"What?" asked weakly a young woman with dirty blond hair. She couldn't believe in what she was hearing. It just couldn't be happening.

"I said that I'd chosen Seattle Grace Hospital," replied an older man sitting behind a desk covered with stacks of papers.

"You can't be serious! I…-I can't go to Seattle!" stammered the woman. "You know I can't go back to Seattle!"

"Of course you can. You can and you will," replied the man with a tone of authority in his voice.

"I refuse; I have no intention of going to Seattle. I don't understand, from all the hospital in the country you had to choose Seattle Grace?" the woman raised her voice and was almost shouting. Panic shot through her, the panic as she hadn't experienced for a long time. "Is this you trying again to heal the wounds of my messy life? You know, you don't need to play my father, you really don't, because the fact is that you're not my fa-"

"Enough," he cut her. The last sentence clearly stung him. "I've chosen Seattle Grace because it's one of the best teaching hospitals in the country. Besides, its chief of surgery is one of my oldest friends. Richard Webber invited me to Seattle Grace ages ago. This year is a wonderful opportunity to keep my word."

"Yeah, sure. How convenient," reiterated the woman sarcastically crossing her arms on her chest.

"I said enough of this! This is your final step in this program, the break in your career. You will be professional about this. Are you a surgeon or not, Dr. Grey? If you are, you will go to Seattle without a word of complaint. Are we clear?" asked the man forcefully.

"Yes, we're absolutely clear, Dr. Warren!" was her angry retort.

The woman stared throughout the window at the tall building across the street, but her eyes were unseeing. Seattle… A strange feeling of reminiscence struck her in that moment. Seattle… How many times did she stop in the corridor of Seattle Grace, either to recover from an unsuccessful surgery or to clear her mind from personal problems, and look through the immense wall of glass. And all she was seeing were the breathtaking gigantic mountains covered in snow. The only thing she could see here were skyscrapers.

"Meredith? Meredith?" the tone of the man's voice was now soothing and tender. He stood up from his desk to stop beside the woman. He hesitated before uttering the next words. "Maybe I am trying to play your father a bit, you know. Before you say anything, you know you have unfinished business there. Just listen to me-," he stopped her attempts to interrupt. "You know that as well as I do. You're about to start a new chapter in your life, you're at the crossroads now. The decisions you're going to take now will have influence on your whole life. And Bessie's."

Meredith nodded silently.

"And speaking as your boss, you need to be able to work in all conditions. Being a surgeon, you cannot allow your emotions-"

"I know that by heart," said Meredith. "If I must, I will go to Seattle. I will do what I have to to finish the program and then I'll be free to go wherever I wish and do whatever I wish."

Dr. Warren sighed and smiled leniently. He loved that stubborn streak about her. In moments like this he and his wife felt like the parents of a misbehaving daughter. And speaking of which-

"Stacy asked me to make sure you come to dinner tonight. No excuses."

It was Meredith's time to smile. "Yeah, she probably thought I could use some moral support. And I think I could."

Meredith left Warren's office a few minutes later with all kinds of thoughts swirling in her head. She took her mobile phone and picked a contact from the list.

"Cristina? Hi, I have big news."