Chapter 10: Thursday Again
House could feel the hospital buzzing with tales about him. Nurses glanced at each other and laughed as he walked by. Anyone around stared every time he talked to Cuddy. Wilson questioned him at least once a day about what was happening. Even one clinic patient had giggled when he told them that his name was Dr. House.
"Right now I feel like a fool," House stood in Cuddy's office, clad in a brand new pair of ballet shoes she had called him in to try on. They fit perfectly.
"Well, take comfort, you look just the way you feel," Cuddy couldn't help but laugh as she leaned back in her chair and admired this mismatched look. Ballet shoes and a cane- that was irony for you.
"Very comforting, I must say," He turned at the sound of a door opening. Cameron and Foreman stood in the doorway, their stomachs in pain from holding in their amusement.
"Have you come here to stand there and giggle, or do you actually have something to say?" House acted as though this were an everyday occurrence. Cameron managed to speak between gasps of laughter.
"We'll come back later."
They left the room, bursting into uncontrolled laughter as soon as the door closed behind them. As soon as they were out of sight, House turned back at Cuddy, who was slouched back into her chair, picking at her nails.
"How about we go out to lunch before heading off to class?" Cuddy said, her eyes moving from her hands, to the clock on her desk, up to meet House's curious smile. She sighed. "My treat."
"Well, I can't just turn down free food," House shrugged, "let's go!"
Cuddy decided to go to a sushi place close to the school. They spent the time in the car chatting about the reactions of their coworkers to the news that they had been doing ballet. They agreed that the ducklings' were the funniest. They arrived, jumping out of Cuddy's car and squeezing into the tiny sushi bar that was no bigger than House's kitchen. They sat back in the far corner, the only table available. House had never really been a fan of this sort of thing, but he didn't feel like protesting. Cuddy ordered something with salmon and pineapple.
"I have no idea what any of this is," House stared down at the yellowish piece of paper that constituted the menu.
"Just have the California Roll. It's the simplest thing. You'll like it."
The small Japanese man came took their order before hurrying off behind a curtain that lead to the back. Cuddy sat upright in her chair and smiled at House, as though she expected him to say something. House had just barely opened his mouth when techno music started playing from her purse.
"Oh. My cell phone," she looked at her purse, suspiciously almost.
"Go ahead, no problem," House was just curious as to who was calling her at one in the afternoon on a Thursday. Cuddy reached into her bag and pulled out a sleek black phone- the kind he thought looked like it was from a James Bond movie. Looking at the screen on the front, her eyes widened and she glanced up at him.
"This'll only be a second," she flipped the phone open and held it to her ear, "hello?"
The woman on the other end talked quickly, only pausing long enough for a response of "okay," or "mm-hmm." Cuddy looked down at her plate as she listened, her expression locked in a state of surprise.
"Okay, sounds good. Love you too." Cuddy began to close her phone.
"One more thing!" House heard the woman shout. Cuddy looked up at him, annoyed and apologetic. Leaning back in his chair, he smiled forgivingly. After another minute of constant chatter, she said goodbye again and Cuddy hung up. "So sorry," Cuddy slipped the phone back into her purse and hung it on the back of her chair, "my mom. Apparently, she's coming here for a convention or something this weekend. Wants to have dinner with me Saturday."
House had never met Cuddy's parents, let alone had he really been given any sign of their existence. He wondered if her father would be coming too. He'd like to meet the people who had produced the woman who sat before him.
"Want to come along?" House was paralyzed, surprised. Introducing him to her parents seemed like the last thing that Cuddy would do. "It's fine if you don't," she clearly regretted having asked.
"No, no. I'd love to come," he smiled weakly before looking, afraid, down at the food the waiter placed before him.
"Oh, come on," Cuddy laughed at House's suspicion of what was in front of him, "it won't bite you."
"You can never be too careful."
"Odd thing to be hearing from you."
Smiling at her, House picked up his chopsticks to face his meal. They were mostly silent while they ate; only briefly commenting on the food or another customer. House ended up enjoying the sushi, and even tried a little of Cuddy's. After she swiftly paid at the counter, they left silently and walked down the street to the ballet school. Georgia was sitting at the desk in front, as usual, greeting them cheerfully.
"I see that Dr. Greg isn't giving up!"
"Oh no," Cuddy grinned sideways at him, "he wouldn't do that."
Class went similar to last week. House felt even more ridiculous with his rather large ballet shoes on. Every time Cuddy looked over at him, she could help laughing at his embarrassment. She could at least feel a little bit of pity for the crippled man, he thought to himself. She only made him feel more inadequate, effortlessly soaring across the room, the light catching her long eyelashes, and the soft curls of strands of hair that had escaped her hair tie flying behind her.