Chances

She could feel the warmth of his hands slide up the back of her sweater, leaving a trail of chills in their wake. Grissom’s able hands traced around the outline of the bottom of her bra, teasing their way back down the small of her back until they reached the waistband of her pants.

Leaving his lips, she kissed her way down his face, to his ears, nibbling on the lobe of his right ear long enough to coax a small groan from his lips. The sound that he made–one that she caused him to make–sent her into a frenzy.

Her hands made their way down to the bottom of the white shirt that he was wearing, pulling it untucked from his pants. Sara leaned out of their embrace long enough to allow her loose all the buttons. Her fingers first, then her lips traced down the smooth skin of his neck, finally settling into the crease between neck and shoulders. The first graze of her tongue on his bare skin was more than he could handle at that moment, and within seconds, he had taken command atop her, pulling the sweater from her body in one quick upwards sweep.

“God, you are so beautiful,” he said, his hands lingering along the newly exposed skin of her chest, his fingers now tracing the outline of her cleavage. His hands were soon replaced by his mouth, using his tongue to now retrace where his fingers once had been. He could hear that her breaths were becoming more labored and deep. “You like?” he whispered, before allowing his tongue to dart slightly underneath the lace cup covering her breast.

She nodded her head. “Most definitely.”

He began to pull at the strap that was on her left shoulder, the stubble of his chin grazing her neck. She could feel his breath hitting her skin, and it was causing her to become quite warm. It was almost as if steam was emitting from their bodies. “I’m glad you talked me into going to the Rose…It was just what I needed to make my move...”

It was then that it struck her. Why didn’t she see it before? She started to pull away from him. “I’m sorry, Griss...I can’t do this. Not now. Not with you like this.”

Her actions shocked him. “What do you mean? Sara? What’s wrong? We were so very close to something wonderful–what the fuck did I do?”

“You’re drunk, Grissom, that’s what. If anything did happen, would you even remember it?”

He sat down on the end of the bed. “Sara, I know that I want you...can’t you see that? Can’t you feel that? I mean shit, look at me.” He nodded down to his pants, his erection evident as it strained against the fabric. “You did that to me...Sara; I really want to spend some time with you.”

The tears started to well in her eyes. “Grissom, there is nothing that I want to do more than to be with you right now--To feel your caress. But I can’t...I can’t do this when you are in this condition. It wouldn’t be right. I couldn’t live with myself.”

She turned to her bag and started to pull some clothes out of it. “I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

As she walked into the bathroom, the tears began to stream down her face. You stupid bitch, she thought. You just fucked up any chance you ever had with the man, now. What an idiot!

She changed out of her clothes into the long sleeved shirt and lounge pants, and made her way out of the bathroom, where he was still sitting, stunned, on the end of the bed.

“Could you stand up for just a moment?” she asked.

He obliged, and she grabbed the blanket that had been folded at the foot of the bed. Then, grabbing a pillow, she headed out into the main room and curled up on the couch, where she cried herself to sleep.


The telephone rang way too early. Sara awoke to find herself in the bed, and she reached over to answer the phone. Thanking the front desk clerk for the wake up call, she headed into the main room, where she found Grissom asleep on the couch, his feet hanging out from under the blanket.

This is going to be awkward. Really awkward.

She walked over quietly to his side, and putting her hand on his shoulder, she gave him a gentle nudge. “Griss…Grissom...wake up. Time to rise and shine.”

The look on his face when he woke up was a mixture of pain and despair. “Is it time to get up already?” he mumbled, sitting upright. “It doesn’t seem like I was asleep that long. What time is it?”

“It’s 7:15–you’ve got an hour and 15 minutes to get ready before the breakfast. You better get on the ball.” She figured the best way to avoid the events of last night was to try and ignore them. “I’ve taken the liberty of getting some notes together for you from your laptop. When you are ready to go, I will have those printed and ready for you.”

Smiling, he thanked her for her hard work, and then headed into the bathroom to begin getting ready for his long day. Sara sat curled up on the sofa, and thought long and hard about what had happened. She shouldn’t have turned him down, and she knew that. But, on the other hand, she didn’t want to take advantage of him, not knowing if it was really the way he was feeling, or just the alcohol making him feel that way. Either way, she felt terrible.

He emerged from the bedroom, dressed in a pale yellow shirt and navy slacks, holding 2 ties. “Which one matches best?” he asked. After pointing to the one on the right, he threw the one not chosen on the back of the chair and made his way over to the mirror. After fumbling for a few minutes, she could hear him mumble under his breath. ”Damn tie.”

