Chapter 4 Monday
House had introduced Wilson as a Member of the Board replacing Dr. Cuddy as hospital representative. Nobody seemed to find this strange; Wilson was given a place in the first row during House's lecture and was invited to the official banquet afterward and introduced to a number of people who were either successful academics or rich or married to one of the first two kinds.
Later, they shared a light dinner in the hotel's restaurant; even House couldn't face a full meal so few hours after the banquet. Before dinner they had gone for a short walk in the woods, House leaning on his cane and, when the footpath got too rough, on Wilson's arm. They were back in their room when it was still early evening.
House didn't like long, complex sentences. "So?"
"So what?"
"Have you made up your mind?"
Wilson didn't even try to pretend he had forgotten. He looked angry. Angry and red in the face and almost fighting tears. In fact, despite the bushy eyebrows, he mostly looked like an angry schoolgirl. "House, I don't want just... just sex for one week."
House thought briefly of this unexpected complication. He had imagined his friend's attraction for him to be a normal hormonal consequence of a too protracted chastity combined with constant exposure to his own attractive person. But of course Wilson, being Wilson, couldn't admit he just wanted sex. Well, he didn't have to admit anything as far as House was concerned.
"Sorry, but these are the conditions. Take it or leave it."
"I don't know that I can do this."
"What are you, a girl? Women want love! Men want sex! I have to pretend the whole love thing with Cuddy so as to have sex with her, I can't do the same charade for you as well." Of course the part about not loving Cuddy was not true, but he hoped Wilson would believe it. Or pretend to. He briefly wondered on how much he would really have to fake in order to make Wilson feel that he loved him, but decided to ignore the question.
Wilson didn't looked convinced, but he looked calmer and more concentrated. He was thinking.
His thinking led to a question. "And how can you be sure I wouldn't tell everything to Cuddy?"
House almost laughed. Wilson's similarity to an angry schoolgirl was growing every minute.
"Because you'll give me your word you don't as part of the agreement. I trust you." That was entirely too easy.
And while Wilson thought about this last statement, House's telephone rang. He looked at it. Dammit! Cuddy. Wilson hearing love words from Cuddy now could totally spoil his chances. So he went to the bathroom with the phone.
"Hi. Any news?"
Cuddy started a long rant about events at Rachel's daycare that House wouldn't have been interested in at any possible moment, and certainly not now. So he just muffled the loudspeaker phone with a towel to make sure Wilson wouldn't hear, and whispered random monosyllables in the microphone whenever there was a pause. Finally it was over.
"That was Cuddy, right?" Wilson looked upset when House exited the bathroom.
"Yes, so?"
"The woman who sent me here to make sure you don't misbehave. My boss. My friend. And your girlfriend. House, how can I possibly..."
House threw away the telephone and the cane and jumped on Wilson, closing his friend's lips with his own. Wilson struggled briefly, then started responding more and more passionately.
Finally they came up for air and House asked "Yes or no? If it's no, we can stop now and I won't ask again. Ever."
Wilson looked like he was now beyond rational thought. This time it was he who jumped on his friend.
House felt very satisfied. He had been fantasizing about sex with Wilson ever since he heard him speak in his sleep, and the desire to give it a try got stronger as, week after week, he noticed how attracted to him Wilson was. And now Cuddy had delivered him on a silver platter this occasion to do what he wanted without guilt. She had lured him to give these lectures by promising him a week of sex, and now he would get his due: that was simple justice, not cheating.
He had expected sex with Wilson to be less satisfying than with Cuddy, but now he was not so sure. Well, he thought with an evil grin in the dark room, he had a whole week to get a better comparison. And with this thought, he fell asleep, his head on his sleeping companion's shoulder.
