Accident Prone

~ Seattle, Seafood restaurant on Pier 57 ~

Saturday

12:09 PM

Isaac is sitting on the third floor in a seafood restaurant with a great view of the port and the ocean. The restaurant is located right next to the Seattle's Ferris wheel. Isaac is at the table in the corner, so he can enjoy from the other side the partial view of tall buildings which are making the Seattle's downtown.

Why is he here? He agreed to meet for lunch with Dr. Christian Snow.

This morning, Isaac was ready to scold Liz for sleeping with Max. But then he saw them come out of the bedroom, holding hands, and smiling, and he realized that Elizabeth is a grown woman, capable of making her life choices. Why would he meddle in her love life? And she seems to be in love with Max. Or at least happy.

Isaac confirmed during breakfast that Liz and Max look like any other young couple in love. This is the second day how he is watching them, and there is nothing out of the ordinary.

The only thing which makes Isaac cautious about Max (other than being a doting father) is the phone call he had with Chris.

Isaac got hints from both Max and Liz that something is fishy about Chris, and since he is already in Seattle, Isaac wants to clarify any misunderstandings. If he goes back to New York like this, he will be troubled. He never liked leaving things half-open. Liz is like that as well, she got it from him.

"Dr. Williams!", Christopher called when he entered the restaurant.

"Hi Chris. Thank you for joining me on such a short notice.", Isaac greeted him and stood up for a handshake.

As soon as they took their seats, the waiter was there to get their orders.

They ordered 'the royal crab fest'. It is the most expensive meal on the menu which includes four different types of crab, potatoes, corn, sausages, and shrimps, and comes with rice and dinner rolls. It is enough to feed four people.

Both Isaac and Chris ordered a 32oz beer mug with locally brewed beer which waiter recommended as something that goes great with the delicate crab meat.

Chris took a seat at the table and glanced around. "You are alone?"

For a moment, Isaac didn't understand Chris' question. "You are with me. Or did you expect someone else?"

"I was hoping that Elizabeth would join as well.", Christopher admitted.

"She has her plans and I wanted to talk to you."

Chris nodded in understanding. If Elizabeth is not having lunch with him at work, why would she have lunch with him here? But he is talking to Isaac, so that must be worth something. He is her father, after all.

"What do you want to talk about?", Chris asked Isaac.

Isaac does not want to beat around the bush. "Mostly about the phone call. I am distressed by what you told me, and I came to check for myself."

"You are here because of the phone call?", Chris was excited about this and wanted to confirm.

Isaac didn't deny it. "I was unable to sleep, and I called Chairman Lee who confirmed that Elizabeth is not coming to work. I didn't have a choice. First thing in the morning, I came to Seattle."

"Did you see that man who is hanging around her?", Chris asked cautiously.

Chris never mentioned Max's name to Isaac. He was careful to always address him as 'that man'. Part of Chris feared that if Isaac finds out that Max is son of Nathaniel Anderson, and an heir of the Alpha group, he will have a good opinion of that scoundrel.

"Do you know him?", Isaac asked Chris.

"We met. Once.", Chris admitted while cringing internally at the memory of that lunch which ended in a disaster.

Of course, Isaac wants to know more about that one meeting Max and Chris had. "And?"

"It was a group lunch on a weekend. He was extremely manipulative to the point of Liz only talking to him.", Chris said. "That man has ways with words. When I called him out, he told me to stick to my patients and to leave Elizabeth to him. At that point I knew that something is wrong."

"Is there something else?", Isaac continued probing. He knows that Chris is omitting many details and now that they are sitting face-to-face, Isaac is set to fish out as many things as he can.

Subconsciously, Chris rubbed his right cheek, where Max punched him. He still remembers the incident like it happened yesterday. But, should he say that to Isaac?

"The man is violent. He stepped out and when he returned I was talking to Elizabeth and out of nowhere he punched me. There was no explanation, no warning."

