Les Sanglots Longs

[Wyoming]

This is a little diddy I thought up a while ago. It was supposed to be a one shot, and turned out to be five pages.....So I guess you can say It's turned out to be a short story.......I donno lol The title is French, it means "the Long Sobs" if you were wondering. It's not beta'd, so..live with it .

Title: Le Sanglots Longs
Author: Wyoming
Fandom: CSI Miami
Pairing: undecided
Rating: T (language)
Warnings: none (yet)

Calleigh Duquesne was at her lowest. She had to let the man she knew committed a homicide free because she didn’t have enough evidence that was substantial. Her father had died a few weeks back, heart attack. Everyone wanted something from her. She felt like she was being pulled by the arms between people who wanted her for some reason. The lab was pulling at one arm because they were shorthanded. Tim had quit after his near-death experience at the jewelry store, and they hadn’t found a replacement. Her friends and family were tugging at her other arm. Her family wanted her for support, and her friends wanted to get her out of her workplace and make her have a good time. She didn’t know what she wanted anymore. She wanted to help out with the lab, but she needed some time to do something that she wanted to do.

As for right now, Calleigh stared into space at her desk, thinking of that day that could have changed her life forever. She’d confessed to Tim that she loved him. She’d told him face to face that she was in love with him, and he laughed in her face and told her to stop joking around. Calleigh had taken a sick day the next morning, and that was when Tim realized that she had been serious. He tried calling her, and he even tried going straight to her house, but she’d already gotten out of the house, and turned off her cell phone. That was the day that he’d almost been shot at the jewelry store. As soon as Calleigh heard about it she knew that Tim would quit. She took one more sick day and then came in to the crime lab the next day, only to find Tim actually gone.

Since then, he tried to call her at work, at home, and on her cell phone, but she never answered them. She was too hurt by him to talk to him. He was the cause of all her pain and stress. Horatio, being the CSI supervisor, knew all about what was going on, and when Tim called him, asking him to forward him to Calleigh, Horatio wouldn’t let him. He was fathering Calleigh, and keeping her safe from the pain he knew Tim would cause her if he talked to her. But today, Horatio was in the trace lab, working on one of their cases when the receptionist picked up the phone, and the woman on the phone was asked to be transferred to Calleigh. She quickly handed the phone to Tim, so that he could talk to her.

Calleigh looked down at the angrily flashing red light that told her she had a call on line 2. She sighed and picked up the phone. She hated being at a desk, mainly because she hated paperwork. She announced herself, and gasped when she heard the voice on the other line.

“Nice of you to finally answer my call Calleigh, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you since you left.”

Calleigh didn’t know what to say or do. She had been so hurt by Tim that she never wanted to talk to him again. Hearing his voice was just a reminder to her that he had hurt her so badly. She swallowed hard and finally found her voice.

“Well when someone laughs in your face and tells you to stop joking when she just told you that she loved you pretty much doesn’t qualify you as the person I really want to talk to ever again,” she said firmly.

“Calleigh, I’m sorry, I didn’t think you were serious. If I had known then I never would have said anything like that, I’m so sorry.”

Calleigh wasn’t buying it, he’d hurt her way too much for her to forgive him now. “Why are you calling me Tim?” she asked finally.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry, and that I wish things could have gone differently.”

“So now what Tim? What are you going to do to fix this?” she asked, on the verge of breaking down.

“I can’t do anything about it Calleigh, I’m sort of……..engaged.,” he said hesitantly.

Calleigh felt like she’d just been shot in the heart, in fact, she wished that she would just get shot right now, she hated him at this point.

“Calleigh? Calleigh, come on, you wouldn’t answer my phone calls, you avoided me completely, there’s nothing I can do about it if you constantly-”

Tim heard the click on the phone, and took the cell away from his ear and gave it back to Erin. “She won’t talk to me,” he said lightly. Erin just nodded and wrapped her arms around him, comforting him. She knew that Calleigh was a close friend to him, and having her angry with him didn’t make him happy.

Calleigh on the other hand was devastated. She rested her head down on the desk and let it all soak in before finally letting her tears fly. It was then that Horatio showed up at her door. He always had a mysteriously sneaky way of showing up at the right moments. Cal should have known that he was standing at her door right now, but nonetheless she kept her head down, trying to play off that she was sleeping, when her boss knew she was not.

