175 The FMC fundraiser 1

~ Seattle, Marriott hotel ~

Saturday

5:42 PM

Liz is in the main ballroom of the hotel with the rest of the staff, greeting guests who are arriving.

Each of the staff members is wearing an identification tag which lists their name and occupation Liz's tag says:

"Elizabeth Williams, MD

Neurosurgeon"

The band is already on the stage, filling the space with a soft tune.

They are expecting a total of almost 300 guests and the event hall booked for the occasion can accommodate more than that. Chairman Lee wanted to make this a stylish fundraiser with a large event hall which features crystal chandeliers, modern yet cozy interior, and amazing views of the ocean. Circular tables can accommodate eight guests each, and tall flower arrangements give it an elegant atmosphere while not obstructing the view toward the stage where speakers will take turns (and the band will play later).

Other than the event room, there are four lounging areas available and an outdoor terrace.

Every guest gets a program which lists that at 6:30 PM the event will kick off with a speech from chairman Lee. At 7 PM is dinner and after that is free time for socializing where people can enjoy a variety of snacks and desserts. One of the lounging areas has a scale model of the Franciscan Medical Center, with printouts that provide explanations as well as suggestions for upgrades and expansions.

The lounging areas are where the real-thing will take place: after people fill up their stomach with tasty food, they will start mingling, and the ones who want to talk seriously will head to one of the available lounging areas. Every lounge has several circular sofas and the dim lighting is creating an illusion of privacy which is perfect for people to talk about money while sipping their beverages.

Liz has her professional smile on, and her eyes are frequently darting toward the main entrance in the hope to see Max.

Until that morning, Liz was thinking about how she will arrive together with Max, and the two of them will interact with others side-by-side and maybe even dance. She knew that there will be a dinner and in her mind, she was sitting next to Max. However, that image started cracking in the morning and when she arrived at the venue, it collapsed completely.

There is no way that she can talk to all the guests, but she needs to be polite and smile with the ones who approach her and based on the number of guests versus the number of doctors present, and her past experiences which are telling her that donors prefer to talk to younger females, she is up to a whole evening of chatting.

Her mood dropped to an all-time low when she found out that the seating arrangement is set. She was not surprised that chairman Lee thought how it's a good idea to put two youngest surgeons to sit at the same table. Yup, she is going to sit at the same table with Dr. Snow with two people in-between them during chairman Lee's speech and through the five-course dinner while Max will be two tables away.

Alpha group has three spots reserved, one for Max one for Nathan, and the third one is not named. Liz didn't ask who the third person is, because it's probably a director or someone from finances.

Liz does not want to think about how Max will react when he finds out that she will sit close to Dr. Snow while Max gets to watch. Will Max lose his composure? Or will he be cool because this is related to her work? Liz can't imagine Max being cool about it because she would not be OK with sitting a few feet away from Max while someone who is openly interested in him is by his side.

What a headache. Liz wants to go home. But she can't. Max told her that it's only one event, only a few hours and after that, they will go home together. She needs to be professional and perform in her role well so that chairman Lee will not give her a hard time going forward. And Liz knows that Max is right. She can't act childish, and she should follow Max's lead because she knows that he was looking forward to this event as well.

"Are you OK?", Dr. Kaviraj's question snapped Liz out of her thoughts.

"Yes, yes.", Liz smiled, happy to see a friendly face. She glanced at Dr. Kaviraj's gown. "You look amazing."

Dr. Kaviraj returned the compliment: "Thank you. Your dress fits you very well. If I don't know that this is a fundraiser, I would think that it's a party where you are the star, and someone put extra effort in making you dazzle."

Liz's response was cut off when an older gentleman approached her.

"You are Dr. Williams, the neurosurgeon?"

His question almost startled Elizabeth. Why does he sound like he heard about her?

"Yes.", Liz responded while visually inspecting the man's expression like she is trying to figure out what is on his mind.

"I am Daniel Wardle, CEO of Wardle Inc. I apologize for staring. I assumed that you are older."

Liz blinked, but her expression didn't crack. "I get that a lot. You assumed that I am older, compared to what?"