Isaac was pleased that Chris started talking. "And then what happened?"

"He carried Elizabeth outside restaurant in his arms.", Chris said dejectedly.

"Carried her? Why didn't she walk?"

Chris shrugged, indicating that he is not sure. "I assume that she was shocked by his sudden display of violence."

At that time, their food arrived. The waiter put a large chunk of butcher paper on the middle of the table and poured all the seafood, corn, sausages, and potatoes on that paper. Isaac and Chris got mallets and wooden boards to smack open the claws in order to reach the succulent meat, and they also got grownup size bibs, to protect their clothes from any messes.

Two waiters approached them with pots of warm water and towels to wash their hands before they dig in.

Isaac was upset about the timing of the food. He just got Chris to start talking, and now they are back to square one.

They ate in silence for some time.

Chris found the current situation uncomfortable. Why is Isaac not saying anything? He just told him that Max is manipulative, and violent. Doesn't Isaac have any comment on that?

Isaac was thinking about everything that Chris said while munching on the sweet meat of the Dungeness crab.

Max's words rang in Isaac's mind: "…when I saw the most amazing woman who captured my heart being harassed by a despicable man, I ended up punching him…"

Isaac connected that this is the incident Chris mentioned. However, Chris said that he was talking to Elizabeth, and Max said that Chris was harassing her. Which one is it?

Well, no matter what, Isaac was not born yesterday. Things are not adding up and Isaac's suspicion against Chris is rising the more he thinks about it.

Isaac collected his thoughts, formed a battle plan, and started executing: "Uhm… Chris, as you can guess, I am thinking about what you told me before the food arrived."

"And?" Chris was unable to prevent the smirk at the edge of his lips. It seems that Isaac decided something. Will Max get what he deserves?

"You said that he manipulated Liz into talking to him. Did you ever think of a possibility that Liz would rather talk to him than with you?"

Chris was confused. So far Isaac was either neutral or encouraging. Why would he say that Liz does not want to talk to him? Chris thought that maybe he heard wrong. "What?"

Isaac sighed. Based on Chris' expression, he is not getting it. It's time for Isaac to show that he is not ignorant. After all, he is Isaac Williams, Chairman of the Williams Medical corp. He didn't build his medical empire by being naïve and not knowing how to talk to people.

"Chris, I am aware that you had multiple job offers and you selected Franciscan Medical Center as your final choice even though at least two others were better in terms of progressing your career. The fact that a man like you choose a subpar option tells me that you had some other motive for coming here." Isaac paused and observed Chris' expression for a second before continuing: "Stop me if I am wrong, but I have a feeling that your motive for picking to come to Seattle which gave you less money than San Francisco and lower entry status than Los Angeles is… Elizabeth."

Chris smiled. "I will not hide it from you. I was interested to find out more about Elizabeth, and to know her on a personal level which goes beyond resumes and research papers."

Isaac was surprised that Chris admitted it. "Was meeting Elizabeth in person worth taking a step back in your career? Why didn't you meet her on one of the fundraisers? If you asked, me I could arrange for you to get an invitation for the next event she attends."

Chris shook his head before answering: "Eh… but that is only one event. How much can you learn about a person over few short hours when everyone is dressed up and drinking sparkling drinks with their pinky finger raised? I wanted to know everything there is to know about her."

Isaac was slightly creeped out. "And what did you find out?"

Chris smiled dreamily while talking: "I found out that she is dedicated, principled. I never saw anyone who is so meticulous about their work. She is compassionate, smart, funny. Trust me when I say that one week after I joined Franciscan Medical Center, I confirmed that any cuts in terms of career I took by coming after Elizabeth were worth it."

Isaac saw that Chris relaxed. It is time for attack. Isaac narrowed his eyes at Chris. "Did you make a romantic move on Elizabeth? Did you make her uncomfortable in any way? When Max punched you, did you only talk to her, or did you harass her?"

"Since when is holding hands harassing!?", Chris blurted out.

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