Grissom
It had been the longest week of his life. Grissom sat anxiously at the airport coffee shop awaiting the arrival of Sara�s flight. He was two hours early. He�d rather wait for her here than alone at home.
When she had suggested the conference in Baltimore, Grissom had agreed with enthusiasm. As his subordinate, it was an excellent opportunity for her to hone her skills as a criminalist. As her lover, he was much less enthusiastic.
When they had first become intimate, Grissom and Sara had agreed to take time apart regularly. They had surmised that the newness of their relationship would wear off and they would need personal time to do things that interested them individually. Additionally, they had decided that to keep each of them interesting, not only to each other but to their friends and co-workers, they needed to maintain individual, personal time. It was logical and made sense. In theory, that is.
Once their theory became reality, things were quite different. Somehow, the newness had never worn off. On his first night off, time they had agreed would be his personal time, Grissom was quite productive. He did laundry, paid bills, even cleaned his refrigerator, all the while counting down the hours until Sara got off work. As soon as he knew she was due to be off work, he went over to her apartment with breakfast. And by the same token, on her day off, she was at his townhouse when he got off work with a marvelous breakfast and three casseroles in the refrigerator so that they wouldn�t have to cook or eat out the rest of the week. Try as they might, they couldn�t seem to stay away from each other. He began volunteering at the zoo with her; she went to concerts and lectures with him. They still had their individual interests. They just did them jointly now. After eight months, they still wanted to spend every moment together.
The fear of losing themselves as individuals was unwarranted as well. While looking through his books one day, Sara inquired about the last article he had written. Grissom was embarrassed when he realized that he hadn�t written or done any research other than what was required for work in quite some time. After a case, during a discussion on dung beetles, Sara urged Grissom to write an article. She helped him with the initial research, and then helped him again when it came time to set up the experiment to test his hypothesis. When he began the compilation of his data, she insisted that he needed to be alone to concentrate. But after two days, he found he was continually distracted by her absence, thinking about her, wondering what she was doing. After some argument, he convinced her to come back to his apartment. Do whatever she needed or wanted, he told her, but just do it at his apartment. And he found that with her there, he was able to better focus on the project. Within six weeks, his article was submitted and accepted.
While Grissom did experiments and wrote the paper, Sara began work on her own article. One evening while the group was discussing the Lavalle case at the lab, Grissom encouraged her to submit an article concerning the DNA transfer. Intrigued, Sara researched and detailed the case, spending several hours at the WLVU library and countless additional hours on the internet. Her article was accepted for publication two weeks after Grissom�s appeared in print. Nick had the article mounted onto a plaque and the night shift threw her a party. The entire lab was almost as proud of her as Grissom was.
No, they were definitely not losing their own identities. If anything, they were further defining them and certainly broadening them.
Grissom left the coffee shop and walked to the concourse to meet Sara. He saw a young man gingerly walking toward the bench near him. The man sat down carefully and rubbed his back. Grissom smiled, remembering the morning after their third night of making love. His back and legs were so sore, he had a hard time getting up and down during evidence collection. Catherine noticed and asked if he was alright. He told her he was trying out a new exercise program. That night, his back screamed in protest in unison with his moans of ecstasy. A visit to the doctor for hydrocodone the next day quieted the muscular protests and they continued their incredibly amorous nights.
By day seven of keeping up this routine, Grissom realized they were focusing more on their physical relationship than their emotional one. When they got to his townhouse, he told Sara they needed to put a stop to their reliance on sex alone to further their relationship. As a test of his theory and their self-discipline, he suggested they have no sex for a week to allow them the necessary time to work on the emotional end of the relationship. He was surprised to find that Sara was relieved. She was exhausted by their robust endeavors.
�Why didn�t you say something?� he had asked.
�I�ve wanted this for so long, I�m not about to give it up because of mere exhaustion. It�s not like I�m not enjoying the sex and the cuddling after.�
�We can always cuddle. We don�t need to have sex to do that.� They had been cuddling every night since, sometimes at her place, sometimes at his. A couple of times a week, one or the other of them would initiate a bit more than cuddling. And on occasion, they would have the marathon encounter that required a day or two of hydrocodone to again quiet his back.
Grissom had never imagined his life could be so fulfilling.
And then Sara left for the conference. He told himself that she was only going to be gone for a week. The time away from each other would be good. He busied himself at work with backlogged paperwork. It kept him from going home too early to an empty townhouse. His first night alone, he tossed and turned for an hour. He finally convinced himself that this was no hardship compared to those trying to keep peace in the Middle East. Eventually he got to sleep. By the fourth night, that argument wasn�t working any more. Last night, he slept from sheer exhaustion.
How did he let himself become so dependent on the presence of another human being? He should be upset at this revelation. Instead, he was excited. And to further add to this excitement, he heard the announcement that Sara�s plane had landed.
