The Cage (Open)

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

Cuddy sighed. "More like my secretary's unrealistic scheduling of lunch breaks." This was not what she'd had in mind when she'd hired Norman. He was supposed to take the majority of her work so she would be less stressed. He was not supposed to schedule her entire day. Unless House had told him to. Which was unlikely.

She nodded. "I hope you get this figured out. And I do hope you decide to stay." Cuddy gave Taub a sympathetic smile. She knew better than anyone what it was like to deal with House. "I hope talking helped a little bit." Standing, she gathered her half-eaten salad, intending to take it back to her office with her.

[Dr. Chris Taub]

"I hope so to," he replied, smiling back. The last thing Taub wanted was to have to look for a new job. The only thing talking had done was to put the idea of talking to House inside Taub's head. He'd go do that today as soon as he could.

"Thanks for listening, Dr. Cuddy." He hadn't said much but he had said a lot more than he thought he ever would to anyone about this.

[Dr. Lisa Cuddy]

"It's what I'm here for," Cuddy smiled genuinely. She was always happy to help whoever she could. Even if all she could to to help was just to lend an ear. She'd opened her mouth to say something else, but her pager went off, and she knew she'd lingered too long.

"And that will be Norman..." she sighed. Really! If she wanted someone to manage her time, she would have hired someone to do that. "I'm glad we had a chance to talk. I hope the rest of your week goes better." With that parting sentiment, Cuddy turned and made her way to the door of the cafeteria.