Note of author: Just a little short story to celebrate Jorja's birthday today. Happy birthday, beautiful lady, you still look like in your early thirties :-)
"You know what really bothers me?" Sara took a sip of her coffee and looked out of the window. She was in a small café, a couple of blocks away from the Mandalay Bay Casino, at the south end of the strip. A few very exhausting days lay behind her. There had been a shooting on the streets, Jim and Sofia were involved, officer Bell died in friendly fire, shot by his own captain Jim Brass. An investigation put Jim and Sofia on the spotlight, a lot of suspects, witnesses and innocent civilians were involved when Sara and her team worked the case. The investigator talked to a lot of people, went to many houses to collect evidence and statements.
"A lot of things bother you, mostly people. Ignorant people." Sofia answered, stirring her coffee with milk. Her first coffee since the case started, since internal affairs talked to her. The days before today she had been nervous most times, were unable to focus, eat or sleep. For so many hours she had asked herself if she was the one, who shot Bell. Shot a fellow officer, a father and husband. For way too long she had been sure it was a bullet from her service weapon, that killed him. Thoughts of quitting her job, moving away, giving back her detective shield had been on her mind, as well as the thought of killing herself. It was the only way to get out of this, otherwise she would be always the cop, who shot another cop. Things like this traveled with you.
Then she got told it wasn't her bullet, that killed her colleague. Strangely she didn't feel any happiness nor relief, she only felt deeply sorry for Jim, the wife of officer Bell and his kids. A bullet ran through and killed more than one person, it destroyed a whole family and a part of her friend and captain.
"That's for sure, but I'm talking about the last care. When we talked to witnesses, I went to houses of people I couldn't understand because they didn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish. Sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't learn Spanish, at least a little bit to make our job easier. We're in Vegas, not too far away from the Mexican border, a lot of immigrants live here and of course they're supposed to learn English, but some of them don't speak it and it's hard to interview them, ask them about cases, when you can't talk in the same language. A few words might help t gain trust, make them want to help us."
"Probably. You didn't learn Spanish in high school?"
"No, did you?"
"For three years. Not enough to do an interview in Spanish, but enough for a little conversation."
"More than 'hola' and 'adios'."
"Slightly more, yes."
"Can you teach me some words? I mean, if you have the nerves for it. The last days were everything but a walk in the park for you and I wasn't exactly helpful or friendly to you."
"Didn't we agree we don't want to talk about the scene in Grissom's office anymore? You were right, I wasn't supposed to be there, en la oficina de tu jefe."
"I beg your pardon?"
"That was your first Spanish lesson. In the office of your boss, en la oficina de tu jefe."
"Oh sorry. Wow, my first words. What does: how are you? mean?"
"It depends on if you talk to a friend or a stranger. To a friend you say: cómo estás? and to a stranger, a boss or somebody else, you're better be polite to, you say: cómo está?"
"Do the verb ends different depending on whom you talk to?"
"Yes, a little bit like Latin. So when we meet, what will you say?"
"Hola, cómo estás?"
"Muy bien, gracias. Y tú? Cómo estás?"
"I got the gracias and the cómo estás, you lost me with the rest. Did you tell me how you are?"
"Exactly. Muy bien very good, y tu and you?"
"So many things to remember. What do you think of some food with the lesson?" The brunette smiled and finished her coffee.
"Sure, you need a pen and a writing pad to write your new words down. It easier to learn and remember this way. If you don't mind chaos we can go to my place, order some Mexican food and continue."
"The question is, is it okay with you?"
"To be honest I'd love to have some company. The last days my home reminded me more of a dark cave filled with worries and sorrow. Some positive input would be great and teaching you a few Spanish words and phrases gets my mind off the case and back to normal. So yes, it's more than okay for me. Mi case es tu casa."
"Hah, I got that one! And this one." Sara took the check and left before Sofia could protest. She had to pay for her lessons, why not pay her personal teacher with coffee?
Most times people exaggerated it when it came to the status of their apartments, excused themselves for chaos, that wasn't there. In Sofia's case the description of chaos fitted. Clothes lay on the floor, the kitchen was filled with old dishes and nothing seemed to be where it belonged.
"I'm aware of the fact you're not supposed to let somebody in your apartment when it looks like mine, but your place was too far away, so if it's possible we just try to ignore the chaos and the fact I suck at housework at the…"
"Sofia, it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself. My place would look the same if I were in your shoes. Which doesn't mean I will clean up your place, you can do it alone." The brunette grinned.
"You don't have to." Sofia picked up a few clothes off the couch and threw them in a corner. "My next day off will be a cleaning day. I promise it's only chaos and not dirt. I did clean my apartment two days before…what happened."
"Relax Sofia. Do you have a menu from the delivery service?"
"I do. Wait." The blonde opened a drawer and handed Sara the menu. "Choose, I know what I want. A spicy burito and the tacos with three different sauces. The cheese sauce is to die for."
