CHAP 3

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Greg rapped his fingers on the table impatiently; he was waiting for Sara's video call. It was like 1 month plus since they last talked on the phone. Their last phone call ended with him begging her to do a video conference. She acceded when she could not endure his whines. She told him she could only do that when she was not in the forest. The month long wait was pure agony for him. Greg had always liked Sara. He loved her cleverness and her mind. He was bitter when she left Las Vegas again without telling him goodbye.

His computer beeped and he saw a notification. He clicked on the agree button happily and waited for Sara's image to pop up. When he saw her image loaded, he exclaimed.

"Hey!" Sara smiled excitedly. The smile was so wide that Greg could not recognize. He realized he did not have the chance to see that smile when she was in Vegas. Perhaps the runaway trip was doing something good to her.

"You look great," Greg praised her and gave her a huge goofy grin. She promptly thanked him and wanted to know the team wellbeing.

"They were all fine. They seemed to be alright. But well… uhm… except for…" Greg paused, not knowing whether to tell Sara about Grissom not. But he decided not to give her any more troubles.

"Me," he lied.

Sara frowned. "What's wrong Greg?"

"You came and left so abruptly. I was sad that you did not mention that you are leaving. I thought we are family?"

Sara apologized and told him that she needed to leave alone without any goodbyes. If she, for one moment, tried to say goodbye; she would not be to leave. She was afraid the determination would ebb away when she saw them.

"Well, what's done was already done. I won't blame you. But can you tell me where you are now?"

Sara tucked her hair behind her ear and wondered how to answer his questions. She carefully composed the answer as not to give away too many details. She wanted to be vague.

"Well… I am at a small town up south now. I am enjoying the sun and sea here. The research project ended and I decided to take some times off before finding another job.

"What an answer. I wanted an exact location, Sara." Greg tried to force the exact location out but Sara refused to provide any more information.

"What I said is enough. And I am moving soon."

Greg admitted defeat; he knew that he would never be able to force something out of Sara if she did not allow anyone to do that. She was this stubborn.

"Well, you know, you are looking a little chubby," Greg commented after making observation that Sara's cheek was puffed and a healthy glow surrounded her.

"Greg, you know I would kill you when I am back, right?"

Greg eyes light up when he heard she will be back. Looking at her with hopeful eyes, he asked her when.

"Metaphorically." Sara crushed his hopes.

Greg pouted his lips, "please come back soon. I miss you."

Sara gave a curt nod but made no definite promises. "When I can, I will."

"How're you?" A simple question threw Sara off guard. Ever since she left Las Vegas again, she kept herself busy. She did not how to answer a simple how are you question. She never stopped and wonder is she fine. Is her leaving the right choice or of best interest. Would she regret her decision? She never stopped and thought about it.

"Fine." A simple fine would suffice. She guessed. She did not want to reveal too much things. The hurt was still raw. She wanted to avoid those questions for as long as possible. But Greg's questioned forced her to think about it.

Greg rolled his eyes and said he was expecting more than fine.

"As a matter of fact, I had not really thought about this question's answer."

"Oh."

"Why leave again?"

"I guess I wanted to be free and happy. Pre-Las Vegas." She offered the simplest version of her answers.

"I hoped you are."

Sara gave him a huge grin. "I got to go now. The sun is setting and I do not want to miss it."

"Believe me when I said I miss you all, every single person. I really meant it."

She bade him goodbye and promised to give him a call again soon. And he wished her good luck and stayed happy.