Author's Note: a special thanks goes out to the graveyard shifters and my
other readers who've been infinitely patient with my slow writing pace.
Thanks also goes out to Craig, who helped me figure out what was wrong with
this chapter not by reading it but reminding me who my favorite band is. A
very, extremely special thanks needs to go out to both Nic and Angie for
not getting completely sick of me being so busy and pushing various
projects back.....this one's for you!
Chapter 10-Say You Will
~Say you will, say you will give me one more, and please give me time to change your mind. It always seems to heal the wounds if I can get you to dance. (Fleetwood Mac)~
Catherine stared intently into his blue eyes waiting for an answer to her question.
"I, uh," Grissom began, tugging at his bowtie which had flopped sideways onto his collar.
"Here," Catherine said, gently swatting his hands away. She moved closer to him reaching up to fix the tie. "I thought you knew how to do this."
As she gave him a teasing yet warm smile, Grissom felt his body heat rise about ten degrees.
"It's been a while since I've had to wear a tux," he managed to stammer.
"Well maybe you should go out more often," Catherine said with a wink. She patted his shoulder after giving the bow tie a final tug. "You're ready to roll."
"Thank you," Grissom replied as Catherine's hand lingered on his shoulder.
Unable to break physical contact with him, Catherine managed to tear her eyes away just for a second to glance around the atrium. "It looks like everyone is going into the ballroom."
Grissom frowned slightly, wondering where Brass had run off to. After all, he hadn't even technically met his date yet. Suddenly his eyes met Catherine's and both said in perfect unison, "Where's your date?"
They both laughed nervously and then said, again in perfect unison, "You first."
"Stop that," Catherine giggled, rolling her eyes at him playfully. Finally she said, "Remember James, Warrick's friend that moved to Reno? You guys were talking about baseball at Warrick's Fourth of July party."
Grissom nodded, thinking Catherine was just making small talk, "How's he doing?"
"You can find out soon enough," Catherine replied, looking around the atrium once more.
"He's your date?" Grissom asked softly.
Catherine nodded, "Well if he ever gets here. Warrick was going to go look for him, but it looks like I've lost both of them."
"I know the feeling," Grissom replied. "Brass ran off to find Christina, who was arriving with Linda."
"Who's Christina?" Catherine asked with eyebrows raised.
"My date," Grissom replied, once again looking around the atrium.
"You know I gathered that," Catherine said, her blue eyes shining. "But who IS she?"
Grissom sighed, "To be honest Cath, I don't know. She's just a friend of Brass's date. I've never even met the woman before."
"That's rough," Catherine nodded. "But then why did you agree to go with her?"
Grissom shrugged, "Brass suggested it."
"And you always do what Brass suggests?"
"And it was easier than working up the courage to ask the person I really wanted to be here with," he finally confessed, unable to look at her.
There was a long pause, which Grissom did not expect.
What did he expect?? To be honest he didn't know. Maybe Catherine would throw her arms around him and tell him that all was forgiven, or maybe she would jump right back at him with some witty and completely insightful remark about the complexities of their relationship. Or maybe she would just smile the special smile she seemed to reserve for him.
"Dates or not, we should get in there," Catherine replied coolly as she motioned towards the ball room. Grissom certainly did not expect that response. For a moment he stood dumfounded as he studied her expression. No, she wasn't joking with him, her face remained even and serious.
He honestly didn't know how he made it to his seat in the ballroom. He listened calmly as Warrick and Brass took turns explaining how James and Christina had each come up with some sort of last minute calamity preventing them from attending the party. Part of him realized what had been planned for he and Catherine as Greg could barely keep from laughing during the explanations.
However he was too busy staring at Catherine. Even though she was sitting next to him, her presence at the table was that of a queen looking down at her subjects as she sipped a glass of wine with regal grace.
After mentally weighing his options through dinner and two boring speeches, Grissom knew what he had to do. As couples began to drift out to the dance floor, he turned to Catherine and held out his hand. Without a word, she allowed him to lead her out to the floor.
"What in the world was all that?" Greg exclaimed as soon as Grissom and Catherine were out of hearing range. He leaned in towards the others who looked similarly exasperated.
"Looks like our plan didn't work out as well as we thought," Nick said shaking his head regretfully.
"Didn't work out?" Sara said. "Uhm, if you ask me that's a bit of an understatement. Remind me to never have you guys play matchmaker for me."
"Hey, you've got to admit it was a good plan," Nick retorted.
"Good would be not having Grissom look like he wanted to crawl under the table to escape Catherine's wrath," Sara shot back.
"You know he was kind of freaking out," Greg nodded. "I mean it wasn't that obvious, but I could tell that on the inside he was about to lose it."
Brass, who had remained silent until this point, finally spoke up. "You do realize that come Monday, they're both going to make our lives a living hell."
Everyone nodded nervously, eyeing the couple on the dance floor.
"Well at least they'll be doing something together," Greg mused.
