Ellen's POV
I enter the building of ABC studios and walk down the hall. I greet Shonda and Betsy before taking my seat.
"Thank you for coming today Ellen. Your input would be very helpful." Shonda says. I smile.
"My input on what exactly?" I ask.
"Oh i apologize. You're going to be helping us pick a Derek Shepherd. You don't mind auditioning with them do you?" she asks.
"Oh...uh, no. No I guess that'll be alright." I say unsure.
"Great! Let's get started then!" she says, calling in the first auditionee.
Patrick's POV
I enter the building, the script gripped tightly in my sweaty hand. I walk up to the receptionist and tell her my name. She gives me a number and tells me to sit down.
I sit next to a tall, dark colored man. He smiles at me and I return the smile.
"Hey. I'm Isaiah." he says, sticking his hand out.
"Patrick." I say, grabbing his hand.
"What number are you?" he asks. I hold up the lanyard.
"47."
"You're right after me. I'm 46." he says chuckling.
I nod and wipe my palms on my jeans.
"46." a lady says. Isaiah stands up from his chair and says, "Wish me luck." before walking down a hallway to the room.
I breathe in and out slowly, trying to relax. I recite the lines that I memorized in my head.
A couple minutes later, Isaiah walks back through with a confident smirk on his face.
"47." the lady says.
I stand and walk toward the door. I pause before opening the door to wipe my palms against my jeans again.
Opening the door, I am met with a dark colored woman and two white females.
"Hello. Patrick Dempsey." I say sticking my hand out. I hear the woman at the end gasp and I look up at her.
Her wavy, dirty blonde hair sits on her shoulders. Her bright smile hasn't changed but her green eyes seem to have gotten more enhancing.
"Ellen." I breathe out. She giggles and my heart skips a beat. She slowly walks around the table and stops in front of me.
"Patty." she says smiling. I pick her up and spin her around before gently setting her back down.
Ellen's POV
I look at Patrick who is standing in front of me. His glasses were traded in for contacts and his braces were removed, leaving behind beautiful straight teeth. His acne had disappeared, his jawline becoming more prominent.
His strong arms wrap around me in a hug and pick me up. He sets me back down and I look into his ocean blue eyes.
"I can't believe it's you." he says smiling. I giggle. "Well I'm glad you decided to become an actress after all."
"You two know each other?" Shonda asks.
"Yeah. We were neighbors and best friends since we were five. We lost contact when we went to college though." I tell her, not taking my eyes off of Patrick.
"Wow. How crazy that you two meet up here." Betsy says. Shonda sighs.
"Such a hopeless romantic." Shonda says to Betsy.
"Shall we begin?"
"Oh. Of course. I'm sorry." Patrick says.
"Okay. When you read this scene, really focus on each other. We want to see how much chemistry you have together because that's what will really sell this story." Shonda says. Patrick nods before turning toward me.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Nervous." he says smiling.
"Me too." I tell him.
We begin the scene, really getting into it.
"Stop looking at me like that." I tell him.
"Like what?" he says smiling.
"Like you've seen me naked!"
"That will be all we need to see. Thank you Patrick. We will contact you within the next week." Shonda says, writing something on a piece of paper.
"Goodbye El." he says. I hug him tightly.
"Bye Pat."
He releases me and walks out of the room. I stare at the door, thinking about him. He is so handsome now. I mean he was cute back then but...now he's a man. He's sexy now.
"Ellen!" I hear Betsy shout. I quickly turn to them and see them smirking at me.
"We called your name like 5 times." Shonda says. I blush and sit down.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. We want your input. We've narrowed it down to two men but before we tell you whom, we want to know if you particularly like one of them." Betsy says. I nod.
"Well, I felt very comfortable with Pat. Probably because I know him so well." I tell them, blushing. They smile and nod.
"Terrific. That's who I chose as well." Betsy says. "Shonda chose Isaiah but I'm sure we can find another role for him to play."
"So...Patrick got the part?" I ask.
"Patrick got the part." Shonda says. I smile at the news.
