Magenta Skies

Chapter 2

After a half an hour of waiting, Sara began to get worried. In the process of waiting, she lost count of how many glasses of wine she consumed and how many appetizers she ate. Ecklie gave his speech and accepted his award for "Most Honorable Lab Director of the Year" and Sara was sure that he took note of Grissom's absence. She was glad he didn't question his whereabouts, as she would have been just as clueless. As much as Grissom loathed Ecklie, he wouldn't leave her alone for this long, unless something was wrong.

"You look a little flustered." A good looking middle aged man in a black tux gave Sara a wide smile, as she turned around to meet his gaze.

"Um, yeah I suppose. My boyfriend has been gone a while." Sara continued to look around for Grissom to appear in the endless crowd of unfamiliar faces.

"Is he gone for good, cause that would make me one lucky man?" The man brushed back his brown hair, and widened his hazel eyes to give Sara another creepy stare.

"If you don't mind, I have to look for my boyfriend." Just as Sara was about to try to escape the man's intense stare, he grabbed hold of her arm forcibly.

"What are you doing?" Sara shouted. Brass took notice of the commotion, but was having a hard time of maneuvering around the crowd of people dancing.

"My name is Max by the way." He smiled, one last time before slamming his lips against her's, in a long kiss. Sara struggled to get free, but due to the amount of alcohol she consumed, it was a lost battle.

"Sara?" Grissom's heart sank, as he stood in front of his most terrifying nightmare come to life. The small, velvet, purple box fell to the ground and opened to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

With all her might she pushed Max off of her, and ran over to Grissom.

"Grissom please let me explain. He just pushed himself on top of me, and I couldn't get him off. And you were gone for so long." Sara tried to remain calm, but the steady glint of sorrow in Grissom's eyes did not seize no matter what she plead.

"It seemed like you were enjoying it enough." Grissom turned his back to Sara, and stormed out of the party. Sara struggled to catch up, tripping over her dress in the process.

"Can you just stop for one second?" Sara yelled. Grissom's heart felt as if it were about to explode. He didn't want to turn around and more then anything, he didn't want to believe that he may have lost her.

"Just tell me why." Grissom questioned while finally turning around. Sara's eyes glossed over with tears that she refused to let go. She was too strong to break down, she's been through worse.

"I can't. He was all over me Grissom. And when you were gone I had a few drinks, and I wasn't strong enough to get him off of me. Please just trust me for once. You're always expecting me to just run away with someone else, maybe if you keep on believing it, it may just happen." Not being able to stand the stuffy air of the hotel any longer, Sara pushed her way out into the parking lot and ran the whole distance to their car waited for Grissom.

He struggled to find his keys he obtained from the valet earlier. Once he unlocked the doors they both climbed into the car and remained silent before the vehicle even started.

"Listen I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier. I was acting like an asshole, forgive me?" Grissom held his breath and waited for Sara to answer.

"Grissom, I think we need some time apart. I think you still don't trust me, maybe living apart for a while will let you see that I don't have to be under you watchful eye every moment, and still be in love with you. I was attacked tonight and you didn't seem to comprehend that simple fact. I'm still hurt by your actions, and I think it's going to take a while to heal from that." Sara avoided Grissom's gaze and stared out the window watching the rain now pound down forcibly on the glass. A bolt of lighting made both of them jump in their seats before Grissom turned the ignition and made his way out of the lot.

It was in his best interest to be quiet, he was a real jerk tonight and his insecurities were finally consuming any rationality he once possessed.

'Hmmm. 'Love is blind' huh? How about 'love makes you a real asshole, with no regard for the ones you love.'' Grissom gritted his teeth as he replayed his actions in his mind, not noticing the hail now thumping against his car. As another bolt of lighting hit, Sara began to worry.

"Grissom, maybe we should pull over, it's getting worse the further we head north." Sara gripped her armrests as Grissom continued to head into the storm.

"There's no where to pull over on this road, there are no side lanes. In about a mile there is an exit, we'll get off of the highway and get home from there." Grissom now had to yell over the noise of the hail hitting his car and the loud claps of thunder, which were now becoming more frequent.

"I can't see, is that an exit?" Grissom leaned forward to get a better look. He left his glasses at home, and he could only hope that Sara had better vision from a distance then he did.

"I dunno, I can't make out what the sign says." Sara yelled.

As Grissom slowed down more, to try to get a better look at the sign, a loud bang followed by the deathly screech of tires echoed into the night. An airbag burst into Grissom's face as panic engulfed his body.

"Sara?" Not being able to see over the airbag, Grissom unbuckled his seatbelt and got his first look at Sara. She seemed just as scared as he was, probably taken off guard just as much.

"I think a minivan rammed our bumper." Grissom explained, trying to fend off the oncoming migraine.

"Should we check and see if they're alright?" Sara asked, feeling slightly dizzy. Another clap of thunder reminded them of the severity of the storm, outside the car. The hail continued to fall just as hard as it was a couple of minutes ago. Grissom didn't want his headache to be further compromised by the swift pain of golf ball sized hail on his noggin.

"I'm going to motion him to follow me to the exit so we can exchange insurance information. We're not safe to be stopped like this in the middle of the road..."

Grissom suddenly felt himself being thrown through the air. He didn't remember the sheer force of truck hitting his vehicle, but he would never forget her screams. That was the last time he would see her, that was the last time, everything was normal.