THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL
part two.
Yeah, chapter one was sad and angsty, but I thought I could make the story a bit funnier.
Catherine ran up the stairs, taking two at the time whenever she could.
She had to get there before it was too late. She hadn't taken Sara's words about Sophia too seriously, but she believed in taking precautions. She knew that Sophia always took a coffee break at this hour, and she knew that Nick and Warrick were somewhere in the building. She had called them, but they had turned off their cells. That in itself was a bad sign...
Catherine breathlessly entered the lab and, ignoring Mia's and Greg's greetings, ran towards the break room, hoping that her guys weren't there- But when she entered the break room, she realized it was too late. The three of them were sitting at the table, cozily chatting over cups of coffee, and Nick and Warrick were listening to Sophia as if she were the wisest woman in all creation.
Catherine dusted herself off and entered the room, trying to appear calm and relaxed.
"Nick? Warrick?" she said.
The guys barely nodded at her. They were listening as Sophia told them how she had solved a case early in the morning.
Catherine didn't say anything. She had too much class to start a catfight just like that. First she needed to get her breath back. Then, she needed to get Nick and Warrick out... After that, she could make no promises.
"Wow," Nick was saying, "So, the guy hid the evidence behind the CD boxes? What made you look there?"
"Well," Sophia said, shaking her long mane, "I have to confess that I looked at the boxes merely because it was a jazz collection. I love jazz."
"You do?" Warrick asked, perking up
"Oh, yes." she said dreamily. "Jazz is food for the soul."
Catherine narrowed her eyes as Sophia gave a detailed description of what jazz meant to her.
'Oh, please,' Catherine scoffed to herself. 'I bet she said the same about punk rock, Entomology, and tango, to Greg, Gil, and Jim respectively-'
"By the way," Sophia said, gazing at Warrick, "I heard that you play the piano. Have you ever gone to the Oasis Jazz Bar on karaoke night?"
"Uh, no."
"Oh, you should. I sing there every Friday."
"You sing?"
Catherine rolled her eyes. This Sophia was shameless! Who did she think she was fooling, for God's sake? She was dishing out bullshit by the bucket…
"Great!" Warrick was saying, "I'll be there next Friday, then. We'll jam, me and you-"
Catherine's jaw dropped. Apparently,Warrick was eating it up.
"Warrick?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"Uh?" he reluctantly turned his gaze away from Sophia. "Oh, hi, Boss."
Catherine tried to keep her voice calm.
"Don't you have to check out that lead that Brass gave you, Warrick?"
"Oh." he hesitated, "Yeah. Well." he looked back longingly at Sophia, "See ya next Friday, then."
Catherine kept her eyes on Warrick until he was out of sight.
Satisfied that he was out of danger, Catherine turned her attention back to Sophia, only to discover that she had Nick's complete attention now. Sophia had apparently lived in Texas and was telling him all about it. She was even talking with a little accent!
Nick was hanging on to her every word.
"Nick," Catherine said. "NICK." She repeated, loudly this time.
"Uh?" he looked around reluctantly.
"You're still on the clock," Catherine said dryly. "The case I assigned you won't solve itself, you know."
"Uh." he blinked, "Yeah." he looked longingly at Sophia, "Well. See ya later."
"Sure, hon." She said amiably.
There was an uncomfortable silence after Nick left.
The two blonde women cautiously appraised each other...
And then Sophia spoke.
"So, Catherine. I heard you used to be a dancer."
"Yeah?" Catherine belligerently stuck out her jaw. "So what?"
"I was just wondering-" Sophia shrugged.
"Wondering, what?"
"I was just wondering if you have trouble with your joints-"
Catherine didn't expect this.
"Oh?" she frowned. "Why do you ask?"
"Well," Sophia said, "I get little pains and aches now and then, you know. I mean, it's been years since I danced, but I'm still paying the price. I was wondering if you used liniment or something-"
Catherine slowly –and reluctantly- took a seat next to Sophia.
"You…" she did not want to ask, but on the other hand, how could she not? "You used to dance, too?"
"Oh, yeah. I used to take it all off in New York." Sophia said, sitting back in her seat, "Back in the late eighties. That's how I financed my studies."
Catherine hesitated. She didn't want to like this woman; she did not want to fall under her spell…
But oh, sometimes it was so lonely, being the only ex-dancer in all the building...! She never had anyone to relate to, so to speak!
She cleared her throat.
"So..." Catherine said.
Sophia smiled. There was a gleam of triumph in her eyes as she spoke again.
"Wanna trade horror stories about the old days?"
"Well..." A little voice was screaming, 'Don't, Catherine; don't, don't,' but she couldn't help it. "Sure." she said.
TBC...?
I believe there can be a happy ending for GS, but I'm still ordering my thoughts...