TITLE: Role Reversal.
AUTHOR: Eb.
RATING: G.
PAIRING: G/C
SPOILERS: None
SUMMERY: Catherine's mad. Grissom gets some advice. It's all in the face.
AN: Another ficlet. This one was written for a practice of the QCS test. (See my other fic Closer Then Ever for a better explanation.) The topic for this test was the face.
It would actually be funny if it were not so terrifying. People were scrambling to remove themselves and their belongings out of the way of the storm thundering down the hallway. Catherine Willows was not happy, and when Catherine is not happy, nobody deliberately places themselves in her way. The broken nose she gave on of the lab techs was lesson enough for everyone in the building. As night settled over Las Vegas, tension settled over its crime lab, it was going to be a long night.
Gil Grissom cold perceive the anger emanation from Catherine from all the way down the hall. As her footsteps grew louder, Gil allowed a small smile to grace the features of his face. The smile immediately disappeared though as soon as his best friend stormed into his office, slammed the door and started pacing. After all, facial expressions counted for 55 of the over all impression during a face-to-face conversation. Nobody was going to read him that easily.
Setting down his pen, he leaned back in his chair and watched Catherine pace round and round his office. Gil mentally smirked as he noticed the tension on her face. She looked like a caged panther that was being antagonised by a group of brave children; wanting to lash out at them, but being prevented by the cage. 'That's pretty close,' he thought, his mental smirk increasing. Catherine finally stopped her pacing, sighed, and sat down across from him.
"I hate her," she declared, folding her arms across her chest and slumping down in her chair.
"No you don't," countered Gil, his mental smirk being replaced by a mental eye roll. He really should be used to this by now.
"I do! She is the most infuriating person I know!" He performed a mental eye roll again as he decided on how to approach the conversation.
"Sara's not that bad." Gil decided to play it safe. This time it was Catherine's turn to roll her eyes.
"No, you're right. She's the second most infuriating person I know, because she learnt everything from you!" She glared at him, anger clearly defined in the features of her face. Sighing again, he knew he was in for the long run.
"What's happened now?"
"Nothing! That's the problem. When you try to talk to her, her face does nothing. It has the same expression for the whole conversation." She raised her eyebrows at him, "now where could she have go that from?"
"What's wrong with that?" He asked tiredly, he could feel a migraine coming on.
"What's wrong with that?! Have you ever tried to have a conversation with some one who talks back, but is looking at you the same way, the whole time, with no change in their face the whole time?" Catherine looked at him questioningly, "Didn't think so." Sighing yet again Gil looked down at his desk then back up at her.
"You know there are reasons why I do it, and I'm sure Sara has them too. You can't decide you don't like her on that alone."
"Gil, I know you don't like people being able to read you, and I know you like your privacy, but you can't shut everyone else out because of that. You can't let Sara do that either. You know that while talking, 55 of the message is conveyed by non-verbal means. Facial expression is the most important part of a conversation. It shows the real meaning behind the words. If you can't understand what the face is so important in a conversation, there's no way Sara will. She does everything you do. Please try to understand, and please try to make Sara understand. Friends are easier to make then you think. It's all in the face." Catherine smiled at Gil and turned towards the door. Before she stepped through, she glanced back and smiled again at glimpsing her friend's contemplation on his face. Maybe there was hope after all.
As Catherine left the office, calm once again settled on the Las Vegas crime lab.
Fin.