Sorry if this post didn't come soon enough and for any grammatical errors. Other than that, enjoy this chapter, which was not created with the purpose of copyright infringment. :D
"Sara," I heard a voice say somewhere beside me. "Sara, it's eleven 'o' clock!"
I'd only closed my eyes for a minute. How could it already be eleven?
"Sara, I'm scared. I don't know the woman downstairs and she makes me nervous," her voice became recognizable.
"Joss, what are you talking about?"
"The woman who owns the house. Your coworker? I don't wanna go downstairs without you and I'm really hungry."
My eyes cracked open and I realized,as Josslyn crouched over me, I'd fallen asleep against Lindsey's bed. Why did I always pick the worst places to sleep in this place? There was a perfectly made up guest room down the hall.
"You're going to have to learn how to trust other people. Plus, Lindsey is her daughter. She's not gonna hurt you and Lindsey's proof."
I sat up and winced at the pain from the horrible sleeping positions before I wobbled to my feet.
"Still...I'm not sure I like her."
I laughed.
"I was on the fence for a while myself," I confessed. "But she's got a big heart like TK."
"Really? It didn't look like it earlier."
I kept my smile.
"Come on. Let's get something to eat."
When we got downstairs, I saw Catherine in a white tank top and gray sweatpants.
"Were you planning on hitting the gym today," I asked as I stifled a laugh.
"I didn't feel like getting dressed, but since you two are here, I settled for workout attire. Well, sort of workout attire. Usually I wear shorts if I'm gonna sweat."
I wanted to gulp, but if I took anything sexually, Josslyn would surely catch on. Not something I planned on letting her in on...ever!
"You're not...gonna let yourself go, are you? Because your shape is perfect. I even have a picture of you in the back of my refrigerator to keep the carbs away," I joked.
Catherine laughed, but Josslyn stared back and forth between us like we were too crazy to exist.
"Adults are weird," she said as a personal observation.
I smiled down at her.
"What do you want to eat,"I asked.
She shrugged.
"Are they meat eaters?"
Catherine kitted her brows, smiled, and leaned against the stove behind her.
"Yes, and you could've asked her."
"She's your friend," she nonchalantly explained herself.
"Uh, Cat, you got any salad stuff," I asked with a bit of a nervous smile.
She nodded as she stifled more laughter and turned toward her refrigerator.
"We're still going to talk, right," I checked for our standing.
She nodded again as she grabbed a few things for the salad.
"Are you going to help me make it or should I just put stuff out and let you decided what you want...buffet style."
"I'll help you," I said. I looked at Josslyn. "Why don't you read and I'll call you down when it's ready."
"I've already read all the books I have...three times!"
"Uh, if you go into the second room on the left upstairs, I have Gone with the Wind on my nightstand," Catherine offered. "I'm not sure it's the kind of book you'll like, but..."
"It's okay. I'm curious so I'll read it. I'll read anything actually. Except children's books."
Catherine smiled.
I looked back at Josslyn and laughed a little.
"I told you she wouldn't hurt you. She's trusting you with her personal things."
Josslyn nodded at me and turned to smile at Catherine.
"Thank you," Josslyn said.
"You're welcome," Catherine smiled again.
Josslyn fled upstairs and I maneuvered myself around the counter to be closer to my superior.
"So...your story," she asked as she placed a large, glass bowl on the counter.
I opened the bag of lettuce she'd pulled out moments ago.
"Well,"I took a deep breath. "My last legal guardian passed away recently and, at the time, had Joss in her custody. Technically, I'm her older sister, but since I got her in the will, I'm her 'pseudo' mom."
"I'm thinking it's more complex than that," she set a bag of dried cranberries onto the counter.
"Temperance Kelly. After several foster homes, she took me in...and changed my life. She changed Josslyn's as well."
Catherine frowned.
"You were in the system?"
I meekly nodded.
"Why?"
Time for a huge confession.
"Grissom's the only one that knows, but... If you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, I'll never forgive you."
"Of course. As long as you don't tell anyone how scared I am about how I'm raising Lindsey...and what I look like when I wake up....and how I look outside of work..."