“Here, let me help you with that.” She walked over to him and started to work with the silk fabric that was hanging around his shoulders.

“Sara - about last night...I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. I just...”

She silenced him with her finger. “It’s no big deal. It happened, and there is nothing that can be done about it now. No apology necessary, OK? But I need to know...how did I end up in there...and you in...?”

“Simple. After you went to sleep, I carried you and put you in the bed. It wasn’t right to have you sleep on the couch. I couldn’t do that to you.”

“And you...”

“Yes, I stayed out here all night. I really feel bad...like I was an ass or something, and you had been working so hard all day that you deserved to take the bed...”

Again, she shushed him. “You and your chivalry”.

Patting his tie down, she started to get up.

He gave her a smile as he looked into the mirror. “How’d you do that so well?”

“I used to work as a merchandiser at a department store while I was in college.”

He was headed for the door when the phone rang. “I’ll catch that,” he called to her.

“Yes?”

She watched as he grabbed a pen and paper and started to jot down something. “Yes, thank you. I’ll give her the information.”

Hanging up the phone, he pulled the piece of paper from the pad and handed it to her. “Front desk. Your room will be available by 11 a.m. Room 2893–right across the hall here.”

“Thanks,” Sara said as she took the paper from him. “I appreciate it.”

Before opening the door, he turned to her. “Are you going to be around much today?”

She mentioned that she might do a little bit of shopping, and take in a few of the sights after she finished up all his notes for the speech he was giving at one of the lectures later today.

“Maybe we can have lunch, then.” he mentioned.

“Yeah, maybe.” she answered, as she watched him walk out of the door.


Boston was such a tourist-friendly city, that she had far too many things to
choose from to keep her busy. She’d taken a cab over to the campus and was happy to find that a couple of her favorite professors were still on staff. After visiting there, she found herself at the local mall. Spending money always seemed to take her mind off her troubles, at least until the credit card bill arrived.

Stopping momentarily to tie her shoe, she barely heard her cell phone ringing in the bottom of her purse. Fumbling aimlessly until she found it, she answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey,” his familiar voice greeted her on the other end. “We’re getting ready to break for lunch. You still want to get together?”

“Sure...how much longer are you going to be?”

“Well, we have about 30 more minutes here, then an hour for lunch. Want to meet me at the Orchid Café here in the hotel?”

Sara looked down at her watch. “Sure, I’m all the way on the other side of town right now, but I will be there as soon as I can. I really want to talk to you. I feel that we need to...”

He interrupted her. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking that, too. I’ll see you in a few.”

As she disconnected from the call, a wry smile crossed her face. Well, he didn’t sound too upset, is that a bad thing or not? Gathering up her purchases, she made her way back to the hotel.

“Is there anything left to buy in Boston?” he said as he stood to greet her. Due to traffic, she hadn’t had time to take her bags up to her newly acquired room, and was running a bit late for their lunch date.

“Well, I did leave one store fairly full, but it wasn’t by choice. I asked the front desk to see if they could get the concierge to take these up for me...he should be here momentarily.”

She noticed him skimming over the bags. “Hmmm, pretty interesting choice of stores there,” he muttered, noticing a pink and white striped bag among the packages. “Just what is her Secret?”

She shot him a disgusted look. “It’s bath gel, you goof...nothing more. Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Straight away, the concierge arrived, and whisked her packages away for her, and the server took their orders. Immediately as they were left alone, both began to speak in unison. “About...”

They both stopped in unison, also, which caused a laugh. “Ladies first...” he said, holding his hand out in a defeated gesture.

“About last night. I, well, I’m just going to be brutally honest here. I’ve always found you very attractive. And, yes, I wanted something of that nature to happen. But, I felt that you were, well, honestly, I thought that maybe it was only because of the alcohol. Hindsight tells me that I probably insinuated about your condition, and for that I am sorry. I really like you. Probably more than I should, especially since you are my boss and all. I guess what I need to know—I need to know that I haven’t screwed up this relationship, whatever it might be, between us.”

Reaching across the table, he took her hand into his. “I won’t lie...I was a bit tanked last night, but Sara, I realized everything that was being said and done in that room. I remember us talking on the balcony, and the look in your eyes when I caught you before you fell. I’ve found you to be a strong-willed, very independent, very attractive woman, and I really do want to get to know you better. Maybe that was a mistake on my part. I did kind of start it. I don’t want to rush you into anything, especially due to Greg and all....”

She interrupted him. “I told you about Greg and me last night. We aren’t exclusive.”

