"Is it working?" My heart was pounding as I waited for her answer.
"No," she whispered, then was silent a moment. "Yes."
I kissed her on the nose. "Which is it, Sara? Yes or no? " I sucked on her earlobe for a moment. "If it's yes, I can keep on doing this..." - I nuzzled her neck tenderly - "but if you're telling me no I really should stop..."
She tangled her fingers in my hair. "Yes!" She turned and pressed her lips to mine. Now I might not be a Casanova like Nick or Warrick, but I can take a hint. I deepened the kiss and pressed her close, and neither of us said anything else for a very long time.
That night Ecklie was actually pacing when I stepped into his office. Grissom sat in front of the desk, his hands serenely folded.
"A second job, Greg? You turned down overtime at the lab because you had a second job." Ecklie shook his head. "Sanders, I was wrong about you. I thought you were a team player!"
"He is a team player, Conrad. YOU'RE the one who hasn't been playing by the rules." Grissom's voice was tight.
"Not playing by the rules?" Ecklie spun and glared at Grissom. "Since when is trying to make this lab the best it can be a bad thing?"
"Forcing an employee to work without pay has been illegal for a very long time, and you know it." Grissom held up a stack of papers. "Right here I have documentation proving that you did just that to Greg - about a hundred and twenty hours worth. If the Labor Board should get wind of this you'd have a lot of people to answer to - and if this continues, they WILL hear about it, from me. Now, since this was undoubtably just an oversight on your part, all you have to do is compensate Mr. Sanders for his efforts and everyone will be happy - right, Greg?"
"Um, yeah, that would work."
Ecklie shot me a nasty glance and sighed. "All future overtime will be paid, regardless of where it's performed."
"And his back overtime as well."
Ecklie nodded. "Okay. I'll get the check to you next pay period."
The solution to my problems had just dropped into my lap, and I hadn't even seen it coming. "Thank you, sir!" I looked at Grissom and grinned, and for once he returned my smile.
"One more thing, Conrad. I understand you've refused to allow Sanders to submit his ongoing medical expenses to workman's comp. I think maybe you were unaware of this, but these expenses are directly related to injuries sustained in the lab explosion." Grissom raised his eyebrow and looked at Ecklie.
Ecklie looked at me and shook his head. "Get me the paperwork; I'll send it in for you. Now get out of my office; both of you. And Gil?"
"Yes, Conrad?"
"Watch your back. You stuck your neck out a little too far this time."
He shrugged. "I'm not really worried about it, since I won't be giving you an axe to apply to it."
Ecklie smiled nastily. "Are you so sure none of your people will hand me one? Sidle has that temper, you know, and Warrick is a man with a serious problem. Catherine is eager to advance herself, and Sanders here is such a newbie he could hand me one with an inadvertant bumble. I'm a patient man, Gil. It's only a matter of time."
Grissom cocked an eyebrow. "We'll see, Conrad. People who live in glass houses should think very hard before tossing stones. You don't want me to begin applying too much of my spare time investigating your mistakes, because you've made an awful lot of them over the years."
Ecklie's eyes narrowed, and he looked from Grissom to me. "Get out of my office, both of you. NOW."