38. Gala
Disclaimer: I wish, but no, it's not mine.
Thanks for the reviews. I really appreciate them.
Three weeks to go. Three weeks until they were husband and wife. It was amazing and crazy all at the same time. Ninety percent of the wedding preparation was done. Just the little details remained. This morning, Meredith was mentally going over the numbers in her mind when she realized they would be uneven at the tables.
She met Derek outside the OR after his surgery with a panicked look in her eye.
"What's wrong?", he asked worriedly, leading her into a quiet hallway.
"It's uneven", she said quickly. "I was going over the seating in my head when I realized we need one more or else it's going to look stupid. And then I thought about Addison. Is she bringing a date? I don't mind if she does. We just have to add to the food orders and add an extra chair to the table."
Derek breathed a sigh of relief. "God, you scared me", he chuckled softly.
"Don't laugh", she scolded. "This is serious."
"Addison isn't bringing anyone. When I called her last week to tell her she could stay at the house, I asked her. She said she's not bringing anyone", Derek explained.
"Okay, well then, we still need someone else", she said, running her fingers through her hair.
Derek thought for a moment. "How about Adele?", he suggested. "I'm sure she'd love to come."
"Crap. How could we not have invited her in the first place. She probably thinks I'm a bitch", Meredith pouted, banging the back of her head against the wall.
"I doubt she thinks that", Derek assured her. "I'll go in and ask Richard later on. Right now, I have to head on over to post-op."
"Okay", Meredith breathed, standing on her tiptoes and kissing him.
Derek wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek. "Crisis averted."
"Hmm…I love you", she whispered.
"I love you too", he replied softly as they pulled back from their embrace.
"I'm all flustered. I need to unwind at lunch. On-call room, okay?", she asked, smiling slightly.
Derek grinned. "I'll be there."
"Okay. Bye", she said, squeezing his hand gently before heading off down the hall to resume her day at work.
--
As it turns out, Meredith wasn't just flustered over the wedding preparation. She was also hornier than usual today. She blamed the clinic. There had only been a few patients filtering in and out all day, which gave her plenty of time to think about other things, like the table crisis. But ever since that had been solved, she had been thinking about her pending lunchtime rendezvous with Derek. Which got her to thinking about sex. And thinking about sex when you were supposed to be a surgeon wasn't exactly making her job any easier.
Meredith filled out the last of her charts and pushed them to the side. She made sure her interns were stitching and splinting correctly before nonchalantly grabbing a Cosmopolitan magazine off one of the tables in the waiting area and sitting back down at her spot behind the nurses' station. It wasn't exactly productive work, but she figured she owed it to herself to relax for volunteering down in the clinic as a favor to Dr. Bailey.
She flipped open the magazine and happened to turn to a page on sex positions. Meredith decided to have a little fun so she pulled out her Blackberry. She wasn't sure if Derek was in surgery or not, but still, that didn't stop her from sending him a dirty text about something she read in the magazine, saying she couldn't wait to try it out today at lunch. She giggled slightly to herself after pressing send, hoping he'd text something equally dirty back to her.
Sure enough, minutes later, her phone signaled a new message and she quickly flipped it open to see what he wrote back to her. Meredith blushed slightly and bit her lip, texting him something about how she'd be waiting for him in the on-call room naked and on all fours.
"Well, well, well. Grey has a kinky side. Who knew?", Mark asked amusedly as he stood behind her, reading the text she had just sent back to Derek.
Meredith jumped a bit in surprise before turning bright red. "You're such an ass."
"I'm your boss", Mark reminded her, unable to hide the smile on his face.
"Yeah. And you're also an ass", Meredith smirked, shutting the Blackberry and putting it in her pocket. "What are you doing here?"
"One of your idiot interns paged me. Something about facial sutures", Mark explained, looking through the stack of charts on the counter.
"Oh", Meredith replied. Her pocket vibrated and she pulled her phone out of it. When she made sure Mark wouldn't be able to see what Derek had written to her, she opened the message and giggled, blushing again.
