DISCLAIMER: I don't own House or any of the characters on the show. They are the property of David Shore and Bad Hat Harry Productions. Thank you for letting me use them! This story is rated "M" for future language and hot monkey sex content. I started this story for NaNo, but I was never able to meet the requirement because life got in the way as usual. This story starts after the end Season 6 and I will be "borrowing certain elements of Season 7 for my story. These elements will pertain to House and my OC, not Cuddy, so if Huddy is your thing, this might not be the story for you! As always, The OC's and basic story are mine!
CHAPTER ONE
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010:
Dr. Francesca Scarselli sat in front of Dr. Lisa Cuddy, Dean of Medicine and Administrator of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, hands folded in her lap, listening intently to her as she described what her new job at PPTH would entail.
"Dr. Cuddy is attractive." Frankie thought to herself, "But why is she so inappropriately dressed for a woman in her position? Doesn't she have any confidence in her abilities at all that she feels the need to draw attention to herself like that? That suit is at least a half size too small for her and makes her looks like she's at least ten pounds over weight. A diet is one thing Dr. Cuddy didn't need!
Dr. Cuddy was wearing a black designer suit with a very tight above the knee pencil skirt. The lightweight red shell she wore was inappropriately low cut for the office, and she was also wearing a push up bra to draw more attention to her breasts. Black stiletto pumps completed the outfit. Cuddy was dressed like she was ready for an evening of bar hopping rather than running a hospital.
Frankie was well endowed enough that she didn't need a push up bra or anything else to draw attention to her breasts, and while it was true that a bit of her own cleavage peaked out over the top of the silk knit sweater she wore underneath her own suit, it was just a glimpse and most of the time couldn't be helped because of the way she was built. The only way to keep the little cleavage that showed covered up with turtlenecks or high lace collared blouses and she hated looking like she stepped out of "Little House on The Prairie." She always made sure all of her clothes fit well and had them tailored when she had to.
Over the years, Frankie had noticed that no matter what she wore, most men seemed to have conversations with her chest instead of her. There had actually been times when Frankie had embarrassed colleagues and dates alike when she couldn't take it anymore. Because of her looks, her reputation as a cardiologist was hard earned at Massachusetts General and she deserved every accolade she got. She used her brains instead of her appearance to get as far as she had.
The position she was accepting at PPTH was not as department head, but it was going to give her more of an opportunity to teach as well as practice medicine. Frankie had done her residency at Massachusetts General and had done such an outstanding job that they offered her a full time position when she was finished. When Princeton-Plainsboro and Princeton General both expressed an interest in hiring Frankie, she really didn't know what to do. She was happy in Boston and it wasn't that far from her family that she couldn't get home as often as she wanted.
After many discussions with her department head, who had also mentored her through her residency, Frankie was convinced she had gone as far as she could in Boston. Either job in Princeton would be the best move she could make for her career. Teaching positions were scarce in Boston, and she was considered too young by some to fill those positions, regardless of her qualifications. Frankie had been born and raised in Princeton, and would be moving back into her childhood home. Her father had died while she was in college and her mother passed away shortly after she started medical school.
Their estate had been divided evenly between Frankie and her brother, but the house had gone to Frankie. Her brother, fifteen years her senior, lived with his family in Philadelphia, where he had a very lucrative law practice. Her nephews, now sixteen and eighteen, were planning on becoming lawyers like their father, and would eventually join him in his law practice
Frankie wouldn't be alone in Princeton. Her Aunt Rosalie lived here, one block over from Frankie's house, her cousins lived in Princeton and her brother's old college roommate, Greg House, worked here at PPTH. She hadn't seen him in years, only hearing an occasional word about him here and there at medical conferences and little bits from her brother. He had developed quite a reputation over the years.
The last time she had actually seen Greg was at her mother's funeral, shortly after she started medical school. Since her brother kept in touch with Greg, Frankie knew about all the problems he had been having, but even her brother didn't know it all. In typical Greg House fashion, he only gave out as little information as he possibly could, and sometimes Frankie's brother didn't tell her all he knew. He knew his sister always had a crush on House and he didn't want her to get upset by knowing how really bad things had gone for him the past few years.
