Usual disclaimers apply.
CHAPTER 2
Reunion of the Olympians
CUDDY's lips spread into a smile as she heard House quote Greek Mythology while she was stepping down the stairs of her home:
"The breath of the west wind bore her,
Over the sounding sea,
Up from the delicate foam,
To wave-ringed Cyprus, her isle."
House cannot take his stare off of Cuddy. She was wearing a golden-green cotton, silk, or nylon fabric with a dense, soft, usually lustrous pile, which he assumed had a plain underside, outlined with laces in the neckline and lower edges down her flawless knees. Her back-length hair was in waves, resting solemnly in the right side of her shoulders while the left had pearls attached on it giving her a more divine look.
"The beautiful, golden goddess that sprang from the foam of the seas; Hephaestus must be so envious of me right now." House no longer fought the escape of a sincerely handsome grin from his face.
"Citing some Homeric Hymns for me as I go down the stairs to hold your hand is quite romantic if I must say," Cuddy timorously commented. He felt his legs weaken and bore half of his weight to his cane.
He was wearing a black tuxedo; though some of his beard was left untouched it didn't almost negatively contribute to the fact that he, at that point in time, looked nice and slightly shaven.
"This formal set of clothing even for an evil man like me includes an elegantly styled, black jacket and matching trousers, bow tie, and cummerbund that will help me trick mortals that I am less a deity than I really am. I should look plausible if I am to escort the great Dean of Medicine," he commented gallantly that caused Cuddy to look away hiding the sudden flush of blood to her cheeks. It was very rare that he compliments and flatters her sincerely.
Cuddy smiled after she thought she got her blushing under control and said, "I think the hoax is working. You look angelic tonight. You beat Hephaestus and Ares to the ground."
It was House's turn to be embarrassed as Cuddy failed to hide her admiration of his ability to turn from a grumpy, rugged doctor to an unbelievably charming man. His uneasiness elicited a soft chuckle from Cuddy. Instead of looking down, he allowed his eye glide through Cuddy's figure one more time. He admired her from head to toe.
After recovering from her joyous giggle, she turned to look at House only to catch him surveying every inch of her. Both their eyes met as they tried to secretly analyze what was the other thinking at that moment in time. House's look conveyed all the tenderness he had in him that she never doubted was there.
An awkward moment of silence floated in the atmosphere. Nobody attempted to move an inch and break the connection. They were so lost in each other's eyes that none of them wanted to be the one to break and end it.
Until House cleared his throat; He turned away and realized that Cuddy wasn't him for the taking. This would be just one night. He would serve as her escort and he would distance himself from her on the party once he realized that the party wasn't wild enough to occupy his attention for the whole night. But he couldn't resist her either so he said, "Green fits you. It—uh—reflects your eyes."
During that brief moment of stillness, Cuddy's mind raced against her own heartbeat. When House disconnected, it was Cuddy's turn to withdraw, "My eyes are not green."
"Yet they are not solidly blue though. Your eyes, it—uh, kind of glows or reflect what you wear."
Another silence, only now, nobody attempted to stare at each other. Both are either staring in mid air or through and through on furniture.
"So, shall we go then?" Cuddy tried to shake the tension away.
"Yes, yes. Of course," House limped his way to the door to open it for her. After taking a coat from her stand, she smiled elegantly to him as if thanking him. She suddenly stopped dead on her tracks after seeing House's motorcycle parked at her grass yard. She briskly threw House an accusing look, which he dismissed with a boyish smirk.
"What? You expect me to rent you a limo on our way to the hotel? You don't pay me that much."
"No. Actually, I thought we'd be taking a cab," she said laced with sarcasm. Really, expect Gregory House to ruin a night as tantalizing as this. She sighed, "In that case, I'm driving."
She gestured to turn around briskly to claim her car keys from the back of her main door, when House pulled one of her arm delicately towards him. She looked at him confused. He lifted his other hand and put it in his mouth. She realized what he was up to when after he whistled loudly trice; a black three-door limousine appeared on her driveway.
Her shocked expression completed House's day. She stared at him in disbelief.
"Don't flatter yourself too much. I'm sending the receipt in your office first thing on Monday," he said, holding her soft hands while assisting her as she entered the limo.
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CAMERON, Foreman, Chase and Wilson were already in the party when House and Cuddy arrived. Their stunt of coming together sort of incited a notion again among co-workers about what they do on stolen moments when they are alone together.
Wilson assessed her, "Lisa, you're just so gorgeous."
Cuddy smiled at Wilson's remark as she motioned to kiss her friend on the cheek. "And you are such sweetheart," she said.
House saw Foreman nod and Cameron smiled in agreement; Chase on the other hand has an expression of leer in his youthful face.
"And the Hours golden wreathed
Welcomed her joyously."
"I can smell lust from where I stand," House hissed at Chase, away from earshot. That was when Chase somewhat realized the feeling of flushing in his face. All the while he didn't notice that his little crush on his boss's boss may be that visible. Cuddy was undeniably stunning.
The hours went on; House had not left Cuddy's side since their arrival. Usually in the hospital he would walk away from her in the middle of a conversation, but right now, there was something about her that he wanted to claim. Right at that moment, he almost acted possessive.
Cuddy didn't seem to notice that every table she sat for a while, House went with her. He fetched her drinks and told her jokes. Every once in a while he let go of malicious comments regarding what he knew on other doctors present as a guest. On that night alone, she already mastered the art of hushing him to get quiet. He never listened and was often caught in mid sentence by the topic of his gossips and she would laugh in her head all the time.
