"You're the new DNA guy? What's your name?" Sara Sidle looked hard at the young man - boy, really - who stood before her.
The kid in front of her flushed . "Greg. Greg Sanders." He extended his hand, and when she grasped it in a handshake she noticed it was shaking.
She looked him over critically. "How OLD are you?"
Greg Sanders' blush intensified and he looked down at his shoes. "Twenty-one. I ... I graduated early."
She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She would have guessed several years younger. "Okay, then, new, very young DNA guy, process these. You DO know what they are, I assume?" The bags she passed to him contained used condoms.
"Of course." He sighed dramatically and turned away. " I'll get right on it."
Sara Sidle cast a backward glance at him as she walked out of the lab. He was cute, in a boyish, nerdy kind of way. She wondered fleetingly if he'd ever had a date, then swiftly discarded the thought. It wasn't any of her damned business. She looked back one more time and felt a hot blush redden her cheeks when she realized he was looking back. His eyebrows were raised as he studied her, and she gave him a half-smile, then looked away. Busted, both of them. She felt like a pervert, too, considering she was 28 and he was barely old enough to buy liquor.
"So I hear the new DNA boy has a thing for you." Colette DeSearn flopped down in the chair across from Sara. "He's skinny but he's sort of cute, or would be if you could get him out of his punk rocker nerd phase."
"He doesn't have a thing for me." Sara took a bite of her sandwich. "He's just twenty-one, you know."
"I would've guessed eightteen, but get a clue - he's got it bad."
"I've spoken with him all of, what, six times?"
"He follows you with his eyes."
"Donny's been talking to him. He's probably scared of me."
"Follows you with his eyes, then sighs and gets this weird smile. It's actually kind of sweet, Sara."
"So maybe he has a little bit of a crush on me. He's a kid."
"Twenty-eight is a lot closer to twenty-one than it is to forty-six."
"Kid's probably never even had a date. Change the subject, Co."
"He's SWEET! You know, you really should bother to get to know him before you write him off. The older guy thing just isn't working for you."
"I like older men, and I said change the subject. That wasn't a change of subject."
"Yeah, well, older men clearly aren't very good for you even if you DO like them - remember the last two? - and I wasn't done with this subject yet. Besides, you like him. I know you do."
Sara rolled her eyes. "I knew this was coming. Your romantic fantasies have finally rendered you delusional."
"You get nervous as soon as his name is mentioned. Don't get me started on what happens when he walks by."
"You're crazy."
"You look at his butt, too."
"I do a butt-check on all men. It's a reflex."
Colette laughed. "Bullshit, but creative bullshit at least." She wiped her mouth and got serious. "Look, just promise me you'll think about it."
"Think about what - getting you help?"
"Just think about getting to know the guy before you decide to write him off."
"We work together. Getting to know him is a given."
"Then just, just consider what I've said, okay? I'm thinking about you, girl. You're lonely. I worry boutcha."