Part 1
"Sorry I'm late." Sara dropped herself on the empty chair next to Sofia. She had an appointment with the blonde detective and was almost half an hour late. Traffic jam and a lot of trouble at the crime scene. Somebody had blocked her car and it had taken ages until they had found the driver of the car.
"Traffic?"
"Traffic and an idiot who blocked my car at the crime scene. Is the suspect…?"
"Gone."
"Gone?"
"Yeah, his lawyer got him out before I had the chance to talk to him or make him stay longer, so that we can talk to him."
"Bugger. Means, I can wait until the lab rats are done with processing the evidence. Looks like a spontaneous end of the shift."
"I wanted to call you and tell you that there is no need to come to the lab but you should turn on your cell phone. It's easier to leave a message that way."
"Ecklie keeps calling me, complaining I've too much holidays and overtime accumulated and he wants me to take some time off. I see no reason for that."
"Of course not. You need a hobby, Sara."
"You obviously have a hobby." Sara pointed on the magazine Sofia had in front of herself. It was about bikes: Harley, Yamaha, Ducati. All the nice rides that could give you a feeling of freedom.
"It's about to become my hobby."
"You've got a bike?"
"No, but I've got a boyfriend who has a bike."
"A police guy with a bike? Motorbike cop?"
"No." Sofia laughed. "He's not a cop. Do you like bikes?"
"I do."
"Wow, that's a hottie!" Greg came in the room, his eyes glued on the magazine. "I wish I had a bike like this Harley."
"Last time you wanted a Bentley to get all the girls of the block."
"Yes, but with this babe I'd get all the girls and the guys would vote me to the coolest guy in town." He sat next to Sara.
"You're drooling, Greg."
"They are so hot. One day I want to have a trip on a bike…all I need is a bike. And money. And a license. And somebody to join me."
"Well, you can rent a bike but without a license you can only look at your bike." Sofia grinned.
"I should start with the license and at the end of the year, the Route 66 will be my road. All the way up to Chicago and back through the country to San Francisco, down to Los Angeles and from Santa Monica back to Las Vegas."
"Sounds like a nice plan. I'll tell you about the part up to Chicago."
"You. Are. Going. To. Chicago? On. The Road. 66? On. A. Bike?"
"On a Harley, yes."
"Take me with you? What do I have to do to join you? I'll do anything!"
"Dignity, Greg." Sara chuckled.
"Screw dignity. Dignity doesn't bring me to Chicago on a Harley."
"Neither will Sofia. I'm sure she'll take somebody else."
"Actually I'll get taken. I don't have a license but I've got a driver with a Harley."
"Whom?"
"That's what boyfriends are for."
"Can I borrow him?"
"I didn't know you're into men, Greg."
"I'm not but I am into Harleys. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a few things in order to get something big."
"Forget it."
"You could make a dream come true for me." He looked at her with puppy eyes.
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"Get a driver and we can talk about this again."
"A driver, a Harley, money."
"Get a driver, we can work something out about the rest."
"I don't know anybody with a license."
"That's bad."
"When will you start your trip?"
"We were thinking about next month."
"Do you think it's possible for me to get a license in one month?"
"I don't know but I don't think somebody will give you a bike when you have your license for only a day and have never been on a Harley. But there'll be another trip."
"But the trip to Chicago is THE trip."
"True."
"I'll start with the license. Sara, if I had a license, would you join me?"
"If I sit on a bike with you, I'll be the one who has the control and you'll be the biker bunny, Greg." Sara smiled. There was no way she was playing dumb biker girlie.
"Do you have a license?"
"Yes."
"Sara!" His eyes almost popped out. "Please."
"I can't teach you riding a bike. You'll have to go to a professional teacher, Greg."
"You could take me to Chicago on a bike. Next month with Sofia and her boyfriend."
"First of all it's your dream, not mine. Second, I think Sofia and her boyfriend want to have some privacy on their ride. Third, I don't have a bike. Fourth, we both have to work."
"There's something called holidays we're allowed to take every now and then."
"Sara isn't allowed to take her holidays, she's supposed to take it." Sofia laughed. "That would keep Ecklie away from her cell phone. Since when do you have a license, Sara?"
