As I sat in the lab this evening, I could hear the buzz. Soft whispers of,"Sara and Jim are engaged" and "Jim and Sara are seeing each other."

The whispers made me smile. An hour passed and the team began to file intothe break room. I was sitting at the conference table reading a magazineabout outdoor living, when Catherine walked up to me and asked me if therumors were true.

"Is it true? You and Jim?" she asked
"Yes. The rumors are true." I responded

Catherine's gaze was diverted to the ring on my finger. She stared at itwide eyed and her mouth dropped open.

"Nice ring. When did he get it for you?" she asked
"He gave it to me this afternoon." I said softly

Catherine's question made me think. I only started seeing Jim the daybefore yesterday and two days later he had a ring for me. Did he alreadyhave it when we first went out or did he get on his way home this afternoon?I would have to ask him this next time I saw him, circumstances permitting.

All evening Grissom kept staring at me and at my hand. I could tell by theexpression on his face that he was none too pleased with the currentsituation. Every time he would be in the same room as I, his eyes wouldturn to me, and to be completely honest it was a little creepy. He had thisway of being able to make someone uncomfortable with just one look, and that
was the look I kept getting. Finally, after I had had enough, I confrontedhim. I looked at him and spoke.

'Share." I said
"Huh? What do you mean?" he asked, confused
"You have been staring at me all night. What gives?" I demanded
"Well, I just can't get over the fact that you are with Jim. That's all."he said, quietly
"Well, you better just learn to accept it." I snapped

I realize that I probably should not have snapped at him, but I was fed upwith the stares. He looked defeated and really hurt. It is not my faultthat he finally came around to the possibility of dating me, only after Ihad started seeing Jim. Grissom had waited too long, and that was his fault.He took his sweet time and when he came around, it was too late.

"Are you two serious?" he asked

I looked at him as if he were dumb and heard nothing I said. I had had enough, and I totally broke.

"You see this ring on my finger? Jim gave it to me because he, unlike you,is willing to make a commitment. And you know what else, I am actuallyhappy. For the first time in my adult life, I am in a relationship, and Iam totally happy." I growled

Grissom rose from his seat and hung his head as he walked out of the room.Thinking back, I may have been a little too hard on him, but he needed tohear the message loud and clear. I think I accomplished that.

Later that evening I met up with Jim. I told him about my encounter withGrissom earlier that evening and he got a chuckle out of it.

"He looked as if I had kicked him in the balls. It was really sad."
I explained
"Well, I would have to say that he kind of deserved it. He treated you likeair for the last how many years? And now that you are happy, he finds theballs to ask you out. What a heel." Jim went on.
"He kept looking at the ring on my finger. It was like he couldn't take hiseyes off of it." I said

I knew that mentioning the ring would be a good way to broach the subject toJim. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but I had to know about it.I looked at Jim and swallowed hard, then asked.

"Jim?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a few questions about the ring that you gave me earlier."
I said softly
"Fire away." was his only response

I sat for a moment before speaking. I wanted to choose my words verycarefully and I thought about exactly what I wanted to say and how I wantedto say it.

"When did you get the ring?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Well, after our date the other night, when we saw Grissom and his reactionto us, I thought about our discussion and thought that it couldn't hurt tomake things a little official. It's not an engagement ring, mind you, it'smore like a promise ring. I promise to be there for you in every way I can,relationship ways and other wise, and you promise the same. It is also asign that you have been taken off the market, so to speak." He explained.

He looked at me with his beautiful hazel eyes and smiled.

"Does that answer your question?"
"More or less." I replied

He smiled again and asked me a question of his own.

"Do you have any problems? With the ring, I mean?" he asked
"No. I think it's kind of sweet, actually." I replied, smiling
"Well, that having been said, I have to get back to work. Will I see youin the morning?" he asked
"I don't see why not. Maybe we can pick up where we left off earlier."I said, sweetly

Jim grinned wide and gave me a little kiss before returning to work.The rest of the evening I thought about the ring and what it symbolized.I wondered how long Jim had had his eye on me, and what prompted him tomake such a big leap in such a short span of time.

Shift had ended and I made my way out to the parking lot and my truck. In thedistance I heard someone call my name. I turned to see who it was and wasnone too pleased to see Grissom running up from behind me. "Shit", I thoughtto myself, "more questions". As Grissom approached, I could hear that hewas slightly out of breath.

