Chapter 12

Oh

"Have you noticed Sara is weird today?"

Gil blinked when Greg Sanders asked him this. He momentarily forgot the reason he'd come into the lab in the first place. "I…haven't noticed, no," Gil stated. In truth, the brief time he'd spoken to Sara at the beginning of the shift he hadn't noticed any change in demeanor. "What do you mean by 'weird'?" Gil asked, he leaned on the desk casually.

"Grinning like a Cheshire cat," Greg answered.

"Ohhh," Gil said, he put a small packet on the desk, "I need this analysed," he said, trying to change the subject.

"She was kind of moody a few days ago," Greg continued, picking up the packet, he opened it and gazed in, "ugh, used condom," he uttered under his breath, "you should warn me when you're going to spring these on me," he stepped over to the counter to grab a swab from the container, "so anyway, did Sara get promoted or something?"

"No, why would you think that?" Gil asked.

"Why else would she be in a good mood?" Greg shrugged, "the only thing Sara cares about is work, so…" he trailed off.

"I'm sure that's not true," Gil forced a smile and headed for the door.

"Unless…" Greg paused,

Gil stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder, "Unless what?"

"Unless she's happy about the Valentine I sent her," Greg mused.

Gil felt speechless.

"Do you know if she got it?" Greg asked, excitement in his eyes.

"Uh…yeah," Gil swallowed, "I think she did, she thought it was a joke, though," he shrugged. "Maybe she's just had a good long sleep and woke up refreshed," he suggested. He felt terribly guilty now about this. If it hadn't been for the Valentine card, his relationship with Sara might have never taken off in the first place.

"Do you think I should ask her out?" Greg asked.

"I don't think that's an appropriate subject for discussion during working hours. I think instead of considering asking women out you should maybe perhaps process that used condom."

"I'm on it," Gil said, a slight tone of insolence, "but seriously, should I ask her out – come on, just be honest."

"I…don't think so," Gil replied, "I don't think you should ask her out no."

"You don't think me and her would be a good match?" Greg asked as he went about preparing the sample in front of him.

Gil would never know why he said what he did next, "I actually think she's seeing someone, Greg."

WHY did you have to say that? Why? Great, now I have to tell her I was the first one to slip up on my own rules.

"She is?" Greg blinked, "wow…she never said anything to anyone about it."

"Maybe that's the way you should play it too," Gil suggested, "send the analysis over to my office when you're done," he commanded, and left quickly before he could let anything else slip out.

He had barely sat down at his desk when Sara knocked on the threshold of his office door, "Catherine wants to see you in the morgue," Sara said, "she's having trouble identifying what the possible weapon was from our victim," she then explained.

Gil nodded, "Sara…" he drew his breath, "come in for a minute – shut the door."

"Have…I done something wrong?" Sara asked, immediately seeming quite concerned.

"No…but I have," Gil put both hands on the desk, "I might have…uh…said something to Greg."

"Like?"

"That you happened to be seeing someone."

"You what?" Sara blinked, "wasn't it you who was making rules about secrecy?"

"I know. I also said I'd probably be the first to break them, and I am sorry about that," Gil said sincerely, "I didn't know what to do – he was intending to ask you out. He thinks you're on some kind of high from receiving that homemade valentine of his," he explained.

"He was going to ask me out? That's sweet," Sara admitted thoughtfully.

"No, it's not. It's very wrong…remember, you're supposed to be with me?"

"Isn't this breaking the rules? Talking about us at work during working hours?" Sara asked smirking

"What else could I do? I needed to give you some warning," Gil sighed, he then shrugged, "anyway, I'm the boss. I can make and break rules if I want," he reminded, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

"Are we having breakfast after the shift?"

"Yeah, looks like we are," he gestured to his desk, which was virtually clear of paperwork save one folder.

"Am I on glue or has all the paperwork gone?" Sara glanced around to see if he had perhaps hidden it somewhere.

"Got rid of it all. Came in two hours early, as long as I keep on top of it, I won't need to stay back in the mornings to make sure I get the priority stuff done before leaving," he replied, he got up, "think about where you want to go for breakfast – try and think of somewhere you haven't been with the others. This way, there's less chance we'll run into anyone we know," he suggested.

Sara smiled and nodded, "okay," she touched his arm in a tender way, "I'll…uh…see you after work then."

"Yes…" Gil smiled. "Stay back until the others have left, then meet me at my car," He felt a strange urge to kiss her goodbye while they were behind the safety of the closed slats of the blinds of his office windows, but before he could give it anymore consideration, the office door swung open, it nearly knocked Sara over, so that Gil had to grab her before she stumbled and fell.

"Grissom, I need—oh," Catherine had begun, then stopped, noting his close proximity to Sara, his hands were holding her arms in a strong masterful way.

"You know, you could have knocked," Gil said, then cleared his throat, "You just about knocked Sara off of her feet when you swung the door open like that."

"Sorry," Catherine said, "Gris, I need your help in the morgue."

