CHAPTER 8

For the next hour, the crew alternately talked about work and personal events in their lives, occasionally breaking into laugher from a comment or joke that someone mentioned. As the evening went by, Calleigh spent more and more time looking at Ryan, which was not lost on Ryan himself who was getting more comfortable looking directly at Calleigh when they talked. Eventually the topics turned to relationships and dating. Given that quite a few pitchers of beer were shared between everyone at that point, their tongues were pretty loose. "Speaking of relationships, I'm going to be leaving soon." Eric said to the group. "Cynthia will be home in about an hour and I want to take her out to a late dinner." "Sounds like you're getting pretty serious with her, Eric." Valera said as she took another sip of beer. "I am. The last three months have been wonderful for me," Eric replied. "I really enjoy her company and I'm always looking forward to when we have time together." Alexx spoke at Eric. "Looks like Mr. Playboy finally caught the commitment bug. Symptoms of the bug include marriage and children." Everyone but Eric let out a collective "Aww" and laughed. "Alexx! God, you're embarrassing me!" Eric half-shouted as his face turned red. "Didn't you tell me once that she has a roommate?" Valera asked Eric as he poured himself another glass of beer. "Yes, I did. Very nice woman. Even set her up on a date with Ryan a few weeks ago." Everyone simultaneously looked over at Ryan, who was glaring very hard at Eric for revealing his blind date to the crew. "A date? Really? Please tell." Calleigh said in a voice that was unmistakably the sound of someone who was approaching '3 sheets to the wind'. It didn't help her that she was drinking more than someone her size should be. And the fact that she hadn't eaten any food that would have slowed down the alcohol from entering her bloodstream at a fast rate. Calleigh looked at Ryan with wide eyes and leaned slightly towards him, waiting for details.

Ryan looked away from Eric and focused his eyes on Calleigh. "Um…" Calleigh was staring at Ryan with such intensity that he wanted to look away, but couldn't. He really didn't want to talk about it. Especially not in front of Calleigh. Ryan took a big sip of his beer and slowly tried put his thoughts together and explain the situation. "…the date just didn't work out. I told Eric that she wasn't my type." "And what is your type, Ryan?" Calleigh asked with a little excitement, trying to get any sign from Ryan that he was interested in her. As she asked him, she placed her hand on Ryan's forearm without thinking or caring if the rest of the crew picked up on her body language. Ryan looked down and saw her hand resting on him. It always amazed him how every time she would place her hand on him, it gave him a feeling of want, like he never had before. He so badly wanted to say to Calleigh one word: You. But he just couldn't bring himself to say it. Not yet. He looked back up at Calleigh and cleared his throat. He had to say something. Ryan was about to say anything to throw the crew and Calleigh off, but he didn't have to. Eric thankfully spoke up. "Calleigh, I can tell you what type of woman Ryan wants. He wants the type that loves to hear someone talk about the Kennedy Assassination all night long." Calleigh turned her head and looked right at Eric with a serious face. "You know Eric, the lone gunman theory is possible with one bullet if the speed and angle is just right." Eric lifted himself up out of his seat and pointed at Ryan as he looked at Calleigh. "That's the same thing Ryan said!" Eric replied, with a somewhat shocked look on his face, as if he suddenly realized that deep down that Calleigh might have something more in common with Ryan than he had thought before. "God, you two are alike in so many ways. It's almost scary." Eric sat back down as he looked at Ryan with a 'I-told-you-so' look on his face, in regards to their discussion in the Hummer a few days ago.

Eric's comment to Ryan about how Ryan and Calleigh were alike caught Calleigh off guard. She quickly removed her hand from Ryan, as if it was wrong to touch him. She looked down at the table and got very quiet. Eric noticed her reaction. "Calleigh, I didn't say it as an insult. I was making an observation. That's all." "I know, Eric…" Calleigh fumbled with her words, which were getting harder to form because she was now drunk. "I just think…that…" Calleigh stood up. "Uh, I need to use the bathroom. I'm afraid I've had too much to drink." She started to fall over, but Ryan quickly jumped up and caught her. He looked over to Alexx. "Alexx? Do you think you can help Calleigh to the restroom?" Alexx nodded and got up. "Guys, I'm sorry," Calleigh slurred as Alexx came over and took Calleigh's arm from Ryan. "I didn't mean to get this tipsy." "Don't worry about it, honey." Alexx said as she started to lead Calleigh to the restroom. "We're all having a good time. You're clearly enjoying yourself tonight. It's ok to let loose every once in a while." Calleigh sighed and looked at Alexx. "Alexx, you know that I don't like to lose control. It's not me." "Sweetheart, no one is going to think of you any differently or not 'under control' because you've had a little too much to drink one night." Alexx continued to speak to Calleigh as she opened the door to the restroom. "We've all been there before. We'll get you home tonight and you can sleep it off." Calleigh stumbled into a stall and closed the door. Alexx stood by the sink and waited. After about a minute, the unmistakable sound of someone vomiting filled the bathroom, followed by the flush of a toilet.

