Previously:
She let Grissom pull her up and she composed herself. He then led her up the stairs to their room, with a tiny smile on his face, still thinking about her arms flying up in the air. Both declined the offer of help with their bags. Grissom stopped near the top of the wide staircase, just in front of Catherine. He turned to her, his smile starting to widen on his face and she looked up at him, anticipating his inevitable comment.
"Oh, Cath? You know we're sharing a room, right?"
Chapter 9 - The Beginnings of Simon
May 8th - 5pm
Hotel
"Again?" She replied, probably with a little too much satisfaction evident in her voice.
Grissom turned from her and carried on walking up the steps.
"I couldn't change it to two rooms. When you told me you were coming too, I tried to get separate ones but there are just too many people booked into this hotel."
"What makes you think I mind?"
Catherine's comment made Grissom turn his head back to her as he continued to walk up the steps. He was shocked that Catherine had actually voiced those words, ok she *was* *flirting* with him, but she had just said what he was thinking.
Grissom wasn't watching where he was going because of the distraction that was Catherine. The end of his shoe caught on one of the steps and he tripped, only just managing to break his fall by moving his hands in front of him to support his weight as he fell.
"Am I too much for you, Grissom?"
Catherine chuckled, walking past his body which was spread out on the steps as he manoeuvred himself in order to stand, making no effort to help him up.
May 8th - 5:30pm
Outside Hotel Restaurant
"My God! What are you going to order?"
The large menu was placed at the entrance of the hotel restaurant, and Catherine was staring at it, utterly shocked by the extortionate price of each and every meal. There was a short pause before Grissom replied.
"I've got a better idea."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the restaurant entrance. A short while later, Catherine found herself standing in a supermarket and felt a comment was much needed.
"Much more money friendly..." She added with a smirk, "very 'Grissom'."
Grissom whizzed around the aisles picking up the occasional item and throwing it into the trolley. Catherine, meanwhile, was stood relaxed in the magazine section, flicking through each one that grabbed her interest, paying no attention whatsoever to Grissom's manic shopping rush.
May 8th - 5:55pm
Outside Supermarket
Back in the street Grissom was going through the receipt as he and Catherine walked in the direction of the hotel.
"I didn't buy this."
His voice pitched higher as he spoke his statement.
"Wait here, Catherine."
Without waiting for a response Grissom turned back to the supermarket. He had conveniently stopped by black metal railing that lead to a beautiful park. There were benches around the outside of a fairly large field, and in the centre was a modern looking playground where a few children, who had been allowed to stay in the park later than usual by their parents, played merrily. Catherine sat down, watching the parents with their children and suddenly had an overwhelming urge to see Lindsey. Her intense viewing of the movement in the park caused the fact that Grissom had slipped instead into the shop next to the supermarket, to go completely unnoticed by her, as did the figure who parked himself next to her on the bench.
"Your child over there?"
She sat back with a slight jerk and turned to discover an incredibly handsome gentleman next to her. He was clad in a dark suit with dark blonde, styled messy hair and a stunning tan. She could not resist the impulse to reply.
"Who's asking?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Simon. Simon Harris. May I have the pleasure of your name?"
Catherine looked across and answered.
"Catherine. And no, I don't have a child in the park. I'm not from round here."
"Really? You look like you fit in." At Catherine's sceptical expression, Simon decided to change the subject. "How old is your child?"
"I don't recall ever saying that I had one."
"Uh huh." There was a pause of confusion as Simon Harris thought back. She was right, it was never explicit that she had a child. Once again, he tried another topic. "So... you here on business or personal?"
"I suppose you could say both."
"You don't give much away do you?"
"You know my name. What more do you need to know about a complete stranger?"
"Was that a hint for me to leave?" Simon, noting Catherine's cold responses, started to stand. "Sorry to bother you Ma'am, but I couldn't resist. You took my breath away."
