Chapter 5

9/20/04

Upon entering the break room Catherine was drawn to the cheerful vase of colorful blossoms brightening the usually drab room. Printed clearly in red ink, the envelope read, "To Sara Sidle". A smile crested on her face. So Grissom had finally wised up and this time without her prodding. Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder she pondered as she focused on the sweet scent of the flowers. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Warrick, Nick and Grissom walk in for the requisite pre-shift coffee.

"Did you forget to tell us you have a new man in your life?" Warrick curiously inquired as he reached for the coffee pot.

Grinning, Catherine sauntered toward him. "Haven't you learned anything after all these years?" Never assume." With a lingering glance she clarified. "The flowers aren't mine and I'm still unattached." She could tell he was wondering if that last bit of information was a veiled invitation, which is exactly how she meant it.

Peeling his eyes off Catherine, Warrick resumed his line of questioning. "So who is the lucky lady getting flowers tonight?"

Turning toward Grissom ready to enjoy his reaction she answered, "Sara."

When he heard Sara's name Grissom lowered his coffee cup and met Catherine's anticipatory gaze with a distraught stare.

Catherine's excitement morphed into horror. It never dawned on her that the flowers would be from anyone else besides Grissom and now the poor guy was standing there shocked. Before she could shoo the guys from the room it was too late.

"Hey there." Sara strutted into the break room looking as fresh as the flowers in the center of the room. "Nice flowers, Catherine." She wondered which club mogul Catherine had wowed this time.

Plucking the card from the bouquet Warrick passed it to Sara. "They're not hers, they're yours and we're all dying to know who they're from." What he really meant was he couldn't wait to hear they were from Grissom so the whole relationship that we don't acknowledge because they don't acknowledge it would finally be out in the open.

"Mine?" Holding the card Sara flooded with anticipation. Grissom was trying to make things right and this time it wasn't a stately plant, it was flowers…romantic flowers. Figuring he must have realized how much he missed her when she was gone for a couple of days she cursed herself for not taking time off sooner.

Anxiously she pulled the card from its dainty envelope and silently read the sentiment. "I wanted to brighten up your first day back at the office. Dinner tomorrow? I hope you say yes, Mike. 555-8942" Her heart sank and her flat tone spoke volumes. "They're from Mike." Forcing her eyes off the card she lifted them to Grissom who immediately averted her stare.

Gulping his coffee down, Warrick, knew he definitely missed a meeting. "Who the hell is Mike?"

Catherine was all too ready to answer. "A cop Nick set up with Sara when they were working a case over at The Flying Aces." Inwardly she grinned…now the boss would know exactly where to direct his frustration.

Snapping out of his daze, Grissom pulled the night's assignments from his jacket pocket. "Okay it's going to be a busy night. Warrick, Catherine and Sara, you'll be with me at The Trop working a suspected homicide."

Warrick tossed his coffee cup and headed for the door. "I just have to check with DNA and I'll meet you downstairs."

Glaring at Nick, Grissom broke the good news. "Nick, you're going to Tichino's Italian Restaurant. One of their patrons keeled over in his soup after vomiting profusely. His wife insists he was poisoned by the cook." As he hit the doorway he yelled back. "And make sure you get ALL stomach contents. I want every ounce of vomit analyzed."

Leaning over Nick whispered in Catherine's ear. "You sold me out."

"I stated a fact." Faking a sympathetic tone she patted him on the back as she scooted him out the door. "At least the guy died during soup instead of making it all the way through dessert. Have fun." Then she turned her attention to Sara who was still staring at the card as if she was waiting for a different message to appear. "So…I take it the date went well."

"Huh? Oh…yeah the date was fine." Faking a smile she continued. "It was nice. We caught a movie, had some pasta afterwards. Turns out Mike's a vegetarian too."

Despite the fact that Sara would have sounded more enthusiastic talking about blood spatter patterns than her date, Catherine spun a sunny reply. "So you have things in common…you both like movies and hate meat. That's a good start." Checking her watch she headed for the door. "I'll see you downstairs."

"Right." Sighing, Sara's mind drifted back to the date.

Walking through the parking lot Mike asked, "how about Italian? I'm a vegetarian so I…"

"Me too." Sara cheerily announced. The night was turning out better than she anticipated. Of course she had anticipated to hate every minute of it.

"Really, you're a vegetarian too? That's great." A smile erupted on his face. "What made you decide to give up meat?"

