Going Dutch
The place was unusually crowded for the time of day they had chosen. He hoped that Catherine would be able to find him in the crowd. This was the first time in over ten years that they had done this. Sure, they ate breakfast together on occasion, but that was usually at his place when they ended up working a little overtime. Going out was a way for both of them to do something different without any awkward moments that happen on dates. Although he fully admitted the awkward moments were primarily his problem.
Catherine sat out in the parking lot. Things had changed a lot since they last came here. She wondered if she could find Grissom in the crowd. Anyone who didn't know him would probably think it was easy to spot his 5'10" frame in a restaurant filled with children, but he had this ability to just blend into the background. She stepped out of her car and entered the eatery.
The din assaulted her ears as she stood in the front area trying to find Grissom. She spotted him in the back staring into the fish tank next to him. Part of her wished she could just stare at something without being disturbed by the sounds around her, but another part didn't think she could handle the world suddenly going silent.
The hand on his shoulder startled him. He hadn't even noticed that the restaurant had gotten quiet. He looked up at the owner of the hand and smiled. "Hey, you found me."
"Yeah, sorry it took me so long. You blended in with the fish tank."
Grissom chuckled. This was what their relationship was about. Good friends that knew everything about each other and things were always changing between them. "I thought it only fitting. Last time you were the one hiding by the back wall, next to the pinball machine."
"It was less crowded there," Catherine defended. "It wasn't my fault that I forgot that the pinball tournament was just about to start." Grissom laughed and was joined shortly by her. They were still chuckling when the waitress arrived to take their orders.
They looked so comfortable with each other. The waitress almost didn't want to disturb them, but the guy had been here for twenty minutes waiting for her. "Welcome to Untitled. My name is Aevian and I'll your server today." She paused to give the couple a moment to collect themselves. "Are you ready to order?"
Grissom looked at Catherine before speaking up. "Two warm eggnogs and a pumpkin pie."
"A whole pie?" Aevian asked skeptically. When both nodded their head, she wrote it down and left, returning moments later with some water.
After the food and beverages arrived, they ate in silence for a while. Catherine was the first to break the not so quiet silence between them. "Do you really want to come to Thanksgiving with Lindsey and me?"
Grissom hadn't really thought about it since he offered. At the time, he was trying to get her to look at him and tell him that she was all right. But now, he found that he liked the idea of sharing the entire holiday with her. Catherine started to worry that he wasn't going to answer and was about to tell him to forget it when he found his voice. "Yeah, I do."
Catherine smiled shyly at the thought of Grissom, her best friend and boss, acting as her protector. She just hoped that everything would go smoothly. Deciding that it would be best if she tried to prepare him for her family, she began going over everything that Rachel had told her about their aunts and cousins. An hour and a half later, they decided that it was time to leave the restaurant.
"Cath, I want you to try something for me," Grissom set the carryout box that contained his portion of the left over pie on the roof of his car and opened a silver container. Catherine, although knowing better than to blindly taste something that Grissom offered, took a piece of translucent candy from the tin and popped it into her mouth. Moments later she made a face as the sourness of the candy registered. Grissom got into his car quickly to protect himself and laughed as he rolled down his window.
"Gotcha!" He tossed Catherine the silver tin before taking off. She looked at it and had to laugh. The last time they ate here, she introduced him to the peppermint flavor of Altoids by innocently asking if he wanted a mint. He paid her pack with the same trick essentially and she had walked right into it. She pocketed the tin of Citrus Sours and got into her car. As she drove home, she thought of ways to get back at him.