Illicit Affairs

Chapter 2

Saturday. October 24th, 2020.

Smoothing out the light wrinkles on the silk of the bodice of her dress, she entered the lightly decorated room, her slightly curled hair falling in blonde cascades on her shoulders. The room was a sea of people, networking and socialising over finger food and alcoholic drinks. She hated these things. She was here to show her face, and then she'd probably go find the nearest bar with Cristina. Speaking of...

She spotted her friend stood by the bar with another from their intern class, Alex Karev. She went over to join them, only to earn a low whistle from Karev when he spotted her.

"Who knew you had a body under those scrubs?"

"Oh, shut it, Karev," she glared at him as Cristina passed her the drink she had waiting for her.

"What's your problem?" he chuckled, nudging her gently with his shoulder.

She waved him off as she sipped at her drink and turned to Cristina, "Right, how long are we staying for?"

Cristina looked at her watch before back up at her friend, who had already finished half of the drink in her hand.

"I'd say half an hour and we're good, just make sure Webber and Bailey see you. They already accosted me," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Great. Then to Joe's?" she asked before downing the rest of her drink, indicating to the bar tender for another.

"You know it," Cristina responded with a short laugh, her eyes focused on whatever was happening over Meredith's shoulder, "Do we know that guy?"

Meredith furrowed her brow, following Cristina's gaze behind her to see the object of her questioning. Dark, tall, and handsome. Jet black hair with the slight peppering of grey, a five o'clock shadow on his face. She guessed he must be at least a few years older than them. Her eyes drifted over his dark indigo suit, noting the way it fit tightly over his body, but not in an uncomfortable way. And what a body it was. He clearly worked out, but not so much that he overdid it.

Her breath hitched in her throat a moment as quickly surveyed him. He stood talking with Webber and Bailey across the room, and she watched as they all shook hands. The interaction shed light on one very important aspect of the stranger, a silver band on his wedding finger that made her groan slightly.

Disappointment in his unattainability ran over her a moment, but it didn't stop the flash of an image in her mind of the stranger's hands gripping her waist, their naked bodies pressed together. The thought had her knees weakening slightly, and she shook the thought from her mind as she turned back to the bar, picking up her drink.

"I've never seen him before."

"You should definitely go for that," Cristina commented, forever meddling in Meredith's sexual encounters, and clearly picking up on Meredith's attraction toward him, "He definitely looks like he'd be good... more than good."

Meredith simply shook her head, taking a sip of her drink before she spoke, "Wedding ring. Can't you see?"

"Damn, you don't miss a thing, do you? Well, here's to hoping he's having marital problems," Cristina joked, lifting her glass to Meredith who just laughed and clinked her glass against Cristina's whilst Karev just shook his head at them.

"You're both terrible, you know?"

"You're just as bad, Karev," Meredith rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"I can be bad for you, if you want, Grey," he teased back, giving her a quick wink.

"Oh, get off it, I know where you've been," she raised her eyebrows at him, referring to the incident back in their intern year with the nurse, and the syphilis.