"I keep that in mind."
"Choose, I tidy up a little bit and get us something to drink? What would you like?"
"Water."
"Okay, aqua, no problema."
"Will you order in Spanish?"
"No, we leave this for the next lesson. If you're interested in more than one."
"Depends on how good my teacher is." The brunette teased. A second lesson with Sofia? So far it was quite funny and interesting, there was no reason why to stop here today.
"The teacher is the best." The blonde vanished into the kitchen.
"We'll see about that." The best? The best teacher had to turn Sara into a Spanish geek.
"How about a beer instead of water? It's not Mexican but neither is the water." Sofia came back with two bottles of beer. "It has been in the fridge for a while and is nice cold. The perfect temperature."
"Nobody can refuse a cold beer after a case like this."
"Or during."
"During isn't the best idea."
No." Sofia handed the bottle over. "Did you choose?"
"Your taco choice and the Mexican salad."
"Okay, let me order. Here's a writing pad and a pen, write down what I taught you so far."
"You're funny, I've no idea how to write these words."
"Try it, I have a look afterwards and tell you how to spell them correctly. Remember your Latin lessons, you can use a lot of it for Spanish."
"You enjoy this way too much." Sara grumbled. How was she supposed to write down words she had never seen written on paper? It was a different language, she couldn't just write the words the way she'd write in English word down, could? On the other hand, she had no other choice. Give it a try and make the other woman happy, she told herself. It made Sofia smile and the last days didn't give her many reasons to smile, actually none. It was good to see the blonde smile again. There was still some sadness in the blue eyes of the detective, but sooner or later they'd shine the way they used to.
Sara stopped for a second. Since when did she pay much attentions to Sofia's eyes?
"Okay, when you can make my Spanish lesson about things I eat all the time we're up for a second lesson." Sara groaned at the sight of the last half a dozen of tacos and sauce. She had eaten so much and still there was a craving for more, not caring about the knowledge, when she continued to eat she'd feel very, very sick later.
"We can have another lesson about food, sure. A trip to the supermarket and you learn the names of all the food we see. I'm sure I'll learn a few things too. Want some more tacos?"
"No!"
"I'm also stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey. Gosh, why does this stuff make you eat way too much all the time?"
"Because of the ingredients, it has this addiction stuff inside, what was the name, I knew but my brain is out of off order. All the blood is in my stomach, processing food." She petted her stomach carefully. How was it possible to fit all those tacos and the salad in it? Okay, when she took a closer look at it, it looked bigger than before. Much bigger.
"Same here. Estoy satisfecho."
"If that means you're stuffed I'm stuffed too." She closed her eyes, her head rested half on Sofia's shoulder. Amazing how food could make you feel comfortable and…home. Or was it her company? She had eaten good and a lot of food before and never felt like this. Until today, until she was here with Sofia. What made her feel like this?
"Write it down."
"What?" Sara came back out of her thoughts. She was here for her Spanish lesson, not to get lost in strange thoughts.
"Write it down so you don't forget it."
"Spell it." Sara took the pen and wrote down every letter the blonde told her. "Okay and what was enjoy your meal? Que something."
"Que aproveche."
"Gracias. I learnt so many things today, a few more lessons and I can go to Mexico for a vacation. Una cerveza por favor!"
"Yes, you can order a drink."
"Tequila sunrise."
"Con o sin hielo?"
"Huh?"
"With or without ice."
"With ice of course. So ice is hielo?"
"Yes but don't mistake it with ice cream, that's helado."
"Spell it and I'll remember it the next time. It's also important for my trip to Mexico. When I sit at the bar at night, order my drinks and don't want to waste any space on ice, I tell the bartender to get it straight into the glass. Very good."
"Do you have to know how to flirt in Spanish? In case you've got a cute bartender."
"Or in case I want free drinks. Yes, tell me a few pick up lines, detective. Tell me how you get company in Spanish." She liked it when Sofia talked to her in Spanish. It didn't matter that she had no idea what the blonde said, if it was correct, but it sounded good, very good. Very sexy too. When she rolled the 'r', it almost gave her shivers on her spine.
"Tus ojos son maravilloso."
"Sounds nice, what did you say?"
"Your eyes are wonderful."
"Oh, gracias. What would be the perfect response to this?"
"What would you say if I tell you your eyes are wonderful, Sara?"
Your eyes are more beautiful, I really like looking into them and wonder, why I never paid attention to them before. They remind me of the color of the ocean I saw in a documentary about Tahiti a few weeks ago. "Stop sucking up?"
Sofia laughed. That sounded very realistic. "And when you felt flattered?"
"I like your blue eyes too."
"Me gusto tus ojos azules también. And if the guy has brown eyes it's marrón and green is verde."
"I prefer blue eyes, so I only have to remember azul. They look like the ocean." Your eyes look like the ocean, Sofia.
