Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, they belong to CBS, and absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter Ten
By ten o'clock, Catherine has started working her way down the cocktail list with John. She keeps giving him all of her pink umbrellas, and I think she's made a friend for life there. They giggle about something and swap drinks, before taking a mouthful and grimacing at whatever lethal concoction Marty has scoured from the drip trays. I can't help thinking how easily my friends have accepted her, which is certainly a good omen. And I know that from now on, she'll be treated as a member of our little family.
Catherine leans back, and places an arm around me. "Are you okay, honey?"
"I'm fine," I pull her into a hug. "Just been a long week, that's all."
"Been one hell of a ride too," she grins at me, like one of the Brady Bunch. "That reminds me. You said earlier on you were gonna tell me what you had planned for Grissom."
"What's it worth?" I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
"It's simple really, you tell me and I let you live," she says, with a sexy smile.
"Must you always be so kinky? I roll my eyes, and reach for my drink.
"Spill, or I'll start getting evil," she threatens, and I figure I've made her wait long enough. It's got absolutely nothing to do with the fact I know she'd follow through on her threat, no way, not at all.
"Every Saturday night, this place holds a drag queen contest," I explain, and her eyes widen like saucers. "I know exactly how to get him here, and I guarantee I can get him all dressed up to enter the competition."
Catherine gapes. "You sure you can pull it off?"
"With your help, I'm sure I can. What do you say, are you in on it?"
"You think I'm gonna pass up the chance of seeing Gil in a dress? Hell no, count me in, Sidle," she rubs her hands together with an evil grin.
"Saz, you want one of these?" Marty breaks into the conversation, as he leans across the bar.
"What is it? It looks like snot," I reply, before taking a sip of my beer. I figured I'd better leave the spirits alone, or I wasn't even going to be able to get up tomorrow.
"That's exactly what it is. Gorilla Snot, or so the cocktail book says," he pushes a glass in my direction and I'm loathe to look at it, much less try it.
"Oh man, that's disgusting. Catherine, take a drink of that and tell me what its like," I shove the glass toward my 'guinea pig' and she happily takes a sip.
"You're such a hero, Sidle," John says sarcastically, with a grin.
Catherine's beautiful blue eyes cross for a minute, before straightening themselves out. "It's got one hell of a kick, I think I've just lost all feeling in my tonsils."
"Saz will help you get the feeling back," John snickers along with Catherine, but only until I playfully smack him upside the head for his comment.
"I'll stick to beer, thanks Marty. I can't face my boss at the best of times, and definitely not on a hangover," I joke, and turn my attention back to my beer bottle, because Catherine is so beautiful when she smiles, and I can't seem to stop looking at her. "Where did Sam go?"
"I'm here," she leans heavily against my back. "I was on the woman, to my phone."
"You mean on the phone to your woman?" I chuckle, knowing that even after all these years, Sam still can't hold her alcohol.
"Yep, and she's pissed at me because…I can't remember why she's pissed at me, but she is."
"You only have to look at Lynn the wrong way, and she'll get pissed at you. You've been together for twenty years for heaven's sake, it would be weird if she didn't get pissed at you," I say, laughing at the fact we all have this exact same conversation with Sam, every time Lynn isn't here.
Sam pouts, and leans on Catherine instead. "You're a woman that knows what it's like to get pissed."
I gape at her. Oh my god the woman has surpassed herself. She has an even bigger mouth than John!
"You could say that," Catherine laughs, and then winks at me. "But I blame, Sara."
"Doesn't mean you're not fond of her right?" Sam hiccups, and looks at her with puppy eyes. "I mean, you wouldn't kick her home when she got ass, just 'cause she's a little tipsy right?"
I burst out laughing. "She means kick my ass when I got home. That sounded way too kinky, Sam."
"Shut up, Sidle. I'm talking to the woman of your dreams here, get in line," she says, thumping me on the shoulder.
Insert heart attack here.
"I might be annoyed, but I think I'd forgive her pretty quickly when she did come home," Catherine grins, and Sam says something, which I don't quite catch and they both end up cackling.
"Did I ever tell you about the time we had a fancy dress party in here, for my birthday one year?" Sam says conspiratorially to Catherine. "And Sara here…"
"Oh look, Marty brought more cocktails," I try and divert Sam, there's no way I want that story told yet, I'm not nearly drunk enough.
"Aww I think she's adorable," Sam smiles drunkenly at me, as she points to Catherine. "You're adorable, you really are. Saz said you were sweet, and she's right, you're sweet."
"You should see her when she's in full postal mode. She wouldn't be sweet even if you coated her in chocolate," I guffaw loudly, at the outraged look on her face.
"Just for that, Sidle, I'm going to make you dance with me," Catherine grabs me around the waist. "Do you guys mind if I borrow her for five minutes?"
Sam shakes her head, as do the boys. "No, you go ahead honey. She's all yours."
