Disclaimer: These CSI characters do not belong to me. Don't sue me, you only lose money.
Pairing: Grissom/Sara.
Rating: T with mild language and non-consummated adult situation (whatever that means.)
Spoilers: Beginning of Season 6
Summary: GSR, Sara/Greg friendship. El Greggo offers Sara couture advice on what to wear for Warrick and Tina's belated wedding reception.
A/N: Enjoy and comments are always welcome! Thanks for reading! Peace… :)
The Dress
Author: litbuff
"So, you're going right?" Greg asked eagerly across the break room table as he flipped through the latest fashion magazine.
"What?" Sara gave him a confused look while closing up the case file she was reading.
"The Brown's reception!" His voice raised in exasperation at Sara's cluelessness. "Don't tell me you've forgotten all about it!"
"No, I haven't." She eyed him annoyingly, "How can I forget when you have been blabbing about it ever since you received the invitation."
Greg the Teflon Man ignored her sarcasm and asked on cheerfully, "So, what are you going to wear?"
"Does it matter what I wear?" Sara shrugged at his enthusiasm. "It's not my party."
"Of course it matters." He leaned forward and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial tone, "I heard Tiger Lady is going with someone of importance from the lab."
Sara's right eyebrow shot up higher than its mirrored twin, signaling her curiosity, yet not sure if she wanted to know about the latest gossip.
"I suggest you take my advice and pick something provocative." He winked at her as he slid the glossy magazine across the table, with page fifty-six staring up at her. "A certain someone won't be able to take his eyes off of you if you wear that number."
Sara burst into laughter at Greg's suggestion. "There is no way am I going to show up in that!"
Greg grinned excitedly as he spoke with his best fake French accent, "Au contraire ma chérie, trust El Greggo here to make your fantasies come true."
Sara shook off the last of her laughter as she got up, leaving the break room. "Huh uh… no can do El Greggo."
Greg jumped out of his seat to follow her. "C'mon Sara, you need to trust me on this. I am putting my reputation on the line here."
"That dress is not me Greg."
"That dress is totally you babe!"
"I'll forget that you just called me that."
"Sorry. But you would look absolutely stunning…" He gave her his most charming smile, "…or your money back. Guaranteed."
Sara was still shaking her head in hesitation when she suddenly saw Sofia sashayed down the hallway toward them.
"Morning." Sofia greeted them with her usual drawn out voice.
"Morning." They both parroted in unison as Sofia bypassed them, heading into the break room.
Greg turned to look at Sara and asked with an innocent face, "So what time shall I pick you up to go dress shopping?"
"I can't believe I let you talk me into getting this dress." Sara spoke into Greg's ear over the noise of the Bellagio ballroom where Warrick and Tina were holding their belated wedding reception. "It must have been one of those moments of total lapse of better judgment on my part."
"Oh, don't worry Sara!" Greg reassured her with his usual enthusiasm. "You look hot, with a capital H!"
"You told me I looked decent." Sara shifted uncomfortably in her new gown. "I have never felt so exposed in my entire life."
"Women's skins are made to be exposed." Greg grinned widely at Sara and gestured matter-of-factly at Tina's physician friends, "Besides, check out all these MDs eyeing your hotness."
"Thanks Greg, now I just want to crawl under a rock."
Sara, with Greg followed right behind her, made a self-conscious beeline toward the table where some of the graveyard shift were sitting and talking jovially. Nick whistled at her the minute she arrived while Catherine looked up in surprise.
"Wowwee woman! What have you done to the real Sara?" Nick teased her as he stood up and pulled out a chair for her to sit. "Who do I have to thank for this?"
"No gratitude is required but you're looking at him." Greg replied with a flair of importance.
"You let Greg pick out your dress?" Catherine asked incredulously, "You are one brave woman Sara."
"Yeah. And I have a feeling that I am going to regret it before this night is over." Sara grumbled as Greg gave her a pretend sulk.
Greg then flopped gleefully down the chair beside Sara and scanned around the table. "So, what do ya think of our Sara tonight?"
"She looks gorgeous." Catherine nodded her approval while the others agreed with her. "You have really outdone yourself Greg."
Greg elbowed Sara in the I-told-you-so gesture while Sara blushed under her make-up.
Greg's triumph was short lived when Brass glanced to the other side of the ballroom and announced the arrival of the graveyard supervisor.
Sara groaned inwardly when she saw Grissom standing at the threshold of the ballroom, with Sofia by his side… in the exact same dress… and color. Sara's eyes turned on Greg with a heated glare that plainly stated that if look could kill, Greg would be in an ornate coffin, buried six feet under.
