Chapter Three- Dinner
It was the day after their first day in the field, and Gil was at Chez Pierre, a restaurant near the college. It was late in the evening, and he was there to meet his friend, who happened to be on the case. He was there early, like always. He had his hand on his coat, the other on the bagged evidence. Finally, he heard a waitress and his friend approach the table. "Gil Grissom." He felt his friend slide into the seat next to him.
"Conrad Ecklie," he sighed. "Long time, no see. How's the case?" He asked with a smirk. He knew Exactly how the case was. He didn't wait for a response. "I believe this may interest you." He said, handing him the envelope, along with a nice view of his widening grin. Ecklie slowly opened the envelope, and then he looked up.
"Is this some kind of a joke?" Ecklie asked curious, yet a little angry.
"Wasn't one of your suspects a twenty-six year old female?" he saw Ecklie rack his brain for answers. "Eck, We went to the field in your case, as you know yesterday." He nodded. "Sara, one of my students, came across the nail. We went through the report, and found out she was strangled." He finished up and smirked. I still got it, he thought, and then realized something. No, Sara got it. Recently. "So?" he asked, waiting for a thank you. Instead, his old friend Ecklie surprised him.
"So what?" He stated, like it was open and shut. "Gris, the man has been committed. Do you have any idea what would happen to my career if I came forth with this evidence?" Hearing these words made Gil want to get up and beat on Ecklie 'til his hand hurt. But, being the man he was, he didn't. He gave it one last thought when he felt his hand twitch. He sipped his iced tea instead.
"You're telling me you would rather let an innocent man go to prison for life, than put a dent in your career?!" His face was red.
"Gris, I would love to save what's-his-face's life, but it isn't that simple." He calmly sipped his coffee, as if they were talking about the weather. "End of discussion. So…how's life in college?" Gil almost flew out the door. But he didn't. He laid down his money, then flew out the door.
Gil slowly dragged his feet up the steps of the college. Once inside his quaint classroom he pulled out his personal CD player. He pulled on the headphones and let the opera take him away. He leaned back in the chair for a moment…
"Professor Grissom?" She shook him lightly. He mumbled, so she shook him a little harder. "Grissom?" Still no response. She figured she had to take drastic actions, so she set her jacket on the chair. She walked up behind him, and said his name one more time. She then made her hand flat, her long nails showing. She moved her hand over to his side and poked.
"Ahhhh!" He jumped up in his chair. She jumped back, and chuckled. Somehow, seeing her proper college professor act like his little brother had attacked him when he was 10, tickled her funny bone.
"I hope this doesn't lower my grade," Sara joked. Gil caught his breath and managed a laugh, too. "Umm…did you sleep here?" She smirked.
"Umm…well…yes." He smiled slightly. He looked at the clock on the wall. He had an hour and a half before class started…so why was Sara there? "Sara, you do realize how early you are. Right?"
"Yes. My roommate got a call yesterday…they've been talking ever since. I planned to come here and read. When you got here…I thought you could tell me what happened, too." She stopped and looked at him. "So…what happened?" He saw her eyes light up. He didn't want to do this. "Sara, I know you want to become a CSI, and you love forensics, but…" He trailed off. He knew how excited she was about the case.
"But…" She filled in. what didn't he want to tell her?
"But…well…there's another part of being a CSI. Some believe, that you have to keep a certain political career up." He stopped.
"Griss, you don't have to talk to me like a 6 year-old. I'm a grown adult, and I know all this stuff." She said it firmly, yet explanatory.
"Ok. Sara, He won't." was all he said, tossing the bag of evidence on the table and turning his chair to the side.
"He won't?" She picked up the bag, not understanding.
"Sara, he won't turn in the evidence. He won't admit that he missed something. He won't admit an intelligent woman beat him to it. He won't." He took off his glasses, and put his head on his fist, leaned back in his chair, and frowned. "I'm sorry."
"Oh." She looked away. "I'm going to leave." She picked up her jacket, and headed for the door.
"Sara, can I do anything?" He asked concerned.
She looked at him. "Let me take the day off." She looked as if she was about to cry.
"But, Sara…today we-" He was cut off.
"Please." She just looked at him for approval. He figured she could. She needed a day to figure it out. He wanted her to be happy again. He nodded and she flew out the door.
He had managed to make it through the day. He decided she was the kind of person who put work first, so she would be back tomorrow. He decided to go to the library to check out a book. Ever since Sara talked about "Pride and Prejudice" Gil wanted to read it again. He headed to the "Classics" section of the library. He was scanning through, thinking he could always check out a couple of them. He went through, and pulled it out. He glanced at the back and heard a voice from next to him.
"I see you felt a little dusty." She smirked. Gil full out smiled. "Thanks for letting me have the day off. I feel a little better now." She leaned over and pulled out a book.
Gil noticed the book in her hands. "You're welcome. I guess you found you needed a review, too." He said as he motioned to Moby Dick. He glanced at his watch. It was 8:00. "Have you eaten yet?" he asked, hoping it didn't sound too much like he was asking her out. He saw the corners of her mouth curl up in a smile.
"No. Actually, I know this great diner down the street. Up for it?" She crossed her arms, looking impatient.
"Sounds good." He motioned to the books. "First let's check these out."
"Then let's go to dinner!"