"How come you like cricket?" Chase asks as he locks his car behind them. "I thought your Indian parents died when you were very small."
"Yeah," Kutner shrugs, "but one of the earliest memories I have is me sitting next to my dad on the couch watching India versus Pakistan and him bellowing at the TV," he adds with a chuckle. "And you know the funny part?"
"What?"
"I've never been to a match before. All the cricket I've seen in my life has been on TV."
A warm, sunny day at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Aged six, a slightly chubby Robert scans the surroundings with his vivid blue eyes, blonde hair peeking from under a hat as he holds his dad's hand, queuing up to buy tickets for the match. He cannot stand still; he wants to go run around like the other kids but refrains from doing so. It's one of those rare occasions the latter has taken out some time from his busy schedule for him and no way is he gonna do anything to anger him. But more incredible is the fact that his dad is actually in a good mood, even buying him some cotton candy which he usually finds so repulsive out of his own initiative.
Chase shakes his head to stop the flow of memories that have been so quick to surface at Kutner's words. They seem to be always there just lying beneath the surface. Instead, he forces himself to remember other times at the ground in the company of his mates as a teenager and later on during his medical school years.
"You ever been to Australia?"
"Nope."
"Tell you what, let's try schedule our vacations next time. I can take you see a cricket match in Sydney and then make you see around Australia. I'll be your guide."
Chase earns a lop-sided grin from Kutner for his suggestion and cannot help but laugh when the other doctor extends his palm for a high five. "Cool."
Now is not the time to dwell on his dad, he reckons as he does a quick review of his life at present. He's actually had time to make new friends since being fired by House and he feels he is lucky enough to be able to count Cameron's friends as his own. In addition to his nice apartment, he now has a big drawer filled with his things at Cameron's place. Although the thrill a differential diagnosis would procure sometimes leaves him wondering, he's content with his surgeon job for the moment. The only thing that he's always missed ever since leaving Australia is having someone to talk to about his penchant for soccer and cricket. Here everyone's more into basketball, baseball and American football.
But things changed for the better a few weeks ago. Chase finished his clinic duty one day to find Kutner coming out of another examination room wearing a t-shirt that read 'Cricket is my Religion'. Not knowing if the latter was in reality a fan of the sports or merely that of the colourful t-shirt, he decided to lunch with him in order to find out. It turned out that not only is Kutner well versed with the game, he is actually fun to be with. In his opinion, Kutner is by far his favourite person of the three in House's team. Since that day, they started hanging out often during weekends to watch cricket at his apartment. If only Chase could find someone with a liking for soccer, life would be perfect. He has heard through the hospital gossip mill that a new doctor freshly debarked from UK is now working in the paediatrics section. Maybe he could initiate a chat with the latter at the annual charity event scheduled for soon at the hospital.
Chase soon opens the door to his apartment. He barely makes a step inside when he comes to a standstill. Frowning slightly, he studies the keys clutched in his hands and then throws a glance towards the still ajar door and the letters on it. No, he has not barged into someone else's house. This is his apartment. Then?
"Something wrong?"
"No just checking something."
His curiosity piqued, Chase wastes no time in advancing through the hallway towards the living room. The sounds and sight that greet him there leave him musing. Cameron is sitting cross legged on the couch munching on a muffin and watching TV with a steaming hot drink in front of her on the coffee table. So far so good. Nothing unusual. However, the channel on at that moment is a sports channel and more surprisingly the sounds he hears are the voice of the commentator and fans cheering their teams during a…soccer match. The Manchester United versus Chelsea match to be more precise, the very match he would be watching right now if it was not for the accident that had him held up in a traffic jam for more than thirty minutes. Is she actually watching this? No way. There's probably nothing else on the TV.
He is about to stick to this thought when he notices something else. Her glasses are hitched over her nose, her eyebrows knit in deep concentration as her eyes follow the movement of the ball on screen. Or she's trying to figure out what the heck is this game about compared to American football.
"Hi."
