Zoe impatiently tapped her fingernails on the reception desk. Max had left well over an hour ago and still not returned.
"Patient in cubical four demanding that she is seen by a doctor. All doctors are busy so I thought you could have a look at her?"
Ethan noticed the tired state Zoe was in and instantly regretted asking.
"Fine, I'm on my way" Zoe sighed "just let me know when the wonderer returns, Louise"
Sure enough just as Zoe had turned her back Max speeded round the corner, narrowly missing Tess.
"Ethan, I'll be with you as soon as I can"
Zoe watched Max approach her but couldn't help a smile escaping her lips when she saw the mouthful he was getting from Tess about health and safety rules.
When their eyes met, Zoe quickly turned away and tried her best to begin a conversation with Louise.
"Here you go boss" Max handed Zoe the notes with a cheeky smile.
"Last time I looked, I wasn't your boss Max"
"Well, I prefer to obey the more beautiful and softer woman of the department"
Max always could charm the birds out of the trees and getting out of a scrub down by Tess was only the latest example.
"Thank you" Zoe returned the smile but let her eyes fall down to her watch "it only took you what? An hour and five minutes"
"It was an hour if you minus the time I spent talking to Tess" Max scratched the back of his head as Zoe rolled her eyes
"Polite conversation was it?" Zoe snatched the notes off Max and began reading them
Zoe's eyes narrowed as she began to read the small print, still noticing Max's presence in front of her.
"Yes max, what can I do for you?"
"A lot of things but….." max smiled as he caught Zoe eye
"Professionally speaking of course" Zoe smiled at the scilence
The Pub
"What's up with you face ache" Louise commented as Max joined her, Robyn and lofty at a table in the pub
Zoe's eyes glanced over at the table as she heard Louise's comment.
"Isn't it obvious" Robyn laughed "he's still sopping over this mystery woman of his"
"Yeah, the digital individual" lofty smiled as he brought his glass to his mouth
Alarm bells had already started ringing in Zoe's head as she slowly sipped her wine.
"Zoe are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" Zoe gave a reassuring smile to Ash
"You just look a bit tense" Ash commented as Zoe brought her attention back to the ongoing conversation at max's table.
"I'm going" Max decided as he left the table and made his way outside
"Zoe, are you sure you're ok?" Ash asked
"Actually i have a bit of a sore head, I'm going to go" Zoe made her excuse, she couldn't get out of there fast enough
Outside
"Please tell me she doesn't know anything"
Zoe's head was leaning against the side of the pub door as her and Max's eyes met.
"No, there clueless"
"There not quite clueless Max" Zoe commented as she began walking towards him
Noticing his shaking state, Zoe rested her hand on his arm. "What happened to you?"
"I fell for Zoe Hanna, from what I've head Noel saying that in itself should be in the medical dictionary" Max tried to smile as he threw is cigarette on the ground and began to walk away
"Stop" Zoe tried her best to block Max's path "we need to talk about this"
"Zo you're the one that from morning light has been reminding me that we've already talked about this"
"Maybe we haven't talked enough, god knows it's not my strong point" Zoe tried to laugh
"Noel also commented on that" Max looked at the ground, trying to hide his smile
"Come here" Zoe opened her arms "I don't usually do hugs, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity" she smiled
Inside
Robyn watched Zoe and Max threw the pub window, at a distance. She was that happy that Max was confiding in someone, that she didn't even notice it was the woman who was breaking him at the same time.