"College. I lived a few miles away from college, the buses were always full, there was no space for cars, so I got myself a bike. I kept it until I moved to Las Vegas, there was no reason to have a bike here, there's no time to enjoy it and I don't have a garage to keep it. You don't park a Harley out on the street."
"I agree. When was the last time you rode a bike?"
"A couple of months ago. When I had a few days off I hired a bike and rode it to the coast of Texas."
"You never told me." Greg looked indignantly at Sara. How could his friend not tell him such a very important detail of her life? She was able to ride a bike. She had her last holidays with a Harley.
"It never came up."
"I can't tell you to join us. It's not only my decision. But if you ride the bike and take Greg as your little bunny, there shouldn't be a problem why you can't join us."
"I…" Sara started. She didn't want to join Sofia and her boyfriend. It has never crossed her mind. Why should she do that? She didn't know Sofia's boyfriend and she wasn't so close to Sofia that she had to spend her holidays with the blonde. Okay, they got along quite well the last months but that was not enough. And Greg? He was her friend and she really liked spending time with him, but a holiday with him?
"Please." Greg begged with sad eyes. "Pretty, pretty, pretty please. Use it as a birthday gift. Use it for…whatever…if you want I owe you for the rest of my life, whatever you want. I dream of a trip like this since high school. You could make me the happiest person in the world. Please, Sara. I promise I'll behave. I'll be a good biker bunny, I'll do the dishes, I'll pay the petrol, I'll…do whatever you want."
"No, isn't he cute?" Sofia laughed. "He offers himself as your personal slave for the rest of his life."
"No dignity." Sara shook her head.
"Sometimes you have to forget dignity to get something better." Greg sighed. "Please, Sara."
"You should ask Sofia's boyfriend first."
"Why don't we all meet for a ride?" Sofia suggested.
"I don't have a bike."
"Like I said, that's not the problem. Can you get your Friday evening off?"
"We can try. Why?"
"I've got Friday night off. We can use that evening for a first meet and greet. If we all go along, we can think about the trip."
"Sounds fair."
"Thanks Sara." Greg hugged her.
"I didn't say I'll go with you on holidays, Greg. All I said was, it's worth a try. No promise."
"It's a start, I'm happy with little things. Where can we meet you and your boyfriend, Sofia?"
Sofia got a pen out of her pocket and wrote an address on a piece of paper that she handed Greg.
"We'll be there around six."
"Let's ask Grissom for a night off." Greg almost jumped up.
"We can do that later."
"No, better fast than sorry. I'll ask for you too." He smiled and left the room.
"Better safe than sorry." Sara furrowed her brows.
"That's what he meant. Better fast being safe with an approval than sorry because you asked too late." Sofia grinned. "You made his day."
"I didn't say I'd go anywhere with him."
"No you didn't. But just the thought it could happen, makes him happy."
"What will your boyfriend say?"
"I'll tell him, he's easy going. If you guys go along, I don't think he'll mind."
"Don't you mind spending your holidays with two people from work?"
"Do you?" Sofia turned tables.
"I'm not sure about that."
"Is it because of me, Greg or in general? Be honest, Sara."
"In general. You know, Greg and I are close; we spend some time together after work. And I think after our rough start, Sofia, we're fine. If I didn't like you, I had left the room right after you've said the suspect is gone. It's really in general. Holidays are the time when you get some space between you and the work. I'm not sure if that's possible when three people who are working in the law enforcement are together."
"I know other things to talk about."
"Like?"
"Let me surprise you."
"You did that already today."
"How?"
"Bike, boyfriend, holidays."
"You're surprised I've got a boyfriend?"
"You never mentioned him."
"We don't talk much about private things and it's relatively fresh. Only a couple of weeks."
"Do you have a license?"
"Not yet. I might join Greg."
"So you'll be the biker bunny too."
"Yes. That's right. I can have my own bike next year."
"Planning a big tour?"
"I'd love to have a few weeks in Canada, but I'll never get a few weeks off."
"Probably not."
"Two weeks are not too bad either."
"Better than nothing."
"Exactly. But first I want to see how this trip will be. Maybe I don't like being on a bike for such a long time." Sofia had never had holidays on a bike. Day trips, yes, but two weeks? Maybe that was too much for her. She'd find out soon.
