"This is a pretty ritzy restaurant," commented Wilson as he and Cameron were led to their table at Pierre De Vivendo.
"Thank you, sir, we like to think so ourselves. Here at Pierre De Vivendo, we only offer the finest in both food and hospitality," their host replied. Cameron smiled and glanced at Wilson.
"Wow, they ought to pay you extra for that!" Wilson laughed.
"You have no idea, sir. This is your table," he said stopping at a small round table with tall, silver candlesticks lit in the center. Wilson pulled a chair out for Cameron, which she clumsily sat in. She wasn't used to this kind of treatment, and it was particularly awkward because this was not supposed to be a date. She guessed Wilson was just a natural gentleman.
Wilson sat down across from her, and their host handed them menus and left. Now they were alone and neither of them quite knew what to say.
"I hear that the Filet Mignon here is excellent," Wilson said.
"Oh yes," Cameron agreed, "I've also heard that their lobster is to die for." A few moments passed in silence as they hid behind their menus, clumsily flipping the pages. Cameron finally broke the silence, "Have you decided what to order yet?" she asked.
"Oh, right, yes. I think I will try the lobster, if it is as good as you say."
"Well, I have never had it, I've just heard."
"Right, well, I will take the risk. And you?"
"Oh, me, of course. I think I'll try the Filet Mignon, if it is as good as you say."
"I've never had it, I just hear..."
They passed the time with some more strained conversation until their food came and they had an excuse not to speak. After some time, though, Wilson took a sip of his wine and asked, "Why did you decide to become a doctor, Cameron?"
Cameron was glad for a conversation piece that would take some time to kill, but she didn't really feel comfortable answering this right now. It felt so personal. Seeing Cameron's hesitation, Wilson said "Here, I'll go first. To tell you the truth, I never started out wanting to be a doctor. I actually wanted to be an actor."
"Really?" Cameron was honestly surprised.
"It's true," he said, "It was my dream for a long time. Everyone I knew told me it was a bad idea, that I should go into something more stable, more important, better pay... all that. I guess they all got the better of me." He looked down at the table, perhaps this memory pained him.
"I had no idea..." Cameron looked across the table at him, trying to imagine him as an actor. She was surprised that she could. She had a vision of him on the big-screen, playing some James Bond type character with dashing good looks and charm. After a moment, she realized that she was still looking at him. At his eyes. In the candlelight, they looked deep and overwhelming, like the ocean at night. She felt like they were sucking her in, trapping her. Not in a cage like some poor animal, but something more organic and unnoticed, like quicksand.
Wilson continued his story, "After a while, though, there was really no competition. I guess I decided that everyone else was right and that I needed a stable, logical career. Also, I started to feel like acting was a selfish thing, and I decided to become a doctor because I wanted to help people. I know, classic, fake reason. It's really true, though. I just wanted to make everyone better. Maybe it's because I have so many of my own problems. Like, if I can't fix myself, at least I can fix everyone else... That's probably what House would say," he laughed, "or maybe that I want to fix everyone because I have some fixation with my mother."
Cameron laughed, too. "You know," she said, "that's how I feel, too. I just want to fix everyone, I mean." They talked throughout the rest of their meal, chatting about how they paid for medical school, why they came to work at the hospital, how they dealt with House...
When they left the restaurant, Wilson opened the door for Cameron, and she was again surprised by his gentlemanly behavior when he helped her into the car. They had only gone in Cameron's car, because it had seemed silly to drive separately to dinner, but Cameron wasn't sure it had ben such a good idea.
"Would you like me to take you back to the hospital to get your car from the garage," she asked as they pulled away from the restaurant.
"Well, it is so out of the way. You can just drop me off at my place and I will take a cab in the morning or something."
The drive to Wilson's seemed too short to Cameron. She was really enjoying Wilson's company tonight.
"Well, this is it," he said, "I guess I will see you tomorrow. Thank you so much for dinner, it was lovely." Yet, he made no effort to exit the car.
"Yeah," agreed Cameron, "it was nice. I will see you tomorrow at the hospital." Why was Wilson looking at her like that? She couldn't escape his eyes.
"Right," he said. He paused for a moment with his hand on the door handle. Then, before he had the time to talk himself out of it, he leaned across the seat and kissed Cameron.
At first, Cameron did nothing. She was in complete shock. What did Wilson think he was doing? He had no right to be kissing her! But then she felt a wave of all the tension she had been feeling between them rush through her, and she realized that this was exactly what she wanted. She passionately returned his kisses, noticing how sweet his lips were. She felt his strong, yet gentle hands caress her skin. His body was warm and soft against hers. But then she gained control of herself and her reason once again took over. "Wilson," she gasped, "we can't... This isn't right."
"I know..." he moaned.
"No, really," she said, pushing him away, "I hardly know you. This is too soon, we can't... it's not right," she finished her argument somewhat feebly. Wilson looked at her deeply and seemed to be in agreement.
"You're right. I'm sorry," he said, straightening his tie, "I... uh. I'd better go now."
"Yeah," Cameron said softly, "it's okay. It's my fault too..." Wilson got out of the car and closed the door. Cameron watched as he went up the stairs of the building and through the door. She stayed parked there for some time before she managed to gather herself together and pull away.