He said this very matter-of-factly, no cheesy, cringe-worthy pick up line. This intrigued Catherine; she wanted to talk to him a little more.
"Wait. Look, I'm just a very wary person." There was no apology in her remark. She didn't feel the need; she hadn't been rude, just careful. Catherine saw everyday what happened to people who weren't cautious and there was no way she was going to end up like any of those victims.
Simon sat back down and began to talk, having no fear of divulging himself to the stunning woman beside him.
"...I live here. Pretty close by actually. I've organised a reunion at the hotel for tonight with everyone back, *way* back, in my final school year. My daughter is staying with her mother... we're divorced."
Catherine, still refraining from giving any of herself away, replied,
"A reunion? Do you know-"
"*Daddy*!" A screaming child ran towards the man next to Catherine, who now held a huge smile on his face. His whole attention was diverted from Catherine as his daughter ran into his arms.
"Hey kiddo. You ready to go see Mommy?"
An eager nod by the dark haired child followed this question. Simon Harris stood up with the child in his arms and turned to Catherine.
"Listen, if you want to come tonight, it's at the hotel, 'La Curaith'. I'd like to see you again if you don't object."
Catherine smiled knowingly.
"I have no doubt we will bump into each other very soon, Mr. Harris."
"Simon."
"Right, Simon." Catherine said with a smile.
The tall figure walked off leaving Catherine staring after him, now even more desperate to see her daughter.
"Let's go," the whisper came to her ear five minutes later. Catherine turned and smiled, standing up, she let Grissom lead her back to the hotel.
May 8th - 7:15pm
2 Miles From Hotel
"It's late, Grissom and I'm hungry."
Grissom had dragged Catherine back to their hotel room, building up her hopes about finally being about to eat something, only to drag her back out after he had done some fiddling around with the food he had bought.
"When are we going to eat something?"
"Round about... ... ... now."
Grissom spun around in the middle of a large deserted park with what seemed like acres and acres of grass surrounding a single set of swings, a climbing frame and one slide. Catherine was reminded of the park that she had previously seen, only this one was less modern and had a lot more grassland to it.
Catherine stood with her arms folded and tapped her foot as she watched Grissom put the basket of food down but do nothing with it.
"I'm sure I'll appreciate your efforts much more when I'm eating, Grissom."
Grissom chuckled and spread out a blanket on the flat ground. He stepped away and gestured towards it.
"After you, Ms Willows."
Catherine stepped onto the blanket and sat down quickly, cross-legged, all too ready to devour a ton of food. Grissom joined her and opened the food basket, passing Catherine her bagel, with cream cheese on a red plastic plate, and opening his own; pasta in sauce.
Catherine shoved the bagel into her mouth only swallowing briefly before the next bite. Mouth full, she said,
"Mmm, this is gorgeous, Grissom." She eyed up his food; curious as to whether his would be equally heavenly. "Can I have a bit of yours?"
Grissom offered a fork full of pasta to her and, with Grissom still holding the fork, Catherine wrapped her hand around his to steady it as she took the mouthful.
In a sudden flash movement, Grissom's other hand dashed to Catherine's bagel and he took a huge bite, laughing as he heard her loud, "Hey!"
Bagel back on her plastic plate, she looked at him briefly, contemplating her next movement, but not thinking about it enough to stop herself.
Her hand went to the side of his mouth where some of the cream cheese had escaped. Slowly she brushed her finger across his cheek, picking up the filling skilfully as she did so. Then she did something that surprised them both. Her finger kept going and Grissom subconsciously separated his lips, allowing her finger to slip inside his mouth as he sucked the cream cheese off it. Catherine could feel his tongue lick around her finger, using a slow but stimulating rhythm. The sensation caused her eyes to flutter closed and a deep, throaty sigh to escape her lips. He kept her finger there for longer than they both knew he needed to, savouring the taste of Catherine and relishing how erotic he could see she was finding it.
