It was well into the evening when they landed in Cape Town and the sky was already black and dotted with stars as they exited the plane. They collected their bags and hailed two taxis outside the airport. As Grissom tried to claim they would be travelling in the same groups that they had been seated in on the plane Catherine shook her head and protested.
"Oh no you don't!" She cried out as she grabbed Sofia, the weakest link, away from the taxi and pulling Greg by the arm, thrust him into the taxi. She turned and gave Grissom an overly satisfied grin as he stood there staring at her in disbelief. Afraid of what might happen if he tried to argue with her he just shook his head and got into the taxi.
"The Bay Hotel please." Grissom informed the driver of their destination and spent the rest of the journey trying to ignore all noises of Greg.
-
Grissom, Sara, Brass and Greg were the first to arrive at the hotel. From the outside it definitely looked like a nice place, worthy of all those stars it had been awarded. Across the road they could hear the soft sounds of the waves lapping against the shore and the smell of the sea air filled their noses. It brought a smile to all their faces as they waited outside for the rest of the group to arrive.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" Sara sighed. Grissom stood beside her putting his arm around her; he leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek causing her to smile even more.
"Yeah! This is going to be great!" He smiled back. It wasn't long before the rest of the group arrived in their taxi. Rejoining the rest of the group Grissom gestured towards the hotel.
"Shall we?"
The hotel reception was softly lit by candle-like lighting fixtures mounted on the wall. They walked towards the front desk where Grissom spoke to the receptionist.
"Hello how can I help you?" She greeted him cheerfully. A little too cheerfully for Sara's liking as she watched this middle aged blonde receptionist smile broadly at her boyfriend.
"Hi, I believe we have a group reservation under the name Grissom." He said with a polite smile. The receptionist typed the name into her computer.
"Oh yes, here it is Mr Grissom. A group of brilliant criminalists I'm told." She smiled at him some more, Sara scowled and rolled her eyes.
"Uh...yeah..." Grissom looked at her in confusion, waiting for her to give him the key, completely oblivious to the woman's flirting.
"You've been booked into the penthouse suite. It has its own living area, dining area, three bathrooms and a little kitchen. And all six bedrooms are attached to the main common area." The receptionists smile started to drop as she realised her flirting was not being returned, or even noticed for that matter.
"Great!" Catherine spoke up from behind Grissom, getting tired of listening to this pathetic exchange.
The receptionist shot her a look and handed over the keys and smiled politely.
"I hope you enjoy your stay Mr Grissom. And if you need anything, please, don't hesitate to call." Grissom took the key from her hand and found himself being dragged away from the desk towards the elevator.
'What a strange woman!' He thought to himself as he walked away.
The group loaded themselves into the lift and pressed the button for the top floor.
"Whoa! Can you guys believe this? The penthouse suite!" Greg shook with excitement. "Could this vacation get any better?"
"You could shut up for five minutes." Catherine mumbled a little louder than she had intended.
"Hey...uh guys...did any of the rest of you notice when she said there were six bedrooms?" Nick asked as the elevator climbed another floor.
"Yeah!" Everyone nodded.
"And there are...eight of us?" Nick looked around at everyone knowing they were now all on his wavelength.
"Some of us are going to be sharing." Sara said what everyone was thinking. Before anyone could respond the elevator doors opened and allowed them their first look at what would be their home for the next two weeks.
The suite was amazing. First of all the main living area was huge and opposite the elevator was a panel of floor to ceiling windows that offered a perfect view of the ocean. There were two soft black leather sofas and a few matching, reclining armchairs and a plasma screen TV in the main common area. To the left of the elevator doors there was an inset room inside which a large dark wood dining table and chairs sat and inside this room there was room that led to a basic but elegantly furnished kitchen. Around the remaining walls there were six other doors which obviously led to the bedrooms.
Upon Greg's inspection it was discovered that all the rooms had double beds but there were two rooms that were slightly larger than the others. The two larger rooms neighboured each other on the Western wall of the suite. These were the rooms obviously intended for sharing; the only problem was deciding who was going to be sharing.
Sara opened the door to one of the big bedrooms and immediately liked what she saw. A large four poster bed with deep red satin bed covers and matching drapes hanging off the frame. The room was furnished with dark wood furniture and the back wall was also painted in a rich colour of red. The other three walls were painted a crisp white which stopped the room from feeling over powering.
"Oh my God Grissom. We have got to get one of these rooms!" She insisted quietly to him as the others explored their new home.
"I know!" He answered. She could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking about something.