"Working hard, I see", Mark commented jokingly, scribbling down some notes.
Meredith rolled her eyes. "I volunteered to work in here today, and so far I've written a prescription for pain medicine and stitched up a drunk man's arm who kept hitting on me."
"Sounds like a good time", Mark grinned as he made his way over to one of the curtains to help Meredith's intern with the sutures.
"Oh yeah", Meredith said dryly, leaning back in her chair.
"Have fun with your dirty texting", Mark called out to her.
Meredith blushed again. "Shut up", she hissed, spinning around in her chair before texting Derek again. There was only a half hour until lunch and she decided to make the most of it.
--
Derek was in the middle of texting Meredith back as he walked down the hall holding some of his patients' charts. He had some free time before lunch, and decided that now would be a good time to go see the Chief about inviting Adele to the wedding.
Just as Derek knocked on the door and entered, Richard was on the other side about to exit. The two men bumped into each other, causing Derek's charts and phone to drop to the ground. Before Derek could grab it, Richard bent down and picked up Derek's Blackberry, noticing the message written across the screen from Meredith.
Derek cringed and squeezed his eyes shut, wishing the Chief of all people wouldn't have seen the porny thing Meredith had just written to him about Derek being inside of her while she screamed his name.
"Oh…uh…this is…here" Richard said awkwardly, mustering the best smile he could.
Derek dropped his head and accepted the phone before dropping it into his pocket.
"Did you want to see me about something, Derek?", Richard questioned, trying his best to sound professional.
"Yes, actually. I was wondering if Adele would like to come to the wedding", Derek replied as the two men walked into his office and sat down.
The Chief smiled. "I'm sure she would love to."
"Good", Derek said, returning the smile. "It's just—Meredith told me how you and Adele used to babysit her when she was little. When we were originally planning the wedding, you two weren't back together—but now you are and we just thought she might like to come", he explained.
"Thank you, Derek. That…it means a lot to me", Richard said genuinely.
Derek just nodded and smiled, still slightly embarrassed by what had happened.
"Actually, I had something to ask you", Richard began, shifting slightly in his desk chair.
"What's that?", Derek asked curiously.
"Tomorrow, Adele and I have tickets to the opera—my birthday gift to her", he stated proudly.
"Nice choice, sir", Derek laughed.
Richard smiled. "That's why I need you to represent the hospital at the annual fundraiser gala tomorrow night. I'm delegating."
Derek's smile faded slightly. "Hmm?"
"I need you to go there and charm the donors…help the hospital get funding", Richard said with a nod.
"Right…", Derek replied skeptically. "And this is tomorrow night?"
"I know, I'm sorry for the short notice. I would ask Sloan but I have a feeling the hospital would end up losing funding if he were to attend", the Chief replied. Derek wasn't sure if he was joking or was being serious.
"Yeah", Derek agreed, laughing slightly. "Okay."
"Thank you, Derek. I really appreciate it", Richard grinned. "Obviously, Meredith is welcome to attend with you."
Derek couldn't help but smirk. Meredith rarely got dressed up for anything. He wasn't so sure how she'd take the new about having to attend a black tie and ball gown gala with him. "Yeah. I'm sure she'd love to", Derek lied.
"Good. I'm glad to hear it", Richard said with a smile. "Tomorrow, both of your shifts will end at five so you can go home and get ready. It starts at seven and shouldn't go on any later than ten."
"Okay", Derek said with a nod. "Do I have to make a speech or anything?"
Richard shook his head. "No, all I need you to do is talk to the donors. They're a bunch of arrogant asses, but if you make a good impression, they'll give us the funding we need to stay a top notch hospital."
"Alright then", Derek smiled.
"Always knew I could count on you, Shep", Richard replied, handing Derek both of the tickets for the event, almost as if he knew Derek would agree to it in the first place.
Derek just smiled and accepted them, placing them in the breast pocket of his white coat. "Not a problem, Richard. Glad I could help. And uh, have fun at the opera", he smirked.
