burn5

Laying my keys on his coffee table, I locked the door to Grissom's townhouse behind me. 'Left over Italian?' I pondered as I headed for the kitchen, gym bag tossed on the floor. Suddenly, my cell ringed and I answered. "Hello?"

"Are you home?" Grissom asked. 'No hi,' I smiled. 'And home? Really?' "Well, my house?"

"Yes...why?" I asked, opening the fridge. "What are we ordering in?"

A chuckle. "Natasha, what is today?"

I hesitated before answering, "August 15th, 2004."

Pause. "And?"

"And what? It's not a monthy anniversary," I said, getting slightly annoyed. Grissom sighed. "What's two days from now?" he asked.

"Your birthday," I said, bluntly. "I don't see..." Suddenly it clicked. "Oh...my birthday..." I laughed sheepishly. "Sorry, lacrosse tends to make me focused."

Laughing himself, Grissom turned off the radio. "Which means, since it's your birthday, I get to give you a treat, tiger," he replied and I smirked even though he couldn't see me. "Oh really?"

"Yes. Go in the bedroom. Put it on. I think you'll like it. I do," he instructed. "I'll be there in about an hour."

I started to ask more questions and see what the sam hell was he doing but the phone clicked in my hand. 'He hung up. That rat bastard,' I thought,still smirking and tossing the phone on the sofa. 'An hour, eh? Just enough time for me to take a shower and be dressed with my hair dried completely. Always thinking.' Walking into the bedroom, I saw a black dress, V-necked, backless, high split, made out of shimmery and beautiful material laid across the bed. Heels were on the bed side, complete with purse, made out of the same thing the dress was and I felt my jaw drop.

"Gil..." I said outloud. "I'm going to kill you." A piece of folded white paper was next to the dress and I reached for it, unfolding it.

Most tigers wear orange. Tonight, you'll be a panther. Hurry, I'll be home soon.~Gil

"Yes," I decided, smiling. "I am going to kill you."

Pulling in my driveway, I stepped out of the Tahoe, adjusting my tie. My tuxedo was black, white shirt standing stark against the rest of my suit and I reached behind me, grabbing the tarantula in its cage. 'Little guy,' I thought, smiling. 'You're about to be handed to a wonderful owner.'

I walked up the front path, opening the door and closing it behind me. "Natasha?" I called out and I heard her chuckle. "You want me to come out?" she asked.

"I always want you," I grinned and heard her footsteps before she stepped out into the light. 'My God,' I thought, staring her up and down. 'I thought the dress would be tight but...' The dress hugged each line of her body which was fine tuned from weightlifting and lacrosse. The split came nearly waist high, revealing a light brown sugar leg that corded into a pair of 4 inch high heels. Her hair was brushed straight, over her shoulders, falling in a black, silk curtain against the dip of the cleavage in the dress. Light, black eyeliner and earth toned lip stick compleated the look and I fought to keep from drooling. "You're...beautiful," I said softly and she smiled, embaressed. "You're not looking too bad yourself," she observed. "Good enough to eat, in fact."

A blush crossed my features and I reached for my caged friend. "We're going to eat. But I have a suprise for you..." I held the cage in front of me, watching her eyes light up. "He's a Mexican Red Knee Tarantula. He's yours."

"Gil," Natasha said, stepping forward, examining the cage. "He's goregous." The spider seemed to agree, coming out of hiding to stand next to the side of the glass. "He likes you," I smiled. "What do you want to name him?"

Blinking, the younger woman thought for a moment before smiling. "Otis..." she decided. "He looks like an Otis, doesn't he?"

"Now that you say it...yeah, he does," I replied, setting him on the kitchen counter. "I have something special planned for tonight."
She kept smiling, planting a hand on a hip. "I'd hope so, I'd hate to be all dressed up and nowhere to go."

"You said you never went to prom in High School, correct?" I asked and she nodded. "Yeah, no date, no dress. I just worked on my star catologue that night."

"Well, even though it's a few years late, I'd like to take you out formally...to dinner...and then..."

"And then?" she insinuated innocently.

"And then I make all the assholes who didn't take you feel jealous," I offered, taking her hand. "Chantera waits for you."

Natasha's eyes widened, her hand squeezing mine. "But...you have to call nearly 4 months ahead to get a reservation there," she exclaimed and I kissed the back of her hand. "Then I called 4 months ago," I answered, guiding her to the door. "Let's go."

"Don't wait up for me, Otis," she called out before the door shut.

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