Cameron turns upon hearing Chase's voice. "Hey hi. I didn't hear you two come in."
"Probably something to do with the blazing noise," Kutner remarks, pointing towards the TV. "Hi Cameron."
"Yeah sorry," Cameron lowers the volume of the TV, a sheepish grin appearing on her lips to match the one already found on Kutner's face. Ever since Chase started hanging out with him, he has become her friend too. "Hi Kutner. What are you guys doing here?" She mentions for him to take a seat, which he does after removing his jacket.
"We're here to see the one day international cricket match between Australia and India but looks like we gonna have a problem. Won't our matches overlap? Dunno a thing about soccer."
"When does the cricket match start?"
"In two hours."
"No it's ok. Twenty minutes left in the first half. Fifteen minutes of half time when the players go back to the dressing room. Another forty five minutes in the second half. A couple of minutes to be added probably at the end of each half. That's it," Cameron explains with ease which has Kutner nodding his appreciation.
"Cool to find a girl knowing much about sports."
"Actually I saw this quite cute player Cristiano Ronaldo win an award and decided to find out what the game's about. At the end of the first match I saw, I had already learnt the basic rules. They're quite simple in reality."
Till now, Chase has remained a quiet observer of the exchange between Kutner and Cameron but he finds he can no longer stay mum. "Kutner you mind going out for some…twenty minutes?"
"No but why?"
"Family talk thing."
He knows how lame that sounds and cringes when he sees Cameron curve an incredulous eyebrow in his direction, something that Kutner manages to miss as impossible as it may seem. It is only then that she notices her boyfriend is still standing and looking somewhat…strained? A sigh of relief escapes Chase's lips when Kutner picks up his jacket. "Ok I'll come back in half an hour."
Chase is hardly surprised when she stands up akimbo as soon as the apartment door snaps shut. "Family talk thing?"
"Yeah sorry that was the first excuse that came to my mind."
"What's the matter?"
Chase inhales deeply, trying to compose his nerves enough to express his thoughts in a coherent manner. "I…Allison you know how much you mean to me and honestly speaking I've never felt this strongly about someone else before."
"I know Robert," Cameron gives a little nod of the head to egg him on, perplexed at the direction this conversation is heading.
Chase takes a step towards her. "What you don't know is that I love playing soccer and watching it on TV. And for me, a girl with the mildest of interests in the game is like the perfect, ultimate thing." Another step. "And so you being this wonderful girl that I like so much knowing about soccer means that right now," a final step brings him at arm's length to her and he grabs her hand to rub it against his crotch, "I've never ever been this turned on by a fully clothed woman before."
Cameron is now smiling widely, any traces of concern vanished. "I can feel that."
The words are barely out of her mouth when she feels Chase's lips crashing against hers and his hands already undoing the clasp on her bra underneath her top.
"A quickie so that you can get back to your hunks before the fifteen minutes are over," he quips, earning him a smirk from her. Chase makes small work of her top and bra and Cameron responds likewise with his shirt when out of a sudden he pulls away from her. "Hmm by any chance would you have the slightest idea what an offside is?"
As he stares into Cameron's eyes and waits with bated breath, he curses himself inwardly. Trust him to ruin such a moment with a stupid question and actually expecting an answer. Although the other rules are straightforward, the offside rule is the hardest rule in soccer and the nightmare of most girls. Hell, even some guys seem to find it tricky.
A blank stare is all he gets from her for a couple of seconds before a small self-conscious smile tugs at her lips. "I'm not sure but I think the attacking player is not allowed to continue his run towards the goal post unless there's a defender from the other team in front of him and the goalkeeper…well something like that."
He stares back blankly for a few seconds, prompting Cameron to think maybe she messed up with the rule. She is about to ask him what the rule actually is when Chase growls against her mouth, "That's it. You're the love of my life."
A thought crosses his mind as he pushes her onto the couch and almost rips off her pants, something Cameron has no objection about. If his soccer and cricket teams win today, this day will unquestionably be a new addition in fourth position to his very small list entitled 'best days of my life'.