"Okay," I laughed. "I get it...wait, is that why you freaked out this morning?"
She hesitantly nodded.
"It's lame, but...there was another case involving the murder of a little girl around Lindsey's age."
"It's not lame. She's your world. You'd give anything to keep her safe. That's partly why I was in the system."
She furrowed her brows.
"My...my father was a drunk. He used to beat my mother...and when that wasn't enough...he'd...he'd beat me. After a while, my mother couldn't take it anymore and she snapped. Stabbed him several times. She never went to jail, but she did get placed in a mental hospital."
"Oh, Sara," she stopped all movement and looked at me with sympathetic eyes. "That's why all those domestic violence cases hit you hard."
I nodded.
"And...when you said you understand Josslyn..."
"I don't know everything yet, but I know that she ran away from her foster parents when she was six and Temperance took her in like she took me in. ...Trust...doesn't come easy for us."
"And yet...you trust me with this information," she appeared pale and unable to stand. "That's..."
"Huge? ...Yeah. If you ask me...I'm not sure what it is about you... I don't know," I caught myself before I got too personal. "Maybe your mom had something to do with it."
"My mom?" Her pale complexion brightened until her checks displayed full color. She wanted to laugh. "What does she have anything to do with this?"
"She told me we'd get along a lot better if we'd actually sit down and have a conversation."
"So...what? Are you two friends now?"
"I guess. I mean, I'd only met her once before I called here and talked to her. She came to the lab looking for you and told me to give you a message. We'd had a brief conversation so I suppose that's at least half the reason we get along."
"You didn't tell me she was looking for me! When was this?"
"Some time ago. It didn't matter though because she ran into you on her way out. I figured I was off the hook in telling you she was there."
"Oh. ...Wow! My mom had a talk with you. I mean...a serious talk. About our friendship nonetheless. ...She's crazy."
She and I shared a laugh.
"She's quite the character," I admitted. "She even taught me how to play bridge."
"And you let her?"
"I didn't have anything better to do, I didn't want to be rude, and...I really like learning new things."
"Really?"
I studiously nodded.
"What are the chances I can teach you how to be sociable?"
I smiled.
"I'll try...but I can't guarantee anything."
"Putting forth your best effort is all I need," she continued to smile.
"Okay," I followed her example. "But for now, we make this salad."
--
"I'm gonna pick up Linds," Catherine announced as Josslyn and I relaxed in front of the television. "When I get back, I'm going to work."
"Don't you have some days off coming up?"
"It was supposed to be tonight and Friday, but...I made Greg trade me. Now I have Friday and Saturday off."
I frowned.
"Okay."
"What?"
"Nothing. Go get Lindsey or she'll think you forgot about her."
"You can't seriously be upset because I'm going to work, can you?"
Great, it turned into a shouting match.
"You're going to spend the weekend with your daughter. That's good. Switching days on short notice-?"
"How are you going to support Josslyn if you stay here all day and all night? You're headed for unemployment and then what? You can't just crash on my couch and expect me to pay for everything!"
"Hey," Josslyn yelled over us as she stood on one of the couches. "What is this? We've been here less than a week and already the tension is massive? You guys need to chill! I've never seen two people argue with such stupidity."
She jumped off the couch in a fit and walked past us to the stairs.
Crap.
I threw my head back and purposely hit it against the arm of the couch before I flung myself off it. I rushed to catch up to Josslyn. I knew I had to fix things.
"Joss..Josslyn!"
I lightly grabbed her by the arm and half turned her toward me, but she kept her eyes bitterly focused on the ground.
"Hey, I'm sorry. Catherine and I are extremely moody people...at least...when we're together. I didn't mean to shout like that. Can you forgive me?"
She sighed and looked at me.
"Yes...I forgive you. ...But next time, could you think before you jump all over her?"
"I promise... When did you become the adult?"
"When I decided it was time to take charge around here," she joked. "I'm gonna go read that book Catherine suggested. It's really interesting. People get so crazy in love sometimes."
I smiled.
"Okay. Are you sure you don't want to watch a little more T.V.?"
