Winter's Rime
Chapter Three
Sara was in the middle of a bubble bath when her phone rang, rudely destroying her relaxed mood. She prayed that it wasn't work as she leaned over to the toilet to pick up her cordless.
"Sidle," she said rather grouchily.
"Hey Sara, it's Alex."
"Oh," she said, her mood softening a bit. "Hey! I'm sorry for snapping into the phone. I thought work was calling me."
"Oh," he chuckled.
"So," Sara began. "You finally decided to call me."
"Yeah," he said. "What are you doing?"
"I'm taking a bath," Sara said, lowering her voice to a soft, sultry tone. "What are you doing?"
"Uh," he stammered. "Nothing in particular. I'm off tonight."
"Me too," Sara said.
"Do you want to go out to dinner?" He asked rather nervously.
"Yeah," Sara agreed. "But it's still early. Let's sit and talk for a bit while I soak."
She heard an unmistakable gulp on his end and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"Alex, you still there?" She asked.
He did not answer for a few seconds.
"Alex?" Sara inquired again.
"Sara?" He inquired. "You still there?"
"Yeah," she said. "What happened?"
Little did Sara know that Alex was sitting in his living room, desperately trying to keep himself under control. Sara was not helping with her smoky, seductive voice and the fact that she was soaking in a bath tub.
I shouldn't be thinking about her like this, he thought to himself. But Sara in a bathtub over the phone…stop!
, he thought to himself."Alex, I'm going to hang up," Sara threatened.
"No!" He protested. "I'm sorry. It's just you and the whole bubble bath thing is a little distracting."
"Well, then let's talk about something else," She said. "Anything interesting happen lately?"
"Well, yeah, but it involves my ex-wife, and you probably don't want to talk about that," he said.
"Alex, I just want you to know," she began. "You can talk to me about anything."
He sighed and began talking about his week. Sara found every part of him interesting, and she loved hearing his voice, hearing him laugh and get angry. She let him rant about his ugly divorce with his first wife and she helped him make sense of it.
"Thanks," he said gratefully. "I didn't mean to dump all that on you."
"Anytime," Sara said. "I can trust you, right?"
"Yeah," he said.
"Okay," Sara sighed.
Over the next thirty minutes, Sara would divulge everything about her relationship with Grissom and how it had affected her life thus far. He was patient and kind and he never interrupted her once.
"You're a good listener," she complimented.
"You too," he said back.
They both sat in silence for a few minutes before Sara began again.
"About that kiss last week," she started. "That was just…I don't know. Did you mind?"
"No," Alex said. "I think we both kind of played that card."
"Oh," Sara chuckled. "So, you don't think we're moving too fast?"
"Nope," he said. "So, where would you like to go for dinner?"
"There's this really nice restaurant called Dino's," Sara explained. "It has excellent Italian."
"Okay, Dino's it is," he said. "I've heard of that place before. Dress nice."
"I will," Sara said with a smile.
Sara felt uncomfortable in dresses, so she decided to find the sexiest pair of pants she owned and a sexy top to go with it. She didn't want to go out looking lackluster. She decided to wear the mango colored halter that Catherine had given her from her closet.
"Catherine, why are you giving me this?" Sara asked. "You know I don't like my bare back showing."
"Sara, just take it," Catherine insisted. "For when you have a hot date."
Now was as good a time as any to wear the halter with her tight fitting black slacks and black leather dress boots. She straightened her hair and let it fall around her face, and she used shinier and brighter lipstick and eye shadow for makeup. When she chanced a look at her appearance in the mirror, she smiled at herself. She actually liked the way she looked for once.
When she was a little girl, her parents always criticized her. No matter what she did or how hard she worked, she was never enough for them, and it hurt her deeply because she never had any confidence in her appearance. It was even worse when she was a teen. Her father was always telling her that her legs were too long for skirts, and that she acted more like a boy rather than a young lady because she ran track. He saw nothing good about her, just the bad, and she resented him for it.
She wished he could see her now. Sara had never felt so good about herself in a long time.
She inspected her body. The contrasting colors brought out her curvy figure that she never noticed before. Her shoulders were accented and creamy looking, and for a brief moment, she though about the time Grissom grazed his fingers along her shoulder down to her sides, figuring out a case. He looked ready to pounce her at any moment at that time, and she admitted that she would have let him. She broke the moment, however, but still, he had other opportunities to take a chance, but he never did.
But Grissom wasn't the core of her problems. In fact, he had nothing to do with them at all. Yes, he had weakened her threshold for emotional pain, but everything else crept from an untouched corner of her mind, brought about by her anger and rage at the world around her.
