The Night Before

January 4

7:30am

Cuddy was on her way to work humming 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?' when her phone rang.

"Hey, Lisa," Natalie said. "Is House still on top of you? Should I call back later?"

"I did not sleep with House," Cuddy said in an annoyed voice. "Is there a reason you called me?"

"You turned him down?" Natalie asked.

"Actually, he didn't even try anything," Cuddy said. "What do you think that means?"

"Maybe he's not interested," Natalie said. "Maybe once you said yes, you weren't a challenge anymore, so he is not interested anymore."

"Do you really think that is the reason?" Cuddy asked knowing that House does get bored easily. "You think that if that was true, he would have tried for a lot more."

"Maybe he was smart enough to remember that you are his boss and he shouldn't take advantage of you," Natalie said.

"That doesn't sound like House," Cuddy said hoping that it wasn't true. If House didn't care, he would have taken advantage of me, Cuddy thought. Of course, he didn't take advantage of Cameron when he went on a date with her.

"Are you still there?" Natalie asked, waking Cuddy from her thoughts. "Just wait until you see him today. You will be able to tell if he is trying to avoid you or is trying to picture you naked."

Cuddy knew that she would have to make herself available to House today, but not too available. If he didn't like her in that way, she didn't want to seem desperate.

"I guess you're right," Cuddy said. She started to try to think of reasons why she might go talk to House today.

"Of course, I'm right," Natalie said.

"Now you're starting to sound like House," Cuddy said. "You can decide for yourself if that is a compliment or an insult."

"I choose to take it as a compliment, since you are in love with him," Natalie said. She had seen how Cuddy had acted when she was getting ready for her date with him. She had helped Cuddy get ready for many dates and that was the most nervous she had ever seen her.

"I'm hanging up the phone now," Cuddy said.

"Call me later if you two do it in your office," Natalie said. "Try not to get caught. I like having a rich doctor friend that will buy me things."

"Now you are really sounding like House," Cuddy said. "Are you sure that you don't use a cane?" Natalie started laughing hysterically. Cuddy didn't think that the joke was that funny.

"Is that what you call his…," Natalie started to say.

"Goodbye," Cuddy screamed as she hung up the phone.

xx

8:15am

Cuddy was in the clinic when she saw Wilson and Chase walking towards her.

"Can I talk to you for a moment in my office, Wilson?" Cuddy asked.

"I can do that case for you," Chase said to Wilson, talking the file from him.

"Sure," Wilson said, dying to know what had happened the night before. House hadn't managed to show up for work yet or answer his phone. "Just let me go put these patient files up." Cuddy turned and looked at Chase.

"Good morning, Dr. Chase," Cuddy said in a seductive voice, remembering what House had said the night before about Chase thinking she was hot. "How was your evening?"

"It was fine," Chase answered feeling slightly uncomfortable about how Cuddy was acting. Wilson walked back to them. He noticed that Cuddy was smiling and Chase had a weird look on his face.

"Got to go," Cuddy said, batting her eyes at Chase as she and Wilson walked towards her office.

"What was that about?" Wilson asked.

"House told me that Chase thought that I was hot," Cuddy said with a big smile on her face.

"You just had some fun with him, didn't you?" Wilson asked.

"The look on his face was priceless," Cuddy said, still smiling.

"Did you, um, have 'fun' with House last night?" Wilson asked using quotation marks around the word fun as they walked into her office. Cuddy turned to him and rolled his eyes. She knew that by going out with House, there were going to be a lot of jokes from Wilson and House's ducklings. She just hoped that House wouldn't play along with them and start bad rumors about her.

"Actually, that's why I wanted to talk to you," Cuddy said. "Do you think House actually likes me?"

"What did he do?" Wilson asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"When he brought me home last night, all he did was kiss me on the forehead and said goodnight," Cuddy said.

"And that was a bad thing?" Wilson asked. "Did you want to go further?" Thinking about Cuddy wanting to go further put a naked image of her in his head, which Wilson quickly tried to shake away. Cuddy didn't really know how to answer his question.

"I just wasn't prepared for him not to try something," Cuddy said, noticing the smile on Wilson's face.

"I think he was trying to be a gentleman to you, so that he wouldn't scare you away," Wilson said. "I think that is his own way of saying that he cares."

"Do you really think that or are you just trying to make me feel better?" Cuddy asked.

"I don't know exactly why he did it, but I do know that he likes you," Wilson said.

"Did he tell you that?" Cuddy asked. "Have you talked to him today?"

"He told me in his own way he did when I was helping him get ready last night, and no, I haven't talked to him yet today," Wilson answered her. "Stop freaking out about it."

"Do you think that maybe he wasn't interested in me after all?" Cuddy asked. "Do you think that maybe he decided that he didn't really like me in that way?"

"I will have a talk with him later," Wilson said. Cuddy was always thankful for her girl talk time with Wilson. "If he likes you, I will try to make him ask you out again for tonight."

"He has to go to a seminar tonight for his credential renewal," Cuddy said. "Try to get it for tomorrow night, so he doesn't try to skip it and lose his license."

"I'll try to drag him to the seminar tonight," Wilson said.

"Thanks, Wilson," Cuddy said, giving him a smile. Wilson felt good that he might be helping his two best friends come together. He knew that if any woman could live with House, it would be Cuddy.

"Anytime," Wilson said as he got up from his seat.

"Will you do me a favor and tell Chase the next time you seem him that what I wanted to talk to you about was if it was okay for an older woman to date a younger man?" Cuddy asked as she and Wilson started to laugh. She wanted to get even with Chase for his comments about her and House after the New Year's Eve party.