8.
"Did he call you?"
"No." Sara closed her locker and waited for Doug to step out of her way, so she could leave the locker room.
"He knows your work cell phone number, doesn't he?"
"Of course." He had called her various times on her work cell phone plus she had her private cell phone with her all the time. It wasn't like she didn't give him any chance to call her, he never took a chance to do it.
"Idiot."
Unfortunately she couldn't disagree because she felt the same. "Not a topic for here. Shall we have breakfast? Or brunch, it's almost noon."
"Don't you want to go home ASAP and have a look if he is…"
"No. I don't feel like seeing him. If he's not there, he could be with Heather too. Maybe we meet them at the place we have brunch…if you feel like having brunch with a moody bitch."
"This moody bitch is my favorite one, I can't of think of anybody I'd rather be with. You're allowed to be moody, swear and call me names because men are idiots. I can handle it."
"You know this time there won't be a kiss and make up part."
"Not? Oh, you leave out the fun part. How mean. Well, brunch is nice too. Come on." He put his arm around Sara's waist. "I buy."
"The times, when you could impress me with buying breakfast or brunch are over."
"I'll find something else. How about…I buy you ice cream?"
"Ice cream?" Sara looked in disbelieve at him. "Are you serious?"
"No, of course not! But I loved the look on your face." He laughed. Buying Sara ice cream, or offer her to buy ice cream, was not a serious offer. He wasn't talking to a kindergarten child, he knew better than this.
Sara had to admit it was fun spending time with Doug. He made her almost forget about Grissom and Heather. Her husband and the former dominatrix, now doctor. She couldn't believe she really saw him and her together. Couldn't believe he was in Vegas and didn't tell her about it. What was she supposed to think? The last couple of hours she tried really hard not to think about the worst case, tried to find excuses why Grissom and Heather had coffee together, why he didn't come home first. Did the other woman have something to do with the surprise? He should know she wasn't a big fan of Heather, too much had happened between him and her, too much worried her, like the fact, he stayed in touch with her.
"You think of him all the time, why don't you call him, ask him where he is?" Doug asked.
"Because…he wanted to call me."
"No, you don't call him because you're afraid he lies to you, tells you he's still abroad while you know better." He pointed out, a lot of understanding in his voice.
"Why her? If we had seen him alone, it would have been all right, but no, he has to be with her. Instead of coming home, telling me he's here, he meets her. What am I supposed to think? What would you have thought if you had seen your wife with her ex in San Francisco while you thought, she was somewhere else?"
"Been there, I saw my ex with her lover in San Jose. She told me, she was working in New York, two days later, I drove to San Jose to get some distractions, I saw her and him in a restaurant, holding hands and looking absolutely not like working a case. Later, after I went to her and asked her, what the hell was going on, she told me, they had an affair for a while. It was the end of the marriage." He took her hand. "I'm sorry I can't tell you a happier story."
"I'm sorry…this must remind you of her and what she did."
"A little bit, but I'm over her. She doesn't deserve me crying over her. It's hard to let go, but when you managed to, it feels better."
Sara thought about this. Should she let go of Grissom? No! No, way. They were married, she couldn't give up on him. He hurt her, he lied to her, but she had no proof he cheated on her. There was the possibility, he and Heather had nothing else than a coffee and he was home, waiting for her with his surprise. Maybe it was something, Heather helped him to organize. Something, that requested a person in Vegas. She couldn't think of anything, but this didn't mean, he didn't have an idea. It was easy to give up, harder to fight and continue, she had never chosen the easy way out. Why now? It wasn't her style.
"I think it's time for me to go home, see if Grissom is home."
"Maybe you get all the information you need, all the answers you want and I really hope, these answers will be good. You deserve to be happy, Sara."
"Thanks. Happiness wasn't a faithful companion of me."
"I know, it left you a couple of times, gave you some not very nice experiences. I hope you found true happiness in Grissom and get answers, that will make everything all right."
"Happiness is a progress, you have to work on every day, I doubt it comes to you and stays, if you don't do anything for it."
"Not many people work as hard on things that are important to them as you do. Go home, talk to him and when he's not there, call him, ask him where he is and when he's back home."
"What if he lies?"
"Then you confront him with what we saw yesterday. He should use this for the truth and the truth is better a great surprise for you, something he needed help for. If not, you know he lies and is probably not very faithful. In this case, he doesn't deserve you."
"I'm afraid of an answer I don't want to hear." She confessed. The idea Grissom told her, he and Heather had an affair tore her heart apart.
"The truth can hurt, lies hurt more."
"Fuck." She buried her face in her hands for a few seconds, took a deep breath and got up. Hiding wasn't a solution. "Okay, I go home and see what happens there. If he's there."
"You do that and if you need me, give me a call and I'll be there for you. You don't have to go through this alone. If he hurts you, tell me and I find him and punch the crap out of him, I don't care when he has friends with LVPD, he hurts you, he deserves a few good slaps. And if you need somebody to make him jealous by sitting with you over a nice dinner, I'm your man."
"Thanks." She bent over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Doug."
"You're welcome." He pulled her in his arms. "Always remember, you're way too precious to let anybody play with you, hurt you."
"I really hope it's not what it's look like. There must be explanations, good ones and a very good reason for everything."
"There will be. Go, get answers and remember, if you need me, I come over. And bring some ice cream, apparently women prefer to suffer with a lot of ice cream around."
She laughed shortly. "I guess a whiskey is better."
"No, we don't want to fight bad feelings with alcohol, that makes things only worse."
He was right. She should be over this behavior, drowning things in alcohol. She did it years ago, it got her only in trouble and she didn't want nor need this back. Ice cream was much better, she might need more of it, but even after a big box, she could drive and didn't get pulled over by cops.
