February 10, 1998. San Francisco, California.

The next morning, Sara attended Grissom's breakfast seminar as planned. Again, Grissom found her distracting. But, again, every time one of his questions to the attendees went unanswered, he turned to Sara, and she gave the perfect response. Each time, afterward, she beamed at him; each time, his heart skipped a beat.

Sara waited for him after the seminar.

"So how is my star pupil this morning?" he teased her.

Sara laughed. "Just great." She added, "I enjoyed the seminar," which she had.

"I'm going to another session right now," he told her.

"Oh, okay." Sara was a little disappointed he had to rush off.

"Did you have more questions?" he asked her with a smile.

"Well, yes," she admitted, trying to hide her disappointment.

"Did you want to ask them over dinner again?"

"Yes!"

"7:00 p.m. still work?"

"Perfect!" She flashed him the megawatt smile.

"Okay, I'll see you in the lobby."

Sara, inside, was a little giddy.

They met again at 7:00 p.m. This time she took him to Uncle Vito's, a pizza place just up the hill from Union Square. It was a little more crowded than the Mexican restaurant, so they finished eating more quickly then went back to the bar at the Hilton. The conversation proceeded just as it had the evening before. Any time Grissom might have become a little tongue-tied by the beautiful woman across from him, she talked her way through the problem without noticing or asked him a question that got him back to talking. Sure enough, the next thing they knew, the staff at the hotel bar were also wanting to close for the night.


February 11, 1998. San Francisco, California.

On the third day, Grissom was assisting with a workshop in the afternoon. Every time input from the attendees was lacking, Grissom looked at Sara. She always knew what to say. She beamed at him; his heart still skipped a beat. After the workshop, she waited for him outside the conference room.

"Lobby at 7:00 p.m.?" he asked her once he made it outside.

"You bet!" she said, and again she smiled.

This time she walked him over to Chinatown for dumplings and noodles. The conversation proceeded much as it had the first two nights. One might have imagined these two somewhat reserved and awkward people who'd only just met having trouble maintaining a lively conversation for a third consecutive night, but again their mutual love of science and their work made the evening fly by.

The conference was concluding the next day, and Grissom's own role in the conference had ended. As they walked back to his hotel, Sara asked the question she'd been dreading. "So, I guess you're flying back to Vegas tomorrow after the conference ends?" She was hoping against hope that he might not be flying out until the day after that.

"Actually, apparently I don't take enough time off," Grissom said, knowing he didn't take any time off, except for professional activities such as the conference, "so my boss sort of ordered me to take the full week off. I'm sticking around until Monday, but I don't really know what I'm going to do with myself."

Sara thought this was all too much. She started laughing.

"Pathetic, right?" he asked.

"No, it's just…." She laughed again. "I'm basically in the same situation. To get the time off for the conference, I had to promise my boss I'd stay away for a full week, since I never take any time off otherwise. I'm not on again until Monday night." It was an unlikely coincidence, but they were both ridiculous workaholics. Maybe we could say it was fate, if we believed in that sort of thing. "So I guess, if you wanted…" she couldn't believe this was really going so well, "I could show you around the city." She smiled but tried to look casual.

Grissom smiled at her. "Sounds good."

They walked in silence for a bit after that, neither wanting the other to know how really very pleased they were.

For the third night in a row, after Sara went back to her apartment, Grissom lay in bed, trying to figure out his preoccupation with this beautiful young woman. It wasn't like him. He didn't know what to make of it. He sighed and tried to fall asleep. Hadn't he just three nights earlier been complimenting himself on his ability to fall asleep whenever needed? Sara Sidle was disrupting his sleep habits. Gil Grissom didn't know it yet, but Sara Sidle was disrupting his life.


UP NEXT: NEXT CHAPTER: FEBRUARY 12, 1998. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.


A/N:

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