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Chapter 6

"Morning." Cath mumbled sleepily, rolling over.

"Hey there." Doug replied, rubbing circles on her back as she snuggled against his chest.

"You keep doing that you're going to send me back to sleep." She murmured, arching her back like a cat.

"Would that be a bad thing?" He kissed her temple. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck, letting his heartbeat lull her back to sleep. She was almost out when his voice filtered through the haze.

"Who's Sara?" All of a sudden she was wide awake. She looked up at him, startled.

"What?"

"Last night, while you were asleep, you said her name like half a dozen times." There was no suspicion or jealousy in his voice, just mild curiosity.

"She's just someone I work with." Cath answered, looking down. Just saying the words made her feel sad. "I must have been dreaming about her."

"Well it sounded like a nice dream." He chuckled. She blushed bright red, but he couldn't see. Subject dropped, he stretched and climbed out of bed. Seemingly unfazed about being butt naked, he ambled around the room for a few minutes, gathering up his clothes, and disappeared into the en-suite. She waited until the door closed before curling up in a ball under the covers with a disgruntled groan.

'Just someone I work with'. Well, she supposed she was. And that was what bothered her the most.

x x x x x

If it had been awkward before, it was damn near torture now. She couldn't look at Sara without last night's memory flashing back into her mind. But in her head it wasn't Doug touching her, it was Sara.

And now, every time her mind started to wander, it began plotting all the things she wanted to do to Sara. All the things she wanted Sara to do to her. With another groan, she dropped her head onto the desk.

"Hey, you okay?" Oh, anyone but her! With a sigh Cath lifted her head up and smiled softly at Sara, who was watching her from the doorway with a concerned frown.

"Yeah, I'm just ... stressed." Well, that was true.

"I gathered. I brought you something to help." She placed a cup of coffee – Starbucks, not crime lab sludge – and a muffin on the desk.

"You brought me a muffin." Cath frowned, staring at it dumbly.

"Apple and cinnamon. Your favourite." Sara said, slightly nervous that she's crossed a line.

"How did you know that?" Cath looked up, puzzled.

"Because I know you." Sara smiled, sending a strange feeling to Catherine's stomach. She smiled back, snatching the snack off the desk.

"Yeah, I guess you do. Thank you." It might have been the lights, or her eyes, but she swore that she saw Sara blush, ever so slightly. The brunette nodded and slipped out as quietly as she had arrived, leaving Catherine to swoon over her muffin in peace. She nibbled the edge, smiling contentedly to herself. She picked up the coffee and took the lid off, and her smile grew to a grin when she saw the little heart in chocolate powder on top. She knew in the back of her head that Starbucks did that a lot, but she didn't care. She took it as a sign.

One she couldn't possibly ignore.

x x x x x

With her sister's words in her head and a barrel of caffeine coursing through her system she took a deep breath and stalked into the break room confidently. However, one Sidle smile sent her way and she was a bag of nerves again. Regaining herself, she walked up to Sara.

"Enjoy your muffin?" Sara asked.

"Yes, thank you." She smiled. "I actually wanted to ask you something..."

"Sara, are our results in yet?" Grissom chose the opportune moment to interrupt, as per usual. "Hi Catherine." He greeted, getting an irritated mutter in return.

"I don't know, I was just about to go ask Greg." Sara replied, tossing the magazine she'd been glancing through aside. She got as far as the door before she remembered. "Oh, Cath you wanted to ask me something?"

"Forget it, doesn't matter." Cath mumbled, throwing herself into the seat Sara had just vacated. Alone, she grabbed the magazine. The first page she saw was also the last page Sara had been reading: horoscopes.

She glanced through hers quickly. Normally she took no notice of these, but this one caught her eye.

'Someone will surprise you today. If you're daring enough to take a chance and follow the signs, you'll get what you want. But, hold back and you might miss your chance.'

Well, she didn't need to be told twice. Before she left, she chanced a glance at Sara's.

'You will get an interesting offer or proposition today. Think carefully, it could be what you've been waiting for.'

The fact that the magazine was several weeks old seemed irrelevant at this point.

x x x x x

"Sara?" She asked, poking her head around the door. "Sar?" She repeated in a softer voice. The brunette was laid on the bench; one hand just grazing the floor, the other arm tucked under her head. Cath stepped forward. "You awake?" She asked quietly, though it was quite obvious she wasn't.

After reading the horoscopes, she had hibernated in her office for a while and procrastinated over how to ask her out. And evidently she had taken so long that Sara had fallen asleep.

She knew it was the wrong thing to do, but she couldn't help herself. She crouched down next to the bench and brushed a lock of hair from Sara's face. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, and placed a feather-light kiss on Sara's cheek. The brunette didn't stir, but that stubborn curl fell into her face again, and Cath brushed it aside again. This time, as her fingers swept across Sara's face lightly, brown eyes blinked open at her.

"Hi!" Cath stuttered out, nearly falling backwards. Sara blinked a couple of times and started to sit up slowly.

"Hey." She answered tiredly, frowning with confusion.

"You, ah ...you were asleep, I was trying to wake you." Cath stumbled to explain. Sara just nodded sleepily. There was a moments silence while Cath tried to think of what to say. She opened her mouth to ask her out, but what came out instead was not what she meant at all. "Grissom's looking for you."

What the hell?

Sara stood up and headed towards the door, uttering a small 'thank you' as she went. Just as she was nearly out the door, Cath decided to bite the bullet.

"Do you want to go for a drink with me?" She rushed out, causing Sara to turn and look at her oddly. Taking another deep breath she started again. "Would you like to go for that drink now, after work?" She asked, more slowly this time. Sara smiled and shrugged.

"Sure. Are the boys going?" Cath's heart sank a little. She had obviously misunderstood.

"No, I, uh, I thought it could just be the two of us." She explained.

"Okay, sounds good. It's been a while since we caught up." Sara grinned as she checked her watch. "I'll meet you in here in an hour?" She shot over her shoulder as she left. Alone, Catherine sat on the bench and released a shaky breath. That was not easy, and she had still fucked it up. 'After-work drinks'. That was not what she had had in mind.

On the other hand, she was going for drinks with Sara Sidle. And just because Sara didn't know it was a date, doesn't mean it wasn't.

She allowed herself a small smile as she pulled out her phone to text Nancy:

'She said yes! Date after work :)'