Frankie was sure Greg probably didn't even remember his old friend's little sister, much less spend any time thinking about her, but her mind wandered back in time to an especially pleasant moment, at least for her, during one of Greg's visits to her house while Dr. Cuddy's voice droned on.
Tony and Marie Scarselli had long since given up hope of having another baby when Marie discovered she was pregnant again at the age of forty two. Getting pregnant with Michael had been so easy, then nothing for years, and every doctor that Marie went to told her there was nothing wrong with her or her husband. Frankie was a very much wanted and longed for baby.
The joy of Frankie's birth had been overshadowed by the fact that she had been born with a hole in her heart, but it had completely closed on it's own, requiring no surgical intervention. But when she was three, a case of strep throat turned into rheumatic fever, leaving Frankie with a heart murmur. As a result, she easily got tired, but would never admit to it because her mother would immediately run her to the doctor or Emergency Room, panicking at every sniffle and childhood disease Frankie caught. Except for the heart murmur, Frankie was relatively healthy and her doctor never placed any restrictions on her other than to make sure she got enough rest.
When Frankie was a little girl, she would often find her mother in her bedroom crying, which always upset her to the point where she would have chest pains from the stress of seeing her mother cry. Frankie was too young to realize that sometimes emotional stress could cause physical pain. She just wanted her mother to stop crying. If Frankie had only told her mother she was in pain, maybe Marie wouldn't have let Frankie see her cry
Frankie would climb into her mother's lap and ask why she was so sad. Not even thinking Frankie would understand her, Marie told her daughter she was sad because she felt responsible for Frankie's heart problem and couldn't forgive herself.
Marie was intelligent enough to know that it was not her fault that Frankie had been born with a hole in her heart or that she got rheumatic fever, but nevertheless, she shouldered the blame, illogical though it was. What would happen to Frankie? Marie and Tony wouldn't live forever. Would Frankie be able to have children? Would she be sickly all her life? Would her life be cut short by the heart murmur? Again, these thoughts were illogical and Marie knew it, but they still haunted her. She couldn't control every aspect of her daughter's life, but she would try to protect her. Little did she know that her overprotectiveness toward her daughter and her husband's and sons' unwillingness to coddle Frankie would turn her into a headstrong, determined woman who refused to be treated differently from anyone else.
In her own way, Frankie understood. "Mommy, it's not your fault. God made me this way and I know why. I'm going to be a doctor like Dr. Olafson (her cardiologist at the time), and I'm going to help people like me." Frankie would tell her mother in all innocence, completely believing every word she said. She just wanted her mother to stop being sad, and it always worked. Marie would dry her tears, splash water on her face, and she and Frankie would go to the kitchen to cook dinner.
Regardless of how many times Marie was assured by Dr. Olafson that Frankie was able to do pretty much anything she wanted, the worries persisted, often putting mother and daughter odds. For the rest of her mother's life, Frankie wouldn't have any of the babying and suffocating. When her mother wasn't taking her to the cardiologist for regular check ups and trying to protect her from every imagined catastrophe, Frankie did indeed try to live a normal life, becoming a bit of a daredevil and a tomboy in her quest to be like everyone else. She detested special treatment. It was a constant struggle in which her father always sided with her.
Tony's choice would have been to wrap his daughter in cotton or put her in a bubble, but he knew she had to live her life. His own life would be cut short by Lupus-induced kidney failure when Frankie was in college, and Marie would not live long enough to see her daughter become a cardiologist like she said she would when she was a little girl trying to comfort her. Marie died less than two years after her husband of what could only be described as a broken heart. Not a valid cause of death, but the autopsy that had been performed found absolutely nothing wrong with her. No aneurysm, clots, tumors or any sign of disease. It was like she had decided to stop living so she could be with her husband.
