"God if my parents could see me now," Meredith Grey practically laughed to herself as she leaned back against the seat and gazed out the window of the Amtrak train as it raced through the American countryside.
She turned away from the window and looked around the small cabin that was to be her room for the night. The toilet and bathroom was just a few minutes' walk away from her room.
Meredith looked back at the paperwork sitting on the table in front of her. It was a mixture of maps, things to see and do and most importantly details of her hotel reservation, the place that she would be calling home for the next three months.
Normally when Meredith Grey stayed in a hotel it was a five star establishment and it was usually a suite with full maid service. This time however she was staying in a small wood side cabin with a double bed, desk and chair, closet, TV, coffee maker and en-suite bathroom.
Her parents would die of shame at the very thought of their daughter staying in a place like this. Meredith smiled at the thought and could just imagine their horrified expressions.
Thatcher Grey was a multi-millionaire business man and the founder of Grey Enterprises. He owned that many businesses that Meredith had lost count of the names and the amount of them a long time ago. He owned a newspaper, had shares in local television news, and owned a chain of hotels and restaurants and that was only in Seattle. He had shares and businesses all over the US, in New York, Los Angeles and Las Vegas especially. He loved fast cars and had a vast amount of properties and had ties to some very influential politicians.
Ellis Grey was every bit as shrewd as her husband. She originally was a defence attorney before leaving to become a legal advisor to Grey Enterprises and where she worked alongside Thatcher.
Ellis and Thatcher Grey were the best in their professions, when they talked everyone listened. When they wanted something, it had to the best and the only best would do. That trait was included in their children.
Meredith had been a daddy's girl from the minute she was born 26 years ago. Thatcher spoilt her rotten and was determined that his Meredith would take over from him at Grey Enterprises when he retired. He insisted on the ballet classes and the horse riding and made sure that she received the best education money could buy.
Two years after Meredith had been born Lexie arrived and the two sisters were the best of friends but Thatcher had always made it clear that Meredith would be the one to follow his in footsteps while Lexie followed her mother's career choice by studying law.
There was only one small problem to Thatcher's plan. Meredith did not want to join or work in the family business.
As a child Meredith had loved going to school, she loved learning about everything from politics to history to reading Shakespeare and Dickens. Even when she was ill Meredith was still determined not to miss a day of school. During the school holidays she had to beg her father to hire a tutor so that she could continue to learn. Thatcher loved how smart his daughter was and continued to spoil her and gave her everything she wanted.
He insisted on throwing lavish birthday parties for both of his daughters with most of the guests being business contacts and not their friends. This changed for Meredith of her 20th birthday. Everyone was invited to the party and the Presidential Suite of a five star New York Hotel was completely ruined.
Thatcher was furious at Meredith's behaviour and whilst he paid for the damages he made it clear that Meredith would have to pay off her debt to him by working with him at Grey Enterprises.
Meredith had spent the rest of that day curled up in bed thinking about the type of life she had and the life she wanted.
She was sick of being daddy's little princess and having everything handed to her on a silver platter. She wanted to be like her friends to be able to go out and have fun and a have a job that she enjoyed and even have her own apartment. She often saw the people who worked for her father walking around the office building with cell phones glued to their ears, rushing from one meeting to the next and planning important business trips. They would be in the office from 6am to 10pm and that even stretched to the weekends. Meredith did not want that type of life.
She wanted to do something good and challenging. She loved learning and so she had eventually decided to become a teacher. Her parents had been horrified at the very idea of their beloved daughter teaching in a public school.
Meredith loved every minute of it.
She had been teaching full time now for two years. Meredith always arrived thirty minutes before class spending the time setting up her classroom and getting her notes prepared for class. She taught both English and Geography at the school and was highly respected by her fellow colleagues.
Her colleagues would describe her as being dedicated to the job and as someone who could bring fun into the classroom as well having the correct balance between being strict but fair with the children. For two years running her students were top of their year groups for their grades in the subjects Meredith taught.
As dedicated to the job as she was Meredith still loved to party – no more so than with her best friend Cristina Yang who worked at the same school as her. Cristina had a different approach to teaching than Meredith – strict, strict, and strict. In Cristina's classroom you could hear a pin drop.
Together the "twisted sisters" i.e. – Meredith, Lexie and Cristina worked hard and played hard. They all shared the same apartment. None of them could cook to save their lives and as for DIY forget it. The only thing Meredith could do for herself was her laundry and she knew how to change a light bulb, because if it were left to Cristina, you would be sitting in constant darkness and you would be permanently buying new clothes. However their 'start of school' and 'summer holiday' parties were always the hot topic for discussion in the school staff room.
In the past year the "twisted sisters" had taken a new teacher under their wing. While Lexie was the confident lawyer and Meredith and Cristina were firm but fair teachers, April Kepfner struggled to hold discipline in her classroom. She was as methodical as Meredith in her lesson planning but not as confident when it came to delivering it. Most of the time it was the pupils who took control of the lesson rather than her. As much as she tried to stand up to the boisterous children she failed. Meredith and Cristina had helped her as best as they could but April was never fully in control of her class.
A few months later and April was dead. Her sudden death had shocked and saddened everyone, no one more so than Meredith. As she mourned the death of her friend Meredith re-evaluated her life and most importantly what she wanted to do with it.
On the night of April's funeral, she, Cristina and Lexie sat and talked about life in general – what they had done and what they would like to do while they knocked back shots of tequila.
When Meredith woke up the next morning she realised that she no longer wanted to be a teacher and she met with the school board who granted her some leave until September. She made the decision that it was time for her to live a little and simply escape Seattle for a while.