Wilson, plus the ducklings, casually shared meaningful glances to each other every time House would lean on to Cuddy and almost whispered on her ear and unconsciously smelled her hair. Wilson was wearing a deep frown in his forehead the whole time. Foreman's eyebrows rose in examination of House's actions while Cameron was puzzled that she forgot how many martinis were there that she had already taken in. Chase stared around the room recognizing how many people were there that were really watching House's strange behavior.
"I think he's really hitting on her…" Wilson said, mystified. "Why suddenly?"
Foreman shot Wilson a look, "Some Shrink must have made a miracle."
"He is so not healthy, maybe some febrile reaction to microorganism he might have caught from his exposure in the hospital." Cameron said, sipping another martini. "Chase, when he approached you, were you able to feel that his temperature is somewhat elevated? Can you, like, approximate?"
"And both of them wonder why everybody thinks they had sex!" Chase commented heatedly. Three heads shot at him. "What? I think House is just leaning so often at her to take a glimpse at her cleavage..."
Foreman tried to consider Chase's explanation while narrowing his eyes, "Maybe so. Neckline's quite low."
"Or maybe she just really smells nice. When she kissed me in the cheek I smelled---" Wilson inhaled deeply "---vanilla. Body wax or bubble bath?"
"Bubble bath," Cameron replied.
"Sassy."
"Excuse me, sirs and madam," interrupted a waiter.
"No more martini!" Cameron ordered.
"Sure, madam," the waiter answered, "but I have come to ask about a different matter." The waiter paused and surveyed each one in their table and rested his eyes on Cameron,"Are you Dr. Lisa Cuddy, madam?"
Wilson's senses returned back to him and he considered being slightly cautious, "Who's asking?"
"The EurArasia Business Firm representative phoned from his suite. He asked to talk to her and to have a private meeting first with him before facing the crowd."
All four of them straightened up in their chair as Chase voices out, "What time did he arrive?"
"Just an hour ago, sir."
"I'll call her for you," Wilson rose from his chair and went to House and Cuddy's direction. After hearing what Wilson has to say, the laughter from Cuddy's face was wiped off and her all-business façade started to get in place once again. The three of them looked at the waiter's direction near Foreman, Chase and Cameron's table. Cuddy went up from her chair and House straightened his back in the rest.
Cuddy composed herself, went to meet the waiter, headed to the bar and accepted the phone receiver. She talked with someone on the line for quite some time and headed to the comfort room.
House noticed that she retouched her make-up and laid in a message for Wilson to transmit for the rest of the board members. She did not even bother to throw House a stare before she approached the same waiter again as both made their way out of the function room to the suite she was invited to.
"They clad her in raiment immortal,
And brought her to the gods. "
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HOUSE gurgled his rum for about 1 minute until he decided to swallow it.
"The gurgling will work better with a toothbrush and a real mouthwash," Foreman commented.
"Can't brush my teeth yet, Dad, 'coz I'm still eating." House barked back at Foreman then he pointed at his dinner plate. The later dismissed him by just chewing another bite of the tenderloin and making a face.
"Quit it," Cameron begrudged both men as she ate her own food.
"It has been two-hour and a half!" House complained.
"Meeting might have been long. She's probably eating dinner with the Rep," Chase commented that earned him a sardonic face from House.
House stood up from his chair and threw the table napkin on his plate as he walked away from the group. All that he took was his glass of rum and headed for the bar. He stayed there, ordered some more rum and proceeded to gurgling it. Wilson approached the bar and ordered some liquor for himself.
"I'm bored," House declared.
"You're always bored. What made this party any different?" Wilson looked at him, faking an innocent expression, "Why? Your date stood you up?"
House shot him a devilish look, "What is taking her so long?"
"Dessert?" Wilson tried.
"You shouldn't have let her go there alone," House said as he took another sip of his rum.
"Why? Are you afraid that the hospital administrator's dinner with the benefactor representative might go wet and nasty?" Wilson pushed his luck.
"Don't mess with me."
"Oh, developing a thing for Cuddy or was it your hope second chance at love?"
"Excuse me?" House jumped off, looking at Wilson as if he had gone mad.
"You should have seen yourself. If you would have worn a mask and acted like how you had just acted around Cuddy, everybody will think you are hitting on her. Everybody thinks you are so head over heels into her. " Wilson re-enacted even, "Great Wall of China must not have one hell of a foundation…"
"Armed men posted every twenty-feet are still getting their paychecks and the Wall is still visible from the moon---" House was interrupted when Cuddy surprised the whole crowd by entering the main door of the function room and headed for the stage, settled in the podium and spoke a few words of greeting to the crowd.
"Wonder sized them all as they saw
Violet-crowned Cytherea."
House did not seem to notice anything more the moment he saw Cuddy enter the room. Something seemed to have changed in such short time. The eyes that he caught himself staring at so many times that night seemed to lose its sparkle. Her lips that laughed at every perverted joke he threw seemed to lose its color. Something must have happened to change her mood so drastically.
He noticed a man shaking hands on his way to the stage. Right there and then, he thought he already knew what has happened. The man was almost as tall as him but much more muscular. His hair was thicker and black. Unmistakably, from the smug face to the huge ego, Thorne Adham Moltaire.
The man kissed Cuddy on the cheeks after he reached the stage and held her hand to receive the microphone. The man smiled at her whole-heartedly. Cuddy stepped backward. Right there and then, House knew, Cuddy was lost, floating adrift.
Aphrodite might end up marrying the bastard Hephaestus once again. House felt a sudden surge of blood rise up his head.
He held the rum glass once again, looked at Wilson, raised it in the air and said: "Never gonna let that happen," then drank it straight.
Please Review. Make me happy.
Wait: Hymn Reference about the birth/spring of Aphrodite from the seas, I used Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless tales of Gods and Heroes page 32.