Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them…I just like to play with them once in a while and if I could, I'd love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with George and Jorja.
Author's Note: This started out as a response to my own challenge and it sort of grew from there. Also, I started writing this before baseball season started...so imagine with me if you will that the Mariners aren't doing so badly.
"And so you can see we've added a Mediterranean flair to our French Fries by drizzling them with a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkling them with just a dash of sea salt and layering them with feta cheese and Kalamata olives." Rachel Ray beamed on the TV as she described just another one the sides for her 30-Minute Meals
As the program went to a commercial, Nick flipped the channel in the break room, smiling as Suzanne Sommers came on the screen for a commercial for the Thigh Master.
"Just a few minutes a day and you'll work your way to thighs like this."
As Nick seemed to be ogling her thighs he felt something slap him upside the head. "Ouch!" He glanced up to find Warrick turning the TV off.
The tall lanky CSI raised a single eyebrow at him. "I suppose this fits into your master plan to get Sara to go out with you?" He gestured towards the TV.
Nick glared at him as he rubbed the side of his head. "Keep your voice down, man. She's not supposed to know."
"Well maybe that's the problem. You can't get a woman to go out with you if you never open your mouth." Warrick deadpanned him. He'd been at Nick for weeks to just ask Sara out and see what she said. He'd grown tired of Nick whining about how he never got to work with her anymore and how he never got to see her.
"I'm just waiting for the right moment." Nick gestured with his hands as he spoke, somehow trying to indicate that he didn't think there was ever going to be a right moment. "Besides, it seems like she's never alone anymore if you get my drift."
Warrick smirked. "Sanders?" It was no secret that the lab tech turned CSI seemed to have a thing for Sara, regardless of whether he was currently dating another girl.
"He bought her a CD." Nick snorted out in disgust. He seemed intent on wallowing in his own pity party.
Warrick chortled. "He gave her an American Idol CD." And anyone who had spent any amount of time with Sara outside of work knew that her tastes were much more eclectic than that.
"You're kidding." Nick looked at him in disbelief. "What was he thinking?" Even he knew that if you wanted to buy Sara music you had to think a little deeper than that; pop music wasn't exactly her thing.
"Probably the same thing he was thinking when he bought her a pair of goldfish that he wanted her to name Greg and Sara." Warrick was having a hard time not laughing. "Mork and Mindy were both floaters the next day."
A flash of recognition spread across Nick's face. "So that's what he was talking about."
Warrick quirked a single eyebrow at Nick. "Just get off your lazy ass and do something before she gets desperate enough to actually go out with Sanders." They all liked Greg; they just didn't think he was quite right for Sara.
"Hey, I'll have you know that I have a fine ass and it's far from lazy." Nick retorted as he stood up from the couch and turned around, giving himself a pat on the fanny to emphasize his point. It was only at that point that he realized that Sara had just walked up and was stifling a giggle. "Uh, hey, Sar." Nick just hoped that she hadn't heard what Warrick said.
Sara smirked and then glanced over at Warrick. "Uh, did I come at a bad time, or did you two want to be alone?"
Warrick let out a soft chuckle. "I was just leaving. I've got to go check up on those alligator shoes in DNA."
Sara looked at him oddly. "Alligator shoes?"
"Things got a little out of hand at a 70's themed club and right now I'm betting on the disco ball being the murder weapon." Warrick explained as he turned and sauntered out of the break room.
Nick suddenly felt his mouth go dry as he regarded Sara just looking at him with an amused smirk. "Hey."
Wow, Nick, did you think up that phrase all on your own? You're going to have to do better than that if you want Sara to go out with you. You might try listening to what she's saying instead of staring like an idiot.
"Nick?" Sara looked at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Nick swallowed hard.
Sara spoke slowly. "I said did you have some time to look something over for me? I need an extra set of eyes because I've been looking at these ink blot flash cards we found at our crime scene and I can't seem to make anything of them."
Nick snickered. "Don't you know that there's no wrong answer with those things?" He knew that's not what she was talking about, but he couldn't resist teasing her.
She pursed her lips together and smacked him on the arm as she tried to keep from smiling. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." She turned and headed out of the break room with Nick on her heels.
After reviewing the flash cards, Nick came to the same conclusion that Sara had. "I really don't think there's anything on these, Sar." He glanced at the array of other evidence spread out across the layout table. "What else do you have?"
Sara smirked as she began to pick up the items one by one. "One solar powered calculator, three rolls of undeveloped film, a membership card to the Pauly Shore fan club, a couple of overdue bills, a couple of pink post it notes, $437 in cash, and one very compromising photo of our vic and a lady friend." She arched her brows as she handed over the last item, chuckling as she noted the perplexed expression on Nick's face as he viewed it from several angles.