Thatcher once again thought this would be the perfect opportunity to encourage her into the family business but was disappointed with her decision. As soon as she mentioned leaving Seattle he immediately organised for her to stay at his luxury apartment in New York. Ellis thought this was a fantastic idea – nothing like some retail therapy to cure the soul and that a few months in the Big Apple was just what the doctor ordered.
As much as Meredith loved New York, a big city was the last place on earth she wanted to go to. When she read about Glacier National Park in Montana, Meredith instantly knew that this was where she was going to stay for the next few months.
Her parents were horrified. Ellis was at the verge of getting Meredith admitted to the psychiatric ward while Cristina nearly fell off her bar stool laughing at the thought of Meredith roughing it in the mountains.
Meredith's response to all of them was to go home, pack and book her trip. Now just a mere 24 hours later she was on board the Amtrak train on her way to West Glacier, Montana.
Meredith leaned back in her seat and re-read her hotel reservation to make sure that she had booked hotel transfers and that someone from the hotel would collect her at the train station the following morning.
Feeling hungry she stood up and walked out of her small room and followed the directions to the dining cart to get something to eat. Within minutes she was seated at a table and was again gazing at the scenery as it passed her by.
While waiting for her meal her cell phone beeped and she smiled as she read the message.
"Still think you are crazy, my bet you last two weeks! PS don't get eaten by a bear..."
Only Cristina would send a text message like that Meredith smiled as her dinner arrived.
The remainder of the evening passed surprisingly quickly and Meredith soon found herself in the awkward position of trying to turn her seat into a bed. After a few choice words she eventually had it mastered and was lying in bed minutes later praying for sleep to come her way.
"Am I doing the right thing?" she thought.
"Cristina and my parents are right; I am crazy, I'm not going to last five minutes out here."
"No, positive thinking, you are going to be fine, I need this..." Meredith thought as she finally fell asleep.
Meredith woke the following morning and gave up trying to change the bed back to being a seat and ending up calling for one of the cabin assistants to come and do it for her.
After a very quick breakfast Meredith was back in her room double checking she had everything she needed as the train pulled into West Glacier station. As she stepped down from the train and on to the platform she took in the scenery in front of her, Meredith took a deep breath and muttered to herself "Here goes..."
Meredith followed the other passengers who had also disembarked the train and followed them to the waiting area. At the same time she was praying that her suitcase would begin to work with her instead of against her. Currently Meredith was dragging it by the handle but it kept flipping over on her and she was beginning to lose her patience. As she walked across the station and into the pick-up area she immediately saw a slightly older man with dirty blond hair holding a piece a paper with her name on it.
"I'm Meredith Grey," she said to the man who lifted his baseball cap in greeting.
"Owen Hunt, owner of Glacier Cabins, it's nice to meet you," Owen said as he took her suitcase and led her to his pick-up truck and where he lifted it into the back before moving to open the door for her.
"Thank you," Meredith replied. The men of Seattle could learn a thing or too out here she thought.
"Welcome to West Glacier, so what are you planning on doing here for three months?" Owen asked as he started the truck.
"Relax mainly, appreciate the scenery, and maybe go on some hikes..." Meredith muttered as she looked out the window trying to take in the beauty of the area.
"Well there are certainly plenty of things to see and do both here in the town and in the park. How about when you get settled in your cabin I meet you in the bar, it is just next door to the hotel office and I can you give you some leaflets and maps and any other information you may need," Owen offered.
"That would be great thank you," Meredith smiled.
"No problem, although I would suggest better hiking shoes than those," Owen commented looking at her trainers.
"I bought a pair of proper hiking boots before leaving Seattle, I'm going to start wearing them and get them broke in before I go hiking," Meredith replied.
"Ah someone with common sense," Owen smiled "some people come here expecting to be able to walk around in flip flops," he laughed.
"Now that is just stupid," Meredith quipped.
For the remainder of the short drive Owen pointed out various places of interest around the town, the last place being the Ranger station.
"Most important place in town," Owen stated "Make this your first stop every day before heading into the park. They are kept up to date with the latest weather reports, traffic, bear sightings and most of the shuttle tours all start from here. They even have ranger led hikes throughout the park, perfect for someone travelling alone."
"That's useful to know, thank you," Meredith said as the truck pulled to a stop.
"Here we are, now let me show you to the office and get you checked in," Owen said as he got out of the truck and lifted her suitcase.
"Thanks," Meredith replied "This place is lovely," Meredith said as she took in her surroundings.
"Thank you," Owen answered "It may not be the Hilton, but it's clean and comfortable, the restaurant and bar is down there at the very end." Owen said as he pointed to the right of Meredith.
"And your cabin is directly in front of you," Owen smiled as Meredith saw the cabin for the first time.
They quickly went through the paperwork and Owen gave her the key to the cabin. When she stepped inside, Meredith was impressed.
In the centre of the room was a double bed that looked so comfortable that she was tempted to run and jump on it immediately. The en-suite bathroom was in front of her, and although small it had everything she needed. Beside the bathroom was a closet and inside it was an iron and ironing board.
She left her case in the closet and decided to leave her unpacking until later. She wanted to go back to the office and meet with Owen again regarding things to see not only in the town but also in the National Park. Owen had told her that there was a small grocery store nearby that she wanted to pay a visit too and get some supplies in.
As much as she wanted some time to relax Meredith also wanted to do as many activities as she could while she was here.
Grabbing her handbag Meredith headed for the door, stepping out onto the pavement she locked the door before turning to take in her surroundings for a few minutes. Taking a deep breath of the fresh mountain air she set off toward the office.
"I have a feeling I'm going to like it here."
