Chapter 7

She took a deep breath as she opened the door to her potential new job as head of immunology and walked over to the elevator directory. The third floor. She got inside the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor and played with her fingernails as she anxiously awaited her stop. When the door opened the immunology department was straight ahead and she collected herself as she strode confidently into the office, making sure to knock first. She was waved in and was told to take a seat in the chair.

"Hello, Dr. Cameron. I'm Harold Cready. I assume you know you're here to interview for my position as the department head of immunology. I'm retiring after-" he seemed to count in his head but couldn't quite remember, "many years here. Now I've looked at your resume and I've talked to some references as well as your past employers and I must say you are probably the best candidate that I've looked at thus far."

Oh no. He talked to my past employers? He talked to House? Well he did say I'm the best candidate for the position. Why hadn't House mentioned he talked to Cready this morning when we were talking about my interviewing? She was silently panicking but it didn't show on her face.

"We'll do our standard background check and then we'll get back to you. But from what I can see, barring any unpleasant felonies and whatnot, we'll be calling to set up a start date."

"Thank you so much for your time Dr. Cready. I look forward to hearing from you."

They shook hands before parting ways. She breathed a sigh of relief. Truth be told, she'd gotten a good review from two other places she'd already interviewed with in the area and those, too, looked promising. She got back into the elevator she'd stepped off of only 10 minutes prior. She pressed the lobby button. What are you doing, Allison? Why can't you just pick one of these jobs and be happy? You already have three to choose from and eventually you're gonna have to make a choice. Princeton Plainsboro is not an option. She shook her head, hoping in doing so, she'd shake the thoughts from her head.

House sat at his desk, tossing a ball in the hair. He didn't have a case and his team was elsewhere so he couldn't even ignore them. He could possibly go to Wilson's office next door but undoubtedly he'd ask why he ignored his calls last night and then somehow guess that it had something to do with Cameron. He could badger Cuddy but he wasn't in the mood for her yelling at him to be down in the clinic. He considered opening his computer to watch porn but he wasn't even in the mood for that. His cellphone began to rang.

Before he could get out some smart ass greeting the other voice spoke, "why didn't you tell me you'd spoken to Dr. Cready?"

"Didn't cross my mind."

"House-"

"Did he not hire you?"

"No. No, he said I was the best candidate for the position and after a background check he's going to call me to set up a start date."

"So why are you calling me?"

She paused. Why am I calling House? Sure, he didn't tell me he talked to Dr. Cready but then again he's not inclined to tell me every mundane detail of his day. Oh god, Allison, you've embarrassed yourself again.

"From your lack of response, i'll deduct you just missed hearing my voice. You know, i'll share my bed again if you promise to try and rip my clothes off like you did last night," he growled sexily into the phone.

"House, I was drunk. You were there. Naturally you'd be the first person I'd go after."

"You know what they say, 'a drunken mind speaks a sober heart'."

She hesitated, "what-. What did I say?"

"Guess you'll have to come over tonight and find out."

"No, House. I'm not coming over."

"Fine. It's a good thing you brought Mr. Wallaby with you because he can keep you company while you eat take out and watch crappy movies on pay per view," he smirked.

She nearly choked on her tongue, "Mr. Wallaby?" she put her head in her hand, "I told you about my stuffed bear?"

"That should be the least of your worries," he said in a sinister voice. "My place. 7pm. I'll see you there, mooby," he stifled a laugh as he hung up.

Mooby! That was Chase's pet name for me. Although, I still don't know exactly what a 'mooby' is, if anything. And I told him I brought my beloved stuffed bear with me? This is arsenal for life. Well if I didn't already have a good reason to not go back to work at PPTH, here's a good one: House has enough blackmail on me for the rest of HIS life. Who knows what else I told him last night. Maybe you should go, just to see what else you blabbed about last night. Maybe something needs clearing up, or maybe something ultra personal was said and he needs to know he can never ever mention it to anyone. Okay, I'll go. Solely to preserve my reputation.