A/N: Another newly written chapter. Dated 10/15/05. Sorry for the delay. Real life can be a real bitch sometimes.

Disclaimer: The usual.

Chapter: 7 She Will Be Loved

Following her confrontation with Isabel, Liz placed her orders in the kitchen before quickly ducking into the staff bathroom. Once there she enclosed herself inside one of the stales with her back against the door. Shaking her head in denial, she tried desperately to come up with a plausible excuse for Isabel's words. But nothing seemed to make sense. Isabel's dislike of her had been glaringly obvious from the start. But was that reason enough for her to slander her own brother? And if she were telling the truth, then that meant that Max was indeed a player. And nobody played Liz Parker.

With an audible gulp Liz came to a certain realization. She was more like her father than she liked to admit. But that's not true. Her conscious argued. But it was. The same Parker pride that her father possessed had her ready to condemn a man without even a hearing. And not just any man either. A man she had virtually fallen in love with at first sight. If one could believe in love at first sight. Which she didn't, of course. Still…

Dropping her chin onto her chest Liz sighed sadly. Until she knew what was what she would play her hand close to her chest. One way or another the hand would eventually be played out. But she wasn't going to base her decision on hearsay. Especially from Isabel Evans. Stepping from the stale, Liz turned on the sink and splashed her face with water. Quickly drying her face with a paper towel, she headed for the door. "Let the games begin," she mumbled to herself before exiting.

Ten minutes later, Liz delivered the orders apologizing for their lateness. She'd blamed the delay on an excess of back orders. What was she supposed to say? I was making out in the hallway with this hot guy? Yeah, she could see that going over real well. To appease them, she'd offered several of her tables a pitcher of beer on the house. It would come out of her pocket of course. But it was the least she could do. Heading in the direction of the bar, Liz say Lou and Isabel in what looked to be a deep conversation. What are the chances that conversation is about me? Apparently, they were great Liz surmised as Lou frowned in her direction. God what a bitch! Liz though angrily as Lou motioned her in his direction.

Five minutes of being royally rimmed by Lou and Liz had tuned out. Not that it was hard over the blaring sounds of 50 cents In Da Club.

"Are you even listening to me?" Lou shouted.

"Huh?" Liz asked in confusion.

"I said," Lou spelled in words of one syllable. "I want you to get rid of those guys over there," he pointed at a table no more than ten feet away.

Ok, I'll bite. "Why?" Liz asked in bemusement.

"Cause those two bums been suckin on those same drinks for the past hour. This here is a business not a rest stop. Go tell em to find a park bench!"

Lou was a riot. Liz was about to giggle when she realized what he had said. "Why do I have to get rid of them?" She asked, deeply affronted. "Isn't that what the bouncers get paid for?"

"Yeah. But I want you to do it," Lou said unreasonably.

"But…"

"Just get rid of em kid." Lou walked away.

With a disbelieving huff, Liz marched in the direction of the table Lou had pointed out. Once there, she searched frantically for the right words. Books on etiquette didn't exactly cover situations like this. So how did she go about politely asking someone to vacate the premises? Better still, how did she find herself in such a silly assed situations? Oh, well, she would just have to wing it.

"Excuse me gentlemen," she said as they glared at her for intruding. They were talking about Pam Anderson for gods sake. They could talk about that ole shank anytime. "Sorry to bother you," she continued. "But we have a two drink minimum after nine pm, and neither of you have ordered anything in the last hour. So I have to ask you to leave."

The smaller of the two, a mean faced redhead, was the one who answered. "What if we say we aint goin?" He responded pugnaciously.

Liz was stymied for about a second. "You see that guy over there?" Liz pointed at Lou. "He says that if you don't leave peacefully he's going to get the bouncers to teach you some manners."

"Let's go Les," the dark headed one said to his friend.

Shoving past Liz the red head muttered, "Bitch!"

Liz's heart thudded against her chest as she watched the two exit the club. That had been a close call. If they hadn't left peacefully…well, she didn't even want to go there. Liz looked around for Lou expecting a nod of approval but he was nowhere in sight.

"Whatever." She mumbled disgustedly. One way or another it had been a hell of a night. Oh, crap! She'd forgotten to give table three free beer.

-&-

More than two hours later, Liz sat at the bar with her shoe boots off. Rubbing her aching feet, she sighed deeply.

"You look like you need this," Maria said sliding her an apple Martini.