He opened the door quietly, and sneakily walked around her, looking down at the half finished paperwork that was on her desk. Horatio softly placed a hand on her back to comfort her, which made her shoot up and look at him. She stood up and quickly wiped her tears away. She sniffled a bit and concentrated her gaze to the floor.

“Horatio, I’m sorry, I was just-”

Horatio put a hand up to stop her and tilted his head to the right, like he always did. “Calleigh, what’s wrong?” he asked, not knowing that Tim had finally gotten a hold of her.

“He’s……engaged,” she told him, keeping her gaze to the floor.

Horatio had known that this day would come. Tim was always ready to move forward with his life, but Calleigh liked to live in the moment, and take it for all she could. This was not one of those moments.

Horatio sighed a little and pulled her into a tight hug. Eric walked in, in search of Calleigh’s results, but found that it wasn’t the right time to ask. He crept in a little, wondering if he could help. He placed a hand on Calleigh’s back, having an idea of what was going on. Unlike Calleigh and Horatio, Tim told Eric everything. He knew that Calleigh had told him that she loved him, and he knew that Tim was engaged. Personally, Eric thought that Tim hadn’t been fair to Cal. He hadn’t even given her a chance, and he’d told him that, but Tim hadn’t even been listening.

Calleigh turned away from Horatio, to Eric. She slipped out of Horatio’s arms and into Eric’s. Calleigh had always had this little “thing” with Eric. She wasn’t sure if it was just flirty, or if maybe it was more than that, but something about the way she felt when he wrapped his toned arms around her really made her feel safe.

Eric shushed her and whispered small words of comfort into her ear as she cried on his shoulder. He rubbed her back and nodded a little at Horatio, nonverbally telling him that he could take care of it from here. As Horatio left, Eric took his chance, and kissed her forehead. He thought that maybe she would push away, or even smack him, but she didn’t. Instead, she cuddled closer to him, using him as a human tissue.

“Cal, come on now…..Calleigh, would you like me to take you home?” he asked her.

Calleigh shook her head. “I can’t……..he’ll call me again,” she said through tears.

“What about my place then?” he asked her, desperate to find a way to help. To his surprise, Calleigh agreed and sniffled a bit. He took his keys out of his pocket and then let go of her so that they could walk down the hallways, but she managed to wrap her arm around him while they walked, feeling insecure at the moment. He gladly kept his arm around her as they walked out to the car. There was something about having her on his arm that made him feel better about himself.

When they finally made it to the car, they were already soaked. It had been pouring out. Calleigh liked it because it hid her tears. It took them about ten minutes to get to Eric’s apartment, and Eric, being the gentleman that he was, ran around the Calleigh’s side of the car and tried to help her out. She opened the door and put her foot down on the metal bar of the elevated truck. She wasn’t tall enough to reach the ground first. She found herself slipping on the bar, since it was already wet, and Calleigh had heels on, like she always did. Eric caught her, and they found themselves very close to each other’s faces.
TBC...........

 

[Finch]

Re: Le Sanglots Longs

Wow you sure have a talent for suspense and surprise there my dear.

Really, really great story so far. I'm enjoying it very much. It's very descriptive, and detailed, and it just pulled me in. Hopefully you continue soon, because I'm itching to read what happens next!

 

[Wyoming]

Re: Le Sanglots Longs

Thanks Geni! And whoever else is reading!

Calleigh swallowed a bit. Before either one of them knew it, she found herself leaning in farther, and placing a light kiss on Eric’s lips. She was surprised when he didn’t pull away, but instead deepened the kiss. She smirked a bit through his lips and finally pulled away. She didn’t know what to say, but she was smiling, which was worth a million words.

Eric smiled down on her and then kissed her again. He’d never actually kissed in the rain, but his first was definitely nothing disappointing. Calleigh finally pulled them apart and grabbed his house. “I think we should get inside before I start to wilt,” she joked as she walked with him up to the door.

Little did either of them know that Tim was inside, looking for a friend to talk to, since Eric had thrown her ring in his face. She’d cheated on him, Tim found out, and Erin pretty much said “screw you” and ran off.. After he had finished with Erin’s cell phone, he saw her get another call, and she’d ignored it. He took the phone from her and saw that “Bobby” was calling her. He called the number back, getting the answer of “I tired to call you sooner sweetcakes, but I was busy, how are you baby?“ and Tim was more than a little upset, but now he could give Calleigh the chance that she so deserved. He’d known that Calleigh had dated on and off with guys, and probably slept with some of the ones that had stayed around a bit longer, but he could only assume.