Frankie's brother used to bring Greg House home from college with him on weekends and some holidays, and they always took the little girl out with them for ice cream or whatever they had planned that was suitable to bring a small child to. They were using her for date bait, and little Frankie drew them like flies with her thick, wavy dark hair and dark green eyes. It never failed that she had to go to the bathroom, and neither Mike nor Greg could take her, so they always found a girl their age to take her. Once that was done, they always joined the girl and her friends and everyone had a good time.
One Saturday, they went bowling and House was trying to put his moves on a girl that was making a fuss over Frankie. Frankie, only four at the time, didn't like this particular girl and she had yet to develop that internal sensor that told you when to speak up and when to be quiet.
"You know he's only using me to try and get you to go out with him, don't you?" the little girl asked innocently, not realizing the storm she was starting. "My brother is too."
"Oh, really?" said the girl, whose name was Teri.
House got all flustered. He liked the little kid, but did she have pick now to open her mouth? She knew what was going on and always went along with it. Why did she pick today to speak up?
"Wait, Teri, it's not what you think!" House stuttered.
"Oh? What am I thinking then, Greg?" Teri said as she turned to pick up a bowling ball and shoved it as hard as she could into Greg's stomach. "It's your turn, isn it?" she replied sarcastically as she walked away.
Mike had been busy with another girl, but happened to toward House's direction when Teri shoved the ball in his stomach. Thinking his little sister might have had something to do with it, he went right over.
"What happened, Greg?" he wondered as he watched Greg gasping for breath.
"The little Princess over there ratted us out." Greg finally managed to answer as he pointed to Frankie, still sitting innocently on a bench, holding one of her Dr. Seuss books. When she saw her brother come over to talk to Greg, she started to get nervous, but didn't budge from the bench. She thought she was in trouble and they would never take her anywhere again.
Mike started to laugh. "What did she say?"
"She told the truth. Said we were using her to get girls." Greg grumbled, but he really couldn't get mad at Frankie no matter what she did. She was only telling the truth. He couldn't yell at her any more than her brother could. If she would only learn to be tactful, like about ten minutes ago! Unfortunately, tact was not going to ever be one of Frankie's better qualities.
Mike just shook his head as he and Greg went over to the bench where Frankie was sitting.
"Are you getting tired yet, Frankie?" her brother asked her, almost as protective of her health as their parents were, but like their father, he didn't put a lot of restrictions on her as long as what she was doing wasn't dangerous or she had tired herself out and wouldn't admit it.
Frankie looked up at her brother, almost in a panic. She adored her big brother and always cried when Mike went back to school, even though she knew he would come home again. The thought that he was mad at her had her on the verge of tears.
"Am I in trouble, Mike?" she asked in her little voice as Greg came up behind her brother. When Greg heard those words and the fear in Frankie's little voice, he totally forgot about losing the opportunity to score with Teri and tried to comfort the little girl. He hadn't forgotten how much he feared hearing his father's voice when he did something wrong. This little girl didn't deserve to be afraid of anything.
"No, you're not in trouble, Princess Francesca." Greg said with a smile as he sat next to the little girl and helped her put her things in her little nap sack.
"I don't like that girl, but I can go over there and tell her I was bad and lied to her if you want me to." Frankie said anxiously, still afraid of being in trouble. Her little world would come to an end if her brother and Greg were mad at her.
Greg chuckled as he finished packing her things. "Why don't you like her?" Before Frankie could answer, he looked at her very seriously. "No, Princess, I don't want you to go over there and lie. I don't ever want to hear that you lied about anything. Do you understand me? You always tell the truth." Greg told her. "Are you hungry yet?" he asked.
Frankie nodded her head. "Yes, I'm very hungry. Can we go to Jake's and get chicken strips?" she asked happily, her fears evaporating instantly at hearing Greg's words.
"Anything your Highness desires, she can have." Greg said with a laugh.
"Ice cream too?" Frankie giggled.
