Lunch with Max and Chris (and others) (3)

Elizabeth noticed that Chris propped his chin on the back of his palm, and that he is looking at her with a faint smile on his face.

"You are done with your phone?", she asked Chris.

Chris confirmed. "Yes. Family matters. Sorry about that."

"Not a problem, family comes first. I hope everything is OK."

"It will be. Thanks.", Chris responded politely. He was happy that Elizabeth believed his story.

Chris looked at Max who has that irritating smirk on his face. Oh, how he wants to wipe that smirk off. With his fists. But he is a gentleman who uses his hands for healing, not for beating people, no matter how annoying they are. Also, he knows that Liz would not approve.

Chris told himself that he needs to understand Max and his relationship with Liz and then he can devise a strategy to get Max out of the picture.

"I can't help but notice that the two of you are getting along great. Do you know each other for long?"

Liz glanced at Max who made a gesture for her to respond.

Max wants to let Liz talk about their interaction from her perspective. If he says the truth it will be too distant, and if he goes with the version they told Sabrina it will be over the top and Liz would probably not approve, and anything in between is too much to juggle. So, he will allow Elizabeth to tell the story by picking any words she wants. Also, how much he got to know about Liz, she likes to keep her life private, and he does not want to risk getting on her bad side by oversharing.

As Max expected, Liz was brief and omitted many details while focusing on the main points.

"Not long. We met after I came to Seattle." Liz paused while remembering: "We met on the day of my job interview at the Franciscan Medical Center. He was in a car accident and I hitched a ride with his ambulance to get to my interview in time."

Max chuckled, pleasantly surprised that she didn't bring out the part of him ditching her in the rain. "Don't make it sound like I did a good thing by you getting a ride. Because of me your cab left, so if it was not for me, you would still make it in time with that cab."

"True. But then we would not meet."

Chris was irked that somehow this ended up in Liz smiling at Max. He needs to break this sync-thing the two of them are having.

"Your interview?", Chris appeared surprised. "That means about a month?"

"Yeah, something like that.", Liz responded.

"Those are strong relationship building skills if you are so close after only a month.", Chris said ambiguously in hope to find out more.

Liz was irritated that Chris is going into personal topics. Is he insinuating that there is something between her and Max? Why are her private relationships his business?

Her displeasure was obvious, and Chris swiftly tried to lessen the blow.

"I'm sorry if I'm asking too personal questions. I was curious, that is all."

Chris cursed himself internally, why did he end up talking to Liz? He wanted to question Max!

He forced himself to adjust his mood and looked at Max.

"Max, what does a man like you do for a living?"

Max was not sure where this is going, but he answered: "I'm working with my father in the company. At this point I am assisting him, and he hopes that I will take over his position."

Chris noticed Max's unusual choice of words. "He hopes? You don't want to?"

Max shrugged. It's not a secret that he is not interested in taking over family business. The only reason he still has that job as a CEO's assistant is because of his father who is not allowing him to quit.

"I thought I did, but now I'm not sure about that."

Chris smirked. "Not sure? Is it OK for a man your age not to be sure what he wants in life?"

Max narrowed his eyes at Chris when he realized that the snobby doctor is turning this into an attack on his character. "I don't think that it's ever too late to question your priorities. It is good for a person to realize when he is hitting a dead end and to take a different path."

"I will not disagree with that logic. But, if you are not consistent, how can you expect people to rely on you?" Chris saw that Max is uncomfortable and continued that route. "It is not a secret that an Anderson is the CEO of Alpha group, and I can only assume that you are his son. If he plans to groom you into the next leader of that mega corporation, who will follow you if you have a habit of questioning your priorities? Why would anyone show any loyalty to a person who is considering a different path just because he doesn't feel like continuing the current one? At a certain point in life, everyone needs to grow up and stop acting on an impulse and that means having responsibility and accountability and not just quit when things don't go your way."

Liz was uncomfortable where this is going. She knows that Max's parents are giving him a hard time about work and relationships and she thinks that it's not her business to meddle. Chris and Max just met, why is Chris meddling?

She decided to stop this. "Chris…"

"Sorry, sorry…", Chris interrupted whatever Liz wanted to say. "I didn't mean to make it a heavy topic, but sometimes my convictions that a person should stand for something useful takes over."

Max narrowed his eyes at Chris. "I also have a conviction that everyone should stick to what they are good at. So how about you stick to being a doctor and keep your advices about managing a company to yourself?"

Liz can see that both Max and Chris are irritable, and she did her best to end the topic by summarizing how both of them have a point.

"I don't want this to escalate into something unpleasant, but Chris has a point. You can't be a good leader if people who work under you don't trust that you are fully vested in doing your best to guide them toward the bright future. At the same time, Max has a point as well. If you are not happy with your current situation, you should reevaluate your choices and adjust as needed. After all, he knows the best if he is suited to lead a company or not."

Max had mixed feelings about Liz's last sentence and looking at Chris' victorious expression the urge to hit that snobby doctor skyrocketed.

…

Mia stood up and asked Hunter to give her a minute. She called Liz and Bri to join her on the side.

"I'm going with Hunter for a game of inline hockey.", Mia told Liz and Bri.

Bri blinked few times while thinking how she saw them talking, but this is to fast… "When?"

Mia looked at her shocked friends and wondered, what is with those exaggerated reactions? "Now. I will be back in time for dinner. If I get delayed, or anything else happens, I will let you know."

"Why are you going? What about our plan for the afternoon?", Liz asked Mia.

"At this point I have no idea what that plan is, but looking at the current situation… Bri and Quentin are just fine, and you…", Mia glanced at Max and Chris who were whispering something between each other before continuing. "You don't need me. I want to have fun and not to watch the two of you starring in your shows."

"Hunter is fun?", Bri asked suggestively.

"Hunter is offering inline hockey… and he gave me his scallops.", Mia smugly said.

Bri and Liz burst into laugh.

"Somehow, I knew it's food related.", Bri said while wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

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