The Bet - Chapter 7
Title: The Bet - Chapter 07
Author: litbuff
Disclaimer: Nope, don’t own them. Have them on my Christmas list but I think I have been naughty this year...
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Rating: M (very Mild).
Spoilers: If it's on TV, it's game.
Summary: GSR. Pre-canon, pre-Vegas, pre-everything. Can a mere bet prevent two people from falling for each other?
A/N: I would like to thank all of you for your continued support of this story and for your kind reviews! If you didn’t have time to review, thanks for spending the time reading also. Peace…
A/N#2: This will probably be my last update for the year (unless my kids would let me have some free time alone… LOL!). Happy holidays to everyone and thank you for all your wonderful support this past year! Couldn’t have done it without readers like you! Smooch!
Chapter 07
“Sara!” Josie Mendez practically yelled out her partner’s name as she made quick strides down the corridor of the San Francisco Crime Lab. “Where the hell were you the entire weekend?”
“Josie!” Sara quickly grabbed hold of Josie’s arm and led her to the locker room. “Had Amie Harris contacted you at all this weekend?”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. I tried to call you at home and your beeper but didn’t get any reply.” Josie huffed at her, not knowing that Sara had intentionally turned off all communication to the outside world. “Jesus Sara! I don’t know what’s going on with the two of you but at least give me a warning next time.”
“You are not making any sense Josie.” Sara gave her a confused look.
“Well, I guess I should congratulate you for winning the bet!” Josie returned Sara’s look with a mischievously one of her own.
Sara just stared at Josie like she had just sprouted an extra head.
“I assume you knew about the condom.” It was more of a question than an unsure statement. Josie grinned sheepishly, “thought perhaps you left it for her to find, you know… just to piss her off.”
Ignoring Josie’s joking comment, Sara voiced her more urgent suspicion, “Amie gave you the condom for processing, didn’t she.”
“Yeah. I have been wondering all weekend why Amie would give me the ‘evidence’ with your DNA on it.”
“Ugh Josie!” Sara exclaimed in exasperation. “If Amie wanted to win, she would have never given it to you.”
“What happened?” Josie gave her friend a worried look. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
“Someone sent Grissom the DNA results and he thought I only slept with him just to win the bet.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’.”
“Shit!” Josie just shook her head in disbelief. “Should have seen it coming. So did you explain to Dr. Grissom that you never were a part of this bet?”
“Why bothered? He’d already assumed the worst.” Sara just shrugged sadly.
“Aww Sara!” Josie groaned loudly. “You can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes!”
Sara gave her buddy an annoyed glance. “Thanks!”
“By the way, thanks for telling me about your ‘encounter’ with Dr. Grissom.” Josie feigned a hurt look. “I thought I was your friend and comrade in crime. I guess when it comes to sex, your closest friends are usually the last to know?”
“It was a spur of the moment.” Sara stared at the opposite wall of the locker room, deep in thought. “I didn’t think it would happen. Besides, it was a one time deal.”
“Uh-huh…” Josie eyed her, disbelieving. “From the tone of your voice, I think this was more than just a one night stand.”
“Trust me, it really was a one time deal.” Sara smiled sadly at Josie, “You were right, he’s a player and I was just curious…”
“You know what they say about how curiosity kills the cat?”
“Let’s just say that this cat is down to its ninth life.” Sara deadpanned, hoping to change the subject.
And Josie obliged. “So what do you want me to do with the money you won?”
Sara raised a brow at her. “It’s not mine. I wasn’t betting remember?”
Josie just shrugged. “Technically no but since Amie declared you the winner and practically announced to half of the free world, I think you should just take the money and splurge… you know, just to make you feel better.”
“I don’t want it.” Sara declared adamantly.
“What am I going to do with it?”
“I don’t know…” Sara thinned her lips in concentration. “Maybe you can donate the money to charity in Amie’s name.”
“Why?” Josie was surprised at Sara’s suggestion.
“Because I think she’s one sorry person and may need a lot of prayers for her soul later.”
“I thought you don’t believe in the spiritual mumbo jumbo.”
“I don’t but Amie’s definitely going to need all the prayers she can get the next time she crosses path with me.”
Josie gave Sara a concerned look. “Don’t do anything stupid Sara. You know how Amie would love for you to lose control.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t do stupid.” Sara smiled weakly back at her friend and then quickly admitted, “Ok, I do do stupid things but not this time.”
Before they could say anything more, their supervisor, Joe Maddox, poked his head inside the locker room. “Sidle! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
“Class ended hours ago.” Sara replied. “Just thought I’d drop by the lab to see what’s new.”
“Ok. Keep me posted on your progress.” Joe said and started to leave.
“Joe!” Sara called out to him and he turned to face her with a questioning look. “I need to talk to you about my class this week. You have a minute?”
Josie took that as her cue to exit. “I’ll talk to you later Sara.”
