Chapter 6

Pinching Pennies

"I have to go to work tomorrow. You better call me every half hour or I'll have the cops over here."

They were sitting eating pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. House was staring, trying to get a read on her. She was still rather glum and he wasn't convinced that if he left she'd still be alive in the morning. He believed her when she said she didn't have any reason to put one foot in front of the other, having been there himself. If it hadn't been for Wilson, he'd have been an obituary in the Princeton newspaper on several occasions.

House went out to the living room while she cleaned up, but after a few minutes went back into the kitchen and dried the dishes. They talked about the difference between law school and medical school, the exchange getting heated at times, but for the most part she had him laughing over some of her classroom stories. Maia constantly sipped on water and he wondered if it was because of what she did for a living. Then he realized that the phone hadn't rung once.

"I haven't heard any phone calls. I thought your clients called you?"

"I've been out of reach and when that happens, they tend to stop calling."

"That must hurt your business."

She shrugged her shoulders, "It doesn't help."

There was a knock on the door and Maia went to answer. House took a seat on the sofa and listened as Maia's muffled voice appeared to be pleading with the visitor. "Just a week…please. I've never been late. I need a week. I've got half of it."

There was a pause and House could hear words here and there from a man, "Sorry, if I do it for you, I have to do it for others…"

There was several minutes of more pleading and then the door closed. Maia came inside, her face clearly in panic. She put her hand up to her forehead and stared at the floor. House knew that whatever it was, it was stressing her out. She grabbed her purse and looked through her wallet, checked her check book. She disappeared into the bedroom and then came out again.

She was standing in front of him, still in the sweat pants she put on that morning and swallowed hard. She patted her hair, pulling it back from her face, exposing the red, tired eyes with large dark circles. She straightened her shoulders and looked at him, trying to appear bold and appealing.

"I, uh…I could uh…I could show you a better time than you had last night."

House said nothing, showed no emotion, he was trying to absorb what she was saying.

She swallowed hard, "I mean, uh…for a couple hundred I could do whatever you like."

It finally hit him that she was offering him sex for money. It struck him both tragic and funny at the same time. She needed money so bad, she was willing to sell her body to him. Yet she hardly looked appealing. He couldn't help it, he started to snicker. He wondered what was so important that she was willing to do this.

"Would you be willing to go commando? No condom?"

She flinched. He could tell that she was weighing in her head whether or not she could take a chance on him, if he was clean. The pause was heavy and House couldn't stand to watch her degrade herself any more.

"Forget it. I was just egging you. Look at you. I just got lucky last night with a gorgeous twenty-something who is more than willing to accommodate me again, with a flick of my phone. And you want me to pay you $200?" He took her by the shoulders and turned her so she could see herself in the hall mirror. She took one look and pulled away from him, ran into the bedroom and closed the door.

House sighed and looked towards the bedroom. He looked on the table and found a piece of paper. Three Day Notice to Pay or Quit. She was being evicted, unable to pay her rent. He limped down to the bedroom door and listened. He heard nothing from the other side of the door.

"Hey, it's not that you aren't pretty. You're just looking a little run down, not looking your best."

There was no response. He started to get nervous so he opened the door. She was dressing. She was standing in a bra, black tulip skirt, and black nylons. She grabbed a beige peasant blouse that hung off the shoulders, exposing the lacy straps of her bra. Grabbing some black sandals, she rushed past him and into the bathroom where she locked the door. House went back out to the couch and sat down. Within fifteen minutes, the door opened and she walked out to the living room, picking up her bag and keys.

House drew in a deep breath. She wasn't Jennifer, but she looked hot. Her hair was combed. Her eyes were made up with a smoky brown eyeshadow, long black eyelashes, a deep brown eyeliner. He realized she had grey-blue eyes. He noticed that her lips, although small, were the perfect size for her face and looked delicious in the wine colored lip gloss. She looked up and their eyes met just before she slammed her purse shut and grabbed a jacket.

She was out the door before he could do or say anything. He grabbed his cane, keys and jacket, putting it on as he locked her door. He hobbled out to the front and saw her walking down the street at a quick clip. He jumped into his car and drove along, slowing down when he reached her. He rolled down the window.

"Where are you going?" He said obviously annoyed.

She flipped him off and kept walking.

He shook his head in anger and rolled up the window, following behind her until she got to a group of men standing just outside of a bar. She said something to them and they nodded. One put his hand under her elbow to escort her into the bar.

House parked the car in the adjacent parking lot, grabbed his cane and went inside. He could see the man who had escorted her in nuzzling her neck. The waitress brought them two whiskeys. House went over to the table where they were sitting. The man looked up and House unconsciously tightened his grip on his cane. The man was in his thirties, shaved head and beefy muscles.

He looked House up and down, "What's up old man? Make it quick, we've got business to discuss."

House gave the man a sad, pathetic look, "I'm here to get my wife." House looked at Maia.

The guy smirked, "Wife? This is your wife?"

Maia pulled her fist into a ball, "I'm not his wife; I actually have some self-esteem."

House looked disheartened, "Tell that to the kids Maia." He turned and looked at the man, "We have two, a four year old and an eighteen month old. Both little girls."

The guy took his arm away from behind Maia's back, "Lady, I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I don't sleep with no woman who leaves her kids to go whoring."

Maia looked up to the ceiling as the man stood up, grabbed his jacket and walked to the door. House took the man's seat as the man yelled, "Hey Mister, you ought to divorce that whore. She was going to do me for a hundred bucks."