When Tim heard the door close, he heard a small giggle as well. He knew that Eric couldn’t have been the one to giggle, so he just figured it was one of his weekly girlfriends. When he saw Calleigh backing into the living room, with her lips on Eric’s he cleared his throat and folded his arms.

Calleigh turned around and felt her heart drop into her stomach. The first thing that popped into her mind was the question of why he was even here. When Eric looked up, he figured that Erin just had some friends over like she usually did, which was why he gave him the key to his apartment, a place to relax without any women. It was a bit of an awkward moment, but Eric knew what he needed to do to protect Calleigh. He pulled her into his arms and looked at Tim. “What’s goin on man?” he asked, as if he wasn’t even in the presence of Calleigh right now.

Tim was just a little more than pissed off. He looked angrily at Calleigh, who had her head turned so that she could see him. “Can I have a word with Calleigh please?” he asked. Eric looked down at Calleigh, who took a deep breath and then nodded. She gave him a light kiss and then walked off into the den with Tim.

“I was coming here to tell Eric that I’m not engaged anymore, she cheated on me, and when I found out, she left. She didn’t want me, so I figured hey, now I can give Calleigh the chance that she deserves. But no, I come here to find out that you’re with Eric, and that you’re messing around with him,” at this point, Calleigh was getting angry. “Are you sure you haven’t been sleeping with him the whole time? Huh Calleigh? Was I just your little playtoy? I know you dated all those guys since you told me you loved me, I find everything out.”

Calleigh was extremely angry, and felt immensely minimized. He had pretty much just told her that she was his second choice. “Oh no…..no no, Tim. You can’t call me a whore. I told you I loved you, which was a huge hurdle for me to jump. You laughed in my face Tim, LAUGHED IN MY FACE! Do you know how much that hurt me? Then you disappear, and all of a sudden you try sending me all these notes through work, and you try to call me. I thought maybe that you would get the hint Tim, that I didn’t want to talk to you because of how much you hurt me. Then I go out to try and find someone to fill the crater in my heart that you left, and now you’re telling me that I’m a whore? No, you can’t call me a whore. I won’t settle for second best Tim, you laughed in my face, now I’m turning around and shoving it right back up your ass,” she said, then headed for the door. Tim called after her, but she ignored it and went back out to Eric.
“Eric…..”

Eric was sitting on the couch, with an angry disposition on his face. “Eric?” Cal asked.

“So are you going to go run off with him now?” he asked her. Calleigh wondered what had gotten into him.

“No, of course not I-”

“Save the bullshit Calleigh, I know how much you love him, I should have known that this would happen.”

“Eric Ple-”

“Shut it Calleigh, just get out of my house and go run off with Tim.”

Calleigh looked at him hatefully, with tears in her eyes. “Fine, but just remember that you’re the one that pushed me away,” she told him as she turned and walked out the door. A few seconds later, Tim came out of the den. He looked to Eric, who looked like he was about ready to murder someone.

“Where’d your little girlfriend go?” Tim asked, with a not-so-friendly tone.

“What are you talking about, aren’t you two going to go out now?” he asked the shorter man.

“No, she blew me off, told me that I’d hurt her too much for me to date her. She said I thought that she was second best, which she’s not………anymore.”

Eric stood there dumbfounded. Tim was a little confused, thus tilting his head. “Eric?”

Eric looked down at the ground. “I pretty much just told her to shove it.”

Tim ran a hand over her face. “Great, now she’ll be angry at both of us.”

Eric shook his head and went out the door. He looked down the street and found that Calleigh was no where to be seen. He got into his car, and motioned for Tim to get into his. They had to find her. Eric drove around for a few minutes, as did Tim. He didn’t even bother to call her because she’d blocked his number after he’d quit. Eric tried her, but she didn’t answer, which wasn’t a surprise to him. Calleigh was a stubborn southern girl, and it took a great deal of persuasion to get her to cave. Cal wasn’t going to answer her cell phone anytime soon.

It took Eric about ten minutes to find Calleigh. She was walking towards her house, which was a good ten minutes away by car. Not to mention she was in heels. She was crying, which Eric also wasn’t surprised about. Calleigh heard him pull up, but did not stop walking.

“Calleigh! Calleigh!” Eric called from his car. He kept the car moving so that he could keep up with her. She looked over to him with a tear-soaked face, and then back down at the ground. She wanted him to know that she saw him, but she also wanted to give off that “I’m pissed at you” vibe, which Calleigh did all too well.

