Sara had walked towards the locker room, hoping that Catherine had the sense not to follow her. She really wanted to leave, to drink, and even though she was currently working voluntary overtime, she knew it would look bad. Deciding to catch up on paperwork, Sara grabbed what she needed and headed to the disused layout room at the back of the building, hoping that nobody would come to find her.
When the start of her proper shift started, Sara got up and walked towards the break room, knowing she would have to brace herself to be around people once more, and to be around Catherine, knowing that there would be pity in her eyes.
Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Greg were waiting in the room, Grissom would be there shortly with the evening's cases. Sara walked straight to the coffee pot, not even saying hello, and luckily no one paid any attention, although Catherine had started to only half listen to whatever Greg was saying to stare at Sara. Having noticed, Greg was about to say something, but at that point Grissom walked in.
'Evening all' He said before jumping into business 'Nick, there's a B and E at one of the Hotel rooms on the strip' He passed a piece of paper over 'Warrick, DB at the Creek, take Greg with you' He handed over another piece of paper 'And Catherine, there is a RTA on the outskirts of town' He handed out the last piece of paper
'And for me?' Sara asked 'And for you Sara, you get the night off, Ecklie told me you'd come in earlier and worked a case, so unless you've got paperwork, you're free to go'
'What?' Catherine spat out 'I came in too! Why Can't I go?'
'Because' Grissom said turning to her, brow furrowed 'Sara has pulled the most overtime this month, and you're the one with more RTA experience' He turned to Sara 'So, Paperwork?'
Sara shook her head 'Nope, all done' she said with a small but forced smile on her lips 'I guess I'm out of here then! See ya!' She said whilst walking towards the door.
Catherine stood up and followed Sara, she knew the younger women would be heading to the locker room to grab her things, and she ignored Grissom trying to talk to her, she needed to speak to Sara before she left the building. She wished she'd done it sooner, but had got so overwhelmed with evidence and paperwork, and talking to Ecklie and the various members of the crime lab, she hadn't realised where the time had gone too until she saw Nick turn up and realised it was the start of her proper shift.
Catherine reached the room just after Sara did 'Hey, Sara, wait a minute'
The younger women had already reached her locker and was grabbing what she needed out of it, and didn't respond to or acknowledge the older women.
'Sara' Catherine said again with more force. With this the brunette turned around 'What?' She spat back. She had been feeling volatile all night, had regretted the way she had exposed her miscarriage, and the fact that she had been the one to ask for Catherine's help on the case, and now she had pent up anger inside her that only alcohol and a strangers lips would fix.
'I'm sorry… I'm really, really sorry' Catherine said quietly, trying not to shout back or to flinch at the hatred in Sara's eyes. She hoped she didn't need to explain exactly what she was sorry for, and was too ashamed to look the brunette in the eyes.
'Whatever… I really can't do this at the moment' Sara forced out, making to push past the women.
'Wait..' Catherine grabbed her arm as Sara pushed past, but Sara forcefully pulled it away 'Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me!' Sara hissed under her breath, and with that she stormed out, leaving Catherine once again in tears.
Sara had been aching all night, to drink, to do something reckless, to do anything but think, so rather than heading to her car, she called for a cab to take her to one of the nightclubs on the other side of town. Although she was hurting, she was still sensible enough to not risk another DUI, and she knew she would be drinking very very heavily that night.
She had been at the club for just over an hour and had already had two beers, and was contemplating whether to have a third, or something stronger, when a younger, slim, and blonde women caught her eye at the end of the bar. The woman was wearing a short purple dress, her hair in a mess of thin dreadlocks, and she had punk leather boots on. Sara couldn't immediately tell if the woman had company, but deciding she didn't care, ordered two more drinks, this time martini cocktails, and walked over to the women.
'Hi' she said with a smile 'Hey' the women replied with a sensual and easy smile
'Fancy a drink?' Sara asked, raising the glass towards her. The younger woman shrugged 'Sure, why not' and she took it, and drank it on one. 'Another?' she asked with a grin, and Sara, catching the attention of the barman, asked for some more. 'I'm Sara' she said whilst passing another drink
'Rose' the blonde replied, whilst leaning forward to kiss Sara on the cheek in an obviously flirtatious way. 'Thanks for the drink' Sara nodded, grinning; this was exactly what she needed.
Rose and Sara talked and drank for a while, and then Rose dragged Sara on to the dance floor. Sara wasn't normally one for dancing, but after all of the drinking, and the sensual way Rose had kept touching her arm as they spoke, Sara wanted to be as close to her as possible, and knew that dancing was the best way to do so.
When Sara awoke, her head was heavy and painful, her mouth dry. She really had outdone herself with the drinking. She remembered talking and dancing with Rose, even leaving with her, but hadn't remembered reaching Roses place. She looked over to the sleeping woman, and saw scratches on her back, that Sara supposed she had put there, but couldn't remember. She knew that they had had sex, but she could barely remember which was a shame, because under different circumstances she might have let the Rose see her again. Sara moved, careful to as not to wake her from her heavy sleep, and winced when she noticed graze marks on her knuckles. It was something else that she couldn't remember, but she didn't really care.
Slipping her clothes back on, Sara slipped out of the room, and realised she was in a hotel. She now vaguely remembered arriving, and booking the room, but in whose name, she didn't know. She didn't even know what Hotel she was in. Heading towards the elevator, she realised she was in one of the hotels owned by Sam Braughn, and by default Catherine. Great she thought, just perfect.
Sara knew she was far from her house, and the lab, and that any taxi that picked her up would charge and arm and leg for the journey, so Sara punched the wall in frustration, adding to the grazes on her knuckles
'Ma'am, you can't do that' a busboy said, Sara glared at him.
'ma'am, please. You can't.. look, why don't I call you a cab?' the boy said taking half a step back, he could clearly see that Sara was still drunk.
Sara shook her head 'Who's in charge here?' She asked, the busboy was confused, but answered 'The owner is a Mrs Willows, if that's what you mean…'
'Yeah, that's what I mean.' Sara said sighing slightly, punching the wall again 'Ma'am…' the boy said again 'I'm going to have to call security'
Sara shook her head 'Nope, call Catherine, tell her… tell her there's a drunk crab walking around destroying the place… about to explode. Those exact words, tell her that, she'll know what you mean, she'll come running.' Sara really didn't know why she said it, why she was acting the way she was, and the busboy was far too scared and confused to argue with her, so he dialled the number he knew he was only supposed to use in an emergency.
'Willows' Catherine answered, having looked at the caller ID but not recognising the number, but having a vague feeling it was a work number from the hotel. She listened, not knowing what to say, how to respond, and eventually said 'Ok, thanks… I'll come straight over…Um, take her up to my quarters'' With that she hung up, and without even asking Grissom if it was ok to leave, left the building.
