Chapter 07

Suddenly Sara realized that she and Greg had been there for almost two hours and that they would soon have to say goodbye so they both could rest before returning to the lab. And instead of feeling the usual relief of moments like this intense conversation drawing to an end, she realized she was regretting time passing so quickly and not being able to share more.

It's not the first time since their divorce that talking about her past life with Grissom has brought on that kind of unusual feeling for her. She was never one to talk much, let alone share her tales of life with someone.

Sensing that her patient was alarmed by this sensation, the psychologist explained that it was common for some memories to open the doors of other memories that brought a similar feeling, feeding the flow of stories or memories - whether good or bad.

It made sense, Sara remembered realizing for herself. It was not by chance that some cases always made her body react, and memories lived by herself throughout her childhood and adolescence passed behind her eyes like flashes of photography. Flashes at times as mild as a summer's day, and others so blinding they made her head ache.

Sara was reading in bed when Grissom came into the room drying his hair with a towel. She raised her eyes to him, but soon returned them to her reading. It didn't take long for him to lie down too, bringing his own book to read before bed. It was fine until a passage in her book made Sara raise her head and spend a long time staring straight ahead.

"Sara?" Grissom said softly, his hand resting lightly on her knee.

Suddenly the scene in front of her became clear again as her eyes adjusted to reality, and she could feel the temperature return to normal around her. She looked at him and placed her hand on top of his. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah… I… uh… Don't know, really. It just…", she couldn't quite explain it.

"What?", he asked curiously.

"I don't know, I just turned off"

He didn't say anything, just shook his head as if nodding. He turned his own hand up, taking hers, bringing it to his lips. He kissed the back of her hand and smiled at her, returning their joined hands to her leg and his eyes to his own reading.

"Sometimes..." - she resumed her rant, "... I just have these old memories back for a moment, it's funny"

"Like what?" he asked, really interested.

"Just now… When I was little, my father and I had a game of sorts, I don't even know how it started", Sara told him.

"How was it played?", Gil asked, his book already forgotten.

"It was silly", she laughed, "He'd say a word, and I had to say a music with it"

"Huum… Try me", Gil said.

"OK. Huh… The word is Something"

"That 's easy. Something, by The Beatles", he answered quickly

Sara froze for a moment.

"That's exactly what I said back then, that's what I was thinking about. And he, my dad, then, had said: you know the game, you have to sing it. So I sang it"

"Something in the way she moves…" Gil sang quietly

"...Attracts me like no other lover…" Sara completed, "and so on. We always played this game"

"It's cute"

"I guess…", she said quietly. "Maybe that's why I'm such a music buff"

Gil turned to take a better look at her.

"Then tell me another one with Something"

"Please, Gilbert, I can name you ten", she said so simply, it made her laugh "Maybe it's where I get my thirsty for competition from"

"Maybe you are right, but I'm still waiting", he said.

"OK. Sad Eyes, by Bruce Springsteen."

"That's one", he said, holding one finger up.

"Two: Fix You, by Coldplay"

"Don't think I know this one, but I'll trust you", he said, lifting one more finger.

"Of course you know, it plays on the radio all the time. But ok. Three: Another Day in Paradise by…"

"Phil Collins. Four?"

"Four: Something in the Way by Nirvana, which I know you love", she said using her joking tone.

Gil laughed: "Oh, yeah, more than bugs. So, five…"

"Five: Careless Whisper, of course, a tacky classic"

"Agreed, it sure is", Gil said lifting five fingers up.

"Six: Time, by Pink Floyd", Sara said smiling to him.

"One of my favorites. Go on, you're almost there"

"Ok, seven: Animal Instinct, by The Cranberries", she said, and without much thought continued "and eight: Don't get me Wrong, The Pretenders"

"Now you're very close. My fingers are almost all up, so let's make it interesting, shall we?"

"What, glambling?!", Sara asked surprised

"It's Vegas, baby, but no." Gil said, smiling and holding his fingers up, excited. "The last two have to be something out of your comfort zone. Like, really pop, pop music, the type you don't usually listen to"

Gil's excitement made Sara excited, which made her laugh, which made Gil laugh too, making the scene as silly as it could be. And while he pretended to look at an imaginary stopwatch, she gave it some thought. Pop music was indeed more of a challenge for her, but she wasn't joking when she told him she was a real music buff.

"Ok, Mr. Grissom, I'm ready to finish you. Number nine: Baby One More Time, by Britney Spears. Yeah, that's right. And number ten:" she stopped dramatically before saying "Something to remember, by Madonna", she said, lifting both arms up in a clear sign of victory while he applauded and leaned for a deep kiss that made her somehow get almost totally under him and with her arms around his neck.

"I love you, Sara", he told her when they finally broke the kiss, "very very much".

She was taken by surprise. She knew he loved her because of his actions towards her, and because of some hints he'd drop here and there, but she never thought the actual words would be said this way, out of the blue, and so soon (was it?) in their relationship. But she was glad it happened just the way it happened.

"I love you too" she returned before kissing him.

She was glad Greg didn't ask for the tale of their first I Love You's. Sara didn't know what it would be like to recount one of the happiest memories of her life and have to see the man who participated in it right after that.