This is the most amount of reviews I have gotten yet! Thank you everyone! 
But here we go... the confrontation! :devil:
Chapter 18: The Ultimatum
He spotted her walking towards him and smiled. She grabbed his arm and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek.
“You look incognito.”
“What? The sunglasses?”
“And the dark jacket and the hair hiding your face. Come to think of it the look suits you. Makes you look very sexy,” he gave her a smoldering stare. Well, he tried to. It just ended up looking more silly than seductive.
“You think I look sexy in
anything,” she smirked.
“True. Very true.”
“Wanna go back to your place or…?”
“Actually, how about a stroll in the park? It’s a nice day and there aren’t too many people around.”
She agreed and linked her arm in his.
They slowly walked around the grassy fields and paved roads, pausing every now and then to look at a flower or bird. It was a nice nature walk that let both of them display their knowledge of botany and ornithology. Greg was feeling pretty good about the day when he suddenly spotted a car that seemed all too recognizable.
“Couldn’t be…”
“What’s wrong, Greggo?”
He looked over to Sara and frowned.
“I thought I saw something…”
“What?”
When he looked over to where the car was, he saw that it was gone. There was nothing there.
“Never mind. Let’s check out the pond.”
She agreed and proposed a friendly race. Loser has to do whatever the winner suggests. He let her take the lead, knowing a short cut. Jogging along, he couldn’t get the car out of his head. Maybe it was his imagination, or maybe it was another car that looked similar to…
“Grissom?”
It was no imagination. He definitely saw the black SUV and ran over to tell Sara. She managed to beat him by a few seconds, but he had other worries.
“Sara I saw Grissom’s car.”
She looked confused, “What? Are you sure?”
He nodded, “Black SUV. Some of the letters matched his license plate!”
“Some?”
“Yeah. Well, I didn’t get to read the whole plate, but the first three letters-”
“Greg, you’re getting worked up over nothing. There are a ton of black SUVs in Vegas. Did you actually see him in the car?”
“No…”
“You see? Besides, what would he be doing here at the park?”
He relaxed a bit, but still felt nervous.
“I guess you’re right.”
“Now if I’m not mistaken, I beat you here and you owe me something.”
“What would you like me to do?” He was feeling better already.
“Just a kiss will do.”
He was grinning and wrapped his arms around her as he pressed his lips onto hers. He didn’t let go and neither did she. As his hand snaked down to grope her lower region, he heard a small rustling and a loud voice that made their blood run cold.
“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!”
They jumped back from each other in a split second looking like two deer caught in headlights. Greg was right after all. Gil Grissom was there, staring at him with an almost murderous glare. He never thought he would hear Grissom yell like that, and he felt his heart rise into his throat but tried not to let it affect him. His legs started to weaken and he looked around to brace himself.
Should he run? Plead for mercy? Maybe he should brave his wrath for Sara’s sake. She looked as terrified and shocked as he felt.
“Sara, I want an explanation, and I want it
now.”
At least his voice was lower. Almost deathly calm.
She didn’t say a thing. She didn’t move, and she scarcely breathed. He was surprised she didn’t collapse or even cry out.
“I’m waiting, Sara.”
He wanted to speak on her behalf, but nothing he said would help. He knew that Grissom didn’t want to hear from the 'other man'.
“I… I just…”
She was stumbling over her words, but at least she was saying something.
“We were just…”
She looked over at him, but he had no idea what to do. She knew she was on her own, and he just wished she’d forgive him for leaving her to face Grissom alone, so to speak.
Sara took a deep breath and finally formed a coherent sentence.
“There have been a lot of problems in our marriage and I let it get to me. I was under a lot of stress and then... things happened. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
Greg didn’t say anything. Neither did Grissom.
“I shouldn’t have done what I did, but one thing led to another and… I never wanted to hurt you. I was just angry, and alienated, and I felt lonely. I know I shouldn’t have done something so stupid. It was a moment of weakness on my part.”
Greg paid close attention to her words. They caught him by surprise. She made it seem like he was just an itch she needed to scratch. A sort of twisted relationship formed because she was stressed out and he was ‘around.’
He wasn’t her concern. He never was. It hurt.
Sara spoke as if he weren’t even there, and in a way he wasn’t. He was never part of her life. He was just her secret; he was her fall back guy.
Grissom’s face was a blank mask, devoid of emotion.
Greg didn’t bother to see what else Sara had to say. He walked off into the grove of nearby trees and almost ran back home. Then his damned curiosity kicked in and he had to sit down. Listening carefully to the marriage quarrel.
“How long has this been going on?”
“A while,” she didn’t bother to lie.
“Do you … love him?”
She took her time in answering, “I don’t know. Do you still care about me?”
“When I got home earlier, I was feeling so optimistic. I thought I finally got things right. I was going to tell you how much I loved you and I was willing to work to save our marriage.”
“But now…?”
His voice was so low, Greg had to strain to hear it. “Now I’m not sure it’s even worth saving.”
Her voice grew soft. It nearly broke him but Greg listened on.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you in any way. I still have feelings for you. I always did.”
He saw Grissom take a few steps toward her.
“Sara, I want you to make a decision. If you’re not sure of who you want I suggest you think long and hard about it. Pick him. Pick me. Either way, you have to make some kind of decision. If there’s any chance of saving what we have, it has to be all or nothing. You either love me completely, or we take our own separate roads.”
Once again Sara was speechless.
Greg saw his worthy rival walk away, looking worn and defeated. It was a strange sight to see the man he once feared, and even looked up to, leave so crushed.
It was even stranger to practically feel sympathetic towards the older man.
And there you go. It all boils down to this; who should Sara choose? Greg is even feeling some kind of pity for poor old Grissom but Sara shouldn’t stay with him out of pity - even if she does have feelings for him! Many of you seem to want Greg to get her, but it would be quite unexpected if Grissom got her.
Ohhhh... I keep teetering back and forth!