Mr. Wardle laughed. "Compared to your title. I look forward to talking to you later about the future of neurosurgery and what your hospital plans to do about it." He shook hands with Dr. Kaviraj before walking away.

Dr. Kaviraj looked at Liz and gave her an approving nod. "He is interested to invest in the neurosurgery wing."

Dr. Kaviraj waved at Liz and went to talk to some other people. All of them have a task to put themselves out there.

Liz hid her confusion behind a smile while her thoughts lingered on the older man with whom she spoke a few seconds ago. She wondered, what is going on? If Mr. Wardle is the first one to act like this, she would brush it off, but he is the sixth one who approached her like he heard about her and gave hints that he is interested in neurosurgery.

Liz loves neurosurgery and she always thought how that topic is either unknown or boring to people who are not in that field, but here she is, finding out that some people suddenly developed an interest in it.

Liz shifted on her feet nervously. Why is Max not here? It's almost 6 PM, and even though the program starts at 6:30, everyone should be here by 6. Did something happen to him?

"Dr. Williams!", an enthusiastic voice of Mrs. Wilson almost startled Liz. "Thank you for arranging the invitation for me."

Liz smiled. "It's not a problem. I hope you enjoy tonight. Let me know if you are interested in finding out more about our hospital. I will be happy to answer any questions you might have."

"Yes, yes.", Mrs. Wilson smiled knowingly. "I'm watching you from the side and I noticed that you are busy, so I will not take too much of your time now. I just wanted to say hi. I will look for you after dinner."

Liz looked at Tyler's mom as she walked toward the group of older gentlemen and Liz was confident that Mrs. Wilson is considering a donation toward neurosurgery wing as well. Probably to thank Liz for the invitation.

"Nice dress…", Dr. Snow's voice came from behind Liz, making her smile drop.

He wanted to say that Liz is beautiful. Her hair raised into an elegant braided updo, and the natural yet enchanting makeup, the dress which fits her perfectly, jewelry, shoes, her posture, everything is mesmerizing... but he thought that it's not appropriate to say all that (considering their current relationship), so he decided to compliment the dress as a conversation starter. Girls like compliments.

Liz took a second to adjust her mood before turning to face him. "Good evening, Dr. Snow."

He nodded in greeting. "Dr. Williams… I understood that you are not comfortable talking about non-work things during work hours. I assume that tonight is OK to chat?"

Liz is not sure what non-work topic he has on his mind, but she hopes that it's not back to relationship-nonsense. "It depends on what you want to chat about."

"I was only hoping to clear the air between us. I realized my mistake during the lunch we had outside of the office, and I know that I made a few more mistakes after that."

Liz was touched by Dr. Snow's humble demeanor and the honesty in his voice, but at the same time, she was irked that he approached her with such a request.

"I'm not sure if you were paying attention during this morning's meeting, Dr. Snow. Chairman Lee clearly said that any private matters should not be brought to this fundraiser. And it seems to me that you want to talk about something private. But if you want to clear the air, a good place to start is to tell chairman Lee that you are the one who ordered an excessive amount of flowers which earned me to be sent home like a schoolgirl who misbehaved."

"I see that you are angry about it.", Dr. Snow voiced one part of his thoughts.

"I am not angry about the flowers, and I would like to put that incident behind me and forget about that day. However, chairman Lee is still bringing up how the hospital was disrupted because of me."

Dr. Snow nodded solemnly. "I understand. I will talk to him about it when I get the chance."

"I would appreciate that.", Liz admitted.

"After that is cleared up, will you be open for a talk?", Dr. Snow asked expectantly.

Liz thought for a second before responding: "If it does not disturb my work and you are respectful, yes."

Dr. Snow released a breath he was holding and smiled in relief. "I will leave you to the guests."

Dr. Snow walked away while reminding himself to take it easy. He will ignore Max and Isaac and anyone else and focus on improving his image in Liz's eyes. He needs to fix his wrongdoings and slowly make his way back into Liz's life. First as a coworker, then as a friend and then… who knows?

Dr. Snow's mood improved at the thought of how a minute ago Liz agreed to talk to him as long as he discloses to chairman Lee that he is the one who ordered flowers. That will be easy to do. First thing on Monday morning he will go to chairman Lee's office and have a chat with him.

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