As Grissom steadily released her finger from his lips, Catherine felt the air against it, creating a cold blanket around the moist area. She opened her eyes to look into his and, still keeping his eye contact, her finger slowly went up to her own mouth. She carefully and gradually, not to mention extremely seductively for Grissom, slipped it inside and allowed him to see her tongue move over it; this time it was her tasting him.
The rest of the food was eaten in a peaceful silence, with the occasional general chat, and found Catherine and Grissom laying on the blanket staring up at the sky with a container of strawberries between them being removed from their packet one by one.
"You never told me, Gil - who was the person organising your reunion?"
"He's called Simon."
"Simon Harris, by any chance?"
"Yeh. Why? How did you know?"
"I met him earlier today. How come you never mentioned him? First impressions, he seems like a really decent man." She added, "and not bad looking either."
She flashed a dazzling smile at him, which faded quickly when she saw his expression.
"Something wrong, Gil?"
"No." This wasn't said harshly, and it was very believable, but Catherine knew it was insincere. "Let's get back. It's getting late."
Walking back to the hotel, Grissom held the picnic basket in his outside hand so as not to bump it against Catherine's leg. Although the day had been hot, the air was refreshing and the walk home was slow and relaxing for them both. Catherine was speculating on their previous conversation when she felt a hand delicately, almost nervously, slip into her own. She didn't look at Grissom, but glanced away, smiling as she wrapped her own fingers between his. Their different conversations back to the hotel were as usual, but, without a word on the subject, their hands stayed together.
They made their way unhurried to their hotel room, the closer they got, the more the nervous excitement built up inside them both. Catherine could feel her stomach begin to flutter as they reached the door to their room. She couldn't predict what was about to take place; how could she? As soon as they were in the room, Grissom turned to her, her back to the door as she clicked it closed.
"Grissom?"
* * * * *
Sorry it took so long for this one to get up there. I hope it was worth it. Thanks for reading. Please review :o) Part 10 coming up... - Cath
She let Grissom pull her up and she composed herself. He then led her up the stairs to their room, with a tiny smile on his face, still thinking about her arms flying up in the air. Both declined the offer of help with their bags. Grissom stopped near the top of the wide staircase, just in front of Catherine. He turned to her, his smile starting to widen on his face and she looked up at him, anticipating his inevitable comment.
"Oh, Cath? You know we're sharing a room, right?"
Chapter 9 - The Beginnings of Simon
May 8th - 5pm
Hotel
"Again?" She replied, probably with a little too much satisfaction evident in her voice.
Grissom turned from her and carried on walking up the steps.
"I couldn't change it to two rooms. When you told me you were coming too, I tried to get separate ones but there are just too many people booked into this hotel."
"What makes you think I mind?"
Catherine's comment made Grissom turn his head back to her as he continued to walk up the steps. He was shocked that Catherine had actually voiced those words, ok she *was* *flirting* with him, but she had just said what he was thinking.
Grissom wasn't watching where he was going because of the distraction that was Catherine. The end of his shoe caught on one of the steps and he tripped, only just managing to break his fall by moving his hands in front of him to support his weight as he fell.
"Am I too much for you, Grissom?"
Catherine chuckled, walking past his body which was spread out on the steps as he manoeuvred himself in order to stand, making no effort to help him up.
May 8th - 5:30pm
Outside Hotel Restaurant
"My God! What are you going to order?"
The large menu was placed at the entrance of the hotel restaurant, and Catherine was staring at it, utterly shocked by the extortionate price of each and every meal. There was a short pause before Grissom replied.
"I've got a better idea."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the restaurant entrance. A short while later, Catherine found herself standing in a supermarket and felt a comment was much needed.
"Much more money friendly..." She added with a smirk, "very 'Grissom'."
Grissom whizzed around the aisles picking up the occasional item and throwing it into the trolley. Catherine, meanwhile, was stood relaxed in the magazine section, flicking through each one that grabbed her interest, paying no attention whatsoever to Grissom's manic shopping rush.
