The Red Dress
4. The Red Dress - Part Two
Greg and Sara slowly entered the restaurant, both almost as nervous as each other. He took in a deep breath as he quickly slipped his arm around her waist...She almost jumped, and he waited for her to slap him. She looked over at him and felt a blush creeping over her cheeks. She looked away and scolded at herself. They were supposed to be together, comfortably dating, not startled by a little contact. She looked back at Greg and smiled, trying to make him feel a little more comfortable. He guided her towards the table they had reserved, and two familiar figures entered his vision. He grinned, mom and dad. His grip around Sara's waist slightly tightened as they stopped.
"Hey mom, hey dad!" Greg said as he moved away from Sara's side to hug his parents. Before they could get a word in he quickly introduced Sara, hoping that as soon as he got it over with his nerves would disappear, "this is Sara," he said as he turned back to her and gestured for her to come closer.
"It's so lovely to finally meet you!" Greg's mother exclaimed as she pulled Sara into a tight hug, almost too enthusiastically.
Greg's father shook his head at his wife, "It is nice to meet you Sara, I hope you've been keeping him out of trouble." He said before shaking her hand.
"I try my best," she smiled as she replied. She'd pictured Greg's parents differently, she couldn't exactly pinpoint what she had expected, but they were great. She realised that Greg still had his hand around her waist, and began to lead her to her seat. Greg pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit before pushing it in for her.
"Thanks," she said as she adjusted the chair. He'd pushed her in a little too close to the table.
Sara watched as he took a seat beside her and clung onto the side of the seat, his hands trembling. She frowned a little, wondering why he was still so nervous. She then began to wonder why she wasn't as nervous as she was before. If this was going to be convincing they both needed to feel comfortable. She reached beneath the table and took one of his hands in hers and gently squeezed. He glanced at her, and she smiled. He returned the smile as the two of them realised that they had an audience. Both of Greg's parents were watching them, amused. Greg pulled his hand away from Sara's and picked up a menu. His parents shot amused glances at each other before doing the same, and soon they had ordered their entrée and main meals.
"So Greg tells me that the two of you met through work..."
"Yeah, we met almost five years ago, when we were both pretty much started working here in Vegas." Sara replied as she took a sip of her wine. Normally all that Sara ever thought about was work. She lived it, she breathed, almost every minute of every day. But now she felt that work was the last thing she wanted to be talking about with these people, and she really didn't understand why.
"Five years, and it took you this long to get your act together?" Greg's father asked, directing the question straight at his son.
Greg looked over at Sara and back at his parents, "Yep." He looked down at the table. Truth was, he was still trying to get his act together, and it was killing him.
Coast to coast and in too deep
Saving our secret for the weekends
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Entrée's and main meals had been and gone, and Greg was ready to shoot himself in the head. However bad he'd thought this date could go, he'd never even thought of this. It never even dared upon him, until it was too late...
"The boy always was a slow starter. Took him almost five years just to get out of diapers," his father let out with a laugh. His mother joined him and began to giggle. She obviously had a little too much wine.
"Dad..." Greg trailed off. He knew it was no use. Already Sara had heard stories from his childhood. Most of his embarrassing moments, the moments he'd wish he could throw away and never remember. But here he was, on a date with the woman he loved, re-living the nightmares of his childhood. He watched Sara as she laughed at his parents' stories, and couldn't help but smile. He'd never seen her laugh so much, not even around Nicky or Grissom, and here she was, happy, because of him. But he decided to put an end to their trip down memory lane. As funny as it was for them, it was doing serious damage to his ego, and he knew that more than likely Sara would take the first chance to spread these stories to their co-workers the next time he pissed her off.
"That's enough of the embarrassing stories, ok?" He demanded, trying not to sound as though the stories were affecting him too much. He was only grateful that they weren't at home, otherwise his mother would've brought out photo album after photo album with embarrassing photos, from pictures of him in the bath to the time he'd decided to wear his mother's bra. He shuddered with the thought of it...
Sara placed her hand on his knee as she tried to wipe the smile from her face. She had so much material to use against him now...but she wasn't sure if she'd actually use it, "sorry..." She realised how unfair it was for him. She got to hear all of these stories from his childhood, and he still had no idea about anything from her past. The three of them continued to talk as she sifted through her thoughts. His family were so nice, warm, caring...they were so different from her own. She actually liked being there, fake date or not, she liked meeting Greg's parents, hearing their stories, being involved in conversations that didn't have anything to do with blood drops or fibre analysis.
"I'm just going to go to the bathroom..." She said as she quickly stood and left the table.
"Is she okay?" Greg's father asked, wondering why she'd suddenly leave.
"Ummm, I.." He trailed as he stood to follow her. He had no idea what was wrong, or if there was anything wrong at all. He frowned.