***What prompted Catherine's sudden change of heart?? Will Grissom be able to win her back?? And since this was originally supposed to be the last chapter (with an ultra sappy ending), what happens next????!!!! All this and more in Chapter 11, tentatively titled "Thrown Down"
Chapter 10-Say You Will
~Say you will, say you will give me one more, and please give me time to change your mind. It always seems to heal the wounds if I can get you to dance. (Fleetwood Mac)~
Catherine stared intently into his blue eyes waiting for an answer to her question.
"I, uh," Grissom began, tugging at his bowtie which had flopped sideways onto his collar.
"Here," Catherine said, gently swatting his hands away. She moved closer to him reaching up to fix the tie. "I thought you knew how to do this."
As she gave him a teasing yet warm smile, Grissom felt his body heat rise about ten degrees.
"It's been a while since I've had to wear a tux," he managed to stammer.
"Well maybe you should go out more often," Catherine said with a wink. She patted his shoulder after giving the bow tie a final tug. "You're ready to roll."
"Thank you," Grissom replied as Catherine's hand lingered on his shoulder.
Unable to break physical contact with him, Catherine managed to tear her eyes away just for a second to glance around the atrium. "It looks like everyone is going into the ballroom."
Grissom frowned slightly, wondering where Brass had run off to. After all, he hadn't even technically met his date yet. Suddenly his eyes met Catherine's and both said in perfect unison, "Where's your date?"
They both laughed nervously and then said, again in perfect unison, "You first."
"Stop that," Catherine giggled, rolling her eyes at him playfully. Finally she said, "Remember James, Warrick's friend that moved to Reno? You guys were talking about baseball at Warrick's Fourth of July party."
Grissom nodded, thinking Catherine was just making small talk, "How's he doing?"
"You can find out soon enough," Catherine replied, looking around the atrium once more.
"He's your date?" Grissom asked softly.
Catherine nodded, "Well if he ever gets here. Warrick was going to go look for him, but it looks like I've lost both of them."
"I know the feeling," Grissom replied. "Brass ran off to find Christina, who was arriving with Linda."
"Who's Christina?" Catherine asked with eyebrows raised.
"My date," Grissom replied, once again looking around the atrium.
"You know I gathered that," Catherine said, her blue eyes shining. "But who IS she?"
Grissom sighed, "To be honest Cath, I don't know. She's just a friend of Brass's date. I've never even met the woman before."
"That's rough," Catherine nodded. "But then why did you agree to go with her?"
Grissom shrugged, "Brass suggested it."
"And you always do what Brass suggests?"
"And it was easier than working up the courage to ask the person I really wanted to be here with," he finally confessed, unable to look at her.
There was a long pause, which Grissom did not expect.
What did he expect?? To be honest he didn't know. Maybe Catherine would throw her arms around him and tell him that all was forgiven, or maybe she would jump right back at him with some witty and completely insightful remark about the complexities of their relationship. Or maybe she would just smile the special smile she seemed to reserve for him.
"Dates or not, we should get in there," Catherine replied coolly as she motioned towards the ball room. Grissom certainly did not expect that response. For a moment he stood dumfounded as he studied her expression. No, she wasn't joking with him, her face remained even and serious.
He honestly didn't know how he made it to his seat in the ballroom. He listened calmly as Warrick and Brass took turns explaining how James and Christina had each come up with some sort of last minute calamity preventing them from attending the party. Part of him realized what had been planned for he and Catherine as Greg could barely keep from laughing during the explanations.
However he was too busy staring at Catherine. Even though she was sitting next to him, her presence at the table was that of a queen looking down at her subjects as she sipped a glass of wine with regal grace.
After mentally weighing his options through dinner and two boring speeches, Grissom knew what he had to do. As couples began to drift out to the dance floor, he turned to Catherine and held out his hand. Without a word, she allowed him to lead her out to the floor.
"What in the world was all that?" Greg exclaimed as soon as Grissom and Catherine were out of hearing range. He leaned in towards the others who looked similarly exasperated.
"Looks like our plan didn't work out as well as we thought," Nick said shaking his head regretfully.
"Didn't work out?" Sara said. "Uhm, if you ask me that's a bit of an understatement. Remind me to never have you guys play matchmaker for me."
"Hey, you've got to admit it was a good plan," Nick retorted.
"Good would be not having Grissom look like he wanted to crawl under the table to escape Catherine's wrath," Sara shot back.
"You know he was kind of freaking out," Greg nodded. "I mean it wasn't that obvious, but I could tell that on the inside he was about to lose it."
Brass, who had remained silent until this point, finally spoke up. "You do realize that come Monday, they're both going to make our lives a living hell."
Everyone nodded nervously, eyeing the couple on the dance floor.
"Well at least they'll be doing something together," Greg mused.
***What prompted Catherine's sudden change of heart?? Will Grissom be able to win her back?? And since this was originally supposed to be the last chapter (with an ultra sappy ending), what happens next????!!!! All this and more in Chapter 11, tentatively titled "Thrown Down"