Unforgettable - Chapter 4
Title: Unforgettable
Chapter: Four
Pairing: Mark & Lexie, Mark/other, Lexie/other
Timeline: Season 6
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda Rhimes and ABC. No money from writing, just a lot of fun.
Authors notes: After tonight episode I am hesitant to post this chapter because how in the world can you compete with that? I fell in love with Mark all over again! But here you go. P.S. For those that don't know, Dress #4 is the one that Lexie is wearing. Thanks for voting and giving your opinions!
Chapter 4
The silence was deafening to Lexie as she tried to remain poised and confident while feeling like a culled cow at a cattle auction. She had done everything she could think of to not have to live through this. She had paid off a ringer to bid on her. She had spent hard earned money, money she needed for the deposit on her own apartment, to buy an expensive dress she felt was a nice blend of sexiness and appropriateness to attend a hospital gala. She was sacrificing her feet, and again her savings account, to wear an expensive pair of 4 inch heels. She had even gone back to her natural brown locks that she had spent extra time curling and styling to make it look like natural waves and twirls around her shoulders and down her back. But, at the sound of a nervous laugh and a bad joke from the auctioneer, she knew that none of that had ended up mattering as all of her fears were coming true.
Mark couldn’t believe the idiots in the room. Didn’t they see what was in front of them? He had sat through the auction of several women, all with bids in the low four digits, and yet here was the jewel of the evening and no one was bidding on her. She was breathtaking in her beautifully elegant white dress with a splash of her favorite colors running down it in an abstract design. The cut of the gown gave her a look of genteel femininity that made him desire her all the more even as it showed off the soft bronze of her tan and a flash of her long leg as she walked the runway. She had surprised him by returning to her natural glorious shiny brown locks that instantly made him want to run his fingers through the silky strands. She had on heels that most women wouldn’t be able to walk in and yet she had appeared to glide to the spot where she was now standing…waiting.
He looked at his date, Teddy. He planned to break it off with her but had already invited her to the ball and didn’t want to feel like an even bigger heel by not taking her after she had seemed excited about dressing up and going to an actual ball. Something she hadn’t been able to do in years. And yet, by trying to do the right thing and not disappoint the woman he had been trying to force himself to build a life with, he was unable to bid on the woman he wanted most in the world. It would be in bad taste to bid on another woman when you are out on a date with another, even if you planned to break up with her the next day, right?
Just as he was about to make a fool of himself AND his date, a breathless voice rang out. “$200!” Mark turned to the side door of the ballroom and saw a frazzled looking Jackson Avery holding up two fingers as he ran into the room and looked apologetically to the runway where Lexie breathed a big sigh of relief and turned to leave the runway. As she quickly turned, hands on hips and hair twirling around her face, the long line of her leg was exposed as well as her tanned back that was perfectly framed by the cut of the dress and the thin jeweled straps of her gown. He actually heard a moan coming from across the dance floor and frowned in that direction.
With the ice broken and the blinders off, the bids began to fly. “$1000” A bid came from an older gentleman at the table next to Mark’s. Widower, Mark thought and nodded his approval.
“$1500” The recognizable dry tones of Alex Karev had Mark making a snide remark to anyone that was listening how bouncing checks sort of defeated the purpose of a fundraiser. Arizona, who was at his table along with Teddy, Derek, Meredith, Callie and an angry Owen who had arrived without Cristina, gave Mark a harsh look and shushed him.
“$2500” This bid from another older man in the opposite corner of where Mark sat. The irritated look on his bottle blonde bimbo was enough to make Mark keep his mouth shut, even though he did raise his eyebrows and smirked at the couple.
“$5000!” Mark jerked his head back to his own table to see Owen lift his hand in bid. His mouth fell open and he glared at the red-headed military man who was doing his own share of glaring at Mark.
“Does Yang know that you go around bidding on other women when she isn’t around?” The caustic question flew from Mark.
“I’m a free man,” Owen retorted. “I can bid on whomever I want.” He turned back to see Lexie staring at him shock.
“Does Yang know you are a free man?” Mark growled. “Or is it just wishful thinking?”
“You seem awful interested in what my EX-girlfriend knows,” Owen commented, still staring at Lexie.
“Wait!” Teddy held up her hands in confusion. “Are you saying you and Cristina broke up?”
“SHHHHHHHH”, several people at the surrounding tables all said at the same time. Mark’s table all turned and glared at the different people.
