18 Liz meets Quentin (1/2)

Accident Prone RedSonia 31310K 2022-07-19

Friday, 6:43 PM

Liz parked in the underground parking of her apartment building.

Her first week at work went well. Boringly slow, but well.

Because she had nothing else to do, she went to the hospital all five days, from Monday to Friday.

She spent most of her time in the office and in the urgent care.

As a new doctor, she still does not have many patients, so she used the time to get to know the people who are working there. Everyone seems friendly, but not too friendly. That is good. It works for her.

During her two in-office days, Liz saw a total of four patients. And those are four people which got cancelations from their regular doctors, and they didn't care who will see them as long as they get examined.

The urgent care is disappointingly… not urgent. Compared to Chicago, Seattle is very peaceful, and she ended up sleeping most of the time on the sofa in her office. The biggest thing they had for the whole 12 hours long shift today was a broken hip (a lady slipped and fell in her kitchen). It's not that Liz wishes for people to get hurt, but there is no work! At this rate, her on-call days will be no-call days. What will she do with all the free time? Liz started considering to start volunteering somewhere, because this… is not going to keep her busy.

Again, she regretted that she didn't go to Los Angeles. She heard that LA Medical Center is looking for surgeons. They must be busier than… this. And it's sunny there.

Dr. Kaviraj told Liz that she will get her to assist with her surgeries whenever possible, and Liz is grateful for that.

When Liz told Dr. Kaviraj that there is not much to do, she got an offer to join her at the horse riding club. It seems that Dr. Kaviraj and her family go there for lunch and then riding on Saturdays, about once a month. Liz accepted. She likes horses, and meeting Dr. Kaviraj's family will definitely be better than her previous Saturday's lunch… with those two Anderson jokesters, and their sister. Well, Rina seems nice. And Liz would love to have a shopping and a spa buddy, but not at the risk of her brothers coming closer to her. She didn't see any of them since last weekend, and Liz is perfectly happy with that.

With those thoughts she entered the elevator and pressed the familiar '31'.

The elevator started moving up and Liz smiled at the thought of a good bubble bath. Yes, that sounds like a great way to spend Friday evening.

The elevator stopped on the main level, and Liz moved to the corner.

By the time she looked up, she was facing the back view of broad shoulders with a neatly combed black hair on top. The man's perfume smells nice. Based on his clothes (and smell) he is ready for a date.

She observed with a frown his hand, large ring on the middle finger… his index finger hovering in front of '31'. He is also going to the top floor? Well, she definitely does not know him… so… he is going to visit Max. There is no other option on that floor.

He turned toward Liz and she could see his face: black hair, dark thick eyebrows above dark eyes… and a beard neatly trimmed in balbo style. Based on his gaze and smile, she can see that he is a confident young man.

”Are you Elizabeth?”, he asked in a husky voice.

Liz's frown deepened. ”And you are?”

He chuckled, amused by her hostility. ”Sorry, just saying your name must make me appear like a creep. I'm Quentin. I'm Max's friend. He mentioned that his neighbor is Elizabeth, and based on the floor selection, I assumed that you are her. Am I wrong?”

”No.” Elizabeth scrutinized Quentin. ”He talks about his neighbors?”

”Not to everyone. You can say that the two of us have a… special relationship.”

Liz didn't respond to this.

They reached floor 31 and Elizabeth waited for Quentin to exit first. He is standing in the middle, in front of the door, and if she tries getting out, she will rub against him.

He stepped out and placed his hand to prevent the elevator door from closing before speaking again: ”Can you not mention to anyone from Max's family that you saw me here?”

”What?” Liz was not sure she heard him right.