"So I hear Nick has a new girlfriend." Greg looked rather smug with the information he was sharing with Sara as he walked into the locker room to find her getting her things together for shift.
Sara felt a fluttering in her stomach as she glanced up at Greg, hoping that her smile didn't give her away. She and Nick hadn't talked about dating exclusively, they'd set up a second date, but if Greg was spreading the news that Nick had a girlfriend his feelings were obviously more serious than she realized. She arched her brows at Greg, not willing to give up any more information than he already had. "Oh?"
Greg grinned and spoke conspiratorially. "Yeah, I think he must be pretty serious about her too."
Sara smirked. "Serious, huh?" She surmised that Greg was taking a more subtle approach to get her to give him details, something that she really didn't want to do just yet. She wanted to clarify where Greg got his information and what exactly he knew.
"Well, I overheard him talking on the phone making plans to see her this weekend; and he used the 'L' word before he hung up." Greg gave her one of those looks that sort of said 'see what I mean?'
Sara looked at him quizzically. Nick had definitely not told her that he loved her, and she hadn't talked to him since their date after last shift. The only other 'L' word that she could think of would completely disqualify Nick as a love interest for whomever he was talking with on the phone. She felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, but tried to squelch it as she realized that they had made no commitment to each other; Nick was free to date whoever he wanted. She just suddenly wished that she was the only one he wanted to date.
"Earth to Sara." Greg looked at her oddly.
She swallowed hard and put her best smile on her face. "What 'L' word were you referring to?" She seriously needed to deflect this situation with a little bit of humor before she began to have a meltdown in front of Greg.
Greg smiled back not quick tuning into the inner conflict his friend was having just then. "Love." He let out a chuckle before stepping a bit closer to Sara and whispering loudly. "I think her name's Natalie or Fiona or something like that."
Both names sounded vaguely familiar to Sara and she wondered why she knew they were connected to Nick. Despite her smile, she felt sick. "Oh?" She wasn't sure she wanted to bring this little bit of information to Nick's attention; she was sure she would sound far too desperate, not that she hadn't already appeared that way with her proposition.
"He doesn't know that I know...so don't say anything, ok?" Greg grinned at her, glad to have a secret to share with Sara. He'd enjoyed working with her, getting schooled by her rather during his first year as a CSI, and he'd come to consider her a good friend.
"Uh, sure." She saw no reason to tell Nick what she'd learned, but it left her feeling unsettled after such a completely perfect first date. She turned her attention back to her locker in hopes that Greg would get his things quickly and leave so that she could have a moment by herself.
"Thanks." He nudged her with his elbow. "I'm going to brew a fresh pot of Blue Hawaiian; I'll see you in the break room?" He arched a brow expectantly.
"Yeah." Sara didn't bother to turn around, and she let out a sigh of relief as she heard Greg's footfalls get softer. She sat down on the bench and just stared straight ahead wondering if she had been too hopeful that Nick really was as interested in her as he appeared to be when they were sharing some pretty intense kisses on his couch after they'd carved pumpkins.
She secretly hoped that she wouldn't see Nick that night; despite the fact that they were supposed to go on a date after shift. She could find a reason to work more hours and put him off. She wasn't sure why she was feeling so jealous all of a sudden; Nick wasn't hers. But she wanted him to be.
Sara was surprised to find herself tearing up. Get a grip Sidle, you have an entire shift to get through; you cannot have a breakdown before it even starts. She was gathering her resolved to head to the break room to take Greg up on that offer for coffee when she heard someone walk into the room.
"Hey, darlin'." The grin was readily apparent in Nick's voice as he sauntered over to where she was and sat down next to her before nudging her in the side. "So, I was thinking if you're not busy on Saturday..." Nick had a mischievous tone in his voice, but as he looked at her, he could tell that something wasn't quite right. "What's wrong?" His brows furrowed as he realized her eyes looked a little misty.
"Uh, nothing." She knew that he would be able to tell she was lying, but she wasn't really sure what else to do.
Nick slung his arm over her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "You sure? You don't seem ok?" A thought occurred to him that maybe just maybe the date hadn't gone quite as well as he'd thought.
"I'm just tired." Sara smiled in spite of the turmoil she was feeling; she reasoned that after she'd had time to process the information Greg had given her, she'd know what to do about Nick.
Nick smiled at her sheepishly. "I guess we did stay up a bit too long." And he'd enjoyed every minute of it.
"Yeah, I guess we did." There was a hint of sadness in her voice as she glanced at her locker again. Was it too much to hope that any man would want her?
"So I was thinking if you're not busy on Saturday, there's someone I want you to meet...two someones that is." Nick looked at her expectantly and he felt a ball of nerves unfurl in the pit of his stomach as Sara looked less enthusiastic than he'd hoped.
"Uh, I'm really not sure what I'm doing on Saturday." In the back of her mind she reasoned that there were plenty of crimes committed on the weekend and she could certainly find a reason to be working.
Nick sounded too eager in his own ears as his stomach started to churn. "It's just that Natalie and Fiona are only in town this weekend, and I was really hoping that you could meet them...that they could meet you really."
Sara felt as if she'd been kicked in the gut as she realized that Greg was telling the truth; whoever these women were, Nick was in love with one of them. "Natalie? Fiona?" She could have sworn that if she'd tried to stand just then that she would have passed out.
"I haven't seen my sister since last Thanksgiving and well, Fiona is five now and I really want to spend some time with her; but I really want to spend some time with you too." Nick furrowed his brow at Sara as he realized she looked a little pale. "Are you sure you're ok?"
As the word 'sister' sank into Sara's mind, a tiny smile spread across her face. Of course Nick would tell his sister that he loved her; it all made sense now, only Greg was the one that had gotten it wrong. Sara turned to look at Nick and her smile widened. "I'm ok, good really...never better actually, well at least I will be after I've had a cup of Greg's coffee."
"I thought I smelled some of his brew." Nick couldn't help but look at Sara and notice the curve of her lips and the gap in her front teeth. "So do you want to think about Saturday then?"
Sara felt relief wash over her and a flutter in her stomach as Nick reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'd love to meet them, Nick."
Author's Note: I couldn't resist giving out a little bit of torture, and reviving two of my favorite characters from "La Vida Loca" and "Pura Vida". (Although this story is not a sequel to either of those.)