The music changes abruptly as Marty tampers with the jukebox, and I see my friends sitting there smiling and giving me the blatant thumbs up. I love each and every one of them dearly, but they wouldn't win any prizes for being subtle. Catherine sees me flashing the finger at them, and laughs as she pulls me closer and wraps her arms around my neck.
"You'll give them something to talk about, holding onto me like this," I laugh, as we sway in time to the music.
"It sounds like they've already had plenty to talk about. John claims you told him I have an ass to die for, and that I'm sex on a stick."
"Shoot me now," I drop my head and try to look at my feet, but I only succeed in looking at Catherine's ample breasts because she's pressed so tightly against me.
"Admiring my rack now too?" her eyes twinkle with amusement, and since she's just about half past piss drunk, I'm hoping she doesn't remember this bit in the morning.
"Will you stop that," I chuckle, finally seeing the humour in the situation. "I did say you had a nice ass, I'll own up to that. But I wasn't looking at your chest."
"Hey, I'm just teasing, but you might need to check you're right," she says, and then moves my hands toward her backside, as she grins playfully.
Heart attack number two in progress.
"Behave yourself, right this minute," I grin, as I move my hands back to her waist, trying to concentrate on the music, and not the way she's dancing against me. "Or I'll kick you out of our room, and make you share with Grissom."
"God no, please don't. The man sleeps with his socks on," she grimaces.
"How do you know that? No wait, I don't want to know," I shake my head, and try to get the horrible picture out of my mind.
"Warrick told me. They shared a room at a convention once," she laughs, and then realises I was thinking something else. "I've never shared a bed with him. Why would I want to? He's not you."
"You're soooo drunk," I chuckle at her boldness, wondering if she'd even say half of this stuff if she were sober.
"I might be drunk, but it's true. You know, Sara, I think you're very special," she pulls me closer, and whispers into my ear. "And I want to know everything about you."
"I'm not that interesting," I smile down at her, as another song begins, accompanied by another round of toothy grins from the escaped mental patients at the bar. This time they get flashed the finger for an extended period of time.
"Oh I think you are," she drawls huskily. "I also think it would be so easy to fall for you."
"I can say exactly the same about you," I shouldn't be saying any of this, but she draws me in, and I can't stop it.
"Really?" she asks breathlessly, the tips of our noses just millimetres apart.
"Yes really, but I don't think we should be talking about it while we're drunk," I reply, as I brush her hair behind her ear. I want to make sure we can say all of this without the alcohol.
"We're not that drunk, but I'll tell you again tomorrow when we're sober," she winks, and kisses me softly on the cheek.
"What was that for?" I grin curiously at her.
"Just for being you," she brushes her thumb across the side of my face, and sighs softly when I lean into her hand.
Another look passes between us and deep down in my heart, I already know I've never felt like this about anyone before. My head tells me I should be terrified, because right now it feels as if I'm racing way ahead of everything. My heart won't listen, and tells me nothing has ever felt so right. I pull her closer and lean down, kissing her softly on the cheek.
"What was that for?" she asks this time, her baby blues staring up at me, with a hint of something I'd describe as desire.
"I wanted to, and it's a bonus that it gave John a case of the vapours," I shake with laughter, as I see him grinning at us, and fanning his face as he dramatically swoons.
Her laughter tinkles almost musically, as he gives her a wave and a wink you could spot a mile off. "Come on, let's grab a drink and a seat. I'm starting to flag here."
"Flagging already? Some lover you are," I joke flirtily, and bravely wrap my arm around her shoulders.
She swats me across the behind, and the temperature goes up several degrees as she whispers into my ear, "I'd tell you just what kind of a lover I am, but I doubt John could handle any more shocks tonight. You'll just have to wait, and find out for yourself."
He's not the only one who can't handle any more shocks. I think I've just had my third heart attack of the night, and the minute she slips her hand into my back jeans pocket and gives my ass a gentle squeeze, I'm just about get started on the fourth.
***
At around 3am, we're creeping past Grissom's room towards ours, which thankfully is at the other end of the corridor. I've never been more grateful than I am right now that we couldn't get adjoining rooms. Suddenly I feel as if I'm fifteen, and I'm creeping back into my bedroom after being out all night, something I never did even when I was a kid.
God knows why we're tiptoeing, because the carpet is thick enough to break an ankle in, and we'd have to be making a hellish noise for him to even notice. That's assuming he's even back, I mean he could be off somewhere fulfilling his new found stud muffin status, not that I even want to think about it, its way too icky.
As we stumble up the hallway, I'm sober enough to be thankful that I've had nowhere near as much to drink, as I did last Saturday. And this time, I'm going to make sure I end up in bed, and not in the bath. Unless of course there's tons of bubbles and Catherine involved, and then nothing could stop me.
"Shhh," Catherine says loud enough to wake the dead. "Don't wake Grissom."
