I have no idea what how the management in apartment complexes work…so don't eat me if I get this completely wrong. Thanks
Sara hummed to the music as she finished up the painting in her room.
It had been two days since she started, but yesterday she woke up with some bug and had spent the day lying around, now cursing her voice every time it squeaked.
It really sucked when your voice gave out on you. Luckily Grissom hadn't called her.
She was sure he'd have thought he had a wrong number when he heard the dark, husky and slightly squeaking voice of the person on the other end.
It also ruined her singing abilities and had resigned herself to humming along…although at some times she couldn't help herself. Evanescence, Lamb, and Ashlee Simpson did that to her.
Dipping her brush into the white paint she started another coat along the doorframe.
After this….she could relax, and then tonight, start putting her room back together.
She was set on going out again for more things. She never spent much money on herself…and she didn't have money to spend on other people. So she had a pretty hefty bank account. The most she spent a month was on her rent, utilities, take-out, and the occasional clothes shopping.
So…she knew she could spend a lot today and still have nothing to worry about…hell…Catherine could go on a shopping spring with her credit card and Sara would still have no worries.
Catherine….NO! Don't even start thinking about work…you've been in control of your mind for the past three days, don't let the lab take it over again.
20 minutes later she'd finished the painting and stood up and smiled as she surveyed the room.
The window was open, the white shades pulled up and the curtains held back.
It made the room look pleasant she decided. And the breeze was wonderful.
"Think I'll leave it open more often."
She put the lid back on the paint can and picked both of them up and headed out the door and to the kitchen.
Opening the cupboard under the sink, she pushed them to one side and shut the doors.
She took a bottle of water out of the fridge and went into her room, got some clean clothes and went into the bathroom.
After throwing the empty bottle of water away, she grabbed her purse, her keys and headed out.
Sunday was always a nice day to her it seemed. She remembered how her family would get up early in the morning, have a nice breakfast and head off to church.
She'd been very involved in the High school group as a teenager, but when she got into college, she took so many classes and had so much homework to where she had no time for anything.
She hadn't been in church for the past two years. Going once in a great while when she had a Sunday off at the lab. It had seemed like the right thing to do.
She believed in God, but….she didn't think you had to attend church all the time to be a Christian, reading your bible was good and praying, but…in the past year, she'd totally neglected it, deeply resenting him for the hell she was going through.
Now she was wondering why she had let herself get that way.
She smiled as she recalled a Christian radio station she had first listened to when she moved here…and over time it had turned into either being CD or rock stations that she listened to.
Turning the dial on the radio she found the station and smiled as the sweet voice of Josh Groban poured through her speakers.
She hadn't listened to him in a long time.
Arriving at the mall, she cut the engine and got out. As she walked away she pressed the lock button and smiled to herself when she heard it beep.
The first shop she hit was a candle store. She'd always loved candles, but never really thought to waste her time buying them. She was never home, so why bother having a lot of unused, candle's around the apt.
Buying a few old, vintage looking stands, some small shelves, and a few hooks, she brought an assortment of candles. From Vanilla to Blackberry, and even a few sticks of incense.
As she walked out with the large bag full of her purchases she smiled to herself.
Shopping is calming; hell…walking around in here, just looking at the pretty things is calming. I don't indulge myself often, but…I guess every once in a while its okay.
Deciding that once her room was finished, she'd hold off on shopping for a while again, she walked into a linens store and found a large, fluffy white comforter that felt so soft.
Buying that, some sheets, and a few throw pillows, all white, she paid for her things and headed out the car.
She'd forgotten her cell in the car and opened it up to see a message for her.
"Let me guess…" She muttered as she pushed the button for the message to play and held it up to her ear.
"Hi Sara, it's Grissom.
Just wanted to see how you were doing and if you wanted to join the team tomorrow morning for an early breakfast. They all miss you and want to say 'Hi.'
Again, no worries…they have no idea why you're taking this vacation, other than, I thought it would be best and that you reluctantly gave in."
Sara burst out laughing.
Yeah….don't you sound smug.
"Anyways….call me back whenever you get this and hopefully by then the guys will have figured out where exactly we're going. Bye,"
Sara smiled as she took the phone from her ear.
Amazingly, she was quite excited to get to see everyone and grateful to Grissom for covering so much for her.
She thought it over a moment, deciding that if she said no, she'd again spend the day having done nothing, but if she said yes, then maybe the day would turn out a little brighter.
