Chapter 11

And so it went that each evening for the next few weeks, House would find a poem on his door; he would end up at her doorstep and they would either talk a few minutes or she would feed him, depending on when he came and if she was hungry. And, over the course of those weeks, House made his second friend…but neither truly knew each other. Neither took the time, during those brief moments every night, to really educate each other about themselves. They just wanted to be in each other's presence which surprised each to no end. There was a lot of snarky banter, with glimpses of insight but nothing substantial…and Romoly knew this just wasn't enough. She needed more: she had to know why she thought about a man she knew so little about…and why what she did know of him was nothing necessarily good. Perhaps if she did a bit of investigating on her own, she'd discover why she was attracted to him. Or maybe she shouldn't learn more; it might scare her from him even more. Upon learning he worked at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, she took an afternoon off and headed to his domain.

Walking over to the front desk, Romoly smiled at the slightly overtaxed girl. "Good afternoon…" Romoly leaned over to read her nametag. "Doreen. I'm looking for someone who might be working here but I don't know for sure; I don't even know his name," She chuckled. Doreen was curious; she didn't get many requests like this. "I do know he's a friend of Dr. Gregory House."

Poor Doreen: she simply rolled her eyes in disgust and agitation at the mention of "Dr. House". "Well, Dr. House only has one friend: Dr. James Wilson. He's the head of Oncology."

Romoly smiled. "Does this Dr. James Wilson have dark, rather floppy hair; huge chocolate eyes and dimples you can dive into?"

Doreen gave a girlish sigh and nodded. Romoly wondered if this was a common reaction from women. Doreen turned to the elevators behind her and pointed. "Take the elevator to the third floor; make a left at the statue and it's at the end of the hall." Doreen turned back to her, curious about why she wanted the friend of Dr. House; after all, it sounded like she knew Dr. House.

Romoly simply smiled. She already had a good idea what Doreen (and probably the rest of the hospital) was subjected to with Dr. House. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." Doreen smiled happily; she was happy to help. And she didn't usually get such nice people through the doors so this beautiful woman was a nice change of pace.

"Sure. And have a nice day."

"You too."

*****

Getting off the elevator, Romoly found the statue and followed her directions. Quickly locating his open door, she took a deep breath and stepped under the doorframe. Inside she found the right guy: the guy who was with Dr. House when she first met him. And Dr. Wilson was as cute as she remembered: that dark hair that flopped where any which way; those dark, dark chocolate eyes and deep dimples. Dr. Wilson didn't notice anyone standing at his open door as he was engaged in reading what looked to be a patient file. Lightly knocking, Romoly quietly, almost timidly asked, "Dr. Wilson?"

He looked up and, for a minute looked incredibly confused…then it hit him who this was: Shower Girl!

"Do you remember me, Dr. Wilson?"

He most certainly did.

*****

"Of course I do, Sh…" Wilson was so shocked at seeing her at his door…and fully clothed…that he almost called her "Shower Girl". How embarrassing would THAT have been? "Of course I do. But I don't believe I know your name Miss…" He flashed her his "this will get anything I want" dimple; it was guaranteed 90% effective.

Romoly smiled; she was…and yet wasn't…fooled by his charm. "Hasn't Dr. House told you? From what I can see, you two spend quite a bit of time together."

Wilson blushed and Romoly's smile turned goofy. I'm really falling for the wrong man, Romoly admitted to herself. I should go for his best friend. He's pretty amazing. "Ok, you got me Ms. Romoly Scott." Wilson stood up and made his way around the huge desk, coming to stand in front of her but still inside the office. "Come in, come in," he said, waving his hand inside and shutting the door behind them. This made Romoly a bit uncomfortable and, noting this, Wilson pointed to a club chair in front of his desk, where he parked himself on the edge. Romoly sat down a bit apprehensively. "I shut the door because House's office is next door; he has a tendency to barge in. You don't want him knowing you're here, do you?"