“$10,000!” The table all whipped their heads back to see Meredith holding up her hand in bid.
“Are you insane?” Derek asked. “Or just incestuous?”
Meredith leaned in to her husband and waved a hand at the arguing trio at their table. “Do you seriously think I’m going to let Lexie get stuck in this mess? Not when she’s finally over HIM.” She jerked her head to Mark.
Derek suddenly noticed the quiet in the room and felt the hairs on his neck perk up. He tried to nonchalantly look around the room but didn’t make it past Callie who was sucking on an olive and shaking her head. “Yeah…” she nodded and took a gulp of her martini. “Everyone is looking at us.”
Arizona nodded her head in agreement with her ex-but-trying-to-be-friends-girlfriend. “Oh yeah, center of attention. This show is better than Dynasty.”
“Next thing you know Mark and Owen are going to be fighting in the champagne fountain,” Callie quipped.
“I’m okay with that,” Arizona said. “Those fountains make the champagne flat.”
“That’s the whole point,” said a lady from the next table over. “That way we can’t tell if the champagne sucks because it’s flat from the fountain or because the organizers went cheap on the booze.” She held up her martini glass to Callie. “Always go for the good liquor at these things. Makes it easier to forget about the money you spent to be bored for several hours.” She looked at the men at their table and licked her lip suggestively. “Although I would be willing to empty my checking account to see the three studs at this table going at it in the chocolate fountain.” Three other ladies sitting at her table all raised their glasses and agreed they would be willing to pay good money to see that too.
Mark tried to hide his smile behind his hand at the bizarre conversation. He ducked his head and his eye caught Lexie, still standing on the runway looking at his table in horror. Her lip trembled and he could tell she was trying hard not to cry at her embarrassment. His heart went out to her and without any further thought he raised his hand, “$15,000.”
The auctioneer took a deep breath of relief and started to call an end to the auction with the last bid. “Going once, going…”
“One million dollars.” A gasp went through the room as all eyes now turned to the back of the room where the calm bid had come from.
Lexie arched one eyebrow as she watched the owner of the voice step forward into the light, moving closer to the runway. He was dressed in a white tuxedo that should have made him look like a waiter, but instead looked James Bond debonair on him as he moved with confident ease towards her. A slow mocking smile spread across her face as she recognized him. The man smiled brightly back at her, full dimples showing as he held up one finger and clarified his bid. “One million dollars for one dance.” He stepped to the edge of the runway and lifted his hand to help her off the stage.
“You haven’t won the bid yet.” She smirked at him.
Derek motioned for the auctioneer to hurry up and finish the sale. The frazzled man, who had been standing in shock with his raised gavel, immediately declared her sold.
Derek quickly looked to his left at Mark and wished he hadn’t as anger, longing, desire, and finally pain crossed his friend’s face as he watched Lexie take the mystery man’s hand and gracefully step down from the stage that had held her prisoner for so long. Mark, his heart in his eyes, watched as Lexie smiled at the man and gave him a tight hug of welcome.
“I can’t believe you are here,” Lexie exclaimed to Chance as she stepped out of his arms. “Wait! Why are you here? Are you consulting on a surgery at SGHMW?”
“Nope,” he said with smile, pleased that she was happy to see him. “I took a wrong turn heading home to Boston.”
Her eyes opened wide in exaggerated shock. “Wow! Let me guess, you wouldn’t stop for directions?” She teased.
“I’m a man. Real men do not stop for directions. Ever!”
“Ahhh,” she said, nodding her head in agreement. “That’s why real men spend most of their lives lost and complaining about it.”
He laughed, but didn’t deny her assessment as he spotted two overeager men heading his way. He knew hospital board members when he saw them, they always had their hand out. “Excuse me for one moment, Lexie. I see the band preparing and I want to request a song for our dance.”
“I can’t wait to hear what you pick.” She laughed as he dodged Larry Jennings and another board member.
“Do you know what I went through to get here in time to bid on you? I’m pretty sure I ran over a little old lady on that last corner I had to take.” Jackson suddenly stood before her with his hands on his hips. She bit her lip to keep from laughing at his outrage. “A cop chased me into the hotel, I had to duck behind a fat lady and her four…not three, not two…but FOUR yapping dogs to get away. I come running into the room making a fool of myself I have no doubt, only to find out that you didn’t need me at all.”