"You can have ice cream as long as you eat your meal, my lady" Greg said as he swung Frankie up on his shoulders. His heart had already hardened against serious emotional entanglements thanks to being a service brat and constantly moving around and having a father who treated the men under his command better than his own son, but somehow, Frankie found a crack in Greg's heart, wormed her way in and would always stay there. Even though she was only four, you could actually have a half way intelligent conversation with her. A four-year old's point of view on life could be quite interesting.
They headed to Jake's, and not only did Frankie eat her own meal, she actually got away with stealing a piece of Greg's chicken. He pretended to be outraged and said she couldn't have any ice cream because of that. The expression on little Frankie's face instantly changed from one of joy to almost crying. She wasn't old enough to completely grasp the concept of teasing yet.
Before her brother could run interference for House, Greg scooped Frankie up on his lap and said, "I'm only teasing you Princess. Didn't I promise you ice cream if you ate your lunch?" he asked the little girl in a soft voice.
Trying not to cry, Frankie just nodded her head yes.
"Well, I always keep my promises to you and you ate your lunch, Princess, so you can have any kind of ice cream you want." Greg continued, happy at seeing that he had avoided making Frankie cry. He was rewarded with a hug and a huge smile.
"Let's get a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and we'll share!" Frankie's dark green eyes were shining with happiness.
Greg motioned for their waitress and placed their order, adding a slice of cherry pie for him and Mike as well. When the waitress brought their desert, Frankie was jumping up and down in the booth excitedly.
As Frankie and Greg shared the ice cream and he gave her her first taste of pie a la mode, she asked Greg, "Greg, why do you call me Princess? Even Mike and my daddy don't call me that." Mike burst into laughter.
"Yeah, Greg, why do you call her "Princess"?" She's a pain in the butt!" Mike said once he regained his composure.
"Mike, that's a bad word. Why did you say that?" Frankie asked, looking at her brother with an oh, so serious expression on her face.
"Mike! The Princess is not a pain in the butt!" Greg said, pretending to be outraged for Frankie's sake. This was a game he and Mike played for her benefit, and even for Greg, it was a labor of love and not a thing he felt obligated to do because he wanted to make Frankie happy or make a good impression on her parents. To be honest, even then, Greg didn't give a rat's ass what anyone thought of him.
"Frankie," Greg said to the little girl. "I call you "Princess" because you are one, and one of these days, a handsome prince will come along and marry you and you'll both live happily ever after." Greg said.
This time, Frankie wasn't happy. "No, I'm going to marry you, Greg!" Don't say I'm going to marry someone else!" she cried, near tears again. Like the concept of teasing, she didn't understand that once her brother and Greg were finished with school, they would go their separate ways, seeing each other infrequently at best, and when email became the norm for communication, staying in touch that way. Greg wouldn't be visiting anymore.
Greg was startled at Frankie's outburst, and so was her brother. Greg did the only thing he know how to do. He scooped her up in his lap again. Frankie buried her head in Greg's chest and hugged him as tight as she could.
"Are you asking me to marry you, Princess?" he asked with as solemn an expression as he could manage as he put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up.
"Yes," the little girl said with a sniffle.
"Well, I accept your proposal then." Greg said. "As soon as you're all grown up and finished with school, we'll get married, so don't go getting married to someone else!"
Mike just shook his head. He leaned over and whispered to him.
"Greg, don't encourage her! She's too young to know you're only humoring her!"
"Mike I know that. She'll forget all about it by tomorrow, even if you keep inviting me over to your parent's house." Greg said. "I stopped her from crying, didn't I?"
He was right. Although Frankie remembered just about every detail of that day at the bowling alley and Jake's, she had completely forgotten Greg had accepted her "marriage proposal". If she had remembered, she would have been happy that he cared enough about her to humor her.
