Disclaimer: I own nothing, just playing with the characters
Thank you to: CSigurlie07,Dybdahl, fredchester, imz, kittenhill, laurasidle, shania1277, sugar230 and xxxsarasbutterflyxxx for being on the alert thingy... thank you so much, I feel so mean for not thank you before now and thank you to disasteranytime, xxxsarasbutterflyxxx, Dybdahl, and CSigurlie07 for reviewing my last chapter. It really made my day.
A/N: This is a flashback chapter. It's a very long chapter-sorry and I don't know what the legit is on pepper spray is in Las Vegas so sorry if that is wrong too.
The weather was horrible yet intoxicating. The city was covered with thick, yellow and deathly clouds that weighed heavily over the Las Vegas and Sara hoped it would not rain.
Sara spat the foamy liquid in to her basin. Her hair was still wet and hung like brown rat tails, curling and stringy. Her lips curved inwards as she began to apply her colourless lip balm- the make-up equivalent of trainers. Sara looked at her make-up bag. There was a tube of lip-gloss, clear of course, a set of eye shadow with three different shades and some hand cream. She had given up after her mother was transfer to another city, not just the make-up but the more audacious aspects of her personality.
Sara glided to her bedroom and found a dusty basket in her dressing table drawer- the make-up grave yard. Sara mused why scientists still have to explain why women purchased a lipstick, wore it a few times and then, knowing it will never be used again, hung on to it just in case.
In the case of an emergency or natural disaster, I'll have no food or water, but plenty of lipstick to sustain me for months. She pondered what Catherine's make-up set was like.
Sara took a sticky plum red coloured lipstick whichshe had worn once several years ago. She knew that bold lipstick was a statement, and there was no way she could not pretend she didn't know it was on once she was out of her door. She applied colours to her eyelids and lashes, her bland, dark-eyed moon of a face transformed.
She stepped through the doors of the unfamiliar place. Mellow jazz music and soft lighting, small tables with white linen covers and in decorating in the centre, a tea light candle in a clear glass jar, like one that holds stinging colourful conserves.
She was casually dressed, same style she wore for work. A chunky necklace elongated her neck so it became swan-like.
Several men looked at her, including Gil, who was sat casually in the far corner. Well, she knew his orbs latched on to her but it could be possible that she was suffering from paranoia. Yet, the overt wave of attention was so unfamiliar that her first inclination was to go to great lengths to thwart it- a fake yawn that allowed her to cover her lip-stick smothered mouth for a time period. As she began to walk, thin heels clattering underneath the sounds of the chatter, she realised that this was not the best approach.
She speculated how long a yawn could really last. Sara realised it didn't look as if she was yawning but as if she was a strange woman covering her mouth with her self-manicured hand. Sara finally relaxed, revealed her mouth. She was unsure whether she could live up to the expectation of glamour and allure that goes with bold lipstick.
"Hey." Her eyes glittered at his, as she sat down. She looked around smiling, listening to the lavish audio feast of constantly revealing sonic layers capped the dewy singing voices coming from the speakers.
"This place is nice."
"Yeah, it's the best kept secret in town."
Sara had been working three days straight on a case; she was refusing to stop working, she was even semi-bribing and compromising with him, that if he let her just finish this case she would use up some of her vacation time. It had almost killed Sara when he had said to her "No deal." Gil knew she needed a break, not just from the case but from the environment and he knew that if she went home she would probably still do work, turn over the evidence in her mind.
"Are there no coffee houses left in Las Vegas?" He smiled, and a small laugh breathed out of his mouth. He had invited her for coffee, promising they could muse about the case. Together.
As the time passed, the amount of wine in the bottle became less and less and the lights seemed to be getting dimmer, but it could have been because her eyes had become accustomed to the light. Her eyes flickered about as much as the candle flame. The jazz music had become something sweet, something that was blending melodic hooks perfectly with passionate, dreamy lyrics of love.Angst, melody, brutal guitars, delicate atmospherics and songs that must have come from so deep down in the soul that they positively crackled with heartache.
Sara felt delicately drenched in a mood of happiness. She had found herself extroverted in a way that would have made her uncomfortable before. She had managed to tell a joke with flair and confidence instead of the usual "I don't know if this is funny but…" Sara had made someone laugh, although it was Greg's joke. In fact, there was not a time she had ever shared a joke with Grissom. Or Gil.
They were to separate people sharing one body, except Grissom had become more and more dominate until eventually, the only times Sara saw Gil was when either of them were extremely emotional.
Sara and Grissom were sat in similar positions, shoulders slumped, bodies forward with their head being supported by their hand. Gil kept his other hand still while Sara occasionally played with things. They had talked about work, world issues, work, places they wanted to go, back to the topic of work, places they had been, and they had discussed things with culture and sophistication.
It was almost one o'clock and the rain clouds still hovered. The restaurant waitresses were placing the chairs up on to the tables, there was only another couple.
Together they walked out and the breeze made them shiver. The only thing that illuminated their face was the countless, twinkling white fairy lights that were knotted in the trees. Sara looked at the tree, all speckled with its tiny lights and breathed in its deep perfume. They were walking in a place that didn't feel like Las Vegas. It didn't feel like anywhere she knew, even though it was only a few blocks from her apartment.
Sara tripped slightly, laughing. Grissom caught hold of her hand, twirling her slightly towards him. She was only tipsy because of the drink but completely drunk on endorphins. She was facing him now. Her laughter was slowing down to just a small humming with her breathing.
"Are you okay?"
Still smiling, she nodded and realised he was still holding her hand.
"Yeah, I am just so…so…"
Rain hammered, decreasing the sharpness of the colours. It came down in pelts, it drenched them in three seconds.
"Oh, crap."
Sara let out a sharp note of laughter. It was such a taboo to hear him swear, even if it was so mildly.
She watched the rain drops hang on the wire hairs that made up his beard.
"You know, I can walk from here on my own. You need to get home."
"Don't be stupid, I am not going to let the most beautiful woman walk alone at night in Las Vegas."
Sara stopped briefly while he continued walking.
"What did you say?"
"Sorry, you're not stupid…Come on... When did you become a dawdler?"
Grissom eventually flagged for a cab since Sara kept hurting her ankle in her shoes and he had refused to piggy back her.
"Aren't you still a vegetarian…then shouldn't it be more of a…a quorn-back ride…" He was so hopeless and ridiculous at times.
Sometimes they would look at each other. The rest of the time they looked at the colours that were being made in the puddles, neon lights and street lights becoming melting waves in the water. They sat very still, every time they moved the leather would groan.
"Well, there is my apartment. Right there." Sara looked at the large building and its iron gates. She forgot they shut at two in the morning and it was now 1:53. Her hands fluttered in to her purse and Gil's eyes looked in it while she rummaged, though he didn't know what for. It was his job to be observant.
There was her cell phone, keys, something which read 'per spra' (Gil couldn't help but smile when he realised Sara carried pepper spray) and an orange cylinder of prescription drugs. He looked at her. He wanted to know what they were for. Sara handed him some dollar bills.
"That should cover it; if you need more I will give it to you at work to-."
Gil just folded his hand over hers, telling her it didn't matter.
"Oh… okay…if you are sure…thank you… Well, goodnight. See you tomorrow."
He watched her cross the road before he asked to the driver to take him home. He pondered over the items he had seen in her purse. Although his minded floated and laughed at the pepper spray, he kept thinking of the orange tube of pills. He was curiosity prone and wanted to know what they were.
He didn't realise that he would find out the answer in three days time, when he would be holding a similar container in his latex covered hand.
Thank you for reading... next chapter will be up on monday/ tuesday.
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