"Yes, Sara told me," Gil replied calmly, he slowly let go of Sara, feeling rather foolish and almost as if he'd just been caught in the act doing something he shouldn't have – which was definitely not the case.

"Excuse me, I have…uh…important things to do," Sara said, sheepishly excusing herself and disappearing out of the office without another word.

"She left in a hurry," Catherine commented in a rather knowing manner.

"She had important things to do," Gil pointed out.

"Yes, I'm sure," Catherine said, "Come," she gestured towards the door, "I need you in the morgue."

"You aren't going to say anything to anyone about this are you?"

"Grissom, do you remember that thing you used to tell me – what was it now? Oh yes. 'Answers in the question'," Catherine smirked

"Yeah, but with you that could mean anything," Gil teased.

It had been a long time since Gil had ever looked forward to getting out of work, but this particular day he felt the end of the shift couldn't come quick enough. He spent ten minutes staying back after the shift had ended, pretending to be finishing off various odds and ends until the rest of the team had left. Then, he grabbed his jacket, shut the light off, and locked his office door.

Sara was standing by his car just as he'd told her to, he was glad to see she hadn't brought her own car today, it at least gave him an excuse having her there next to his car. If anyone should see them together and ask he could say that he had offered her a ride home.

Gil opened the car door for her, "I thought this day would never end," he confessed wearily.

"Same, here," Sara responded, she smiled at him as she climbed in, her eyes sparkled at him through the glass of the window as he shut the car door for her.

Gil got in at his side, "have you thought about where you want to go?"

"Actually, yeah," Sara responded, "I thought…maybe, since we're playing this secrecy game, that the best thing to do would…be to go to my place…and I can cook something."

"You told me you can't cook."

"You can do it then and I'll watch," Sara joked.

"I know you're joking, but why do I get the feeling that I will end up cooking breakfast anyway?" Gil asked with a smirk. "But okay, if you want to just eat at your place, that's fine."

Is it fine though, Gil? He wondered. Being alone with her in her comfortable apartment eating breakfast is risky, isn't it? What if she tries to kiss you, what then? Will you be able to hold back?

On the way to Sara's apartment, they stopped to pick up groceries. Sara had confessed she hadn't stocked up the cupboards lately and thus if they expected to have breakfast at all, they needed to buy it first before they could cook it.

In the 24-hour supermarket, Gil felt very out of place walking beside her, it almost felt as if they were shopping together as a married couple, he'd never had that situation before, but he imagined this is what it felt like. He tried to hide how truly uncomfortable he was by forcing a smile whenever she glanced in his direction or asked him a question.

His mind kept wandering, which made the whole shopping experience worse. Going to her apartment left him with questions. She had admitted expecting the direct approach from him – what if she wanted that this morning. What if she expected after breakfast they should make love? What then?

Am I being stupid in thinking she might? He wondered, they were passing by the toiletries aisle on the way to pay for Sara's purchases, and he found himself absurdly pondering if he should excuse himself and run up that aisle to get condoms just in case.

I'm being stupid, we're not going to have sex this soon – I told her that, in a round about way, the other night, he shook his head at himself in dismay.

After paying for the purchases they left the supermarket. Gil still felt odd, his mind a whirling chaos of the kind of thoughts he'd never had to worry about for years – the kind of thoughts he'd avoided thinking about altogether, especially where Sara was concerned.

"You look stressed out," Sara commented casually as she watched Gil sliding the bags of groceries into the back seat of his car.

"I'm fine," he assured, although he was lying through his back teeth.

"If you're not, you can just say so, what do you think I'm going to do if you say you aren't fine? Do you think I'll freak out?"

He closed the back door and turned to her, "there's nothing wrong with me, I'm fine, really," he patted her arm as if to reassure her, then he opened her car door for her once again.

Sara passed by him to get into the car, as she did so, she very casually reached out to stroke his face as if it were something she'd done a thousand times. It startled Gil but he said nothing, he simply closed her door after her, and climbed in at his own side. He felt somewhat flustered now. Her touch still felt as if it was lingering on his cheek, his flesh was tingling with it.

"How has your day been?" Gil asked casually once they were back on the road and heading towards Sara's apartment.

"Long," Sara commented, "and after you told me you accidentally let it slip that I was 'seeing someone' to Greg, I ran into him in the hall, and he said he'd heard a rumour that I had a new boyfriend, and he was asking all sorts of questions."

"What did you tell him?" Gil asked, he turned down Sara's street, and kept his eyes on the road.

"That I was seeing a guy, and that's all," Sara shrugged. "After he found out I wasn't giving out information, he left it at that. He did look a little disappointed though."

"He would be. He wanted to ask you out, and then he finds out someone got there first…I'd certainly be disappointed too," Gil confessed.

Sara smiled softly, "well…you've no need to be disappointed," she reminded.

"I know, for once in my life, I have a reason to get up in the morning other than work," Gil commented honestly, he was surprised by his own openness.

"You don't get up in the morning," Sara said without missing a beat.

"You know what I mean," he shrugged.

"Yeah…I know…" Sara nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."