"Hey Grissom, are you coming to breakfast with us?" Greg asked as Grissom and Sara entered the breakroom after a grueling triple. Sara had become attached to the case, and she looked as if she was going to pass out on the spot.
"Sure Greg, I'll come," Grissom said getting a bottle of water.
Greg looked like he had won the lottery. I do join you for breakfast SOMETIMES! Grissom thought, but he know that going with them seemed to make them all happy, for some reason unbeknownst to him.
"Sara, you coming?" Greg then asked, still too cheerful for Grissom's taste.
"Sorry guys. I have a breakfast appointment. Raincheck?"
"Course Sara," Nick said, corralling a deflated Greg out the door and towards the lab exit. Catherine gave her a very suspicious look, and then left with Warrick, so only Grissom and Sara were left.
"By Grissom, have fun with the guys," Sara said as she crossed the room and slipped out the door, leaving Grissom there to follow the guys and Catherine to the lab. Sara always goes with them, Grissom thought as he climbed into his Denali and drove after his friends. This is weird, but she is probably just getting her own life. Good for her.
They enjoyed breakfast together, but there was still that empty place at the end of the booth that usually was filled by a very wonderful person.
Slowly but surely, everyone left, departing for home except for Catherine and Grissom. They were talking, discussing all different matters. But Catherine eventually got fed up with Grissom's half-hearted responses and said,
"You wanna know why Sara didn't come?"
"How'd you know?" Grissom asked. Catherine was the only one that knew the extent of his near-obsession with the svelte brunette that haunted all of his thoughts and dreams.
"Well, she's the only thing that occupies more space in that hard drive you call a brain than bugs and forensics that I know of. You haven't been with me but in your own little world. And it's about time you return to Earth and take her out," and after a second long pause while Catherine took a sip of her coffee, she finished with, "and, no, I don't know why Sara isn't here. She hasn't been coming with us for a while now. Maybe she's seeing someone. I wouldn't blame her. I told you she wouldn't wait around forever." And with that statement, she stood up, and left with a "good-bye" thrown over her shoulder.
And that left Grissom alone to contemplate her last accusation. Sara could be seeing someone else? Could I be too late?
And with these prospects plaguing his thoughts, he drove home in silence to an empty house. He only could imagine what it would be like it Sara was living in his house, giving it her touch, making it a home. And those fantasies drove him to sleep peacefully, basking in the warmth of his dreams.
The next day's events went much like the last's.
"Grissom, are you coming with us again today?" Nick asked in his relaxed southern drawl.
"Sure," Grissom replied, knowing that going with them would lessen the sting of going home to be alone. "Is Sara coming?" Grissom asked, hoping she would. He loved to spend time with her. She brightened his day, which was usually shadowed by death and destruction.
"No, she isn't going. She said that she still has stuff to do in the lab. We tried to convince her to take a break, but … well… you know Sara. Never takes a break, especially if it hits close to home. Why this one hits close to home, who knows, but it does."
This case had been one that scared Grissom. It was scary that someone can convince herself that she was fat, and that she couldn't eat. It was horrible. But Grissom knew why Sara was so hyped up about this case. The victim was a woman, and Sara goes to the extremes whenever a woman was involved. He tried to impress upon her that she would burn out, but Sara said that it was just this case, and she would go home as soon as she was done.
They went out to breakfast, but Sara not being there upset everyone, especially Grissom. Before long, Grissom left, mumbling something about having errands to run, but he really went to the lab to flush out Sara. When he arrived there, Grissom saw her walking away from the lab, in the general direction of her apartments. He tried to catch up to her, but there was a massive amount of traffic between the two of them, causing Grissom to give up after he completely lost sight of her. He went home to his silent, empty apartment, imaging what it would be like if Sara were with him right then. After a rather cold shower, Grissom slipped into bed, reminded that Sara probably was going home to some man that made her happy. And with that thought flooding his senses, sleep shrouded him and gave him nightmares of Sara ditching him and going of with another man. And once he woke up for the fifth time that day, he decided that he was going to risk it, and he was going to ask her out. He was going to try to get her. She was worth the risk.