He turned to her, "$100? You were going to charge me $200."

Maia knocked back her whiskey, "Blow job."

"Let's go back to your place. I'll loan you the money."

She shook her head, "I have no means of paying you back. Plus, you bug the hell out of me and I'd rather not have you lurking about waiting for me to make a payment. You go home, I'm staying and earning some cash." She clenched her jaw and stared straight ahead.

House admired her stubbornness, her resolve, "Okay, come on, I'll take you up on your offer. Let's go back to your place.'

She eyed him up and down, "I don't believe you. If you want it, we do it here."

House jerked his head back and wrinkled his nose, "Here?"

"Yeah, that guy says there's a little office in the back."

House chuckled, "You want me to spend $200 having sex in a little office."

She pulled her shoulders back and said with a steely voice that didn't cover up her nervousness, "I'll make it worth your while."

House wanted to ask where the cameras were, this couldn't really be happening. But he sighed, drank the glass of whiskey in front of him and said, "Fine, let's get going before you're too drunk to do this."

"First I want another drink."

House winced. "Why waste time with a drink?"

"I drink to make you look good."

House snarled, "Now or never. Do you want $200?"

Maia jumped up and walked towards the restrooms. House followed her, she looked across from the women's room at a door with a window and venetian blind. She opened it and found a desk with a chair, file cabinet and lots of papers. She turned on the desk lamp and closed the door, drawing the venetian blinds.

Maia gave House a curt smile and then backed up to the desk and sat up on it. She pulled House into her, wrapping her legs around his waist. "I want the money up front."

House pulled out his wallet and counted out $200, handing it to her so that she could count it. She did and put it into her jacket pocket. She jumped up from the desk and pulled her panties down and off, laying them up on the desk.

Her panties are so delicate, the butter yellow seems so optimistic for a pair of panties.

She started to undo his belt. She unzipped him and reached in, finding a flaccid organ, with no signs of life. She started to panic. He doesn't think I'm attractive! He's repulsed by me. She knew that House was very capable of doing the deed, she had discovered that last night when he was with Jennifer. She was sure it had to be her.

She realized that maybe he was visual and needed more. She slipped the jacket off her arms and pulled down the loose peasant blouse, exposing the demi-cup bra. She pulled down a strap and let loose one of her breasts. She looked up to see him eyeing her breast with great apprecation. She stuck her hand inside his pants again and felt some movement, but not as much as she had hoped. He was standing, just watching her.

She pulled her hand out of his pants, took his hands and his long fingers, placing them on the underside of her breast. He smiled and then started to fondle it, gently at first and then hard, pinching her nipple. He had a much better response to this. She pulled him down and kissed him, one hand around his neck, the other playing with his long shaft inside of his trousers.

He began to react, grabbing her and pulling her close to him. He ran his hand up her nylons to where they ended on her thighs, letting his hands glide smoothly from the transition of the nylon to her creamy skin. Then he paused as he came close to her crotch. She could feel him start to throb with the anticipation of touching her between her legs. She was starting to get wet herself, wondering why this was turning her on.

Half sitting, half draped on the desk at just the right height for entry, Maia pulled down his shorts and smiled; he was rock hard and glistening. She hiked up her skirt and as she did , saw that the money had fallen out of her pocket onto the floor. The money. She remembered that this was for money. She had fallen so far that she was willing to turn tricks. Her stomach turned and for a second she thought she'd throw up.

Maia could hear his breath increasing as his hand moved around her breast. He was still wearing his jacket, the only portion of his body that was exposed was his groin. He was pushing into her thigh rhythmically, rubbing hard as he leaned down and sucked on her breast.

House was surprised by how much he wanted her. The sex in someone else's office, the chance that they might be discovered, the fact that he only had access to one naked breast, her body was still covered, it seemed so spontaneous and hot. He quickly felt between her legs to see if she was ready. He took his penis in his hand and placed it at the entrance between her lips, about to penetrate her when he looked down and saw her face. She had her eyes closed and her face turned to the side and down, away from him, as if she didn't want to see or know what he was doing. He realized that she had stopped touching him, kissing him, holding him. She was bracing for what was about to happen as if he was going to rape her. He felt his excitement wane. He didn't want her like this.

Maia could feel something change, he was going soft. She looked up into his eyes and he was sad. She was about to say something, but he looked down, adjusted himself and zipped up.

"Come on, I'm taking you home. Put your panties on."

Maia was both relieved and mortified. She watched him walk out of the office, leaving her there on the desk with her breast exposed, her thighs open and her panties on the desk. She quickly dressed, picking up the money and then joined him in the car. On the way home she started to get angry. Not at House, but at herself.

I'm not even good at being a prostitute. What's wrong with me? Hell, all I had to do was get it inside of me. Did he do this on purpose to humiliate me?

They traveled in silence and when they arrived, House kept the motor running, "I'm going home." He reached into his wallet and pulled out a card, "Here's a card, call me every half hour tomorrow and leave a message so that I know you haven't done anything stupid. If you don't, I'll tell the police that you have Marburg and are a walking time bomb."

She threw the money at him, "Just stay out of my life. I don't need you in it. I have enough crap without dealing with yours too." She ran inside and locked the door behind her. It occurred to her that he had a key to her apartment, but it didn't matter anyway. She would be gone soon.

House sighed and put his head on the steering wheel. He needed distance, needed to shut down these feelings.