But Greg never really forgot Frankie, all the time he spent with her family, and especially that day at Jake's, and he would be the one to hold her to that promise of marriage. As he went on to medical school and became a doctor, he just developed a more misanthropic view of the world than he already had and pushed the pleasant memories of spending time with Mike and his family down into his subconscious as much as he could, and he avoided his own parents as much as possible. Why remember something that would never be for him? It just made him feel more miserable than he already was.
Frankie's mind slowly drifted back to the present and Dr. Cuddy. Even while reminiscing about that little bit of her childhood, she heard every word that had been said.
"That all sounds wonderful, Dr. Cuddy." Frankie said with a smile. "I take it I report to HR first thing Monday morning to pick up my ID and fill out all those happy little HR forms? Oh, by the way, do you know of any good yoga classes in town? I started taking classes a few years ago and I'd hate to quit now."
"I take yoga classes too." Cuddy said as she scribbled down a few names and numbers. She had reservations about hiring Frankie, not because of her lack of qualifications for the job or that she had a heart murmur. She passed her physical with flying colors and obviously took care of herself. She was perfectly suited for this particular position, and Lisa Cuddy certainly didn't feel Frankie was too young or the position should be filled by a man. She was more concerned about House and how he might drive this girl crazy enough to quit her job more so than she was concerned about hiring someone with a mild heart problem. Half the employees at PPTH were probably walking time bombs as far as their health was concerned and didn't know it.
Cuddy and House were over before anything had a chance to develop, and she didn't take losing very well. In the end, they had both said things to each other that couldn't be taken back. House's attempt at a relationship with Rachel turned into a disaster as well. Cuddy had to admit that House tried, but Rachel had gotten attached to Lucas and cried for him every time she saw House.
At work, House had quickly lapsed back into some of the behavior patterns that had existed before his break down. His old ways of taunting and snarking at her, generally running around trying to either destroy expensive medical equipment or take outrageous chances with patient treatment, ignoring anything she tried to do to reign him in, were returning quickly.
Apparently House was the textbook definition of mayhem, mischief and impulsiveness all rolled into one on or off drugs, the only difference now being that now he sometimes gave some thought about the consequences of his actions on others before he did it anyway. In a way, Cuddy was happy about some of that behavior. At least they still communicated with each other on some level, even if she was constantly lecturing him about one thing or another.
Part of House's reverting to his normal behavior included his endless curiosity waking up again and the need to know all of her business, which had driven him to figure out her computer password (again) and look over her schedule of interviews and appointments. It also didn't help matters any that he could pick a locked desk drawer and look over the files of the potential new hires. Cuddy had caught him looking at the resumes last week. One in particular. Frankie's. Of course he wasn't the least bit embarrassed about being caught in her office snooping.
"Cuddy, are you hiring Dr. Scarselli?' House said in demanding tone.
"Cardiology really isn your field, House, and I don't need or want your feed back or permission on this." Cuddy snapped as she grabbed the file from House and sat down. "Will you please stop breaking into my locked desk and stay the hell out of my office unless you have a work-related reason to be here or I've asked you here? My desk, what's in it and who I choose to hire is none of your business!'
"Oh my, is it that time of the month, Cuddy? Right on schedule, as usual, I see.' House snarked. "Are you going to answer my question or do I park myself on that sofa or barge in wherever you decide to interview Dr. Scarselli? You know I'll find out if you interview her somewhere besides this office." House grinned and Cuddy was positive she had never seen anything quite so evil in her life as the grin on House's face.
"I'm making her an offer Tuesday. She has an impeccable background and medical reputation. She'll be another asset to this hospital. Why are you so curious about her?"
"Aw, Cuddy, you're jealous.' House snarked. "I know her. I went to college with her brother. I haven't seen her since their mother died. She was still in med school, but she's been in Boston since her residency. She's around thirty six now, I think." House replied smoothly, knowing how jealous Cuddy would be even though they were through.
Cuddy was jealous, much to her annoyance. Dr. Scarselli had left enough of an impression on House as a child that he followed her medical career?