Sara made her decision, and nodded her head as she pressed the speed dial for Grissom's cell phone.
"Grissom"
"Hi."
"Oh…hey Sara. How are you?"
Sara smiled.
"Oh…uh…just fine thanks."
"Something wrong with your voice? Or is it me?"
"No…I got a bit of a cold the other night…it was a one day thing, but my voice is still kinda funny."
"Ahh…I see. So, do you want to come to breakfast with the team tomorrow?"
"Yeah.."
Sara winced at the squeak in her voice and could hear a low laugh on the line.
She took her voice down a notch and said quietly, "Yeah…I mean….its better than spending the day laying around doing nothing."
"Okay….the guys decided we'd go to our usual, so meet us there about eight o' clock."
"Eight o' clock. Okay…see you then."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
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Pushing the door to the restaurant open, Sara scanned the room for Grissom's face.
She heard the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the glass divider and moved to the other side to see Catherine pushing the fork of eggs Warrick was holding close to her face away.
"I've got my own food. Eat your own or you won't get any dessert."
"Oh but Mom…why not?" Warrick said in a high voice.
Sara grinned and as she took a few steps towards the table, Greg turned a little in his chair to see her and screamed her name, jumping up and practically running at her.
Everyone turned to see him envelope her in a bear hug.
She had a slight grin on her face, but was also saying in a high squeaky voice for him to let her go and put her down.
Finally he pulled back when he heard Grissom call his name scoldingly, but with a smile on his face.
He let Sara down and when he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the table she pushed her hair back around her ear.
Nick was standing, and gave her a hug, then Warrick, then everyone sat down.
"We need a waitress!" Greg yelled at one that was passing by, and she nodded her head and went on to what she was doing.
Greg turned back to Sara, as she pulled a chair up next to his at the end of the booth and braced herself for the 50 questions she was about to have spouted at her.
She looked up to see Grissom smiling softly at her.
"So….watcha been up to Sara?" Greg asked Sara.
"Oh….not much..I…"
Just then a waitress appeared, extended a menu, which she politely refused and gave her order to the waitress. The waitress asked if anyone needed their coffee mugs refilled or needed anything, and when everyone said that they were good to go, she smiled and walked off.
Greg still looked at her expectantly, as did the rest of the team.
"I uh…haven't done much really. I bought paint a few days ago, repainted my room, bought some new things and just finished putting it together last night and today. So…now I have a new room."
"That's great. What color did you paint it?" Catherine interjected.
"Dark red…with white trim."
"Dark red…someone's moody." Nick said with a smirk on his face.
Sara wrinkled her nose at him. "Shut up Nick."
He smiled and then Sara was drilled a bit more about her vacation. Finally her food arrived and she ate silently as everyone went on talking. Mostly about cases, then the guys started fighting about something.
An hour later everyone was getting up and saying goodbye.
Sara received a few hugs from the boys, a pat on the shoulder and a smile from Cath and last but not least, Sara and Grissom stood alone in the parking lot, watching as everyone drove off home.
After a moment she turned to Grissom and smiled lightly.
"Thanks for inviting me. I've been quite bored lately. This at least took a few hours out of the day."
"Your welcome. So….all you've done so far is paint?"
"Yeah…not much else to do. I mean…I am planning to go hang out at a water park in two weeks when they open, but other than that, I have no plans whatsoever."
"Oh…how about…um…some time this week we go out for coffee and talk about things. Catch up a little."
Sara felt a panic rising in her. It was excited, scared, and a frightened panic.
"Um…"
Grissom looked out into the parking lot for a moment, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"If you don't want to Sara that's okay. I just thought…maybe you wanted someone to talk to. We used to talk…before….I screwed things up, but…I would like to go back to the way we used to be, if you want to."
Sara looked at him incredulously. He was turned away from her, looking out into the parking lot still.
What is happening here?
Grissom turned a little and looked at her, seeing her looking down at the sidewalk.
He sighed and nodded his head slightly.
Pulling his hands from his pockets he rubbed his hand over his beard and then let his hands fall to his sides.
"Well…I guess I'll go. You probably have some things to do." He slowly started to move away, but Sara's head came up and before she knew what she was doing she reached out for his hand and grasped it.
Grissom turned back and was facing her in a flash.
He was looking down into her face, and her eyes were drawn to his.
Suddenly he blinked and the spell was broken. She realized she was still gripping his fingers in hers and slowly let go and took a small step back.
