reputation /// A MerDer Story

I - New Year's Day

Where we get to know Meredith's obsession with caesar salad

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Just the quick repetitive sound of her heels clicking against the concrete could be heard in the dark cold night aura. Should’ve really worn some better shoes.

“I'll go home early,” she thought.

“I have work early tomorrow,” she thought.

“I'll take the quicker route back,” she thought.

If only she could take it all back now, her only wish. If only she had stayed in the bar for a few minutes longer. But no, she just had to leave early, of course refusing to get a cab against her friend’s strong wishes. Apparently, walking home sounded just so much better. A few drinks in the bar may not sound a lot until you're stuck dead in the night with a weird unfamiliar environment all around you. A perfect storm, really.

Her hair was undone, the natural blonde hair with a hint of ginger waving around in the freezing air, in sync with her running. “Fuck.” She muttered under her breath after almost tripping due to her heels again. Deciding to slow down, she ripped her heels off as fast as she could before continuing, not caring about the rocks scraping her feet. She was due for a foot massage and a pedicure anyways.

It may have seemed like hours for her, but less than a minute for her.

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“Caesar salad with fried chicken and a kiwi mojito.”

“Coming right up, ma'am.” said the bartender. Joe's bar was amazing. Mostly only drinks in the menu, yet a few delicious meals could be found. The few meaning a classic cheeseburger, fries and surprisingly, this amazing chicken caesar salad that was to die for. That was the one, the thing she'd always get.

“Do you ever order anything else? You always start with the salad and a mojito, later moving on the cheapest tequila shots in the most random glasses.” The woman next to her said, criticism heard in her voice as she was downing yet another shot, the exact drink remaining unknown. Her curly black hair was in the way, spitting out the few strands stuck on her tongue. “Shut up, let me enjoy the last moments in town.” The blonde mentioned. “Don’t be so you.”

“At least I’m not a workaholic like Cristina over here.” The caesar woman mumbled, slowly sipping her fancy drink. “You literally do know that I’m Cristina, right? Damn you, woman.” Best friends for life those two.

“You’re really leaving, huh? Like, actually leaving NYC behind? Look at you, Meredith, all grown up.”

“I’m literally coming back in 2 weeks, just need to get my mother’s affairs in order. She has some old yet fancy house in downtown Seattle. I’ll for sure make a pretty penny off of it. Other stuff has already been sorted out. Also, my flight isn’t until Monday.” The so-called Meredith mumble-rambled, finally finishing the fancy part of her night out and getting the first few shots in.

Cristina scoffed, looking at her before putting her focus back on the glass with a chipped edge: “You ever heard of sarcasm? You should try it, might be good for your being.”

Meredith looked at Cristina, smiling, letting out a little giggle and downing her 3rd, maybe 4th tequila shot. Wouldn’t know how many Cristina had ordered already. The bartender had most likely stopped keeping count a few shots (bottles) back. Her tab just may have been astronomical. Hard to understand how she wasn’t black out drunk. Perhaps just shows the world how often she does stuff like this. It was Cristina Yang, in her existing blood and flesh. Or whatever it was that was flowing in her veins, if she even had those, many calling her a robot instead.

“I’m out of here.” Meredith stood up, grabbing her purse and jacket, knowing damn well that Cristina couldn’t care less. “Bye, bye, my love!” Her drunk ass screaming as the blonde walked into the cold dark night, not a thought in her careless mind. Just her and the city.

Her feet started moving, dragging the high heels along the pavement, light pollution showing her what she was stepping onto. Neon signs around her were flashing, doing their best to invite possible patrons in. Anyways, no thoughts, maybe a bit tipsy but otherwise fine. She smiled. It was dangerous, sure, but could she care? Whatever happened, it wouldn’t be new to her, now would it? Maybe, just maybe that was the saddest part of it all. Yet, no one could care.

Time passed, the neighborhood seemingly started to change, though it was still one of the last places for a lonely woman to be at the safe time of half past eleven at night. If any fear had sparked in her, it had been for a reason as her suspicions were confirmed by a loud bang, no, something else, a gunshot. She should’ve left, right? Ignored anything she heard or saw from that point onward. Ran quickly, making sure no one would see her. Yet a few seconds later she was there, standing before a body.

His face had been shot to shreds. And she knew that she had already passed the point of no return.

Frozen in time, yet steps were coming closer to her. Before she could think, she ran.

Her heels off, she wished she could escape. Her prayers were soon crushed by a man standing before her, another one grabbing her by her hand. By then she felt the tears flowing down her cheek into her mouth, the salty taste giving her a sense of reality. She was surrounded by literal murderers, gang members. They were screaming and yelling at her, a lot of it in foreign languages. Her breathing became rapid, her legs weak and her eyes blind from the tear overflow.

She started to sink to the dirty ground, putting her hands up in defeat: “P-please d-don’t hurt m-me.” Just barely getting those words out.

Some men still had guns on her as a few of them came closer, slightly petting her hair, running their hands through it. “Just what we’ve been looking for.” A weird accent was heard in his voice, the kind you couldn’t guess even with a gun to your head, ironically enough.

A creep touching her, his hands roaming on her body as she was soaked in her own tears with guns drawn to her.

“Leave her the fuck alone.” A direct voice, not screaming but fuming with anger.

Suddenly fireworks were heard. Oh yeah, it was that time, midnight. Happy New Year!

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I hope it was somewhat decent enough. Will be working on next chapter whenever I find the time. Expect slow updates, apologies. Love you guys ❤️❤️❤️ (i love merder more though sry not sry s11 doesnt exist)(i am in denial is a river in egypt)