He looked over at her as he tossed the picture back on the table. "I'm not sure I even want to know how they did that, but do you have any leads on who the woman in the photo is?"
"Looking for a date?" Sara quipped as a smirk pulled at her lips.
"Very funny." Nick rolled his eyes as he considered the evidence before them.
Sara shook her head. "No, Greg is working on that right now." She let out a snicker. "I scanned her face and blotted out the rest so he wouldn't be too distracted."
Nick snorted. "Good thinking."
Ask her out you idiot. When are you going to have a better chance? You're alone, she's smiling, and she's been flirting. What do you have to lose? Uh, well, she might hate me after this, I'm not sure I could deal with that. I'd rather have her friendship than nothing.
"Nick?" Sara looked at him quizzically.
"Huh?" He glanced up wondering what she'd said this time when he zoned out.
"I was just wondering if you'd had some sort of epiphany." She gestured towards the evidence. "You were sort of spacing out."
"Uh, no, uh, sorry." He studied her for a moment and then took a deep breath. "Do you want to go out sometime?"
There it was, I just blurted it out like a moron, and the way she's looking at me I'm sure she's going to say 'no'.
Sara was dumbstruck and she fumbled with her words. "Uh, I'm sorry, what?" She wasn't sure she heard him clear; what with her heart beating furiously in her chest at what she thought he'd said.
Nick tried to calm his nerves and repeated himself a little slower as he looked directly at her. "Do you want to go out sometime? On a date I mean." He felt as if the pit of his stomach had sunk into his shoes as he waited for her to say something.
Sara just stared at him for a long moment as his words registered and then when she did speak her words wouldn't quite come out at first. "A date? Us?" She noted the pained expression on Nick's face and didn't want him to get the wrong idea. "When?" A tiny smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth as her stomach seemed intent on doing the Tango.
It occurred to Nick that when asking a woman out on a date, it is always a good idea to have a plan in mind first; otherwise you end up looking like an idiot, which is exactly how he felt until he seemed to grab a plan out of mid-air. "Uh, this weekend. Rangers are playing an exhibition game in Vegas."
"Is that baseball?" Sara wasn't really into sports, it wasn't that she didn't like them, she just didn't have the time to get emotionally involved in whether they won or lost and so she didn't even bother.
"Yeah." Nick found himself amused at her lack of sports knowledge. "Uh, they're a major league baseball team from Texas."
"Of course they are." Sara giggled nervously.
Nick realized that she still hadn't told him either way if she wanted to go, and he sure as hell hoped that Warrick would be understanding and give up his ticket to the game. "So, will you go?"
"Uh, sure." Sara felt strangely excited at the prospect of going to a baseball game, something she'd done exactly once in San Francisco when she was a small child. Her grandfather had taken her to a Giants game and she'd fallen asleep in the middle of the seventh inning.
"Great." Nick couldn't keep the smile off of his face. "It'll be great, you'll see."
Did she really say 'yes'? Sara Sidle is going out on a date with me? Ok, easy there; hand on the table; steady yourself before you pass out from excitement. Smile. She actually looks excited about going out with me. Alright, I still have it. The Stokes' charm even works on the lovely Sara Sidle.
"What time?" Sara tried to keep from looking too excited at the prospect of going out on a date with Nick, something that she'd wanted to do for a while, but never thought would actually happen.
"Five?" Nick reasoned that maybe they could go early and see a little batting practice.
"Ok." Sara was just staring at him, the perplexing case forgotten for the moment.
"I'll pick you up?" Nick wondered where he had suddenly found all of this super human courage from now that he was feeling confident and calm.
"Yeah, sure." She was grinning unapologetically now.
Warrick poked his head into the layout room, amused at the expressions on the faces of his two friends. "Did I come at a bad time?" He really needed Nick to help him with their case now that he had DNA results back.
Nick glanced over. "Uh, no."
"Nick was just helping me with something." Sara was still grinning and her face was starting to hurt.
"Ok, well, we got a DNA match and Brass is going to meet us at PD." Warrick gestured for Nick to follow him. As soon as they were out of earshot of Sara, Warrick glanced over and chuckled. "You finally did it, didn't you?"
"I'm not sure what you're talking about." Nick couldn't stop smiling.
"So where are you taking her?" Warrick lowered his voice a bit conspiratorially.
Nick suddenly looked a little apprehensive. "Uh, just how much do you want to go to that exhibition game on Saturday?"
Warrick's eyes widened. "You didn't?" He had been looking forward to this game for months and it was completely sold out.
"It was the first thing that came to my mind and it was out before I thought about the fact that the only ticket I had other than mine was yours." Nick hoped that Warrick would just give up the ticket without making a big deal out of it.
Warrick considered it as they walked out of the building towards his Denali before answering Nick. "You owe me, man. And don't think I won't collect."