"Talking about sucking up Se ven como el océano."
"Don't tell me you wouldn't like it when somebody says these things to you."
"Nobody ever said these things to me - not that I can remember."
"No? Tus ojos son marravilloso, se ven como el océano, Sofia."
"I think you had too much beer."
"You gave me all the beer with all these words I need to remember now. Thanks for teaching me some Spanish."
"No problema. I'm not sure if it helps you to tell a suspect or witness he or she has beautiful eyes, but you never know. Maybe when you flirt a little bit, they tell you more. Or invite you to a cold beer or a cocktail without ice."
"Or into their apartment, that looks like a thunderstorm was inside and rearranged everything new."
"I warned you about the chaos."
"It's not that bad."
"I feel better now, it will help to tidy up this place. The next time we meet at your place, I'm curious to see how you live, the secret place of Sara Sidle. Is it like the Bat cave?"
"No."
"Qué lástima."
"What`"
"What a pity."
"You're crazy. Loca! Absolutely loca!"
"I know and I like it. It makes you smile."
"More important, it makes you smile. It's really good to see you smiling again, Sofia, I missed your smile."
"Since when do you care about my smile?"
"Since I don't want to see you broken the way I saw you the last days. You deserve happiness in your life."
"Thanks. I'm sure in a few days I feel better."
"Do you need some help?"
"How do you want to help me? Buy me some chocolate?"
"If that makes you happy." Suddenly Sara realized that her hand was caressing the back of the blonde. When did she start this?
"It does but there are things that make me happier."
"Like what?"
"Good company."
"Do you have somebody special on your mind? The president of the United States? A sports star?"
"Actually I'm very happy with the woman next to me. She isn't the bitch I thought she is."
"Not?"
"No, she can be very nice and fun to be with. And she's a very good student, I'm sure when I ask you tomorrow about the words I taught you today, you know them all. What was blue eyes again?"
"Ojos azules."
"Muy bien. Tú eres muy inteligente."
"Gracias. Tú también."
"See, you remember a lot of things already, a very bright student. Do you want another beer?"
"No, too much of a hassle, we're here so comfortable, aren't we?"
"Absolutely." The blonde closed her eyes. "How many beers did we have anyway?"
"Siete?"
"En serio? Wow. So much we meet for food, we met more for drinks."
"I feel pretty filled with food too."
"Perfect evening?" The blonde looked at the other woman, right into her brown eyes and an old song came to her mind. Hey where did we go, d ays when the rains came down in the hollow, playin' a new game, laughing and a running hey, hey. Skipping and a jumping in the misty morning fog with our hearts a thumpin' and you my brown eyed girl, you my brown eyed girl. Why did she think about this song? Why did it make her jump little bit? Like she was skipping and jumping in the misty morning. With Sara. A nice idea.
"Almost perfect."
"What's missing for a perfect evening?" She had a pretty good idea what was missing for her perfect evening.
"Not feeling this full and maybe another beer. One, neither you nor me have to get up for."
"Sorry, there's no hidden butler in my apartment." Sofia tried to get up but was pulled back by Sara, ending up on the brunette.
"I told you not to leave."
"It's the only way to get the beer here."
"Forget the beer, there are more important things."
"Like what?"
"More words. It's supposed to be a lesson and not a drinking party."
"What would you like to know?"
"Something nice."
"Another way to order food or drinks?"
"No, nicer."
"Beso." Sofia said softly.
"What does that mean?"
"Take an educated guess."
"Can I eat it?"
"No."
"Drink it?"
"No."
"It's not work related, is it?"
"No, not at all."
"Is it a noun or a verb?"
"A noun."
"Which area is it from?"
"Private life."
"Can you narrow it down for me a little bit more?"
"There's a verb related to it, it has something to do with endorphins, no calories are involved, you can't do it alone."
"Was it a request?"
"What?" Sofia swallowed.
"The word you said, can it be a request?"
"I guess if you say it the right way."
"How would it sound?"
"Beso?"
Sara smiled, bent over and kissed Sofia softly for a second, then pulled back to see how the blonde reacted and when she didn't protest, had her eyes closed and a little soft smile on her face, Sara continued the kiss.
"Did I meet your expectation?" Sara's voice was husky when she ended the kiss the second time.
"I'd like you to know that your knowledge of vocabulary is really good and you found out what word I told you. How did you figure it out?"
"It's one of the few things that makes your endorphins run without adding calories to your body. A kiss can make you very happy."
"Did it make you happy?"
"Still does. What about you?"
"I could have another one, it's much better than beer and we don't have to get up."
"Un otro beso."
"Gosh, you are good." Sofia pulled Sara in and kissed her. The brunette was very good and she wasn't talking about Sara's ability to remember Spanish vocabularies. Her kisses were much better than her amazing brain, her kisses were mind blowing and there was no way she'd waste another minute on vocabularies when she could kiss Sara. Let Sara kiss her.