Title: Another Day at the Office
Disclaimer: Talk to Jerry. I don’t
own them.
Rating: Uh…PG-13…maybe.
Spoilers: Absolutely none. Canon
doesn’t apply to my little fantasy world.
A/N: As always, my heartfelt
thanks to zigpal and Ivy.
A/N2: Submitted for the Cath Sara
Idolatry Grand Opening Challenge. The parameters are below:
Write a story about our favorite
two ladies using the following words/sentences:
- “I’ve never been here before.”
- Pineapple
- Fireplace
- “Did you see that pile up on the I-15?”
- Baseball
- “You did what?!?”
Whether Catherine and Sara are already together is up to you. You can make the
story as long or as short as you like. Start your story with:
Lindsey was sitting outside the front door, eagerly waiting for…
***
Lindsey was sitting outside the front door, eagerly waiting for Catherine, when Sara pulled their Tahoe into the lot. “Hey, I didn’t know Linds had the day off school.”
“She didn’t.” Clicking open the seat belt, Catherine leapt out of the vehicle and trotted across the sidewalk. “What are you doing here?” Sara heard the other woman ask her daughter.
Lindsey’s face fell and she scowled at the top of her tennis shoes. Her lips moved, but her response was too soft to hear from inside the vehicle.
Rolling her eyes at Catherine’s typical lack of tact, Sara turned off the engine and climbed out. She walked slowly, not happy about becoming embroiled in the increasingly heated argument between Catherine and Lindsey.
“I asked you a question, young lady. It’s a school day, and I know you didn’t get a ride from your Aunt Nancy. How did you get here?” Catherine demanded. She leaned in close to Lindsey and shook her finger in Lindsey’s increasingly flushed face.
“Cath,” Sara warned softly, “give her a chance to answer you.”
She took a step back at the angry glares she got from both Willows women in response.
Finally, Lindsey and Catherine went back to looking at each other, and Sara sagged. Wow. That had been scary.
“Why does it matter, Mom? It’s not like I’ve never been here before.” Lindsey stood up, arms crossed defensively over her chest. “Besides, Uncle Gil told me I could visit anytime.”
Uncle Gil, Sara thought, would run screaming from the building when Catherine found him. She edged around Catherine and Lindsey, yanking open the door. “I’m gonna go talk to Nick. See if he has the results from the ballistics test.” She fled inside, not caring if she looked like a coward. One pissed off Willows was bad. Two? That was a nightmare.
She strode down the hallway to the break room. Their shift was ending. Nick would be only one place.
Sitting on the couch in front of the television, he bumped Warrick with his shoulder as he manipulated the game controller in his hands. “Eat my dust, man. I’m gonna win this one by a mile!”
Sara grinned and walked closer. Sure enough, the red car she assumed was Nick’s zipped across the checkered pavement on their virtual racecourse.
“Damn it. You cheated, bumping me like that in the corner.” Warrick stood up and tossed his own controller onto the coffee table. “Next time, you won’t get me like that.” Winking at Sara, he stalked off.
Nick was anything but upset. He turned to Sara. “You up next? I’m ready to take you down, too.”
“Not right now. I’m on a mercy mission.” Dropping onto the couch next to Nick, she grabbed the remote and changed the channel. The video game disappeared in favor of the morning news.
“Who needs saving?” Nick started to put away the game equipment. “Not me. I haven’t gotten on Cath’s bad side in weeks.” With a knowing look, he asked. “What’d you do this time?”
Sara smacked his arm. “I didn’t do anything,” she protested. Not this time. Keeping that to herself, Sara continued, “Lindsey showed up. She was waiting outside when we pulled in. Cath wasn’t happy.”
“Maybe I can cheer Cath up.” Sara turned at Greg’s comment, and her eyes shot wide open. “I mean, I’m having a good day. I’m willing to share some of the happy times.”
Out of the corner of her mouth, Sara asked Nick, “Do I want to know why Greg has a pineapple on his head?”
