The walk toward the diner was aggravating. I missed my daughter and still couldn't come to cope with the fact that she was gone. Between that, the secret I was hiding and being with Nick, I was stressed.
We turned into the diner and he led me to a booth in the back. I slid into the seat and looked around. We used to come to this diner all the time. The big red booths were the color, breaking up the white and black 80's theme. The waitress all were very friendly, even at two in the morning. Nick sat down next to me and wrapped his arm around me. At first my body went rigid, unsure of the affection he was showing.
"Hello loves. What can I get for you? Maybe some coffee?" I looked up at the waitress. She was much younger than I with brown hair and vivid blue eyes.
"Two coffees please." Nick smiled and she nodded before walking off. "Coffee is alright, right?" He questioned, turning his gaze at me. My voice caught in my throat so I just nodded.
I looked down at the menu and read the names. Eggs Benedict, 2 eggs and toast, Omelette, Breakfast Sandwich, Breakfast Burrito. I frowned slightly and looked back up as the woman returned with the two cups of coffee.
"Decided or do you need a little bit longer?" She questioned, putting the coffees on the table along with creamer and sugar.
"Two Eggs Bene please." Nick smiled at her. She nodded and left. He turned toward me and made a face. "You do still like that right?"
"Yeah. Don't worry." I gave a half hearted smile and put the menu to the side.
"I never heard about Natalie before…" He whispered, knowing that it was still painful for me. I had lost so many tears already but tried to do it in secret. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh.
"Um… we broke up so I figured you didn't want updates on my life." I paused and could feel his arm tighten around me. "Should I have told you? I mean we broke up because your work was more important than me."
"Hey." He whispered and met my eyes. "I was younger and stupider then. I understand relationships a lot better now. I also understand what I did as wrong but I couldn't find the right way to call you up and talk to you."
"I see. We can't just pick up where we left off, it doesn't work that way. I mean for all I know you could have some girlfriend. You could have gotten married." A laugh escaped his throat and he held up his right hand.
"Do you see a ring?"
"Well you never were that kind of traditional with marriage." I noted. He shrugged and turned as our food was placed in front of us. The steaming eggs smelled alright but it was always the sauce that made it smell delicious. I took a small bite of it and took a sip of my coffee. As the warm food entered my body it began to relax me. I melted against the seat and felt his arm slide down so that his hand was on my shoulder.
"So how has life been beside working all the time?" I questioned, eager to keep up the small talk.
"Good. Still on the nightshift. Grissom is gone though."
"Oh no. Something bad or did he just retire?"
"Something like retiring." Nick smiled and was already halfway through his food. I looked down at my own and decided that I needed to eat quicker. The creamy sauce mixed with the egg and english muffin was just delightful. I finished my meal and pushed the plate away.
"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing? Are you supposed to be hanging out so that we are safe?" He wiped his mouth with a napkin and nodded.
"Yes. What would you like to do now?" The waitress came back and collected our plates, leaving the check. Nick pulled out his wallet and took out cash to put with the check. I glanced over, noticing that there was a picture of myself still in his wallet.
"What is that?" I asked and pointed to it. He shut his wallet and stuck it back in his pocket without responding.
"Let's go for a walk." Nick said quietly.
"Got anything?" DB asked, walking into the main conference room. Greg, Morgan and Sara sat in large plush chairs awaiting their leader.
"Well we did find fingerprints at the first location which AFIS found a match to. Leonard Gray. He has had disorderly conduct, assault, breaking and entering and so forth." Sara spoke.
"Although we did find sole prints at the second location which does not match Leonard's physical description. He is 5'8" and the prints show that the person is more like 5'10" and 250 pounds." Greg said.
