Here we have some thinking on Sara's side. Sorta what I went through to decide if she should stick with Griss or go with Greg!
Chapter 19: The Debate
Everything she dreamt of was falling to pieces before her eyes.
When she got married, she thought her romantic woes were over. Now she had to choose between the two men she cared about most.
This was why she found herself in front of
her house. Sara rang the doorbell before she could back out.
The door opened, “Sara? How nice to see you.”
“Hi Catherine. I have a huge problem, and I need some advice.”
“Come in.”
The house was big and beautiful. Sara was vaguely reminded of her own large house, but she quickly cleared that thought out of her head. It wasn’t going to help her now.
“What’s up?”
Sara frowned and nervously sat down in the chair closest to her.
“You’re not going to like this but I hope you don’t judge me too harshly…”
Catherine nodded, observing how tense Sara looked.
“You can tell me. Who am I to judge?”
Sara explained everything. From the first time in the bar to the shocking discovery and confrontation between the two men. And now she could no longer avoid the two ultimatums given by both Greg and her husband.
Catherine was blown away. It took her a moment to regain her level-headedness, and when she did, she just told her the first thing that came to mind.
“I cannot believe this! This sounds like one hell of a mess.”
Sara looked down at her hands in embarrassment. “Yeah. I know.”
Catherine sighed loudly and grabbed herself a bottle. She needed a drink. Both of them did.
“No thanks,” Sara declined the glass she offered. “So I guess you don’t have any ideas,” Sara got up, feeling regretful that she even bothered the blonde.
“No wait. Sit down.”
Catherine quickly finished both drinks before rinsing the glasses.
“I said I wouldn’t judge, and I won’t. Believe it or not, you’re not the only who committed adultery.”
Sara gawked at her, “You don’t mean Warrick?”
Catherine cleared her throat and quickly poured herself another drink.
“He told me the divorce was pending. But this isn’t about me. It’s about you!”
So much for getting an unbiased opinion… this was like the blind leading the blind. Well, actually, the adulterer leading the adulterer. Either way it wasn’t good.
“Maybe I should go…”
“Sara, I’m going to tell you what I did when I was in your situation. List the pros and cons, then go with the guy with the most pros.”
“That’s kind of childish, don’t you think?”
“Is it any sillier than the whole cliché of looking into your heart for the answer?”
She had a point, so Sara agreed, “Okay, let’s do it.”
It was kind of hard to believe that Catherine couldn‘t find a piece of paper and a pen. Instead the two women sat at kitchen counter, with two disposable, plastic plates and a jumbo bag of Chocobees. The reasoning was nothing short of ridiculous.
“We’re focusing on pros here. The blue plate is Grissom, and the red plate is Greg. Each Chocobee is something you like about the guy, and whichever plate has the most chocolates is the guy for you.”
“I think you’ve had a little too much wine…”
“I think you’ve got nothing to lose, so let’s start!”
Sara rolled her eyes but obliged.
“I’ve loved Gil longer than Greg. It was actually from the moment I met him in college.” Catherine grabbed a candy and placed it in the blue plate.
“But Greg loved me from the moment he first saw me, and despite everything, he still carried that torch. Gotta admire that.” Catherine placed a chocolate in the red plate.
“Grissom makes me think and he’s the most intelligent person I’ve ever met.”
“So his sonnets don‘t bore you?” Catherine joked while placing a candy in the blue plate.
“No. But Greg makes me laugh,” Sara sighed.
Catherine nodded, “Sense of humor counts big time.” A candy was dropped in the red plate.
“What else…?” Sara mused.
“How about the physical things? Their looks, their body?”
Sara just stared at Catherine.
“Fine. I love Gil’s eyes, I love Greg’s smile. I love Gil’s grey hair but Greg’s ‘do isn’t bad either. To sum it up, they each have opposite traits that I adore for different reasons.”
Catherine grinned and saw Sara plop an even handful of Chocobees into each plate.
“What’s with the smile?”
“What about the sex?”
Sara just shook her head, “I’m not answering.”
“It’s a pretty big factor.”
“Maybe for you…”
“Just pick one!”
Sara quickly positioned a chocolate candy in the red dish. And Catherine gave her a nudge.
“So there’s a reason Greg got the ‘red-hot’ plate!”
“This is
not helping.”
“So far Greg’s got the lead.”
Sara sighed and thoughtfully placed a candy in the blue plate.
“What’s that one for?”
“The honey moon was not lacking,” she looked a little embarrassed.
Catherine burst out laughing.
“No more wine for you.” Sara snatched the glass from the woman’s hand.
The relaxed blonde sulked but informed her, “Well, so far the two are even. Now think carefully about this. We’ve got three candies left.”
“I thought we had more,” Sara checked the bag.
“I ate a few.”
She felt like her eyes would fall out from all the times she rolled them.
“Which one of them do you love the most?”
“What?”
“Think about it, Sara.”
“I love them both the same!” Sara slammed one candy into each dish. She looked frustrated.
“No, you just think you do! I know you’re going to kill me for this, but pros and cons only go so far. When it’s said and done, you really do have to look into your heart for the answer - and don’t blame the wine. It may sound stupid, but it’s true.”
Sara glared at the woman who was supposed to help her.
“
I don’t know. This is why I came to you - I don’t know which one I want!”
“You know what? You don’t have to choose either!” Catherine brought up a point that Sara never considered.
“Maybe you don’t need either of them to survive. That’s why you can’t decide, you’re not completely emotionally invested in either of them. If you were, there wouldn’t be so much doubt!”
Sara frowned, listening to Catherine’s speech.
“When you’re with a man, you have to feel needed and loved. Like you’re the only one in his life. And despite the good and the bad, you can’t picture your life without him. It’s called a soul mate Sara. I don’t know if you believe in it - I don’t even know if
I believe in it - but when you find the man who loves you even if you break his heart, well, that has to say something. He’s a keeper, and you should only have eyes for him.”
Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The words Catherine spoke… they were loaded with truth and Sara finally realized what she had to do.
“I have to go. Thank you so much. You don’t know how much this has helped.”
Catherine watched her rush off.
“...Glad I could help. Now, where is my wine?”
Shout out to Chocobees!
Oh, and some kind of decision has been made. Now I just have to figure out what it is. I’ve decided the last chapter will be from the third person POV. Or actually, they will involve all the character’s POVs. Either way, we’re getting a resolution - even if I have to do ‘Eenie meenie minie moe’!