It was still raining out, but not as hard as it had been. Eric sighed and parked his car, he hated himself for this. He ran up behind her and she immediately stopped. “Get away from me Eric,” she said, in both a shaky and angry voice. She was crying buckets, but her tears were hid by the rain.

“Calleigh, sweetie, come on…..” Eric prodded.

Calleigh shook her head and looked down at the ground. Eric took it as his chance, and wrapped his arms around her. She pounded her fists on his chest, and yelled a little, but she eventually calmed down and broke down into hysterical, long sobs. Eric wrapped his arms around her right when Tim showed up. He’d thought that Calleigh wasn’t for him, and that he wasn’t’ meant to be with her, but he was angry when she was with other people, besides him.

Calleigh looked over at Tim, and stared at him for a minute before wrapping her arms around Eric and holding herself close to him. She looked up at Eric and placed a hand on his cheek. He leaned down and kissed her lightly. He hadn’t noticed that Tim was right there, and he didn’t much care. It was only when he heard the sound of his door shutting that the Cuban looked over towards him, breaking the kiss. Tim stood about 20 feet away in the rain, looking at them from a distance. Eric looked down at Calleigh and bit his lips hard.

“Calleigh, you love him,” he told her.

Calleigh sighed and nodded. “I can’t help it,” she responded.

Eric nodded. He knew it would have ended anyway, Calleigh didn’t love him, and she never would. Eric sighed and gave her forehead a kiss. “Go,” he said simply, nodding off in Tim’s direction. Calleigh looked up at him.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’m sorry for yelling at you, now go,” Eric prodded.

Calleigh nodded and gave Eric a kiss on the lips before going over to Tim. She stood about three feet from him. “So what now Tim?”

Tim shifted in his spot a little and then looked up at Calleigh. “Would you like to talk somewhere?” he asked shyly.

Calleigh nodded a little and walked over to him. She looked up at him and swallowed hard. She was still crying softly, not that anyone would know because of the rain. They were both soaked, and should have probably gotten into the car, but Tim felt guilty now, and as she went to walk past him, he pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. Cal wrapped her arms around him as well and closed her eyes, savoring the moment as if it were her last.

Tim held her close, burying his face into her shoulder as they hugged. Calleigh was lightly crying into his chest, holding onto him tightly as well.

“Calleigh, I’m so sorry,” Tim whispered to her, his voice just barely above a whisper. He hated that this was how he saw Calleigh for the first time in a few months. As she cried in his arms, he looked over to Eric, who was getting into his car. He pulled up to them and looked at Tim.

“Take care of her, okay?” he said lightly. Tim nodded in response and then kissed Calleigh’s forehead, trying to calm her down while Eric drove away. Calleigh finally let up on the sobs and pulled away from Tim.

“Come on Cal, let’s get you home.”

 

[Finch]

Re: Le Sanglots Longs

What a sweet chapter!

So many emotions so little time. You sure know how to lay it on thick, and never rip it away from the reader! Really great job, I hope there's more from you.

- And I like the fact that Calleigh picked Tim. :devil:

 

[Wyoming]

Re: Le Sanglots Longs

You would Geni lol

Thanks for reading, I'll have another chapter up tomorrow probably!

 

[Wyoming]

Re: Le Sanglots Longs

double post, I know, but it's been way more than a day!

In a matter of about an hour, Tim had a change of clothes and Calleigh was in her pajamas. They had stopped at Tim’s apartment and then went to Calleigh’s. Now they sat on the couch, a water for Calleigh and an iced tea for Tim. She would have offered him a beer had she thought it was an appropriate time to offer one. They sat there in silence for a good five minutes before Tim finally spoke up.

“Calleigh, I’m sorry for laughing in your face, I’m sorry for leaving you, I’m sorry for not giving you a chance. I don’t know what else to tell you except that I’m sorry, and I want to give us a chance, if you’ll let me. I know I let you down before, but now that I think of it, I didn’t even love Erin. I think she was only a distraction. She distracted me from thinking about you. After you’d left, I always thought about you, I never saw you again and it bothered me. You wouldn’t answer your phone calls or your door. You left me in the dark Calleigh, I’m sorry for putting you in that position.”

