CHAPTER 24

INFAMOUS

I was watching the Today show two days later when they ran a piece on Greg. "He's believed to be the real life version of George Hendrix, the love interest of Rachel Surrey in the book, "My Back to the Piano." written by Maggie Molloy. Let's go to Sylvia Peterson in Princeton.

"Matt, we're here at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital and talking with one of the nurses, Heather Thompson. Heather, you claim that Gregory House is George Hendrix, why?"

"Greg House is a genius but he's also a jerk. He plays piano, guitar and he has bounced around from hospital to hospital because of his abrasive personality. He is from San Diego and he's good in bed."

"Oh, well we didn't expect that. Do you have that from personal observation?"

"Yes, we've dated, we almost got married."

Greg House and his team were all watching this when Greg said, "Did I date her? I don't remember having sex with her? Get Wilson, he'll know." House jumped up, went out to the hall and said in a loud, booming voice, "Wilson, did I screw that nurse?" he started hobbling down the hall towards Wilson.

Wilson looked up from a chart, "What nurse?"

"Heather Thompson. She claims I'm good in bed. I need to know because I was going to have her put it in writing for my myspace site." Greg stuck a lollipop in his mouth and smiled. "Or maybe I am so good I don't even have to go to bed with them and they're satisfied. Damn I'm good."

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"I got home last night and a dozen beautiful women were waiting for me on my doorstep, wanting me to sleep with them. The only downside was that they all wanted to call me George. I don't mind as long as I get to call them Carmen."

But actually, Greg was getting annoyed with all of the publicity and especially the little old ladies and the religious right who kept berating him for making Rachel get an abortion. The good thing about the publicity was that House was receiving more referrals and the clinic was getting in lots of paying "patients."

Cuddy had to double security but occasionally it didn't work. Greg came into work one day and as he walked in, turned on the light, he continued to talk to Wilson. He sat down and rolled the chair under the desk, but was blocked by a warm object.

"Ahhh.." He rolled the chair out, jumped up and looked under the desk. There was a 25 year old woman kneeling under his desk smiling. Wilson saw his shocked face and came around to look.

"Well, at least she's assumed one of your favorite positions." Wilson remarked.

As security was taking her out she kept yelling, "I'll do anything, anything, just let me stay around you...I can't bear being without you, George."

"Greg...the name is Greg!!!" He shook his head.

House was a captive in his own apartment. If he went out people noticed him and stopped him. Even guys gave him crap. One evening he and Wilson were walking to a a movie when two guys walked up.

"Thanks George, now my girlfriend thinks of you when we're having sex."

"She told you that?" House asked.

"Yeah."

"Would she like the real thing?" Greg smiled sardonically.

The guy got pissed and Greg jumped back knowing he was about to swing. The swing went nowhere and Wilson grabbed House and ran.

When they got to House's apartment, five women were lurking on the street next to his apartment along with some of the Paparazzi. Wilson shook his head, "Is it like this all the time?"

House nodded. "Why don't we hold hands and talk about Broadway musicals as we walk in, maybe that will slow the traffic."

"Have you talked to Maggie about her book?"

"We don't talk. We wait until my parents drop pearls of information about each other. Besides, why prick old wounds?"

Wilson smiled, "I would expect nothing less of you. "

CHAPTER 25

OLD MAN LOOK AT MY LIFE

I had been put on the circuit. I was doing literary festivals, seminars and interviews all up and down the east coast. I had driven out to the east coast from Colorado in my Ferrari just to give it a good run. The worse thing you can do with a finely tuned sports car is not drive it.

I was booked by my agent to attend the three day Literary Festival at Princeton. I was scheduled to give an interview the second day of the festival and sit on a panel the third day. It had been heavily advertised and I was informed that the auditorium tickets had sold out within ten minutes of them going on sale online. I pulled into Princeton early in the morning, checked into my rather plush hotel room, showered, dressed and walked across campus to the campus administration office to check in before going to the auditorium for my first session. I discovered that the auditorium was packed and overflowing. The media was hoping for a Greg-Maggie reunion so I was followed everywhere I went on campus. The interview was set up in the same fashion as the "Actor's Studio."

I took the stage and shook the hand of the professor who was interviewing me. I had on my cowboy boots, levis, a woman's Pendleton shirt and a brown leather belt. The shirt revealed a little cleavage, but not much.

The interviewer covered my parents, their marriage being the second one for my Dad, Jeff's role in my life, the fact that I was born in Hawaii, moved to Guam, then to Norfolk, Va and then to San Diego. Then the questions slowed down. My mother's abandonment was analyzed to death. We talked about my father being so oblivious to what was going on in his own garage. I stood up for my dad, he really had done his best considering the type of work he did. When we talked about my dad and brother dying, my voice cracked. I looked down at the ground to get my bearings.

Then we talked about Greg. We talked about his physical features, "So your neighbor, Gregory House, was tall and skinny?"

