Hide 'n Seek
Chapter 4 or Catherine Doesn't Get Grissom's Homemade Waffles
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. As soon as I posted it, the site went wonky so I appreciate everyone sticking with me :) I'm going to try to have this series done before the premiere. More canon GSR in two weeks!
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Late November 2005
"Can you scramble my eggs? And just add a little bit of salt to 'em. Oh, and also put on some of that spice you used before."
"Would her majesty prefer ketchup or Tabasco?"
Catherine Willows glanced up from the table and gave Grissom a sweet smile. "Tabasco is fine."
It had taken a few months, but Catherine finally managed to have breakfast with Grissom. He'd claimed he was too busy, leaving her with vague excuses. Fed up with his secrets, she threatened to drop by his townhouse unannounced; he complied almost immediately.
She finished flipping through his most recent Williams-Sonoma catalogue, and picked up a forensics journal from a small stack of magazines. Of course she expected more forensics material underneath, but her eyebrows rose to her hairline when she saw a furniture catalogue. Looking further through the stack, she found paint chip samples, and more booklets for bath towels and dining room sets.
Grissom stood at the stove with his back to Catherine, so he didn't hear her open the one with the curtains on the cover. Inside, some of the color selections had been circled, along with some scrawled numbers of window measurements. The handwriting wasn't Grissom's, but it looked oddly familiar…
"So what's with all the home décor magazines?" She asked.
He turned slightly, and offered a noncommittal shrug. "I'm just thinking of doing some redecorating."
"This doesn't look like some redecorating." She picked up a catalogue with bed sheets in it. "This looks like some serious changes."
"It's finally time for serious changes," he cryptically replied as he cooked the eggs.
"Care to share the reason for this 'serious change?'" Catherine sipped her screwdriver.
"No."
She sighed, "Gil, it wouldn't kill you to open up every once in a while." He didn't respond to her comment, so she took the opportunity to walk to the bathroom. She went upstairs because Grissom had told her the faucet wasn't working in the guest bathroom.
As she dried her hands, she noticed a purple bottle sitting on the edge of the tub, not quite hidden by the shower curtain. In Catherine's experience, men's soaps and shower gels never came in purple. Picking up the bottle, she read its label: black-raspberry vanilla.
Black-raspberry vanilla.
So Grissom was hiding a girlfriend -- an apparently steady girlfriend if the woman left her things at his house. So who was it?
The only place where Grissom ever met women was through the lab, and Catherine could count four that had shown interest in him: Teri Miller, Lady Heather, Sofia Curtis, and Sara Sidle.
From what Catherine knew, Teri was still happily married; she even heard the forensic anthropologist had given birth to a second child a few weeks ago.
Not long after they closed the Buckman/Richards case, Catherine had asked Grissom if was still talking to Lady Heather. Catherine suspected a shift in the relationship between Grissom and the other woman. He simply stated with the murders solved, he didn't need to keep in contact with the victims' associates, and that included the dominatrix. He hadn't spoken to Lady Heather since. Besides, she didn't seem like the type of woman to go back to a man after he accused her of murder.
When Sofia first came on board, Grissom appeared to be intrigued with her. Catherine had passed by his office to see Sofia sitting on his desk, and the two having a lengthy conversation. But there was something about Sofia that Catherine didn't trust. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it seemed as if the blonde detective was trying to take something that didn't belong to her.
In recent months though, the flirting and casual talking ceased between Grissom and Sofia. Now, he only spoke to her about cases, and nothing more.
That left Sara. At first Catherine thought Sara only had a crush on Grissom because of the subtle smiles and casual flirtations. But those actions had continued over the years. Several times Catherine had seen Sara walk to Grissom's office, raise her hand to knock on the door, and then suddenly walk away. She obviously wanted to talk to him about something important, but chickened out at the last minute.
