A Few Days Chapter 1
Gil Grissom could not remember a time when he had laughed as he had last night. Two women, two young women, had started this—making his head hurt from listening to their constant back and forth conversation, playing off each other, and giggling, dragging him along streets and into restaurants and bars.
He was waiting for them to arrive, watching the doors below open and close as the morning sun reflected on the marble floor.
The day before, he had been one of a dozen speakers at the forensic seminar when a tall, slim young brunette stood to ask a question at the end of his session. He answered her question, and she asked another, much to the annoyance of those waiting to ask other questions, he answered it which led to another question. A man behind her made a loud huffing sound which was picked up by the microphone. Grissom asked the young woman if she would meet him afterwards for additional discussion. She turned to glare at the man behind her before returning to her chair.
She did wait—along with her friend. From that point, he had not stopped laughing except to sleep. The two had introduced themselves as criminalists from San Francisco—he knew their boss—had even called the man to see if these two were who they said they were.
"They are! Gil Grissom, do not even think about taking my girls to Las Vegas!" Had been the man's response to his question. "Sara is probably the smartest person I've ever hired—and totally fearless. Paula is sharp. The two of them are like bloodhounds." He laughed as he related one case the two had solved quickly, before they left the scene, which the detectives were still talking about.
The questions and answers continued to a coffee shop with non-stop talking for two hours. He had to leave them for a pre-arranged dinner. Hours later, he heard the two women laughing when he rounded a corner and found them drinking with others and a hand reached out for his arm.
"Dr. Grissom, we've found you again!" The dark haired Sara drew him into the group introducing him as the Bugman. The late hour did not dampen the excitement and enthusiasm of this group. Only later did he realize they all worked the night or graveyard shift and the late hours was their usual work time.
As the group disbanded, Sara and Paula paired up to leave saying they were going for real food and with some encouragement, took him along. In their hometown environment, they boarded a city bus—almost empty at this hour—sliding a pass twice to pay for his ride, and jumping off blocks later in front of a diner. Inside, the two girls ordered chocolate cake and ice cream and strawberries. The pieces of cake were huge; the ice cream was piled high; the strawberries as large as the spoon. He knew these slim creatures could not eat that much. He was wrong.