In a Perfect World
In a perfect world things would be, well, perfect. But the world is not a perfect place. The world is fraught with constant disappointment, sadness and stress. These are some of the things that Sara Sidle was thinking about as she prepared for a lecture. She wasn't sure the direction her life would take her in, but she was determined to face whatever life threw her head on. She surely was not prepared for what life would thrust upon her today. Sara Sidle sat in the front row of the lecture hall. There was a guest lecturer today and he was from Las Vegas. He was going to speak about forensics. Forensics was not her major, but she had heard that this particular lecturer was a good one and she wanted to see for herself. As she sat and readied herself, testing her pen on her legal pad to make sure there was ink in it, she wondered just how long this demonstration would last. She had plans for later that day. She felt an odd feeling of cool and warmth at the same time as she looked up to see a man standing at the podium on stage. He was tall, handsome and had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. He was dressed in khaki pants and a medium shade blue button down shirt that accentuated his eyes. His hair was brown with a bit of grey and curly. She couldn't help herself staring at him. He was gorgeous. She continued to watch him as he shuffled papers about and got ready to speak. Luckily for her there were not many students at the lecture, so it was a bit more private than it could have been.
The man on stage looked up to see if everyone was there and his eyes fixed on Sara sitting in the front row, pen ready to scribble down everything he said. He looked at her and was immediately taken with her. She was tall for a woman, slim and had shoulder length brown slightly curly hair. As he continued his visual probe of her she looked up at him and then, seeing that he was staring at her, she quickly looked away. As Dr. Grissom began to speak Sara was transfixed. The voice coming from this man's lips was like auditory gold. She focused more on his lips than on the lecture itself. As he raised his arm to illustrate a point he was trying to make, Sara noticed the bulge his bicep produced in the sleeve of his shirt. She wondered to herself what he would look like with no shirt on. Was he ripped? Did he work out? What would he look like with no clothes on? These are questions that her mind wrestled with throughout the entire lecture.
When the lights came on she looked down at her legal pad and noticed that she had written the doctor's name over and over again, doodling like a school child. As Gil Grissom descended the stairs from the stage to field questions he passed her and looked down at her and her pad. He smiled as he passed her began to answer questions from the other students that had been paying more attention than she had been. After about thirty minutes the students began to collect their belongings and leave the hall. Sara sat staring into space until she heard a voice come from behind her. She whipped her head around and was staring Dr. Grissom right in the face. She was paralyzed with fear. How long had he been there? She fixed her eyes on his as he began to speak.
"So, what will you take away from my little speech?" he asked her.
"Uh...Ummm. Hmmm." was all she could manage to mumble.
"That much, huh?"
"I'm sorry. I got a bit lost somewhere in the middle." she explained
He looked down again at her pad and began to smile wider. Sara, seeing his stunning smile turned her head to see what he was looking at. She blushed when she realized that he was looking at her pad. She quickly stood, grabbed her bag, excused herself and hot-footed it out of the lecture hall. Grissom stood and looked at the roster he held in his hand and said to himself, Sara Sidle. He repeated the name over and over.
He walked out of the hall and out of the building. To his surprise Sara was sitting on a brick wall running in front of the building. Her head was in her hands and she looked as though she was hyperventilating. As Grissom approached her from behind he could hear her breathing heavily.
"Slow and deep. Slow and deep." he said
She jumped up and turned around to see him again.
"When you hyperventilate it is important to take long, slow and deep breaths." he suggested.
"I...I wasn't." she stuttered
"Look, it doesn't look like you were able to take many notes. Would you like to continue the discussion, say, over coffee somewhere?" he offered
"Ummm...Hmmm..Ugh...Ahh." again she was at a loss for words.
"I'll take that as a yes." he continued.
"Meet you here around, say, 20:00?"
"Umm..uhhh, ok."
By the time she returned to her apartment she was out of breath. She was red in the face and just realized that she had already made plans for that evening. She quickly picked up her phone and called her friend.
"Hey, Sam?"
"Hey, Sara. What's up?"
"I have to cancel for tonight. Something just came up."
"Hope everything is ok."
"Yeah, fine. But can we reschedule?"
"Sure. Call me when you have time."
"Done." she said and then hung up the phone.
She decided to take a little nap before her meeting with Grissom. She shed her clothing and slipped into a pair of sweats and t-shirt. She slid into bed and fell fast asleep. Sara woke just before her alarm clock went off and she ambled out of bed, making her way to the bathroom for a shower. She emerged clean and refreshed, most of the days humiliation washed from her skin. She felt a bit more comfortable. Now, what to wear. She looked into her closet and located a sweater that she had never worn. She took that and a pair of nicely faded blue jeans. She slipped into her army issue jump boots, that were highly polished and she was off.
