Accident Prone

Liz was brushing her teeth while checking emails on her phone.

She usually leaves email-checking for later, not before her morning coffee, but today is the bachelorette's party.

Mia picked Liz as the maid of honor and Liz is taking her role seriously because she does not want to disappoint Mia. Everything needs to be perfect and that pressure is making Liz anxious to the point that she remembered the first time she stepped into the operating room as the main surgeon.

To make sure their day runs smoothly, Liz is double-triple checking that everything is in place before the party starts, so while doing her morning routine, Liz was multitasking in order to optimize her time.

Liz finished reading the email from the caterer and her movements froze when she saw that there is an email in her inbox from Dr. Calum. It just arrived.

Images from the conference in Portland flashed in Liz's mind and she remembered her chat with Dr. Calum… one of the main guys for the organization of the symposium of neurosurgeons that will happen in Las Vegas in June.

With a shaky finger, Liz opened the email and read the subject: "Invitation to speak at the upcoming symposium".

"Ahhh!", Liz screamed and ran out of the bathroom. She had to show this to Max and confirm that it's not a dream!

Max was in the kitchen, pouring freshly brewed coffee in the mugs when he heard Liz's scream. He was overwhelmed by anxiety. Did she hurt herself? Or did her shoulder injury flare-up? If it's anything else, it must be horrible, because Liz is usually composed and even snakes can't scare her.

He left the kettle on the counter and dashed to the bathroom.

Max and Liz ended up colliding in the bedroom and they fell on the floor with Max on the bottom.

"You will not believe this!", Liz shouted while spraying toothpaste everywhere.

Her foamy mouth and vigorous movements made her look like a rabid animal.

Max squinted to avoid toothpaste getting into his eyes. "What is going on?"

Liz gave her phone to Max and grinned.

Max read the email and his eyes widened.

"You did it, Liz… You got invited…", Max said under his breath and then grimaced when he saw that Liz was sitting on top of him and grinning with sparkles in her eyes while toothpaste and saliva dripped down her chin. It was not the most pleasant sight. 

It took a second for Liz to realize why Max is avoiding looking at her. She swiftly covered her face with palms.

"Sorry… I will be back in a second…", Liz said while dashing into the bathroom. She squished her mouth and washed her face before returning to the bedroom with a wet towel.

She found Max sitting on the bed and reading the email again.

Liz used the towel to wipe his face from spots of toothpaste while grinning until her cheeks hurt.

"You did it, love…", Max said with warmth in his voice and pulled Liz to sit in his lap.

Liz beamed. "I need a minute or a day to process this. I didn't expect that my research with Dr. Thomas will catch Dr. Calum's eye."

"Don't give him all the credit. He sent the email, but there is probably a team of people who are deciding on speakers for the conference."

Liz agreed. "I need to confirm that I am interested and to give him a synopsis. Ah, this is exciting!"

"You will do great.", Max said and smiled goofily. Things are falling into place. They agreed to talk about engagement and marriage after her speech at the symposium of neurosurgeons, and this invitation gave him a rough timeline on when he will ask her to marry him. Well, he would do it even if she didn't get this invitation, but with it, Liz will be happier and the whole proposal thing looks more solid. Ah, Max was excited!

"Thanks, love…", Liz said excitedly and bobbed her head. "Tonight, I celebrate!"

Max's smile fell a little. "You can celebrate, just watch your alcohol. OK?"

Liz eyed him suspiciously. "You are kidding, right? It's Mia's party which I organized as the maid of honor… OK, I need to make sure things are in place, but once we hit the club, I can relax and enjoy. There are so many things to celebrate! It will be Mia's last hoorah before she commits to a lifetime with Hunter, and I will be right by her side hooraying with a bottle of wine. In the club, we will drink the best they can offer, and when we reach the suite...", Liz paused and made a dreamy face. "I got my hands on five bottles of Pinot Noir from Le Musigny vineyard. Those flavors explode in the mouth and slide smoothly down the throat, and then it hits all the right spots in the body... Why are you looking at me like that? Relax. Isn't your security watching over me? They will make sure nothing bad happens…"

Max's smile faded as his frown deepened. How can he relax if Liz plans to drink? In a club? She loves wine, but Liz is not much of a drinker and after the second glass she gets all giggly and the third glass is making her lean on him and talk without filter, and he does not want to think about what happens after the fourth glass. Liz was talking about the suite, but Max was quite confident that Liz will not reach there sober. 

His mind worked a million thoughts a second while considering various possibilities for the night and none of them were good. Liz and wine are a great combination IF Max is by her side. He imagined Liz dancing in the crowd with her mind hazed from the wine and all guys looking at the gorgeous woman on the dancefloor and... No one touches Liz, other than Max. No one!

"Let's have coffee…", Liz said cheerfully, oblivious to Max's internal struggle. She was so happy that everything looked shiny and fluffy, even Max's frown. "Ah, I need to tell my dad!"

"Isaac is with Foxy, and it's early morning.", Max reminded Liz while trying to control his anger due to mental images of Liz swaying in her drunken stupor on the dancefloor without him to protect her from all the lecherous men who swarmed around her. "You can tell him later, or tomorrow at the wedding. The invitation will not disappear."

Liz paused for a second before agreeing with Max. "True. And it will give me more time to settle my emotions, so I will be cool when I talk about it. I need to be cool, or he will tease me…"

She got up to leave the room because there the scent of coffee reached her, and she wanted some.

"Liz?", Max called.

"Hmm?"

"Can we stay home today?", Max blurted out, letting his anxiety take over for a moment.

Liz's eyes nearly bulged out of their eye sockets when she saw that Max was not joking. "Are you serious? Please tell me there is a funny twist to your unreasonable question. You know how much I planned for today. It's Mia's bachelorette's party. There is NO WAY I'm sitting this one down. What's got into you?"

"I don't want you to miss the party…"

Liz gave him a smacking kiss on the lips. "I'm glad we agree on this." She tugged his hand to stand up. "Come. Coffee… We can talk more… Ah, the symposium!"

Liz's mind was all over the place, full of excitement and happy thoughts and there was no space for any negativity. 

…

At that time, in a coffee shop close to downtown Seattle...

"You said that you have something important.", Irene said stiffly to Suzy.

Irene was not happy that Suzy called her on such short notice, but at the same time, Irene would not miss a chance to find out something about Max and Liz. Ever since the spa-blunder when Liz left before Irene could make a move, Irene was waiting patiently for some update from Suzy, and Irene hoped that this might be it.

"Hunter's wedding is tomorrow." Suzy's expression was as if she just announced impending doom to humanity.

"I hope that is not the reason you called me because everyone knows that. It's all over the news. They invited everyone who is someone, yet scoring an invitation seems impossible. Their security is tight like the president himself is coming, and there is no way I will show up and deliver myself into their hands."

Suzy tilted her head and gave a mocking smirk to Irene. "The topics of our meeting today are pre-wedding parties. I know where girls will be, and the guys as well."

When Suzy announced that she has information on bachelor's and bachelorette's parties that Max and Liz will definitely attend, Irene's mood improved.

"I am listening.", Irene said.

"Which one you want to know?"

Irene understood that Suzy wants money.

With Irene concealing her identity, job options were not good, and this was the second month she was living under the radar. If she keeps on paying Suzy, her funds will deplete in no time. But there is another way to get the information… "I know that you are after Hunter. How about we collaborate?"

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