"No, you sit down..." His mother ordered as she stood and headed towards the bathroom.
Sara hated herself. She didn't want to break down, not here, and not now. Not in front of his family, and not in front of him. She didn't want to ruin this, not for Greg. She looked at her reflection and continued to fight back tears. Why was she letting this get to her? And why now? She heard the bathroom door swing open and quickly took out her lipstick from her bag. She began to re-apply as Greg's mother stopped behind her.
"Sara are you okay?" She asked as she placed a hand on her shoulder.
Sara turned around to face her. She sighed as she won her battle against the tears, and kept them away..at least for now.
"It's just a little overwhelming, meeting Greg's parents..." She hated herself more for lying, especially to this woman, so kind and caring. She didn't have to come in here after her, she didn't have to care, but she did. She really wasn't making it any easier for her.
"You don't need to worry..we don't bite." She squeezed Sara's shoulder reassuringly before continuing, "and to tell you the truth, we're all a little nervous here. We've never met one of Greg's girlfriends before...you're the first."
Sara's eyes widened slightly as she frowned. Why had he never brought anyone home? Her trail of thought let her back to the question that was tormenting her the most...Why did he pick her? Was her name the first that popped into his head? Why not Catherine? Or just someone random? Why her?
"He's never spoken about anyone like he does about you. It really is nice to put your name to your face and finally meet you. I really hope that things work out between you two."
Sara felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. She felt the air escape from her lungs and a realization entered her mind...
But now I know and now I know and I am grateful
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"She's not what I expected."
"She's not?" Greg asked, almost confused. What exactly was his father expecting?
"I just...pictured her differently. She's pretty."
"Just pretty?" Greg scoffed. Sara wasn't just pretty...She was gorgeous.
"I didn't mean it like that..." His father retorted. He knew what he meant. His son's previous reaction proved to him what he had been thinking all night, and for weeks prior to that night...He really did like this girl, he may even love her. He wasn't very good at advice, especially when it came to this, but he felt he needed to speak to his son.
"If this girl that you've spoken about for months, don't ever let her go. If she's this special to you, don't break her heart..."
Greg frowned as his father spoke. He couldn't believe what he was saying, as if he'd intentionally hurt Sara, break her heart...But that didn't matter, because she wasn't his to lose, and her heart wasn't his to break. He became distracted as he noticed Sara and his mom returning to the table...
"Are you...?" He began, but she cut him off.
"I'm fine... Do you wanna dance?" Sara asked, nervously glancing from Greg's eyes to the floor. She felt like she was asking the most gorgeous guy at prom to dance, expecting to get rejected or blown off in some way.
Greg felt his mouth go dry. He looked up at her, confusion etched into his face. Sara? Asking him to dance? Was he awake? Did he hear her right? Or was he back in one of his fantasies? He blinked, making sure this wasn't a dream. Sara was still there, standing in front of him in that red dress, asking him to dance with her. Whatever was happening, he wasn't going to give up this chance.
He stood as she took his arm in hers, and they both made their way to the dance floor which was just meters from their table. Greg frowned. He'd never even noticed the dance floor before now...The thought of dancing with Sara Sidle had never even entered his might, until now.
Greg's parents watched as the two of them moved towards the center of the dance floor in between the other couples scattered across the small space. They watched from a distance as Greg took Sara's hand in his, and pulled her close to him. They began to slowly rock with the music. Greg's parents looked away, diverting their attention back to the table, both feeling as though they were invading on the young couple's privacy.
"I really think our son's in love..." His mother trailed off as she couldn't help but turn back to watch her son dancing with his girlfriend.
With drink I see things better
I'll see you around
We'll bring the house down
We'll bring the house down
Greg nervously held Sara as they danced back and forth. He wasn't much of a dancer, at least not this type of dancing. Put him in a mosh pit and he could rock out, but here, on a proper dance floor, in these shoes, it was a recipe for disaster. He noticed that Sara wasn't really at ease either, and began to wonder why she'd even asked him to dance. Maybe she just wasn't up for more time with his parents. He lost concentration, and accidentally stepped on Sara's foot.
"Greg!" She gasped as his foot came down heavily on her big toe. She gently hit him as he looked at her sheepishly, "sorry."
Sara couldn't help but laugh. It was her fault, after all, asking him to dance. They continued to dance. She watched him, almost studied him as he continuously glanced down at his feet, making sure he didn't make the same mistake twice. She smiled, he was so sweet. She wanted to tell him that she knew, about his feelings for her...but she couldn't bring herself to tell him. She stayed quiet, and moved closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder as they continued to rock back and forth in a mutual silence.