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She sat on the brick wall and waited. She was early, as always. This gave her time to think about what they would talk about. She looked down at her watch and then at the high shine on her boots. She was spacing out when she heard,
"Wow. I can see myself."
She jumped up and stood straight. She looked at Grissom who was still looking at his reflection in her boots. He broke his gaze long enough to properly introduce himself, and for Sara to do the same. They walked across campus and stopped at a diner on a main street. As they entered Grissom motioned to the waitress that there were two in their party. They were shown to a booth towards the back of the diner where they sat in silence for what seemed an eternity. The coffee came and Sara sat and stirred absentmindedly. Grissom reached into his bag and removed a small stack of papers and slid them across the table to Sara.
"What's this for?" she asked
"They're my notes from the lecture, or should I say, they're your notes from my lecture." He said jokingly
"Thanks, I don't know what happened. I just started to space out and when I came to the lecture was over"
she explained
"Was I that boring?"
"No, not at all. It was just your voice."
Sara sat back, stunned that she had actually said what she said. She quickly tried to change the subject.
"So, how long you here for?"
Grissom had picked up on her little slip and was now grinning to himself. He looked up at her and saw her obvious discomfort at what she had just said. She was now fidgeting with her napkin and trying to avoid any and all eye contact with her coffee mate. Grissom slid his hand across the table to meet Sara's. As he placed his hand on hers she shuddered. She looked at his strong hand on hers and began to hyperventilate again. He noticed this and reminded her of the proper breathing technique. Finally he asked,
"You want to get out of here?"
"And go where?"
"Walk. Just walk. See where our feet take us."
Sara was still breathing a bit heavily as they stood and left the diner. As they stepped outside Sara shivered and Grissom took off his coat and gave it to her. She wrapped herself tightly in it, inhaling his scent. She never wanted to take it off. They walked the streets for hours before reaching her apartment.
"This is me." she said
"You want to come up for coffee or a documentary. History channels full of them."
"If its not an imposition. Yes. I would like that." he responded
They climbed the stairs to her apartment and once inside Sara put on the coffee maker. They sat on her high backed couch and watched a show on Discovery channel about the ten deadliest snakes in the world. Grissom was glued to the set. He didn't even notice when Sara got up for the coffee and came back to sit next to him, a little closer than she had been before.
As the night wore on they watched show after show about bugs and reptiles. Grissom was in heaven, hours of his particular field of expertise. He leaned back into the couch and stretched his arms wide, yawning. Sara turned to look at him and offered to drive him back to his place. Grissom agreed, but after their show was over. He had not meant to do so, but he actually ended up falling asleep in a sitting position. Sara looked at her watch and saw that it was 02:00 and then looked at Grissom, leaning back, head tilted back and his mouth cracked open. He was out like a light. Sara stood and fetched a blanket to cover him up with. After watching him sleep for a few minutes she went to her room and climbed into bed.
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Sara woke the next morning to find Grissom stretched out on the couch and still asleep. She maneuvered carefully through the living room to the kitchen and the coffee maker. She poured the previous night's coffee in the sink and put on a fresh pot. After her shower she went back into the living room and saw that Grissom was stirring. He peered up from behind the back of the couch, just enough that his eyes could be seen, and greeted Sara good morning.
"Did you sleep well. Dr. Grissom?" she asked
"Oh, after last night I think you can call me Grissom." he responded
"Want some coffee? I just put on a fresh pot."
"That would be divine."
Sara brought him some coffee and danish from the kitchen. He sat up and wrapped his hands around the hot cup of morning energy. Sara sat down beside him and smiled at him He looked at her and saw her cute little gap in her front teeth. He smiled back and took a bite from his pastry. They sat in silence for a while as they digested last evenings events.
"Sorry for falling asleep. I was just so tired from watching the tv for so long. I closed my eyes for a second and when I woke up it was morning." Grissom babbled
"No problem. I just hope the couch was comfortable enough."
"It was perfect. You have no idea how hard it is to find a truly comfy couch." he joked
He looked down at his watch and noticed the time.
"Shit. I gotta go. I have a class in two hours." he said
"You teach?"
"Yeah, I'm covering for Professor Covington for the remainder of the semester."
"I have Covington."
"Well, I guess I will see you later on today then."
"Let me give you a ride to your place so you can get washed up."
With that they grabbed their coats and left for the parking lot. They drove to Grissom's apartment and she dropped him off. As he was walking towards his apartment he turned to see that Sara was still waiting. She was waiting for him to make it safely to his apartment. He walked back to her and offered an apologetic dinner for that evening. Sara accepted and waited, again, to see him safely into his building. When he was safely inside she drove off with a rather large smile on her face.
TBC---, if you like. Review and let me know