The Event of the Year

‘Hello, Gil.’

‘What are you doing here, Ecklie?’ asked Grissom wearily.

Ecklie leant on the doorframe and smirked.

‘Just supervising, doing my job- and getting ready for the party tonight. Do you have a date yet?’

‘What party?’

‘Typical Gil. Oh, and I’m taking Sofia,’ said Ecklie, and sauntered away. Even his walk was self-satisfied. Grissom wrote ‘Party. Remember’ on a sheet of paper, and then turned it over and used it to record the results of his experiment.

A couple of hours later, Grissom wandered into the break room to find Catherine snapping her phone shut.

‘I can’t believe Gary’ she said angrily. ‘He’s cancelled on me! Just like that!’

‘Cancelled what?’ asked Grissom.

‘Grissom! The party tonight, remember?’

‘Oh, yes’ said Grissom vaguely. ‘The party. I think Ecklie’s taking Sofia.’ Then he picked up his coffee and went back to his office, passing Sara on the way.

‘Who’s Gary?’ asked Warrick from his chair.

‘My date’ said Catherine bitterly. ‘My ex-date, as of this moment. Who are you taking, by the way?’

‘I haven’t decided yet. I’m considering my options.’

‘Do I make the shortlist?’

‘I don’t know. Would you like to?’ asked Warrick with a smile.

‘The party’s going to be terrible’ said Greg gloomily to Catherine and Sara. ‘My date backed out at the last minute as well.’

‘I bet you never had a date at all’ said Sara. Greg glared at her.

‘Of course, if one of you two lovely ladies wanted to join me-’

‘Don’t even try it’ said Catherine. ‘What about you, Sara? Do you have anyone?’

‘No’ said Sara shortly. Catherine looked at her.

Catherine walked past Grissom’s office a little while later and looked in. He was sitting at his desk, dropping crumbs into a jar of beetles.

‘Grissom,’ she said, ‘What are you doing?’

Grissom looked up. ‘Feeding these little guys. Did you know that-’

‘No, I mean- why aren’t you getting ready for the party? It starts in half an hour.’

‘What party?’

‘Focus, Grissom. Is that too much to ask? For the last time, there is a CSI party tonight. We are all going to it, and you are going to it. Sara will be there, so you need to get ready.’

‘Why- why would I care that Sara will be there?’

Catherine sighed. ‘Come on, Grissom,’ she said.

‘Does anyone have a date?’ asked Greg in the locker room.

‘Nope’ said Nick.

‘Actually, I think Doc Robbins is bringing his wife’ said Sara.

Catherine walked in, Grissom trailing behind her.

‘All right,’ she said, ‘I’m going to help you out here. Since you can’t manage to find dates, you can’t complain. Grissom, you’re going with Sara. Nick and Greg- I’ve always thought you’d make a handsome couple. Nicky, give Greg your arm and you’ll look just lovely.’

‘What about me?’ asked Warrick.

‘Oh, I forgot. You’re coming with me’ said Catherine with a grin.

‘Um-’ said Grissom to Sara.

‘Shall we go?’ asked Catherine.

‘I like this party’ said Greg a while later. ‘I like tequila. I like everyone!’

‘That’s good, Greggo,’ said Nick. ‘Keep it up.’

‘I’m the Incredible Shazam!’ said Greg. ‘I am invincible!’ Several people turned to look at him. ‘Look. If I do this, I just float up into the air and-’ He fell over. Nick leant over him in consternation.

‘Nick is pretty’ said Greg to the room at large.

‘I think you’d better pass me some of that tequila, Greggo’ said Nick.

‘Let’s dance’ said Catherine to Warrick.

‘Are you by any chance trying to take advantage of me?’ asked Warrick.

‘You wish. Anyway, you’re a big boy now. I think you can handle it if I was,’ said Catherine, finishing her drink and leading Warrick onto the dance floor.

‘I hate parties’ said Grissom to Sara. They were sitting at a table on the edge of the room. They watched a group of lab technicians building a scale model of a DNA molecule from straws.

