Title: Falling
Summary: Sara is fed up with her past relationships and friends always trying to set her up. She decides to give up dating….or not.
Disclaimer: I own nothing…just the idea for the story. CSI belongs to CBS.
A/N: Takes place before Nesting Dolls in Season 5. I also had to update the first 2 chapters to fit my timeline.
An unlikely move from Ecklie gave all of the CSI night-shift Friday night off. They had pulled in so much overtime working on the latest case, and desperately needed a day off to rest and recuperate. Ecklie said the other two shifts would cover for them. When Friday morning rolled around, everyone was excited.
"So Grissom," said Greg between bites of french toast, "do you have any plans for your night off tonight? We've all established that almost everyone here has a date."
Grissom could feel all his CSIs eyes shift to him, and he was a little uncomfortable. Deciding to start the tradition of a weekly breakfast with everyone was his idea, but he didn't think he'd have so many personal conversations. After having these breakfasts for over a month, he noticed his team really was beginning to act like a family. They all wanted to be sure everyone was alright and wanted to know what was going on in each other's lives. He wasn't to sure how he felt about that.
"Yes I do have plans, Greg," said Grissom. He was hoping that would suffice for a response, but seeing the looks from everyone, he knew it wasn't. "Fine. I just bought the latest entomology textbook and was thinking about starting to read it tonight. Or maybe I'll hit the movie theater. I want to see that new suspense movie that just came out."
"That does look like a good movie," said Sara, a little surprised. For some reason, she didn't picture Grissom as the type to take in the latest movie. "It's one movie I'd like to catch before it hits the video stores."
Catherine downed the rest of the coffee in the cup in front of her. "Well everyone, this has been fun, but I need to get home to Lindsey. I promised her I'd drive her to school this morning." Grabbing her purse, she paid her portion of the bill and left.
Over the next ten minutes, one by one, all the CSI's left the restaurant, leaving Sara alone with Grissom. Sara was thinking back to the conversation a few minutes ago. Knowing Grissom wanted to see the same movie she did, she was deciding whether to see if he'd like to go with her. It was just a movie and he did want to see it. Sara was playing with a straw wrapper while she was debating whether or not to ask him.
After taking a sip of his coffee, Grissom watched Sara for a few seconds. It looked like her mind was far away. "Sara?" he asked. Getting no response, he tried again. "Sara..."
Sara looked up and met Grissom's eyes.
"Sara, are you okay?"
She dropped the straw wrapper. "Yeah." Before changing her mind, she decided to go for it and ask Grissom to the movie. "Grissom, I have a question. Everyone at the lab has been doing things together every once in a while. And…well, you mentioned that you might be going to that new suspense movie tonight. I was wondering if you'd like to go with me. I want to see it too." She picked up her glass of juice and took a sip. She wasn't really asking him out on a date, yet she was a little nervous.
"Sara, I…"
Knowing that Grissom might be thinking of it as a date instead of just two friends going to the movies, she added "We can meet outside the theater. I've got dinner plans with a friend so we'd have to go to one of the later movies."
Grissom gave it a little thought, and then gave her his reply. "I'm sorry Sara, but no." He couldn't do it. He just couldn't say yes to her, and he didn't know why. "Thanks for asking though."
"Oh, okay," she said, trying to hide the disappointment from her voice. "No problem. I'll just see if my friend would like to go after dinner."
"Where are you going to dinner tonight?" Grissom asked.
"The Range…at Harrah's." Sara picked up the straw wrapper and began playing with it again. "We haven't seen each other in almost a year. Normally we try to stay away from the strip, but for our get-together my friend wanted a really good steak dinner. The Range has one of the best in her opinion, and I must say, I love their fish."
"They do have great steaks." Grissom reflected back to one of his dates with Terri Miller. He had taken her to the restaurant above the casino before she left Las Vegas. "I haven't been there in years."
"You should go again sometime," Sara said sadly, knowing she'd never be going there with him.
"I should." He took another sip of coffee and looked back up at Sara.
Sara couldn't take it anymore. After being turned down again by Grissom, and this time just as friends going to a movie, she wanted to leave the restaurant as quickly as possible. She didn't want to sit in that booth across from him any longer than necessary. She was tired of his games.
Knowing a way to leave quickly, she looked at her watch and back up to Grissom. "Oh, Grissom, I'm sorry, but I need to run. I'm late for an appointment." She pulled out her wallet and saw she only had a twenty dollar bill. Not wanting to wait for change, she took it out and laid it on the table with the bill and everyone else's money. "You can use the change for next week's breakfast. I don't have time to wait." She slid out of the booth and looked at Grissom with disappointment in her eyes. "Bye, see you tomorrow night."
Before Grissom had a chance to say anything, Sara was out the door. Not knowing what to think about the last few minutes, he just sat there and watched her get in to her car and drive away. After losing sight of her, he paid the bill and made his way home to enjoy his day off.
Once Sara left the restaurant, she stopped off at the store for some groceries and went home. After putting away the groceries, she changed into some more comfortable clothes and sat down on her couch. Opening up a magazine she had been reading, her mind drifted to breakfast. She wanted to forget the conversation with Grissom even happened. He obviously was never going to want to be anything more than a boss to her; not even a friend. She was tired of it.
Flipping through the magazine, which she wasn't really paying attention to, a page stood out. Sara took a closer look at it and read the entire article. She looked up from the magazine. "I should give it a try. Who knows what will happen. Things can't get any worse than they are now." She closed the magazine and headed over to her computer. After pushing the power button, she went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. She was trying to cut back on the coffee, so at the restaurant she just had orange juice. But right now, she really needed the caffeine.
Looking over to the computer monitor from the kitchen, she saw the inviting picture of the California coastline and knew she was able to log on to the internet. After pouring herself a cup of coffee, she headed to the computer. Pushing bills and various papers out of the way on top of her desk, she set down her coffee cup and sat down. Dialing in to her provider, she glanced back to the magazine lying on her coffee table. Was she really going to look into this? Why not? She told herself. Looking back at the monitor, she clicked on her web browser. Hesitantly, she typed in the web address she saw in the magazine.