Before leaving, Sara noticed her breasts. The clingy material of the halter molded into her strapless bra, and her breasts looked more full.
"Thank you Catherine," she whispered.
She heard her doorbell ring and she gave herself one more look in the mirror before picking up her purse and heading to the door. She looked through the peephole and saw Alex standing out in the hallway, with his hands in his pockets.
She opened the door, and he stood at the doorway, speechless. His eyes traveled the length of her body.
"You look amazing," he said, giving her body another once over.
"Thanks," she said, taking in his appearance. "You too."
"Thanks," he said. "Ready?"
"Yes," Sara said, smiling as she hooked her arm in his.
They strolled out to his car, and she liked that very much. It gave them a chance to talk and to begin enjoying each other's company.
Once at the restaurant, Alex made sure that they got seats near the window on the second floor, so that they could overlook the city.
Once seated, they ordered their drinks and began to talk again.
"What made you decide to become a CSI?" Alex started.
Sara sipped at her iced tea before starting.
"Well, I was always interested in science and I was really good in it too," Sara began. "Once I got to my senior year of high school, I didn't know how to apply my knowledge, so one of my teachers suggested that I study forensics in college."
"Does it fascinate you like it used to?" He asked.
Sara contemplated that question for a moment. The past year had been rough for her, and she had not put her heart and soul into her job as much as she used to. Her past and her diminishing capacity for seeing people hurt or killed for no reason caught up with her, and sometimes, she considered finding another occupation. But could she really be that honest about that with Alex? She didn't want him to think that she was weak or anything. That was the last thing she wanted.
"Well," Sara began, deciding that she may as well be honest since he'd been so honest with her. "It still fascinates me, but a lot of things have come along that make me not enjoy my job that I'm still dealing with. I love what I do. But sometimes, no matter how hard I try, something about it always traps me and takes me to a place that I never intended to go."
"I know what you mean," Alex sympathized. "Some things are more easy to forget than others."
"How about you?" Sara asked. "What made you decide that you wanted to be a detective?"
"My grandfather was a detective in Mexico," Alex began. "He was one of the good cops. He had to move out here shortly after my father was born because the city was corrupt, and they threatened his life. Then, when my father grew up, he became a detective as well, and now, here I am."
"You weren't forced?" Sara asked.
"No," he said. "My father took pride in what he did, and I wanted to feel that same pride."
"Your father must have some pretty exciting stories to tell," she commented.
"He does," Alex said. "Both real and imagined," he chuckled. "What about your dad?"
Sara looked surprised at his question, and he immediately began to feel bad for asking.
"I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Oh, no," Sara waved off. "You've been so honest with me, it's only fair."
"I know, but you don't like talking about your family much," he said. "You don't have to-"
"It's okay, really," Sara insisted. "My father was an immigrant from France. I was just barely a month old when my parents crossed over to the US. He saved up all of his money to buy this house that he decided to turn into a bed and breakfast. Well, he achieved his goals."
She stopped there, deciding not to go any further about her parents.
Alex nodded at her tidbit of information.
He sensed that deep down in the very core of her, she had dark secrets from her past that she guarded with her life. He sensed that she wanted to carry her past to the grave.
"Anyway," she began. "What do you do for fun?"
Alex shrugged.
"I spend time with my family, I visit my ex-wife's son," he paused, deciding to explain that. "When Xavier was born, I loved him like he was my own. That was one thing me and my ex-wife agreed on during the divorce. I could see Xavier whenever I wanted."
"That's really big of you," Sara said.
"Thanks," Alex said, continuing. "Sometimes I drive up north to visit my grandmother and cousins on her ranch, and I tend to read a crime novel or two in my free time."
"Don't feel bad, I read those too," Sara laughed. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only one."
They both chuckled a bit.
"How about you?" He asked.
Sara blushed.
"Well, other than seeing you, I don't get out much," she admitted.
"That just means you're dedicated," Alex said.
"Not to most people," Sara said, looking away shyly.
"To me," he said.
She smiled.
Their orders came some time later, and they ate and talked about anything and everything, and Sara was enjoying every minute of it.
O-O-O
Catherine woke up and stretched out the kinks in her shoulders and back. She fell asleep on the couch.
I'm getting old, she thought to herself.
She looked around her and Warrick was sitting next to her, still sleeping and his arm stretching the length of the sofa. Lindsay was lying in the love seat, curled up with a blanket.
There was a soft, watery glow coming from the television, and Catherine focused her vision on what the image was. Finding Nemo was still in her DVD player, and the menu had appeared. She looked to see how late it was.
