Sara paced back and forth between her bedroom and the bathroom, tossing things in a bag as she went; brush, tooth paste, face cream, essential oils.
The loud knock on the door caught her off-guard. She tossed the bag in her suit-case and opened the door, turning back to her task as soon as the door swung open.
"You don't look ready yet."
"And whose fault is that?" she snapped.
"You're not blaming me!"
"I don't even know where we're going, which means I have no idea what to pack, which means I've been running around in some frantic attempt to pack anything I might need! I may not look it, but I am a girl you know!"
"I've never doubted that!" he smiled, "Say Sara. You don't happen to have a bad case of travel nerves don't you?"
"I don't," she yelled from her bedroom, "it's you that's making me nervous!"
Grissom chuckled. Sara always seemed the prototype of calm to him, except for cases that dealt with abuse. That was a different kind of restlessness. A deep anger boiling inside her. The injustice, the indifference, they could set Sara off like a spark.
But this restlessness was fun to watch. It didn't hurt him to the core of his being to see her like this. In fact, it was quite amusing to watch.
"I'm thinking it's a good thing I made you promise not to use office resources to find out where we're going."
"Bite me!" Sara shouted from the bedroom.
Grissom smiled.
A few minutes later Sara emerged from the bedroom clutching a suitcase big enough to fit the two of them inside.
"Done!" She grinned.
"If your closet had a handle you would've taken that with you too, wouldn't you?"
"Possibly."
Grissom took the immense suitcase from Sara, while checking to see if it wouldn't exceed the weight limit.
"Okay we're good to go!" he said.
Sara closed the door to her apartment and followed him outside. "Now will you tell me where we're going?"
"You're a smart woman, you'll figure it out."
Inwardly laughing at Sara for being so curious Grissom opened the car door for her and helped her inside.
"I feel like I'd have to blindfold you now, but I wouldn't do that to you."
"You're a wise man, Gil Grissom."
They drove to McCarran International airport -"Airport? We have to fly?"- and parked the car in the long-term parking area. Sara was practically bouncing of the walls out of curiosity. Grissom had never seen her like this and he would have expected it to make him feel old. In stead, the energetic cheerfullness was quite contagious and it made him feel younger than he could recall ever feeling. With their hands entwined they followed the signs marked 'departures'. Although they were still in Vegas, a place where they had agreed to keep their relationship a secret, they felt confident and free enough to show minor signs of affection.
"You wait here, while I check in," Grissom said.
"No! You can't DO this to me! I want to know where we're going!"
Sara looked at Grissom with pleading eyes. She reminded him of a puppy dog, waiting for that small piece of cheese dangling in front of him. Head tilted, focussed on the task at hand: Persuasion.
"You'll find out soon enough," he said while turning to find the check-in counter of AA.
For a minute Sara fought the thought of following him to see where they were headed, but she decided she would wait for him to surprise her. She amused herself by watching people, counting the number of women with larger suitcases than her. All of them knew where they were headed. No doubt about that.
Grissom returned sooner than she had expected. "One of the many benefits of self-service check-in," he explained.
"Now will you tell me where we're going?" Sara restrained herself from jumping up and down.
"We have a transfer in Chicago and from there on who knows?"
"You do!"
"Okay... I've got three letters for you: C, D, G."
Sara stared blankly at him. "CDG, CDG..."
Grissom smirked, amused by the fact that it took her so long to figure out the clues. "You call yourself a CSI?" he teased.
Suddenly Sara's eyes widened. "No! You're kidding right? CDG? Charles de Gaule? We're going to Paris?" she shouted.
"La douce France," he winked.
She was in his arms before he could say 'baguette'.
"Oh my God I love Paris! I've always wanted to go there!"
Grissom's cheeks flushed. "I know, that's why I chose it."
No longer able to keep herself together Sara gave him a slow, passionate kiss.
"Let's go," she whispered in his ear.
They went through customs and spent an hour shopping. After spending almost three quarters of the hour at 'Borders', a book store which had books stacked up to the ceiling and which got Grissom to walk around with his mouth slightly ajar they hurried to buy a new watch for Grissom at 'Fossils' and Sara picked a large variety of chunk-food at 'Las Vegas Fruits and Nuts'.
"I'm nuts," she joked.
"As if I don't know that."
"There's a 'Mr. Boxer' over there!" Sara pointed.
"No."
"Yes, there is!" she smiled.
"I know there is, but we're not going in there!"
Sara smirked. "So easy to get you uncomfortable."
Sara couldn't help herself from walking into the nearest Crabtree and Evelyn for some last minute lotion shopping. Although people ordinarily took her for a not-so-feminine girl, she loved to pamper herself with a hot bath, scrubs and facials. She just didn't have time.
After Grissom had kept Sara from buying everything in the shop they proceeded to the gate -lade with books, apricots and walnuts- and waited for their boarding time.
"I bought you a little present," Grissom confessed.
He opened his back and took out a flat package which Sara eagerly ripped open.
"A tourist's guide to Paris!" Sara smiled.
"A little something to read on the flight."
"Apart from the stacks of books and magazines we just bought half an hour ago?"
"How could I know you'd be a magazinaholic?"
"You couldn't, I keep it secret," she winked.
"I feel honored to share in your secret."
He planted a soft kiss on her lips.
"I think that's our boarding call," Sara whispered when they came up for air.
"Are you ready?"
With his hand on the small of Sara's back, Grissom guided her towards the airplane.