"I wasn't making a noise, and if he hadn't heard us by now, he'll have heard that," I snigger loudly, as she shoots me a death glare.
"He'll be cuddled up with one of his textbooks. He probably kisses the damn things goodnight," she hiccups. "Who kisses you goodnight?"
"Nobody, but if you're volunteering for the job, go right ahead," I chuckle, but quickly stop when I see the look on her face.
"I'd kiss you goodnight every night if you let me," she husks, and tightens her grip on me.
"I'm hardly likely to refuse, am I?" I reply, and quickly steer her up the hallway to our room.
I knew it was a mistake letting her try all those different cocktails. Don't get me wrong, I sunk more than my fair share of drinks but Marty mixes those cocktails to nuclear strength, and they can be more than a bit lethal. Credit where it's due though, she kept up with John and I think he'll be in an even worse state than she will be in the morning. Seeing as how I'm a little bit less drunk than she is, I'll have to keep my wits about me and watch for stray hands, my own included since just lately, my hormones are conspiring to turn me into a pervert.
I attempt to keep her upright, and insert the key card at the same time, which isn't easy as she keeps swaying back and forth. It's made doubly difficult when she decides to run her fingers through my hair, which has my hands shaking even more than they were in the first place.
"Cath? I can't get the door open," I look up at her, and we both end up giggling like teenage girls.
"Some hero you are, you can't even get me into our hotel room," she takes the keycard, and squints as she tries getting it into the slot.
"You can't get in either. Admit it, you can't see without your glasses," I laugh when she unsteadily puts her hands on her hips, and then decides to point a finger at me, as she hiccups again.
"I can too, I'm just a little too drunk to see straight."
"Trust me, seeing straight isn't everything," I say dryly.
"I think I like not seeing straight," she says, and for some reason we both start laughing again.
She sways a little more than she should to one side and I take hold of her, as she throws her arms around my shoulders. Our eyes meet and I could easily kiss her here and now, but I really don't want to look back at our first kiss, and know it was in a hotel hallway. Besides, I need the bathroom and if I stand out here much longer, she'll need water wings.
"Gimme the keycard, let me try again. I really gotta pee," now I'm hiccupping, and trying to get the card in the slot. "Voila!"
I push the door open, and then stand there with a puzzled expression when it swings shut again. I look at her, and she looks at me, and then we both look back at the door.
"Nice one, Sidle. We're still standing in the hallway," Catherine bursts out laughing again, thinking this is hugely funny
"Think you can do any better? Go ahead and try, smarty pants," I pout, as she begins jabbing at the card slot again.
The door swings open and I shoot past her like a senior citizen at a Walmart sale, leaving her to fend for herself as the state of emergency in my bladder reaches critical levels. When I emerge five minutes later, her clothes are scattered on the floor and she's trying to put both legs through one leg of her sleep-shorts.
"How did that get up there?" I ask with a grin, as I retrieve her bra from the light fitting.
"I don't know," she shrugs with a laugh. "They do say consumption of alcohol, may leave you wondering what the hell happened to your bra."
"I think they're referring to somebody else taking it off you though," I grin, and hand it back to her when she's finally got her shorts on properly.
"Well I had to, because you were busy," she grins, and climbs into bed.
Five minutes later, we're both snuggled up, the alcohol making us both sleepy. I can't believe how much of a wonderful time I had tonight. I also can't believe what's happening between us. I'm amazed it's only been a week since we thought we hated each other.
"You do realise we've been friends for an entire week now, and we haven't fought once," I say with a smile, thinking Saturday morning didn't really count, since it was a heart to heart.
"Wow, that's a record for us," she grins up at me. "Aww honey, our first anniversary."
"Such a romantic." I nudge her in the ribs as we giggle.
"Sara?"
"Hmm?"
"You said you had nobody to kiss you goodnight, so…" she leans closer to me, making eye contact and several heartbeats later, softly kisses me on the lips.
Electricity flows through me from the simple touch of her lips, and her warmth seeps into my heart and holds it captive. It's soft, its sweet and it's the most erotic thing I've ever experienced. I feel as if I've waited my entire life for this moment, and it's perfect. Time seems to stand still, and as we look at each other, an entire conversation flows between us without words. With another smile, she leans down again, and softly kisses me for a second time.
"Goodnight, Saz."
"Goodnight, Cath," I hold my arms open to her, and as she snuggles down, I feel her smiling against my neck.
It isn't long before she falls asleep in my arms, the imprint of her kiss still tingling on my lips, as a smile I can't fight takes up what feels like permanent residence on my face. I feel as if I'm standing on the edge of something new and faintly scary, but this time I'm not going to hold back. I'm going to jump with eye wide open, and trust that somehow, she and I will find our way, along whichever path fate has already chosen for us. I snuggle further down against her, waiting until she wraps her arms tighter around me, and then I join her in dreamland.