She looked down at the ground, the back up at him.
His eyes were on her face, and she smiled softly and said, "Yeah…I'd…I'd like that. I'd like to talk to you."
His eyes seemed to change a bit and he twitched a small smiled. "Okay..I'll call you when I figure out my schedule today."
"Yeah. Okay…."
Sara swallowed and took a step back.
"Talk to you later."
She smiled and turned to walk away, but heard his soft voice say her name.
She slowly turned around to see him smiling.
"I'm glad you came this morning."
Sara smirked and nodded her head.
"Me too."
He then smiled and turned around and headed for his car.
Sara stood glued to the spot and as he got into the Denali, she shook herself and turned around and walked to her car.
Putting her seat belt on, she opened the mirror and looked at herself. The large grin consuming her face made her laugh.
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' …..We are sorry to inform you that this apartment complex has fallen into bankruptcy and will be shut down. All residents are expected to remove their things and be gone in two weeks. We are sorry for the bereavement…."
Sara stared in anger at the letter in front of her. Being evicted from her home of all things was the last thing she needed right now.
Moments ago she had a smile on her face when she told Grissom she'd meet him at Starbucks the next morning for coffee, but reaching for the pile of mail on her coffee table was something she wished she hadn't done until after she'd gotten home from that.
Should she cancel now to tell him she had to start hunting for a new apartment or go on with it and tell him about it during their meeting tomorrow?
"Hell…I am not gonna cancel that…I'll just…deal with it later. It should be easy to find a new place…this is Vegas after all, there's new apartment complexes and home's going up for sale everyday."
Homes Sara thought suddenly.
She'd never bought a real house. Had told herself that the first house she would probably ever own would be the one she moved into with a husband.
She scoffed and laughed at herself for ever thinking that. At this rate, she was never going to get married.
But…why should that keep me from buying a house. I can certainly afford it, and…I'm always telling myself how I wish I had more space…
Sara shook her head and decided instead of just think about it, she would go do something about it. Apartments would now be a second choice, she now had her heart set on a house. A small one. She'd always wanted a garden. Something to keep her busy. A distraction, as Grissom had so often told her she needed.
For that moment the worry went away, but as she walked out the door and to her car, she knew that this might not be as easy as she hoped it would be.
Sara hummed to the music as she finished up the painting in her room.
It had been two days since she started, but yesterday she woke up with some bug and had spent the day lying around, now cursing her voice every time it squeaked.
It really sucked when your voice gave out on you. Luckily Grissom hadn't called her.
She was sure he'd have thought he had a wrong number when he heard the dark, husky and slightly squeaking voice of the person on the other end.
It also ruined her singing abilities and had resigned herself to humming along…although at some times she couldn't help herself. Evanescence, Lamb, and Ashlee Simpson did that to her.
Dipping her brush into the white paint she started another coat along the doorframe.
After this….she could relax, and then tonight, start putting her room back together.
She was set on going out again for more things. She never spent much money on herself…and she didn't have money to spend on other people. So she had a pretty hefty bank account. The most she spent a month was on her rent, utilities, take-out, and the occasional clothes shopping.
So…she knew she could spend a lot today and still have nothing to worry about…hell…Catherine could go on a shopping spring with her credit card and Sara would still have no worries.
Catherine….NO! Don't even start thinking about work…you've been in control of your mind for the past three days, don't let the lab take it over again.
20 minutes later she'd finished the painting and stood up and smiled as she surveyed the room.
The window was open, the white shades pulled up and the curtains held back.
It made the room look pleasant she decided. And the breeze was wonderful.
"Think I'll leave it open more often."
She put the lid back on the paint can and picked both of them up and headed out the door and to the kitchen.
Opening the cupboard under the sink, she pushed them to one side and shut the doors.
She took a bottle of water out of the fridge and went into her room, got some clean clothes and went into the bathroom.
After throwing the empty bottle of water away, she grabbed her purse, her keys and headed out.
Sunday was always a nice day to her it seemed. She remembered how her family would get up early in the morning, have a nice breakfast and head off to church.
She'd been very involved in the High school group as a teenager, but when she got into college, she took so many classes and had so much homework to where she had no time for anything.
She hadn't been in church for the past two years. Going once in a great while when she had a Sunday off at the lab. It had seemed like the right thing to do.
She believed in God, but….she didn't think you had to attend church all the time to be a Christian, reading your bible was good and praying, but…in the past year, she'd totally neglected it, deeply resenting him for the hell she was going through.
