DISCLAIMER: Don't Own It, No Money Made... Just for fun & enjoyment.
RATING: M for Mature. For language and mature situations in later chapters.
A/N: Here's a nice short one to tide you over... I have some big stuff coming up in the very near future, and I hope you all will enjoy reading it as much I have enjoyed writing it.
REVIEWS: Thanks to all who have reviewed. All of your reviews have been so supportive, I have enjoyed every single one. They have really made a busy and tough weekend so muchmore bearable. Thank you all.
EDIT: Had to make a few minor cosmetic changes that my other beta picked up after a weekend out of town
Chapter 19
To say that the ride over to the Bellagio was tense would have been the understatement of the century. It started out with Sara choosing the backseat, and Catherine had not been able to come up with a decent excuse to convince her otherwise. However, to his credit, Grissom seemed to be in a decent mood and did not take offense to Sara's need for distance. But the vibe coming from the backseat was enough for Catherine to know that it would take some serious work to get these two into any kind of a pleasant exchange. She was beginning to wonder what on earth Grissom had done in his ignorance, this time, to get Sara's ire up so badly.
She did not have to wait long for that answer. Grissom's phone went off and he responded, "Grissom… Oh hey… And you're sure the condi-… Oh, well if you were using the vitreous fluid… What about the liver tissue sample?" She gathered from his conversation that Stephanie was on the other end of that phone call. "Well, that is interesting… Oh really?" His tone was very casual; familiar even, which was very Un-Grissom like. "Well, thanks for letting me know right away… Did you get enough rest?" From the backseat, Catherine was certain she heard a dejected sigh from Sara. "Right, well, not for long if you keep that up… Me?... Well, I don't know… Okay, okay Steph, look, I'm driving to a scene now; can we finish this later?" When Catherine used the visor mirror to catch a glimpse of Sara in the backseat, she saw exactly where the tension was coming from, in the form of that great big, green-eyed monster called jealousy. That was just too much for Catherine to contain the devilish grin which passed over her face. Sara is actually jealous of Stephanie! Contemplating that juicy little tidbit, she thought to herself, This is going to make Friday night even more deliciously evil than Steph could have ever dreamed of.
Catherine would not share this new information with Stephanie. Oh no, this was the kind of thing she liked to keep her poker face on for, because she just knew it would make for great theatre once the time came, and make their plans all the better in the end. No, Catherine was going to chew on this one for a while. And she was going to enjoy it.
She realized that she might have already given away too much, when the sound of Grissom's voice interrupted her plotting, "Alright, Cath… You want to let that bird out now?"
She snapped right out of her thoughts, "Huh, what?"
Grissom shook his head, "Oh nothing… Just that whatever you were thinking gave me the distinct impression the cat just swallowed the canary." Grissom smirked as he stole a look in her direction, and then called into the backseat, "Isn't that right, Sara?" There was no answer from behind him, so he tried again, "Sara, is the strip that interesting tonight?" He was looking at her through the rearview mirror and could see she was staring out of the car without acknowledging his comments. He mumbled to himself, "I guess so."
Catherine was reveling in this new turn of events, and calculated all the ways she could make mischief with it over the next week. She decided in that moment, she would do everything she could to keep Grissom working with Sara all week. She may have just found the silver lining to their new partnership of authority. And as much as she hated to admit it, Ecklie was responsible for it. I guess every little toad deserves their day in the sunshine.