"Thanks," Liz said quietly sipping from the tart drink.

"So what's with the long face?" Maria asked, noting the slump in Liz's shoulders.

Liz shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She wasn't used to sharing confidences. But she really needed someone to talk to. Now that she was sitting still, she could no longer keep her thoughts at bay. With a decisive shrug, she jumped right in. "What does Isabel have against me?"

"Don't be silly," Maria said glancing at her brightly colored nails.

"You do have eyes and ears, right?"

"Alright, alright, chill already," Maria met Liz's ironic stare.

"Sorry. But I know you and Isabel have been friends for a long time. If anyone could shed any light on the subject it would be you. I mean if it was just indifference I could take it. Hell, I was raised on indifference," an edge of bitterness had crept into Liz's tone. "But she actively dislikes me and I need to know why."

One of the other waitresses, a top heavy girl named Tammy, chose that moment to appear. Not even bothering to glance in Liz's direction she began unloading empty glasses on the bar. "I need a Singapore Sling, a pitcher of draft, and a Whiskey neat," she rolled off a new set of orders. When the glaring silence became evident, Tammy glanced back and forth between Maria and Liz who stared at her pointedly. "Well excuse me for living," she said sourly. "But this is a place of work."

Suppressing a giggle, Maria filled Tammy's order smoothly and sent her on her way.

From the moment Liz glanced up at Tammy she had become a suspect. Was the busty redhead one of the girls Max had supposedly slept with? Was Tammy more Max's taste? If so, what did he see in her? Cause she was no top heavy Tammy. In fact, her meager breast would be booed out of a wet tee-shirt contest. Liz sighed deflated.

Maria snapped her fingers bringing Liz back to attention. "You're right Isabel doesn't like you," she said without preamble. "To put it bluntly, she hates the very concept of you."

Liz stared at Maria as if she had lost her mind. "What in the hell does that mean!"

"She feels threatened by you," Maria clarified.

"Yeah, cause I'm such a threatening person." Liz looked deeply skeptical.

"It's true. See what you gotta understand about Isabel is that she's used to being queen bee, numeral uno. Then you come along all cultured and classy, just reeking of good breeding, and suddenly Isabel star doesn't shine so brightly anymore. You've basically deposed her from her throne."

"Are you asking me to believe this is all over some imaginary position? Because poor little Issy feels usurped?" Liz scoffed.

"Think outside the box Liz!" Of course there's more to it than Isabel maintaining her position. But you'd have to know about Isabel's childhood to really understand. The girl has issues.

"Don't we all," Liz said unsympathetically. "But you don't see me running around dumping my shit all over everyone. And her lies were just plain malicious."

"Lies about what?" Maria raised defined eyebrows. She'd known that Isabel was giving Liz the cold shoulder but this was something different.

Liz went from anger to embarrassment in two seconds flat. Now she'd have to tell Maria what lead up to the whole Isabel confrontation. Oh well, at least Max would be exonerated.

"Isabel told me a bunch of crap about Max after she saw…us kissing," Liz finished in a rush.

"Repeat that again," Maria said excitedly.

"You heard me the first time," Liz mumbled her face tinged with red.

"You go girl," Maria shouted raising her hand up for a high five. "Somebody's knockin boots tonight."

"Maria!"

"Sorry," she said lowering her hand. But the mischievous twinkle in her eyes told Liz she really wasn't. "So tell me all the good parts," Maria nearly bounced.

Liz shot her a quelling look. "That's not important right now. The pertinent part of the story is Isabel's reaction to the kiss."

"I see," Maria said, though she really didn't. "How can anything be more important than you and Max hooking up?"

"Isabel's reaction to it." Liz grimaced.

"Oh," Maria said with meaning.

"More like uh, oh, to be precise."

"Could you be a little more specific?"

"How's this for specifics? Isabel claimed the only reason Max was interested in me was because he had a running bet with the band. Something about him being able to score with all the new waitresses. Or "make the new talent" as Isabel crudely put it. Clear enough for you?"

"Crystal." Maria said succinctly, her expression grave.

"Well?" Liz asked.

"Well, what?" Maria played for time.

"Tell me it isn't true. That I'm not part of some stupid bet. That Max Evans hasn't been involved with just about every other waitress that works here. And when I say involved I mean the term loosely."

Maria's green eyes filled with compassion as she spoke gravely. "I can't tell you that."