Chapter Text
Audrey strode down the hallway and let out a long sigh, trying to keep her inner irritation from showing - the piles of paperwork needed to be dealt with, the endless reading of literature, the countless meetings, and - the scene she had seen yesterday. She knew Melendez and Browne had always had a good relationship, but she'd assumed they were just in a mentor-student relationship. She hadn't realized that they had gone so far as to have a bowling date and lunch together-at least that's what she had seen. There was something inside her that she couldn't quite put her finger on: how did Melendez manage to blatantly hook up with Browne in less than a month after he broke up with her? Even though she was the one who proposed the breakup, she knew she hadn't actually got over him; she'd just been paralyzing herself with a piles of work and surgeries, as if that would kill any lingering feelings she still had for him. She was used to playing the calm, professional, all-but-work-oriented role of chief in the hospital as she always did.
"Good morning, Dr. Lim." Murphy's voice suddenly pulled her out of her tangled thoughts.
“Good morning, Dr. Murphy." She responded. She reminded herself that she couldn't think about Neil or she wouldn't get any work done for the day. The last thing she wanted right now was to see Melendez on her way to the office; that would only make her day even worse. Audrey walked to the elevator door and shook her head, trying to shake the mess out of her head and focus on the day's work.
Damn it. As she turned her head she saw Melendez walking towards her. She couldn't figure it out: why did he keep showing up every time she didn't want to see him? She'd been avoiding him quite deliberately -she'd even memorized his daily schedule to avoid him.Perhaps knowing the schedule of every doctor in the surgical department is also a benefit of being the chief, she thought sarcastically as she stared at the dense table the day after her breakup, trying to memorize a few key time points.
"Hey...missed you at the research meeting." Melendez said.
"I was in surgery. Craniotomy. Now I have two consults, a meeting with a donor, and a hospital chair meeting ." She said with a poker face.
"Well , don't forget to eat something ."He stared at her gently and smiled.
"Awww. Food is for the weak ."She frowned. She couldn't figure out how Melendez dared to hook up with his student in less than a month after breaking up with her, while shamelessly coming to pretend to care about her. She didn't need his cheap, sycophantic concern.
Looking at Melendez’s face made her feel betrayed and sour. She didn’t want to be with him at all, not even for one more second. “So is waiting for this elevator ." She added, lifting her sleeve to check her wrist watch and walking away. She was going to be late for her meetings.
"Are we okay?" Melendez stopped her，his charcoal eyes meet hers with a look in his eyes that she couldn't understand.
"Yeah. Sorry. I’m just busy."She blurted out, impatiently walking past him.
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Audrey had a relatively nice morning. Well. Maybe except for the fact that Melendez went to her office to ask her permission for a major surgery. She thought that terminating the pregnancy is the safest option but he thought he can access the tumor through another path in the lower abdomen, thus satisfying the patient's hope of keeping the baby. They argued about it in the office and it almost got to the point of a fight, and she eventually referred the case to another doctor for his ‘inappropriate behavior against his supervisor’.
She went back to the office after lunch and followed Melendez’s usual routine, perfectly avoiding every path he could have taken. Great. Memorizing the schedule paid off after all. She was pleased with herself and prayed silently. Hopefully he wouldn't show up again.
However her hopes and joy were ruined the next second because Melendez scurried out of nowhere to meet her again. Lucky. You are so lucky Audrey.
"Your craniotomy ended an hour before the research meeting. You didn't miss the meeting because you were in surgery. I think you missed the meeting because I was going to be there." Melendez accused her aggressively.“And that damn case-"
"I'm busy. I can show you my calendar if you’d like." She lowered her voice in reply: firstly she didn't want everyone on this floor to hear about the chief of surgery's breakup drama with her exboyfriend - the type that the nurses loved to gossip about; and secondly after a whole morning of intense work she just didn't have the energy to quarrel with him.
"Are you having second thoughts?"
"No, I’m not ." Of course she wasn’t. Or you just don’t want to confess. An inner voice contradicted.
Melendez opened his mouth to interrupt her and she hurriedly picked up, "Look, if you really want to talk about this, come to my office after work."