It had been exactly thirty-four days since Alex had hung up on her and crushed her hopes of making things right, but that no longer mattered. She had thrown herself into her work, taking on even more cases and pushing herself to the point of near exhaustion. If she wasn't working, she was with her son and when he was sleeping she was up researching countless medical texts in her pursuit for knowledge. She couldn't allow herself to slow down, not while she was still tending to a broken heart.
"Are you sure you're okay watching him while I go to this thing?" Izzie looked up from her packing to stare at George as he played with his newest handheld video game. "Yeah I totally got this covered," he said as his thumbs rapidly pressed the buttons. "Besides, this conference is going to do you some good. Let you get out and mingle with all of the hot shots." He glanced up to smirk at her before promptly returning his attention back to his game. "You know I really wish you were coming with me," she said with a sigh as she moved back over to her dresser. "Well if I did that then who would watch your son?" He had a point.
The flight to Los Angeles was uneventful and she spent most of it flipping through her notes and trying to memorize her speech. She had almost forgotten about the conference entirely and if someone hadn't called to confirm her reservation she just might have. Hell, up until that point she had forgotten she had even written and article for that damn journal. But those articles got the grant money and the conferences helped further her career so she pretty much had to go. Well, at least it would keep her mind off of Alex and focused on more important issues.
The next eight or so hours after she had landed all faded away into a blur as soon as she had reached her hotel room. She wasn't even granted a second to breathe before she was whisked away to give her lecture to her colleagues. When she was finally allowed to return to the plush suite, she only had enough time to change before she was expected to attend the dinner and dancing that had been arranged. I knew I should have come in a day early. This is ridiculous.
With her golden locks swept up and a gorgeous burgundy gown hugging her curves in all of the right places, she finally made her way downstairs to the ballroom that had been reserved for the evening. She entered the event with grace and an air of confidence, her smile practically lighting up the room and drawing attention from men and women alike. It felt good to be appreciated, envied and respected. It felt damn good.
Fortunately she had been seated with those whom she shared a great deal in common with and so she had gotten through the meal portion of the night without too much discomfort. While she had always been an outgoing people person, she really did dread being stuck with a bunch of stuck-up conservative doctors, so she was definitely grateful when the fates smiled down on her and given her a rather lively group to sit with.
As the music started, she was easily one of the first asked to dance and for the first time in those thirty-four days she had experienced a bit of fun. "Well if it is the lovely Doctor Stevens, might I have this dance?" She beamed as the Chief Editor for the medical journal had cut in and quickly she slipped into his arms. "So how are you enjoying our little shindig?" the elder man asked with a bit of a chuckle. "It's really wonderful. Thank you so much for allowing me to be apart of this." He smiled and told her the thanks really weren't necessary and then proceeded to spin her around the floor with a burst of youth that surprised her.
"Oh there's my wife," he said as they danced into the next song. "You'll have to excuse me while I go sweet talk her into dancing with me." "Oh of course, think nothing of it," she grinned as she looked fondly onto the man. "Ahh but I can't leave you unattended. Let's see…" He turned his head to skim the crowd that lingered around the edges of the dance floor. "Ahh here we are. Alex my boy! Why don't you take this pretty lady around for a spin while I go charm my wife."
"Sure thing, Pat," Alex grinned at the man and looked for someone to give his glass of champagne to. The day had been eventful for him, fun even, and he had a great time talking about everything and nothing with his colleagues. Yes, he might be a little tipsy from the alcohol he'd been drinking but who here wasn't? It was time to have some fun.
Without looking at the blonde woman with too much detail he took the Chief Editor's place, his hand easily sliding around her waist in proper form. His gaze was still fixed on one of his goofy co-workers who was making a face at him and giving him the thumbs up sign, and through his laughter he started to introduce himself. "I'm Alex Karev, I don't know if you've -" His laughter was cut short when he realized that the woman went rigid at his touch and then he really looked at her.
It was Izzie. Gorgeous, blonde, Izzie Stevens. The same woman that he'd been fighting to forget especially this past month. "Holy shit," He mumbled, his eyes widening slightly. Panicking, he began to lead her around the dance floor anyway. What the hell was going on? Why was she here? A few of his acquaintances were watching him, and the Pat was smiling at the couple as he danced with his wife. It wasn't like he could cause a scene right now. That would embarrass him too much. "What are you doing here Doctor Stevens?" It was difficult to make his voice sound formal and polite. His entire body felt like it was on fire, and he cleared his throat in an anxious habit.
Izzie smiled sweetly. "Knitting a sweater. What the hell do you think I'm doing here, Alex?" Gritting his teeth, Alex led her in a faster dance, trying to mask his expression from the other guests. "I didn't realize you'd written an article for this particular journal." There was more he wanted to say. Something along the lines of, 'To fuck with me again? To ruin my life?' Both things which she probably wasn't there for… but to Alex it certainly appeared that way. Maybe this night wasn't so fun. Maybe he shouldn't have given his champagne to his friend.
"And somehow I'm not surprised that you would be here feeding your ego."
It didn't bother him that she thought he was stroking his ego. What bothered him was that she was being confrontational, again, and he thought that this was done and over with. Rather than say anything in return, his jaw muscles clenched and he looked away. The tension between them grew to something almost tangible. Both of them were silent for a few moments, until Izzie spoke up.
"Just let me go Alex, we've put on a show long enough."
So she could leave him to wallow in his own thoughts again? No. Not again. Especially not here, where there wouldn't be an excuse for him to act like an angry bastard. "You'll dance with me, because I'm here to feed my ego and what better way to do that than to be pictured with a nice piece of ass?" Alex hadn't meant to sound like such an asshole, but his anger was rising and causing him to forget about the formal pretense he'd been clinging to.
Her pale skin flushed with anger but somehow she was able to maintain a sugary-sweet smile that wasn't sincere at all. Obviously she was wrong about the fates being on her side because now it appeared that the higher powers were content with just laughing and pointing at her as she tried to figure out a way to get out of his arms. Had she really been naïve enough to think that he wouldn't have been there? No, they were on two different sides of surgical spectrum. Damnit, it wasn't like her not to find out the finer details of an event she was going to attend. Well, she was kicking herself for it now. Hmm, now there was an idea.
Only about a breath had elapsed after he had insulted her so it was completely a coincidence that she chose that time to trip over her own feet and jab the heel of her shoe into the top of his foot. "Oh I'm so sorry," she lied with a bright smile. "It's just been so long since I've danced." She knew that he wasn't stupid enough to believe she was being sincere and that was exactly what she was going for. If he wasn't going to let her go then she was going to make the experience as uncomfortable as humanly possible.
Alex swore under his breath and forced another smirk back to his face. Heels really were nasty things, and it took every ounce of self-control he had not to let the pain get to him and cause him to limp. There was just no way he was going to let her win that easily. "You're feisty," he said with a casual grin. "You must remember I like that in a woman." His arm tightened around her waist and he pulled her roughly against him. "Now smile pretty Stevens, everyone is watching."