Cuddy handed a slip of paper to Frankie that had some names of places that offered yoga classes of all levels. Thankfully, House hadn't barged in yet, and Cuddy's curiosity and that little green monster on her shoulder finally got the better of her.
"Dr. Scarselli, do you know Dr. Greg House?" Cuddy asked in what she hoped was a perfectly normal conversational tone.
Frankie nodded her head in the affirmative. "Greg went to college with my brother. I haven't seen him since my mother's funeral. Why do you ask? Frankie replied just as smoothly.
"I've had more people quit on me or file law suits against the hospital because of House than you could shake a stick at. If you don't mind my saying so, you're very beautiful, and House's type. I just wonder if how much trouble he's going to cause for you even though he does know you." Cuddy replied in what she hoped was a neutral tone.
Frankie looked thoughtfully at Cuddy. "Why on earth would my past friendship with Greg have to do with me working here? Why does this seem so important to her?" Frankie wondered to herself. "I doubt Greg would think of me as anything but a friend anyway."
Suddenly, it dawned on Frankie her very quickly that Cuddy was in love with Greg, and there had been a relationship that had gone very sour, and very recently, judging by Cuddy's question.
"Dr. Cuddy, are you warning me about Greg on a professional or personal basis? Frankie replied seriously.
The words just popped out of her mouth, and she winced inwardly. Her bluntness (and irritation over men having conversations with her boobs instead of her) had been the cause of most of her relationships ending in disaster in one way or another, or because she had been too focused on her career. She just kept telling herself she hadn't met her match yet, or accepted the possibility that he didn't even exist. With or without a man, she was happy with her life. Apparently, Cuddy wasn't happy.
Cuddy was embarrassed enough to blush. This girl was as intuitive as House!
"Guilty on both counts, Dr. Scarselli. He knows I'm hiring you and I don't want you to have second thoughts about coming to work here. He's quite manipulative and nosey, and I'm surprised he hasn't barged in here yet."
Frankie didn't know whether to laugh at Dr. Cuddy or just tell her to go play in traffic and accept Princeton General's offer instead. For a change, she decided to try to be tactful, but she ended up coming across a little more bluntly than she wanted.
"Dr. Cuddy, first of all, whatever your relationship is or isn't with Greg is none of my business, and I'd rather not discuss personal matters with you. Why should I have second thoughts about working here? You've offered me a job but now you seem hesitant about me accepting it. Please don't bring me in the middle of whatever it is you're going through with him. I didn't accept this position so I could hook up with him. Second, my brother and Greg were as alike as if they were identical twins. There were times I actually felt sorry for my sister-in-law until she learned how to handle my brother like I did and she learned fast. If I survived growing up with my brother without any physical or emotional harm, I can survive working with Greg House, but I'm not sure you can handle that fact. I can assure you that I won't actively be seeking him out. We practice different types of medicine and I'm pretty fair at diagnostics myself. I can see me going to him for help unless I was completely stumped and Dr. Elliott couldn't help me either. I haven seen Greg for years, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't even remember what I look like."
"He remembers you all right." Cuddy replied sarcastically. "One of the things he enjoys doing is driving me absolutely crazy, which means invading my privacy. He cracked my password again to look at my schedule, and he broke into my locked desk to look at your file."
Frankie covered her mouth to stifle her laughter.
"Dr. Scarselli, I fail to see what's so funny." Cuddy huffed.
"I'm so sorry, Dr. Cuddy, but that's the type of thing my brother would do to me just to annoy me. You apparently don't have any brothers, so you rightfully feel your privacy has been invaded. I can say I blame you for that. As I got older, I quickly learned that if I didn't make a fuss about anything my brother did to me, he'd give up the ghost. I don't know about what else Greg does in this hospital to annoy you, but breaking into your desk or hacking into your laptop should be the least of your worries. He obviously knows how your mind works, which is why it's probably not much of a challenge to guess your password. Pick one he'd never associate with you in a million years and try to keep him from blowing up the hospital. That's all I can suggest. Greg and my brother exchange emails and my brother tells me what's going on, so I do know of some of the problems he's had over the years and I heard about his breakdown, but it sounds like he's on his way to his "normal' behavior."