May 8th - 5:55pm
Outside Supermarket
Back in the street Grissom was going through the receipt as he and Catherine walked in the direction of the hotel.
"I didn't buy this."
His voice pitched higher as he spoke his statement.
"Wait here, Catherine."
Without waiting for a response Grissom turned back to the supermarket. He had conveniently stopped by black metal railing that lead to a beautiful park. There were benches around the outside of a fairly large field, and in the centre was a modern looking playground where a few children, who had been allowed to stay in the park later than usual by their parents, played merrily. Catherine sat down, watching the parents with their children and suddenly had an overwhelming urge to see Lindsey. Her intense viewing of the movement in the park caused the fact that Grissom had slipped instead into the shop next to the supermarket, to go completely unnoticed by her, as did the figure who parked himself next to her on the bench.
"Your child over there?"
She sat back with a slight jerk and turned to discover an incredibly handsome gentleman next to her. He was clad in a dark suit with dark blonde, styled messy hair and a stunning tan. She could not resist the impulse to reply.
"Who's asking?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Simon. Simon Harris. May I have the pleasure of your name?"
Catherine looked across and answered.
"Catherine. And no, I don't have a child in the park. I'm not from round here."
"Really? You look like you fit in." At Catherine's sceptical expression, Simon decided to change the subject. "How old is your child?"
"I don't recall ever saying that I had one."
"Uh huh." There was a pause of confusion as Simon Harris thought back. She was right, it was never explicit that she had a child. Once again, he tried another topic. "So... you here on business or personal?"
"I suppose you could say both."
"You don't give much away do you?"
"You know my name. What more do you need to know about a complete stranger?"
"Was that a hint for me to leave?" Simon, noting Catherine's cold responses, started to stand. "Sorry to bother you Ma'am, but I couldn't resist. You took my breath away."
He said this very matter-of-factly, no cheesy, cringe-worthy pick up line. This intrigued Catherine; she wanted to talk to him a little more.
"Wait. Look, I'm just a very wary person." There was no apology in her remark. She didn't feel the need; she hadn't been rude, just careful. Catherine saw everyday what happened to people who weren't cautious and there was no way she was going to end up like any of those victims.
Simon sat back down and began to talk, having no fear of divulging himself to the stunning woman beside him.
"...I live here. Pretty close by actually. I've organised a reunion at the hotel for tonight with everyone back, *way* back, in my final school year. My daughter is staying with her mother... we're divorced."
Catherine, still refraining from giving any of herself away, replied,
"A reunion? Do you know-"
"*Daddy*!" A screaming child ran towards the man next to Catherine, who now held a huge smile on his face. His whole attention was diverted from Catherine as his daughter ran into his arms.
"Hey kiddo. You ready to go see Mommy?"
An eager nod by the dark haired child followed this question. Simon Harris stood up with the child in his arms and turned to Catherine.
"Listen, if you want to come tonight, it's at the hotel, 'La Curaith'. I'd like to see you again if you don't object."
Catherine smiled knowingly.
"I have no doubt we will bump into each other very soon, Mr. Harris."
"Simon."
"Right, Simon." Catherine said with a smile.
The tall figure walked off leaving Catherine staring after him, now even more desperate to see her daughter.
"Let's go," the whisper came to her ear five minutes later. Catherine turned and smiled, standing up, she let Grissom lead her back to the hotel.
May 8th - 7:15pm
2 Miles From Hotel
"It's late, Grissom and I'm hungry."
Grissom had dragged Catherine back to their hotel room, building up her hopes about finally being about to eat something, only to drag her back out after he had done some fiddling around with the food he had bought.
"When are we going to eat something?"
"Round about... ... ... now."