He squeezed her hand. “I know...and that gives me some hope.”

Their server arrived back with their meals, and after she left, he continued their conversation. “Listen, there is a banquet tonight–how about you come with me? It’ll probably be as boring as hell, but –“ His voice trailed off. “What do you say?”

Sara nodded her head in agreement. “That would be wonderful.”

“Then, it’s a date, OK?” He glanced up at her from his food and gave her a wink.

“Agreed.”

After they finished their meals, he walked her back over to the elevator. “You know, you’re welcome to come in and listen to my lecture if you want to. They know you’re with me, so if you wanna...”

She smiled and reached up to wipe a speck of food from his cheek. “Thanks, but I really just want to relax for a little while. Besides,” she said as she smiled, “I have a date tonight.”

Grissom bowed his head slightly and she noticed a slight blush come into his cheeks. “Yes, yes you do. He’s a lucky guy…you tell him I said that.” Leaning over, he kissed her on the cheek, a gesture that took Sara completely by surprise.


Running her fingers through her hair one last time, Sara headed out of the bathroom and into her bedroom where she had laid out her attire for the evening. She was proud that she’d given in to her impulse and bought the dress at full price. This was, in all actuality, her first date with Grissom;
she’d better be looking her best.

Slipping into the pale yellow sleeveless dress, and grabbing her earrings, she headed out of the bathroom and into the loneliness of her single room, anxiously awaiting his knock on her door.

Right on time, she heard his rapping at the door, and as she reached for the knob, she tried to reassure herself that everything would be OK.

He’s just your boss...your friend... Oh hell, you aren’t kidding yourself...it’s Grissom…just think of it as a business dinner, she said to herself as she pulled the door open.

That thought would soon vanish as she saw him standing there door, one of the ends of his glasses hanging from his mouth. The navy blue suit he wore was a stark contrast to the sky blue shirt he wore underneath. The top button was visibly unfastened, allowing just a hint of tanned skin to peek through.

“Wow, you clean up really well” she said to him as she greeted him with a hug.

“As do you” he said, motioning her toward the door and outside into the hallway.

He’d been right; the banquet was terribly boring. She didn’t really know how to take his behavior- he seemed different. Almost normal. Sara really didn’t care – she rather liked the aloof, carefree Grissom.

“What do you say we get out of here?” he leaned in and whispered to her. “I heard there was going to be a meteor shower tonight…thought maybe you might know of a good place to catch it.”

Sara knew the perfect spot – there was a small observatory just outside of Worchester that she had often visited while at Harvard, just for the solitude. They walked side by side up the stairs, his hand resting lightly on the small of her back, and made their way over to a reasonably unoccupied section of the wall. All at once the lights were shut off so that the events in the sky would be more evident.

“You know, I’ve had a wonderful time so far,” she said, trying her best not to sound too desperate. It was taking all that she had to keep convincing herself that this was a business/friendship thing, and nothing more.

“I have too,” he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. Immediately chills covered her arm. “Oh dear, you’re freezing.” he said, taking off his suit coat and placing it around her shoulders. She had to laugh inside–she was actually really rather warm, but his touch had given her chills.

“Thank you,” she said politely. “You are indeed a gentleman.”

He ducked his head, almost as if she had insulted him. “What? You don’t like being called a gentleman?” Sara had to snicker.

He looked up at her and fired his trademark smirk in her direction. “Actually, I was just thinking about how much I...”

He stopped himself mid-sentence, and after a short pause, he began again.

“I’m sorry...I was just thinking about how much I wanted to kiss you.”

Sara’s heart leapt up into her throat. She turned her head to look up at him, and he met her, pulling her closer to him in a loose embrace. “But, will this not mess up our working relation...”

She was hushed as his lips met her in a soft, barely there kiss. Although it started as sweet and tender, it packed a punch of enormous proportions. She could feel her knees getting weak as the electricity shot through her body. Their lips parted, and he kept her close to him in a sweet, soothing hug. All at once she heard him... “Oh my...look up Sara...the stars.... “

Try as she might, she tried to raise her gaze to the heavens, but she was stuck – she couldn’t will her eyes to look anywhere else but into his. “I see them,” she whispered.

Gil looked down at her. “But, you aren’t even looking up…”

Sara leaned in and pressed her lips to his once again, this time making sure she captured his bottom lip firmly between hers, suckling it tenderly before running her tongue along its velvety softness.

She heard him sigh. “Oh, those stars. I see those now, too.” He pulled her head to his shoulder, wrapping his arms around her like he had dreamed of doing so many times before.