Chapter 36

In the days that followed, House found himself enjoying the pleasures that were Marianne: delicious home cooked meals, pleasant and easy companionship and, of course, mind-blowing sex.

He stopped at her house almost every night for dinner. She always had something ready for him. She loved to cook and wanted to be sure something was there for Michael if he should come home for dinner. But he stayed away from the house as much as he could, spending most of his time at Cameron's. Since he couldn't' drive, it was just easier to stay at her place so that they could go to work together.

He was forced to deal with House at work, he didn't want to deal with him in his home.

After dinner, House and Marianne would usually curl up on the loveseat in her room to watch TV. She let him control the remote – most of the time. She held fast for her favorite programs and, even though he grumbled, he relented. They always ended up in bed.

The sex was better than he could have hoped. She had gotten more adventurous in the thirty years since he'd first known her, doing things she never would have done back then. He questioned his good luck in finding her again and finding her to be so perfect. He wondered if she was too perfect.

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Inevitably, it came time to meet each other's friends. First, of course, was Wilson. He had been bugging House for a chance to meet the new woman in his life. Marianne, as well, had asked House to bring his best friend over for dinner. Finally, House relented and Wilson joined them for a dinner of Veal Marsala.

They got along famously. There was a lot of laughter at the dinner table and in the living room after with coffee and dessert. Wilson thought she was terrific and told House so the next day.

"I don't know how you do it!" Wilson said.

"Do what?"

"Get a woman like that – beautiful, warm, funny, just…terrific. How do you do it?"

House waggled his eyebrows. "I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you."

"Seriously, House, she really is terrific. How are you planning on screwing this one up?"

"Have a lot of faith in me, don't you?"

"I just know you. If you can find a way to ruin this, you will."

House just glared at him.

Meeting her best friend was a little harder.

Sandy was her agent as well as her friend. She had some contracts and other business for Marianne, so she came down from New York in the early afternoon, with plans to stay overnight.

The two friends discussed business first to get it out of the way and justify Sandy deducting this trip as a business expense. Then Marianne poured them two glasses of wine and they settled on the sofa to catch up.

"So, anyway," Sandy said, "This guy's name in Allejandro and he is gorgeous. He looks just like Antonio Banderas."

"Oh my God, just your type!"

"Honey, hot and gorgeous is always my type."

"Congratulations and good luck with him." Marianne said.

"So, what about you? Any action since you moved to the sticks?"

"Princeton is not the sticks."

"Compared to New York it is."

Marianne smiled. Sandy watched her and tilted her head suspiciously. "Oh, oh, that smile! You have been getting some, haven't you?"

"Actually, there is someone."

"Okay, spill. I want to know everything, in detail. And if you leave anything out, I'll know."

Laughing, Marianne sighed and said, "Well, actually, he's someone I dated a long time ago and we just reconnected."

"How long ago?"

"Um, like, um, thirty years."

Sandy was silent thinking. Then she said, "But thirty years ago you were in high school. And that's when you met Michael's father."

Marianne nodded. Sandy stared at her, then her eyes grew wide. "Oh, my God! Are you saying…it's Michael's father?"

Marianne nodded again. Sandy sat back, stunned. "How does he look?"

"Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous."

"Wow. And what's he like?"

"Well, he is a doctor. Actually, he's Michael's boss."

"So Michael knows? How's that going?"

"Don't ask. He's changed some from when I first knew him, but we're getting to know each other."

"In every way, I take it."

"Yeah, kind of."

"Well, good for you, girl." Sandy studied her friend's face. "You really care about him, huh?"

"Yeah, I do."

"So when do I meet him?"

"Tonight. He's joining us for dinner."

House was almost hoping that a case would pop up and allow him to avoid dinner. He tended to not make a good impression on women's girlfriends. All of Stacy's friends couldn't stand him. Not that he liked them much better. This woman had apparently been Marianne's friend for over twenty years. He didn't hold out much hope for the evening.

When he arrived at her house, he found the two women on the sofa, laughing and drinking wine. Marianne immediately kissed him and then led him over to meet her friend.

"Greg, this is my agent and my best friend in the world, Sandy. San, this is Greg."

Sandy examined the man standing before her. Marianne was right, he was gorgeous and without even trying to be. The mussed hair that was laziness, not fashion statement. The scruffy beard that made him look more sexy. The lean, muscular body despite the cane and the limp. And those blue, blue eyes! A woman would find herself doing all sorts of things she didn't want to do for those eyes.

House studied the woman too. She was medium height, with black hair and dark eyes. She and Marianne could almost have been sisters, but this woman had a worldliness and street savvy that Marianne had never developed. Marianne was sweet, Sandy was tough.

Still, they were friends and as her friend, Sandy was going to check this guy out and make sure he was worthy.

Marianne went into the kitchen to prepare the antipasto, giving Sandy a look first that said, take it easy on him. Sandy just smiled.

Sandy took a sip of her wine, looked House straight in the eye and asked, "So how do you feel about Michael?"

"Like I missed a lot of Father's Days. The kid owes me at least a half dozen ties and a couple of those clay ashtrays."

"And how do you feel about Marianne not telling you about him?"

"Like it's between me and Marianne."

She eyed him cautiously. "You need to know – that woman is very special to me."

"Really? So you'd be up for a threesome?"

"No, but if you are, you're with the wrong lady."

"You don't think I know that?"

"I don't know what you know. But I know that we've been friends – best friends – for a very long time. I don't take kindly to anyone hurting her and I won't stand for it."

"You don't have a lot of faith in me, huh?"

"I don't know you well enough to have faith in you."

"Then how do you know I'll hurt her?"

"You're the type. So, I'm just warning you."

"I don't like being warned or threatened. If things go wrong between us, it's between Marianne and me."

"Things can go wrong, I know that. But if you mess with her head or deliberately hurt her, watch out."

House eyed her. He could tell that this woman meant every word she said.

At that time, Marianne came back into the room carrying a platter filled with lettuce, olives, tomatoes, peppers, tuna, salami and provolone. She passed out the plates that were sitting on the table and passed the antipasto around.

As they ate, House sent little digs at Sandy. She neatly deflected them and got lots of her own in. He was enjoying the back and forth even thought he realized she was testing him. By the end of the evening, when she went upstairs to the guest room, they had reached a tentative truce. House wasn't sure if he'd won or lost that battle.

But the next evening, when he went to Marianne's house, she told him, "Sandy likes you."

"Really?"

"Why are you surprised?"

"Well, most people don't like me. And especially the friends of women I'm dating."

"There's a lot to like about you. You just don't realize it. And by the way, are we dating?"

"I thought we were."

"It seems to me that we're sleeping together and I'm cooking for you. I don't recall going on a date with you, in, oh, about thirty years."

He realized that was true. Since they'd reunited, he hadn't taken her out. He'd mooched dinners and sex off of her, but he hadn't spent a dime.

The next night he took her out to dinner. He even wore a suit. Marianne was surprised and pleased.

Their relationship was growing steadily.