Grissom spun around in the middle of a large deserted park with what seemed like acres and acres of grass surrounding a single set of swings, a climbing frame and one slide. Catherine was reminded of the park that she had previously seen, only this one was less modern and had a lot more grassland to it.
Catherine stood with her arms folded and tapped her foot as she watched Grissom put the basket of food down but do nothing with it.
"I'm sure I'll appreciate your efforts much more when I'm eating, Grissom."
Grissom chuckled and spread out a blanket on the flat ground. He stepped away and gestured towards it.
"After you, Ms Willows."
Catherine stepped onto the blanket and sat down quickly, cross-legged, all too ready to devour a ton of food. Grissom joined her and opened the food basket, passing Catherine her bagel, with cream cheese on a red plastic plate, and opening his own; pasta in sauce.
Catherine shoved the bagel into her mouth only swallowing briefly before the next bite. Mouth full, she said,
"Mmm, this is gorgeous, Grissom." She eyed up his food; curious as to whether his would be equally heavenly. "Can I have a bit of yours?"
Grissom offered a fork full of pasta to her and, with Grissom still holding the fork, Catherine wrapped her hand around his to steady it as she took the mouthful.
In a sudden flash movement, Grissom's other hand dashed to Catherine's bagel and he took a huge bite, laughing as he heard her loud, "Hey!"
Bagel back on her plastic plate, she looked at him briefly, contemplating her next movement, but not thinking about it enough to stop herself.
Her hand went to the side of his mouth where some of the cream cheese had escaped. Slowly she brushed her finger across his cheek, picking up the filling skilfully as she did so. Then she did something that surprised them both. Her finger kept going and Grissom subconsciously separated his lips, allowing her finger to slip inside his mouth as he sucked the cream cheese off it. Catherine could feel his tongue lick around her finger, using a slow but stimulating rhythm. The sensation caused her eyes to flutter closed and a deep, throaty sigh to escape her lips. He kept her finger there for longer than they both knew he needed to, savouring the taste of Catherine and relishing how erotic he could see she was finding it.
As Grissom steadily released her finger from his lips, Catherine felt the air against it, creating a cold blanket around the moist area. She opened her eyes to look into his and, still keeping his eye contact, her finger slowly went up to her own mouth. She carefully and gradually, not to mention extremely seductively for Grissom, slipped it inside and allowed him to see her tongue move over it; this time it was her tasting him.
The rest of the food was eaten in a peaceful silence, with the occasional general chat, and found Catherine and Grissom laying on the blanket staring up at the sky with a container of strawberries between them being removed from their packet one by one.
"You never told me, Gil - who was the person organising your reunion?"
"He's called Simon."
"Simon Harris, by any chance?"
"Yeh. Why? How did you know?"
"I met him earlier today. How come you never mentioned him? First impressions, he seems like a really decent man." She added, "and not bad looking either."
She flashed a dazzling smile at him, which faded quickly when she saw his expression.
"Something wrong, Gil?"
"No." This wasn't said harshly, and it was very believable, but Catherine knew it was insincere. "Let's get back. It's getting late."
Walking back to the hotel, Grissom held the picnic basket in his outside hand so as not to bump it against Catherine's leg. Although the day had been hot, the air was refreshing and the walk home was slow and relaxing for them both. Catherine was speculating on their previous conversation when she felt a hand delicately, almost nervously, slip into her own. She didn't look at Grissom, but glanced away, smiling as she wrapped her own fingers between his. Their different conversations back to the hotel were as usual, but, without a word on the subject, their hands stayed together.
They made their way unhurried to their hotel room, the closer they got, the more the nervous excitement built up inside them both. Catherine could feel her stomach begin to flutter as they reached the door to their room. She couldn't predict what was about to take place; how could she? As soon as they were in the room, Grissom turned to her, her back to the door as she clicked it closed.
"Grissom?"
* * * * *
Sorry it took so long for this one to get up there. I hope it was worth it. Thanks for reading. Please review :o) Part 10 coming up... - Cath