"Staying up all night watching the infestation of dead pig." Instantly she was transported back to the night and she fondly recalled other aspects of her time on the case with Grissom. How tirelessly he worked to bring Kay Shelton some justice. How he smiled at her when she unexpectedly joined him with hot coffee and a warm blanket…

"Sara?" Mike tapped her on the shoulder. "Where did you go just now?"

"Sorry." Shaking her head she explained. "I was thinking about the case with the pig."

"Oh you watched the pig for a work assignment." Chuckling he leaned against the car. "I was a little worried you did it for fun."

Like a kid describing her Christmas morning experience, Sara explained, "when a person dies and their remains are exposed it's only a matter of time before the bugs show up. They show up in a specific order and by analyzing the eggs, larvae and pupae of the various insects found on the corpse you can determine time of death. It's amazing how many different insects show up, you can find leiodidae, lucanidae…" Catching the dazed expression on Mike's face Sara abruptly ended her story. "Sorry, I really shouldn't talk about decaying corpses on our date."

"Just not over dinner, okay?" Laughing, Mike opened the car door. "I guess I should confess that I barely passed biology in High School so you'll lose me if you get all scientific. I bet you did real well in school though. Where did you go to college?"

No sense in hiding it. "Oh...umm…Harvard for undergrad and grad school at Berkeley." Getting into the car she knew that Mike was a really nice guy, he just wasn't the guy for her. She wasn't a snob, she was a realist. As much as she needed a man to keep her warm at night she needed one who could discuss Newtonian Kinematics with verve.

Standing over her flowers Sara released a heavy sigh. The flowers were pretty and they were the first flowers she had received since…good grief had it really been a decade?

So Mike couldn't talk quantum theory. Like Catherine said, they had other things in common and as time went on they would probably find more to share. As for Grissom, he didn't even bat an eye over the flowers. Yes, as hard as it was, it was definitely time to move on.

Opening her cell phone she slowly punched in the phone number written on the card. "Hi, Mike, it's Sara." His enthusiastic voice made her smile. "Yes, they're beautiful, thank you. Dinner tomorrow sounds great…"

At the Tropicana, Grissom, Catherine and Sara stepped aside while the Coroner wheeled out the victim then promptly returned to the hotel room to resume their work. Snapping on a fresh pair of gloves, Grissom was all business. "Catherine, you start on the floor, Sara take the bed." Not wasting any time he stepped toward the bathroom. "I'll be in here."

Kneeling down next to her kit, Catherine grumbled, we've only been here a couple of hours but it feels like twelve."

"I was thinking twenty-four," Sara retorted as she readied the ALS for a protein hunt. "And I was so relaxed when arrived for shift."

"I noticed that." Catherine looked up from the carpet grinning. "I was going to ask you if you took my advice."

Shyly she confessed her secret as she searched the bedding. "I did and you were right, there's something about getting naked and letting someone take control over your body that's very freeing." Embarrassed she giggled. "I'll be honest, I wasn't into it for the first fifteen minutes but once I got over my inhibition…I couldn't get enough. Catherine…I couldn't believe how good he was at it…so strong."

"I told you!" Catherine reached in her kit for her tweezers. "Now aren't you sorry you didn't do it sooner?"

"Absolutely!" As she chuckled, her ALS illuminated a splatter pattern on the underside of the top sheet. "Oh …I think we're looking at another death-by-pay-per-view."

"Really?" Rising to her feet she sighed. "When are these geezers from Topeka going to learn you can OD on porn?"

Clicking off her ALS Sara reached for a bag. "Damn, I'm out of large bags. Let me run out and get some." Pulling off her gloves she headed for the door.

Catherine was about to resume her floor inspection when she saw Grissom peering out from the bathroom. "Find any heart medication in there?"

She theorized that the vic might have had a heart condition and he was heading for his meds when he keeled over and cracked his head open on the nightstand. "Grissom?" Stepping towards him she noticed his pale complexion. "What the hell did you find in there?"

Then it dawned on her…he had overhead the conversation with Sara. "Oh you think…" Amusement danced in her eyes as she tried not to laugh. "You think we were talking about sex. No, no, we were talking about a massage." Shaking her head she leaned against the wall. "I've been recommending for years that Sara go to my massage guy and she's always been too repressed and germphobic. Yesterday she was finally able to work up the nerve."