"I plan on it", the Chief replied, a grin on his face.
As the two of them stood up, Derek sighed. "Sorry about the uh…text. I really don't think Meredith would have wanted you to see that."
Richard blushed slightly and looked away. "I changed her diapers. That's all…", he responded nostalgically, thinking back to Meredith's baby days.
"Yeah, I guess that would be…awkward", Derek said, managing to laugh in spite of himself. "Sorry."
"It's fine." Richard shrugged it off and smiled. "Your business."
"Right. Well then…I'll talk to you later", Derek said, wanting nothing more than to leave his boss's office.
"Okay. And thank you again, Derek."
Derek smiled. "Not a problem."
--
Derek met Meredith in the on-call room promptly at noon. Meredith wasn't on her hands and knees as promised, but she was naked, and waiting for him in bed. "What if it hadn't been me and you're just lying in here naked?", Derek asked with a chuckle as he locked the door.
"Just a risk I was willing to take", Meredith giggled. She sat up in bed, pulling the blanket over her chest.
"So…", Derek began.
Meredith eyed him curiously. "Why are you looking at me like that? And why aren't you naked with a condom on by now?"
"I'd feel bad having sex and then asking you this, so I'm just going to get it over with…", he sighed.
"What?", she asked confusedly.
"How would you like to go with me to the fundraiser gala for the hospital tomorrow night…", he asked, grinning slightly.
"Uh...wait, what?"
"Richard is taking Adele to the opera—by the way, Adele is coming to the wedding—and he needed me to take his place. I have to go work my charm in order to make money for Seattle Grace", he said cockily.
"And you want me to go with you?", she asked, smirking slightly.
Derek shrugged. "Might be nice…free dinner, free drinks. That, and I think I'd have a lot more fun if you came with me."
"Uh huh", she laughed. "And this is tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, sorry", he said with an apologetic smile.
Meredith sighed. "I suppose this means I'll have to wear a dress?"
"Personally, I'm looking forward that that the most. You know what happened the last time we got dressed up for a hospital function…", he said suggestively.
"How could I forget that?", she giggled. She pulled him close to her and kissed him. "You owe me for this, you know."
"Hmm…what do I owe you?", he murmured against her lips.
Meredith pulled his shirt over his head and smiled. "I haven't decided yet. Sex, for starters."
"I can do that", he grinned. "Those text messages you sent me were pretty dirty…"
"I was reading Cosmo in the clinic…"
Derek laughed. "Why were you reading Cosmo in the clinic?"
"Slow day", she replied. "I read about all of these new things you could do to me", she whispered into his ear.
Derek pulled off his scrub pants and kissed her again. "What position haven't we tried yet?"
"Hmm…lots", she replied, running her fingers through his hair.
"We need to get a copy of this magazine", he said musingly.
Meredith grabbed a condom out of Derek's wallet while he pulled off his boxers. "It was making me all hot for you…"
"Well I'm here now", he hummed, watching as she expertly rolled the condom onto him.
"You are", she smiled before getting on her hands and knees as promised.
"What are you doing?", he asked with a chuckle.
Meredith looked over her shoulder and smiled coyly at him. "Remember what I sent you about being on my hands and knees? I'm fulfilling my promise."
"God, I love you", he groaned, positioning himself behind her while leaning over to kiss her neck.
"I love you too." Meredith's giggles soon turned into moans as Derek slowly moved into her. This was definitely a good way to unwind at work.
--
The next day, after arriving home from work, both Meredith and Derek had to get dressed and ready for the event. Today during lunch, Meredith's friends were kind enough to bring in some of their dresses for Meredith to borrow so she wouldn't have to go out and buy one. Izzie's were all too big in the boobs, and Cristina's were all too short. Thankfully, Meredith shared her figure with her half-sister. Lexie let her borrow a royal blue gown she wore to some event back in med school. It actually fit Meredith nicely, and the color went well with her eyes.
"Der, help me zip this", Meredith called out to him while he, too, got ready.
