Disclaimer: No, I do not own anyone or anything or for that matter I own
nothing that has to do with CSI what so ever BESIDES this story. Which in
reality isn't really CSI because it's not owned by CBS so…uh forget
that last thought. I didn't say (or write it, which ever pleases ya!
wink wink) you saw nothing, got it? Damn any of you people who own George
Eads or William Petersen (shoot me cause I think an old dude is hot) or even
Eric Szmanda. Once again I will deny your "Normal Peoples" (yes I understand
that was politically incorrect but those people who do choose to correct me
can go dress in tutu's and do the funky chicken for all I care) thoughts on life and how it should be lived and substitute my own.

I would like to dedicate this chapter to GeekLoveFan, a.k.a. Holly for writing an amazing story that, sadly, came to an end. Good luck with your pregnancy! And if you ever do read this…wow! It would mean I'd have a celebrity reading MY story. Dang!

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Chapter Four - A Woman Never Tells

"Is it just me or is Sofia the biggest bitch in the world?" Catherine asked as she walked into the locker room where Warrick was.

"Wow! You're actually talking to me!" Warrick said in mock surprise as he pulled off his gray wife beater and threw on a plain black t-shirt. Catherine sat down on a bench and leaned forward, resting her head on the cool metal of her locker.

"I'm sorry Warrick. Just…so many things have been going on with my mom lately and with this case leading us no where I have barley enough time to sleep." Warrick looked at her with burning eyes.

"Yah, well you had enough time to talk to Nick. And you had enough time to go and get tanked with Griss last night. But you don't have enough time to talk to me; I thought we were best friends Cath!" Warrick slammed his locker shut and silently chastised himself for yelling at her. She looked up at him with tears brimming her lids.

"I told Nick what was happening because he was the only one that seemed to care!" Catherine made sure her tears did not flow; it was too out of character for her to cry. Instead she put on her bitchy armor. "And I went out for beers with Gil because he's going through a lot of hell right now and I felt he needed someone to talk to. Do you have any idea how far up his ass his head is? I thought I'd help him out with that!" Catherine's voice was loud. Nick, who was walking past the locker room on his way to see Sofia, stopped at the sound.

"I'm sorry, okay? I just…I thought I was losing a friend. Is that so wrong?" Warrick sighed and sat down next to Catherine.

"Warrick, you should know me better than that. You've just seemed so distant lately." Both sat in silence for a while.

"Um, Cath, you're good when it comes to women's shoes, right?"

"Warrick, you know me better than that."

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes. Well, Nick and I were looking at the print we got from the scene and we can't identify it. It had a strange pattern that we think might depict what brand it is but we're not sure." Catherine sat up, lending out a hand for Warrick, which he happily accepted.

"Lead me to it." Warrick led her down the hall into the room where the print was. Catherine pulled up a chair and looked at it with a magnifying glass.

"Okay, well I can see that it's a size 8 ½ and…" She looked a little closer. "It's a Prada pump, round toe with spiked heels." Catherine looked up to Warrick smiling.

"What are you so happy about? Other than the fact that we now know what shoe we're looking for. The killer could have easily thrown them away."

"No, no, no. I'm smiling for two reasons. One, these shoes are very costly, running in the thousands. I bought a pair a few weeks ago. Anyone who would throw these away is insane. And two, they only sell these in one store in Vegas." Catherine gave Warrick a smile in which he returned.

"And that would be?"

"The Prada store in the Paris casino. All we have to do is find out who bought this pair. And judging by the wear and tear on the bottom, these are about three months old." Warrick's eyes grew wide and he engulfed Catherine in a warm hug.

"Cath, you rock!" Warrick, without realizing what he was doing, gave Catherine a quick peck on the lips. Catherine looked at him in shock and he looked back mortified.

"I have to go." Warrick quickly ran out of the room, never looking back. Catherine stood in the doorway, watching him take off down the hall.

… … … … … … … … …

"Grissom!" Sara yelled, walking into Grissom's office. She had called his name three times already but he wouldn't respond. With the way his head was resting in his arms on the desk she thought he might be asleep.