His voice cracking, he groveled. "Oh….well…uh it wasn't any of my business but I was five feet away so I couldn't help but…"

Feeling mischievous she thought she'd try to push him out of his comfort zone. She had tried on other occasions and had a modicum of success, so why not? Matter-of-factly she announced, "Sara didn't have sex with Mike." Grissom's reaction was more priceless than she imagined it would be.

Stunned she was speaking so candidly he stammered. "I…I never asked..."

Unrelenting she continued to throw him off balance. "But you were wondering."

Vexed by the concept that Sara and Catherine were closer than he had assumed, he questioned her, "The two of you…you talk about this stuff…"

"No." Catherine shook her head. "No, Sara and I have never talked about relationships, or guys, or sex…and definitely not you."

Thoroughly confused, Grissom cautiously checked over his shoulder before working up the nerve to ask the burning question. "Then how do you know that Sara…"

"Because if they had slept together the flowers would have been red roses instead of a mixed bouquet." Amused by his curiosity, she continued her sociology lesson. "Players know better than to send a girl a mixed message after the loving. And to further support my theory, the fact that Sara didn't know the flowers were from Mike until she opened the card means absolutely nothing happened on the date. If she had slept with him or even gotten remotely intimate with him, she would have assumed the flowers were from him. I doubt the guy even get a kiss on the doorstep."

Staring at Catherine, Grissom probed. "Don't you think it's a little strange that he sent her flowers so quickly?"

Choking on her reply she shrieked, "Not every man waits four years to make a move." Her eyes remained fixed on the flustered man in front of her. "May I be frank?"

With a flushed face he replied, "More than you already have been?" He steadied himself on the opposite wall. Any more honesty and he'd be the second guy in this room tonight to die from an accelerated heart rate.

"Friend to friend?" Catherine waited for him to acknowledge her request.

After a moment of consideration, curiosity got the best of him and he nodded. "Go ahead."

"I saw how devastated you were when you found out Sara's flowers were from Mike. Hell, I've seen how you felt about her for years." She saw him flinch from the realization that his emotions were so obvious. "If you feel that strongly about her then what are you waiting for, do something…anything. Why are you willing to sit back and let this guy get what you want?"

Plagued by his inadequacies he bristled. "It's complicated, Catherine. Besides, I'm not going to compete for…"

"Compete?" Tossing her hands in the air, Catherine let her frustration show. "You really don't get it, do you?" Judging from his lost expression she knew the answer was no. "You don't have any competition. You never had any competition. Do you think flower-guy would stand a chance if you threw your hat in the ring?" Softening she lowered her voice to a supportive whisper. "Gil, I've watched you pick up on a single fiber from twenty yards away but this situation…everything you need to know is right in front of you and you can't see it. Open your eyes before it's too late." Sensing he was at maximum capacity she backed off. "I…I'm going outside to grab some air."

Standing in the empty room still reeling from Catherine's candidness, Grissom was not ready for Sara's return. Regardless, a minute later she walked through the door with a pack of evidence bags.

"Find anything in the bathroom?" Sara casually asked as she returned to the bed to bag the sheets.

"Umm…" Watching her he thought back to well over a year ago when Sara had boldly asked him out and he insensitively shot her down. Recalling her final statement that evening he let the words echo in his head…by the time you figure it out it really could be too late. Although he wasn't willing to go forward he didn't like the idea of being left behind. His voice shook. "I'm still trying to figure it out, Sara."

Puzzled, she stopped bagging the sheets and turned around. "That's unlike you. We've only been here a few hours and the evidence isn't even processed yet. You never decide what happened until you've seen all the evidence. Why the change this time?" Searching his eyes she couldn't believe how emotional they appeared. "Grissom?"

"I'm talking about…" His heartfelt confession was interrupted by her cell phone.

"Ah, this is probably Trace." Opening her phone she answered, "Sidle."

It wasn't Trace, it was Mike. "Oh…hi." Silently she cursed herself for answering. "I'm on the scene."

Holding up her index finger she asked Grissom to hold his thought then proceeded to cross the room for a little privacy. "Thanks for thinking to ask before you made the reservation. Yes, that time works for me. See you then. Bye." Closing her phone, she turned around. "Okay, so you were going to tell me how you…" Her eyes scanned the room. Where was he? "Grissom?" She checked the bathroom and it was empty as well. "Hmm." Heading back to the bed she mumbled, "I guess he had second thoughts on his hypothesis."