Derek finished buttoning up his shirt and walked over to her. "You look hot in this", he chuckled, easily zipping the back of the dress that molded to her body perfectly.
Meredith giggled. "Hmm…you like it?"
"I may have to take advantage of you in this dress", he said with a smirk.
"It's Lexie's so I have to make sure I return it in perfect condition. And if it smells like sex, I'll be mortified", Meredith laughed, spinning around in his arms.
"We'll have it dry-cleaned", Derek replied before kissing her.
Meredith fixed his collar and ran her hands down the front of his shirt. "Always thinking ahead…", she said teasingly. "Okay, I have to finish getting all dolled up, and you're distracting me."
Derek laughed. "What am I doing?"
"You. Are undressing me with your eyes. And before I know it, we'll be naked, and then we'll be late, so leave me alone so I can get ready", Meredith rambled. "My boobs look big in this. Do I look slutty?", she asked as she fixed her dress in the mirror.
"And you say I'm distracting you", he chuckled. "Your boobs look fine. And you look gorgeous."
"Thank you", Meredith smiled. "I just want to put a little make-up on, then I'll be ready."
"You don't need make-up", Derek said softly, kissing her cheek. "…but okay."
Meredith giggled. "You're laying it on thick, huh?"
"You know I always think you look beautiful", Derek grinned, sitting down on the bed and putting on his shoes.
"Yeah yeah…", Meredith sighed as she dabbed some cover-up on her cheeks. "So when is thing over?"
"Right after I woo the donators", Derek chuckled. "Although we may have to sit through some speeches and toast to boring old guys."
"Are they going to feed us?", she asked with a small smile.
"According to Richard, they feed us the whole time", Derek informed her.
Meredith rolled some chap stick onto her lips and smiled. "Well, I guess this won't be so bad."
"It's not going to be that bad. And if it is, we can just sneak off into the bathroom for a quickie", he shrugged. It seemed as though his main goal tonight was getting a little action while she was in the dress.
"There will be no sneaking into the bathroom until you woo", Meredith told him. She tossed her make-up back into the bag and began fixing her hair.
"Wooing is the easy part. I woo you all the time", he replied cockily.
Meredith giggled. "Oh, you do?"
"It's part of my charm", he sighed, smiling at her.
"You're so full of yourself", Meredith teased. "Do you think anyone would notice if I went in my work shoes? These heels are going to ruin my feet…", she pouted, using Derek's shoulder to balance herself while she maneuvered her foot into the heels borrowed she borrowed from Izzie.
"I'm sure you could if you really wanted to", he chuckled.
Meredith sighed. "I guess I can just tough it out for a few hours."
"All set?", he asked, glancing to his watch to make sure they weren't running late.
Meredith smoothed out the collar of his suit jacket and smiled at him. "All set."
--
The gala was being held at one of Seattle's most prestigious banquet halls, complete with valet parking and chandeliers. Meredith was a little intimidated about attending such an event, given the fact that she was most likely going to be the only resident there.
All of the people who gathered at these types of benefits were older, and more experienced in their careers. Upon entering the large hall, Meredith immediately noticed that she and Derek were the youngest of the attendees. But Derek, being a world class neurosurgeon, and a former New York inhabitant, didn't seem at all nervous.
"This is Dr. Hamill", Derek murmured as the two approached the man. "He's one of the biggest donators. An ass, but, still…he's a generous ass…"
"A generous ass…okay", she replied skeptically.
"Dr. Hamill", Derek greeted, putting on his best smile. "Nice to see you again."
"Aah, Dr. Shepherd. I remember you from the galas held back in New York", the older man said, shaking Derek's hand.
"Yeah, I uh, I live in Seattle now", Derek explained, putting his left hand on the small of Meredith's back.
"And who's this? Where's William's daughter?", Dr. Hamill questioned, obviously referring to Addison's whereabouts. Apparently, Derek hadn't seen these men since the divorce.
