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CHAPTER 24: Please read and comment.
That afternoon, Chase and House were in the doctor's lounge watching 'Prescription Passion' on TV. House was eating chips out of a small bag, which Chase kept eyeing.
"I can't believe you watch this," Chase muttered, as he reached over to steal a chip from House's bag.
"You're watching it too," House pointed out, slapping Chase's hand away before he could snag a chip.
"Only because the TV in the surgical lounge isn't working," Chase replied.
"Hmmm…. Maybe I should get my girlfriend on that," House mused.
Chase snapped his head towards House with a look of surprise on his face.
"'GIRLFRIEND?!" Chase exclaimed.
"Well, it was either that or I called her 'the hot Dean of Medicine that I'm currently shagging.' Isn't that the expression that you British use?" House snarked, keeping his focus on the TV.
"I'm Australian. How long has this been going on?" Chase asked with extreme interest.
"What? The use of the word 'shag' or the fact that Cuddy and I are sleeping together?" House asked in a deadpanned voice.
Chase smirked and folded his arms across his chest, waiting for House to answer him. House glanced at him briefly with annoyance and then turned back to the TV.
"...A few days," House muttered.
Chase nodded, keeping the smirk on his face.
"So… is sleeping together all your doing?" Chase prodded.
"What else is there?" House asked with a grimace, wishing that Chase would shut up and let him watch his soap in peace.
"Did you take her out on a date yet?" Chase asked him pedantically.
"The whole point of going out on dates is to get laid. I'm already getting laid. I don't have to go out on dates," House replied, shoving some more chips into his mouth.
Chase stared at House with a furrowed brow.
"Does Cuddy agree with that theory?" Chase asked curiously.
"Dunno. I didn't ask," House said with a shrug.
Chase raised his eyebrows slightly at this, but said nothing.
Just then, Cuddy stormed into the lounge, strode over to the two men and stood in front of the TV, blocking their view. "In my office," Cuddy ordered, staring both men down.
House and Chase exchanged glances and looked back at Cuddy.
"Me or him?" House asked.
"HIM," Cuddy replied angrily, jutting her chin at Chase.
Chase looked down, avoiding Cuddy's gaze, pretty sure of the reason why Cuddy was so angry at the moment.
"He hasn't seen any of the episodes this seasons. I need to catch him up," House said.
"NOW!" Cuddy yelled.
Chase quickly got up off the couch and began to follow Cuddy out of the lounge.
"She's feisty. Can I watch?" House asked.
"NO," Cuddy replied, not looking back at him as she escorted Chase quickly out of the room.
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A few minutes later, Chase and Cuddy were in her office. Chase was seated on the couch as Cuddy stood in front of him.
"Why did you tell Cameron to quit?" Cuddy demanded of him.
"I didn't TELL her to quit. I merely gave her an option that she didn't know she had," Chase replied simply.
"Well she took it. She accepted the job at NYU as their Head of Diagnostics," Cuddy told him in an irate tone.
Upon hearing this, Chase smiled.
"Good for her," Chase stated sincerely.
A curt laugh of disgust escaped Cuddy's lips.
"Since when do you care about Cameron?" Cuddy asked him.
"I never said I didn't care about her," Chase said defensively.
"Oh excuse me. I didn't realize that a synonym for 'caring about someone' is 'cheating on them,'" Cuddy said in an obnoxious and sarcastic manner.
Chase's defensive expression changed to one of mild amusement.
"You didn't exactly stop me," Chase retorted.
Cuddy shot Chase a menacing glare and began to pace back and forth in her office. Chase watched her as she did so.
"Did Cameron tell you why she quit?" Chase asked her.
"What does it matter what she told me? She obviously quit because House and I are…" Cuddy said, trailing off.
Chase arched his eyebrows at her silence, waiting for her to finish her thought.
"… 'dating,'" Cuddy muttered.
Chase chuckled ever so slightly at Cuddy's choice of words, remembering what House had told him a few moments ago in the doctor's lounge.
But Cuddy was too incensed to pay any attention.
"Cameron's an excellent doctor and she's a great department head! Now I have to replace her because you convinced her that she was miserable here!" Cuddy exclaimed.
"I didn't convince her. She WAS miserable!" Chase argued.
"So you were just being a good friend, is that it?" Cuddy asked skeptically.
"Yes," Chase answer her.
Cuddy's look of disbelief became more pronounced at Chase's answer.
"I know you too well. There's NO WAY you did this as a purely selfless act," Cuddy said in an accusing tone.
"You think you know me because we slept together once?" Chase demanded.
"I know you because you've been my EMPLOYEE for the last five years," Cuddy stated.
"And if you want to CONTINUE to be my employee, you're going to have to make up for the fact that you just made me lose my ER Chief," Cuddy added.
Chase exhaled in exasperation.
"So what do I have to do? Cover House's Clinic Duty?" Chase asked wearily.
