The Starting Line

Chapter 8

Mark watched with his back against the headboard as Eleanora paced back and forth at the foot of the hotel bed. She had put on her jeans and had a small smile on his face due to the sight of her in front of him.

Eleanora had put on the first shirt she grabbed, which ended up being one of Mark's. It was too big for her, the bottom of it reached to the top of her thighs and the long sleeves went well past her hands. Her hair was a perfect mess, and Mark could see some of the hickeys he'd left on her neck and that her lips were still swollen from his kisses.

It made pride swell in his chest.

Eleanora, however, was rambling on and on, her voice high-pitched and slightly panicked.

"We... you, oh my God, we had sex! I had sex with Mark Sloan. Mark Sloan had sex with me. Y-you're my attending! I can't, I shouldn't have sex with you. Oh God, am I going to be fired? Wait no, Mer and Derek weren't fired." Eleanora is silent for a moment, then stops in her tracks to look at Mark with wide eyes.

"Oh God, Mark, we can't be the next Derek and Meredith! That's a mess and I don't know if I can handle the looks. I'm only now starting to be able to ignore the sad, Alex-caused looks!"

Mark let out a small sigh, sitting up as he looked at the woman. "Nora, you have to calm down. We're not going to be the next Derek and Meredith, we only slept together once." Mark shrugged, his eyes filling with lust as he remembered the night before. "An incredible time we had, long, hot and sexy. But nonetheless, once."

Eleanora bent down, picked up his jacket and balled it up, tossing it towards him. He let out a scream and caught it, snapping out of his memories.

"Stop!" She screamed, her face heating up.

"Stop what?" He asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Looking at me like... like that! It distracts me!"

Mark smiled, leaning forward. He let his eyes roam down her bare legs, licking his lips. "I can't help but see you a certain way, doll."

Eleanora made a noise, tossing him a wrinkled shirt. "Mark Sloan!"

The two joined in the laughter, Mark leaning back on the bed as he grabbed his shirt. The laughter dies down after a few moments and they continue to look at each other, their eyes a mix of softness and hunger.

Eleanora let her eyes drift to the alarm clock on the nightstand, letting out a gasp. "Oh God, I have to be at work in an hour. Oh God, I have to shower!"

Mark shrugged and scratched his chest. "You can use mine. The water pressure is really worth the money."

Eleanora looked at him nervously for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek as she weighed the pros and cons. She let her eyes dance over his bare chest, Mark smiled as he noticed. She took a shaky breath, deciding to go ahead and expose herself.

"I don't think I know how to use it. Do you think you could...help me?" Her voice was soft, but Mark noticed something in her tone that he had never heard from her before. Beneath the softness and shyness, he heard lust.

A smile touched his lips as he crawled out of bed, giggles falling from hers as he placed two hands on her waist and began to push her towards the bathroom door.

"I thought you'd never ask, doll."

THREE WEEKS LATER

Eleanora looked up from where she was sitting at the nurses' station when she heard Meredith start to speak, her voice happy and excited.

"It's the first day! My clinical trial, my baby, everything I grew." Meredith grabs a stack of charts and places them next to Eleanora.