Meanwhile, over at the counter, Caitlin addressed Nick.
"Excuse me, Mr Stokes?"
Nick turned his attention to her, flashing her his Texan grin.
"Call me, Nick. Caitlin."
She returned his smile, but immediately went into business mode, as she turned to her computer screen.
"There seems to be a little problem." Upon hearing that, Sara joined the conversation.
"What's going on, Nicky?"
Nick shrugged, as Caitlin explained the situation.
"Well, it seems that even though your reservation has been made and we've got all the necessary documentation, we may not be able to offer you the exact accommodation that you have been promised. I'm terribly sorry."
"And what problem would that be?" Sara leaned over the counter, looking at the receptionist intently.
"Well, I can see that you have been promised three rooms for each one of you, but unfortunately we are only able to offer you two rooms at the moment."
Nick grinned with satisfaction.
"Well, Sar, it looks like we might be bunk mates after all!"
"Shut up, Nicky!" Sara shot him a half-smile, and turned to Caitlin.
"What exactly are you able to offer us?"
Just then, Grissom and Karen had wandered over to them, the little lady eyeing Nick and Sara with interest.
"Gris, we've got a probl…" Sara turned to him, only to be faced with smiling Karen. "Hello!"
"Karen, I'd like to introduce you to two people from my team." Grissom started. "This is Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes. Guys this is Dr Karen Ashcroft, as of this year, honorary member of the Entomological Society and a dear friend of mine."
"Pleased to meet you, ma'm." Nick shook Karen's hand, which she gingerly took.
"Aren't you the cutest?" Nick blushed at Karen's words, trying not to look at Sara, who all of a sudden found the tiles on the floor very interesting.
"Gilbert here hasn't told me anything about you two, but I'm really glad he brought you with him. He always comes alone, you know? It was about time we've had some fresh blood around here."
Grissom rolled his eyes.
"Karen, any chance of you not calling me 'Gilbert'?"
She pouted at him. "Not a slightest, sweetie. And didn't we already had this conversation?"
Sara coughed, trying to cover up her giggles. From what she's just seen, this Karen was definitely a character. She probably knew Grissom very well. Hmm, that might come in handy. She decided to take a little risk.
"So, I take it you know Grissom well?" Sara asked the petite woman by her side, ignoring a death-stare her supervisor just gave her.
"Oh, yeah!" Karen looked at Grissom, revealing the twinkle in her eye. "I could probably tell you a lot of…"
Grissom cut her off, little worried about what she was going to say next.
"Karen, would you please stop scaring the young ones here of stories of our past? I'm sure they don't want to hear about it."
"Oh, but we do!" Sara exclaimed, ignoring Grissom's warning look. Somehow, this day just kept getting better, and she no longer regretted coming to Florida.
Throughout this exchange, Caitlin remained behind her counter, patiently waiting for the four of them to finish. If she was taken aback by any aspect of this particular assembly, she did not let it show.
"So, did you three just get here, then?" Karen's eyes travelled from each one of them to the other.
"Yeah, as matter of fact…" Grissom started, turning to Caitlin, who took that as her cue.
"Well, as I was just explaining to Mr Stokes and Miss Sidle here, there seems to a be a little problem with the reservation and I am only able to offer two rooms at the moment. I'm very sorry about this. I can assure you that the standard of those rooms is excellent and we will provide all the facilities that you were informed of. I have also spoken to my boss and he has agreed that the three of you will not have to pay for your stay."
"Well, that's something." Sara muttered under her nose, as she watched Grissom from the corner of her eye.
"So…" Nick rubbed his hands together. "Who's sleeping with who?"
Sara patted him on the shoulder. "Do you ever consider thinking before you speak, Stokes?"
Karen giggled and looked at Grissom.
"They're adorable, Gil. I'm glad you've brought them. By the way, anything I should know about?" She gestured towards Nick and Sara, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
Grissom's mouth hung open. "Karen, I…" He glanced at Sara, who was busy scrolling through the messages on her cellphone.
Karen patted him on the shoulder. "Say no more, Gilbert. She's very pretty. Although he's good-looking, too." She added, gesturing towards Nick.
Grissom tore his eyes from Sara and his face has taken on a unreadable look again.
"I sincerely hope that you're not going to play match-maker again?" He asked her calmly. "Do I have to remind you what had happened the last time you tried that?"
"Come on, Gil, you know that I'm too old for that!" Before she could have added anything else, her phone rang and she stepped away to answer it. She spoke for less than two minutes, and finishing the conversation, she walked over to Grissom.
"I have to go. It seems that I'm in a very high demand today."
"Aren't you always?"
She smiled at him, and reaching up, cupped his face and smacked loud kisses on both his cheeks, causing Nick and Sara to turn.
"I'm glad you're here. Call me when you've settled in. The first lecture is tomorrow morning, so it might be a good idea to still do some sightseeing today. I'm sure that Nick and Sara would love that. Wouldn't you, darlings?" She called to them, unfazed by the fact that the two 'darlings' have gone bright red.
"I'll see you later, Gilbert!" Ignoring Grissom's look, Karen nodded at the three CSIs and took off through the reception area, finally disappearing behind the glass door on their left.
Grissom cleared his throat, and turned to his two companions. Nick glanced at Sara, who in turn stared at Grissom. She bit her lip, trying to be serious.
"Gilbert?" She asked.
"Don't you start." Grissom muttered, moving closer to the reception desk. "So just what exactly is happening here then?"
Caitlin gave him a bright smile.
"Dr Grissom. Like I said, we have got two rooms for you. They're both single, but we are going to put in an additional bed. Both also have en-suite bathroom, TV with cable and DVD player, minibar, and a balcony with ocean view. They're adjoining room, by the way." She added. "Would you like the doors to be unlocked?"
Before either Nick or Sara could reply, Grissom answered.
"Yes."
They didn't question him on that. It was probably wise. There was no reason why the door should be locked, now should there?
The big question was, who would occupy the single room and who would share? All of them seemed to be channelling the same train of thought, when Caitlin interrupted them.
"Here are your keys." She handed Grissom and Sara plastic entry cards. "The numbers are 434 and 436 and the rooms are on the sixth floor. Marty will take you." She gestured towards the burly man to their right, who picked up the heaviest pieces of their luggage and started walking towards the elevator. "Have a good stay. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask." She smiled at Nick, who reciprocated.
None of them said anything in the elevator. Sara kept looking at the ceiling, while Nick tried to whistle some melody and appeared annoyed when it didn't sound the way he wanted it to. Grissom seemed preoccupied with this thoughts, which was nothing new, but Sara had wondered what was it exactly that had bothered him right this moment.
The tension between them was palpable, and it didn't disappear when they stepped out onto the sixth floor. It was quite the opposite, in fact. All of them seemed to growing more uncomfortable with each second.
The CSIs followed Marty down the long corridor, until they were standing in front of the doors reading numbers 434 and 436. The hotel boy glanced at Grissom, who in turn met Sara's and Nick's gazes respectively.
Without saying another word, Grissom gestured Sara to take the room on the left, while allowing Nick to step into the other one. After watching his two CSIs disappearing into their rooms, Grissom took a deep breath and stepped inside, too.