"Addison and I haven't been together for a while now", Derek replied curtly, obviously not wanting to divulge his personal life to the man. "This is Meredith, my fiancé."
Dr. Hamill looked at Meredith quizzically. "She's…young", he remarked, taking a sip of his drink.
Meredith bit her lip; silently pleading that Derek would get them away from this man. "She's also a beautiful, brilliant surgeon. And happens to be the love of my life", Derek responded, smiling at her apologetically. "Excuse us…"
"Jeez…", Meredith sighed. "He's…"
Derek ran his fingers through his hair. "An ass, yes. Sorry about that."
"It's not your fault", Meredith said with a shrug. "So is Addison's dad a surgeon?"
"Nope, just rich", Derek laughed. "He owns a law firm back in New York. All of New York's finest know him."
"So these are New York's finest?", Meredith asked sarcastically. Clearly, the first person they had been introduced to didn't fit that description.
"I'm only familiar with the ones from New York", Derek explained. "Some of them are nice, but for the most part…not so much."
"Well, where's our table? I want to scope out the enemies", Meredith smirked.
"There's no enemies", Derek said with a laugh. "I think Richard said we're at table five…"
The two of them walked over to the round table, adorned with fancily folded napkins, a flowery centerpiece, and a ridiculous number of forks per person. Several of their tablemates were already seated. Meredith looked to Derek and smirked. "They all probably think I'm your arm candy…or a hooker or something."
"They don't think that", Derek chuckled. "Come on, let's just sit down."
"Okay…", Meredith replied cautiously. She took her seat in one of the chairs, and bit her lip.
"Good evening. I'm Mr. Harlow and this is my wife, Cynthia", one of the men greeted. At first glance, the man seemed friendly enough, and Meredith was silently hoping that the night could go smoothly.
"Derek Shepherd", he said with a grin, shaking each of their hands.
Meredith smiled at the two of them. "Meredith Grey", she said politely, before she, too, shook their hands.
"Grey? As in Grey?", the man asked in shock.
"That's me", Meredith smiled cautiously. Of course someone would bring up Ellis Grey. It was bound to happen in a room filled with surgeons.
"I met your mother once before at a conference in Boston. She's brilliant", one of the other men at the table chimed in. "Following in her footsteps, I suppose?"
"Yes", Meredith said with a nod, unsure of what else to say.
Derek noticed her hesitation and stepped in. "Meredith is independently brilliant", he beamed.
"How do you two know each other?", Cynthia asked with a smile.
"We're engaged", Meredith explained. They'd been engaged for a while now, but every time, it still took her by surprise to say the words out loud.
"Congratulations", they all said in response. So far, the people at their table seemed friendly enough. Until Dr. Hamill and a woman, presumably his wife came and sat down at the two remaining seats.
"Great", Meredith murmured so that only Derek could hear her.
Derek rested his hand on her thigh and kissed her cheek. "It's fine."
"Jim, we have a Grey at our table tonight…", one of the men pointed out to Dr. Hamill.
"Grey? As in surgeon extraordinaire? Who?", he asked, taking his seat.
Meredith smiled. "That would be me", she told him, the confidence shining through in her voice as she spoke to the man who had previously insulted her.
"Oh…well…it's a pleasure to meet you. Meredith, right?", he asked politely.
"Yes", she said with a nod.
"So both of you work at Seattle Grace?", one of them began casually.
Now came the time for Derek to charm the donors. "Yes. Richard had a prior arrangement, so I told him I'd attend this year…"
Meredith listened attentively as Derek spoke about all of Seattle Grace's accomplishments, which ultimately led to why they needed the furthered monetary support. Derek had this way about him that made people listen to what he had to say. He could be babbling on about how the sky was blue, and people would still pay attention to him.
She knew by the time he was finished that he had successfully wooed, and the benefactors were more than willing to donate. Just when Meredith was about to take him up on his offer to sneak away to the bathroom for a quickie, the main courses were being brought to the table.
Meredith leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too", he smiled warmly.
