"Who was that at the door"
"Dr. What's his name."
In her mind, Sara wished that she had answered the door instead of him. She could only imagine the look on the good doctor's face when he saw Jim in his underclothes. If she had been at the door she would have been gracious and explained that this was not the time for a visit, as she was quite tired. She liked Dr. Dellacona, this was true enough and if asked she would not deny it, but as was the same with Jim and their situation, she wasn't ready for any sort of relationship, no matter with whom it would be. She knew she was pretty. She also knew she wasn't gorgeous, nor was she fugly...she considered herself to be average. However, she'd never had two men vying for her affections before and she wasn't quite sure how to take all of it. There were things about Dr. Sal that she liked and there were things about Jim that she liked. Dr. Sal was new, and thusly very interesting to her, as she loved to learn new things. It was this strike that Jim had against him, as he and Sara had known each other for years and there was little they didn't know about each other. As she lay there with Jim's head on her shoulder and his arm across her stomach, she tried to go back to sleep but after an hour or so of mentally flopping around, she turned to see that Jim had fallen back asleep and carefully slipped from under his protective hold.
She shuffled into the living room where she began to sift through the stack of mail that had piled up over the past week. She had asked Nick to water her plant and bring in any mail, which he had done. She made two piles, one for junk mail and another pile to be opened. Having tossed the junk mail in the cylindrical file, she began to open the small stack of more important letters. There were the usual bills and such, but when she reached the bottom of the stack, she left the letter on the table and stared at it. It came from the courthouse and was, no doubt, in regards to Randall's trial. After a few moments of staring at it, she picked it up and read it. Within the letter was the date that his trial was set to begin, so she grabbed her pocket calendar from the computer desk and marked the date and time of the court date. She made a note to call the prosecution's attorney and make herself available to testify, which could only strengthen their case against Randall.
Sometime around 10:00hrs Jim got up and finding himself alone in bed, he slowly got up and followed the smell of fresh brewed coffee. On the counter, beside the machine, there was a note. Jim picked it up and read it.
"Jim, gone to the market...be back soon. Call if you need anything. Hugs, Sara."
Jim smiled as he poured himself some coffee and sat on the couch, flipping on the tellie.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Pushing the buggy down the aisle and trying to decide on red grapes or green ones, she whipped round' when she heard a familiar voice. Standing there, basket in hand, was Dr. Sal. Quickly looking into his basket, she smiled...he had chosen the green grapes.
"Fancy meeting you here." he said
"Yeah, well, my fridge is empty or very nearly so, anyway. You came over this morning?" she asked
A moment's hesitation and then he replied.
"Yeah, I wanted to see if you wanted to grab breakfast or something."
Thinking back to her thoughts from that morning when Jim had told her about Dr. Sal, she smiled.
"It's a bit late for breakfast…..how bout' brunch?"
A huge grin on his face, Dr. Dellacona's heart began to beat very fast.
"Sure. Where do you wanna go?" he asked
"Doesn't matter. Anywhere is fine." she said, smiling
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Having decided to go to the Palms, Sara and Sal sat quietly while they perused their menus, he selecting a medium rare sirloin steak and veggies and she the Caesar salad. While waiting to be served they discussed little things, Sal stating that he'd tried to get a hold of her that past week and how he was worried she was avoiding him. Sara simply explained that she was on holiday and the cell reception was nil. When their orders finally came they ate in silence and when they were done they went for a walk to burn off some of what they'd just eaten..
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Sitting at a red light, Gil Grissom was fiddling with the radio in his truck when he noticed a couple crossing the street in front of him...it was Sara and Sal. Grissom recognized him from previous visits to the hospital and honked his horn. Snapping her head up, Sara caught Gil waving at her and simply smiled. To the best of his knowledge Sara was still out of town, but to see her with the doctor, for some reason, he became flushed, his face turning red and his knuckles white. He had told her several times to get a life outside of work but never thought she would. Now that it appeared that she had, he could feel the pangs of slight jealousy surfacing. He'd made it pointedly clear that there was no chance for the two of them, but to see her with another man...it just made his skin crawl. Besides, he'd thought that she and Jim were seeing each other, or at least that was the rumour around the lab. Maybe she and Jim were just friends...friends that took a week long holiday together. Gil wasn't stupid. He wasn't oblivious to the timing of both their vacation vouchers. He knew they'd gone together, but then why was she with the doctor?
Sara and Sal kept walking like nothing had happened and as he watched them disappear into the multitudes of people on the sidewalk he tried to get the image of Sara with another man out of his head, much to no avail.
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
By the time Sara got home it was well into early afternoon and as she set the groceries on the kitchen counter Jim sat on the couch and watched her. While she was out he had gone back to his place for a change of clothes and to pack an overnight bag, just in case. Curious as to what took her so long, he tried to make a joke out of it.
"What'd you do, got to China?"
Without hesitation, she replied.
"No. I met a friend and we went for brunch. I should have called. Sorry."
Jim accepted this and got up to help her stow the day's purchases. When they were done he turned to her and smiled.
"I've got to go in for a little while today. Will you be here when I get back"
"Most likely"
"Good." he said, planting a kiss on her cheek
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX
Sitting at his desk, Jim was going through some case files when Gil came in and sat across from him. He had an uneasy look on his face that Jim noticed immediately. Setting the file folder down, he enquired.
"What's the trouble, cousin?"
Not sure how to broach the subject and never really having been one for subtlety, Gil just spit it out.
"I saw Sara this morning." he said
"Yeah?" Jim asked nonchalantly
"She was with that doctor from Desert Palm."
All at once, Jim's heart sank and at the same time beat in a near rage. Had she planned the rendezvous or was it a chance encounter? Immediately he thought that maybe the reason that she had reseeded his proposal was that she had feelings for the doctor. Maybe she wasn't sure...he didn't know, but as Gil continued to relay what he'd seen that afternoon Jim became unhappy and truth be told, a little depressed. Maybe his being a detective wasn't enough for her. Maybe she wanted a boyfriend with a more prestigious occupation...and a doctor would certainly fall into that category.
All the rest of the day Jim thought about what Gil had told him and all the while Jim tried not to let himself get upset. After all, it was he that suggested that she ask Dr. Sal out, and now that they had been spotted in conjunction of her turning down his "proposal", Jim had to know. Closing everything down and walking out to his car, he headed for Sara's apartment when it happened. He could see it coming but there was nothing he could do except sit there and take it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the truck coming and as he prepared himself, he loosened up, closed his eyes and felt the impact.