly left, realising that he was late for work too. It was new intern day and Richard had just told him he had some announcements to make.

A/N I probably won't be taking more conversation straight from the show, but I just had to do this scene. It is way too iconic.