Frankie wasn't sure if she had gone too far or been too blunt in her response, but she quickly changed the subject.
"Wasn't Dr. Wilson supposed to be part of this interview, Dr. Cuddy?" She still hadn't figured out why she had to interview with the head of oncology since she was a cardiologist and her department head had already interviewed her, but it was time to get off the subject of Greg House, even though she now was hoping he would barge in here!
"Dr. Wilson had an emergency and sends his apologies. He'll try to talk to you on Monday. I guess I should tell you that he's House's best friend. He's also a board member and I try to have him sit in on interviews whenever it's feasible in the event I might need feedback on someone. In this case, I can honestly say I don't need his feedback. I received a very glowing personal letter of recommendation from your old boss, and my own feelings are that you are an excellent doctor, though a little on the mouthy side, and you claim to be able to handle House. If that's true, that alone makes you a valuable asset to this hospital."
Cuddy actually had a genuine smile on her face, which surprised her. While it was true that House had been the one who had broken it off and was refusing all overtures from her, she still loved him. He even fought a working relationship with her, but that's how it had been before his breakdown and in a way, it was comforting. The snark was coming back stronger by the day and that meant he was getting better. It would be sort of fun to see if Frankie's confidence in her ability to deal with him was well-founded or all a smoke screen. Cuddy wouldn't be too happy if House's antics made her quit. It was also in the realm of possibility that he might attempt a relationship with. There wasn't one bloody thing to be done about it that wouldn't make her look like a fool, and she had done enough of that when she and House were together. If he became annoying enough to Frankie to cause her to quit, all Cuddy could do would be to try and talk her out of it.
Frankie stood up and extended her hand to Cuddy. "Thank you, Dr. Cuddy. I appreciate the time you took to explain my job and what will be involved. And thanks for the yoga class leads."
Frankie's smile was genuine. Cuddy was relieved. Frankie hadn't been offended at her questions.
"Just call me "Cuddy" like everyone else does or "Lisa." Cuddy said as she accepted the handshake.
Frankie looked puzzled. How could she address the Dean of Medicine by her first name?
"Dr. Cuddy, I"m afraid I can't do that! You"re the Dean of Medicine and it"s not proper!" Frankie exclaimed.
"No, I insist. First of all, it"s proper since I made the request. It's more or less the norm around here to address each other by our last names. Second, you just taught me a valuable lesson about keeping my personal feelings out of the workplace and remaining professional. That lesson was worth its weight in gold. I don't think I can repay you for that. Eventually, you"ll call me either "Lisa" or "Cuddy", so you might as well start now." Cuddy seemed sincere.
Frankie was still skeptical. "Aaah, okay, ahh, Lisa." Frankie tried it out, burst into laughter and fell back into her chair.
"Now what"s so funny about my first name?" Cuddy wondered.
"I'm sorry! It just doesn't feel right for me to call you by your first name yet. You"re my boss! If you give me a little time, I might be able to, but not right off the bat!" Frankie sat back in her chair to try and stop laughing, but she couldn't. Her laughter was contagious and Cuddy started laughing along with her.
At that moment, James Wilson walked into the giggle fest. "What"s so funny, ladies?" he wondered out loud.
For two seconds, Frankie and Cuddy were startled enough to stop laughing, then they started all over again. Finally Cuddy calmed down.
"Wilson, this is Dr. Francesca Scarselli, our new cardiologist. Dr. Scarselli, Dr. James Wilson, head of Oncology." Then Cuddy and Frankie broke into laughter again at the formalness of the introduction after Cuddy had requested to be casually addressed by her name not more than two minutes ago.
Wilson was confused and curious about what could have struck these two as so funny they were almost in tears.
