~ Seattle ~Wednesday
6:59 PM
Max is standing in the hallway and shifting from one leg to another nervously... For more than two hours.
On Monday morning, he got out of his apartment, and almost tripped on a bag and a box which were placed on the floor in front of his door. He checked the contents and saw that it"s a black dress, and silver shoes and a clutch. Elizabeth returned things that he got for her when they went on a date. Since she delayed for a whole week, he thought that she forgot, but it seems that she didn"t. Part of him hoped that maybe she decided to keep it… girls keep mementos when they want to remember good things.
Max tried talking to Elizabeth, but it is like trying to catch a shadow. Every morning she leaves earlier than the previous one, and he is not sure when she gets home from work because no matter how late he rings the doorbell, she doesn"t answer.
Max decided to wait for her. He went to the Franciscan Medical Center"s website and found among providers Elizabeth Williams, MD. Her work hours on Wednesday are from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Back to present…
Max is in the hallway from before 5 PM, to make sure he does not miss her… just in case if she leaves work earlier. But it"s 7 PM and he is concerned. Is she even coming home?
He cursed himself for hundredth time in the last hour because he doesn"t have Elizabeth"s number.
…
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Elizabeth is in the underground garage of her apartment building, sitting in her car.
It"s almost 7 PM and she is exhausted. Her fatigue is mostly mental because she is trying to avoid Max.
Liz arrived from New York on Sunday evening. While she checked what she will wear to work the next day, her sight fell on the black skater dress she wore previous weekend when she went out for a dinner with Max. It was not just the dinner. They had lunch and went cycling and had a coffee and a makeover before the dinner. He called it a date.
The dress came back from the dry cleaning, but for some reason she delayed returning it. Probably because she saw Max every day, so she thought that she will return it tomorrow. At that time, she thought how the dress is cute, but now it brings back those memories which come in a tow with that photo and comments below and… she needs to return it. But she does not want to see Max.
Early Monday morning, she kept the dress and the shoes and the clutch in front of Max"s door and left for work. She was happy with that solution: things are returned, and she does not need to see him.
She was anxious in the evening when she looked through the peephole and saw that Max is in front of her door. He probably wants to talk… to hear an explanation for her disappearance and for that strange way of returning the clothes and accessories.
But she does not have any explanation which will not make her look like a sulking child. What will she say: "You hurt my feelings?" As much as it"s true, she does not want to say those words to him. He does not deserve to know that he hurt her. He does not deserve to know that he got so close so that he can impact her emotions.
Liz blames herself for trusting him and for believing that they are friends and that he respects her as much as she respects him.
Max seems persistent to try talking to her. What can she do? Every morning she leaves earlier than the previous one, and every evening she returns later.
Her mind is so preoccupied with this situation that it makes her sick to her stomach whenever she is not actively doing something. Because of that, when she does not have an appointment with a patient, she spends her time in the urgent care. It keeps her mind busy from thinking about Max and that website and how something nice turned into something ugly.
Back to present…
Liz checked the time… 7:07 PM. It should be late enough so that it"s safe. She just needs to take the elevator and dash those 20 or so steps until she reaches the door of her apartment and then she does NOT need to worry about avoiding Max until tomorrow morning. Elizabeth shook her head while telling herself how silly she is because there is no need for dashing. Knowing Max, he is probably at some party, enjoying himself with his date number who-knows-what while she is stuck in her car and overthinking it, as usually.
…
Elizabeth got out of the elevator and made five rushed steps before stopping in her tracks. Why is Max in the hallway? Looking at her like that?
She scolded herself silently, she should have waited in the car longer. Now what? The elevator"s door closed, so that is not an option, not a quick one at least. The stairs? Yes, they are right there, but it will be blindingly obvious that she is running away…
Liz took a deep breath and walked straight to her door, pretending that nothing happened. Yup. They are just neighbors, and nothing happened, good or bad. Maybe she can erase all her memories of him other than knowing that Maximilian Anderson is her neighbor across the hallway and start over, but this time she will keep her distance from him.
"Good evening, Max.", she greeted curtly and turned toward her door.
"Elizabeth?", his deep voice made her freeze for a second while punching-in her pa.s.scode.
She opened the door, stepped in and paused while holding on the door handle of the halfway closed door. "Yes?"
Max was happy that Liz stopped and didn"t just slam the door in his face. But he can see in her expression that she is not happy. Her dark eyes are completely devoid of warmth and it makes his heart ache that her indifferent expression is directed at him. "I am sorry."
Elizabeth wavered for a second when she saw in his eyes… sincerity. Why is he apologizing? She reminded herself of that website and nasty comments and that he used her…
"There is nothing for you to be sorry about." Her eyes shifted few times while thinking if she should say more, but she decided against it. "Good night, Max."
Liz started closing the door, and Max blocked it with his arm.
"I want to fix it, but I don"t know how."
Liz was confused. "What do you want to fix?"
"The fact that I offended you."
Liz realized that Max knows about the website. Part of her hoped that he doesn"t. Since when he knows about it? She was upset at the thought how for him this is probably normal: going out with a woman, smearing her name through the mud and if she does not complain, it"s all fine. Right?
It all went back to how she thought that he is treating her with respect, and she was wrong.
Since he does not have any regard toward her feelings or her image, why is he going through the trouble to apologize? "Why do you want to fix it?"
Max saw that she is not softening up, and he told himself that he needs to be honest, or he will not reach anywhere. "Because I miss talking to you, and I miss eating my dinners with you, and I miss your laughter, and witty answers and… I miss you."
Liz tilted her head slightly while his words sank in. Is he playing with her again? What kind of a missing nonsense is he spouting? What does that have to do with him taking advantage of her? Since she met him, he is playing some games of deceiving people, partying and having fun. She does not have time for that useless lazing.
"Max, I came to Seattle because of my career. I have a goal which I want to reach and a tight deadline. I welcomed your company because I enjoyed my time with you. I really did. But I was not aware of all the drama which is included…", Liz paused when she remembered that Olivia always warned her about him. "Actually, I was aware… but I foolishly ignored it while believing that I will not be dragged into it. If I knew that you will treat me like a casual hookup and that it will affect me this much, I would make sure to keep my distance from you from the start. I am a busy woman, and you are not the problem I want to have. I will appreciate if going forward you restrain yourself from acting too familiar with me and stay in the boundaries of our factual relationship: neighbors. Goodnight, Max."
Liz closed the door and exhaled in relief. This was easier than what she thought it will be. Now she feels silly for avoiding him for three days.
Hopefully he got the message and will not think of playing games with her or dragging her in as an accomplice.
She remembered how Olivia told her that there are leftovers in the fridge. She will warm those up for dinner, shower and go to bed early. She deserves a good rest, last few days were exhausting.
…
Outside, in the hallway…
Max was barely breathing while staring at the closed door with "31A" on it.
He was supposed to apologize, clarify things and they go back to how it used to be.
How did things end up like this? Why is she so angry? Did he really treat her like a casual hookup?
He wanted to slam at her door and ask her: "If I treated you like a casual hookup, do you think that you would spend a night by my side and wake up untouched?"
Max remembered that he took her to Simon"s salon and then for dinner… and he did that with many girls before her… and they were hookups. How would Liz know that he sees her differently if he treated her in the same way as the others?
Max does not know how he ended up on the sofa in his living room, with a bottle of Johnnie Walker in his hand… staring blankly at the television which played infomercials until 2 AM… and then he pa.s.sed out.
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