Chapter 4

Grissom didn't even need to ask this time. The instant he stepped into the office Natasha smiled to him and said:

"She's in. I'll let her know you're here."

It was the fourth time today that he had been to Catherine's office to speak to her about their dinner plans. The other three times she had been unavailable. Twice in meetings and the third time she was out to lunch. That this 'lunch' was taking place at three o'clock in the afternoon had planted a seed of concern in his mind; that perhaps she was avoiding him.

He had convinced himself that if he was given another excuse this time, he would leave a message saying that something had come up, and asking if it would be okay if they rescheduled. Although, he was pretty certain that the dinner wouldn't take place if it came to that. Because she clearly didn't want it to happen.

He supposed that the fact that she was here now was a good sign then, and that things between them weren't beyond repair. He knew that six years was a long time to be apart, without any contact, but when his secretary had informed him that there was a Catherine Willows on the phone for him that had sparked a glimmer of hope; and, when their conversation had progressed quite smoothly, and as if there had not been such a great passage of time, his hope to re-establish their friendship had grown. Taking her out to dinner; talking to her in person, away from work; making up for lost time, was the first step.

Natasha interrupted his thoughts to tell him that he could proceed into Catherine's office, so he thanked her and moved towards the door that connected the two offices. He knocked twice in quick succession and then entered at her bidding.

She smiled her amused-smile as he stepped inside, and said: "I'd already said you could come through, you didn't need to knock."

He shrugged. "Wanted to make sure it wasn't just Natasha playing tricks on me… Trying to get me to walk in here while you were busy."

Catherine's eyebrows raised. "So, you're on first name terms with my assistant already?" she smirked.

Grissom nodded. "Oh, we've seen a lot of each other recently."

Catherine laughed a little then replied, more seriously: "Yeah, she told me you came by earlier. I'm sorry I wasn't here. It's been a crazy day. Meeting after meeting, and then Lindsey stopped by to take me to a very late lunch. She could obviously sense that I hadn't eaten."

"How is Lindsey?" he asked.

Catherine's face still lit up at the mention of her daughter. "She's good… She surprised me last night – " She stopped suddenly, and waved to the seat opposite her. "Gil, sit down. I'm sorry… I guess I just expected you to make yourself at home." She smiled as she spoke, but it started to falter – obviously as her choice of words sunk in.

Grissom realised what had caused her change in spirit, clearly she wasn't as comfortable around him as she had seemed. Their dinner now took on greater importance.

He smiled as he sat down in the offered chair, choosing to return to a subject she had been more comfortable with, rather than let the tension grow. "You were saying Lindsey surprised you?" he prompted.

She looked confused for a second, before realising what he was referring to and picking up where she had left off. "Oh, yeah. She was there when I got home last night… She's at university in New York, so I wasn't expecting her."

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh… Yeah, everything's fine. She just had some free time, and thought she'd come visit… Not particularly well timed – coinciding with the busiest week of my life," she laughed, but he sensed she was only partly jesting.

"We can reschedule our plans if you'd like to spend time with Lindsey – " Grissom offered.

"No… No, no. There's no need. She said she has places to go; people to see… So we're still on for dinner… That is if you still want to go?"

Grissom smiled. "Of course I do…. Where would you like to go?"

Catherine gave a small shrug. "I don't mind really… Oh, just as long as it's not Battista's. That's Ecklie's favourite place, and I have been there so many times recently…" she trailed off, shaking her head and chuckling to herself.

Grissom felt a familiar tension in his chest when she mentioned having dinner with Ecklie. He had felt the same thing the day before when she and Ecklie had been confirming their plans for that evening. He briefly wondered what it was about their friendship that bothered him – momentarily wondering if it went beyond friendship – before he shook it off and focussed on the fact that tonight, she would be going out with him.

"Well, I'll see what I can come up with," he told her. "Do you want to make it a late dinner, as you had a late lunch?"

Catherine seemed to consider this for a moment then she nodded, looking as if it served not only to reply to his question, but also to convince herself that this was what she wanted to do. "Sure… Okay… So, about nine?"

Grissom nodded. "Okay… Shall I pick you up at eight-thirty?"

An almost shy smile spread across her lips. "That would be great."

Grissom returned the smile. Hopefully, it would be.

TBC…