Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. Chapter 3
Sara sat against her car looking out at the desert. She only realized how long she had been there when the sun started to leaving the sky. She hated how she let Grissom get to her. She was angry with herself for letting him hurt her again and again and how she seemed to always come back for more.
What frustrated her the most was how he could always pretend like nothing happened afterwards. It couldn't continue. She had to find a way to move on once and for all, starting tonight, she decided.
Sara pushed herself up off the ground, watched as the sun sank out of view and hoped into her car. Tonight was her night off. For the first time in a long time she was going to have the whole night off and not head into work, even if only for a few hours as she normally had. When she reached her apartment building she stopped by her neighbors door. Knocking she waited for Sharon to answer.
Sharon had moved into the apartment next door to Sara soon after Sara had moved in over three years ago. They were not close friends but they would often go running together. From time to time Sharon would invite Sara out though Sara had always turned her down citing work commitments as her reason for not going.
Sharon smiled when she opened her door and found Sara.
"Hey, do you want to go jogging?" she asked. "give me about 15 minutes," she continued not waiting for an answer.
"Actually, I was wondering if you were busy tonight," Sara asked.
"Nothing planned." Sharon admitted.
"Do you want to get a drink or something? I have the night off," Sara told her.
"I thought you didn't get nights off," Sharon teased.
"I decided that I needed to get a life. I'm just not too sure how to do that," Sara laughed at how lame she sounded.
"Well you came to the right place. There's this new bar I've been wanting to try out," Sharon told her with a smile. "let meet back up in an hour, is that enough time for you to get ready."
"Plenty," Sara told her as she turned to go to her apartment.
It had never taken Sara an hour to get ready for anything. She entered her apartment and went straight to her bathroom. Turning the shower on she striped out of her work clothes and stepped under the spray. As she washed her hair she began to sing, she started laughing as she realized she was singing, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, she continued for another verse as it seemed appropriate for tonight.
Finishing her shower Sara wrapped a towel around her body, and another turban style around her freshly washed hair, and headed out into her bedroom. She opened her closet and looked inside, what should she wear. It had been so long since she had gone out socially, outside of work, so she had no idea what to wear. Pulling out a pair of jeans she had deemed to tight for work she decided that they might do her some good tonight. Tops were more difficult. She owned a lot of t-shirt and casual shirts that did not seem right. Shirt after shirt were tossed on the bed until she found something she forgot she owned. It was an impulse buy about six months before, a black halter that showed a little more skin than she was used to. She eyed it for a minute not sure if could go out in such a low cut top. She put it on and turned to look in the mirror. It was perfect. It showed off her slim figure better than she remembered without being too revealing.
Taking the towel from her hair she pulled a comb through it before scrunching it a little with her hand, tonight she would let it curl naturally. Not someone to wear makeup Sara just added a little eye shadow, mascara and tinted lip gloss. Now all she needed was shoes. Going back to her closet she looked at the small selection of shoes she owned and decided to stick to a pair of boots with a small heal. Looking at herself in the mirror she was impressed with what she saw. Maybe she should make a little more effort in the future, she thought. Looking at the clock on the wall she was surprised to see that an hour had nearly passed. Grabbing her keys and tossing them in her purse she headed for the door.
GSR
After his last shift Grissom's thoughts had retuned to Sara. He didn't even sleep before he came into work tonight, but he didn't feel tired. He felt energized, like he could go for days without sleep. The thought of seeing Sara tonight kept him going. Walking out of his office Grissom headed towards the break room where the team waited for assignments. As he drew closer he started to feel slightly nervous. What if she didn't want to face him. Yesterday he had thought he had made his biggest mistake yet. Now he felt like it may have been the best thing he had done in a long time. He had avoided how he felt for her for too long. It was time to face his demons and take responsibility for his actions. The feel of his body against hers, his lips kissing hers, was still fresh in his mind. The only problem was… she hadn't responded. Had he pushed her too far. Had she given up on waiting for him.
He entered the break room and noticed instantly that she was missing.
"Where's Sara?" he asked putting the assignment slips on the table in front of him.
"Well hello to you too," Catherine said.
"Sorry, hi… Where's Sara?" he asked again.
"It's her rostered night off, she isn't here," Greg offered, he was over at the counter making himself a cup of coffee.
"Like that's ever stopped her," Nick joked getting a small laugh and a high five from Warrick.
"She's entitled to her nights off just like the rest of us." Greg told them standing up for his friend.
"Yes she is," Grissom said disappointed. He sat down at the head of the table and picked up one of the slips in front of him. "Catherine, Warrick. Break in tuned bad in Henderson. Nick your with me. Multiple stab victims. Mystique's bar just off the strip,"
GSR
Sara was having a great time. She and Sharon had gotten to the bar a few hours ago. Apart from there first drinks, the drinks had been bought for them. For the last hour they had the attention of two men, Mike and Sam, that had kept them laughing and there drinks full. Sharon especially seemed to be enjoying the attention she was getting from Mike. He whispered something in her ear and she nodded. Leaning over she called over the loud music.
"Mike knows the owner of a club down the street. He can get us in for free. Interested?" Sara looked at Sam who was at her side, he shrugged his shoulder in response. Lifting her glass to her lips she swallowed the last of her drink.
"Let's go," She told them as she got up.
As they headed out of the bar they were welcomed but flashing lights of police cars and ambulances. Sara looked around she didn't recognize anyone at the scene but knew that could change at any moment. Sharon and the guys joined the crowd, formed at the edge of the crime scene tape, and looked on in interest at what was going while Sara hang back.
"Come on guys lets get out of here. I came out tonight to avoid work," she pointed out.
"What is it you do?" Sam asked as they moved out of the crowd.
"She is CSI," Sharon spoke up for Sara.
"Crime Scene investigator," Sara added.
"I knew she looked familiar," Mike told Sam. Off Sara's look Sam added,
"We work for the DA's office. We've seen you around the court house,"
"Well at least we work for the same side," Sara offered in acceptance of there answer, "but I draw the line at work talk, I am in need of this night off,"
"Stick with me, sugar, I'll make sure you have fun," Sam told her swinging his arm around her shoulders, making her laugh, as they started down the street toward there destination.
GSR
"Hey that looks like Sara," Nick pointed to a woman near the crowd of bystanders as the arrived at their crime scene.
"What? Where?" Grissom asked searching the crowd. Sara must have been listening to her police scanner again and decided to help out, he thought.
"Over there," Nick pointed out for Grissom. "She's looking good, I've never seen her dressed up like that before," He added letting out a small whistle.
Grissom spotted her across the crowd. It looked like she was talking to someone but he couldn't see who. A moment later she was joined but a woman and two men, he noted as he watched on. They talked for a minute and then one of the men put his arm around Sara making her laugh. He hadn't seen Sara laugh in a long time, he thought sadly. She looked happy as the group walked off in a different direction.
Well at least he knew for sure now, she had moved on.
I told myself I wasn't going to take my computer on vacation with me. I did. I then told myself I wasn't going to do any writing. I did. So here is my next chapter coming direct to you from sunny Florida. Hope you enjoyed. Please review. I love reading your thoughts both good and bad I take them all.
I read everyone suggestions and have decided to take the story in my own direction but will at times add parts of episodes both old and future (well season 4 anyway) as I go. I have big plans for Butterflied.