"Ouch!" Greg yelped when Sara kicked him hard under the table. Rubbing his leg in mock pain, he whined in a barely audible voice, "How am I supposed to know that Tiger Lady appreciates my taste in women's apparels?"
"Greg, I swear, I'll never listen to any of your advices ever again." She hissed under her breath as Grissom and Sofia approached their table.
Sofia's face turned a shade paler the minute she saw what Sara was wearing while Grissom's registered a bemused look.
Catherine's eyes widened in recognition as she stared from Sofia to Sara and then back to Sofia. The ever tactful Catherine did not mention the faux pas but instead invited them to sit down.
Sofia sat down on the other side of Greg, sandwiching him between two women in identical dresses, an image not lost on the rest of the team.
"…Ladies and Gentlemen…" The MC announced loudly over the microphone, grabbing everyone's attention and gratefully dissolving the awkwardness that blanketed their table. As introduction of the newlyweds completed and the MC signaled the beginning of the night's festivities, the noise in the ballroom became deafening as the music got started.
"I'm going to grab a drink." Greg yelled into Sara's ear, "You want something?"
"I'll come with you." Sara got up and followed Greg to the bar, escaping Grissom's occasional penetrating stares that he had sent her way since he joined the table.
They ordered their drinks and chatted a bit before Sara noticed someone had showed interest in her spiked hair friend.
"I think that blonde got the hot for you Greg." Sara gestured with a slight tilt of her head toward a twenty-something standing at the other end of the bar, smiling suggestively at Greg.
"Yeah?" Greg winked at the girl and raised his cocktail in her direction.
Sara laughed and gave Greg a slight shove, "See you later loverboy."
An older, more serious occupant immediately filled Greg's empty space to the left of Sara before she had the chance to leave.
"What are you having?" Sara turned her head in surprise at the smooth sound of Grissom's voice.
"Seduction on the Rocks." Sara was instantly thankful that she did not order Screaming Multiple Orgasm On The Beach as Greg had suggested.
"Hmm…that sounds delicious." The corners of his mouth curved up slightly in a punctuated smirk as his eyes barely contained the scintillating brightness within. He then motioned the bartender in his direction, "I'll have what she's having."
Sara could only stared at his face; for once, he rendered her speechless. She had never seen him in a tux before and had just realized how luscious he looked in one. Sara shook her head lightly in disbelief that she had just used that adjective to describe him.
"Sara?"
"Huh?" Oh God, did she just say 'huh'?
"You're ok?"
"Uh… yeah… sorry." Sara quickly diverted her eyes to gaze at the ice cubes floating in her cocktail, suddenly finding them fascinating.
"Don't be." He said softly, his mouth close enough that she could smell his fresh minty breath. "By the way, you look… luscious tonight."
She abruptly faced him, freaking out internally that somehow he was able to read her mind. Before Sara had the chance to reply to his unexpected compliment, Sofia appeared on the other side of Grissom.
She touched his shoulder lightly to get his attention. "Gil, the Sheriff wanted a word with you about some budget meeting."
Grissom heaved a sigh as he gave Sofia an annoyed look, "Geez, will someone enlighten the guy to the fact that this is a social, off-the-clock event?"
Sofia just shrugged and replied, "Hey, I am just the messenger."
He turned back to Sara and gave her a gentle apologetic pat on the hand, "I'll see you later."
He then walked away, followed by Sara's couture twin.
The night drifted by in a blur as Sara dodged multiple offers to dance and drink from people she had never met before in her life. Many times throughout the reception, her eyes went searching for a glimpse of that deliciously handsome figure in tuxedo but couldn't seem to locate him across the sea of bodies in motion. By midnight, she had about enough of the party and went looking for Greg when she found Grissom on the dance floor… with Sofia.
Sara stood leaning against one wall of the ballroom watching the two of them danced, their bodies graceful to the music. Her tears unexpectedly crept up the inside corners of her eyes, threatened to break free. When she decided she didn't want to torture herself anymore, Sara strolled purposely out of the ballroom and waited for Greg outside.
"Hey Sara!"
Sara turned around to find a smiling Greg approaching her, with the same blonde girl right beside him.
"Sandy here asks me to go clubbing after this, you wanna join us?" He asked Sara excitedly.
"Thanks, but no." Sara just shook her head. "I am really tired and just want to go home and sleep."
"Ok, I'll just drop you off at your place then."
"Thanks Greg."
"Shit!" Sara cursed out loud the minute Greg hit the accelerator and took off with her purse still laying in the back seat of his car. Without her keys and cell phone, Sara was practically stranded outside her apartment.