It was only eight o'clock, but they all must have been pretty sleepy. She lightly tapped Warrick's shoulder and he woke up with a start.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"Eight o'clock," Catherine whispered. "We were all knocked out for a while. Finding Nemo watched us."
Warrick chuckled a bit as he sat up and rubbed his face with his hands.
"I'll be back," Catherine said. "I'm going to go put Lindsay to bed."
Warrick nodded as Catherine woke up Lindsay sweetly and took her to her bedroom.
Warrick had not intended to go to sleep. Catherine invited him over after shift for dinner and a movie. Never willing to pass up a chance to spend time with Catherine and Lindsay, he accepted, but neither of them realized how tired they were until the movie started.
Catherine came back into the living room and sat next to him.
"Thanks for coming over," she said with a smile as she relaxed back into his arms.
"No problem," he said.
They stayed curled up on the couch and watched television until they both dozed off again.
O-O-O
When Sara and Alex were through with dinner, they walked slowly to his car, snuggling to each other every once in a while and smiling. Sara found that she was comfortable with being as close to him as she was.
She had never felt more beautiful and admired in a long time. She had finally found someone that appreciated her intelligence and her as a person, no matter what her past. Alex's personality balanced out her own, and she liked their compatibility. She was finding out more and more about him, causing her to open up about herself and face things she hadn't faced in a long time, things that she was often ashamed of.
The ride back to her apartment was silent, but they stole glances at each other often. Alex couldn't help but look at Sara Sidle every few minutes. She was beautiful, sexy, intelligent, funny, and mysterious. Not to mention sexy. Her smile took his breath away. For one fleeting moment, he decided that if given the chance, he could spend the rest of his life with this woman. It was too soon to be thinking of that, he knew, but what they had was a start.
Sara was thinking similar thoughts.
Here was a man beside her that actually appreciated her for who she was. He was patient with her, caring, and devoted to taking things slowly with her so that they could find out more about each other. Sara didn't feel afraid or reserved around Alex. She felt more alive than she had in years with a man, and she welcomed that. She wanted that feeling of closeness and admiration. Alex was the kind of man that she could possibly fall in love with.
She felt her heart rate speed up at the very word, and she wanted to forget that possibility, thinking that it was too soon to feel anything even remotely similar to that, but she couldn't.
When he pulled into her complex, she smiled.
"Thanks," she said gratefully. "I had a wonderful time tonight."
"Good," he said. "Me too."
"I would like to go out again some time," she said.
"How about dinner with my family next Sunday night?" Alex asked.
"Sure," Sara said. "I'd love to meet your family."
"Then it's a date," he said with a grin.
Sara looked into his eyes, sensing something different in them than from the last time.
He reached over and cupped her cheek with his hand. She leaned into his touch and sighed, feeling the desire that lay dormant within her fire up and flow all throughout her body, flooding her senses and making her breathe deeper with anticipation as they drew ever closer.
Finally, their lips met in a gentle kiss that grew more passionate and deep. Sara pulled away a bit and smiled. Alex smiled back before seizing her lips again. Sara strained against her seatbelt to get closer to him, and finally, she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned into his kisses even more. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hot, openmouthed kiss. She pulled away and let Alex get his seatbelt off before she climbed over onto his lap and kissed him passionately.
Sara felt like she was seventeen all over again, making out in a car. When their tongues met and crushed against each other within their mouths, she went crazy with sudden arousal and lust. She moaned into the kisses and Alex tangled his fingers into her hair and kissed her yet deeper.
His body was responding in ways that he had to get control of. His mind was clouded with lust and wantonness, thinking impure thoughts about what he could do to this woman in bed if given the chance as their relationship progressed. This was nothing but a mere preview of what was to come.
Sara began to pull away from their last long kiss, before resting her forehead against his.
"You're an excellent kisser," she commented, still trying to catch her breath.
"Likewise," Alex whispered.
"I know we said we wanted to go slowly with this," Sara whispered. "But, there's just something about you, about us talking and revealing the deepest parts of ourselves that no one else has ever known or appreciated that I've never known before."
"I can't tell you how badly I want this, how badly I want you," he said, running his hands over her hair. "You're so beautiful and special. I mean, whenever you're ready, I'll be ready, but I don't want to force anything on you."
"You're not," she assured him.
They kissed gently one more time.
Alex walked Sara up to her apartment and she pulled him into another deep kiss before saying goodnight and going inside.
He ran his hand over his face and sighed as he walked down the hallway.