The first person Cuddy ran into as she entered the hospital was Stacy. Her good mood quickly faded. "Lisa, can I talk to you?" The last thing Cuddy wanted to do was talk to the love of House's life.
"I have a meeting. Can we talk later?" She did have a meeting that day, so it wasn't a complete lie. She was just with holding the part about the meeting being at 3 in the afternoon. Stacy didn't need to know that.
"Maybe we could meet up for lunch?" Stacy was persistant.
"Yes, lunch, that would be great." Cuddy said aloud. In her head she completed the thought, as great as getting all my teeth yanked out of my head. She put on a quick, very fake smile and walked away.
She hid in her office most of the morning, but couldn't escape Stacy come lunch time. There was a knock on her door, and Stacy walked in. "Are you ready for lunch?"
"Yes, right." Cuddy looked at her desk, desperate to find something that looked urgent and important, but she couldn't find anything so she would have to do lunch with Stacy.
They decided on the cafeteria. Whatever it was Stacy wanted to talk about, Cuddy wanted to make sure that they weren't alone. She wasn't ready for any sort of heart to heart. They took a table by the window, which afforded Cuddy a full view of the room. She needed something to look at while trying to not hear what Stacy had to say.
Stacy didn't waste any time. "I don't know what to do. I want him back."
Cuddy did a serious double take. "What!"
"I am still in love with Greg. I thought I could get over him if I just saw him one last time, but seeing him again has only brought back all the memories I've been trying to forget."
There was a time when these two women were very good friends. They used to tell each other everything, which is why Stacy felt comfortable telling Cuddy this now. Cuddy, on the other hand was not so comfortable hearing it.
"What about Mark?" You remember, your husband. Cuddy had wanted to say that last part, but she thought it would come out wrong.
"I know. That's the worst of it. He's a great guy. I do love him. He has been so good to me. I don't want to hurt him, but what I had with Greg. It was so powerful. I just don't think what I have with Mark can compete with it." She was pushing a peice of lettuce around on her plate. She really hadn't been hungry. She just bought the salad for something to do.
Cuddy wanted so bad to shout at her "you can't have him, He's mine now", but she fought the urge. Instead she took a calming breath and spoke slowly. "You shouldn't jepordize what you have with Mark. He really cares for you a great deal, and he needs you right now."
"I know." Stacy put her head in her hands. It was clear that she was really stressed out over this. "I just don't know what to do. I needed to talk to someone about it. You know, when you talk things out they sometimes seem clearer."
Cuddy was no longer listening. House and Wilson had just walked in. She watched as they went through the lunch line and paid for their food. They were now searching for a place to sit. Stacy had poured her heart out and was now waiting for some sort of responce from Cuddy.
Cuddy was saved from having to admit she wasn't paying attention by House. "Are these seats taken?" He looked down at the two ladies.
"Of course not." Stacy spoke first, and motioned House to sit next to her. He did so, and Wilson sat beside Cuddy.
"I hope you ladies weren't talking about me." Everyone at the table laughed nervously because even Wilson could tell they had been talking about House up till the moment he arrived.
"Just talking shop." Stacy tried covering the truth, which she was very good at, being a lawyer.
House looked over at Cuddy and smiled, raising one eyebrow suggestively as he did so. She smiled back behind a fork full of salad. "I have to talk to you later, Dr. Cuddy. Important doctory stuff." He winked at her, and Wilson caught it. He gave House a knowing look.
"Just stop by my office when you are free." Cuddy replied, trying so hard to sound blase about the whole thing, but feeling her heart beating just a little bit faster at the thought of being alone with him.
"So, how about those Yankees." Wilson gave the obligitory change of subject change.
"Oh, you don't still watch baseball do you?" Stacy was horrified by the mere thought of it.
"They are having a horrible season. I can't believe Steinbrenner hasn't fired them all yet." Wilson knew House would jump on the subject.
"We're catching up. Only 2 and a half games behind. The season is only half over. There's still time, if Giambi keeps hitting the ball we just might make it."