"Sara, hold up for a minute." he called out

I stopped and turned to him, hands on my hips, showing my obviousdispleasure at the current moment. He slowed as he reached me. He stood,catching his breath. Finally he spoke.

"Exactly how serious are things between you and Jim?" he asked, breathless
"Well, as you can plainly see, I am wearing a ring that he gave to me.I would say that things are fairly serious. Wouldn't you?"
I replied, with an indignant tone
"Have you guys even slept together yet?" he prodded
"That is none of your business. How could you even ask such a question?"I snapped

Without even missing a beat he replied.

"I will take that as a "no", then." he said
"Listen, Grissom. What Jim and I do on our own time is our business,no body else's. You got that?"

I turned my back to him and continued to walk to my truck, not noticingthat he was following me. As I reached my truck, he came from behind meand cornered me against my truck. He pressed himself to me and took myface in his hands and kissed me. It was a kiss filled with want and passion.It was not a kiss that I would have expected to come from a man so closed
off to everyone. I tried to free myself from his hold, but the more Iresisted, the more forceful he became. Finally, he broke off and steppedback, looking in my eyes.

"Now, tell me that you didn't feel anything. Just tell me that and I willleave you alone." he demanded

I was at a loss for words. The kiss was nice and all, but it was too little,too late. I was so stunned that I could not speak. I just looked at him andunlocked the door to my truck and got in. I started it up and drove off,leaving him standing there. And you know what, I could have sworn that hehad a grin on his face as I pulled off. The smug bastard, how could he dosomething like that to me. He was playing with me. I was sure of it.

As I drove the distance to Jim's house, I wondered how I would explainthis most recent occurrence to him, or if I should even mention it.I decided not to say anything to Jim about it and chalked it up todesperate actions taken by a desperate man. I'm sure that's all it was.

As I pulled into Jim's driveway, I could see that he was wide awake andsitting on the front porch, coffee in hand. As I walked up the steps,he handed me a mug and motioned for me to sit beside him. I could tellby the look on his face that he had something on his mind. I wondered whatit was. Part of me felt guilty for opting not to tell Jim about Grissom andthe kiss. But I figured that it would just cause more problems than it was
worth, to bring up.

As I sat beside Jim, he put his arm around me and looked at me smiling.He had an odd grin on his face, like he knew something. Finally, it cameout.

"Well, I was on my way to take you to breakfast earlier and you'll neverguess what I saw." he said, coyly

I immediately felt a lump in the pit of my stomach. It was at that momentthat I decided to tell Jim, before he could bring it up.

"Jim, I have to tell you something." I started
"Really? What?" he asked
"This morning, as I was on my way to my truck, Grissom cornered me and..."

I wanted to put this in a way that would make it seem like something lessthan it actually was.

"What did he do?" Jim asked, now sitting up in his chair with a concernedlook on his face
"Well, ...He kissed me. He pinned me against my truck and forcefullykissed me." I said, ashamed
"I know. I saw. I heard. I heard what he said afterward. What an ass.I'll have to have a little chat with him." Jim said, calmly

Jim was unusually calm for someone that had just had his girlfriend kissedby another man. Jim looked at me and as he rose, gave me a kiss on theforehead. He walked to his truck and got in. I knew where he was going,but did nothing to stop him. But I did run inside and call Grissom to warnhim. I picked up the phone and dialed. It rang a few times and then hepicked it up.

"Hello, Sara." he said
"This is no time for pleasantries, Gil. Jim is on his way over and I thinkhe wants blood. He saw us and heard what you said about me feeling nothingabout the kiss." I explained
"As I recall, you said nothing. You didn't tell me that you felt nothing,so I can only assume that you did, in fact, feel something." he said, smugly
"My reaction has nothing to do with this. He is on his way now. I just wanted to warn you."
"Well, thanks for the heads up, but I'm a big boy. I think I can handle an angry boyfriend." he said

I hung up and waited, nervously, wondering what Jim would do and what Gilwould say. Finally, I could not take it anymore and jumped in my truck andfloored it all the way to Grissom's place. When I arrived, Jim was alreadythere and I could hear raised voices from the other side of his front door.

TBC?