Title: Sticks and Stones Chapter 5
Disclaimer: These guys don't belong to me. If they did, things would most certainly be different.
Author's Note: I once read an account of Henry Lee attending the trade show of a conference. It was quite humorous, detailing how the vendors got out 'the good stuff' hoping to attract him to their product. In the CSI world, they would obviously go ga-ga over Grissom. Right? Of course, they would!
Spoiler(s): Weeping Willows and a couple of others but it's barely noticeable.
Catherine Willows smiled at the caller ID on her cell phone. "He did remember!" She thought then answered. "Willows."
"Hey, have I caught you at a bad time?"
"Not really, just kicking my shoes off and settling down on the sofa with a beer."
"Dos Equis with a slice of lime?"
"How'd you guess?" She facetiously asked. She sat her beer on the coffee table and piled a couple of throw pillows at one end, then plopped down, keeping the phone cradled to her right ear with her shoulder. Holding the phone with her left hand she flipped the lamp on.
"Umm, just put my superior power of deductive reasoning to use and imagined the inside of your refrigerator. I had this vision of a six pack of beer. The bottles were green and the label had two big red X's on it. There were slices of lime in a sandwich bag, tucked in one of the sleeves. How'd I do?"
"Very perceptive. I'm impressed." She answered with a giggle. "What's the number there?"
"Huh?"
"The number of your hotel." He fumbled around the bedside table and found a complimentary notepad with the phone number and address on it then read it off to her.
"And, your room number?"
"1241."
"I'll call you right back." He stared at his cell phone, when he realized the connection had been severed, not understanding her behavior. A minute later, his room phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey, so where were we?" She flipped the lamp off, reclined against the pillows and sipped her beer.
"Why'd you do that?"
"What?"
"Call my room."
"Well, I don't like to have private conversations on the company phone."
"Really?"
"Yes, is that a problem?"
"No, I just seem to recall you having some before."
"I've always tried to keep it as short as possible." He thought about it for a moment, jealously remembering one of the conversations he overheard. In the end, he decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie, and not start a new argument; more name-calling was not what he had in mind.
"Besides, now that Conrad is in charge, I wouldn't put it past him to study the phone bills looking for any hint of impropriety." She continued. When she received no response, she tentatively asked. "Gil?"
"Yes."
"You haven't said anything. Is something wrong?"
"No……………..I was just thinking." He generally gave Ecklie as much thought as he did a turnip and considered him just about as important.
"About what?"
"Well, how was your day?" He smoothly changed the subject.
"Good. We closed three cases and I got the most beautiful bouquet of flowers, with a little blue butterfly attached."
"I take it you liked them."
"Yes."
"Butterflies are special to me."
"I know. Do you remember the times you've given them to me?"
"Certainly, when you solved your hundredth case and when Lindsey was born."
"Umm, yeah. Those were both good times. So, have you been hanging out with your entomological groupies?"
"No, thank the gods. I think most people flew in yesterday and registered this morning. They opened the trade show this afternoon so I'm sure most of them were taking it in; looks like it's pretty big. I ran into Scott Rush and he wanted to know when I was gonna go through it. I don't know why people are so interested in that."
"Because, that's when the good stuff comes out."
"Yeah, right."
"It's true! The vendors start pulling out the cool giveaways when you come through. By the way, bring me back a polo shirt from one of the big guys."
"Such as?"
"I don't care, Hewlitt Packard, Perkin-Elmer, I-Chem, any of them, just as long as the name is recognizable."
"A T-shirt won't do?"
"Nope, Conrad snagged a T-shirt at the last conference he attended and gave it to Joanne. He made it sound like the vendor thought he was a big deal and gave him the shirt. Later on, I was conferring with Matt Sharp, from LA, remember him?"
"Yeah, he's a nice fellow."
"Anyway, he told me Conrad won it as a door prize then made sort of an ass out of himself because the vendor had run out and couldn't give him one in a size that fit. Therefore, you need to bring me back a polo, preferably with a matching one for yourself. We can wear them to the picnic and remind him who the truly important guy is around here."
"I'll see what I can do." He knew he would probably try to talk her out of wearing them and antagonizing Ecklie unnecessarily. Unless, of course, Ecklie pissed him off again.
"So, if you weren't mixing and mingling, what have you been doing?"
"Well, after I checked in and got a nap, I had dinner and went for a walk. You can't tell anyone this – I bought a mystery novel in a bookstore."
"You're kidding me!"
"No, this author I really like has a new one out. It was in a bookstore window display and I thought what the heck, I should do something to relax a little. Then, I picked up a six pack of Dos Equis – I seem to have acquired a taste for that, just recently. But, I had a hard time finding a lime. Since then, I've been reading and drinking beer."
"That's all?"
"Hey! I've managed a beer and seventy or so pages an hour. I just opened my last beer so I figured I had better call you then get some sleep."
"Do you have a busy day planned tomorrow?"
"Yes, and Wednesday. I'm speaking to the Lion's Club Wednesday night and I present my paper on Thursday morning. That reminds me of something."
"What?"
"Well, there're only a couple of things I'm interested in on Thursday afternoon. The formal presentations are over by noon on Friday. So, I was thinking, maybe, I could get a flight back Thursday night and we could spend some time together."
"I like that idea."
"Do you think you could get Friday night off?"
"Probably. Warrick was kind of hinting that he would rather have Saturday off. We could trade but I really have to spend my night off with Lindsey. That's why I hadn't already offered. I'd have all day with her on Saturday."
"Oh, well, it was just a thought. I just, umm, ……………" He trailed off.
"You just, umm, thought what?" She asked after the line was silent for a moment.
"Well, I thought we could have Thursday night and Friday together and barbecue or something Friday night at your house but if you'd rather not have me around in your family time, I understand."
"Gil, I didn't mean it like that, you're always welcome around my family. That sounds fine, I'll check with Warrick tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay, call me when you know something so I can change my reservations."
"I'll take care of it first thing. Oh, hold it, won't that change your expense report?"
"It would if I was submitting one."
"Why aren't you putting one in?"
"I usually don't when I get paid for speaking – and the Lions Club is paying me. I ask for enough to cover my expenses. That way there are funds available for some of the other lab employees to attend a conference or something. If I give a good enough presentation, the local guys usually get some added support so everybody wins."
"Do you know how wonderful you are?"
"You really think that?"
"You betcha. Look, it's getting late and you need to get some sleep. I'll call you tomorrow, Okay?"
"All right, good night." He replied.
"You too…………and………….sweet dreams." She hung up.
"Of you." He whispered as he hung up the phone.
Lying in the darkness, he stared at the ceiling and considered Catherine's carefulness of Ecklie. Jim Brass had warned him to watch his back so perhaps she wasn't just being paranoid. He was well aware that she had much more politically savvy than he did. For the most part, he didn't care about Conrad's little power plays. He had his twenty years in and could retire if push came to shove but he realized he should be careful for Catherine's sake. She still had at least a year to go.
TBC