Chapter 7

Foreman hesitated before pushing open the door to Cameron's portion of the administrative offices. Things had still been a little awkward at times between them, but he really needed some advice from a woman and he didn't know who else to ask. He might have asked Jasper, but this wasn't something he wanted to get back to Chase just yet.

"Hey Cameron," Foreman greeted her.

"Hey Foreman," Cameron replied, removing her glasses as she looked up from her computer. "What can I do for you?"

"I need a little advice, and to be perfectly honest there's not another woman I could really ask," Foreman said.

"Wow, Foreman, that's really touching. I think I might cry," Cameron replied bitterly, and Foreman rolled his eyes in frustration. He stood to leave, but Cameron stopped him. "Wait, Foreman, I'm sorry. I'm not really annoyed with you, just annoyed. What do you need?"

"It's about Rae," Foreman said. "Marcus and Nichelle and the kids are coming to visit in a couple of weeks, and I'd really like her to meet them. But I'm afraid it's too soon; I don't want to scare her off."

Cameron closed her eyes and thought for a minute. Well, she was certainly in a unique position to give him this sort of advice right now. She thought about what she would have liked House to have said or done to give her at least some indication his proposal was real, and not a knee-jerk jealous reaction to someone asking her out.

"Why don't you just mention to her that you've got family coming to town?" Cameron suggested. "You'll be able to tell a lot from her reaction, and if you end up deciding to ask her about meeting them, it won't be a total shock."

Foreman nodded. "Thanks Cameron." He stood again to leave, but once more Cameron stopped him.

"Foreman, maybe you could help me out with something?" Cameron asked.

"Sure. You need a consult?" Foreman asked.

"Not exactly," Cameron grinned. Foreman looked worried; it was really scary how much she could look like House when she was scheming. "Relax, it's nothing illegal. I just need a small diversionary tactic."

"Uh huh," Foreman replied. "And you need a diversion in order to…"

"That's not really important. I just need a twenty minute head start getting out of here on Friday," Cameron said, as if it would really be that simple.

"A head start on House?" Foreman asked. Cameron nodded. "And how do you propose that I detain House here for twenty minutes, on a Friday no less?"

Cameron shrugged. Foreman nodded his agreement; he was sure he could come up with something. He stood to leave and was nearly through the door when Cameron's voice stopped him for a third time.

"You could always steal his bike," she suggested cheekily. Foreman just looked at her. House was such a bad influence.

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House limped into his office and sat carefully in his chair. He noticed a message on his desk in Jasper's handwriting that was marked URGENT in large red letters. He read it and grimaced, his appointment had been cancelled due to an emergency. He would have to call and reschedule. Groaning, House picked up the phone and dialed the extension.

"Dr. Jessup's office," a female voice answered pleasantly.

"This is Dr. House. My appointment has been cancelled," House grunted, annoyed. "Again."

"I've been expecting to hear from you Dr. House. When are you available to reschedule?"

"Funnily enough, I'm available at the time of my appointment. I was also available at the time of my first appointment. Did I mention this is the second time I've been rescheduled?" House growled.

"I'm sorry, Dr. House. I understand how frustrating that must be. Dr. Jessup was called away on an emergency consult in Wyoming and won't be returning until next week. He insisted that we schedule you at your earliest convenience when he returns, what day is best for you?"

"What's best for me is to keep the appointment I had scheduled for today," House barked. Then he sighed. This was not helping and he did not want to piss off the woman who was going to get him the appointment. "Judy, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Judy answered, pleased that Dr. House had remembered her name.

"Judy, I will take the first available appointment you have," House said through clenched teeth.

"That will be Tuesday at 10am," Judy answered.

"Fine," House said and hung up without thanking her. No need to be nice now that his appointment was scheduled. He just hoped it wasn't going to be a waste of his time.