Disclaimer: The dreams and nightmares are mine, but everything else is sadly just borrowed.
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9
At 5:54, after a day full of contemplation, her car was parked in his driveway. Before she got out, she reread the letter for probably the millionth time for reassurance. She could do this. They could this.
With a little more confidence, she got out of her car. He'd said semi-casual, so she'd chosen black slacks and a silk maroon top. She'd contemplated bringing something, but everything she thought of was too feminine. Flowers, candy and stuffed animals popped to mind, but they were all things a man would bring a woman. She assumed he'd have dinner and dessert all planned out, so there was no need in bringing food and had no idea what he liked to drink besides juice and coffee.
She'd thought for a while and only hoped he like what she came up with. With the gift bag in hand, at 5:59 she was knocking on his front door. Her nerves picked up as she heard him unlocking the door, but eased when she was met with his smile.
"Hello, Sara." The sight of him made her weak in the knees. She was thankful for the outfit she'd chosen when she saw that his attire was a step between work and court. His black dress slacks had a shiny tint to them that complimented his almost sparkling dress shoes and he'd chosen a short-sleeved, powder blue dress shirt and had left the top two buttons undone.
"Hi."
"I'm glad you decided to come."
"Me too."
He stepped aside to let her enter and she was shocked when he helped her take off her coat. "Are you ready to eat, or would you like to have a drink first?"
"I don't want to spoil dinner. If it's ready, then let's eat while it's fresh."
"You won't spoil dinner, Sara. It's baked macaroni and cheese, salad and breadsticks. It will keep if you'd like to wait a half hour or so."
"Okay, then let's have a drink first."
"Good. Why don't you go turn on the stereo and I'll be right back."
Surprised at how easy this seemed to him, she wandered over to the stereo. She was amazed at the eclectic collection of cd's that he had. After a quick glance, she chose one by Kenny G. When he emerged from the kitchen with two wine glasses, he motioned to the couch. After they were seated, she gave him his gift.
"You didn't have to bring me anything."
"I know. I wanted to."
"Okay." When he pulled the frame from the bag, a smile formed on his face. She'd been lost trying to think of something to bring him and was very pleased with herself when she used his note as inspiration. Under the 'why' he'd used a quote about a butterfly, so she returned the favor. She'd gone online and searched for over an hour for an appropriate quote and finally found one. After she printed it out in a nice font, she'd gone to the store to buy a nice frame and gift bag. " 'We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.' Maya Angelou. It's wonderful, Sara, thank you."
"You're welcome. I just realized how much you've changed in the past week or so and I know it can't be easy for you. When you wrote that butterfly quote in your invitation, well…I just thought it was appropriate."
"It's perfect." After a short silence, "You know, I'd like to take the credit for thinking of the whole butterfly thing on my own, but I didn't. It, uh, has to do with Debbie Marlin. She collected butterflies, and throughout the case I kept thinking of all these quotes that had to do with butterflies. As I thought of each one, I thought of you. Now they're all just wandering around in my brain waiting to be used."
"Like?"
"Like? Well, like 'When a small child, I thought that success spelled happiness. I was wrong; happiness is like a butterfly which appears and delights us for one brief moment, but soon flits away.' Anna Pavlova."
"And why would you think of me when you thought of that quote?"
"Okay, I thought we'd do this after dinner, but…"
"That's fine, Grissom. If you're not ready…"
"No. I want to do this." She gave him a moment to gather his thoughts, "One of my…issues…with there being an 'us' is that I thought it would interfere with my career. Up until now, I thought that my career, my success, was my happiness. I wasn't willing to risk my success to be with you. During the Debbie Marlin case, I realized that Dr. Lurie was strong enough to make that sacrifice. I was jealous: jealous of a murderer. Jealousy is a feeling that I've only felt when it involves you."
"The whole case brought all my mistakes out of hiding and slapped me in the face with all of them at once. It was like my worst nightmare. All I could think of was how much I'd hurt you. It was like going through hell for two days. But now I'm grateful, because it was all worth it. It made me wake up and realize that I was wrong. My happiness isn't about my career; it's about you."
Tears threatened to fall from both their eyes, "Thank you. You'll never know how much that means to me."
"I think I have an idea. What do you say we take a break form this and have dinner? I'd hate to make a woman cry on our second date."
"Second date?"
"How soon you forget our little picnic."
"Ah. I hadn't realized we were considering that our first date."
"Well, now you know."