"Books can be easily described as my cable. I'm good."
"I let her go and watched her walk up the stairs. I sighed and turned on my heels before I walked back toward the living room.
"Is she okay," Catherine asked out of genuine concern.
"She'll be fine. We were out of control, she fixed it. No big deal."
"I'd like to think it is, Sara. Why are we always fighting?"
"Because you always take the things I say wrongly and that gets on my nerves," I bluntly, nonchalantly stated.
"I'm serious."
"So am I. That's how it starts. Why we jump into the fights so frequently is beyond me."
She sighed.
"What?"
"Nothing," she sorrowfully answered.
"Catherine," I warningly stated. "Something's bothering you again. If you're going to be so difficult to get through to, I might just give up."
She bit her lip.
"It's complicated."
"Then go pick up Lindsey."
She looked up from the ground and locked eyes with me.
"I'll still be here when you get back."
She smiled with new found hope. Something fishy was going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it.
--
"From here I'm basically going to work, Catherine said as Lindsey scampered inside in what I assumed to be a search for Josslyn.
"Okay," I nodded as I popped some popcorn in my mouth and relaxed on the couch.
"Are you okay to watch the girls?"
"Are you coming home after shift?"
When you sit and wait for at least twenty minutes, it gives you more time than necessary to think. I spent that time thinking about the situation with Catherine not being around for Lindsey.
She sighed.
"I don't care what you think, you're going in with me tomorrow."
"No! Josslyn needs me and I'm not going to leave her with people she's uncomfortable with."
"She warmed up to me."
"Barely. Besides, it'll be Lily that watches them and I don't know what Joss thinks of her."
Again, she sighed.
"Fine. ...Could you at least be nice to me while you're here?"
My brow arched and I felt more than compelled to look her straight in the face to make sure I hear her correctly.
"Catherine? What's going on? You never ask me anything, you demand it. Fess up...now!"
"We can talk about this la-"
"No, we can't talk about this later. We're going to talk about it now."
"Why are you so aggressive and...stubborn," she asked as she violently threw her keys on their respective end table and stepped closer to the couch.
I figured I should've stood up at that point in the argument so I followed her example and started to meet her halfway in terms of geography.
"I'm aggressive because you're too passive for the both of us and I'm stubborn because that's part of my personality."
She and I slugged closer to each other.
"How about the fact that when I leave for work you're always on my case?"
"That has nothing to do with why you've acted completely friendly since we got here!"
"You'd rather I treat you poorly? Fine! You're so screwed up, I can't believe I'm going to act as your enabler."
With both of us seething, I feared it didn't stop me from further approach. We were toe to toe.
"I never said I didn't want you to be friendly! I only confronted you about it because it's not like you."
"So that automatically means something's going on with me?"
"I guess that's what I'm saying."
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I don't know...you!"
"If you really didn't like me, you wouldn't be here!"
"Oh, please. This was the only option I had."
"You could've found the money. If Josslyn's already as important to you as you've made it clear, you could've gotten the money for a hotel."
I could feel her breath punch my lips as I stared deep into those fiery, sapphire eyes. My blood boiled and my fists coiled. We were closer than we'd ever been.
"I'm short on rent nearly every month. I'm constantly maxed out on overtime and I have plenty of vacation days stocked up! So...excuse me for not being Grissom's best friend."
"What? Please, you're like the teacher's pet around him. He'd do more for you than anyone else in the lab. Rumor has it, the two of you are sleeping together! Why don't you run to his place and crash?"
"I'm not sleeping with him!"
"How would any of us know when you've got him in your pocket?"
"Because the only person I want to sleep with is you!"
After my confession, our lips crashed together like a wave coming into the shore. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end and her hand came to clutch my hair.
A shiver shot down my spine and I'm almost positive I moaned into our passionate kiss.
A little background about me: I lost my grandma on Tuesday so I'm not sure when I'll post again. I'm hoping soon, but things are up in the air as far as scheduling. I also mention this bit of information because I could really use some reviews to cheer me up. So...if you're kind enough...please send a review?
Thank you.