"That's it for the day girls. I'm tired and hungry. I'll see you on Monday for the table reading." she says. I smile and grab my purse, leaving the building.
I walk outside and see that it's dark out. I walk down the long alley way that leads to the parking garage. Halfway down the alley, a man jumps out and grabs me. I scream and he clamps a hand over my mouth, muffling the noise.
"Ellen! Be quiet. People are going to think I'm trying to rape you or something." Patrick whispers. He removes his hand from my mouth.
"What the hell Pat? You scared the shit out of me!" I say.
"Ellen Kathleen Pompeo. Did you just curse?" he asks surprised. I giggle.
"Pat, I'm 27. I think I'm okay. My daddy won't spank me for it." I tell him.
"Well I sure do hope your daddy doesn't spank you anymore." he says smirking. I smack his arm and we start walking down the alley.
His phone rings and he quickly answers it.
"Hello?" he says. I wait for a little bit and look away, trying not to listen.
"Alright honey. Yeah I'll be home soon."
Honey? He has a girlfriend?
"I don't know yet. Yeah. See you soon. Love you too. Bye." he says, hanging up the phone.
We continue to walk in silence.
"So.." I start, not knowing what to say.
"That was my wife." he says for me. Wife? He's married. I stop walking and look at him.
"Listen El, I wanted to invite you but I had no way to get a hold of you."
"No it's okay. I'm happy for you." I say to him, trying to hide my pain. I'm not sure why I'm hurt by this. Maybe just the fact that he didn't tell me about it.
"Thanks. Wanna see a picture of my daughter?" he asks excitedly. I'm stunned again.
"Uh..yeah. Okay." I manage to say.
He pulls out a picture of the most adorable little girl.
"She has your eyes." I tell him, smiling at the girl.
"Yeah. She's so cute." he says proudly. He puts it back in his wallet.
"What's that?" I ask, pulling out another crumbled up photo.
He blushes as I see it. It's the picture that we took before we went off to college. Before the big fight.
He rubs his neck and gently takes the photo back. He chuckles and blushes.
"You kept it?" I ask. He nods and puts the photo back in his wallet.
"I kept all of our photos, El. I've missed you." he says, looking at his shoes.
"Listen, Pat. I never got to apologize, for what I said. About your dyslexia. I'm really sorry." I tell him. He stops me.
"No I'm sorry. I overreacted. You were just looking out for me, I know you meant well. I actually went to apologize after but you had already left." he says.
"Yeah." I say quietly. He brushes a strand of hair behind my ear, causing me to blush.
"We should go." I tell him. He nods but neither of us move. We just stand there, staring at each other.
"Oh!" I say, scaring us both. "Hey, you got the part!"
"I did?" he asks surprised.
"Yeah! You're Derek Shepherd." I tell him. He laughs and hugs me.
"Wow! This is so great! I have to tell Jill." he says, pulling out his cell.
My cell phone rings and I answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Ellen." I hear Chris say. I can't believe I forgot about my boyfriend.
"Oh! Hi." I say. I look at Patrick and listen to his conversation.
"Hey baby! I got the part!" he says excitedly. I roll my eyes and walk farther away from him.
"When are you coming home, El?" Chris asks.
"Soon. I just ran into an old friend. But I'll be home soon."
I turn back and see Patrick listening to me, his phone in his pocket. I smile and decide to make him jealous.
"Alright. I'll see you soon then." Chris says.
"I'll see you soon, baby. I love you." I say sweetly.
"Love you too Ellen." Chris says in a bored tone.
I hang up the phone and walk back to Patrick.
"Who was that?" he asks curiously.
"My boyfriend." I say. He nods and sends me a strained smile.
"I should probably get going." I say, pointing to my car. He nods.
"I'll walk you to your car." he says. He follows me as I lead him to my car. He opens the door for me and watches me sit and buckle myself in.
"Goodnight, Ellie." he says. I smile at him.
"Goodnight, Patty." He leans down and kisses my cheek before closing the door and walking to his car.