Now she was wondering why she had let herself get that way.
She smiled as she recalled a Christian radio station she had first listened to when she moved here…and over time it had turned into either being CD or rock stations that she listened to.
Turning the dial on the radio she found the station and smiled as the sweet voice of Josh Groban poured through her speakers.
She hadn't listened to him in a long time.
Arriving at the mall, she cut the engine and got out. As she walked away she pressed the lock button and smiled to herself when she heard it beep.
The first shop she hit was a candle store. She'd always loved candles, but never really thought to waste her time buying them. She was never home, so why bother having a lot of unused, candle's around the apt.
Buying a few old, vintage looking stands, some small shelves, and a few hooks, she brought an assortment of candles. From Vanilla to Blackberry, and even a few sticks of incense.
As she walked out with the large bag full of her purchases she smiled to herself.
Shopping is calming; hell…walking around in here, just looking at the pretty things is calming. I don't indulge myself often, but…I guess every once in a while its okay.
Deciding that once her room was finished, she'd hold off on shopping for a while again, she walked into a linens store and found a large, fluffy white comforter that felt so soft.
Buying that, some sheets, and a few throw pillows, all white, she paid for her things and headed out the car.
She'd forgotten her cell in the car and opened it up to see a message for her.
"Let me guess…" She muttered as she pushed the button for the message to play and held it up to her ear.
"Hi Sara, it's Grissom.
Just wanted to see how you were doing and if you wanted to join the team tomorrow morning for an early breakfast. They all miss you and want to say 'Hi.'
Again, no worries…they have no idea why you're taking this vacation, other than, I thought it would be best and that you reluctantly gave in."
Sara burst out laughing.
Yeah….don't you sound smug.
"Anyways….call me back whenever you get this and hopefully by then the guys will have figured out where exactly we're going. Bye,"
Sara smiled as she took the phone from her ear.
Amazingly, she was quite excited to get to see everyone and grateful to Grissom for covering so much for her.
She thought it over a moment, deciding that if she said no, she'd again spend the day having done nothing, but if she said yes, then maybe the day would turn out a little brighter.
Sara made her decision, and nodded her head as she pressed the speed dial for Grissom's cell phone.
"Grissom"
"Hi."
"Oh…hey Sara. How are you?"
Sara smiled.
"Oh…uh…just fine thanks."
"Something wrong with your voice? Or is it me?"
"No…I got a bit of a cold the other night…it was a one day thing, but my voice is still kinda funny."
"Ahh…I see. So, do you want to come to breakfast with the team tomorrow?"
"Yeah.."
Sara winced at the squeak in her voice and could hear a low laugh on the line.
She took her voice down a notch and said quietly, "Yeah…I mean….its better than spending the day laying around doing nothing."
"Okay….the guys decided we'd go to our usual, so meet us there about eight o' clock."
"Eight o' clock. Okay…see you then."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye."
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Pushing the door to the restaurant open, Sara scanned the room for Grissom's face.
She heard the sound of laughter coming from the other side of the glass divider and moved to the other side to see Catherine pushing the fork of eggs Warrick was holding close to her face away.
"I've got my own food. Eat your own or you won't get any dessert."
"Oh but Mom…why not?" Warrick said in a high voice.
Sara grinned and as she took a few steps towards the table, Greg turned a little in his chair to see her and screamed her name, jumping up and practically running at her.
Everyone turned to see him envelope her in a bear hug.
She had a slight grin on her face, but was also saying in a high squeaky voice for him to let her go and put her down.
Finally he pulled back when he heard Grissom call his name scoldingly, but with a smile on his face.
He let Sara down and when he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the table she pushed her hair back around her ear.
Nick was standing, and gave her a hug, then Warrick, then everyone sat down.
"We need a waitress!" Greg yelled at one that was passing by, and she nodded her head and went on to what she was doing.
Greg turned back to Sara, as she pulled a chair up next to his at the end of the booth and braced herself for the 50 questions she was about to have spouted at her.
She looked up to see Grissom smiling softly at her.
"So….watcha been up to Sara?" Greg asked Sara.
"Oh….not much..I…"
Just then a waitress appeared, extended a menu, which she politely refused and gave her order to the waitress. The waitress asked if anyone needed their coffee mugs refilled or needed anything, and when everyone said that they were good to go, she smiled and walked off.
Greg still looked at her expectantly, as did the rest of the team.
