Terror Twins, Inc.

Chapter 9

Catherine and Grissom return to their room for Catherine to change into her dinner dress. She quickly grabs her dress from the closet and goes into the bathroom. While she is dressing, Grissom takes the time to put on a dark blue tie. The tie contrasts with the light blue of his dress shirt and is the same color as his blazer. Both the shirt and tie set off the blue in his eyes and make them brighter.

In the bathroom Catherine strips off her clothing and pulls the dress out of its bag. Standing there in the harsh light of the bathroom, she appraises herself in the mirror. “Yep, I look okay,” she thinks as she notes the bright red thong. “Gil, should like this when he takes off the dress later tonight.” She slides into the dress and smoothes it into place. She adjusts the halter straps and makes sure the plunge line is plunging in the right place. She doesn’t want the girls to make a premature entrance. When she has everything tucked into the right places, she freshens up her makeup and exits the bathroom.

“Okay, Gil. I’m ready,” she tells his back.

Turning around to face her, Grissom takes a huge breath. Catherine is stunning. The red halter dress fits snugly around her body accentuating every curve. The neckline plunges almost to her navel with just a few criss-crossing strings in the middle to hold the neckline together. The skirt is lightly flared as it caresses her legs and stops just below the knee. To match the dress she is wearing red stilettos and has chosen to wear a gold chain with a diamond starfish and simple earrings to go with it.

“My God, Catherine,” Grissom gasps.

Twirling in front of him, Catherine asks, “Do you like?”

“Catherine, you’re going to turn every man into Pavlov’s dogs tonight and I’m going to have to beat them off of you with a stick.”

Catherine saunters over to Grissom and winds her arms around his neck. “You’re the only man I want.”

“That’s good. I just hope I don’t have to hurt anyone tonight,” he tells her as he softly kisses her.

“You won’t.”

They break apart and leave the room. As they are walking down the hallway, one man turns to stare at Catherine.

“See, I told you,” Grissom whispers to her as they wait for the elevator.

Catherine laughs at him and blows him a small raspberry as the elevator doors open up. Entering the elevator behind her, Grissom laughs, “Oh that’s mature, Cath.” They hold hands as the elevator descends. When the elevator reaches the lobby they get off and head for the dining room.

When Catherine and Grissom reach the reception room, they glance around and see that no one is seated yet. Looking to her right, Catherine spies the bar and tugs Grissom in that direction. The same spiky haired bartender walks up to them.

“How may I help you tonight?” Ava asks

“First, I’d like to say thank you. You were so helpful to me the other night,” Catherine tells Ava.

“I’m glad things worked out,” Ava says as she smiles at Catherine and then at Grissom.

“It did. You gave me great advice.”

“You’re welcome. Now what can I get you? Another screwdriver?”

“A screwdriver and a…Do you want scotch on the rocks, Gil?” Catherine asks unsure of what Grissom wants.

“Yes. That’s fine,” Grissom tells her.

“One screwdriver and one scotch coming right up,” Ava says as she departs.

“What was that all about?” Grissom asks Catherine.

“The other night, after we had problems and before you showed up, Ava gave me some advice concerning you.”

“Oh? What was that?”

“To talk to you and she was right. I was so angry I don’t think I would have talked to you if it hadn’t been for her.”

“In that case, I’m glad she was there for you then,” Grissom says as he wraps his arms around Catherine’s waist. Snuggling close, they wait for Ava to return with their drinks. When Ava returns, she sees the pair snuggled together.

“You know, its nice you two took my advice to heart,” Ava tells them as she sets the drinks down on the bar. “You’d be surprise how few people actually do listen to me.”

This time its Grissom’s turn to say thank you to Ava. “I appreciate you being there for Catherine the other night. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”

Reaching into his pocket, Grissom digs out his wallet and pays the tab. Like Catherine, he leaves Ava a generous tip.

Catherine and Grissom pick up their drinks and walk away from the bar. As they stroll around the room, they see very few people that they know. The dining tables are placed near the back of the room, so they wander in that direction. When they find their seats, they sit down. Catherine idly picks up the name card for the person sitting next to her.

“Damn!” she exclaims as she sets the card back down.

“What?”

“Guess who’s coming to dinner?”

“Jason,” Grissom sighs.

“Yep, the one and only. What do you two have against each other anyway?”

“Jason and I were both in LA at the same time. He always resented the fact that I moved up in our field faster than he did. He was less politic than I am,” Grissom informs her.

“Wow. Its hard to believe that there can be anyone less politic than you.”

“Catherine…” his voice a warning.

Raising her hands up in defense, Catherine responds, “I’m kidding, Gil.”

“I know,” he says as he reaches for her hand.

“Ah, isn’t this sweet, the two lovebirds,” Jason states as he sits next to Catherine.

“Jason,” Catherine and Grissom say simultaneously.

“I’m really surprised to see you here, Gil. I didn’t think you ever left the lab.”

“I get out once in awhile,” Grissom tells him as he takes a sip of his scotch.

“I can see that. So, Catherine, what do you do?”

“I’m a CSI supervisor. You obviously didn’t hear my presentation,” she says coldly.

“I’m afraid I didn’t. I try to be fussy about which presentations I view.”

“Well, you missed out on a very good one,” Grissom informs him.

“I’m sure I did,” Jason responds eyeing Catherine. “Which lab do you work at?”

“Las Vegas.”

“Ooh, now I know how you and Gil met. Isn’t that against office policies?”

