Chapter 3
House picked up the platinum set diamond and examined it closely. It had to cost at about three grand. Typically in etiquette books, the price of an engagement ring is supposed to cost the buyer one month's salary. From this House deduced that Stacy was marrying a typical middle class guy. The kind of guy she never seemed to take a shining to.
Stacy was a lawyer; a constitutional lawyer. She was paid a large amount of dough to protect people. House wondered more about the person Stacy put in his place. At the same time he knew that nothing could make him and Stacy work.
Even though he could be an ass, only an asshole wouldn't return a pretty woman's lost engagement ring. And he wasn't an asshole, just an ass to his employees and his boss.
Although she was already gone and he couldn't give the ring back today, he knew that she wouldn't never move out of treasured little country home just outside Princeton.
(AN: I know Stacy and Mark lived in Short Hills, but just go with this okay.)
The next morning, House went to, not her home, but the Wawa a quarter of a mile from her home. The entire time they were together, Stacy got her coffee at 7:35 every morning, always two milks, no sugar.
He waited by the coffee pots at 7:30, just to make sure he didn't miss her. He had a cup already made for her. Like clockwork, she strolled and waltzed over to the java. As soon as she saw him, a look of rage passed over her face. He hoped that she would just slap him across the arm like she always did and not go for the face.
With no corporal action she, in a very pissed off tone, asked, "Do you have something that belongs to me?"
"I assume you are look for this." House said as he pulled the ring out of his jacket pocket.
"You couldn't have reminded me to get it before I left yesterday?" She whispered angrily so no one would hear her.
"You were gone by the time I noticed it. You know I'm not very good at catching up with people way ahead of me." He tried to lighten the mood.
"You're good at yelling. You could've yelled down the hall for me."
"It's a hospital, people were sleeping." He tried to make an excuse for why he didn't think of that.
"Bullshit. You wanted to keep it so you could torture me about it."
"I got it back to you ASAP didn't I? If I really wanted to torture you I could have just kept it a week or two or sold it on ebay. A couple extra thousand in the bank account could never hurt."
"Yeah, well, the twenty-four hours you did have it were twenty-four hours of hell for me and twenty-four hours of praying Mark didn't see it." Her face became red.
"I am guessing by your face resembling a Jersey tomato, he noticed."
"Yep. I had to lie and say I thought I left it in my desk at work. Which led to a question of why I took it off, which led to another lie of my finger being itchy, which led to the deep concern from him thinking I had a rash." She rambled.
"I got it back to you. You can let that lie rest and show Matt—"
"—Mark—"
"Mark, that your ring is not lost." House began to walk out of the store and to his car.
Stacy followed. When they both arrived at his car, House said, "I'm going to work, so should you."
As House began to get in Stacy blurted out, "You should have kept it."
"What?"
"You should have played your sick, bastardly game and kept the thing."
"I assume a very strange reason is coming."
"He might have dumped me. He might have thought I was cheating and I could have gotten out of this mess."
"You got yourself in, you get yourself out. I am not a part of this equation." House got in his car and drove away.
I've got a huge writer's block. Suggestions are welcome! Sorry this took so long. I'm moving and life is crazy.
