All For Nothing
Chapter 5 – Unwanted Affection.
Louise stood frozen in the doorway; her mouth gaping slightly. "Jem, what are you doing here?"
She heard the sofa creak behind her as Greg got up and Jem gestured to the apartment, "May I come in?" Without waiting for an answer he slid past her and stood facing Greg, sizing him up.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, not sorry at all, "Am I interrupting something?"
Louise looked at Greg apologetically, "Greg was just helping me unpack."
"I was just about to leave actually," Greg glared at Jem as he walked towards the door. Louise followed him to the door and he murmured to her, "If he gives you any grief, call me."
She nodded, still shell shocked by the presence of her ex-fiancé. "I'll see you later." He added, as she closed the door behind him. As she turned back to her unwanted guest, she found him settled on her sofa, in the same spot that Greg had been sitting moments before.
"Jem, what are you doing here?" she repeated, pacing up and down anxiously.
He stood up, holding out the roses, "Am I not allowed to see my fiancé?"
She ignored the roses and glared angrily into his face, "In case that dent in your forehead isn't clear enough, I am your ex-fiancé."
He set the roses down on the coffee table and tried to take her hand, "I miss you, Lou-bear. We never got to talk."
"Talk about what?" She shouted, wrenching her hand from his grasp, "You were the one who cheated, Jem."
His face fell, but Louise didn't believe him. "I'm so sorry, Lou-bear. It was a one-time thing."
"You know, your lies may work for the cops but you sure as hell don't fool me. What was that about anyway? You 'hadn't seen me'?" she drew quotation marks to stress her anger. "You really can't own up to anything, can you?"
"I don't know what you're…." he began.
"Of course you do, you bastard!" she screamed, "You told NYPD that I hadn't arrived at your apartment!"
"What was I supposed to tell them?" he yelled in return, "How does it make a difference whether you were at my apartment or not?"
"And you call yourself a CSI?" she scoffed, "Just get out of my apartment."
She stormed back across the living room and held open the door. He followed reluctantly.
"I'm not leaving Vegas until I have you back, Lou-bear." He said as she shut the door in his face, "You hear that? I'm not leaving!"
"You'll be here for a damn long time then, Jem." She yelled at the closed door.
She collapsed onto the sofa and downed her unfinished glass of wine to calm down. Pulling her legs up, she buried her head in her knees and before she could stop herself, her cheeks became wet with tears. Two months of anger and betrayal had built up and were flowing from her eyes. She had loved Jem; that's why she was going to get married to him. She hadn't realised that, in her quick acceptance into the Vegas family and being charmed by Nick, Warrick and Greg, she hadn't allowed herself time to get over Jem. Having him stand in front of her, begging for her to take him back, had poured salt on an open wound and it stung. She raised her head with a jolt as she remembered Greg. He had been so close to kissing her, and she wanted him to kiss her. But, Jem. Even though she didn't want to be, and had no intention of taking him back, she was still in love with Jem. Six years was a long time to be with someone, and Jem had picked the pieces back up after that incident. He had been Prince Charming and she'd fallen for it. Six years of commitment shattered because Jem was a selfish, arrogant arse. Louise groaned as her alarm blared, sitting up on the sofa. She'd cried herself to sleep and was now running VERY late.
"Shit…." She murmured, as she stubbed her toe on a box. Her phone was ringing loudly as she ran out, stopping only to ensure that the door was locked. "Yeah, Carter." She answered the phone while fumbling with her keys.
"Hey Lou-bear." She heard Jem croon down the phone. "You're running a little late; do you want me to drive you to work like the old days?"
She hit the end call button without saying a word and immediately dialed Greg's number. "Are you okay, Louise?" he asked, as soon as he picked up his phone.
"Have you got to the lab yet?" she sighed, punching the elevator button angrily.
"Nope, I've just crossed Madison and Flamingo."
She breathed a sigh of relief, "Could you swing by my apartment and pick me up? I think Jem is hanging around outside."
"Sure. I'll drive by the back entrance."
"You're a life saver," she muttered to the lab tech, "I'll see you in a few."
The ride in the elevator cart gave Louise exactly a minute and a half to fix her hair and makeup and by the time she pushed open the back door of the apartment building, Greg had pulled up in his bright red sedan. She slumped back in the passenger seat and took a deep breath.
"Louise?" Greg asked, carefully, reaching out across the car and taking her hand.
