Chapter 5
She woke up hours later, on her stomach. She could feel a hand pressed flat and warm against her back. She smiled into the pillow as she remembered that Grissom was in her bed. She opened her eyes slowly and found that she was faced away from him and towards her bedside table and telephone. She turned her head around to face the other direction and smiled at the site before her; Grissom. He was still asleep, also lying on his stomach but facing her, his mouth open slightly. She couldn't remember ever seeing him this adorable. In fact, she couldn't remember ever seeing anything this adorable. She grinned to herself, just watching him sleep. She found herself gravitating towards him, pressing her body up next to his. She was so close to him and he was still fast asleep. She took the opportunity to study every detail of his face. Reaching up, she lightly touched his bearded cheek, trailing her fingers down to gently trace his lips.
He woke to the sensations of Sara's fingers trailing softly over his face. Opening his eyes to see her so close to him surprised him a little, but he didn't back away.
She raised her eyes from his lips to find him looking sleepily at her. She stoped her caressing of his face and stared back at him, lightly biting her lip in sudden nervousness.
He leant forward slowly, not really thinking of anything for once – just wanting to increase the awesome physical sensations that his body was suddenly going through.
Sara couldn't move – afraid that if she did she'd snap him out of this decision he'd seemingly made. She waited, almost in agony, as he drew closer and closer to her. She felt the first touch of his lips against hers – gentle and light. There was barely any contact before the phone rang – startling both of them. It was his phone, and he moved quickly away from her – swinging his legs over the side of the bed and hobbling over to where his pants lay on the floor. She sighed and rolled onto her back – watching him take the phone out of his pants pocket and lift it to his ear.
"Grissom," he said clearing his throat. He turned and looked at Sara as he listened to Warrick explain to him some details of the case he and Catherine were working. "Uh huh… yeah – no the yellow one, it should be in my office – what? Oh, oh no that's okay, no that's okay I was going to come in to sort out some paperwork anyway – yeah no problem Warrick, okay, shouldn't be too long." He hung up the phone and looked down at his near naked form. He sighed and picked up his pants from the floor, stepping into them and buttoning them up – his belt hung loose as he walked over to Sara's side of the bed and sat down, looking at her.
She smiled at him, "You have to go."
"Yeah," he said slowly, "but… thank you, for last night. I'm sorry."
She frowned softly and touched his arm, "Don't be sorry. About anything."
He smiled a small smile at her and sighed as he stood up and walked back to the rest of his clothes. After buttoning up his shirt and pulling on his jacket he stood in the doorway and sighed once more, "I'll see you tonight."
~~
She got up a few hours later and showered. After looking out the window at the rain trickling from the sky and onto the road she decided that she'd go to the gym.
She ran on the treadmill, Melissa and Paula's cases, mixed in with the intense moments she had shared with Grissom, going round and round her mind, as she urged her legs to pump harder and faster. A cute guy walked past and began a workout on a treadmill in front of her and she allowed herself a moment to covertly appreciate him before taking a sip of her water and concentrating on her case.
The thing that annoyed her most about it was that they didn't understand why the killer cut off the small square patches of skin from his victims. She knew if they found out the reason then the case would heat up, but her mind was at the end of its road. She didn't have anywhere else to go. Why did he choose Paula and Melissa? What was it about them? Was it just by chance? He'd see a girl, she'd maybe glance in his direction and then he'd get annoyed when they didn't respond to his attentions? So he'd abduct them, rape them and kill them? Take a piece of their skin as a souvenir? It didn't make sense to her – but, then again, it was a rare occasion when Sara Sidle understood the reasons behind the violent crimes she worked to solve.
Her mind was miles away when her treadmill reached the 30-minute mark that she had punched in to begin with, and didn't notice that it was automatically slowing down. She suddenly lurched forward and almost fell off the treadmill before jumping off the machine and catching her balance on the floor. There was a moment where it felt as if the floor was actually moving, but it soon dissipated and she released her clutch of the handles of the machine. Looking up, she caught the amused smile that the cute guy she'd secretly been appreciating before was giving her. She grinned back, a little embarrassed - she really had to stop making an ass of herself in front of hot guys - and moved out of the machines area of the gym and into the weights and bags area.
She'd half demolished the man-sized punching bag before she realised her phone was ringing. Stopping abruptly and taking another swig at her bottle of water, she crouched down at her bag and pulled out her phone.
"Hello?"
"Sara," the male voice on the phone called out to her.
"Hey Grissom" she said – maybe a little too brightly and still somewhat out of breath from her fight with the bag.
"We've got another one. Where are you?"
Sara closed her eyes against the anger that boiled inside her. Another Victim. "I'm at the gym – on Westmore Street, I ran here - can you pick me up on your way?"
"Sure, I'll be there in 10 – is that okay?"
"That's fine Grissom, I'll see you then," she hung up her phone, gathered her belongings together and rushed into the change rooms.
TBC