"Dr. Scarselli, a pleasure to meet you. I"m so sorry to have missed this interview, and it looks like it"s over. Let me escort you out, and maybe answer any questions you might not have thought to ask Dr. Cuddy." That was Wilson. Courteous to a fault. And a nosey pain in the ass as well.
"Certainly, Dr. Wilson. It's a pleasure to meet you." Frankie extended her hand to Wilson as she got out of the chair and picked up her purse. Wilson escorted her through the lobby and they stopped near the doors while Frankie explained why she and Cuddy were laughing so hard when he walked in.
Wilson was checking Frankie out as they walked through the lobby. "Damn! She"s a knock out!" he said to himself. "It won be long before every red-blooded male in this place will be hitting on her. I can wait to see House"s reaction to her!" Of course Wilson didn't know House knew her.
And a knock out Frankie was. A little taller than Cuddy, she had thick, wavy shoulder length dark brown hair neatly held back with a head band that matched the silk sweater she wore with her suit, dark green eyes fringed with the thickest lashes Wilson had ever seen on a woman and one hell of a rack!
They had stopped in the lobby just short of the doors. Wilson saw House come down the hall toward them and quickly tried to warn Frankie. "Dr. Scarselli, please don't be . . . . " Wilson never had a chance to finish. He was going to warn her not to be alarmed by the fact that she was about to be "accosted" by House. House had stopped half way to the main doors because his leg wouldn't let him go any farther.
"Princess Francesca!"
Frankie whirled in the direction the voice had come from. Greg House was the only person on the planet that called her by that name. As usual, Wilson was annoyed at House"s behavior, but startled that he somehow knew Dr. Scarselli. More important, why didn't Wilson know House knew her?
"Greg!" Frankie cried as she dropped her purse next to Wilson"s feet ran down the hall toward the tall man she remembered so well. She skidded to a stop inches away from him, grinning from ear to ear. She stopped short of throwing her arms around him like she did when she was little, a million thoughts, most of them happy, running through her head at seeing Greg again. But first and foremost on her mind was, "He's in pain."
Her mind quickly changed gears because she was so overjoyed to see him. After what Cuddy had told her, she fully expected him to barge in on her interview and was disappointed when he didn't make an appearance.
"When did he start wearing the scruff? I can believe how hot he looks! Why do I want to go to bed with him? He"s Mike's friend!" All these thoughts were running through Frankie"s mind in a jumble.
Greg dropped his cane on the floor, smiled and held out his arms and Frankie quickly closed the short distance between them.
Wilson had never seen this much of public display of affection from House, even for the brief period of time he was with Cuddy, grabbing her ass at the most inappropriate times or during the years he spent with Stacey. He fully expected House to look at him with a very wolfish expression on his face, but he was disappointed.
Frankie touched the side of his face with the back of her hand, almost lover like as House lowered his head to give her a quick kiss on the lips before quickly burying his face in her neck so he could hide the emotions on his face.
House was surprised at his reaction to seeing Frankie again after all these years. His all too brief interlude with Lydia at Mayfield had shown him he was capable of genuine emotions. Sadly, as far as he was concerned, he had not been able to reach out to anyone since Lydia in anyway that mattered to him or helped him know that there was hope for him, that the time he spent with her wasn't a fluke.
Hooking up with Cuddy had probably been one of the worst things he could have done. After waiting and wanting her for so long, he was shocked to realize what he felt for her was just an itch he needed to scratch. That fiasco made him give up hope of ever having any real feelings or a real relationship.
Once again, his heart and emotions were encased in a huge block of ice. One look at Frankie, and all the ice that had formed over his heart and the spot she had occupied as a little girl melted completely. It was a good thing Wilson couldn't read his mind. All House could say to himself over and over was, "The Princess came home. This is real!"
Cuddy was standing in the shadows of the pillar near her office door, watching the reunion scene unobserved. House"s display of affection hit her like a ton of bricks, shocking her more than it had Wilson. Now she knew it was truly over, no more chances at a reconciliation. They were no more than employer-employee now. She didn't even hold out hope that they could reestablish a platonic friendship.