"You are in your early 20s so there shouldn't be much to guess. You are a student, aren't you?" Alex said nonchalantly and looked at Will with a piercing gaze. He didn't like his friends. .h.i.tting on his cousin. She was still a uni kid.

The only problem was that he was wrong... again.

"Not really. I graduated a while ago, so try harder." Sia answered and continued enjoying her food.

'These guys seem to know their stuff... The food is truly amazing here... Seems like I found people I can ask for restaurant recommendations, though it's a bit overpriced,' she thought to herself while the three men were wrecking their brains for ideas about her profession.

"I think you should be either a philosopher or a social worker coz you just give the 'people's person' vibe," as always Ren was the first to try his luck.

Sia just shook her head and continued eating. 'I should try to get the recipe for this. The taste is heavenly.'

"Now that you ask about it, it's weird that dad has never talked about it. He just always says how smart you are and that I should learn from you," Alex mumbled softly surprised at his own revelation. His dad had been all about Sia for the past month but he never really mentioned anything about her job.

"Teacher? Linguist?" and so the list went on and on for a while varying from professions like manager, businesswoman, economist to philosopher, designer, musician and so on.

'Why do they lack imagination so much these days. My area of expertise is quite common and they had said everything but anything related to it. Duh, I guess that's cause they can't imagine a socialite being involved in science.'

"I am a neurosurgeon."

At her words Ren chocked on his wine, while the other two looked at her with shocked expressions.

"Hey, we were seriously trying to guess your line of work and you are just joking around. That's not funny at all," retorted Alex.

"What do I get from lying to you?" Sia asked nonchalantly. She was too used to this kind of behaviour to feel offended.

After some time Will said with eagerness and masked admiration in his eyes,

"How?"

The men at the table were not simple men after all. They were business tyc.o.o.ns in their respective lines of work. Even though her revelation was shocking at first she was still right. Why would she lie to them? Even if she did, it would take just a single call to Alfred Illes to get answers. But, she was so young. How did she do it?

"I had a thing for maths and sciences as a kid so had been attending lectures in unis since I was like 7 years old. I got admitted into a grad med school at the age of 14 and graduated at 17. I did interns.h.i.+ps and then started my residency. As for the conference, it's related to possible treatment strategies for glioblastoma and medulloblastoma, if that says anything to you."

Silence prevailed in the room. The men took another look at the girl sitting across the table, this time more carefully and more attentively. Never in their lives would they think of meeting a neurosurgery resident so young. She was like a pandora box with layers and layers of secrets.

Will subconsciously clenched his fists trying to hide the desire that was br.i.m.m.i.n.g in him. With every word she said, with every revelation she made about herself he was falling more and more for her. With strengthened resolve he couldn't help but look forward to knowing her better.

Ren, on the other hand, was still having a hard time to believe what was just told. She seemed so surreal to him. After all, he would have never thought that he would meet a socialite, born with a silver spoon and gifted with unparalleled beauty, that would choose the hard road instead of exploiting her resources.

Meanwhile, Alex could feel a stream of pride raising in him. She was becoming more and more awesome with the pa.s.sing of time and he was so d.a.m.n proud to have a little sister like her. Now, he started understanding why his dad was so set on him getting to know her better. The old man sure was wise with his years of experience.

Their thoughts were broken by the manager who asked about bringing the desserts to which Sia agreed immediately.

The silence, though, was back in the the room after the desserts were brought in. Will, uncharacteristic to him, inquired further;

"Why neurosurgery?"

Sia looked at him attentively guessing his unsaid question. Her piercing gaze that felt like it could see through one's soul made his heart beat faster. Will couldn't help but look into those eyes that felt like an abyss that was sucking him in.

"It's true that I could choose to use my background and my looks and go the easy way about my career. But, easy doesn't mean that it's right for me."

She stopped and then taking a breath continued,

"What makes life meaningful? How do we become who we are? Those are the questions that remain unanswered to this day. But just because they hard to explain doesn't mean they are not worth exploring. Our brains are what make us rational but at the same time emotional. Our brains help us form relations.h.i.+ps but also are the ones at fault when we break those relations.h.i.+ps. When one has a brain disease, the changes that happen can change the very core of their ident.i.ty. I was born gifted and I want to use this gift to help people. And by help I don't mean just saving their lives, no, the end of all of us is still death. What I want to do is to make sure that my patients, their family and friends understand illness and accept the concept of death. After all, as Paul Kalanithi said, "Death maybe a one-time event but living with a terminal illness is a process," and sadly enough with our knowledge gaps in neuroscience many brain diseases are currently considered terminal."