Calleigh was about tiered of hearing Tim’s excuses. After what he had said to her back at Eric’s, she wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive him, but one thing she knew for sure was that she was never going to stop loving him. She looked down and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. “That day, when I told you I loved you, I was almost positive you were going to say you loved me back. When you laughed at me, it was a big slap in the face. I felt like my whole world had collapsed right on top of me, and no one was helping to pick up the pieces. I had to do it all by myself. I went home and cried until I fell asleep, I was depressed, I thought about moving away. I thought about quitting my job, and moving far away, but I didn’t. You just………you hurt me so much Tim,” she finally finished.

Tim looked at her sadly and sat there in silence for a few minutes. After a while he finally mustered up a few words that he knew probably wouldn’t help Calleigh’s broken heart. “Calleigh……I’m so sorry, I love you,” he said lightly, not even realizing what he had just said.

Calleigh looked up at him with tear soaked eyes. “What did you just say?”

Tim thought about it for a minute, realizing what he had said. He pondered on it and then nodded, believing what he had just subconsciously said. “I said I love you Calleigh,” he repeated.

The Bullet Girl sniffled again and then nodded. “That was all you had to say the first time Tim,” she informed him, smiling.

A WEEK LATER

A week to Calleigh seemed like a year. Within a week she’d started dating Tim, moved in with him, but yet they hadn’t even kissed yet. Neither of them knew why, but there just seemed to be some kind of barrier there. Every time they would get close, Tim would pull away. There was just something that Calleigh didn’t like about this. Something didn’t feel right. It was like he was trying to hide something, and she wanted to know what it was. But today, Calleigh was going to figure it out.

They were sitting silently on the couch, Tim’s arm causally wrapped around Calleigh, and her head was resting lightly on Tim’s shoulder.

“What are you hiding from me Tim?” she asked him, point blank.

Tim flinched away from her and looked at her funky. “What the hell are you talking about Cal?” he asked.

Calleigh looked up at him, almost as if saying ‘you know damn well’, but she obviously needed to explain. “Well, every time I try to kiss you, you pull away. Every time I tell you I love you your eyes dart around the room looking at everything but my eyes. You just don’t seem like you love me Tim, what’s wrong?” she asked him.

“No Calleigh, I do love you it’s just……I lied to you,” he said regrettably.

Calleigh looked confused. “About what Tim?” she asked.

“Erin didn’t cheat on me. When I finished talking to you on the phone, I took a walk, when I came back, she was dead Calleigh. Someone came looking for me, and she’s the one that got shot. It all happened so fast, and then I came to talk to Eric about it and you came in, and……..I just overreacted. But the thing is, when Erin died, the only thing I could think of was you. I thought of how that could have been you, you would be on Alexx’s table with a toe tag. Every time I look at you I think of how it should have been you, and how I’m so glad it was Erin and not you. That’s horrible of me to think. I was engaged to the woman and all I can think of is that I’m glad it’s not you.”

Calleigh was baffled. She had no idea that Tim had gone through that. She looked up at him sadly and cupped a hand to his cheek. “At least she died thinking that someone loved her,” she said lightly. “If she thinks the same way I do, then she probably thought that you made the last few days of her life the best ever.”

Tim placed his hand over hers as a tear slid down his cheek. “I love you so much Calleigh,” he said shakily.

Calleigh nodded and closed her eyes a bit. “I know you do baby, I know, I love you too,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him. That was when Tim started to sob. To him, just the idea that it could have been her killed him inside. Cal let him cry on her shoulder, just as he would have let her do if it were the other way around. It was then that Calleigh lifted up Tim’s chin, and gave him a soft kiss. She pulled away and pressed her forehead to his. “It’s okay Tim,” she cooed.

If Calleigh knew how to do anything, it was to calm him down. The brown haired man had always had somewhat of a short temper, and with just a few words from Calleigh, he would be calm. There was just always something about her that cheered him up. When he thought about when he’d laughed in her face, he thought about why he did it. And at this exact moment he knew why. He was afraid. He was afraid that he was going to do something to hurt her, but little did he know that he’d hurt her the only way he possibly could have in that situation. He hated himself for it, and wanted to make it up to her.

After a few minutes of crying on Calleigh’s shoulder, the elder CSI pulled away and looked back into her eyes. “I’m sorry Calleigh,” he said lightly. Before Cal had a chance to tell him it was okay, he leaned in and gave him the most passionate kiss of her life. She’d never been kissed like this before. Mainly because she’d never kissed a man that truly loved her back. Little did Calleigh know what she was getting herself into…….

TBC.............