"No," Cuddy said, pausing for effect.
"You're doing a fifteen hour NICU rotation this Saturday," Cuddy told him with a slightly triumphant expression.
At this, Chase stood up off the couch and stepped closer to her with a look of complete shock.
Sophie was flying in from Boston on Saturday for their first date.
If he had to do a fifteen hour NICU rotation, he would have to cancel on her.
As if reading his mind, Cuddy placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head slightly.
"What wrong? You got a hot date with your Xbox this weekend?" Cuddy snarked.
At first, Chase didn't reply. He raked his fingers through the back of his hair and looked away from her penetrating gaze.
"…Sophie's… coming in from Boston for the weekend. We had plans to see a movie," Chase mumbled.
"Not anymore," Cuddy stated flatly.
Chase felt his heart sink as he realized that Cuddy wasn't about to change her mind.
"You'd better call Sophie and tell her that you're grounded on Saturday night," Cuddy added condescendingly.
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Chase was sitting in the common area of the OR signing off on some charts that he had accumulated recently in an effort to avoid the inevitable phone call he had to make.
He lolled his head back and closed his eyes, knowing that if he avoided it much longer, it would only make things worse.
He took his cell phone out of the back pocket of his scrubs and pressed the button for Sophie's number.
After two rings, she picked up the phone.
"Hey, I was just thinking about you," Sophie said happily.
Chase couldn't help but smile despite the fact that he was about to give her bad news.
"That's nice to hear," Chase said sweetly.
"You wanna know why I was thinking about you?" Sophie said coyly.
"Sure," Chase replied, hoping that she couldn't pick up on the growing sadness in her voice.
"Because I'm out shopping for something to wear for our date on Saturday night," Sophie replied.
'F*CK,' Chase thought to himself silently.
"Sophie… I'm…" Chase began tentatively.
"I should be in sometime after one o'clock," Sophie continued. "I have plans for lunch with Jimmy, then I'm going to do some studying, but if you like, we can go to dinner before the movie," Sophie said hopefully.
Chase pursed his lips together, feeling a pain in his chest at what he was about to tell her.
"Sophie… I'm going to have to cancel our date," Chase said sadly.
At first, Sophie was silent. She didn't say anything for a few moments.
Chase waited for her to speak, hoping that she wasn't angry.
"…That's ok," Sophie finally said softly.
"I'm so sorry," Chase apologized.
"I understand," Sophie said. "You're having… second thoughts about going out with me," Sophie said barely above a whisper, trying to prevent her voice from cracking.
Chase's eyes bugged out of his head, completely stunned by her statement.
"No! That's not it at all!" Chase declared vehemently, shaking his head on the other end.
"Then, why—" Sophie began.
"Because I screwed up," Chase stated flatly, completely disgusted with himself.
"What happened?" Sophie asked him.
Chase exhaled deeply and closed his eyes for a moment.
"Let's just say that no good deed goes unpunished," Chase muttered.
In spite of her disappointment, Sophie smiled slightly on the other end.
"So what did you do?" she asked him.
Chase quickly racked his brain, thinking of the easiest way to tell her that he had helped his ex- girlfriend quit her job and pissed off the woman he slept with as a result.
"I… did something nice for a… colleague… and my boss got angry because of it, and now I have to work a fifteen hour shift in the NICU on Saturday," Chase said.
Sophie could tell by the way that Chase had paused before the word 'colleague' that he was hiding something.
But she didn't let on.
"Well that sucks," Sophie declared.
"Yep," Chase agreed with a chuckle.
"I guess nice guys finish last, huh?" Sophie asked him rhetorically.
"Trust me. I wasn't always this nice," Chase replied.
"I find that very hard to believe," Sophie told him.
Chase smiled once more, feeling a wonderful warmth surge through him at her words.
"What time were you planning on going back on Sunday?" Chase asked her.
"Sometime in the morning. I have a study group in the afternoon and exams next week," Sophie said in a resigning tone.
"I can cancel on my study group," Sophie offered.
"That's ridiculous. I'm not gonna make you do that," Chase told her.
"How about I come up the weekend after?" Chase offered.
"I was kinda looking forward to grabbing onto you at all the scary parts of the movie," Sophie told him coyly.
Chase grinned.
"We can still do that. I think they have movie theaters in Boston," Chase replied, matching her flirtatious tone.
Sophie laughed. "Last time I checked," she quipped.
"So I'll see you the weekend after, then?" Chase asked.
"That depends. Are you gonna be a good boy from now on and stop doing nice things for people?" Sophie teased him.
"I promise to be a complete jerk until then," Chase joked back.
"Good," Sophie replied, grinning broadly.
"Can I call you tonight?" Chase asked her softly.
"I'd love that," Sophie replied, just as softly.
After saying their good- byes, Sophie closed her cell phone and thought for a moment.
She then opened her phone once more and pressed the button for Wilson's number.
TBC...