August 1999

The summer air was hot and crisp. Sara could feel the beads of sweat start to form on the back of her neck as she swept her hair up into a ponytail. She filled her thermostat of coffee to the brim before entering lecture hall 5.

The Forensic Academy Conference was well underway in its second day of the four day conference. She had met a few acquaintances the previous day as she mingled through the various networking events. Truth be told, networking was her least favorite part of the professional world. She hated the small talk, the awkward ways in which people navigated through conversations. But she did enjoy the educational classes, picking the brains of some of the best criminalists in the country. That's why she had agreed to attend the conference in the first place when her Supervisor at the San Francisco crime lab had suggested she represent their lab.

At first, she had been taken aback the he had chosen her to attend. She was still young in her career compared to her fellow co-workers. Sara, 28, was the youngest criminalist currently in the San Francisco lab. She graduated valedictorian of her high school by age 16, then attended Harvard for her four years of undergraduate studies before returning to California to attend U.C. Berkley for Grad school where she began to fellow at the SF coroner's office. It was there that she was scooped up by the criminalist lab as her current supervisor, Dave Crow, saw the potential Sara possessed as a CSI.

She had been with the lab for just under five years now, and Dave had taken special interest in her professional development—hence why he was having her attend these conferences.

She sat in the second row of the lecture hall, near the aisle, and took another gulp of the hot coffee as fellow conference goers filtered through the doors to take their seats.

"Sara!"

She whipped around to the sound of her name being enthusiastically spoken.

She smiled, "Mr. Wilson"

"Doug—call me Doug." He correct. "Is anyone sitting here?" He motioned to the empty seat beside her.

"No, all you." She shifted slightly to allow him into the aisle.

Sara met Doug Wilson yesterday at one of the many networking events she forced herself to attend. She racked her brain to remember a bit about him.

"NTSB? Right?"

He nodded, "Yes, and your the young prodigy of the SFCL."

She blushed.

"I didn't expect to see you in a talk on biological anthropology as it relates to decomposition."

"Me either." He laughed. "But my boss is all about getting a well rounded view of the criminals and their victims so—whether it relates to my day-to-day job or not—here I am. Though I heard this speaker is a bit dull."

"I heard the same." She motioned to her now half full coffee canister. "I've come prepared."

They continued their easy conversation until the speaker appeared to take the podium.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Dr. Grissom and I'm here to talk to you all about what I like to call the 'First Blush' of a crime scene."

Sara's eyes fixated on the man before her. Gilbert Grissom looked to be in his early forties. He sported blondish-brown curly hair with a slight hint of salt and pepper seeping through. His blue eyes sparking with excitement as he spoke on for an hour—and for that hour Sara was completely mesmerized by his breadth of knowledge on the subject, completely mesmerized by him. He closed by thanking everyone for their time.

"Wow. That was pretty dull, hu?" Doug spoke through the side of his mouth.

"I don't know, I kind of enjoyed it." Sara spoke not taking her eyes off Dr. Grissom as he shuffled his papers into his briefcase.

"Spoken like a true prodigy." Doug laughed easily. "C'mon, let me get you a refill of that coffee."

"Thanks, but I think I'm going to stick around here for a bit. I have a few questions."

"Alright, I'll see you around?"

She nodded and headed up to the front of the lecture hall where Grissom still stood. Her ponytail bounced as she walked.

"Dr. Grissom?" He turned to look in her direction. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions, I loved the talk by the way."

He smiled and her heart nearly stopped. That boyish grin made her weak suddenly.

"Of course." He leaned against the podium effortlessly.

She began to bat off question after question as he answered them each one by one. Each answer lead to a follow up question until she ran out of questions on the subject. In a panic, she began to ask about anthropology. He answered those questions just as effortlessly. Questions, of course, she already new the answers to.

Suddenly, both became very aware that the other conference goers had all vacated the lecture hall and the two were left alone. Sara looked down at her feet nervously.

"I'm sorry—I've been taking up so much of your time."

"Nonsense, It's nice to know at least one person finds my talks interesting."

There was that boyish grin again and she could feel her checks flush. She checked her watch, it was nearly 6 p.m. She was desperately trying to get up the nerve to ask him to dinner. But for the life of her, she couldn't do it.

"Its getting pretty late." Grissom noted looking at his watch. Sara prepared herself to part ways and say goodbye. "Are you hungry? We can continue this over dinner."

"I would love that." She smiled from ear to ear, silently thanking the god she didn't really believe in.

"Shall we?" He motioned to the door as he buckled his brief case closed.

They walked down the street to a small corner diner. The day cooled off a bit as the sun slipped down below the horizon. Their conversation was light and casual as they bounced back and forth between topics.

"So how long have you worked for the San Francisco Crime Lab?"

Sara blushed, "Just about five years."

"And before that?"

"Well, I shadowed the SF coroner's office during grad school."

Grissom's eyebrows shot up. "This is your first job out of school?"

"It is."

He laughed, "You're mature beyond your years. I would have never guessed."

"You can't always rely on your first blush, can you?" she quipped effortlessly which earned her another boyish grin from the man sitting opposite her.

The waitress came over and took both of their orders.

The conversation turned to her, her experience and her education. He seemed to have a lot of questions on that.

She shrugged modestly. She hated these conversations more than anything—one's that centered on her educational successes, always having to tiptoe around her upbringing.

"I graduated high school at 16... the rest just fell into place I suppose."

He grew more fascinated by her, her brilliance and obvious aptitude for the field. His mind raced with thoughts of her. She was beautiful, smart, accomplished, ambitions, someone who actually met his intellectual capabilities at 15 some odd years his junior. He sighed mentally, she was half his age.

Their conversation continued to center around work and education. He told her all about the LV Crime Lab, the team and people he worked with. Some interesting cases came up. It grew dark outside and their plates were cleared but neither had a sense of urgency to leave the other's company.

They walked outside. The cool breeze kissing their faces as they made their was back to the conference's campus.

"I guess I should be heading back..." Her voice trailed as she looked down at her watch. "I can't believe its already 10."

He smiled, "Can I walk you home?"

"Thank you, but thats really not necessary. I live just a few blocks west of here." She stuck out her hand to shake his, "Thank you so much for your time tonight, It was wonderful to learn more about your expertise and experience."

She really was mature beyond her years. He reached out to shake her hand. Skin meeting skin. He was suddenly very aware of the heat rising through his body. Blue orbs turning a shade or two darker as he looked into her eyes.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" He said apprehensively.

Her reassuring smile sinking deep into his eyes, "You will. Take care."

And with that she disappeared down the sidewalk leaving him alone. He breathed out heavily. I'm in trouble.