"Ow! Don't scream so goddamn loud!" Grissom sat up quickly, holding his head in agony. Sara was surprised at how he cursed. She hadn't heard him use fowl language in a long time.

"Griss, what's wrong?" He leaned back and sighed, trying to release some of the pain that was shooting through his head.

"Hangover I guess. Catherine and I went out last night and got…drunk as hell. I really shouldn't have had all those Sam Adams and Jack Daniels."

"Aww, poor baby." Sara laughed and was surprised to see Grissom actually smiling.

"Sara, how's you hand doing?" Grissom took her hand and looked at it.

"I guess it okay. Thanks for being there with me in the room. It hurt so bad and I think I would have lost it. You're such a good friend Griss." Both were silent for a moment. "I guess I screwed things up a while ago. But I'm glad we got back to being friends. We both got our lives back. I mean, I'm thinking about asking out Greg and…well, you asked out Sofia for dinner so I guess our private lives are back in check."

At the mention of Sofia Grissom froze. He looked up at her with the classic Grissom blank face. There were two things he was worried about. How had she known about that and what had Sofia been telling people? But then it dawned on him what she had fully said. She was going to ask out Greg. She was going to ask out Greg. The thought ran through his mind a million times.

Even though she was pretending to be looking at Grissom's bug collection, Sara was secretly watching his expression out of the corner of her eyes. She knew bringing up Greg would tick him off and Sofia was the icing on the cake. She had heard her talking to another lab tech a few weeks before about it.

"Sara, nothing is going on with Sofia and I. She has a boyfriend. She refuses to tell me who but she does. And about you and Greg," Grissom took a gulp, swallowing his pain, "I have no problem with that. I do believe I told you this when you were dating Hank but I'll tell you again. Even you have the right to a personal life." Sara looked downcast. That was definitely not the reply she had wanted from him. She opened her mouth to say something when a teenager, probably seventeen, knocked on the door.

"Are you Gil Grissom?" he asked in a squeaky voice, as though he was just going through puberty.

"Yes," he replied. The boy, wearing a badge that said Jonathan, walked in with a vase of lilies.

"These are for you." The boy set the flowers down and walked away. Grissom looked up to Sara with his eyes raised, only to see that she was looking through the glass walls at Sofia.

"Who are they from?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"No name. All it says is: I've secretly watched you from afar. Hopefully someday my affections will be returned and maybe I'll even be able to tell you to your face but this is all I can do for now. Love, You'll Know In Due Time. I wonder who that is." Sara looked in interest.

"Well, they smell nice. Bit I have no idea who here likes you." She tried to ignore the quick, almost nonexistent glance Grissom gave her. "That's weird." Grissom looked at her face, ruling her out as a sender.

"I guess I have a secret admirer."

"That you do Grissom." Sara watched him look at the flowers, playing with the pedals in his fingers. She felt a ping of anger at who ever sent him the white creations.

"Um, Sara, do you know if Greg has finished with the DNA testing yet?" Sara slid off of Grissom's desk where she had been sitting and stood up.

"I get it, I can take the hint Griss. Hmm, maybe while I'm there I'll ask him out. Or should I wait till after the case. I mean, I wouldn't want my personal life to affect my work. Then again, I wouldn't want to become emotionally inept. What do you think Griss?"

She knew what she was doing. She was rattling his cages. She wanted him to feel the hurt that he made her feel. Only after she spoke the words did something new dawn on her. What if he couldn't feel the same hurt because he truly didn't feel the same way? What if what she mistook for flirting was truly just Grissom being a good friend? Then the most horrifying thought came to her mind. Sofia may not love Gil, but what if Gil Grissom…loved her?

"I think you should do whatever you want Sara." Sara was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of his voice, his always-calm voice. "You have the fearlessness to go after whatever you want." Sara nodded and turned to leave.

Resting her hand on the doorframe she spoke one last sentence before leaving. "Not everything Grissom…" and then she left, leaving him to think about what she said.