Warrick just sat there with the phone in his hand trying to work up his courage to call Tina. He knew that as much as she was right that he did have unfinished business with Catherine, that he had married her and he wanted to try and work things out. He just wasn't sure Tina was willing. Of course if he just sat there and did nothing, Tina was right, he was a coward because he hadn't even wanted to try. One of the things that had surprised him was the impulsiveness he'd had when he'd asked Tina to marry him. In his mind, you didn't take a commitment like that lightly, yet here he was treating the whole situation just that way. He realized at that moment that he was going to fight to keep Tina and his relationship together; and it was only after he'd tried everything that he'd give in and sign those divorce papers.
It took a few rings, but she finally answered the phone. "Tina." Warrick hadn't realized that the sound of her voice would make him melt a little of the ice that had surrounded his heart of late.
"Warrick, what are you calling for...aren't you supposed to be working?" She sounded genuinely surprised, but pleased all at the same time.
"Yeah, but we've got a long break and I wanted to talk to you." He let out a deep sigh before he continued. "I don't want a divorce, I want to try and work things out, baby." He only hoped that she'd be willing to at least talk; if that failed, then he knew that there wasn't anything else he could do before he got home.
"You accused me of cheating on you." Tina sounded genuinely hurt. She had merely been planning a surprise birthday party for Warrick, but he had jumped to conclusions. Trust had always been a little tenuous in their relationship given that she worked with her ex, but he hadn't even bothered to listen to her, he simply jumped to the worst case scenario.
"Well how do you think it looked to me? I'm working a case and the next thing I know I see you with some guy I don't know on the security cameras. When I ask you where you are, you lie. What was I supposed to think?" Warrick had been cheated on a time or two and he really had little patience for it. This time though he realized that if he wanted this relationship to work, he had to work at listening even if he didn't want to.
"I guess it looked bad to you." Tina conceded that if she stopped for a moment and considered Warrick's perspective that it really did look suspect. "But I tried to explain it to you and you didn't want to listen." There were a few other things she'd said in the heat of anger that right now she was beginning to regret.
"And then you accused me of sleeping with Catherine." That had been the one comment that had been over the top and had caused Warrick to go and rent a hotel room. While he'd certainly been attracted to his coworker, he knew that she would never want to cause someone else the pain that Eddie had caused her. Right at this point in time, a relationship with Catherine that went beyond friendship was out of the question as long as he was married to Tina.
Tina was quiet for a long time before she spoke again. "I guess I jumped to conclusions too. You just talk about her so much; I know you guys are close, it makes me uncomfortable, Warrick." She also knew about Catherine's confession that she'd made to Warrick shortly after they'd gotten married.
"We are close, but that's because we've known each other for years...if I'd wanted to date her, Tina, I would have." Of course the fact that when things seemed to be heading into uncharted territory and they'd almost kissed after traipsing through a sewer tunnel for several hours, she'd very shortly after that been promoted to being his supervisor and he'd put the question of Catherine out of his mind. At least until her confession, since then it had caused a bit of rift between he and Tina.
"So why does this still keep coming up then?" Tina needed reassurance that down the road this wouldn't keep coming up over and over again.
"I don't know." He really didn't. Could it be that Tina was right, that he really did want to explore something with Catherine? Warrick felt the heavy weight of disappointment in himself that he'd gotten married so quickly, maybe if he and Tina had waited, they would have been able to work through these issues with a much less bumpy ride.
Tina sighed. "You need to figure it out, Warrick. I love you, but I don't want to be with you if you're wondering if you should be with someone else. You don't love me as much as you think you do if you're thinking about being with her." She sounded defeated.
"Tina." Warrick wasn't sure how he was supposed to figure things out the way she was implying without further alienating her.
"No, don't say it." Tina sounded full of resolve. "I want you to figure it out and tell me what you want when you get back, she's there with you, talk to her, figure out if there's anything between you. I don't want to be married to a man who thinks he might be in love with another woman. We can talk when you get back; if you still want to work things out then, I promise I'll agree to go to marriage counseling."
Warrick didn't like it, but he knew she was right. "I'm really sorry, Tina. I just want to do the right thing." He sounded emotional just then.
"Then figure out if you have feelings for Catherine and let me know what you decide, if you sign the papers then I'll know what you want." Tina sighed. "Goodbye, Warrick."
The line went dead and Warrick just sat there and stared at the phone. He really had no idea what he really wanted. Tina had a point, it wasn't fair to her to be married to someone who might be in love with someone else, but was he really in love with Catherine? He just didn't know. He also didn't know if he was just a fantasy to Catherine or if she had real feelings for him. He stood up and decided that he might as well find out.
A few moments later he was standing outside of Catherine's bungalow knocking on the door. When she didn't answer right away, he thought maybe he should just wait until their scheduled dinner, however, just as he turned to walk away, Catherine opened the door, wrapped in a robe toweling her hair.
"Warrick." Catherine could tell that he had something on his mind, and although she should have thought twice about the way she was dressed, she opened the door wide to let him in.
"Cath." Warrick had a hard time not picturing exactly how Catherine looked under the robe, especially given the way it was clinging to her damp curves, and it was reflected in his tone. As much as he wanted to do the right thing, maybe Tina was right, maybe he did have feelings for Catherine that he needed to deal with.
"You ok?" Catherine queried noticing the sort of hazy look on his face, as if his mind was somewhere else.
He furrowed his brow and tried to banish the carnal thoughts surging through him just then. "Tina filed for divorce." He wasn't sure if he was throwing that out there to explain the funk he was in or to justify what he did next.
Before Catherine could say anything in response, she felt the soft pressure of Warrick's lips against hers and his hands pulling her firmly against his body. Her body responded before her brain could process what was happening; especially given that she'd been thinking about doing something just like this with Warrick nearly the entire time she'd been soaking in that bathtub. They tumbled onto her bed a few moments later, still kissing as their hands began to explore underneath the confines of clothing.
Catherine broke the kiss. "Why did she file?" Having been through relationship hell herself, she wanted to be clear exactly what was happening here; her friendship with Warrick was too important to screw up.
Warrick was breathing heavily. "She seems to think that I'm in love with you. Told me I needed to have it figured out by the time I got back." He moved in for another kiss as his fingers began to loosen the tie on her robe.
Catherine pushed him away with a bewildered expression on her face. "Are you?" She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly, but if he was in love with her, she wanted to know, and she wanted to know now.
Warrick looked pained. "I'm not sure." He realized at that moment he probably shouldn't have kissed Catherine before figuring that out.
Catherine let out a sigh and then arched her brow. "So you're not sure if you're in love with me, but I get the feeling that you're not sure you want to leave Tina either." She'd been around the block a few times and she wasn't about to take a ride no matter how nice the car might be unless she knew where it was going.
"Cath, it's not that simple." He could tell by the look on her face that this was the wrong answer.
"Well, as much as I want you right now, I'm not going to be the other woman." She smiled softly at him. "If we cross this line, you're with me and there's no going back, understand? Just do what's right for you, ok? I don't want to be with someone who has feelings for someone else either. I've been there and done that." Catherine pulled her robe tighter around her as she pulled herself off of the bed.
Warrick nodded. "Yeah." He let out a frustrated sigh and rolled over onto his back; how he'd thought that sleeping with Catherine would make this clearer he wasn't sure. "I guess I'd better go." He glanced over at her and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry, Cath, I really am."