People began streaming down the hallway from the gate. He saw her stocking cap first. Why she didn�t pack it when she left Baltimore he couldn�t quite figure. It didn�t matter. She was home. The smile was nearly too broad for his face. Sara�s searching eyes finally found his. Her spreading smile made his heart leap. As much as he wanted to take her in his arms and smother her with kisses, he knew this was not the appropriate place.
�Hey,� she said.
�Hey,� he replied. �How was the conference?� Grissom took her carry-on from her hand as they walked toward baggage claim.
�Amazing!� She bubbled on enthusiastically about the various workshops and her desire to write a report to share the information with the lab. Grissom drank in every word and every motion. He noted with unsuppressed joy that she couldn�t keep her eyes off of him.
�I�m looking forward to reading it,� he said as they arrived at the baggage carousel. He tried to compose himself and act more like a co-worker and less like a starry-eyed school boy.
�Things have been fairly slow at the lab this week. Catherine was pretty involved in an attempted rape. We still don�t have all the evidence solidified yet, but it looks like we�ve got the right guy. We just need to tie up a few more loose ends to confirm her theory. I sent Greg out on his first solo, a burglary at the Thrifty Mart. He�s still caught up in the fingerprint overload that convenience stores generate. But he�s coming along. Then there were a couple of burglaries that Warrick and Nick wrapped up quickly, as well as one I worked with Warrick. One homicide kept Nick pretty busy most of the week. But he found the evidence needed to get a confession from the prime suspect. Even Brass was impressed with his interview on that one. We�re still working a homicide from Thursday. I�ll assign you to that one with Warrick when you report back to work. He could use some relief. He�s been pretty stressed lately.�
Grissom recognized Sara�s bags by the Las Vegas Zoo stickers she had placed on them. They each picked one up and headed for the car, Grissom leading the way.
When Grissom had arrived two hours prior, there were a large number of planes scheduled for departure. As a result, the short term parking lot was almost full so he had been forced to park nearly in the back row. Now, as they struggled the extra distance with the bags, Grissom wished he had thought to move the car closer after the crowds left. At least he had the remote trunk release. He handed Sara her carry-on and pulled the remote out as they approached the car. He put the bag he was carrying into the trunk first then stepped back to allow Sara access. As she bent over, he glanced around and saw that they were virtually alone. The trunk lid also shielded them from the main terminal. Not that it would matter at this point. He needed to have Sara in his arms.
As she stood up from depositing her bag into the trunk, Grissom put his arms around her waist, pulled her close, and kissed her with a passion he had kept restrained for the past thirty minutes.
�I�ve missed you,� he declared when they came up for air. He looked around to see if anyone was near.
�I can tell,� she retorted breathlessly.
Anxious to get home, they released their grip on one another. Grissom then quickly secured the trunk latch. Each then moved to opposite sides of the car and climbed in. Once Grissom had maneuvered out of the airport onto Tropicana, he reached across the console and took Sara�s hand in his. He felt compelled to touch her, as if holding her hand would keep her close to him, prevent the empty feeling that had engulfed him in her absence. Sara was surprised by the action. However, her wide smile and the squeeze she gave his hand revealed that she was pleased.
�So what did you do with your time while I was gone?� inquired Sara.
�I caught up on a lot of paperwork. You will be amazed at my desk. It is empty and in order. As are my file cabinets and work table. You�ll be very proud of this new and improved Gil Grissom.� Grissom displayed an assumed air of pride as he watched the road.
�I�ve always been proud of the old Gil Grissom,� Sara said looking at him affectionately.
Surprised, Grissom turned to look at Sara. God, he loved this woman. She knew what he needed to hear. He only hoped that he would be able to give her what she needed. Needing to lighten the mood, he said, �You don�t have to butter me up, you know. You can have your way with me as soon as we get home without it.�
Sara burst into laughter. Her laughter was infectious. Grissom soon followed. They were still laughing when the car pulled into the parking lot at Sara�s apartments. Climbing from the car, Grissom made his way to the trunk. After pulling the bags out, Sara urged Grissom forward, racing up the stairs to her apartment. She danced at the door as she put her key into the lock.
�I�ve got to get to the bathroom,� she whispered. �I�m surprised I didn�t wet my pants with all the laughing.� As the door swung open, she dropped her bag inside the door and ran into the bedroom toward the bathroom. Grissom kicked the door closed as he carried the bags he had to the bedroom. He returned to pick up the bag that Sara had dropped and carried it into the bedroom as well. He stood a moment in thought. Perhaps he should put them on the bed for her to unpack. No, he decided, he would rather just hold her for now. He�d help her unpack later.
The toilet flushed as he contemplated their next action. He stood and turned as the bathroom door opened and a very naked Sara Sidle walked out and seductively wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him with ardor. Pleasantly surprised, he wrapped his arms around her waist and joined in with zeal.