Doing a very creditable hula, Greg answered her. “I am wearing a one of a kind headdress. It belonged to Janet Boyd when she did her comeback tour in ’75.” Flinging his head back and his arms out, he posed. “What do you think?”
In the silence that followed, Sara heard the tinny voice of a news reporter. “Tina, did you see that pile up on I-15? Let’s go to…” Clearing her throat, she drowned out the rest of the report. “I think…”
Grissom was coming down the hall.
“Dude,” Nick must have seen him, too. “You need to get that thing off your head before you lose your job.”
Greg yanked the headdress off and stuffed it into one of the cabinets with the coffee supplies seconds before Grissom wandered in. He whipped around and smiled at Grissom. “Good morning.” His voice was too loud, and he froze.
“Something wrong, Greg?” Grissom asked mildly. He peered around the room. “Did I miss a memo? Why is everyone in the break room? Don’t we have work to do?”
“Shift’s over, Gris.” Nick, at least, didn’t appear to be phased by Grissom’s presence. “But now that you mentioned work, I’m gonna hit the door. My neighbor’s kid plays baseball for the LVBA, and I promised I’d check out their game this afternoon.” He stood up and stretched. “Hope you and Cath make up, Sara. Me and ‘Rick always get the fallout when you two are fighting.”
Sara thought about trying to explain. It didn’t seem worth it, though, as Nick waved and walked out. Movement in the hallway behind him alerted Sara that Catherine and Lindsey had made it inside. She got ready for battle.
“Hey, Linds.” Greg, of course, was the first to greet the duo. He bounced across the room and scooped Lindsey up. They waltzed across the room to the sound of Lindsey’s giggles.
Deciding to stop cowering on the couch, Sara got up and joined Catherine at the door. “Everything OK?” she asked softly, wrapping her arms around the other woman. She knew the answer before Catherine said anything by the way Catherine leaned into her. “Baby?”
“Not here. Let’s go to my office, and I’ll tell you.” Catherine stepped away and took Sara’s hand. “Gil and Greg will keep Lindsey out of trouble for a few minutes.” She led them down the hallway to her office – a tiny lab no one else liked to use.
The door closed behind them.
“Lindsey’s not pregnant, is she?” The words burst out of Sara before she could censor them.
Her face burned when Catherine laughed raucously.
Lips twitching in reluctant response, Sara pulled Catherine back into her arms. “OK. Dumb question.” Resting her chin on Catherine’s shoulder, she nibbled on her neck. “If that’s not it, why the tension between you two in the break room and the need for a private conversation?”
Catherine shifted a little, fishing something out of her back pocket. “She came to tell me she’d gotten us an anniversary present.” She handed Sara a much-folded brochure.
Reading the information required a little separation. Sara moved just far enough away to open the glossy pamphlet. “Las Vegas Luxury Suites?” she read out loud. “Cath, why did Lindsey give you this?” Another terrible thought entered her mind. “She’s getting married, isn’t she?”
“Sara!” Catherine pulled completely away. “Lindsey’s twelve. She’s not pregnant and she isn’t getting married. She and her grandmother conspired to rent us a suite so we could celebrate our anniversary.”
“Oh.” That did make more sense than Lindsey getting married. She looked at the brochure with more interest. “Hey, did you see that each suite has its own fireplace and fifty inch television?”
A hand wiggled into the back pocket of Sara’s jeans. “You want to watch television on our anniversary?” Catherine’s right eyebrow rose. “Are you sure we’ll make it to number two?”
Sara hurried to make up for her mistake. “I was reading, Cath. That’s what it said in the brochure. No way do I care about the plasma and the fireplace.” She relaxed when Catherine’s eyebrow descended.
“Good. I was worried there for a second. After all, Lindsey got the suite because I told her…” Catherine leaned in and whispered in Sara’s ear.
Sara’s strident, “You did what?” echoed in the hallway outside the lab.
THE END