Life According to my Friend Sofia
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of its characters.
Rating: PG-13 for a bit of language.
Author note: This idea struck me from beyond the solar system.
Sara checked her watch for the eighth time in four minutes, impatiently waiting for her very late friend. As if on cue, the normally contained detective came bounding down the dirt path, her blonde hair bouncing around her face as she skidded to a halt near her brunette friend.
"Hey Sara, sorry I'm late, but there was this little patch of flowers I had to take a picture of for later," Sofia rambled, adjusting her blue shorts and t-shirt. Sara chuckled lightly.
"It's no problem, Sof. You seem pretty happy today," Sara mentioned, beginning to walk down the path beside the seemingly brighter woman. Sofia shrugged in a nonchalant manner, jamming her hands in her pockets.
"Of course I'm happy today, just look around. The sun is shining, there's a light breeze, and the birds are chirping a nice morning tune. We're in a deserted nature bound route in which no one visits anymore because they don't have time, therefore leaving us to the world. And best of all, no dead people," Sofia explained, gesturing to the lush green area around them. Sara had to agree with the chipper detective; it was beautiful this morning.
"That's a good way of looking at it… So, show me this little patch of flowers you decided to be late for," Sara joked, adjusting her old sleeveless, button-up shirt. Sofia walked towards an area shaded by the heavier trees. Sara followed wordlessly, pondering a range of generalized things.
"Here," Sofia called out, kneeling down in the dirt and pointing past a patch of thorns towards a small bush littered with tiny white flowers. Sara raised her eyebrow at the pathetic little bush as she leaned her hands on her knees and took a closer look. The blonde detective noticed her taller friend's sceptical nature kicking in.
"Just enjoy it while there's still a chance. Soon the harsh nature of our world will snuff out this tiny bit of beauty. I take every chance I see as an opportune moment to savour a bit of that radiance," Sofia explained, snapping a few pictures with the high-quality, high-definition digital camera hanging from her neck. It resembled an older camera in size; but hidden behind the retro look was an artist's favourite tool.
Sara knew that she was standing beside an artist. Sofia worked with the Las Vegas gallery as a side job; her art was creative and appealing, while sometimes dark and repulsing. On the opening night of the new gallery, Sara had joined Sofia in browsing the art. The brunette was surprised that Sofia didn't have a care in the world about what people thought of her own art; she just wanted to see the range of talent and beauty that the others had brought to the gallery.
As Sofia was busy snapping more pictures of the flowers in different zoom states, Sara was attempting to notice the details of the world like she did on the job. Each detail was noted and analysed like a piece of evidence; thorough and with great care. The brunette was startled out of her intense daze by a hand on her shoulder. Sofia shook her head, chuckling lightly.
"Quit analysing and enjoy. You don't have to be an investigator out here; the world is just waiting to be watched, not judged," the blonde explained, leading Sara down the beaten path between the bushes. The brunette smiled faintly to herself; following the nature-driven Sofia always held a hidden lesson. Whether she meant it or not, Sofia was teaching her something.
"Stop, look to your left. Don't move though; they might run away," Sofia whispered, reaching back behind her towards Sara and pointing towards a pair of bunnies nuzzling near the bottom of a tree close to some shrubs. With a swift hand, Sofia snapped a couple of pictures before the bunnies finally looked up and skittered off.
"Do you know why they run?" Sofia asked out of seemingly nowhere, turning to face her now confused friend. Sara raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Maybe because they think we're going to eat them?" Sara joked, snickering along with Sofia. The blonde shook her head, still laughing.
"No, it's because they don't want us to hear their plan to take over the world," Sofia laughed out, continuing down the path. Sara shook her head and followed her, wondering if her friend had noticed that her knees were stained with dirt.
The detective continued trudging down the path, quickly bouncing from the balls of her feet to cover more ground. Sara grumbled to herself and followed; as much as she loved the outdoors, the morning was not one of her favourite times. Especially after a long night shift.
"Hey, slowpoke! Quit over-thinking things with that giant brain of yours and keep up," Sofia called back, standing at the top of a hill between a few trees. Sara quickly introduced her friend to the middle finger before climbing up the hill.
She wasn't exactly in the best of moods since she and Catherine had fought. According to her eight-month blonde girlfriend, Sara was an insensitive asshole who never opened up. This was sort of true, minus the 'never opened up' part.
"So, when are you going to apologize to her?" Sofia asked out of nowhere, grabbing a random stick from the ground and swiping at the leaves with it. Sara grumbled an incoherent answer before roughly shoving her hands in her pockets and scuffing at the dirt. Her detective friend rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Sar, it's not like your going to be able to stay away from her for long. You love her and you know it; try telling her that," the blonde continued, stopping to turn over a rock and observe the life underneath. Sara sighed and looked skyward, feeling a slight tightness in her chest at the sight of beautiful blue skies.
"I'm trying, I really am. But you know me, Sofia. Opening up to someone and trusting completely is difficult for me," Sara attempted to justify, replaying the conversation over in her brain. The last thing she remembered was walking out and slamming the door.
"You opened up to me. What's different with her?" Good question, Sara thought to herself. With a sigh, the brunette looked back towards the ground.
"I don't know. There's something about her that makes me…I don't know…Afraid. Like this is all going to blow up in my face and I'll end up hurting again," the taller woman scuffed at the dirt again before wondering why the forest had gone silent. She turned to Sofia, who was looking at her with a slightly sad look.
"But you are hurting. And you weren't before, were you? Sara, you have to go and fix this. Catherine is a tricky individual and so are you; being scared is okay, but you can't let this take hold of your love," Sofia explained, beginning to walk along the path again.
Sara followed at a slightly less casual pace, attempting to work out the problem in her head. Before long, they had arrived at a small running river. Sofia plopped down on a log before taking off her shoes and socks and sticking her feet in.
"Sit down and relax for a bit. Those boots are nearly as heavy as the weight on your shoulders," the detective said as she patted beside her on the log. Sara slowly sat down, unlacing her boots and yanking them off, stuffing her socks inside before dipping them into the cold river.
"It's cold," Sara mentioned, wiggling her toes.
"It's alive." The taller woman turned to Sofia, raising her eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" she asked with a look of confusion on her face. Sofia rolled her eyes and turned to her dark friend.
"It's alive, dumbass, and it has the same attitude as you. It runs deep underneath the surface, it's always moving fast and creating waves on the top and it's cold until you get in," the blonde elaborated, kicking her feet a few times to prove a point. Sara made a few circles with her toe before taking her feet out and propping them up on a rock.
"How should I go about apologizing?" she asked quietly, leaning back on a dirt mound. Sofia thought for a moment before smiling.
"Flowers, chocolate, and that ring you've been keeping in your back pocket since the day you met her." Sara shot up into a sitting position, mouth agape.
"How did you know that I bought a ring?" she exclaimed. Sofia laughed.
"Because I'm special," she replied as if it were the simplest answer. Sara shook her head and looked skyward, spotting a random rainbow cascading light across the sky.
"That you are…"
END