That evening, Sara opened the door to a very casual looking Grissom. She hadn't seen him in jeans in a long time. She also noticed his green shirt; a similar shade to hers.
"Hi, come on in. I'm just going to change my shirt and then we can go." Sara opened the door wide for him. All she had on was jeans and a green t-shirt.
"Your shirt is fine." he said.
"We look like twins." Only then, did he look down at himself.
"Oh, good point. Take your time." Sara reappeared a minute later with a black V-neck tank top and was fastening a choker necklace. She picked up a bowling bag, which he promptly took from her.
"Ok, I'm ready now."
"You look great."
"Thank you." Sara led the way to the car and Grissom opened the door for her.. He drove in silence until he parked at the bowling alley.
"Sara, I want you to know that if you're uncomfortable with he little wager we have, then we can forget about it."
"Are you uncomfortable with it?" she challenged with a smile.
"A little, but I will honor it if I lose."
"Good to know." He guided her inside and straight to the counter.
"Hey Griss, hey Sara; fancy meeting you here." Both of them turned around at the sound of Greg Sanders voice. He was with an attractive red-head.
"Hello Greg, you bowl?" Sara asked. Grissom paid for the games they were going to play and picked up both of their bags.
"I play from time to time. Oh Sheila, I'd like you to meet Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom. We work together. Sheila is a graduate student." Hand sakes were exchanged.
"Excuse us. Sara, are you ready?"
"Yes. Bye Greg, it was nice to meet you Sheila." Sara said as she was led away. Grissom carried both bowling bags, thankful the Sara's had a shoulder strap. That way, one hand was free to touch her back. Greg stepped up to the counter.
"We'd like to be in a lane as close to them as possible. I also need two shoe rentals and three games a piece."
"I can put you two lanes away." The man behind the counter offered.
"Perfect. Thank you." Greg looked at Sheila, who merely smiled with confidence. He also sent Catherine a text message to update her on his mission status. Sheila was a childhood friend of his and when he told her the back story of what had been going on between Gil and Sara. She was more than happy to take the day off and drive out to pretend to be his girlfriend for the night.
Sara had been putting her ball on the rack and noticed Greg approaching.
"Incoming." she muttered. Grissom looked up from tying his shoes. They watched Greg settle in two lanes away. He ignored them.
"I think we need clarification on our bet. Is this bet per game or for the best two out of three?"
"I think per game makes it more interesting, don't you think?" Sara smiled and he sighed.
"Alright, let's begin. Ladies first." he offered. Greg was watching them subtly. He saw them check each others ass out every single turn. He was impressed, they were doing very well and from what he could see, it looked like a close game. Sheila had bowled a strike and hugged him. Her squeal caused the two geeks to look over at her. Greg just smiled and returned the embrace.
"Alright, last frame; ready?"
"Yes." Sara bowled two strikes and then seven pins. Se turned to him triumphantly.
"You need a turkey to win. Good luck."
"Payments are in private, right?"
"Of course." She assured him.
"Good." He bowled and on his second strike, she started to get nervous. He ended up losing by one pin. She hid her relief with a sympathetic smile.
"Better luck next game. You're up."
"You're going down, Sidle."
"Only if you win." Both of them noticed the double entendre he used. The comments had Grissom flustered just enough to throw two gutter balls. Sara was quick to take her turn so she wasn't distracted and started her game off with a strike. She turned to him.
"I'm going to go get something to drink. Do you want anything?"
"I'll go with you." Greg saw this and waited almost a minute before taking Sheila and joining the line as well. He kept his arm around her waist and she leaned into him. They were putting on a good show. Grissom simply kept his hand on Sara's back. He watched with amazement at how comfortable Greg was with public displays of affection. He chose to maintain his current position but Sara did move a little closer to him. He smiled on the inside. They watched Sheila turn her head and kiss Greg. Sara looked away, but Grissom couldn't stop staring.
After collecting their drinks, they were back in their lane to resume the game. Greg's cell phone chirped away and he turned his back to answer.
"Sanders."
"How is it going?"
"They're acting as they would at the lab. We're two lanes away and being so over-the-top it's ridiculous. He's touched her back to lead her places, but that's it."