"I mean, not only is the room gorgeous and you know bigger than all the others but I've gotten so used to sleeping next to you...I'd miss that." She said with a soft smile. He looked up at her and brought his hand up to stroke her cheek.
"I know. Me too." He smiled at her. "But we can't just say 'we're taking a double room!' It's too obvious! And I know we're not trying to hide anything but we said we wanted to have a little fun with the revelation and that would make it too easy."
"You're right. We need a plan." He smiled deviously at her. "And judging by that look on your face you already have one." He smiled broadly at her. "Ok then, what is the plan?"
"Just follow my lead." He walked away from the bedroom towards the living room and called the rest of the group to join him. Sara shrugged and followed him wondering what he had come up with.
"Alright then." Grissom began when they had all settled on the couches. "I'm sure you all noticed that there are six bedrooms and eight of us." There were nods from the group. "So obviously four people are going to have to share. Now before everyone starts arguing let's be diplomatic about this...we'll draw straws." The group exchanged looks; that sounded like a fair idea.
'Draw straws? That's his big plan? Sometimes I wonder about this man.' Sara thought to herself.
"Do you...have any straws?" She asked him with a smirk. His face fell slightly.
"No." He got up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen and came back with eight slips of folded up paper. "But we can improvise." She smiled at him and took one of the slips of paper. He held out his hands until everyone had a slip of paper and he took the last one for himself. He opened it and addressed the group.
"Well I'm sharing room 2 with someone." Everyone looked at their slips. He looked at Sara; she knew what he was doing.
"That would be me." She chuckled. Catherine looked between the two of them. 'Hmm I wonder how this is going to work out...hopefully for the better. Maybe they'll wise up and wake up to their feelings for each other.' The blonde smiled.
"Well I've got a room of my own!" Greg said proudly.
"Thank God!" Mumbled Nick. "I mean thank God I've got a room to myself as well." He covered up well.
"Me too!" Added Catherine and Warrick. The group now turned their attention to Sofia and Brass who were keeping very quiet. Turning very pink Brass turned to Sofia and said with a laugh.
"Guess this means we're sharing the other room." Sofia blushed slightly and gave a polite smile.
"Yeah I guess we are." A small silence followed during which everyone continued looking at the detectives.
"Well now that the room situation is sorted, I think I'm going to take advantage of that inviting double bed that I have all to myself!" Catherine informed them as she stood up and grabbed her suitcases, trailing them off to one of the bedroom on the east wall. Stopping in the doorway she wished them all goodnight before she disappeared into her bed.
"I think I'm gonna follow her lead!" Nick stretched and got up from his arm chair. Warrick did the same.
"Yeah. I'm pretty tired too!" Greg stood up and headed to his room, on the same wall as the elevator. The remaining members of the group gave him a shocked look as he carried his suitcase to bed. Sara stifled a yawn as she said goodnight to the boys.
"It's been a really long day! I think everyone's ready to go to bed." He joked as he stood up and lifted his and Sara's cases and carried them towards their allocated bedroom.
"I couldn't agree more." Smiled Brass as he lifted his and Sofia's cases and did the same.
"Goodnight everyone." Sofia called to Sara and Grissom as she followed Jim into the room.
-
Behind the privacy of their bedroom door Sara and Grissom curled up in bed together. Her head was resting in her favourite spot on his chest, right above his heart, while he lazily played with her hair.
"You know that receptionist was totally flirting with you at the desk!" Sara huffed.
"What? No she wasn't." Grissom looked clueless.
"She really was, not that I blame her..." She smirked. Grissom shook his head.
"Well do you know what? I didn't even notice. I've got you, why would I be looking anywhere else." Sara sat up, smiled at him and kissed him. Lying back down she repositioned herself into her original spot.
"You know I just realised, this is our first proper vacation as a couple." She thought out loud. Lifting his head slightly off the pillow Grissom looked at her.
"What about San Francisco?" He asked looking rather confused.
"San Francisco? Gil, that was a forensics seminar...we spent our week looking at and listening to people talk about dead bodies."
"Ok, yeah, but we had a few days off! We went sightseeing and remember I took you to the Body Farm." Sara laughed.
"We'd only just started dating back then." She chuckled. "Still doesn't count!" She said flippantly. He pouted.
"You know what I mean. This is our first real vacation together, abroad and with no work or dead bodies or ghosts."
"Unless Greg keeps on going the way he is." Grissom laughed.
"Well yeah...but still, it's nice." Sara smiled.
"Too bad the whole team have came along for the ride." He joked.
"A small hitch. Actually I think it could be kind of fun." She yawned as her eyes fell heavy with sleep.
"I know what you mean. This definitely is going to be a memorable vacation." He smiled.