"I'm fine." She breathed, staring at the road in front of them, trying to keep her composure. "Let's just go, we're late."
Xx
Louise and Sara carried evidence bags in from their scene that morning and Judie signaled to Louise as they passed her in reception. "Someone delivered some flowers for you, Ms Carter."
"Bin them." Louise replied emotionlessly, dumping the evidence boxes in the layout room and walking into Grissom's office. "Jem's back."
He looked up from his new tarantula frowning and watched as Louise collapsed into the chair opposite his.
"He turned up at the apartment last night and he sent flowers here this morning. He even has my new cell phone number. He wants me to take him back."
"Lou," Grissom surveyed her over his glasses, "Sometimes you need to address the problem instead of running away."
"I'm not running…" she stopped as he raised his eyebrow, "Okay… Maybe I did run. But I'm pretty sure that breaking off our engagement was enough of an addressing the problem."
"Have you told him that you are not going to take him back?"
Louise sighed, "Not in as many words."
"Well, it's a good thing that you are talented with words." Grissom smiled, holding out the tarantula for her. She shook her head, before returning to the layout room to process the evidence with Sara.
xxx
Louise didn't see Jem for nearly a week, but he sent flowers every morning. Every morning, Judie would bin the bouquet and hand Louise the attached card. Each sentiment was the same, Take me back – Jem, and Louise took pleasure in sending the card through the shredder that sat behind reception. She found the process very therapeutic and by the end of the week, had erased every trace of Jem that was engraved in her heart.
"Lou-bear?" She heard the familiar voice one morning as she was leaving the lab and spun around to face Jem.
"Jeremy." She said sternly, "Enough! I need you to stop following me home and leaving flowers at reception and calling me. I need you to understand that we are never going to get back together. Ever. You need to move on and I need to live my new life."
"But Lou-bear," he simpered, "I love you."
"You should've thought about that when you slept with your secretary." Louise said, as Greg drove up to take her home.
Jem grabbed her wrist as she walked away, but she slithered from his grip. "Go home, Jem."
"Just give me another chance," he muttered after her.
Xxx
Louise slammed her locker shut and turned to Warrick, "I'm having a house warming party tomorrow; you free?"
"Wouldn't miss it, Lou!" he smiled, closing his locker too. "Good job in your interrogation today, by the way. I've never seen that before."
Louise blushed, "Thanks Rick. I figured that I'd sugar-coat my way to a confession; I've never tried it before. Although, I think Don tried to do in in New York but I don't think the Y chromosome has the same effect."
"It was very impressive." He smiled one last time before slinging his jacket over his shoulder and walking out the locker room.
Louise scrunched up her face as she walked into the DNA lab; Greg was listening to Marilyn Manson at ear splitting levels. "Greg!" she shouted over the beat, picking her way in between the counters to the CD player. She laughed as she hit the pause button on the CD and Greg stopped air drumming mid-beat.
"Louise!" he whined.
"Greg." She replied, mimicking his tone. "I'm heading back home; do you need a ride?"
He shook his head, "I'm putting in some overtime on Sara and Grissom's case. I'll see you at the party."
"I could give you a hand," she offered, "I haven't been in the lab for a couple months."
"It's okay," he smiled, "You go unpack the wine glass box."
She grinned, "Thanks for helping me this week. You have no idea how much I appreciate it."
"It's no problem." He held her gaze for a moment smiling softly.
"Greg!" Grissom said loudly, causing them both to jump. "Have you got my results yet?"
"The gods of CODIS have blessed us with…. A match!?" he said, surprised by the happy beeping of the computer.
Greg looked up from the screen he was consulting and Louise had vanished, having slipped out of the room when Grissom came in. She leant up against the wall around the corner and took a deep breath. Her heartbeat had accelerated dramatically and her thoughts were scrambled.
"Oh wonderful." She muttered under her breath. She was falling for Greg Sanders.
A.N. Another fairly short and somewhat rushed chapter. I'm trying to get to the good bits of the story, but obviously the character establishment is very important. I'm on October break, so I'm trying to write as much as possible before I go back to school. Hopefully I can post a few more chapters before next week. Please review as it provides me with motivation to continue. Thanks to InsaneOnTheInside for your continued support and great reviews.
Anyway, what do you think? Do you think Jem is really gone?
~Carley Idonea