Lines
Chapter Four
Catherine wept in the locker room.
Her cheek was still burning both from Warrick's touch and the flush that seized it. Why did he have to do that? So many thoughts and feelings ran through her body and mind just from his light caress. What she was feeling for him now went beyond platonic and that was exactly what she was afraid of. After so many years, she was finally in tune to her affection for him.
Seeing him now, she knew that what she was feeling was genuine. Warrick was mature, responsible, accountable, loving and gentle. A complete difference from what he used to be just a few short years before when he was still fairly young and with different priorities.
But she couldn't think about him right now. She had to pull herself together and think about her daughter. Lindsay tried her hand at school today, and she pretty well. Catherine assisted her with makeup work and prepared her things for the weekend with her cousins. Lindsay always enjoyed staying with her cousins.
For the most part, Catherine was proud of her daughter for trying so hard to be brave through her father's death. It was hard enough for Catherine to completely get over it because in the back of her mind somewhere, she still wondered if she and Eddie could have tried again. If she would have relented and let him back into her life. The answer to that question always eluded her because in her mind, if he was abusive toward her once, he would surely do it again and she couldn't put her daughter and herself in that position again.
When he died, however, she displaced her anger onto Sara, who wasn't able to close the case completely because of conflicting stories and evidence. Catherine knew that it wasn't the younger woman's fault, but Sara bore the brunt of her anger and criticism and for a moment, Catherine wondered if she had contributed to Sara's predicament.
Sara took her job very seriously and she always took cases personally. She noticed the woman's drastic changes and withdrawal. Sara was desperately seeking approval for something, and Catherine could not give that to her by just being her friend, so she avoided Sara often.
Catherine wiped her tears and ran her fingers through her hair. Just then, Sara, of all people, walked into the locker room.
"Hey Cath," she said, concern filling her voice. "What's the matter?"
"I'm just thinking," she whispered as she got up. "I'll see you later Sara."
"Okay," she said quietly. "Feel better Catherine."
Catherine grinned a little before heading out.
Her anger then turned to her wooden crate of an office. It was cramped and uncomfortable and she and Grissom needed to have a talk about that. Lately, he'd been ignoring her and avoiding the issue.
She was startled by two other people in her office.
"Hey!" She yelled in surprise.
Warrick and Nick turned around.
"What are you two doing in my office?" She asked. "It was locked."
"No it wasn't," Nick said. "Your keys are right here."
He jingled them for effect.
"Oh," she sighed. "Well, this is my cardboard box."
Warrick chuckled.
"Aren't you just a little bit grateful?" He asked. "This is a perk."
"Oh, yeah," she said sarcastically, pushing both men aside to get to her desk. "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Nick chuckled.
"Spoken like a true supervisor in training," he laughed.
Catherine glared at him.
"You have ten seconds to tell me what you need," she growled.
Warrick broke in.
"We were looking for some file folders," he said.
"Why don't you look in Grissom's office?" She asked.
"Cause it's Grissom's office," Nick quipped. "He can't even find what he's looking for in there."
Catherine smirked and went to her neatly organized file drawers and pulled out three extra file folders.
"I should start charging," she said as she handed over the folders.
"Aw, where's your sense of charity?" Nick asked.
"Out," she commanded.
Nick left but Warrick stayed behind.
"What are you waiting for?" She chuckled.
"I just wanted to ask you if you're feeling better," he started. "You were pretty broken up a while ago."
"Oh," she sighed in remembrance. "I'm getting there. You know, rehashing."
He nodded and took in her appearance. She had stopped crying not too long ago. Her eyes were red and puffy and she had mussed eyeliner. She had not reapplied as of yet, and he figured that he and Nick had interrupted her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.
"No, I'm over it," she said, waving a hand of dismissal.
"Are you sure?" He asked.
Catherine glared at him, cursing his perceptiveness. But she did need to get a lot of things off of her chest and she knew that he would be the only person who would understand. With that, her glare softened and she relented to the idea of talking.
"I do need to talk," she sighed. "But not here."
"Do you want to go get some dinner after shift?" He asked.
Catherine felt her heart skip a few beats momentarily at his question. She'd never shared a meal with just him before. Usually, if she went for a meal it was with her other coworkers or just Grissom.
The air became thick between them and suddenly, the moment turned awkward.
Warrick feared that he may have struck a sensitive nerve within her. She had not answered his proposal for dinner and she just stood and looked at him dumbly.
"Catherine?" He asked, bringing her from her panicked subconscious.
"Oh, right," she mumbled. "Yes, I'd like that very much."
Warrick regarded her strangely for a moment then he approached her.
"I'll meet you in the parking lot," he said.
Again, they were closer to each other than they should have been: in her office, with the door closed. Immediate scandal would ensue the moment he stepped out, but she didn't care one iota. Looking into his eyes, she saw something more than friendship darkening them. Little did she know that it was likewise on his end, looking down into her blue eyes. His breath on her face incited the same feelings as she remembered, and this time, her body reacted much more strongly due to his proximity.
Warrick felt the wave of desire he felt earlier when he caressed her cheek. Suddenly missing the feel of her soft cheek, he lifted his hand slowly to her flushed cheek and caressed teasingly, enjoying the reaction she gave him. She inhaled a ragged breath and closed her eyes. She felt herself slowly giving in to the years long temptation. Her heart pounded furiously within her chest; she could hear it in her ears and Warrick was close enough to where he could probably hear it too.
For some reason, they couldn't stop what they were doing; each was drowning out their rational voices in the backs of their minds. They had abandoned all reason and stopped thinking clearly, getting lost in a haze.
By now, their lips were barely touching, and Warrick had trailed his hand gently and slowly down from her cheek to the hollow of her creamy, sensual neck, to her shoulder, pushing aside her hair. The fingers of his other hand interlaced with hers.
"Warrick…"she whispered hotly.
A knock on the door caused them to step away from each other quickly. Catherine was feeling dizzy and flushed from their very close contact. Warrick took a few deep breaths to get himself under control again as the door opened.
It was Greg.
Just their luck.
"Hey guys I-" he stopped mid-sentence when he took in their appearances and their walking away from each other. Catherine had her hands on her hips and Warrick ran a hand over his face, which was showing some signs of perspiration. Catherine's face was flushed as well. "Heated debate?"
"Yeah, something like that," Catherine growled. "What do you want Greg?"
Greg gulped audibly and shook his head at their mood.
"Nothing, it can wait 'til later," he said then he quickly stepped out, closing the door behind him.
Catherine turned to face Warrick.
"We can't keep doing this," she whispered. "Besides, it would change everything."
Warrick sighed and took her hand again.
"Would that be a bad thing?" He asked.
She gave him no answer.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"You don't have to be sorry," she said. "It's just that, I don't know, it's been years Warrick and…"
She shook her head.
"Never mind," she said. "Let's just have dinner."
Warrick nodded.
"I'll see you later," he said, squeezing her hand before opening the door and heading down the hallway.