However, during the summer Catherine noticed when the weekly schedules came out that Grissom and Sara had many of the same days off. And just two weeks ago, Catherine and Grissom were discussing some paperwork in his office. Grissom's attention was briefly diverted as his eyes followed something through the window. A little smirk emerged on his face before he returned to their conversation. She had caught a glimpse of a certain tall brunette walking out of sight.
So Sara and Grissom were together…
He was going to open up; even she had to kill him.
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Catherine strolled back into the kitchen as Grissom was scooping the food onto the plates. She stood behind him, put her nose to the back of his neck, and inhaled.
After dropping the spatula, he jerked around. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked, rather irritated.
"Confirming my suspicions," she informed him, stepping away. "I didn't think you would use black-raspberry vanilla body wash, but I had to make sure. It's a nice scent by the way." Her next question came out in a mixture of seriousness and humor. "Is it Sara's favorite?"
He remained quiet once again as he handed her a plate, and proceeded to the dining room.
"Face it Gil, I know about you and Sara," she said, joining him. "You're not going to avoid this one."
Minutes of silence passed before Grissom relented by quirking an eyebrow.
She wasted no time. "How long?"
"Since April."
"And I take it she'll be moving in." Catherine gestured toward the catalogues.
He nodded. "Within the next month. We thought it would make more sense to redecorate first, and then get her stuff here."
Catherine mulled over the new information with many emotions rolling through her. It was shocking to not only find out her good friend and her colleague were dating, but were also going to be living together. Even more surprising, she found herself a little hurt that Grissom hadn't told her this before.
She hadn't realized he had been waiting for a response until she looked into his guarded expression. "What?" She wanted to know.
"Aren't you going to say it?"
"Say what?"
"How co-workers and lovers never work," he said evenly.
A snarky response about Sara telling him everything almost came out, but Catherine decided against it.
She thought about her words for a moment before she responded, "Maybe for most people, but you and Sara seem to be doing just fine. Besides, you know as a scientist that a," she stopped to search for the right word, "rule doesn't apply to every situation."
Grissom's eyes brightened a shade as they shared a small smile. While eating, Catherine picked up another catalogue. "So it looks like Sara wants to give this place an overhaul."
He shrugged. "Our home could use more color."
Her voice turned nauseatingly sweet. "Oh, Gil, that so cute; it's already our home."
It wasn't often she got to see his face turn lobster red.
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Five days later
Catherine was getting ready to go home, while Sara stood a several feet away, doing the same. The women had shared a tense conversation a few days before when Catherine confessed to knowing about the relationship. Sara immediately became defensive, but Catherine told her she reserved no judgment on them. An awkward understanding took the place of a formal truce.
"You got any plans today?" Catherine asked, making casual small talk.
Sara pulled a jacket from her locker. "I was just going to go by some department stores to, uh…look at some curtains."
"If you get there right at opening, you shouldn't have too many problems. The stores will be less busy, and you'll be able to snag a salesman," Catherine offered.
"That's the plan." After putting her purse on her shoulder, Sara scanned the wall behind Catherine as if searching for something more to say. She apparently gave up as she said, "See you tomorrow."
Just as Sara was about push the door opened, Catherine called out, "Cool white."
The tall woman turned with a confused frown. "Cool white?"
"The color for the curtains," explained Catherine. "It would look good with the shade of blue you picked to paint the living room."
Sara's eyebrows furrowed in greater confusion. "Uh…thanks." She paused. "Grissom's going to be doing some paperwork, and if you're not doing anything, I could sure use someone's opinion that goes beyond 'that's nice' and 'whatever you want.'"
A chuckle escaped Catherine. "Typical male response. I have to drop Lindsey off at school, but I can meet you over there in about an hour."
Sara agreed to the plans and left.
Catherine smiled to herself. Maybe she could torment Grissom later with vague recounts of "girl talk."
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I don't have any pent up resentment against Sofia. I don't know what you're talking about. And only Sara gets the waffles. Next up is the greatest snarkiest cop ever: the Brassman.