No longer able to hold it in, Lexie burst out laughing and put her arms around the irate man and hugged him tight. “I love you Jackson Avery. You are a good man.” She pulled back and smiled brightly at him. “You saved my ass up there. No one was bidding until you came running in like my hero.” She hugged him again.
Jackson sighed and returned her hug. “Well, it’s not a threesome, but it’s not bad.” She pulled back at his remark and slugged his arm. “OW! What the hell?”
“That was for being late,” she explained then hit him again. “That was for the comment about the fat lady.”
“What happened to ‘You’re my hero!’?” He asked in a high pitched imitation of her voice as he rubbed his arm.
Her eyes shone brightly as she smiled at him and he couldn’t resist smiling back at her.
“Do I really want to know why your sister bid $10,000 on you?” He suddenly asked. “Maybe I should move into that house. I seem to be missing all the good stuff. No wonder Karev moved back from the wilds.”
“I moved back because I was tired of crapping in a bucket,” Alex said as he joined them. “Dude, you looked like an idiot running into the room waving the peace sign around at everyone.”
“Shut up!” Lexie and Jackson said at the same time and glared at the surly resident.
“Someone has been keeping secrets,” Jackson said, wagging his finger at her. “Whose the hottie with an extra million bucks?”
“Are you sure you want a threesome with Yang and Little Grey?” Alex snarked. “I’m thinking you really want to be the meat in a McSteamyDreamy sandwich.”
“Speaking of McSteamy, what was with that bid?” Jackson asked.
“What about the bid from Hunt?” Alex interjected.
“Hunt bid on Lexie?” Jackson asked, surprised.
“Were you not in the room at that point?”
“I was stealing oxygen from that man in the corner wearing an oxygen mask, trying to catch my breath.”
Lexie ignored the two idiot boys and smiled back at Chance as he escaped from the board members who had finally trapped him and headed back to her just as the band gave a trill of music to garner everyone’s attention. Larry Jennings, the hospital board president, stepped up to the microphone and announced the evening’s earnings and profusely thanking those contributing to the success of the auction. He then announced the million dollar dance and the lights dimmed and a spotlight hit Lexie just as Chance reached her and took her hand to lead her to the dance floor. He twirled her lightly and took her into his arms just as the first strains of Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’ began playing.
“Ask me again,” he said as he began leading her in the dance.
She didn’t pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about and simply asked, “Why are you here?”
He put his forehead against hers and whispered, “Because you are unforgettable to me.”
Mark had immediately recognized the man from the photos of Lexie on the DWB site, not to mention his research into one Dr. Tyler-Smith, with the ridiculous first name and whose family apparently owned half of the eastern seaboard. He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes as the two laughed before Dr. Chiseled excused himself and walked to the band that was assembling on the stage. She had looked so happy to see the man and a knot of fear started to grow in the pit of his stomach.
Owen broke into his thoughts with a comment about how beautiful Lexie looked that evening. Arizona readily agreed. “She’s always beautiful,” Mark said quietly. This comment earned him a scowl from Owen as he shot a quick look at Teddy who didn’t seem to really care that Mark was ignoring her. His brow furrowed in puzzlement.
Mark gritted his teeth as Lexie easily slipped into the arms of Dr. Charity and was expertly danced around the floor to the familiar tune as they spoke quietly to each other. At the end of the dance, everyone was invited to join them on the floor as another song began playing; this time a saucier tune that made her swing her hips enticingly at her partner, inviting him to another dance. Mark saw her mouth the words, “this one is free” and laughed as she crooked her finger at him to join her. Mark stood up from the chair when he saw the man put his hands on her hips as they swiveled their bodies to the beat of the music. Trying to divert disaster, Derek jumped up also and quickly asked Teddy for a dance, trying to cover for his jealous friend. Mark swallowed a bit at the reminder of his date and turned to Meredith to ask her for a dance.
Once on the dance floor, however, Mark was more interested in watching Lexie and her chiseled-chin partner than dancing, much to Meredith’s dismay. Suddenly, Mark froze in middle of the floor at a look that crossed his rival’s face. The sound of her delighted laughter had echoed around the crowded room, her head was thrown back and her beautiful smile shined brightly. But it was the man holding her that held Mark’s attention. The entranced expression as he watched her; enchanted by the sparkle in her eyes and the smile that lit up her face. Mark knew that look. He had lived that look. And now he was going to die from that look.
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