She walked slowly up to her door and kicked it hard out of frustration. Instead of the door getting hurt, it was her toes that were throbbing with pain as she cursed out loud once again. Sara then backed up against the blasted door and slithered down to a sitting position with knees pulled up to her chest. As she sat there thinking of what to do next, she playfully fingered the soft fabric of the dress that had brought her nothing but troubles tonight and decided, with amusement, that it would probably look better on Greg than on her.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pair of shiny black leather shoes came to a stop in front of her and a familiar voice called out her name.
"Sara?" Grissom was staring down at her, "What are you doing sitting outside your door at this hour?"
"No keys…" was all she murmured at the sight of him.
"You don't have a spare tuck away somewhere?"
Sara just shook her head in silence.
Grissom then surprised her by sliding down next to her on the floor with his arm resting against hers.
She looked over at him and asked without thinking, "Shouldn't you be with Sofia instead of here?"
He cast a perplexed glance her way before replying with another question, "Why should I be with Sofia?"
"You came to the reception together…"
"Oh…" It finally dawned on him to clarify with an explanation. "We didn't come there together. We only walked in together."
"Technicality."
"No, very different scenarios." He continued with his logic. "Came there together meant we planned to be there together, which was not the case. We only walked in together because Sofia and I saw each other outside the ballroom and we proceeded in together without planning ahead of time that we would be there together."
"You danced with her." Sara laced her hands in front of her, thumbs fidgeting with each other.
"She asked me to, just one dance with a colleague." He suddenly placed his hand on top of hers, calming the erratic fingers. "I was hoping to glean a dance from you before the night was over but couldn't find you anywhere."
Sara stayed quiet as she tried to process all the data that were overloading her synapses.
"So how was your night?" His hand gave hers a slight squeeze as he broke the silence.
"So so…"
"Just so so?" He mused at her reply. "I thought you had a great night what with all those men gawking at you."
"Yeah, if you considered a bunch of horny MDs with too much to drink." Sara leaned a bit more against him, loving the strong frame he provided. "I had an OB/GYN offered me a Pap smear as foreplay."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. That was when I decided I had enough."
"Well, at least you seemed to have a better time then I did." He gave a low chuckle as he recounted his night. "Instead of talking about the budget meeting we were going to have, the Sheriff decided to have the actual meeting right there, over cocktails."
"Poor baby." She nudged teasingly at him.
"Yeah, all dressed up for nothing." He pouted at her.
"Were you trying to impress somebody? Because if you were, you definitely succeeded."
"Really?" His eyes lit up at her comment. "Good. I guess it wasn't for nothing after all."
"Were you really?" Her heart did a few somersaults, unsure if she really wanted to know whom he was trying to impress.
"Uh huh."
"Oh."
"Aren't you going ask who?" He looked astonished at her lack of curiosity.
"Do I really want to know?"
"Uh huh."
"Ok."
"You… I was trying to impress you." He grinned at her, surprising her with his candid answer.
"Oh." She felt like an idiot, a very speechless and happy idiot.
With one hand still holding her hands in place, his other hand caught her off guard as it came up to caress her face. "You look stunning as usual."
"So did Sofia."
"It's not the dress Sara," His voice was so low, it was almost inaudible, "it's the body underneath that I was commenting on."
Silence engulfed them as they tried to figure out the next logical step.
"Why are you here?" Sara asked him suddenly, unsure where they were heading at the moment.
"Just happened to be in the neighborhood." And just like him to not give her a definite answer as he peered into her glittering eyes, his wandering hand now traveled down to her neck.
"Liar, liar, pants on fire." Her dark brown eyes teased him.
"Liar, maybe. Pants on fire, definitely."
Sara couldn't believe her ears as she felt his lips came down upon hers as he pressed her head back against her door. The kiss rendered her senseless as his hands roamed the rest of her body. And his mouth soon followed the trails left by his hands. He was so engrossed in his task that he forgot he was practically undressing her right outside her door.
"Griss…"
"Hmm..." He wasn't paying attention at all to what she was saying.
"We're…um… outside… in public…"
His head jerked up to look at her, eyes still glazed with needs. He quickly scanned the hallway just to make sure no one had witnessed their making out, then turned back to plant a firm kiss on her lips before jumping up to his feet. He held out his hands to help her up.
"C'mon, let's get you home. At least to my townhouse before your neighbors decide to call the cops and charge us with indecent exposure." He grasped her hand tightly as they walked down to the parking lot.
"And Sara?" A thought suddenly occurred to him.
"Yeah?"
"Do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Either burn that dress or make Greg wear it. I don't want any more doctors offering you indecent proposals in the future."
She just smiled at him as he led her to his car.
FIN