Chapter Four
Grissom rolled over to find Jim Brass standing over him.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"I bet you want to kick yourself for giving me that key now." Brass picked up the empty bottle of scotch. "I guess I don't have to ask how you spent your day off." He walked over and sat down in the chair that was across from the couch.
Grissom sat up. "I only gave you a key so you could check on Sara when I was gone, not the other way around." He ran his hand across his lower back. "What time is it?"
"Its almost noon." Brass looked up from his watch. "How long have you been sleeping on that couch?"
"About seven hours."
Brass looked around the room. "Have you slept in your bed at all since she left?"
"There were a couple days where I slept on the floor beside the bed." Grissom rested his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.
"Everyone at work is worried about you. You don't talk to anyone and they don't know what to do about it. Every time I walk down the halls I have to kick all of the eggshells aside that everyone is walking around on over there." Brass leaned forward in the chair. "So you want to tell me what happened?"
"No Jim, not really."
Grissom got up and walked into the kitchen. Brass followed behind with the empty bottle of scotch. He walked over to the garbage can to throw it away but the broken glass caught his eye.
"Ahh, I see you have come to the phase where you are breaking things. When the ex-witch left I broke all of our wedding china. It was very therapeutic." Brass dropped the bottle on top of the broken pieces of glass causing a clinking sound to echo through the kitchen.
"That was an accident." Grissom took a glass off of the shelf and filled it with some water. "It just slipped out of my hands."
"Sure it did." Brass gave Grissom a look. "You know that's what I said when asked what happen to the forty five pieces of china."
Grissom took a sip of water and then looked down at the glass in his hands. "If I was going to break any glass, I would have started with this one."
Brass read the letters that were printed on the glass. "What do you have against Harvard?"
"Every time I see it, it reminds me of how much smarter she is than me. We have never compared IQ scores but I just think she is." Grissom dumped the rest of the water down the drain and put the glass in the dishwasher. "Plus I have to be stupid not to see what was happening right in front of me."
Brass walked over and took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. "Gil I really think you need to talk about it."
"What I need is some coffee." Grissom looked up at Brass. "You want some?"
"That would be great and while you are at it you can tell me what the hell happened two weeks ago." Brass watched as Grissom went about making coffee. "So I guess I will start. One day she's on my ass about this case and the next day, you are telling us she has left the lab and Vegas." As Grissom continued to ignore him, he went on. "What the hell did you do, slip some meat into her food when she wasn't looking?" Grissom set a cup of coffee in front of him. "Shit if she didn't leave your ass after the whole Lady Heather debacle, I don't know what would make her leave now."
Grissom looked up at Brass and sighed. "Look, there are things about her you don't know. Things that I can't talk about. It is not my place to say, so just leave it." He turned his attention back down to his coffee.
"If this is about her parents." Brass paused to take a sip of his coffee. "I already know."
Grissom looked up with confused eyes. "She told you about that?"
"No, a few years back she came to work smelling like a brewery and she had me worried. I tried to talk to her but it didn't help. After her almost DUI, I checked into her and came across what happened in Tomales Bay."
"Does she know you know?"
Brass shook his head. "No, I never said anything to her. I figured if she wanted me to know, she would tell me." He took another sip of his coffee. "Look Gil, I am worried about you. Whatever you tell me will not leave this room. I am just afraid that if you don't get it off your chest, you are going to end up with an ulcer."
Grissom carried his cup over to Brass and sat down beside him. "She didn't even really say goodbye. She did in the letter she left... but not in person. I guess she tried... when she kissed me at work." Grissom let out a sigh. "I should have known something was up when she kissed me, and in front of Hodges of all people." He took a sip of his coffee. "Once again, I was so wrapped up in myself to notice what was going on with her. When I went looking for her, all I got was a letter. By the time I got home... she was gone." Grissom looked over at Brass. "She didn't take everything so that's a good sign, right?" Grissom looked back down at this coffee and continued before Brass had a chance to answer. "I wish she had. I think it might be easier if she did. Everywhere I look... it just reminds me of her. Like that glass that broke; she got that when we went to San Francisco."
"When did you two go there?"
Grissom smiled for the first time since Brass got there. "Last year. You know that's where we first met. I took her there right before I left for Massachusetts. I was going to tell her about the sabbatical but I chickened out. We were having such a great time, I didn't want to ruin it."
Brass watched the smile fade from Grissom's face. "So this letter she left... did she say where she was going?"
"No, just that she couldn't stay. She tried... but she couldn't stay." Grissom leaned forward and held his head in his hands. "She's gone Jim and I'm not even sure she's coming back. What the hell am I going to do without her?"
"If it was me, I would go after her. My bet is she went back to San Francisco. I would get on the next flight and look for her."
Grissom shook his head from side to side. "I can't go there, not San Francisco."
"Sure you can. I can take care of the dog and the bugs until you get back."
Grissom picked his head up and looked at Brass. "No, if she wanted me with her she would have asked. I will just stay right here and wait for her." He picked his cup up. "God knows she waited long enough for me."
They sat there in silence for a long time. When Brass finished his coffee he walked over and placed the cup in the sink. "I know what its like to have your life change in an instant. One second I'm a husband and a father." Brass leaned back on the counter. "The next I'm being told Ellie is not mine and being shown where to sign on the divorce papers. After that, I spent many nights in the bottle." Brass looked back over to the garbage can. "Do me a favor and stay away from that." He pointed at the empty scotch bottle in the garbage. "Because what ever question you are trying to figure out, the answer is not there."
Grissom nodded his head in agreement.
Brass walked over to him and placed his hand on Grissom's back. "Listen Gil, I am not going to push you any more today, but if you want to talk or you need anything you know my number."
"Thanks Jim, I appreciate that."
Brass started for the front door but stopped. "Hey do me a favor and take it easy on the guys tonight. I think they think you are going to go postal or something. So if you could let them know you are hanging in there, you would put their minds at ease." Brass put his hands in his pocket. "Oh shit!" He walked back over to Grissom and pulled out an envelope from his pocket. "I all most forgot to give this to you. My excuse for coming over here if I needed one." He set the envelope down in front of Grissom.
"This time I am asking before I open it, just so I am prepared." Grissom held the envelope up. "What is it?"
"Why it's an invitation to the annual Christmas party of course." Brass gave Grissom that sly smile. "Who knows maybe by the time the party rolls around, I will be catching you and her making out in the coat closet again."
With that, Brass walked out of the front door, leaving Grissom alone with his memories of last years Christmas party.
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews and everyone who is still reading this. Next chapter we will see what happened at the Christmas party last year.