‘I hate CSI parties’ said Sara.

‘I’m sorry. I stand corrected’ said Grissom, pouring himself some more wine.

Greg and Nick began to dance the conga. Doc Robbins and his wife joined in. Grissom allowed himself to look at Sara, who was watching the conga line grow. She looked beautiful. Her left earring- a butterfly- brushed her cheek and her dress was cut just a little low, so he could see-

‘Grissom?’ he jumped. ‘Are you all right?’ He looked up. Sara was staring at him. She grinned. ‘You looked- a little distant’ she said.

‘Sorry. I was thinking about something else,’ he said, blushing. ‘Have some more wine.’

‘Oh no,’ Sara said loudly, waving her hand at him, ‘you can’t buy me off like that, just admit-’

‘You look like you’re having a good time’ said Ecklie from next to them. They started.

‘You do creep up on people’ said Grissom. ‘It isn’t very social, you know.’

For some reason, Sara found this very funny. ‘Grissom doesn’t like you very much’ she told Ecklie. ‘I don’t like you either.’

‘Sit down and have some wine, Ecklie’ said Grissom.

Greg congaed by, followed by Nick, Doc Robbins, his wife, Hodges, Mia, Archie, and a whole lot of people who Grissom could swear he’d never set eyes on before.

‘Join in!’ Greg shouted. ‘I love you, Ecklie!’

‘Someone likes you’ said Grissom. ‘Isn’t that nice? Where is Sofia, by the way?’

Ecklie bristled and turned to Sara, a smile plastered on his face.

‘You’ve got no chance, Ecklie,’ Greg called happily from the dance floor. ‘Grissom’s much prettier than you. I love you, Grissom!’ And he congaed away.

Ecklie stalked away, frowning.

Grissom tried not to look at Sara, and ended up looking at Catherine and Warrick, who were busy dirty dancing in a corner of the room. He looked away in embarrassment and met Sara’s eyes.

‘Would you like to dance?’ she asked. Grissom glanced back at Catherine and Warrick in horror. ‘Not like that,’ she said quickly, ‘just- dancing. Come on, quickly, before the wine wears off.’

Grissom hesitated. And then, without really knowing what he was doing, he stood up, took Sara’s hand and led her onto the dance floor. He thought he might be dreaming- the wine and Greg’s tequila had made him a little dizzy- and then Sara put her arms around him and it really was like a dream. He slid his arms around her waist, and was glad that she couldn’t see him smiling. Sara shifted, just a little, so their cheeks touched each other.

Doc Robbins jabbed Nick in the back and pointed. ‘Look’ he said. Nick looked, and then spun Greg around so he could see. Greg cheered. The conga line stopped so everyone could get a better view of Grissom and Sara. Grissom and Sara, who were actually touching. And not only that, but slow dancing together. Even Warrick and Catherine paused in their activities just long enough to witness the incredible sight.

Grissom didn’t notice any of this. His entire being was busy registering that Sara’s hair was brushing his collarbone, and her hands were around his neck. He suddenly became dimly aware that someone else was trying to get his attention. Catherine and Warrick had gyrated up to them, and Catherine was leaning back and whispering in his ear. ‘Kiss her’ she said quietly.

Grissom spent most of the next week arguing that it had been a direct order, and most of the rest of his life telling Sara that he’d have got around to it someday, even if Catherine hadn’t intervened. At any rate, the wine and the tequila and Sara’s hair and her hands around his neck and her cheek against his and Catherine’s words in his ear made him turn his face to Sara’s and kiss her. It was far better than anything he’d ever imagined, and he was so delighted that it took him a little while to notice the noise that seemed to be coming from all around them. He turned away from Sara and saw Catherine, Warrick, Nick, Greg, Doc Robbins, Mia and Archie applauding them. He would have been embarrassed, but just then Sara put her arms around him again and pulled him round to face her, and he forgot everything else.

Afterwards, everyone except Ecklie agreed that it had been the event of the year. Sara and Catherine became much better friends, Catherine and Warrick became much better friends, and Greg took things quite well, considering.