"You're late," Sara accused as Grissom walked into the break room with the assignments.
"My sincerest apologies, Miss Sidle," Grissom answered as he joined his colleagues at the table. He offered no explanation as to his tardiness. "Warrick, you have a D.B. at the Monaco."
"Cool." Warrick grabbed the assignment slip from the table.
"Nick and Catherine, skeleton found near Lake Mead." Grissom passed their small slip of paper across the table.
Sara waited patiently for her assignment. She lifted her left hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.
The movement caught Nick's eye. "Whoa!" He reached out and caught her wrist. "What's that?" Nick demanded.
Sara looked blankly at him. "What's what?"
"This." Nick lifted her left hand up for all to see.
Sara colored slightly, staring at the diamond attached to the band of gold encircling her left ring finger. "Oh. That. Um..." She thought quickly. "Family heirloom."
Nick didn't believe her, it was written plainly on his face.
Warrick put his two cents in. "That looks like an engagement ring."
"It's not," Sara said quickly, shooting a glance at Grissom.
Grissom was looking at her strangely. "That sure looks like an engagement ring to me," he said matter-of-factly.
Sara gave him an innocent smile. "Well, it's not," she said through slightly clenched teeth.
Sometimes she wished these people weren't so observant. It was a wedding ring, not an engagement ring, but they didn't need to know that.
"Sara, please tell me you're not back with Hank," Catherine pleaded, staring at the large diamond.
An annoyed look crossed Sara's face. "Give me a little credit, Catherine. Hank is history."
Catherine held up her hands in surrender. "Hey, I just don't want to see you hurt again, that's all."
"Thanks, Cath, but I can take care of myself." Sara gave a forced smile. She should have known that once they saw her ring, her colleagues would grill her relentlessly about it.
Grissom had an odd expression on his face. It looked almost like amusement...
Sara cleared her throat. "Um, Grissom? Do I get an assignment too?"
Grissom blinked. "Yes. You and I are working a case. Park Ranger found a half-decomposed body on a hiking trail."
"Thank you," Sara said primly, snatching the assignment slip from his grasp and scanning her eyes over it.
"Are you gonna tell us who gave you that ring?" Nick prodded.
Sara pursed her lips, wanting to throttle Nick's neck. In a falsely sweet voice, she answered, "I already told you, it's a family heirloom."
"There's no way it's a family heirloom," Warrick insisted. "It's too new-looking and shiny."
Sara glared at him, silently willing him to shut up. She glanced at Grissom out of the corner of her eye. He had that look on his face again. Was he actually enjoying this? Did he not care?
"It's an engagement ring," Catherine decided. "It has to be."
Grissom pondered this. He turned to Sara. "Catherine's right, isn't she?" he asked curiously.
Sara wanted to hide under the table. "So what if it is?" she demanded. "Don't I have the right to get engaged if I want to?"
Everyone was stunned silent at Sara's outburst.
"Nobody is judging you, Sara," Grissom said gently.
Sara narrowed her eyes at him.
"So, who is he?" Nick persisted again.
Sara crossed her arms over her chest and mumbled something.
"What? I didn't catch that." Warrick leaned forward.
"I said 'Nobody'."
Catherine peered at her from under her blonde bangs. "So you go around accepting marriage proposals from nobodies?"
Sara was clearly agitated.
Grissom hoped she would not be mad at him for his briefly joining in the teasing. He decided to put a stop to the questioning. "I think if Miss Sidle wants to get engaged to anybody or nobody, it's no one's business but hers."
Sara turned grateful eyes toward him. "Thank you. Now, I don't know about you people, but I came here to solve a crime." Case assignment in hand, she stood up and strode out the door. She stopped and looked back at Grissom. "You coming?"
"I'll meet you in the parking lot," Grissom answered. As soon as Sara was gone, Catherine turned on him.
"Don't you even care that Sara has gotten herself engaged to some guy?" Catherine practically shouted. "I thought you two had worked things out!"
"As I said before, Catherine," Grissom said. "Whether Sara is engaged to someone or not, her personal life is her business. Nobody else's." With that, he stood and left the room.
He found Sara outside, leaning against the CSI lab's Tahoe, waiting for him.
"You do realize what you called me in there, don't you?" Sara asked with a raised eyebrow as Grissom approached her.
At Grissom's blank expression, Sara elaborated. "You called me 'Miss Sidle'. Not just once, but twice."
A grin spread across Grissom's features. "Oh. I guess I did." He grasped her fingers, bringing the back of her hand to his lips. "My absolute sincerest apologies, Mrs. Grissom."