Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Chapter 8

So I feel asleep with some very pleasant thoughts last night; I wish every night was like that. And now here I am panicking about what to wear… well for last two and a half hours I've been panicking. Catherine phoned earlier and asked me what she should wear and I told her the place was formal, so I think I'll go with the black pant suit and silk shirt. I love the feel of silk on my skin, besides I think I look good in black, well as good as you can get next to the goddess that is Catherine Willows.

I hope Catherine is wearing a dress… oh crap off I go into la la land again, I've really got to stop doing that all that time. It can't be healthy.

I've got everything after a final look in the mirror; I'm heading out the door to pick up my date for the evening, wow I could so get used to that. There we go again, for Christ's Sake focus Sidle.

Before I know it, I'm outside Catherine's house with a bunch of red roses in hand. I take a deep breath and knock on the door.

"Just a minute." I hear her shifting around inside, then the door opens and there she is standing there in a little black number that shows off her curves. "Wow." I think my jaw actually dropped to the floor.

"I take it you like the dress?"

"Uh-huh." Oh great now I can't even form words. "These are for you." I blush as I hand them to her.

"Thank you Sara, they're beautiful. Come in, just give me a minute I'll go and put these in water." I can't help but stare at her as she walks away. I manage to came back to reality and focus on her words.

"Ready to go Sara?"

"Yep absolutely." I smile at her; and get one in return.

"So where are you taking me?"

"Does it matter?"

"So you're not going to tell me?"

"No, you should know me better than that Catherine." I hold the door open for her and make sure she is safely buckled in before gently closing the door and making my way to the drivers' side.

"You know I could get used to this." Her smile is radiant, as she looks at me. "So could I." She looks at me shocked. Damn I said that out loud

crap. "You deserve it. Now let's go getting, we don't want to be late." I smile and keep glancing at her on the trip to the restaurant, but she

seems to be deep in contemplation about something.

"Cath honey we're here." I step out of the car and open the door for her. She places her hand in mine, as she steps out into the brisk wind of the night. Perfect fit.

"Wow Sara, this is one of the best places in town. How on earth did you manage to get reservations here?"

"The manager owed me a favour from a while back. Don't worry it's nothing illegal." I laugh as I catch her looking at me funny.

"You really shouldn't have bought me here, the place is really expensive."

"Cath don't worry about it. I'm paying for tonight end of story. Now let's inside."

I open the door and moments later we seated at the table in the corner with menus in hand. The waiter appears and asks if we would like wine.

"Red or white wine Catherine honey?"

"White please." I turn to the waiter.

"You heard the lady, a bottle of your finest white wine please."

"Certainly madam."

"Seriously Sara, you shouldn't spend this amount of money on me."

"I thought we already had this discussion. It's not like I have anything to spend all that money from overtime on, so I may as well spend it on you and my close friends. You're important to me, besides it brings me as much pleasure as it does you."

We talk throughout dinner about Lindsey and anything and nothing, it's great this whole friendship thing with Catherine is so much better than constantly fighting. The light touches she keeps giving me are driving me crazy. As we finish our main course and the second bottle of wine, she looks me deep in the eyes and asks,

"Why are you doing this Sara?"

"I owe you dinner…" I found myself avoiding her intense stare.

"Yes but why here? Why go to all this trouble?"

"I told you, you're important to me and wanted to show you that."

"Stop avoiding the question Sidle." Oh god that authoritative tone in her voice… I signal to the waiter to bring the bill.

"Sara, I'm talking to you here, stop daydreaming and answer the damn question."

"Well uh…"

"Excuse ma'am, here's the bill you asked for. I hope you had a good evening." Thank God for that saved by the waiter, he's getting a generous tip tonight.

"Erm yeah right here." I put the money on the tray and gently take Catherine's hand and lead her out of the restaurant. I call a cab, I'm not drunk but I'm over the limits and another DUI is not really the best idea for my career.

The wind is still quite strong, so I give her my jacket. A few minutes later, the cab arrives and we head back to her place. I'm not looking forward to this conversation; Catherine is not the kind of woman to just leave things alone.

"Come on Sara." She grabs my hand as I pay the waiter muttering my thanks and leads me into her house.

"I'll just put some coffee on. But you and I are going to finish that conversation Sara whether you want to or not." Damn I knew I should just told the driver to go back to my place.

"Okay Catherine whatever you want." My voice sounds so calmer than I feel, my heart is pounding out of my chest and I'm starting to sweat profusely. That is definitely not good when I'm wearing silk. Then I hear Catherine pouring the coffee and heading towards me. I've never felt comfortable talking about me, but Catherine is able to break through all these walls I've managed to build over the years. It's only a matter of time before I tell her everything, I wasn't expecting it to this early into our friendship, but this is Catherine and I'd do anything for her and Lindsey for that matter.

I have the feeling this is going to be a very long night and certainly one I won't forget in a hurry, I'm hoping it's for the right reasons.

I think this is the longest chapter so far. I started it last night and finished it this afternoon. What do you think? I don't think Sara will confess everything to Catherine in the next chapter; I'd like things between them to develop slowly.