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Liza
Thatnight,Lizasatsnuggled on her apartment couch. She couldn’t wait to text her friends the latest.
Liza Eckland:Guys, Dr. Sam was giving me major vibes when I saw him today!!
Parker Halstead:Define these vibes…
Liza Eckland:Well, I told you guys Miller agreed to go bowling with me. He ended up hurting his back so I brought him to see Dr. Sam. After adjusting Miller, I said my shoulder hurt. He gave me a ten minute shoulder massage! Free of charge!
Gemma Reyes:Oo la la! Dr. Sam is soooo dreamy!
Parker Halstead:Isn’t he like 30?
Liza Eckland:I think so. Ah. He’s so mature! I’m almost done with his custom vest!
Gemma Reyes:He’s definitely into you. He’s gotta ask you out soon!
Liza Eckland:I hope so!
Parker Halstead:I’m team Miller.
Liza Eckland:There are no teams. Miller’s my Community Service Supervisor.
Parker Halstead: Smart is sexy. Team Miller!
Liza rolled her eyes at Parker’s text. The idea of Miller being more than a friend was ridiculous. She had one toe in friend country… barely. Parker should date him. She excelled at academics like Miller. But the thought of Parker dating Miller made Liza’s stomach form a knot.
Liza stood and brushed chip crumbs from her shirt. She was absolutely, positively,notgoing to think about what that weird feeling in her stomach meant. She refocused.If I finish Dr. Sam’s vest, I could be wrapped up in it with him soon.
Liza walked to her design station which was actually a two person dining table. After finishing the last stitch, she added a personalized tag: “Liza Eckland Designs.” She stood and snapped a photo. Then she sent it to Dr. Sam along with a text. “All finished! Would you like me to drop it by your office?”
Almost immediately, Dr. Sam wrote back, “That looks amazing! Can I take you out for a drink tomorrow as a thank you?”
Liza squealed before typing, “Oh that’s sweet. You really don’t have to.” It took all of her self-control to play it cool.
Dr. Sam replied, “I want to. What do you say we meet at Oven + Vine at 6 pm?”
“That would be great." Liza beamed.
“See you then,” Dr. Sam confirmed.
Liza jumped up and did a celebratory shimmy. She grabbed her phone and saw it was almost 10:30 pm.Shoot, too late to text Parker and Gemma. I really need to go to bed.Community service at 6:30 am was putting a damper on her normal night owl routine.
Liza pulled open Instagram instead. Clicking on their group message she typed, “Dr. Sam date tomorrow night!!” As she scrolled through her feed, she smirked thinking of the way she stumbled across Miller social media-stalking his ex. She had learned a lot in those few minutes of standing at the front desk. There was also a Post-It note that had interesting info. Scribbled on it in Miller’s handwriting, she had read, “Must raise $10,000 ASAP. Fundraiser ideas?”
She’d overheard Miller talking about the vet bills.What could we do?The first idea that came to mind was a doggie fashion show. But, designing a handful of dog outfits would take a long time.What else?She tapped her chin as she mulled over raising that much money.
Then it hit her.Maggie.Maggie and Chase had done a number of fundraisers for local homeless shelters.Maybe Chase could play a benefit concert for the rescue…Liza knew that might be a long shot. Maggie and Chase’s wedding was coming up and that was consuming a majority of Maggie’s time. Liza’s too. She was almost done with her sister’s custom wedding gown. Thankfully Maggie had much more simple taste than Liza, so designing her dress was not as much work as it could have been.
But, still… there’sten days until their wedding day. I don’t want to stress her out… However, I did make her the wedding dress of her dreams. Well, I hope it’s the wedding dress of her dreams.The big reveal and final fitting were in a few days.Liza debated asking her sister. They weren’t super close, but wedding preparations had bonded them a bit. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her phone and typed: “Hey, the dog rescue needs to do a fundraiser. Any ideas?”
There. That was a subtle way of gauging her sister’s headspace and if she might be interested in helping. Liza took a few steps to her bed and climbed in. Morning was going to come way too fast.
The sound of her phone ringing shocked Liza out of a deep sleep. She clumsily grabbed it from her bedside table.
“Hello,” she croaked.
“Liza… you okay?”