Stacy zoned out. She was not a fan of any sport. House used to try to drag her to games, or even worse, to Monster Truck Rally's. It was the hardest part of their relationship for a while, until his operation, then every part of their relationship was hard.
Wilson, Cuddy and House went on and on about baseball. It was a subject all three of them were passionate about. Stacy watched House. She was trying to convince herself that she wasn't in love with him. She even came close to believing it a couple times. She tried thinking about Mark. She should be by his bedside right now. She shouldn't be here, listening to her true love talking about sports. She got up and excused herself, and got a couple of head nods from Cuddy and House and a "later" from Wilson.
After lunch, House followed Cuddy back to her office for that talk he wanted to have. Wilson was tempted to tag along and annoy them, but the glare he got from both of them was enough to chase him away. Cuddy walked into the office first, and House followed her. He closed the blinds and locked the door.
Cuddy turned around when she heard the door lock. "Wow, this must be some talk you want to have." She could feel her heart racing. She knew he was thinking what she was thinking.
"Yeah, now shut up." He walked over and took her in his arms. He kissed her deeply, for a long time. When she finally pulled away it was only because she needed air.
Being the boss, and therefor the responsible one, she felt she should really protest, so she did, but her heart wasn't in it. "We really shouldn't do this."
"It's too late, we've already done it twice." He was unbuttoning her blouse.
"Not in the office." She was still pretending to protest, but she was helping him unbutton her blouse as she spoke.
"I know. Isn't it cool." He smiled that gleeful, boyish smile of his, and all her protests stopped.
"Did you want to do it here on the floor?" She was now topless, and working on his shirt while he admired the view.
"How about the desk?" He had given it some thought. "It sounds naughty." He started walking toward the desk, pushing her backwards in front of him. His shirt landed somewhere along the path, so did her skirt.
"You do Victoria's Secret proud." House looked her up and down.
"Yeah, thanks. Now drop your pants." House did as he was told. Cuddy let out a little laugh. He was standing before her in his shoes, socks, pants around his ankles and a pair of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Boxer shorts.
"Where the hell did you get those things?" She couldn't stop laughing. The red nose was growing.
"They were a present from my little neice. Now stop laughing and get down there."
"Excuse me? I think it's your turn." She pulled the boxers closer to her.
"Oh, you're keeping score now." His arms were around her and he unclasped her bra and helped it slide down her shoulders and to the floor.
"Fair is fair." She kissed his chest gently.
"You're going to make an old crippled man get down on his knees to service your needs? I can sue you for harrassement you know." His fingers were dancing around the edge of her lace panties.
She felt a shiver of excitement rush through her body as he touched her. "OK, we will compromise."
"And what did you have in mind?" He was smiling very wide in anticipation of her idea of compromise.
She turned him around and leaned him against her desk. She lowered his boxers and moved in closer. They both ended up quite fulfilled, and were breathing heavily and leaning across the desk in a matter or minutes.
Cuddy looked up suddenly. "Oh crap. What time is it?" She looked at the desk clock, but realized it had been pushed off the desk. She grabbed House's wrist instead and looked at his watch.
"Hey, you're twisting my arm." He protested. "What's the emergency?"
"I have a meeting here in ten minutes." She practically pushed him off the desk and started shoving clothes at him. She hurriedly dressed and started straightening out the room. She noticed House was just standing there, naked. "Get dressed!" He didn't budge. "I'm not kidding. A huge donor is coming in less than ten minutes. I really don't need her seeing my staff naked."
"Correction. It's my staff that's naked." Cuddy couldn't help but laugh. She ran over and kissed House on the cheek, then grabbed his clothes and tried to get him dressed. He finally gave in and finished the job himself.
He was finally presentable just as there was a knock at the door. "It's her." Cuddy looked around panicked. She made one last check that everything was back in it's place, then went and answered the door. "Mrs. Pond, so nice to see you.:" She shook the old dowagers hand.
House excused himself and walked out, making a final grab of Cuddy's bottom as he passed her. She jumped slightly, but tried to brush it off. "You seem a little flustered dear, is everything alright?" He heard the dowager say as he exited through the door.