"Hello, I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy. I'm House's...boss." Cuddy said as she put out her hand to Ariel. House watched the exchange silently from the stove.
"Uh, I'm Ariel Harrison." Ariel said shaking Cuddy's hand. Cuddy looked over at House briefly catching his blank gaze.
"Well, I should leave. It was nice meeting you." Cuddy said with a nervous smile as she headed quickly out the door. Ariel watched as the woman practically sprinted out of the apartment.
"Why was she here?"
"Covering her ass...don't worry about it. Come here and taste this pesto I made." He said as he took a spoon and dipped it in to the sauce. Ariel walked over to him and licked from the spoon while he held it. She didn't realize how intimate the moment was until she looked up to catch his gentle gaze.
"I probably should have just took the spoon from you." She said with a nervous laugh as she sat down on a nearby stool. He smiled and walked toward her.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two ate in companionable silence at the table. The meatballs, noodles, and bruscetta had all turned out perfect. House was so glad the appearance of Cuddy hadn't put too much of a damper on things. The last thing he needed was for his first planned date in years to be wrecked because of an unexpected guest. It was ironic in a way. Usually he was the uninvited guest. He smiled at the thought and turned his gaze squarely on the woman across from him.
"More white wine?" He asked.
"Yes. Greg, you are an amazing cook...I can't remember the last time I ate this well."
He poured some wine in to her glass.
"There is still dessert."
"Hmm, what did you make?"
"Well, when I was at your place the other night I couldn't help noticing the dark choclate you kept in the fridge...so I made you something rich in chocolate. I made dark chocolate mousse."
"Sounds good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two had moved to his sofa with their mousse desserts. House had put on a Miles Davis record to listen to. Ariel was sitting crossed-legged beside him as he propped his foot on the coffee table.
"Decadent. I like it alot,Greg."
He smiled with satisfaction and took another bite.
"I aim to please."
She giggled at the irony of his statement.
"I'm sure...why was your boss really here?" She asked nonchalantly.
He stiffened a bit.
"She's been a friend of mine for a long time. She was just checking in to see if things were good between me and her."
Ariel put her dish on the coffee table and leaned back to get more comfortable.
"Did you two use to..."
"No. There were moments of something more but nothing ever materialized. Do you really want to talk about this?" He asked.
"I just want to be sure that the guy that I like spending time with isn't hung up on his boss." She said seriously.
He put down his dish and leaned back too.
"A few months ago I went through a very bad time in my life. A fellow of mine committed suicide and I didn't handle it well..."
Her body language softened as he began to explain himself more.
"I've always been in pain because of the leg, and I have always been addicted to the quick fix of Vicodin to numb the pain...but after I lost this colleague...after a year of broken friendships and broken dreams...it all kind of imploded..."
"Go on." She said as she lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He let out a breath.
"I thought she had helped me get clean and get rid of my hallucinations... I was hallucinating my best friend's dead girlfriend."
"You were overdoing it with the Vicodin." She stated without any judgement. He nodded and noticed her hand still on his shoulder.
"So, I thought that she had been with me here(he said gesturing around him) and that we had finally became more..."
"But it wasn't real either." She deduced from his expression.
"No it wasn't...and that's when I realized I needed real help and I went to a mental hospital." He said looking everywhere but at her. Ariel removed her hand from his shoulder and brought it up to his cheek. House was startled by the sensation.
"But you're better now?" She asked with a kind smile.
"Why aren't you freaking out by this?"
"Maybe it's because I'm attracted to drama, maybe it's because I have always dated complicated men, but I feel comfortable with you. It's strange considering we've only known each other for two days but it feels right being here." She said as she gently traced his stubble. He stilled her hand and pulled her in to a soft kiss.
"Well, that was unexpected." Ariel said with a grin.
He grinned too and kissed her again.
"Uh, I'm Ariel Harrison." Ariel said shaking Cuddy's hand. Cuddy looked over at House briefly catching his blank gaze.
"Well, I should leave. It was nice meeting you." Cuddy said with a nervous smile as she headed quickly out the door. Ariel watched as the woman practically sprinted out of the apartment.
"Why was she here?"
"Covering her ass...don't worry about it. Come here and taste this pesto I made." He said as he took a spoon and dipped it in to the sauce. Ariel walked over to him and licked from the spoon while he held it. She didn't realize how intimate the moment was until she looked up to catch his gentle gaze.
"I probably should have just took the spoon from you." She said with a nervous laugh as she sat down on a nearby stool. He smiled and walked toward her.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two ate in companionable silence at the table. The meatballs, noodles, and bruscetta had all turned out perfect. House was so glad the appearance of Cuddy hadn't put too much of a damper on things. The last thing he needed was for his first planned date in years to be wrecked because of an unexpected guest. It was ironic in a way. Usually he was the uninvited guest. He smiled at the thought and turned his gaze squarely on the woman across from him.
"More white wine?" He asked.
"Yes. Greg, you are an amazing cook...I can't remember the last time I ate this well."
He poured some wine in to her glass.
"There is still dessert."
"Hmm, what did you make?"
"Well, when I was at your place the other night I couldn't help noticing the dark choclate you kept in the fridge...so I made you something rich in chocolate. I made dark chocolate mousse."
"Sounds good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The two had moved to his sofa with their mousse desserts. House had put on a Miles Davis record to listen to. Ariel was sitting crossed-legged beside him as he propped his foot on the coffee table.
"Decadent. I like it alot,Greg."
He smiled with satisfaction and took another bite.
"I aim to please."
She giggled at the irony of his statement.
"I'm sure...why was your boss really here?" She asked nonchalantly.
He stiffened a bit.
"She's been a friend of mine for a long time. She was just checking in to see if things were good between me and her."
Ariel put her dish on the coffee table and leaned back to get more comfortable.
"Did you two use to..."
"No. There were moments of something more but nothing ever materialized. Do you really want to talk about this?" He asked.
"I just want to be sure that the guy that I like spending time with isn't hung up on his boss." She said seriously.
He put down his dish and leaned back too.
"A few months ago I went through a very bad time in my life. A fellow of mine committed suicide and I didn't handle it well..."
Her body language softened as he began to explain himself more.
"I've always been in pain because of the leg, and I have always been addicted to the quick fix of Vicodin to numb the pain...but after I lost this colleague...after a year of broken friendships and broken dreams...it all kind of imploded..."
"Go on." She said as she lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He let out a breath.
"I thought she had helped me get clean and get rid of my hallucinations... I was hallucinating my best friend's dead girlfriend."
"You were overdoing it with the Vicodin." She stated without any judgement. He nodded and noticed her hand still on his shoulder.
"So, I thought that she had been with me here(he said gesturing around him) and that we had finally became more..."
"But it wasn't real either." She deduced from his expression.
"No it wasn't...and that's when I realized I needed real help and I went to a mental hospital." He said looking everywhere but at her. Ariel removed her hand from his shoulder and brought it up to his cheek. House was startled by the sensation.
"But you're better now?" She asked with a kind smile.
"Why aren't you freaking out by this?"
"Maybe it's because I'm attracted to drama, maybe it's because I have always dated complicated men, but I feel comfortable with you. It's strange considering we've only known each other for two days but it feels right being here." She said as she gently traced his stubble. He stilled her hand and pulled her in to a soft kiss.
"Well, that was unexpected." Ariel said with a grin.
He grinned too and kissed her again.
