Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, I'd love to have coffee with George and Jorja...maybe I'll just send them a Starbucks card and call it good.
Author's Note: This is sort of a post-ep of "Crow's Feet". Poor Nick had to put up with all of Catherine's insecurities; I just wondered what might be going through his mind afterwards.
It was a position Nick was sure that no guy wanted to be in because it seemed that no matter what you said, it was called into question. He shook his head in disbelief as he headed down the hallway of the lab towards the locker room. He and Catherine had just wrapped up a case and throughout the investigation she had worn her doubt and insecurity about her appearance on her sleeve. He just couldn't understand how a woman as beautiful as Catherine could question her value based on her outer appearance. Didn't she know that men looked beyond the exterior to what was inside, well at least men that were worth having? He and Warrick had engaged in numerous conversations about their two beautiful coworkers, neither of which seemed to understand where their true beauty lay.
Sara glanced up as Nick entered the locker room and a tired smile spread across her face. "Hey."
He grinned at her. "Hey, yourself." There was just something about her that he found infinitely attractive. He wondered to himself how Sara might have reacted if she had been the one to work the case with him instead of Catherine. He wondered if she would question her value and if she would compare herself to the hoards of women that had flocked to plastic surgeons and spa treatments in search of a more youthful appearance.
"Heard about your case." Sara furrowed her brow as she pulled her jacket out of her locker and shut the door before turning to face him. "Pretty strange what people are willing to do to try and stay looking young."
"You got that right." Nick rolled his eyes as he opened his own locker.
Sara pushed her lower lip out slightly as she seemed to be deep in thought. "Still, I can understand why when people place so much value on it." Her expression reflected the inner gears of her mind trying to align her thoughts.
"Then they're putting value on the wrong things." Nick's tone was soft. He had seen too many women who by anyone's standards were drop dead gorgeous spending far too much time on the superficial rather than nurturing what was inside of them. It was strange to him. He had seen several of his own sisters fall into the trap of chasing youth, and strangely it was those who simply accepted aging as a part of life and were comfortable in their own skin that he thought were most beautiful.
Sara let out a scoff unintentionally. "They're doing it for men."
Nick furrowed his brow and then shook his head. "I don't agree. I think they're doing it because they think that's what men want. A real man wants a real woman, someone who is comfortable in her own skin, not someone who sees the need to constantly change it."
Sara quirked an eyebrow at him. "So what you're saying is that given the chance to go out with Miss Texas or Plain Jane, you'd pick Plain Jane?" She obviously didn't believe him.
Nick let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not going to say that I'm not attracted to outer beauty, Sara, but after spending a few minutes with someone if there isn't anything that goes deeper than that, I'm not going to waste my time." He'd had his share of shallow women, but ever since Kristy Hopkins murder, he'd taken a step back and evaluated what it was he was really looking for in a woman and most of the women he encountered in clubs just didn't measure up, they were all more interested in how he looked and how they looked than in who he was and what he cared about. He needed more than that.
Sara smirked.
Nick pulled his jacket out of his locker and closed the door, turning to look at Sara again. He decided to take a different approach to the conversation. "Have you ever seen the Hope Diamond?"
Sara looked at him curiously. "Yeah, I saw it when I visited the Natural History Museum in DC when I lived in Boston. My friends and I took a road trip down there during Spring Break and spent a couple of days going through all the Smithsonian museums."
"Do you know how it ended up there?" Nick looked at her expectantly.
She rolled her eyes. "I assume that someone donated it."
Nick let out a soft chuckle. "True, but do you know how it was sent?"
Sara shrugged her shoulders.
"Harry Winston sent it to the Smithsonian Institutes in a brown paper wrapper through the US Mail." Nick concluded.
Sara's eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding."
Nick shook his head. "Nope. True story."
"Who in the world would send something that valuable through the US Mail?" Sara was incredulous.
Nick let out a soft chuckle. "Maybe that's what Harry Winston was counting on. He was the only one who knew that inside that brown paper wrapper was a 45.52 carat diamond." He looked at her for a long moment.
Sara shook her head and smirked. "You're trying to make a point here, aren't you?"
"All I'm trying to say is that no one should judge the value or the beauty of another person based solely on their outward appearance." He smiled at her softly. "Do you know who I think the third most beautiful woman in the world is?"
Sara rolled her eyes. "Who?"
"My eight-five year old grandmother." Nick smiled genuinely.
Sara chuckled softly.
"Do you know who I think the second most beautiful woman in the world is?" Nick continued with an impish smile.
"Your mother." Sara answered logically.
"Yes." Nick grinned and then looked at Sara intently. "Do you know who I think the most beautiful woman in the world is?"
Sara crossed her arms over her chest, expecting him to give the name of a supermodel or actress. "Who?"
His voice was soft and his smile a bit nervous. "You."
Sara's eyes widened in surprise and a faint hue of pink infused her cheeks.
Nick leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "I think you're the most beautiful woman I've ever known." Nick smiled at her as he stepped away and then turned and headed out of the locker room intent on going home and getting some sleep.
Sara just stared after him, her hand on her cheek, completely speechless.
The Beginning?