Once Josie left the room, Sara took a deep breath and said, “Joe, I have decided not to finish the second class.”
Joe just blinked, unsure of what Sara was trying to tell him. “What’s the matter? I thought we had a deal. You ace the two classes and I give you a new badge for CSI Level Two.”
“Yeah, I remember.” Sara sighed. “I just thought I could make it up with something else.”
“Look Sara, there are two paths for moving up the journeyman level. One - experience, meaning you put in your time solving a gazillion cases and two - continued education with reduced field time.” Joe paused to make sure Sara understood what he was trying to tell her. “I saw the potential in you so I opted for you to take the short cut but I can’t promote you without proper justification. You completed the first class. Why can’t you do the same for the second one?”
Sara thought hard for an explanation and ended up being the mule that Josie had accused her of. “I am sorry Joe, I can’t do it.”
Joe eyed her for a moment then inquired, “Why not?”
“I just can’t.” She answered simply.
Joe nodded his head, though looking skeptically at her. “You’re one of my best rookie CSIs, Sidle. With your background and dedication, I am surprised that you would give up so easily. This isn’t you.”
Sara remained silent. She couldn’t possibly say to her boss - ‘Well Joe, I sorta slept with the teacher though we weren’t technically sleeping at the time but that’s beside the point. However, things sorta spiraled out of control after the teacher practically accused me of fucking him so I could win loads of money and earn a shout out to the whole world that I single handedly took him off the meat market and had proof of it. And now, I am willing to jeopardize my promotion, possibly career, so I won’t have to face him again.’ Yeah… that would go over real well with Joe. And so Sara just stared back at her boss without uttering a word.
When Joe realized that Sara wasn’t about to supply an explanation, he heaved a deep sigh and said, “You disappoint me Sara, I really had high hopes for you.” With that he left the locker room, leaving Sara feeling lousier than before.
Sara picked up her purse and decided she wanted a beer, maybe two… hell, she needed the whole six-pack. Yes, that would be her dinner tonight and for dessert, she’d chain smoke her way through her brand new pack of cigarettes.
As she walked past the receptionist on her way out of the San Francisco Crime Lab, the petite red head signaled to her and handed her a message. Sara quickly read the note in her hand, then wadded up the slip of paper and shoved it into her purse. Let tomorrow take care of tomorrow, she thought. Tonight, she was planning on drowning her memories of Dr. Gil Grissom.
The sun had vanished into the horizon hours ago and she was still sitting on the lawn chair out on her third floor balcony. From his vantage point in his car, Grissom could make out her silhouette against the velvet night sky. Occasionally, the tip of her cigarette would light up like little red fireflies as she slowly dragged on it then lifted her chin into the air, he assumed, to expel the smoke he couldn’t see from where he was gazing at her. Once in a while, she would reach to the side of the chair and pick up a bottle, take a big gulp, set it down then continue with her puffing marathon. He wondered if she did this everyday or something had triggered these unhealthy activities. He hoped that he had something to do with it since he did not want her to die before the age of thirty from lung cancer.
He sighed heavily as he eyes still glued to her figure in the distance. What was it about her that drew him to her like this? Yes, he had sex before with other women but he had never sat outside their apartments trying to memorize every detail of their movements and wished… what?… He didn’t want to go there…
His thoughts suddenly ran back to the conversation with Dean White this afternoon. The Dean had asked him point blank about his relationship with Sara and Grissom had answered honestly, as honestly as he could under the circumstances. Was it sexual in nature? Yes, by all appearances but to him, it had meant more than that. The encounter had left him wanting more, craving more of her… if only just to see her face or hear her voice.
Dean White had warned Grissom that he was putting his career in jeopardy by opening himself up for sexual harassment lawsuits if words got out about this relationship. He would lose respectability among his peers while malicious students would take this opportunity to wreck havoc with his life and destroy his hard earned career. Jeffery White’s parting question still echoed in his mind - ‘Are you willing to risk everything for this girl?’ And it was the question that was presently haunting his thoughts. Was Sara worth it? Was he willing to risk everything for her? His heart had willed him to drive here tonight while his mind had fought to drive away. He gazed up at her balcony once again. To his horror, Sara had stood leaning against the metal rail and was staring down at his car. He wondered how long she had noticed that he was out here. The silent exchange carried on for several more minutes before Sara disappeared into her apartment. Grissom sighed then started his car and drove away.
Sara ran down the many plights of stairs and practically flew out the door of her apartment building before catching the taillights of Grissom’s car in the distance. Damn it Grissom! She cursed internally between short breaths. She eyed the red lights until they vanished into the night and wondered why he had driven all the way here to her apartment and then ran like hell the minute she came running to meet him halfway.
She went back inside and climbed the stairs to her apartment. She had planned this night to purge all memories of Gil Grissom and yet, he was making it an impossible task for her. She grabbed another beer and drudged out to her balcony again. Oh well, she could always start on forgetting him tomorrow.
TBC
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