"Hey, what did you get on our mystery killers?", Nick asked Tara as he strolled into the lab. He was very cheerful today.
"Well,", she started to answer, trying not to laugh, but failing miserably. She could barely speak she was laughing so hard, so she sat down for a second to compose herself. "Ok. I'm good now. Um, Your killer's spit came back a 'Howe D. Pardner', and um, I'd kill somebody too if that was my name!", she finally said as she went into hysterics once again.
Nick chuckled and said, "Wow. Where did you find a match? Was he in the system already?"
"Yea. Howe D. Pardner is a cop. What a world we live in, huh?", she added. Tara looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She looked back down at Nick and said "Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?"
"What?", Nick asked after she asked her philosophic little question. He was very confused as to why she asked. "Why?"
"I don't know. I was just thinking about stuff. What is happening to the world these days? I was on jury duty last month, and the DA asked 'How many times have you committed suicide?' to the witness. My god. Oh and I was shopping for paint the other day and I saw a warning label on a chainsaw. It said DO NOT TRY TO STOP WITH HANDS OR GENITALS. I wonder what kind of consumer phone call led to that warning...", Tara giggled as she spoke.
Nick and Tara walked into the break room together and sat on the couch with Catherine, who was eating a bag of peanuts.
Nick replied to Tara with, "That's nothing. I had a TV dinner last night, and on the side of the box it said SERVING SUGGESTION: DEFROST."
Catherine looked up from her snack and said, "What?"Nick and Tara told her what they were talking about and she asked "What is wrong with people? My bag of peanuts says WARNING: CONTAINS NUTS."
They all started laughing and sharing tidbits about weird things they have seen or heard. Soon enough, Greg and Warrick had joined in the fun. Everyone was laughing and sharing.
Greg chimed in by saying, "A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second! And Grissom will like this one, the ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated."
Tara replied, "You can intoxicate an ant?"
Greg answered, "I guess you can intoxicate any animal."
"Good to know.", Warrick joked. Everyone laughed and made jokes of their own.
Grissom, however, was in his office.
What am I doing? I can't get involved with Sara. But, I already said yes. And I can't break the date... But everyone will be there, and everyone will see us together. People will talk. Why did I say yes? Grissom was going through hell in his mind. He couldn't let a relationship develop, no matter how much he wanted it to. He needed to stop this, but he couldn't. He wouldn't. "Catherine!", Grissom called over the intercom.
She came running nto his room, still giggling over Nick's last joke. "Yes?"
"I, I need to talk to you. It's-"
"Sara. I know. I figured you would be having second thoughts as soon as I heard you say yes to her. But, before you say anything, I just want you to know, that she is not going to take it well if you say no now."
Grissom sighed deeply, as if he was trying to breathe out all his torubles. He thought carefully about what to say next. "Catherine, I have tried so hard to prevent this. Why is it happening anyway?"
"Maybe some things are just supposed to happen?"
"No. I won't let it. I can't have a relationship with Sara. I, I won't."
Grissom ignored the cold stare Catherine gave him. She shook her head dissapprovingly and left Grissom to his thoughts.
I have to break the date...But what if Sara quits? I know she overreacts, so quitting is possible. The lab couldn't get by without Sara. I couldn't get by without Sara...