Chapter 3

When House opened his eyes the next morning, sun was streaming in the window beside him. It took him a few moments to remember where he was. He looked around and remembered that he'd moved from the motel to one of Tom's beach huts. He'd have to remember to close the shade that was at the top of the window before he went to bed. He moved slowly to get up and do that now so that he could catch a little more sleep. As he got to the window, he looked out and saw there was another cabin only a few yards away from his. He'd seen it the night before, but assumed it was empty.

Now he realized that it wasn't when he saw Julia sitting on a chair outside of it with a mug in her hand, gazing out on the ocean.

He watched her for a while, waiting to see if she would do anything that would give him a clue to her, but she just sat there, doing nothing. He assumed she was thinking about something, but her face did not betray any emotion that would tell whether her thoughts were good, bad, deep or anything at all.

He took those moments to stare at her as well. She was dressed, as usual, in shorts that reached her knees and a loose t-shirt. Her feet were bare as she sat there. He assumed her tennis shoes were only used while she worked in the bar. She'd also left the hair band out of her hair. That was probably for work as well. Her short brown, bobbed hair, fell close to her face. Every now and then, she would flex her feet and toes while she sat there and took small sips from her mug.

He wondered if it held coffee. His initial thought of going back to sleep faded as he thought about having coffee with Julia. Also, sleeping in wasn't as much fun when there really wasn't any reason he had to get up.

As he sat there considering it, he heard her voice. "Would you like some coffee, Greg? Or do you want to just keep staring at me?"

He was surprised that she knew he was watching her. "Staring is nice, but coffee would be better."

"Come on over. And make sure you have some clothes on."

He realized he was naked, but how did she know? He went quickly to the bathroom, only taking time to pee and throw some water on his face, then pulled on jeans and a t-shirt. He picked up his cane and headed out of the little cabin, walking the few yards to her cabin.

In the time he'd been getting dressed, she'd pulled out another chair and put a mug on the little table that sat there between them.

"Do you take anything in your coffee? I drink it black, so I really don't have anything here."

"Black is fine."

She leaned her head back and continued to stare at the ocean. He sat down and picked up the mug, taking a cautious sip. Not bad. Not too strong, but flavorful.

"Good coffee." He told her.

"Thanks."

"Nice day."

"Um-hmmm."

"Do you—"

She turned to look at him. "Greg, please don't feel that you need to make small talk. In the morning, I like to just sit here and enjoy the ocean, if you don't mind."

Actually, that was what he preferred too, but in his experience, women always wanted to 'chat'. That Julia didn't, immediately raised her stock in his opinion. He sat back and sipped his coffee, watching the ocean as she was.

After about a half an hour, Julia rose from her chair. "I have work to do. I thought that we could split up the bartending with me doing the early shift and you doing later. We open at noon. I could stay until four, then you could take over until Tom comes in at seven. And then, if you wanted to play the piano, you could do it then so that you could get the evening crowd."

"Crowd being a very loose concept."

"True, but the most people that would enjoy the music would come in the evening and that's where you'll get the tips."

"How much is Tom paying me?"

"That's between Tom and you."

House looked at her. "How much is he paying you?"

"That's between Tom and me. I'll leave you the golf cart. It's Tom's, but he rarely uses it. I can use my bicycle."

He nodded and handed her his empty mug. She went inside the cabin and returned a few minutes later with her tennis shoes on. She pulled out a bicycle from the other side of the cabin and with a wave she took off.

House wasn't sure what to do with his day. Usually, he would sleep late, eat some cake at the motel, then wander to the bar to drink the afternoon away. It seemed weird to go there to drink when he had to go there to work. And he only went to drink because there was nothing else to do, not because he was in desperate need of alcohol. He sat there staring at the ocean for a while longer.

He hadn't really spent any time near an ocean, at least not in a long time. When he was young, there were times his father had been stationed at coastal bases. But back then, he hadn't appreciated it. The ocean was a place to play in when he was a child or meet girls near when he was a teenager. He never took the time to admire it.

The ocean was majestic. So much power, so much beauty. It could be calm, blue and beautiful or it could be dark and dangerous. The emotions the ocean held were amazing. It could heal or it could destroy.

Sort of like him.

He pondered his situation. For the moment, he could survive. Even if Tom only gave him a place to live and meals, he could survive. He wasn't completely out of money, and anyway, what did he need to buy?

He'd taken his entire stash of Vicodin with him when he left Princeton. Then, when he'd gotten to the first island, he'd found a doctor who, for a little extra incentive, had given him a prescription for more.

So he was well stocked with his meds, as long as he didn't go crazy.

But how long would he want to be here? It was already way out of his comfort zone. And he knew it wouldn't be long before he missed the medicine. Or more precisely, the puzzle.

Of course, trying to figure out Julia would help with that urge. But once he did – and he had no doubts that he would – what would he do then?

He wandered back to the cabin that was his home for the time being. He hadn't really looked around much the night before.

It was, in reality, a tourist cabin, with a small sitting room and a galley kitchen area in the front and a bedroom and bathroom in the back. Small, but adequate he supposed. He opened the fridge. Nothing in there, but it worked. Julia told him the night before that she would pick up some things for him.

He went back to the bedroom. A double bed, which was a smaller than he was used to and a little short for his long frame, but, again, adequate. The bathroom was old, but clean. Julia had also told him that one of her duties was to keep the cabins clean in case someone wanted to rent one.

No one ever did.

Which was good for him, since they were empty and he had a place to live at a – he hoped – really good price. They hadn't discussed money, but since Julia had pushed for this, he assumed it would be cheap. She seemed to have his best interests at heart.

Which was another thing perplexing about her. Why did she care about him and what happened to him? And if she found out what he'd done, what he was really like, would she still want to help him.

Probably not, as in his experience, people who got to know him, didn't care about him.

Except for Wilson.

Ah, that was a wound he didn't want to open right now. He remembered the shocked look on Cuddy's face when he climbed out of his car in her dining room, but even more he remembered the disappointed look on Wilson's as he held his injured wrist. He hoped it was not broken, but a wrist could be fixed.

A friendship was a lot harder to fix.

Burning bridges with Cuddy, even if it meant losing his job was something he could handle. That had been inevitable anyway.

But losing Wilson's friendship would be a lot harder to bear. And he had a feeling that he had done irreparable harm to it. You didn't treat your friend that way and expect them to remain so.

That was why he knew that even though Julia seemed to like him now, eventually, he would turn her against him in some way, despite what he'd promised Tom.

Some things were just not meant to be.

Thanks for reading! And for those of you who commented, but turned off private messaging, thanks to you guys too. I wish I could tell you personally, but since I can't, this will have to do. Next chapter will probably be a Christmas present!