One of the women at the table caught a glimpse of Meredith's ring and gasped. "Oh wow…your ring is gorgeous!", she exclaimed.
Meredith blushed slightly and unconsciously spun it on her finger. "Oh, thank you", she said softly.
"When are you two getting married?", one of them asked curiously.
"July twelfth", Derek grinned, taking his fiancé's hand and squeezing it gently.
"That's only a few weeks away. Getting excited?"
Meredith smiled and nodded. "Yeah. We're keeping it small, just close friends and family. We can't wait", she said happily, taking a sip of her drink. Meredith didn't know when or why she and Derek became the topic of the table, but she figured as long as the conversation remained positive, she could handle it.
"Oh, are you expecting?", the woman she assumed to be Mr. Hammill's wife chimed in questioningly. She eyed what little parts of Meredith's torso could be seen from the height of the table and peered at her for a moment.
Meredith swallowed a bite of her meal and glared at the woman. Up until now, she could deal with the comments. But that particular snide remark set her off. "Excuse me?"
"Well, it just seems a bit sudden, that's all", she pointed out, not the slightest bit of regret in her voice.
"Well, I'm not pregnant. And Derek and I have known each other for almost three years…not that it's any of your business", Meredith said defensively.
"I'm sorry if I offended you", she apologized half-heartedly, taking a sip of her wine.
"It's…fine", Meredith breathed, trying to keep her calm for the sake of the rest of the table. "I'm going to go use the ladies room. I'll be right back, okay?", she whispered to Derek once the others at the table began conversing again.
Meredith stood up from the table, grabbed her small clutch, and made her way to the small restroom in the lobby of the hall. Once inside, she stood for a moment and bit her lip, pondering on whether or not to go the bathroom and possibly peeing on the dress by accident in the process. Instead, she opted to touch up her make-up. While rummaging through her small purse, the door of the restroom opened only to reveal Derek standing there behind her.
"What are you doing in here?", she hissed. "This is the women's room. What if I had been peeing?"
"Well, if you were, I hope you'd be in a stall. Besides, I've seen you naked a thousand times", Derek said with a chuckle. "But that's not the point", he sighed. "I'm sorry about…what just happened."
Meredith shrugged. "It's okay."
"No, it's not", he argued. Derek rubbed his hands up and down her arms and kissed her forehead. "She had no right to say that. But I am glad you said something. Because if you didn't, I would have."
"I didn't want to start anything, but that just…it pissed me off", Meredith admitted.
Derek nodded. "It pissed me off too. I'm sorry I dragged you to this…"
"It was actually sort of nice to get dressed up. It's okay", she smiled.
"Come on…", he said softly, taking her hand.
"Where are we going?", she asked curiously.
"We're leaving", he said with a chuckle. "I came here, did what I had to do, and now, you and I are going out to dinner."
"We already ate", she giggled.
Derek took off his suit jacket and gently draped it over her shoulders. "We can eat again. Or we can get dessert somewhere."
The two walked into the parking lot and made their way to the car. Meredith kissed his cheek and smiled at him. "Are you sure we can just leave? Won't the Chief be mad?"
"As long as he gets the check in the mail, I don't think he cares", Derek pointed out as they got into the car.
"I don't know if I'll be joining you for this next year", Meredith teased.
"I'm not going back to one of those. Things like that make me glad I left New York. If Richard can't go next year, I'll tell him to send Mark", Derek laughed as they drove down the road.
"Maybe not the wisest choice, but okay", Meredith agreed with a giggle. "So where are we going?"
Derek looked over at her and smirked. "Anywhere where there's a bathroom…"
"Wait, why?", she asked confusedly.
"Because I still haven't gotten to take advantage of you in that dress", he grinned, quirking his eyebrows slightly.
"What makes you so sure I'll let you?", she challenged jokingly.
"I was a good wooer tonight, remember?"
Meredith laughed. "I suppose you were."
I promise the wedding is coming. School is kicking my ass, and I'm really busy. But it is coming soon. :)
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