Chapter Two
Foreman chocked on the coffee he had been sipping while the rest of the team stared in disbelief. House stared at her for several seconds before breaking out in a smile and wagging a finger at her.
"Oh you. Almost had me. So Wilson put you up to this?"
"Whoever Wilson is, I can assure you that he had nothing to do with this. I'm Harvest Stevens daughter."
At the name a flash of recognition crossed House's face.
The woman nodded, took a step forward and extended her hand.
"Titania Stevens."
House looked down at the hand she offered for a few seconds before looking away. Titania dropped her hand with a sigh.
"I'm not here to disrupt your life. I just wanted to have a chance to meet you and maybe get to know you before I have to leave. Maybe we can go get lunch today to get started. My treat" She smiled at him.
"No"
"What?"
"Did I stutter? No. I don't believe you. Everybody lies and obviously you are."
"True, everybody does lie. But I'm not, not about this. Listen. I know that this is a lot for you to take in. You need time to let this absorb. I'm in town for a couple weeks. I would like to have some time to talk. That's it. I don't plan on invading your life after my time here is up. Here's my card. I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a call."
Titania laid the card on the table, nodded to the team still staring at her in surprise and left.
House looked from the floor to the card on the table. There was a moment of silence before Foreman asked, "So what are you going to do?"
"None of your business" House snapped back before walking out of the room.
He went to Wilson's office, burst in without knocking and made himself comfortable in a chair. He sat thumping his cane on the floor, staring at the rug.
Wilson just kept on making notes on the papers before him, not looking up at House.
"So what's your problem today?"
"I have a daughter."
Wilson looked up quickly, surprised.
"What? Really? How?"
"Supposedly I have one. She just left. Said that she wanted to get to know me some while she was in town."
"And what did you say?"
"No"
"No? Aren't you even a little curious if it's true? Who's the mother?"
"No and the mother is Harvest Stevens."
"Harvest?"
"She was this hot chick on the cheerleading squad. We had a fling toward the end of my first semester in college."
"What happened?"
"We had a few good romps then winter break rolled around. After break she didn't come back. A friend of hers told me that her parents had gotten a job opportunity in Europe and that Harvest had gone with them.
"So you never heard from her again?"
"Yes and that's how I preferred it."
"So her daughter just showed up saying that you're her daddy? You sure that she's not telling the truth?"
House thought for a minute and Harvest's eyes flashed in his memory. He pushed the image away, shaking his head.
"She's just trying to pull a scam."
Wilson shook his head slightly saying, "Hope you're right."