Headliner
Chapter 20
"Hey, Nicky how is everything?" Catherine asked her co-worker and friend.
"Oh, I'm fine. Everything is fine," he responded.
"You must be terrible at poker. I could tell right away that you are lying. Why don't you tell me what the real problem is?"
"Cath, sorry, but I don't think you'd understand."
"Nick, Nick, I can tell that it is something between you and Sara. This means it's girl trouble for you. I'm a girl and I'm lending you my ears and my insight. Use them."
"Alright. I was sitting on the couch with Sara this afternoon. We were eating spaghetti and drinking beer," he said slowly.
"Uh oh," said Catherine at the mention of alcohol.
"'Uh oh' is right. I started talking about her and how Greg loves you and then I kissed her."
"We'll get to Greg later, but right now, I have to ask you what on earth you were thinking when you kissed her."
"I don't think I was thinking."
"That's a pretty safe bet. How did she react?" Catherine inquired.
"She got up and went to her room. We took separate cars here and I haven't spoken to her since."
"Okay, Nick, it's time to hit on the big thing. Are you sorry you kissed her?"
"Not exactly. I'm sorrier for how I did it. I really do like her."
"Well, good for you. You've got a lot in common, especially with the kid. Now, give her a little time to sort her own feelings out, but you've got to talk to her eventually. Make sure you're careful about office politics though. Grissom up your ass is the last thing you need."
"No kidding."
She rubbed his shoulder and got up to leave. She reached the doorway and held up a finger. "One second. What was the whole thing about Greg loving me?"
Nick spent the rest of the time trying to come up with what exactly to say to Sara. As he told Catherine, he didn't want to apologize for what he'd done so much as the manner in which it had happened. He needed to be sure he talked to her before it somehow managed to get to Lexi. He wasn't sure how his daughter would take the news and he certainly didn't want to upset her. He sent Sara a text message instead of calling her so she wouldn't have to talk to him until she was ready. It simply asked her to call him when she got time. He really needed to have a conversation with her.
Sara used her shift to get through a pile of paperwork. She moved around the lab a lot as to avoid Greg and his endless questioning. She knew he would never give up; it wasn't his style. When she felt the buzz of her cell-phone and read Nick's message, she gave a small sigh. She knew he had to be beating himself up inside and out. Nick wasn't one to act rashly, and his heart—and his beer—had gotten the better of him. She too, realized they had to speak about the incident, but she really had no idea what to say.
About an hour before the end of shift, Sara called Nick's cell and was relieved that he didn't answer. It would be much easier to talk to an answering machine than a real person at this point. She told him that Lexi was going to be gone all day, so they'd have the house to talk. She hoped the call would be somewhat of an olive branch and they could get to the bottom of the whole situation.
Nick checked his messages as he drove home. He listened to Sara's and felt a slight pang of nervousness. He'd come up with an entire speech, but he had a feeling it would all disappear once he actually saw her. Her car wasn't in the driveway when he pulled up. He exited the Denali and pressed the automatic lock. He grabbed the mail and smiled at a letter addressed to him and Sara as the parents of Alexis Sidle. It was information on the upcoming school year. He tossed the envelopes on the table, not caring that the pile was no longer neat and tidy.
Sara walked in five minutes later as he was pouring liquid into two glasses. He saw her concerned look. "It's just club soda. I figured we could do without alcohol tonight." She nodded appreciatively and placed her keys into the leaf-shaped dish she had brought over from her house several weeks before.
She took a seat on the couch and he brought over the glasses to join her. "Nick," she began but he cut in.
"Sara, I," he paused while she interrupted him right back.
"Don't apologize, Nick. Don't lie to me and tell me you're sorry for what you did, because I know you're not. Apologizing for that would be like apologizing for Texas sixteen years ago; there'd be no point."
"Sara, I won't apologize for what I did, but I have to apologize for the way it happened. I shouldn't have just jumped in and did that. It was wrong."
"Maybe you shouldn't have done it, but I'm glad you did."
Nick found himself smiling at the brunette sitting next to him. This was the last thing he had expected. "What? You're glad I did it?"
"Nick, you're an amazing guy. You've never done me wrong, not really. Sure, we've squabbled over the years, but who hasn't. I've never wanted to kill you and I don't think you've wanted to kill me. We've got an amazing kid who loves us both to death. We live in the same house. It was bound to happen eventually."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Sure."
"So my drunken rambling…"
"Is completely excused now."
Nick leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, but Sara held up her hand.
"What? Too fast?"
"Nick, before we take this any further we have to consider one thing: Alexis. We need to make sure that she is okay with this. As nice as you are, she is my number one responsibility. If anything happened between us—good or bad—it would directly affect her."
"Alright," Nick said as he rolled off the couch, "but let's talk to her soon, okay?"
Sara laughed and slapped him on the back.
A/N: You can guess what I want to tell you to do next. Thanks much.
