14.

"I better leave." Doug looked at his watch. "Grissom will be here any second." The apartment looked better than twenty minutes ago, not very clean and tidy, but not messy anymore.

"Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome. Call me. No matter what he says, let me know how you are and if you need me - or some more ice cream. I can be here within minutes."

"I promise. But no more ice cream, I still feel sick when I sick about it."

"All right, no ice cream, no alcohol." He hugged her. "Be strong, keep your dignity, no matter what he says, you deserve the best."

"Thanks." She walked him to the door and opened it, starring right into the face of her husband. "Grissom."

"Am I interrupting anything?" He raised his eyebrows, gave Doug a good look over.

"No, I came here to tell Sara the news about the case, but she told me, her husband is about to come over, so I call you later." He looked at her. "I tell you about the case later, there are some good news."

"Really?"

"Yes. Doctor Grissom." Doug left the apartment, not caring about the unfriendly look he got from Grissom.

"So, who is he? A new colleague?"

"NTSB, we work a case about a plane crash. You might have heard about it in the news" Especially after you're here in Vegas for at least two days.

"And he comes here to tell you about the case?"

"I didn't feel good last night, called in sick and…it doesn't matter. Where have you been?" It wasn't her job to explain herself, she didn't do anything wrong. He was the one who lied, who was with another woman.

"I was busy."

"With Heather." She was surprised she had the strength to confront him with everything. No more asking questions, hoping for good excuses and lies, she could believe, because they were better than the truth, didn't hurt as much as the truth. "I saw you, Gil."

"Weren't you too busy with your toy boy?"

He saw her too? Or why did he know she was there with Doug? And toy boy wasn't the right description, even if they were more than friends; which they weren't. "He isn't my toy boy and I never told you I'm out of town while I'm here and meet somebody else. Somebody, I slept with." A few times over a couple of years.

"So you never slept with Mister Universe for the poor?"

"I did, fourteen years ago, when we were together. Before we met, before we were a couple. With how many women did you sleep since we were engaged and married?" The old fighter was awake and demanded answers, didn't let him scare her or feel guilty. She had no reasons to feel guilty.

"It's not my mistake our marriage ended up like this."

"Not?" She laughed, a bitter laugh.

"You left Paris to go back to Vegas, didn't care where I am, what I do."

"We had an agreement, we both worked on a way to make this work out. You're the one, who is never available on the phone, who vanishes for days, doesn't come home for weeks and when he does, he doesn't tell me, prefers to meet another woman. Why are we married when you want to be with Heather? You talked about a surprise, is it the news, you want a divorce and be with her? Why didn't you tell me?"

"You try to make me the bad one? While you have another man in our apartment?"

"He helped me."

"Since when are you scared all alone in bed?"

"He was never in our bed."

"Did you fuck him on the carpet? Kitchen table? Against the wall? Or all three?"

Sara clenched her hands to fists to keep the control over her body. The anger and fury rose and rose. "He helped me clean up the apartment after I made a mess because your call and your lies made me feel sick and I spent the night fighting with not drinking a whole bottle of whiskey and not smashing everything, I get into my hands, on the walls. He was here to help me, tell me, whatever you have to say, I'm not alone. He's the only one, who supports me. My husband prefers to blame me for him having an affair."

"Ever wondered why this is?"

"So it's true, you and Heather are having an affair." There was her truth. Did she feel better now? No, she didn't. But she didn't feel like somebody punched her in the guts, it was more like…there was no feeling. At least no feeling she could describe.

"Unlike you, she understands me."

"I don't understand you?" She was speechless. "You're right, I don't. I've no idea what you're talking about, I don't really now who you are. Are you really the man I married? Or are you somebody, who looks like him?"

"I am who I am and yes, I was in Vegas yesterday. And the day before yesterday. My plane back goes tonight."

"And if I hadn't called and hadn't said I saw you with Heather, you would have never come here and talk to me, right?"

He didn't answer her, but he didn't have to. She understood. Finally she understood.

"Why did you come here at all?"

"To tell you the truth so you can move on."

"So I leave you alone, stop calling you and you don't have to put up with me anymore, don't have to come up with new lies."

"That's real life, Sara."

"Yeah, real life. In real life this is my apartment, I rent it and I want you to leave and never come back." He wanted real life? He could have it.

"We are…"

"No, there is no 'we' anymore. Go." He wanted to be with another woman, lied to her and told her, he wants to leave her. When the marriage is over, the 'we' is over too. There was only his and hers and this was her apartment.

"You behave like a teenager."

"Me? You jumped the next best woman, destroyed our marriage, not me." She opened the door. "Go. Now." He wasn't worth a please and when he refused to go, she'd push him.

"No style, no dignity." He mumbled.

No style? No dignity? Really? Oh well, in this case she could smash the door before he was really out. She felt how the door hit his back and saw that he stumbled a little bit.

"Asshole." Her voice was low, but all the anger and pain was in this one word and made her feel better. She had no dignity and no style? But a dominatrix had style and dignity? Oh pardon, she was a doctor now. Maybe this was the reason why he decided he wanted her. Doctor Grissom and doctor Kessler. She, Sara, wasn't a doctor, wasn't good enough for him. Oh well, if he wanted Heather it was…it hurt. Now that she didn't have to be strong anymore the anger and fury changed into pain and sadness and she had to fight with tears.

Her marriage was over. It was over. No more happy family. No longer any kind of family. The only one she had was herself. Like most times in her life. Maybe she should get herself a dog, but with the luck she had at the moment, the dog would run away too.

Somebody knocked on the door. Grissom? If he thought she'd let him in, he was wrong. No second chance, no change of minds. He was out and he wanted him there. Under no circumstance she'd open the door for him. No. Not now and not later! And when he tried his keys, she'd smash the door into his face!