“Only if it’s a supervisor and an employee. We’re both supervisors,” Grissom informs him.

“How convenient,” Jason sneers.

At that point other diners begin to arrive at the table. Grissom and Catherine turn their attention to the other people and try to avoid talking to Jason. They chat with the other guests about mundane things. A waiter arrives and places their dinner down in front of them.

Leaning towards Grissom, Catherine whispers, “You’re right. He is an ass.”

Smiling, Grissom says, “I told you so.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Jason chimes in.

“I was just saying how good this dinner looks,” Catherine says pointing down at her plate of chicken.

“Of course,” Jason responds.

As everyone begins to eat, the conversation quiets. Catherine takes this time to gently rub her leg against Grissom’s leg. Looking at her with a quirked eyebrow, Grissom lightly shakes his head no. Catherine, amused at the look on his face, drops her hand beneath the tablecloth and lightly massages his leg near his groin. Grissom inhales sharply and almost drops his fork.

“You okay, buddy?” Jason asks.

“I’m fine,” Grissom croaks as he shoots Catherine a warning glare.

Catherine, oblivious to Grissoms glare, looks over at Jason and polity asks him, “Tell me about your lab.”

“I’m the head of the forensics lab in Fresno,” Jason smugly informs her.

“Oh, that’s nice. Tell me about your lab. Do you have your own DNA equipment or do you have to send everything out?”

“We send everything out. We find it more efficient that way.”

“Hmm, that’s interesting. Our lab has its own DNA equipment and the results come faster than if we send it out to another lab. You are hooked up into CODIS aren’t you?”

“No,” Jason glares at her.

“Ah, well, if you’re still sending DNA out I can understand why you don’t have CODIS. You wouldn’t have the need because the other lab could do it for you,” Catherine says as she delicately forks a small piece of chicken into her mouth.

Jason glares at her and then looks at Grissom, “I can see why the two of you get along so well.”

“Oh, why is that Jason?” Grissom asks with a smile on his face.

“You’re both…” he begins but stops abruptly when the waitress comes to remove their plates. After the plates are cleared, Catherine asks Grissom, “Would you like to go get another drink?”

“That sounds wonderful,” Grissom tells her as he stands and pulls the chair out for her.

As they start to walk away, Catherine turns to Jason, “It was so lovely talking to you. I hope to see you later.” In response, Jason just glares at her and Grissom, and waves them off.

When they reach the bar, Catherine looks at Grissom, “You know, he reminds me of Ecklie.”

“Yes, there is a certain similarity to them,” Grissom agrees.

“That was so much fun. I’ve always wanted to do something like that to Ecklie, but just couldn’t.”

“Well, I hope you enjoyed yourself. I suspect I might hear about it some where down the line.”

“Why do you say that, Gil?” Catherine asks with concern in her voice.

“I think Jason and Ecklie are friends.”

“Oh…Damn, I wish I’d known that.”

“Don’t worry. It was worth it to watch Jason squirm,” Grissom grins at her.

Catherine smiles back at him as Ava walks over to them.

“Another round?”

“Yes, please.”

As they wait patiently for the drinks, the band begins to play. The bar faces the dance floor with the band being to the right of them. There are small tables littered around the outside edge of the dance floor. Each table has a small centerpiece with a lit candle inside of it. When Ava returns with their drinks they wander over to the tables and claim one. Other couples are rapidly following them and soon all the tables are filled. Fortunately, Catherine and Grissom had gotten there quickly enough that they were able to get one of the few tables set for two people only.

“I’m glad we got this table,” Grissom states.

“Why?”

“There’s no place for Jason to sit,” Grissom smirks. Listening to the music, they fall into a comfortable silence. Holding hands, they are quiet content to gaze at each other over the top of the candlelight.

“This light reminds me of the other night by the fire,” Grissom tells her.

“Oh?”

“Mm-hmm, when we were sitting there and the light was playing in your hair I wanted to run my fingers through your hair so badly. You looked so beautiful by the fire.”

“Thank you, Gil,” Catherine responds with a slight blush to her cheeks.

“Would you like to dance?” he asks as a slow song begins to play.

“I’d love that.”

Standing up, Grissom shrugs off his jacket and drapes it over the back of the chair. He sees Catherine is giving him a questioning glance.

“To save our table,” he tells her.

“Ah, smart,” Catherine says with a smile on her face.

Reaching behind Catherine, Grissom gently draws the chair out for her and helps her up. He takes her hand and leads her out onto the lightly filled dance floor. He pulls her into his arms and she rests her head against his chest. Her left arm circles around behind his neck and she begins to finger the soft skin and curls there. His hand slides down the bare skin of her back and his fingertips gently caress the skin he finds exposed. With her head against his chest, she can hear him softly humming to the music and she smiles. His lips dip down and he places a soft kiss on the top of her head.

“I love you, Catherine,” she can hear his deep tenor voice tell her.

Reaching up to his ear, she places a soft kiss on his neck. “I know, Gil. I love you too.” She settles back down against him and they continue to dance. They are so wrapped up in each other that they fail to hear that song end and another one begin. When the second song is over, they break apart and walk hand in hand back to their table. Sitting down, they each take a sip of their drinks.

“How long do you want to stay here, Catherine?” Grissom asks his voice husky.

Looking at him, she can see the desire and responds, “I’m ready. Lets go.”

Taking her hand he leads her away from the party and back to their room.

TBC…