Chloe's dark hair fell neatly at her shoulders and her black wool jacket scratched against her arms as she walked. She fiddled with the laminated 'Press' card that hung on a cord around her neck.
Chloe felt overdressed, not used to the Las Vegas heat, she strutted towards the brick building which was the crime lab. She self-consciously pulled at her tight jeans and flicked her fringe out of her eyes before reaching for the handle of the glass door in front of her.
The cool air was the first thing to hit her as she walked through the door. Her stiletto boots echoed throughout the near empty room as she walked across to the reception desk where a bleached blonde woman sat taping noisily at a computer.
"I'm here to see Officer Jim Brass?"
The sound of Chloe's slight accent broke the silence which was absorbed by the hum of the air conditioner. The blonde woman looked up from her keyboard.
"I have an appointment..."
Chloe let her voice trail off, distracting by the blonde woman's hot pink fingernails flying across the keyboard. Comparing them to her own neatly manicured ones, she looked at her visible name tag. 'Peggy', it read. Chloe made a mental note to stay away from 'Peggy' in future.
"Yes…" She clicked the mouse while still staring at the screen, "His office is down the hall, the third to the left,"
Chloe smiled at the stony faced woman sitting at the desk.
"You might want to knock first before you go in"
She turned back to the computer. Chloe thanked her before starting towards the corridor, rolling her eyes at the obvious remark.
'I could never work here,' Chloe thought as she started down the grey hall. The artificial lights, the cold air and dull blue plastic seats, it was all so depressing. It hadn't changed much since the last time she had visited, almost a year and a half ago.
Lost in her own thoughts, Chloe paused outside the third door on the left. She adjusted her jacket and pushed her fringe to the side before knocking on the heavy wooden door.
The door opened almost immediately.
"Chloe, you're early!"
The stout man who was Chloe's uncle stood at the door. He beamed in appreciation at seeing Chloe dressed up and looking great, it had been a completely different story three days ago.
"It's the little spot-light hugger herself," He continued smiling, indicating to Gil Grissom who sat in the chair next to Jim's desk. "We were just talking about you, weren't we Gil?"
"Good things I hope," Chloe smiled at both the older men.
"Yes, your uncle was just informing me on how proud he was, reading your last article, and the documentary, that's an achievement on its own."
"Well," Chloe began, smiling at the praise.
"She's too modest isn't she?" Jim laughed before wrapping his arm around the young girls shoulder. "I'm going to take her out to lunch to celebrate, but I'm running a bit late sweetie," His voice immediately turning back to his business tone.
"Could you possibly take this down to Warwick?" He picked up a tan manila folder off the desk. "Just some case notes on a suspect,"
"I know he's keen on seeing you, to congratulate you and all that, Catherine too. They might be down in the break room; I've just got a few things to wrap up here…"
Taking the folder, Chloe smiled at the busyness of the office, before turning at the door.
"It was great to see you again, Chloe" Grissom called from the seat where he was still sitting.
"You too, Gil" She replied in her proper English way.
The door closed behind the young woman, who stood clutching the full folder.
It was great to be back.