"I uh…haven't done much really. I bought paint a few days ago, repainted my room, bought some new things and just finished putting it together last night and today. So…now I have a new room."
"That's great. What color did you paint it?" Catherine interjected.
"Dark red…with white trim."
"Dark red…someone's moody." Nick said with a smirk on his face.
Sara wrinkled her nose at him. "Shut up Nick."
He smiled and then Sara was drilled a bit more about her vacation. Finally her food arrived and she ate silently as everyone went on talking. Mostly about cases, then the guys started fighting about something.
An hour later everyone was getting up and saying goodbye.
Sara received a few hugs from the boys, a pat on the shoulder and a smile from Cath and last but not least, Sara and Grissom stood alone in the parking lot, watching as everyone drove off home.
After a moment she turned to Grissom and smiled lightly.
"Thanks for inviting me. I've been quite bored lately. This at least took a few hours out of the day."
"Your welcome. So….all you've done so far is paint?"
"Yeah…not much else to do. I mean…I am planning to go hang out at a water park in two weeks when they open, but other than that, I have no plans whatsoever."
"Oh…how about…um…some time this week we go out for coffee and talk about things. Catch up a little."
Sara felt a panic rising in her. It was excited, scared, and a frightened panic.
"Um…"
Grissom looked out into the parking lot for a moment, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"If you don't want to Sara that's okay. I just thought…maybe you wanted someone to talk to. We used to talk…before….I screwed things up, but…I would like to go back to the way we used to be, if you want to."
Sara looked at him incredulously. He was turned away from her, looking out into the parking lot still.
What is happening here?
Grissom turned a little and looked at her, seeing her looking down at the sidewalk.
He sighed and nodded his head slightly.
Pulling his hands from his pockets he rubbed his hand over his beard and then let his hands fall to his sides.
"Well…I guess I'll go. You probably have some things to do." He slowly started to move away, but Sara's head came up and before she knew what she was doing she reached out for his hand and grasped it.
Grissom turned back and was facing her in a flash.
He was looking down into her face, and her eyes were drawn to his.
Suddenly he blinked and the spell was broken. She realized she was still gripping his fingers in hers and slowly let go and took a small step back.
She looked down at the ground, the back up at him.
His eyes were on her face, and she smiled softly and said, "Yeah…I'd…I'd like that. I'd like to talk to you."
His eyes seemed to change a bit and he twitched a small smiled. "Okay..I'll call you when I figure out my schedule today."
"Yeah. Okay…."
Sara swallowed and took a step back.
"Talk to you later."
She smiled and turned to walk away, but heard his soft voice say her name.
She slowly turned around to see him smiling.
"I'm glad you came this morning."
Sara smirked and nodded her head.
"Me too."
He then smiled and turned around and headed for his car.
Sara stood glued to the spot and as he got into the Denali, she shook herself and turned around and walked to her car.
Putting her seat belt on, she opened the mirror and looked at herself. The large grin consuming her face made her laugh.
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' …..We are sorry to inform you that this apartment complex has fallen into bankruptcy and will be shut down. All residents are expected to remove their things and be gone in two weeks. We are sorry for the bereavement…."
Sara stared in anger at the letter in front of her. Being evicted from her home of all things was the last thing she needed right now.
Moments ago she had a smile on her face when she told Grissom she'd meet him at Starbucks the next morning for coffee, but reaching for the pile of mail on her coffee table was something she wished she hadn't done until after she'd gotten home from that.
Should she cancel now to tell him she had to start hunting for a new apartment or go on with it and tell him about it during their meeting tomorrow?
"Hell…I am not gonna cancel that…I'll just…deal with it later. It should be easy to find a new place…this is Vegas after all, there's new apartment complexes and home's going up for sale everyday."
Homes Sara thought suddenly.
She'd never bought a real house. Had told herself that the first house she would probably ever own would be the one she moved into with a husband.
She scoffed and laughed at herself for ever thinking that. At this rate, she was never going to get married.
But…why should that keep me from buying a house. I can certainly afford it, and…I'm always telling myself how I wish I had more space…
Sara shook her head and decided instead of just think about it, she would go do something about it. Apartments would now be a second choice, she now had her heart set on a house. A small one. She'd always wanted a garden. Something to keep her busy. A distraction, as Grissom had so often told her she needed.
For that moment the worry went away, but as she walked out the door and to her car, she knew that this might not be as easy as she hoped it would be.