Horatio strode off the elevator and into the hotel lobby a few minutes before 12:30. Automatically his eyes scanned the room for Samantha. He found her seated just outside the dining area with her arms crossed and her lower lip caught between her teeth. She had pulled her hair into a soft ponytail and changed into snug fitting blue jeans with a white turtleneck sweater. As always, Horatio thought she looked positively lovely.
Samantha looked up to notice Horatio moving towards her from the elevator. She sighed with satisfaction at the site of him. He had changed into his gray dress pants and coat pairing them with a white collared shirt. Of course it didn't matter to Samantha what he wore. He seemed to look good in anything.
He smiled down at her. "Ready?"
Nodding, she allowed him to help her to her feet. He gestured for her to lead the way and followed her into the dining room.
Most of the tables seemed to already be filled with happily chatting criminalists, but Horatio quickly found a pair of vacant chairs at a table near the center of the dining area.
One other couple sat at the table when Horatio approached. A middle-aged man with graying hair and a beard sat speaking quietly to lovely brunette woman. The man looked up at Horatio as he approached.
"Excuse me?" Horatio asked softly. "Do you mind if we sit at your table?"
The man shook his head and gestured to the open chairs. "Not at all. Please have a seat."
Thanking them, Horatio pulled out Samantha's chair and waited for her be seated before taking his own chair.
Reaching his hand across the table, Horatio introduced himself to the man and woman. "Horatio Caine, Miami-Dade Crime Lab."
Shaking his hand, the man arched an eyebrow at Horatio. "Lieutenant Caine. We've never had the pleasure of meeting. Gil Grissom, Las Vegas Crime Lab."
Horatio smirked. "Dr. Grissom. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. How are Catherine and Warrick?"
"Very well, thank you." Grissom turned to the woman beside him. "You remember the case about two years back when I sent Warrick and Catherine to Miami after that missing little girl?"
Her eyes flashed with recognition. "I knew your name sounded familiar." She smiled and shook hands with Horatio. "Sara Sidle. Vegas obviously." She turned then to Samantha offering her hand. "And your name?"
"Samantha Higgins. Miami obviously." The two women smiled at each other and shook hands.
The four CSIs found themselves remarkably at ease with one another's company. Most of lunch was spent exchanging small talk and telling stories of past cases. The later was something most criminalists seemed to end up doing whenever they got together.
"So Samantha…" Grissom asked between bites of chicken. "You said you're new to the Miami lab? Ballistics?"
"Yes. It's been almost a month. But I think it was a pity hire." She smiled and glanced at Horatio who shook his head adamantly as he dabbed his mouth with a napkin.
"It most certainly was not." He explained to Grissom and Sara about the accident that had almost taken Samantha's life. "But it was not a pity hire." He finished with a shake of his finger at Samantha. Horatio's cell phone rang. "Excuse me." Answering the phone, Horatio politely stepped away from the table. Samantha watched him leave the room before turning back.
"Does he know?" Sara asked with a smirk.
Samantha arched an eyebrow in response. "Know what?"
Sara laughed. "Honey it took me over five years to catch this one. I don't recommend the wait."
Grissom blushed and replied quietly. "Neither do I." He stood. "Will you ladies excuse me please?" They nodded and he stepped away from the table.
Samantha's uncomfortable expression made Sara laugh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. But you were broadcasting pretty loudly for a minute there."
Samantha sighed. "He's my boss."
"Grissom was my boss. Is my boss."
"I've only known him for a month."
"Five years remember? Still don't recommend the wait."
"He's fifteen years older than me."
"Fifteen years between me and Griss. Nobody cares. If you don't care, who gives a hoot what anyone else thinks?"
Samantha opened and closed her mouth. Sara seemed to have an answer for everything. "I kissed him." Samantha said quietly.
Sara's mouth dropped open in shock. She didn't have a response to that one except to say, "You what!"
Samantha blushed. "We're sharing a two room suite because the hotel screwed up our reservations." Ignoring Sara's raised eyebrow, Samantha continued. "He came into my room to wake me up for lunch. I…I was dreaming… about him… and umm… all of a sudden I realized I wasn't dreaming anymore."
"What did he do?" Sara asked, leaning forward now, truly interested in the conversation.
"I umm…don't remember."
Sara chuckled. "Oh yes you do… you just don't want to tell me. Come on… what did he do?"
Samantha looked away for a moment before turning back to Sara. "I think he kissed me back."
