Accident Prone 120 Lunch With Rina And Jack

Liz was confused by his request and had to confirm: "Baby section?"

Max grinned. "I want to get something also. Help me pick."

His explanation didn't clarify anything. Why is he so happy about baby clothes? He didn't mention anything before this. "For whom?"

"Based on my parents' behavior, it can be only one thing: Sabrina is pregnant. Her belly is not showing, but I can't lag behind my parents. If they are buying something, as an Uncle I should also…", Max spoke excitedly.

Liz paused while Max's words sank in. Sabrina is pregnant? With that deceitful Jay (aka Jackson)? Oh, G.o.d… this can't be good. Now what? It is one thing to tell Max that Sabrina's fiancé is a cheater, but now he is the father of her child? This mess got more complicated.

"Liz? Are you OK?", Max's question startled Liz out of her thoughts.

"Yes, yes." Liz lied as best as she could, even though she knows that he can read her mood.

"You don't seem eager to help me pick a gift for my nephew… or a niece.", Max voiced his thoughts.

Liz cleared her throat awkwardly and came up with an excuse on spot: "I was just thinking that it's early. We don't know the gender and Rina herself still didn't say anything. When she shares her big news and we already have a present ready, that can spoil her plans to surprise us."

Max's eyes widened and a second later he nodded in agreement. "You are right! Pregnant women can be moody. Let's not rush with buying things and risk to upset her. Rina can be irritated easily without any pregnancy hormones. OK. That settles it. We will postpone buying baby things until it's official. Let's pay for this and then head for lunch… It's past lunch hours…"

Max grabbed bikini top from Liz's hands and walked toward the cash register while talking. It was obvious that he is excited about the news that he will be Uncle even though they didn't buy baby-clothes.

Liz walked behind him and exhaled in relief that she dodged this bullet. She wondered if every relationship brings this much drama? She is enjoying her time with Max, but all this with McKenzie and Jackson, her losing her bikini top, and now Sabrina's pregnancy… it all happened in less than twenty-four hours and Liz wonders, when can she go back to her books and patients and surgeries, and leave all this mess behind?

Liz told herself not to allow her thoughts to go that way. The non-fun Elizabeth is back and wants to take over.

Liz took few deep breaths while trying to adjust her mood. It's only until tomorrow. Tomorrow evening they will return to Seattle, and she can go back into seclusion (aka her normal routine) and reconsider her life choices. Now she needs to do her best to enjoy the rest of her vacation because she committed to come here with Max.

Liz hopes that there will be no other unpleasant and stressful things. It's only until tomorrow.

…

Max paid for the swimwear Liz picked and they headed to one of the restaurants for lunch.

Because it was after 1 PM, other than the staff, only few people were seated and those few were mostly finishing up their meal.

The restaurant offers an indoor and an outdoor seating.

The outdoor terrace offers breathtaking views of the mountains and tropical rainforest below it, but Max recommended that they sit indoors, in order to reduce sun exposure when it's at its strongest and avoid sunburns. They spent most of the morning in the sun and are planning an afternoon of surfing and considering that Max is Seattleite (read as: a chronic lack of sunshine) and Liz is not really an outdoorsy type, it's better to stay in the shade.

Liz had no objections. She was hungry.

Max and Liz were working on their appetizers while waiting for the main dish to arrive when they heard Sabrina's voice.

"Lucky! You don't mind if we join you, do you?", Sabrina asked while taking her seat.

Liz's smile faded when she saw that Jackson took a seat next to her. Actually, it's a square table for four people, and because Max and Liz were seated across each other, Sabrina and Jackson only filled empty chairs. However, that didn't make it any less awkward for Elizabeth.

Sabrina was excited. "Since we came late for lunch, I thought that I will not see a familiar face…" She turned to Liz. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah.", Liz responded while doing her best not to show her discomfort. Why did it suddenly become so hot that she started sweating?

"Oh, nice! My brother is not bullying you, is he? He might be charming and smiling, but I know him better than anyone. He is always thinking of causing some trouble." Rina laughed seeing Max's outraged expression, but that didn't stop her from tattling on his multiple mischiefs when they were kids.

Thanks to Rina's excited chatter and her bickering with Max, the lunch was lively and no one called out that Liz is not talking.

Few times Liz caught Jackson looking her way with an unreadable expression, but she ignored him. No matter how much she wanted to confront him and address his shameless behavior from that morning, this is not the time or the place for it.

Liz excused herself to the restroom. Other than a bio-break, she wanted to wash her face. All the windows in the restaurant are open and even with the always-present breeze, she felt hot and sweated and wanted to freshen up. As a bonus, she gets to leave the table and distance herself from Jackson. 

"You two are doing well, I see...", Rina said to Max after Liz left.

Max smiled in response.

Rina reached over the table and clasped Max's hand between hers. "I am really happy for you."

"Thanks. How are you doing?"

"Me? Or we?", Rina asked while gesturing between her and Jackson and answered without Max's clarification: "Whichever it is, the answer is the same: great."

Jackson got his phone and excused himself. "I need to take this."

Rina nodded to Jackson, understanding that he is leaving the table due to a phone call, and she continued answering Max's question: "We are together for such a long time that there are not many surprises, but that is a good thing. With Jack's crazy schedule and my business finally picking up, it is nice to have something steady and solid…"

Liz washed her face and told herself that lunch is almost over, and she can pull this off without succ.u.mbing under the pressure of Jackson's presence.

Elizabeth Williams is not the one to stay close to someone who is making her uncomfortable while keeping a pretense that everything is fine. However, that only proves how she is inexperienced in social interactions.

Her whole life Liz was pushing forward, not paying attention to the people around her. She was never close to her cla.s.smates or coworkers because she was moving fast through life, uninterested in the drama of others and focused on the goals in front of her. Liz's academic and professional results spoke clearly about her capabilities, and she didn't care about leaving a good impression in a social setting because other than a handful of friends and her father, she didn't take note of anyone else. Until now.

If this is not related to Max and his family, Liz would call out Jackson right away during breakfast or at least now during lunch. And if she didn't care about not causing trouble during this weekend which is organized to celebrate Hunter's birthday, she would give a piece of her mind to Jackson in the garden when he approached her. And if she didn't care about Max, she would not be here at all.

Liz exhaled and smiled at herself in the mirror. Yes, she cares about Max and he treats her well and that should be enough to smile.

Liz walked out of the restroom into the hallway which leads to the dining area of the restaurant and paused. Why is Jackson there?

She continued her steps, wary of his presence. Jackson is just standing there, leaning on the wall. Maybe he is thinking about something and it's not related to her. Maybe.

Liz was two steps away from Jackson when he turned to face her and smiled.

Liz took a step back, increasing the distance between them and narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"You didn't tell Rina or Max about our encounter. I wonder, why?"

"Are you asking me for another reading of your future?"

Jackson burst into a laugh. "You are funny. I like it."

"There, you found another one of my talents. I can see the future, and I am comedian. Now, if you get out of my way, I can to return to the table."

Liz moved to the left, to go around Jackson, but he made a step to the side, blocking her path.

"What's the rush?", he smirked.

"Out of my way." Liz didn't try to sound polite anymore. The man is obviously up to something.

"Playing hard to get? I admit, one of Anderson brothers might be a better catch then me in terms of money and power, but I have my strong points as well." Jackson made a step closer to Liz and looked at her smugly. "Since you are concealing out encounter from this morning, it can mean only one of the two. One is that you don't want to cause ripples in Sabrina's engagement, and the other one is that you are interested in me. In any of those two cases, you will not tell Max no matter what I say… or do…"

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