Meanwhile, back at the table, everyone was saying goodbye to Valera as she put on her jacket to leave. "Do you want me to drive Calleigh home?" Valera asked to no one in particular at the table. "Either myself or Alexx will drive her back to her apartment." Replied Horatio. "Thanks for asking." "No problem, H." Valera responded. "I'll see you all at work Monday. Drive safe." As she left, Ryan started to speak to Eric. "Why did you have to bring up the date?" Eric shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, Ryan. It kinda slipped out. I had to say something to steer the conversation away from myself and Cynthia." Eric pushed his empty glass away and reached for his wallet. "Besides, I see that I might have helped you in getting another date." "With who?" Said Ryan, as he quickly realized that he shouldn't have said the words, because he might get the answer that he didn't want to hear. At least not from Eric, with Horatio listening. Eric placed his tip down on the table as he answered Ryan's question. "Ryan, you don't need me to tell you what the answer to 1+1 is." At that moment, Ryan's cellphone went off. Ryan unhooked it from his waist and looked at the number. Excited, he quickly answered. "Christine!" The sudden uplift in his voice did not go unnoticed to Eric or Horatio, who gave each other a quizzed look, but said nothing. The two of them looked back over at Ryan, who was now totally focused on his phone call. "I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow morning. Early flight? Oh, to surprise me. That's great. Right now I'm at a bar with my coworkers having a few beers. Yes, I'm out at an actual bar with people. Can you believe that?" Eric chuckled at hearing Ryan's side of the conversation. Ryan nodded his head a couple of times over what was being said to him over the phone. "Hold on Christine. I'll ask. No, don't do that. I wouldn't mind." Ryan placed his hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Horatio. "H., Do you mind if I leave to go pick up my friend at the airport? She said she would take a cab over to my place, but I'd rather pick her up." "I don't mind, Ryan." Horatio answered. Ryan went back to his conversation. "Yes, it's fine. I should be there in a while. Can't wait to see you. I love you too. Bye."

Ryan reclipped his phone back onto his waist and looked up to see Eric grinning at him. "Did you just tell a girl that you loved her? Maybe you don't need my help in getting a woman. No wonder you didn't want to call back Sara." "Eric," Ryan said in a somewhat annoyed voice, "Christine is my friend. We go way back. I love her only as a friend." "Sure, Ryan. Whatever you say." "No, Eric. Don't be getting any ideas." Ryan stood up and looked over at the restroom to see if Calleigh and Alexx were coming out yet. No such luck. "Well, I was hoping to say goodbye to Alexx and Calleigh. Maybe I should wait a few more minutes." "Go pick up your friend, Ryan." Horatio said in a tone that sounded more like an order than a comment. "Thanks for coming out tonight. Be careful." "Thanks, H. I will. Say bye to Calleigh and Alexx for me." Ryan responded, feeling a little down that he didn't get to say goodbye to Calleigh himself and to make sure that she was alright. "You two have a good night." Ryan left for the door. No more than a minute or two had passed before Calleigh and Alexx came back to the table.

Calleigh had sat back down next to Alexx. Despite her condition, she noticed that Ryan was gone. "Where's Ryan?" She managed to get the words out as she looked at Eric. "Oh, Ryan left to go to the airport to pick up a 'friend'." Eric said as he held up both of his hands and made the quotation mark gesture as he said the word friend. "A friend?" Calleigh was trying to comprehend what Eric was getting at with his gesture. "Her name is Christine. Ryan said that she was just a friend, but I'll believe it when I see it. He was pretty excited to go see her." Eric's words made Calleigh feel like that they were cutting her to the bone. Was she throwing herself at Ryan, a coworker no less, for no reason at all? Were all of her thoughts and dreams from the last few months all for nothing? Calleigh felt sick to her stomach and she knew for a fact that it wasn't from the booze. She looked over to Horatio to see his reaction. He was tapping his right index finger on the table while looking down at his watch, clearly staying out of the conversation. He looked up at Calleigh. The look on her face told him that she wanted to be anywhere but here. Horatio decided to ask her. "Calleigh, do you want me to take you home?" "Yes, H. I think I'm done for the night. What should I do about my car?" "Don't worry," Horatio replied as he stood up. "I have to come into work tomorrow to do some paperwork. I'll stop by your place and pick you up so we can get your car." Calleigh stood up herself and walked over to Horatio. Alexx got up and placed her hand on Calleigh's arm. "Cal, make sure you drink plenty of fluids and take two aspirins when you get home so your hangover won't get the best of you." "Ok, mom." Calleigh spoke back to Alexx as she cracked a smile.

Horatio helped Calleigh into the Hummer and drove her home. On the way there, he occasionally looked over to make sure she was ok. She was asleep. As Horatio pulled into the parking lot of her apartment, she began to stir. "What…where am I?" Calleigh mumbled. "You're home." Horatio replied as he parked the Hummer and looked over at Calleigh. "Do I need to carry you upstairs?" "No, I can walk." The two of them got out of the Hummer and went up to her apartment. As she unlocked the door, Calleigh turned to Horatio. "Horatio?" "Yes, Cal?" "Do you think I blew it with Ryan? Is he with this other girl? Maybe I shouldn't have decided to act on my feelings with him until I knew more about his personal life, or at least made sure he wasn't seeing someone before I decided to follow my heart. I really hate the fact that I'm not in control of my feelings. I-" Horatio placed a finger on her lips to silence her. "Cal, honey…I can't tell you how to listen to your heart. You have to make that decision on your own. Besides, you don't know for sure if he is seeing someone unless you ask." Calleigh looked down at the floor. "I don't think I'm strong enough to ask him. I hate feeling so damn conflicted inside." Horatio reached over and placed his arms around Calleigh and hugged her. "Cal, I hate the fact that this is eating you up inside, but like I said, I can only help you to a point. You have to take the next step alone." Calleigh looked up at Horatio with a grin. "You really know how to sweet talk a girl, don't you?" "Well, I try." Horatio replied, laughing slightly at Calleigh's mocking tone in her voice. "Go inside and get some rest. I'll be by tomorrow to pick you up." "Goodnight, H. thanks for the ride home." Calleigh said as she slowly closed the door behind her.

"Goodnight, Bullet Girl."

to be continued…