Romoly shook her head; that would not be good. When she didn't say anything for a few moments, Wilson folded his hands in front of him and leaned down a bit toward her. "I'm going to take a wild stab at what this is about: would the subject be tall, have blue eyes, walk with a cane and have a dreadful disposition?"

This made Romoly smiled. "However did you guess?"

Wilson grinned and shook his head. "You've certainly got him worked up."

She shook her head. "But I didn't do anything."

"You answered the door in a bath towel; that was enough for him. You all but threw yourself at him…"

"But I didn't!"

Wilson nodded. "…I know that; you know that. He just can't make the connection. And that stupid librarianism…thing…I don't even know what to say to that one."

Romoly nodded then smiled ruefully. "He won't let it go; I'm not like that."

"He's told me how you leave poems for him. That one really throws him for a loop."

"I know."

Wilson looked at her then smiled broadly. "That's your plan, isn't it? You write him the poems, knowing full well he's going to come by?"

She nodded again. "Before I go any further: how far is this information going?"

Wilson looked surprised. "Not any further than this office. Personally I think you should continue sending the poems. It's driving him bananas and, at the same time, he's come to respect you…well, respect you as much as House is capable of respecting someone."

"So do you think I'm doing the right thing? I'm trying to prove I'm not what he says…and, for the life of me, I don't even know why I feel compelled to do it."

"Miss Scott…"

"Please call me Romoly."

Wilson smiled easily. "Romoly," he paused, almost wishing she were as taken with him as she was with House. And it was clear she was taken with House. How did that happen? "Deep down he knows how idiotic his notion is; a person can't have a notion like 'librarianism' and not be proven wrong; it's inevitable. And you are the person to do that. But he won't go down without a fight…and he certainly won't let it go until you either sleep with him (and, even then, he'll question why your love-making was stilted or repressed even if it isn't) or you leave him. Either way…" Wilson smiled. "…you're screwed."

Romoly rolled her eyes. "Oh no…Dr. House has corrupted you! Turn away from Darth House. He wants to turn you to The Dark Side." They chuckled and Romoly paused to let her gaze fall over his face. Dr. Wilson really is a nice guy; it's too bad his friend is a complete louse. For some reason, Romoly felt she could say what she said next…and it was a comfort. She hadn't told anyone about Dr. House (since Romoly worked all the time, she didn't go out; she was pretty much a loner. As a result, she didn't have many friends and certainly no one she could feel comfortable enough to confide in about her cranky next door neighbor). "Dr. Wilson…"

Wilson's eyes sparkled. "Please call me James."

She blushed and looked at her hands. Her demeanor suddenly turned serious as she muttered, "He still talks like I'm a virgin." She looked up at his confused eyes. "Did you know he even asked me if I knew what it was like to kiss a man?"

Wilson's eyes widened and he got up from his desk. Pacing he just couldn't believe how stupid House was being…and this confusion said a lot. House did stupid things on a daily basis. "He actually asked you that?"

Romoly nodded. "Of course I know how to kiss a man. While I haven't bed-hopped like he has I've had two serious, long-term relationships; we're talking years for each one. But both ended badly…with one I had to get a restraining order, the other, um, died suddenly…and that's my past." She paused and looked out the window at the gorgeous afternoon. Suddenly feeling the need to change gears, she turned back to Wilson. "How long have you been friends with Dr. House?"

A bit taken aback by the sudden shift in conversation, Wilson could only chuckle. "Too long. I don't know, for some reason I feel obligated to him somehow. He's the pathetic puppy that doesn't have a friend in the world. Of course, if the puppy wouldn't growl at everything around him, he just might have more friends but he just can't seem to grasp the correlation."

She snorted. How true is that? "And he's stubborn which is why, I'm guessing, he won't let this thing go."

Wilson smiled and leaned down a bit. Looking her in the eyes, he asked, "Would you go out with me?"

*****