"When I first met him he was certainly tall and lanky. But what has this got to do with my book?"

"I'm going to ask you a series of questions and for now please just answer yes or no."

"I'll try."

"Gregory House played the guitar and piano, right?"

"Yes."

"Gregory House has blue eyes."

"And so do a lot of men."

"That's a yes?"

"Yes."

"Gregory House left San Diego to become a doctor?"

"Yes."

"You lived with Gregory House on Piney Woods Drive while you attended Georgetown University and Gregory House was at Johns Hopkins."

I was flustered now, they had obviously been talking to people, people who knew about Greg and I. "Yes, we were roommates, I paid him rent, but in my story George was at the University of California San Francisco and Rachel was at Berkeley."

"Yes, but the med school and University where Rachel went were close enough that they could live together, just like you and Dr. House." The interviewer smiled and shook her head, "We could go on, but it's fairly clear that this is an intimate book reflecting on two characters who are both flawed and tragic. Why did you choose to make it so personal?"

"I thought it was an interesting and entertaining story. Even if it did resemble my own life, I don't think of my self as tragic. I've lived an incredible life so far."

"Some critics say you can't write like you do about George and not still be in love with him. Are you in love with Gregory House?"

I started to laugh. "You assume that Gregory House was the man I was in love with..."

"Are you in love with Gregory House?"

"I will always be fond of Gregory House and his parents for what they did for me. They took me in when my family imploded and I was a very fragile little girl."

"You aren't going to give me a straight answer are you?"

"Gregory House is a physician here in Princeton and he deserves his privacy. I want to emphasize that George is a compilation of many men I have known over the years, many. George is not Gregory House."

"Do you plan on seeing Dr. House while you are here?"

"No, my schedule is too hectic. We haven't seen each other in years, I doubt he'd remember me."

"But if you were just friends and still close to his parents, then is seems only natural you would look him up. On the other hand, if you had loved him and he had really forced you into an abortion, you might never want to see him again. It doesn't make sense that you're just friends and not planning on seeing him." She stopped and waited for a response.

"Dr. House never forced me into having an abortion and the only reason I have no intention of seeing him is that our schedules don't permit it. That's the last question I'll answer about Dr. House."

I realized how ridiculous I must look being interviewed on the prestigious Princeton campus sitting in my cowboy getup answering questions about my life. I didn't expect Greg to attend the session, he hadn't tried to contact me to get together while I was here. I figured he was probably as far away from the auditorium as one could get. I was shocked when I looked out into the audience during the five minute break and saw a man slumped in a seat about ten rows from the stage. I recognized him the second my eyes hit on him. My heart pounced and my breath accelerated. His long fingers, the fingers I loved so much, were entwined and his chin was sitting on top of them He was sitting in the audience in a baseball cap, sunglasses and an upturned shirt. He obviously wanted to be incognito. so I kept my eyes moving as if I hadn't seen him.

During the question and answer session, Dr. Cameron stood up. I recognized her right away, "In your mind, did George stop loving Rachel or did he say that he didn't love her to push Rachel out the door and into the world?"

"I'm pretty sure he stopped loving Rachel. I don't think you can be that cold and still love someone. If there had been any hope of something more between them, she would have stayed. On the other hand, it would have taken something like what Greg...I mean George...did to," the audience laughed at the slip up. I stopped and sighed, laughed outloud, "Now you guys have me thinking about Greg...anyways, the only way to pry Rachel from George was for him to send a strong signal that it was over and he certainly did do that. Maybe George knew Rachel too well and knew that anything less than screwing Jackie wouldn't have the necessary effect."

The questions went on for another half hour and most of them were from women asking about George's characteristics. It was hard to keep straight in my mind whether I was answering questions about George or Greg. I stopped trying to keep them straight and just answered questions about Greg. It was easier.

When it was over, I collapsed with relief. Several students came to the stage and I stepped forward to answer their questions. I looked up as the rest of the audience was leaving and tried to spot him one last time before he left. I saw the cane first, and then the same body frame that I knew like the back of my own hand. He was exiting the aisle where he had been sitting. I suspected the man with him was Dr. Wilson although he was wearing a hat that hid his face from me. I just stood there staring and wanting to call out to him, but I figured that if he wanted to see me or talk to me he would have come up to the stage.

I spent another hour answering questions and then waited another fifteen minutes until the last camera crew and reporters left. It was 9:30 p.m. and I was hungry. I wanted to walk back to the hotel and get some food. I put on my jacket and realized it had just started pouring rain which had turned out for my benefit because there was no one hanging around outside the auditorium doors. I didn't have an umbrella so I pulled my jacket up over my head. I stepped out and immediately got soaked to the bone.

I started to jog to my hotel just a few blocks from the campus. I was running under a street lamp when I heard his voice. He called out,"Maggie, Maggie May."