Ow you guys! My ego is feeling very good right about now. And many of you are on to me already;) I need to find some better plot ideas to keep you guessing;)
Now, read, review and enjoy my dears!

Love,
Jellicos

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I sat starring at the bouquet on my desk. The wine red roses looked almost velvety and the tiny buds of white next to them made it look an awful lot like a bridal bouquet. Well, at least the ones from the movies. When I got married I had a couple of half dead tulips in my hands. I so should have seen it coming, even my wedding was tragic. I shook my head in remembrance. I had so many plans, how did I end up here? Alone with a teenage daughter and a crush on the girl who was dating my boss and supposedly good friend.

The sound of my cellphone almost made me jump in my seat.

"Willows." I answered into the phone and sighed in a mixture of relief and annoyance at the voice on the other end.

"Catherine, I'm in Antoine's and I need your help." Grissom's voice was nervous but I paid little attention to that right now. "What do I pick? It all looks the same to me!"

"Gil, why did you send me flowers?" I asked him as casually as I could master. Ignoring his question completely for the time being.

"As a thank you for everything you've done for me and Sara." He sounded surprised. I sighed.

"I thought you liked flowers?" Was his reply to my sigh and I realized that I'd been right.

"Gil, you do not send red roses to a friend." I stated, still holding my calm and frankly I was sounding like I was talking to a five year old. But then again, when it came to human etiquette, Grissom was pretty much like a five year old.

"May I ask why?" There it was, the tone of voice that only he could carry out just right; the mix between excited curiousness and utter confusion.

"Because, Gil," I was losing my temper. "Red roses you send to someone you love, like a girlfriend." I emphasised the last word carefully.

"Ah, I see. But Sara likes living plants, and you like roses." He reasoned.

"Gil! You do not send red roses to a friend! You send yellow roses, or white, or you send tulips, or whatever else, but not a bouquet of red roses, okay?" Yeah, I was losing my temper quickly. Gil always had that effect on me. Especially now that he was dating the girl I loved. And not doing a very good job at it I might add. I mean if she wanted him, then the least I could do was to make sure he didn't fuck things up. Damn it Willows, stop that!

"Alright, I'm sorry." He still sounded confused but mostly just tired. "Cath, this is hard."

I sighed at his confession.

"It's not that hard, just remember what she likes and how much you care about her." Damn it Willows! Why are you helping him? He's the enemy, remember.

Wait… oh, god… Did I just called Grissom the enemy? I was in trouble…

"Gil, I have to go."

"But what about the jewellery?" He was sounding panicked so I sighed.

"Find something elegant in silver. Nothing too flashy. Simple lines, maybe a stone if it's small." I felt my heart break. She'd look amazing in one of Antoine's hard necklaces with the silver drops.

"I think I got it. Thanks Catherine, I owe you one." He said as I heard him repeat what I just said to the jeweller.

I clicked my phone shut and threw it on my counter top. Damn it, damn it, damn it! I was losing it, and losing it bad.

"Everything okay in here?" I jumped at the voice, the voice that made my body tingle, my heart stop, damn it!

"Yeah, fine. What's up Sara?" I looked up at her and ran my hands through my hair. God I hoped my elevated heartbeat wasn't showing. She looked a bit nervous as she fiddled with the papers in her hands. Those hands, those soft, limb hands that could do…

"Check out these results would you?" Her voice interrupted my musings. I should be thankful for it I guess. I put my glasses on my nose as those very hands handed me the folder. I gave her a faint smile as I tried to focus my attention on the facts in front of me, but they where not nearly as interesting as the woman standing in front of my desk. Alright, DNA results. I skimmed the pages and suddenly felt that kick I usually got when we where close to breaking a case.

"You're telling me that the father-" I started but Sara seemed interested in something very different; the card on my flowers. How did I forget to throw that out?

"Catherine, thank you for sharing your skills. From Grissom." She read out loud and I could hear the heart ache in her voice. "What skills are you sharing exactly?" She asked in an accusing tone as she flipped the card between her fingers.

I stood up so abruptly that my chair almost fell over.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I know I was overreacting, but to have the woman I love accuse me of sleeping with her boyfriend was just too much.

"Exactly what I said Catherine. Why is Grissom sending you roses and thanking you for your skills?" She shouted back. As she leaned her hands for support on my desk our faces where mere inches apart. I could see the hurt and the rage forming in her deep hazel eyes. Her lips where pursed together in a thin line and her nostrils where wider as they always where when she got mad. She smelled like honey and musk.

I forgot that she had just insulted me, that we where fighting. In that moment I just wanted to kiss her. To grab her and kiss those soft red lips of hers.

Suddenly something flickered through the fiery brown and she looked away. My spell was lifted.

"What the hell are you implying Sidle?" My voice was harsher than I had intended, most likely from the tension that was building so rapidly in the room.

Her eyes flickered back to me and whatever I had just seen in them was now gone. Now there was just anger, and the hurt that made my heart break.

"I'm not implying anything, I'm saying it. You using your sexuality on every man around is nothing new, but Grissom? What did you expect to get from that? A promotion?"

I could feel my heart shattering in my chest, the pain so striking that my shields must have fallen for a brief second. Because Sara noticed. "Catherine, I…" She started. There was remorse in her voice, but she'd seen too much and my heart was literally leaking in my chest.

"Get out." I hissed through clenched teeth. She was about to object so I left no room for it. "Get the fuck out of my office Sidle." Every time I used her last name it stung, but I couldn't afford anything else. She'd seen my shields drop, and if she even had a hunch about how much her words had hurt me or even worse, how I really felt, I could never look at her again.

That seemed to have done it. I could see the well masked hurt flicker through her hazel eyes as she turned on her heels and walked out the door.

Did I mention that I hate Grissom?

It was two hours later before I saw either of the two people that had occupied my mind again. And when I finally did, I suddenly I wished I'd never come in to work this evening.

The lab techs had their heads peaked out the doors to their labs as everyone else seemed to act as if Sara Sidle wasn't standing in the break room yelling at Grissom who looked petrified.

I knew I should leave, I knew I should leave them to sort it out alone. But for some reason I just couldn't move.

He was trying to calm her down, trying to take hold of her wildly gesturing hands. But she wouldn't let him.

Then it happened. She saw me.

I should have walked away. I should have minded my own business. But I didn't.

Her face was flushed from anger, her breathing was shallow and fast and she looked so hot I needed all my focus as to not pass out right there.

She lokked at me, then she walked towards me. No, not walked. She strode towards me.

I should have just left when I had the chance.

"What else did you help him do?" She asked me, her voice much too loud and much to agitated.

"Excuse me?" I asked, not quite sure what she meant.

"The dinners, the jewellery. Did you tell him how to kiss me and how to seduce me as well?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"I don't need this." Was all I could think of to say as I turned my back to her but she stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked as she grabbed my arm harshly and turned me around. Her hand was on my arm, the heat was much more than I could stand and I could feel the tears stinging behind my eyes.

"Where the fuck do you come off talking to me like that?" I hissed as I pulled back my arm. "You wanna fuck him, that's your business. Just don't blame it on me." I strode away before she could slap me and before the tears started forming in my eyes.

I really hate Grissom.

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look, the pretty button is back:) There might be jelly beans on the other end if you push it;) Please?