"You think?"
Samantha sighed. "He kissed me back… but I mean what choice did he have? I practically accosted him."
Sara burst out laughing. "That may be, but he had a choice. He wanted you too." Sara leaned back and thought a moment. "Just… see where it goes you know? He obviously knows you are interested." Sara chuckled. "Obviously. And if the only arguments you have for not pursuing this 'relationship' are the ones you provided me with earlier, then I'm sorry because none of those should be an issue."
Samantha opened her mouth to argue but Sara intervened. "Just hear me out ok?" Sara continued after Samantha's nod. "How many doctors do you know married to other doctors? How many police officers do you know married other police officers? This whole 'can't date someone you work with' thing is just an unfortunate misconception. It's only an issue if you make it an issue. Sure, some narrow-minded people will talk about how you got your job. There might be rumors… but that's a small price to pay for someone you could really care about isn't it?"
Samantha sighed and nodded. Sara continued. "Grissom and I have been dating for six months. We've known each other a lot longer so it's a slightly different situation than you and your Horatio."
Samantha felt her heart skip a beat at the expression. Her Horatio. Sara spoke on. "When we got together the most common reaction was 'It's about time!'" They laughed. "People still whispered behind our backs. The lab director had a cow. But we're stronger for it because we know better. And eventually, they'll figure it out too." Sara sat a moment and waited for all she'd said to sink in. "Of course, you've only know me for about forty-five minutes so if you want to blow off everything I've told you I'd probably understand."
Samantha burst out laughing. "No, no I won't blow it off. Thank you for the advice."
"Advice?" Horatio broke in, seeming to have materialized from thin air as he reclaimed his seat next to Samantha.
"Ballistics." Samantha replied lamely and perhaps a bit too quickly.
Horatio's eyebrows rose and his mouth formed a small "o." He left the subject alone, shrugging and assuming it was likely "woman's talk" of some sort.
Grissom appeared just a few moments later. "Sorry about that. The little boys room was calling." He glanced over at Horatio. "Everything ok at the lab?" He asked referring to Horatio's cell phone call.
Horatio nodded. "It was just one of my CSI's checking in." He left out that the CSI was Ryan, who didn't seem to have anything to ask Horatio other than details as to the circumstances of his sharing a room with Samantha. Horatio wondered how long it would take for the entire lab to know that particular piece of information. Knowing busy bodies Delco and Wolfe, not long.
Grissom checked his watch. "Ryan Sommers' ballistics presentation starts in fifteen minutes. We'd better ---." He broke off when a whoosh of air brushed across his face. The three left at the table turned and watched the "whoosh", also known as Samantha, speed across the room.
Horatio chuckled. "Hmm… something tells me she wants a good seat." He rose from his chair. "I'd better go after her. Ballistics girls are hard to catch." He shook hands with Grissom and Sara. "Thank you for letting us join you for lunch."
"It was our pleasure, Lieutenant Caine." Grissom responded. Sara whispered something in Grissom's ear as Horatio turned and walked from the table. "Oh, Lieutenant Caine!" Horatio stopped and turned back. "Sara has tickets to The Phantom of the Opera tonight at the State Theatre. A friend of hers from college got four tickets thinking Nick and Warrick would be on the trip but they weren't able to join us. Would you and Samantha be interested?"
Horatio smiled appreciatively. Hands on his hips, he pondered it a moment. "Thank you very much for the offer. Why don't I ask Samantha and get back with you this afternoon?"
Sara smiled. "Sure, sounds great." They exchanged cell numbers and soon Horatio was on his way to the conference hall where Ryan Sommers was about to begin his presentation.
As he'd suspected, the conference hall was packed. In fact it appeared to be standing room only. Horatio found an open spot on the back wall and was preparing to lean against it when a woman's voice caught his attention from the front of the auditorium.
"Hey! Horatio! Horatio over here!"
Horatio followed the sound of the voice and smirked with amusement at the sight of Samantha waving her arms from the front of the hall. Slightly embarrassed, Horatio excused himself as he slid past those that were standing and walked down the stairs to the front of the auditorium. Samantha sat smiling with an empty seat next to her. Horatio smiled back at her and took the empty seat.
"I had to beat the vultures off with a stick to keep that seat!" Samantha exclaimed proudly.
Horatio awarded Samantha with a wide smile. "Thank you."
Samantha nodded and smiled back. "You're welcome."