"If this fails, I might just duct tape them together. For geniuses, they're so stupid about dating."
"Yes, I know, Catherine."
"Keep trying."
"I am. We were in line and I was hoping to at least see some hand holding, but alas, nothing."
"Those two are going to put me in a grave before Lindsey does."
"I'll let you know when they leave."
"Ok, Nick and Warrick are in position and ready to follow them. Bye." Greg stared at his phone for a few extra seconds after Catherine rudely hung up on him. Two lanes over, however, Sara was losing by a few points.
"How does it feel to be losing?" Grissom teased.
"You tell me; I haven't lost."
"Low blow, Sara."
"You get credit for the great comeback after your pitiful first frame." she said.
"Thank you."
"I'll get my lead back. It's not over yet."
"We shall see. Have you thought about where you would like to eat after this?"
"Anywhere is fine with me."
"Last frame." he said.
"That means you're up." By some twist of fate, Grissom lost for the second time. Sara was privately rejoicing because she wasn't read to share the pictures with him just yet. Grissom deflated at having lost for the second time.
"Are you ready to start the third game?" Sara asked, but couldn't quite keep the mirth out of her voice. He looked up and saw her smirk.
"Yes, I'm warmed up now."
"Good luck."
"Ladies first." He gestured to the lane and sat behind the table to keep score. Greg and Sheila were finishing their second game when Sara started the third game. He saw pure concentration on both of their faces. Sara and Grissom remained tied throughout the game. Both of them were throwing a perfect game until Sara blew it in the ninth frame and Grissom didn't. She salvaged the frame with a spare and threw three more strikes after that to finish. Grissom blew it in the tenth frame. He threw the ball and ended up with a seven-ten split. Only able to knock one of the pins down had him once again finishing one pin less than her.
"That was a good game." Sara consoled him and put her shoes away.
"I still lost." Grissom joined her and changed his shoes.
"Well, next time, we'll do something different; like mini-golf."
"Sure." She smiled and they put their balls in the bowling bags.
"Don't tell me you're a sore loser." he looked at her with a sad smile.
"It's true, but with the right motivation, I can forget about losing three games in a row."
"What would be the right motivation?" She asked and zipped her bag up. He copied her actions, but then took her bag and slung it over her shoulder. He held his own bag on the same side as hers.
"Some kind of comfort from a beautiful woman and I'm lucky; I'm already with a beautiful woman." She returned his smile.
"What kind of comfort were you hoping to get?"
"Ladies choice; a hug, a kiss and or holding my hand?" Sara had to smile at his boyish charm. She slipped her hand in the crook of his arm and kissed his cheek.
"How's that?"
"It'll do." She laughed at the reluctant, melodramatic sound in his voice. He opened the car door for her. Neither one saw Nick and Warrick parked across the street or that Greg watched them from the door.
"Did you see that?"
"I'm calling Catherine now." Warrick pulled out his cell phone and trusted Nick to follow them without being caught.
"Willows."
"We're on." She kissed his cheek and was hanging on his arm."
"Greg said that he lost three times. Sara was making him feel better." He can pull off the wounded puppy act apparently." Warrick relayed the message to Nick, who nodded in agreement.
"Do you have your game card?"
"Yep, we've only been sitting here for twenty minutes or so. Have you got yours?"
"Yes. Lindsey and I will meet you. Where are you?"
"He just pulled into Michael's Pizza."
"We're ten minutes away." Warrick knew that Catherine was calling Brass to get him ready for the next phase of the plan. They watched Grissom get out of the car and walk to Sara's door. She accepted his hand to exit the car. Grissom smoothly tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.
"Smooth move; maybe he's not as deficient as we thought." Nick said.
"He's also not talking. We'll see. Let's wait for Catherine."
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A/N: So, what do you think will happen with the geeks and the rest of the team? We will soon learn something about Grissom's past. (If it's not in the next chapter, then it will definitely be in the following one. Right now, this story is shaping up to be about 14-15 chapters, but anything can change.)
Reviews are wanted and appreciated. I absolutely love reading them.
Have a great day everyone! Kelly