Chapter one

Stepping out the cozy cocoon of her warm Lexus, Lisa Cuddy unfurled her umbrella against icy blowing rain of the early December morning. Shivering against the cold, she shrunk into her coat and cursed under her breath as the biting rain stung the skin of her legs that protruded from under her knee length skirt. Look up into the hazy gray sky she couldn’t help but think how the morning weather was a perfect refection of her current mood. Gloomy as the sky above, the frigid rain seemed to serve as punctuation to her sullen attitude. In all honestly, all she really wanted to do was get back in her car, go home and curl up under a blanket on her sofa for about week and a half. Considering the thought for brief moment, she mindless chewed on her bottom lip as her eyes drifted over the hood of her car and across the parking lot towards the building that dominated the view. Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital . Who was she kidding she wondered. This was her home away from home; hell it was more of home than her actual residence, she spent more time with in its walls then in her home after all. Sighing a bit at the thought, she adjusted the umbrella in her hand. Her work was her life. She knew it, everyone who knew her knew it, but recently she had begun to crave a different reality, one in which she was one of those people who allow themselves personal days, people who didn’t think twice about calling in sick just so they could sit home and watch bad day time TV and take naps. She wanted to be a person who didn’t define their life by how they earned their paycheck, someone with a life outside the four walls of their job. She wished to be…more. A mother…a wife…hell she’d settle for being someone’s best friend, but those things didn’t seem to be in the cards for her. Her attempts insofar to become any of the above were all complete and utter failures, so she really could see no other choice but to accept who she clearly was meant to be. She was Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine. She was not someone who took days off from work to sit home and mope. She was not mother, not wife, not even a girlfriend…she was an administrator. Her job was important and her job was her world for better or worst.

Gripping her umbrella tightly, she gave the bricks and mortar of the PPTH one final glance before sighing and shaking herself from her melancholy reverie. “Geeze Lisa, get a grip,” she mumbled aloud, chastising herself for indulging in the self pity that had been tickling the back of her brain all morning. “It’s just work,” she reassured herself, but even as the whispered words misted the cold morning air in front of her, she knew she didn’t believe them. Sighing, she resigned herself to simply burying the thought for the moment. Straightening her back and lifting her chin, she gave her head a little shake and put on a fresh layer of resolve. Turning defiantly back towards her car, she moved to gather her things from the seat when she felt her now damp skirt cling to her legs. “Damn it” she muttered, plucking at the wet fabric, “I wish it would just flippin’ snow already,” she grunted, grabbing her mostly full cup of coffee from the door cup holder and tossing her briefcase over her shoulder. Pushing the car door closed with the tip of her heeled foot, she turned and quickly scurried towards the front doors of PPTH and her life.
~~~~~~~
Stepping onto the rug inside the door, Lisa paused to wipe her feet. Lowering her umbrella, she juggled it with her coffee cup trying futilely to shake it of its excess water. Just as she was about to lose her grip on her covered java the small redheaded nurse that manned the reception desk scampered towards her. “Let me get that for you Dr. Cuddy,” she offered cheerfully.

Smiling gratefully into the woman’s warm brown eyes she nodded, “Thank you Meredith,” she murmured as the woman took her umbrella and gave it a solid shake before closing it up.

“This weather is absolutely miserable,” Meredith sighed as she moved back towards the front desk. “I can’t believe you here in a skirt! Are you glutton for punishment?” she teased, a small grin turning the corners of her lips. “ I would think being Dr. House’s lion-tamer would more than fulfill that need,” she smirked as she moved around to the opposite side of the desk.

Smiling in spite of her mood, Lisa shook her head and glanced at the smaller woman. “The fact I come in here day after day and don’t fire him on the spot probably means I’m more likely mentally ill rather than a masochistic,” she said dryly reaching for the pile of clinic files that filled her inbox. “As for the skirt, I’ve found that an appropriately fitted one, paired with a similarly fitting top, makes for not only quicker, but more lucrative meetings when it comes to old wealthy white men,” she quipped as she flipped though the stack.

Meredith chuckled. “Why Dr. Cuddy I had no idea you would resort to feminine wiles to get your way,” she said with mock surprise as she arranged current patient files into a rack on the desktop.
Tucking the files she had been flipping through into the crook of her arm, Lisa looked up at the nurse. “Meredith, never underestimate the power of a great skirt in the presents of old money…or for that matter, Dr House,” she returned.

Meredith laughed. “Well I hope it works better on the old guys than it has on House,” she said her eyes twinkling in light amusement as she handed Cuddy her umbrella.

Taking the damp item in one hand and her coffee in the other, Cuddy gave the women a small grin. “You clearly weren’t here during the ‘power suit’ days. Trust me the skirt reins him in,” she muttered.

Looking at her with a raised eyebrow, Meredith shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t imagine such a thing,” she chuckled softly.

Giving the woman a small smile and a shrug, Lisa turned toward her office. “I’m not in for another half hour if anyone is looking for me,” she announced before turned and pushed though the outer doors of the office proclaiming her name on its glass.