New York city at dusk glittered like a jewelled necklace caught in the light. As the sun set and the temperature dropped off about two degrees, the city became—if possible—more alive than the daylight hours before, bustling at a slower pace as the theatres filled with the promise booming musical numbers and spinning, twirling dancers in bright costumes. Dusk, Gil decided, was his favourite time of day in the great city.
He strolled with Catherine down the many avenues and streets of New York, stopping briefly under leafy green trees to share a quick—well, he supposed they were quick—kiss before moving on again. The two later would insist they took shelter under the trees to hide from the sun (both conveniently forgetting that the sun had begun its descent hours before). Still, they were free in the city of lights, and so they took full advantage of it.
Next to Gil, Catherine walked along beside him. The dusk light caught the strands of her strawberry blonde locks; she looked angelic to Gil. What was more, this impossible beauty had one of her slender hands wrapped in his.
For the second time that night, Gil found he needed to resist the urge to pinch himself.
Catherine smiled a little when she caught him staring at her out of the corner of her eye. She'd caught him doing that thousands of times before, whether it be while they penned away at the paperwork he always neglected, or while they worked evidence in the layout room—but, every time she glimpsed him doing it, she'd secretly smiled to herself. It felt good to know he was watching her.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Both Catherine and Gil turned to see a well-dressed elderly couple next to them, standing outside a brightly lit theatre awaiting its patrons.
"Yes?" Gil asked, tentatively.
"My name is Elizabeth Howard, and this is my husband, Franklin. We have tickets to tonight's performance, but we've just been told that our daughter has gone into labour. We need to leave. Would you be interested in taking our seats?"
Gil and Catherine glanced at each other. Was this some kind of joke?
"Uh—we—don't usually do this sort of—"
"Oh!" The woman laughed. "You don't have to worry. We've checked with the box office." She indicated the window that held a man, who nodded towards them. "It's perfectly alright! We're offering them free of charge. It would be such a same to let these tickets go to waste."
"That's very generous of you," Catherine started.
"You'll take them, then?" Elizabeth Howard smiled brilliantly at them. "Oh, thank goodness. Here."
She handed the tickets to a thoroughly shocked Catherine, who took them numbly.
"I—thank you," Catherine smiled at the two kindly people in front of them. "This is very nice of you."
"Oh, it's no problem. You two look like you could use a night on the town."
And with that, Franklin and Elizabeth Howard vanished into the crowd, leaving a startled Catherine and Gil in their wake.
&----
It was eight o'clock in the Big Apple. Darkness was beginning to blanket the sparkling city, turning the street lamps on to fluoresce the sidewalks in a soft orange glow. But inside the Majestic Theatre, the lights were dimming as theatregoers made their way into the beautiful building.
Standing just outside the theatre doors, Gil and Catherine waited their turn to enter and take their seats. Gil knew that getting as lucky as they had done was almost unheard of, and he appreciated it—it wasn't everyday a pair of prime tickets made their way to you, after all. And even though the timing had been tight, giving the couple only forty-five minutes to return back to their hotel and change before heading out again, it was worth it entirely.
"Excited?" He asked the woman beside them. She looked up and smiled at him.
"Of course," Catherine's eyes sparkled. "It's not like attending a Broadway show on the arm of a handsome gentlemen is a usual occurrence for me, you know."
And he certainly looked handsome. She'd dressed him in a black suit they had purchased on their first shopping trip, but had skipped making him wear a tie. It wasn't a terribly formal show, and she loved when he wore the top few buttons of his shirt undone. She thought it made him look professionally dishevelled, in a clean-cut sort of way.
Catherine had chosen to slip herself into the black halter dress from the other night, hooking long, teardrop earrings into her ears and a matching necklace that slipped gracefully to her chest. She'd left her hair down in soft curls and had chosen a pair of safe-height stilettos (she was surprised shoes such those existed) to decorate her feet.
"Your tickets please, sir."
&----
Catherine and Gil slid thankfully into their seats after the long line up. The lights had begun to him when one of the ushers had pointed out their seats—centre section, in the two best seats.
"Boy, did we luck out," Catherine said, adjusting her dress.
Gil looked and smiled at the woman smiling back at him.
"Yeah," he laced his fingers with hers, "we did."
She squeezed his hand.
The theatre went dark; silence fell. Candles burned brightly on the stage as the men and women upon it whipped a cloth off of the object that was the focus of the scene. A giant chandelier flew over their heads as pounding organ music filled the air, spinning a most haunting tune…
&----
"Where have you been?"
Greg stared accusingly at the couple that had just stumbled through the hotel door, laughing and talking, and holding onto each other for dear life.
"Huh?" They faced four curious gazes as they attempted to straighten themselves out.
"It's one-thirty in the morning."
Gil and Catherine glanced at each other and once again began to laugh.
"Is it? Sorry, guys," Catherine chuckled, entering the room and tossing her purse and wrap onto the chair.
"Have a good time?" Warrick asked, grinning.
"We did." Catherine glanced at Gil, who was smiling.
"Not that I want to know, or anything, but what did you guys end up getting up to?" Greg asked.
"What? Oh." Catherine spoke over her shoulder, striding up to Gil and plucking her programme from his suit jacket pocket. "Thank you!" She tapped him on the nose with it.
"Well, Greggo, we went to see a show."
"In this town? How'd you do that without booking it months in advance?" Warrick asked.
"Someone gave them to us," Greg replied.
"Someone gave them to you?" Nick looked, shocked.
"Is that legal?" Greg asked. Catherine shot him a look.
"Of course it's legal. This elderly couple's daughter was having a baby and they had to get rid of the tickets."
Warrick whistled.
"Nice. What'd you see?"
Gil tossed his playbill across the table to Warrick.
"The Phantom of the Opera," he read aloud, "I saw that once, when it came to Vegas a couple years back. It was good."
"Well, this was fantastic," Catherine yawned. "But I'm exhausted. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
They watched as she gathered her wrap, programme, and purse from the chair, kiss Gil swiftly on the cheek, and then climb the stairs. Her hair bounced slightly as she went.
Sara continued to stare after the strawberry blonde long after she had disappeared from view. Warrick, Nick and Greg, however, all turned to stare at Gil. Greg was grinning.
"What?" Gil snapped. They continued to stare.
"Have fun tonight, Griss?" Greg grinned maniacally.
"None of your business." Gil replied. Smiling, Warrick and Nick shook their heads before turning back to their video game.
"Aw c'mon, boss," Greg pleaded. "Gimme something."
Without a word, Gil pulled his wallet from his pocket, withdrew five dollars from the folds, and slid it across the table to the young CSI.
"My contribution to the betting pool," he said, turning to head up the stairs after Catherine, "next time, you may want to up the wager a bit."
A/N: Eek! It's so short! Sorry for the length, but this just felt like a completely natural place to end it. HUGE, we're talking HUGE thanks to: Uhm.What, hooligan (that's a fantastic suggestion--I'll look into changing it when I go back and re-edit this in a few days! I love being told I'm awesomeness embodied /blush/), BRiTTNEY LANDRY OO (did you change your name? So glad I made you smile!), danibanani (Is this 'more' enough:D), i die without you (don't we all love smart Greg?), karmine, loviegurlie, D.M.A.S. (fabulous? Awesome! BTW: I so love your fics--they were some of the first GC ones I ever read), catherine0911 (Must...resist...M/S temptation...okay, no, I don't plan on Mac and Stella making an appearance in this particular story, but I'm working on a New York idea that will be pure MacStella goodness. Thanks so much for the awesome compliments!)
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