Chapter 4

Warrick sat in the lab, trying to read the report in front of him. He had come in early to get some overtime, not that he really needed it. But Tina was pulling a double and tonight was the night Nick was going out with Star. He needed something to distract him. However, the report in front of him just wasn't doing it.

He was too frustrated to focus. He didn't understand his own feelings. He loved Tina, if he didn't he wouldn't have married her. Yet, Star had been on his mind a lot recently. And when Nick asked for her number, it made him acutely aware his feelings were more than friendly. Warrick let out a sigh and tried to concentrate on his report once again.

Elsewhere in Vegas, Nick was knocking on Star's door. He, up until this point, had not seen her. He'd only talked to her on the phone. He was a little nervous, standing on her porch. In fact, he was so nervous he had left his wallet back at the lab when he got off shift much earlier in the day and by the time he'd noticed it was gone, he was running too late to go back and get it before picking her up. He only hoped he didn't look like too much of a dork having to go back and get it.

Inside the apartment, Star had heard the knock. She too had been nervous. She'd never been on such a formal first date. They were going to a dinner theater so she had to dress up. But she knew she had gotten herself into this, and so had to go through with it. However, when she looked out the window and saw Nick, her nervousness subsided some. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was in his charcoal suit.

Nick was equally as pleased when Star opened the door. She was wearing a knee-length royal blue cocktail dress with spaghetti straps that brought out her eyes. Over her shoulders she had a black knit shawl, upon which her kink curled hair fell. She didn't look as young as Warrick made her out to look.

"You must be Nick," Star greeted him, stepping onto the porch.

"It's nice to meet you, Star," he returned her greeting.

They stood in awkward silence for a moment. Star was fidgeting with her purse. Finally, she said, "Look, I'm really nervous. I haven't been on a date in a while."

Nick let out a laugh. "Well, don't be nervous. I'm a nice guy, I promise."

She smiled weakly. "Yeah, I think Warrick would have warned me if you weren't."

Nick offered his arm to her. "Shall we go?"

She took his arm and nodded.

"Oh, and I need to stop by the lab to get something. I hope you don't mind," Nick told her as they walked to the car.

"Not at all. It'll be neat to see," she replied.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the Crime Lab, Star asked if she could come in.

"Sure," Nick responded. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to give you much of a tour though. We're running a little late for dinner."

She looked down at her wrist, which Nick noted bore no watch, and then looked back up. "True. But at least this way I can say I've been in the lab." She smiled a devilish grin.

Once inside, Nick asked the woman at the front desk a question and then came back over to where Star was standing. "Sorry, not gonna be able to do the tour tonight. Ecklie, the head honcho, is around and wouldn't be happy with me. If you want to wait here, I'll be back in a minute."

Star pretended to pout. "I suppose it's alright. It'll give me something to look forward to."

Nick wandered off towards the locker room, while Star took a seat in one of the chairs. She felt awkward sitting there; she felt over dressed. She watched people as they walked by and in and out of rooms down the hall.

She heard some footsteps coming from the direction behind her, but was too engrossed watching the motions of two people carrying on a conversation down the hall in front of her. The footsteps started to walk past, but then stopped.

"Star?" Warrick's puzzled voice asked.

She looked up. "Warrick!"

"What…what are you doing here?" he sputtered, a little put off by seeing her, especially when he was trying to get her off of his mind.

She smiled as she stood. "Nick forgot something. How're you?"

"Doing alright," he tried to play it cool, but was a little undermined by the way she looked that night. He'd never seen her look lovelier. Then, trying to make a joke he added, "Nick treating you alright?"

"Well, considering it's only been half an hour, I'd say it's going pretty well," she replied.

And, as if he had heard her, Nick walked up at that moment. "Hey Warrick." Nick gave him a sly smile. "You're here early."

"Just trying to catch up on some work," he replied, holding up some files. "Which I'd better get back to."

Nick looked at his watch. "Yeah, we're running late. Have a good night." He started to lead Star out.

Star turned around and waved a good bye at Warrick. He gave a weak wave back. This was not how he wanted his night to go. He'd come in to get away from her, and there she was—with Nick. He knew this was going to be a long night.

Back on the road and on their way to dinner, Nick had a question he'd been dying to ask. "So, why haven't you been on a date in a while?"

Star let out a sigh. She knew she shouldn't have mentioned that fact. "Well, and please don't hold this against me, but I'm divorced."

"Divorced?" Nick was a little shocked. She was only 23.

"Technically, my marriage was annulled," she clarified. "There's just no term for that that I'm comfortable with. It wasn't very pleasant, so I've just been not dating for a while."

Nick was quiet for a moment. Since he'd gotten this far, he decided to just go a head and ask his next question. "How come you got an annulment, if I may ask?"

Star gave a wry smile. "How to put this nicely?" she asked herself, tapping her chin. "He couldn't keep it in his pants." She laughed. "He was cheating on me since the day we started dating."

"Aaahhhhh," Nick replied. Then, after thinking for a moment he added, "It's my pleasure to be your first venture back into the dating pool." He smiled his most charming smile.

She returned his winning smile with one of her own. "Thank you." This isn't going to be so bad after all, she thought. "So what play are we going to see again?"