Greg noticed the silence they'd fallen into, and didn't mind it. He liked just being there with Sara. He glanced over at his parents and found them watching him. He hated having an audience, especially one that you were trying to fool. He began to wonder if they had bought it...his father had, but his mother? Maybe in the bathroom she'd said something, frightened Sara in some way. He wanted to ask her, but couldn't. He didn't want to 'ruin' the moment they were having. He sighed.
Sara lifted her head, noticing Greg's sigh. She looked at him, questioning him about the sigh. He smiled, and she smiled back. She wanted to tell him now, she felt as though she needed to...but again,she couldn't do it.
"Thanks for asking me here Greg...It wasn't so bad being your girlfriend." She smiled.
"You got the sweet end of the deal here..." He replied, grinning. He wondered what she was thinking, whether she thought his parents really believed they were a couple, and what his mother had said..."You think they bought it?" He asked her as he indicated towards his parents.
Sara quickly glanced at his parents before focusing back on him. "I think so..." She trailed off as a mischievous grin formed on her face. "But just in case..."
She leaned in and softly kissed Greg. He returned the kiss, and watched as she pulled back slowly. "Woah..." he whispered as he quickly recovered...Sara Sidle had just kissed him. She'd kissed him, willingly. He watched her, wondering why she'd just kissed him. She didn't even seem affected by it at all, like it was just an ordinary, every day thing.
The music began to slow, and eventually came to a stop. Their dance had ended. Greg was still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened, but decided, why not try his luck again? Arms linked, they slowly began to make their way back to the table.
"You know what? I don't think they're believing it...how bout another one, just to be safe?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows.
She chuckled and shook her head as they got closer to the table.
"I'll take that as a maybe..." He trailed off as they reached the table.
She started to regret kissing him. Was she sending him the wrong signals? Was he going to think of it more than just a kiss, with nothing behind it? She sat back down in her chair, wondering whether or not she'd just helped Greg or would end up burning him. She inwardly sighed. At least her mission was accomplished. As the four of them left the restaurant they said their goodbyes, and she was sure that Greg's parents bought the idea of them as a couple. Even she'd almost forgotten they weren't actually together during their dance...
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Greg pulled up outside Sara's apartment. He wasn't sure whether to say goodbye here or walk her to her door. He struggled for a moment before deciding on the latter. He figured he might as well be a gentlemen right up until the end of the date. He got out of the car and quickly opened the passenger side door for Sara.
"You don't have to..." She said as she got out of the car.
"I want to." He replied as she stumbled on the curb. he put his arm out to help steady her.
He walked her to her door and waited as she searched her bag for her keys. He leant against he wall and watched, wondering if he should thank her again, if he should say what he was really thinking, or just say goodbye and leave, and keep his thoughts to himself like he had for so many years. Sara searched her bag and became more conscious of his attention as she continued to search. She finally found her keys and quickly found the right key. She turned the key and slowly opened the door to enter her apartment.
Greg moved forward and grabbed her arm, turning her back to him, "Hey...thanks, for everything." He said nervously as he found Sara's face dangerously close to his own. Greg held his breath. Was this it? He began to slowly lean forward, watching her face, searching her eyes for a sign. And there it was...She moved back slightly, placing more space between them.
"Don't worry about it...you would've been there for me too." She replied with a weak smile. She gently squeezed his arm before turning back to her apartment.
Sara closed the door and leant back against it. She threw her bag to the ground and crossed her arms tightly. She stared into the darkness of her apartment before closing her eyes. What almost happened? And why didn't she let it happen, and why didn't he? Why didn't she say something more? She leant harder against the door as she continued to cut herself up. Little did she know that Greg was on the other side of the door. Outside he leant back against her door, hands in his pockets, staring up at the few stars that were visible in the night sky. He should've just left. Why did he have to be so foolish to be believe that she might have been interested him? Even just slightly...but he obviously had his answer. He moved away from the doorway, and with one last glance back at the apartment, he left.
Sara felt the tears stream down her cheeks, making lines down her face as they found their way to her dress. Her tears were staining her dress, the red dress. She sucked in some air. She knew why this was eating at her so badly. She quickly wiped them away as she gathered her courage and heaved the door open, hoping, wishing...But he was gone.
Does he ever get the girl?
The End!
I wanna thank y'all so much for reading and reviewing! It's totally rad, and I really hope that y'all liked this part. I had issues writing it, lmao. I hope it isn't too rushed, I really wanted to finish this. I wasn't entirely sure how to end it, I'm not really a fan of 'happily ever after' but I like to be ambiguous and leave y'all hanging. I really needa stop being quite the bastard, and being so cynical. I might eventually write a sequel with a little more Greg/Sara action and a little less of me holding em back, if y'all would like me to, when I'm on the happy pills and in less of a foul mood, lmao.. / Britt
