Chapter 6

A few hours later Grissom was back in his office. He was searching his bookshelf. When he found the one he was looking for, he tossed it onto his desk, knocking off some papers. He knelt down to pick up the papers and noticed the sheet on Alexandria. He looked at his watch again, I need to call her.

Greg was just about to knock on Grissom's door when he saw him dialing. Greg stood just outside the door; he had a question he had to ask.

The phone ran four times and an answering machine picked up, "Hi, you've reach Alex. I can't come to the phone right now, you know what to do." The machine beeped.

Grissom hesitated for a moment, then started "Alexandria, this is Gil Grissom…."

Greg heard the name Alexandria and started to listen closer. Looks like Grissom has a girlfriend.

"I'm sorry I missed lunch. I got called to a case." Grissom stopped. "Oh, Alexandria you are home…No, no, I would still like to meet…No, that won't work. I'm going to be busy with the case for a couple days. Maybe we can meet next week? Tuesday is my scheduled day off…Ok, same time, same place? I'll be there." He hung up.

Greg was intrigued after hearing this one-sided conversation and snuck away to see if anyone else might know anything about this interesting development.

Alex was disappointed to say the least and just a little bit heart broken. She had been looking forward to meeting Grissom for almost six months now. She felt like a teenager who was stood up for the prom, and, actually having been stood up for the prom, she knew the feeling quite well.

She hadn't been the most popular girl at school. She was more interested in studying and her job as a bookkeeper for a local grocer. The owner was a friend of her grandmother. She had an odd fascination with credits and debits. Maybe it was because her grandmother also told her to watch every penny. And the one thing Alex could do was watch every penny. That's why studying accounting in college came natural to her.

She was sitting on the couch, reading her mom's diary when the phone rang. She was engrossed in a passage her mother had written about Grissom when she heard the beep of the answering machine and then his voice.

"Alexandria this is Gil Grissom." Alex jumped up; the phone wasn't on the cradle. Where is it? She continued to search. "I'm sorry I missed lunch. I got called to a case."

Bingo! She had found the phone. "Mr. Grissom, this is Alex."

"Oh, Alexandria you are home." He wasn't expecting her to pick up.

"Yes, I'm sorry I didn't pick up sooner, I couldn't find the phone. I'm so glad you called. I was afraid you didn't want to meet me." She was probing, seeing if he was still interested or just being polite.

"No, no, I would still like to meet."

Yes! Alex thought. "Ok, tomorrow maybe?"

"No, that won't work. I'm going to be busy with the case for a couple days. Maybe we can meet next week?"

"Ok, is there any particular day that's good for you? I'm on vacation for the next week or so."

"Tuesday is my scheduled day off."

"Tuesday is great," she smiled. All hope is not lost!

"Ok, same time, same place?

"That's fine with me. You actually going to show this time?" She asked, half jokingly.

"I'll be there." Grissom hung up.

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, Alex told herself, trying not to get too excited.

Greg walked into the Las Vegas crime lab break room. Nick and Warrick were sitting at one of the tables, playing a game of cards.

"Do either of you know anything about Grissom's new girlfriend?" Greg asked not wanting to be left out of the loop for any longer than he had to be.

"A girlfriend?" Nick seemed surprised.

"Grissom?" Warrick was just as mystified.

"Yeah," Greg started, finally glad to know something before the rest of the lab. "I heard him on the phone with some chick named Alexandria. They have lunch planned for next week."

"Don't know anything about it," Warrick replied and went back to playing cards with Nick.

Greg left disappointed. He'd hoped they would take the bait, but little did he know, someone in that room did.

Sara was sitting in the far corner of the room, obscured by a vending machine. She was sure none of the other three even saw her. After hearing their conversation, she was very disconcerted. Just another person I'm going to compare myself to for the rest of my life, she silently sighed.