It was one of those days when he really, really, really was on the edge. One of those days when he really, really, really hated Conrad Ecklie. And one of those moments when he really, really, really wished Catherine wasn't staring at him like that.

It took all his strength to seem upset, despite the fact that he had found the situation rather amusing… up until Catherine got pissed off. She arched an eyebrow, expecting an answer.

"So?"

She hissed and he knew he was about to face the full force of her wrath.

"Locked."

He announced casually. Catherine's mouth opened in silent shock.

"And why are you so damn smug about it?" she asked.

"I'm not!" he fired back.

"I'm… I am annoyed."

Her eyes shot up, her gaze burning a hole in his head.

"You planned this, didn't you?"

"What? No!"

He frowned but she kept staring. It was getting hot for Gil Grissom.

"We are supposed to meet Ecklie in 15 minutes!" she exclaimed.

"Well, he will have to wait," he shot back nonchalantly.

Mistake number one. He could see the fire light up in her eyes.

"We are locked into your god damn closet!"

The shades returned to her hair, he noticed for the first time. She was strawberry blonde again, he loved it.

"Grissom!"

Uh oh. She called him Grissom. He finally made eye contact again.

"This is my first night out in weeks!" she growled.

"Not an ideal one but still… I got to dress up!"

She went on, the pitch of her voice rising.

"If you as much as think that I'll let you ruin it… you are WRONG!"

He raised an eyebrow, lowering his gaze, feeling ashamed… for not being sorry at all. He let his eyes wander over her cleavage, down to her slim waist until his eyes spotted her toes peeking out from under her gorgeous black dress. She looked stunning… and her hair was strawberry blonde again. He would have enjoyed it so much if she hasn't been so pissed off.

"I'm sorry."

He took a breath and looked back up at her. She was not buying his act.

"Break the door down!" she ordered, raising her chin.

"What?" he asked vehemently. "No way! I just got it fixed!"

"Well I need to get out. I WANT to get out! You got me into this mess, now you get me out!"

"What?! YOU were the one following me in here! YOU were the one closing the door before I could have told you that you can open it only from the outside!"

Mistake number two. He argued back. Catherine gasped.

"Because YOU haven't even gotten dressed yet!"

Oops. Score one for Catherine Willows.

The fury on her face, the fire in her eyes and her slightly parted lips would have intimidated him if he hadn't found her so damn sexy. He needed to calm her down. He tried to avoid `angry Catherine' in general… and being locked up with angry Catherine in such a small space was hell.

"I like your hair," he blurted out.

"I'm giving you five minutes to get me out here! Then I'll call Ecklie to tell him that we will be late."

She announced, stepped away from the door, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"And thank you," she said curtly.

He just stared back at her blankly. Did she mean it? Did she really expect him to break down that heavy door?

"Catheri-"

"Four!"

She meant it. She really expected him to crack that heavy door.

"Well I can't," he replied, stubbornly taking up the same body posture as she had.

"Yes you can. And you will," she glared back.

"I really like your hair like this."

"Yeah me too," she said. "Three minutes."

"Look, Catherine. What happened, happened. It was an accident," he said, trying to appease her.

"It's impossible to get this door off from the inside. I can't crack it… unless you want me to break my shoulder or any other body parts of mine."

The glare she gave him indicated that her choice of `any other body parts' would have been his head at the moment. But she was at least listening to him. Grissom knew he must have reached her common sense.

"We are most probably going to miss the ceremony, yes ­but there's always next time!"

Mistake number three. He went back to the problem at hand. Her mouth opened again, her eyes screamed `scandal'.

"I can't believe this!"

She threw her hands up.

"Don't get worked up on this, Catherine!"

"Grissom! It's not just about the ceremony anymore! You live alone and we are l-o-c-k-e-d in. How on earth will we get out?"

Ooops. He was so damn content that he didn't have to go to Ecklie's kiss-ass party that he completely forgot about that. He shrugged.

"One of my lovely neighbors might drop by and free us!"

She looked at him, surprised.

"You know your neighbors?"

Her voice was flat and she arched an eyebrow again before they furrowed in suspicion.

"When was the last time one of your `lovely neighbors' dropped by?"

"Uhm… a month."

There it was again; the shocked expression on her face.

"To last Wednesday," he added and his lips puckered up.

For a moment he thought she was going to break `any other body parts of him' on her own.

Giving up, she covered her eyes with one hand and massaged her temple. She must have been close to a headache.

"What are the chances for them to come looking for you?"

He considered her question before he replied.

"The same chance for their fish bowl to get broken and ask me for one again since pet shops are closed at night."

She gave him a questioning look.

"I had only one; Bob's."

"Bob?" she asked, confused.

"My spider."

Catherine rolled her eyes before she sighed.

"Did you give it to him?"

"God no!" he replied, insulted, as if it was the most obvious thing on earth.

"Lord help me," she said and buried her face into her hands.

"It could be worse, you know. At least the lights work," he said and her head shot up.

"What?"

"Had a few problems with them. Haven't changed them yet."

"Oh great!" she said. "I spent 500 dollars for this dress, only to spend the entire time in your closet. Or wait, better. It might even be the last few hours of my life!"

"I'm sure people will be looking for us," he said, trying to sound convincing.

"Yes, I know," she said, finally starting to calm.

"This will be the first place for them to look for us. They know I'm here."

"Ah," was his answer and he instantly hoped they'd come looking for them long after the ceremony was over.

"I hope this door isn't sound proof," she said. "We'll have to be loud so they can get to this room."

Then it struck him.

"Uh… Catherine,"

She looked up at him again.

"I locked the front door."

He held his breath, holding her gaze as she stared at him, waiting for her to blow up again. He blinked and seconds passed but her beautiful blue eyes never broke the contact. Then, to his biggest surprise, and confusion -Catherine burst out laughing.

"And I was worried you lost your sense of humor," he said between giggles and he let out a nervous laugh before he cleared his throat.

"I.. uh… was not kidding."

"You are pushing my buttons, Gil," she said, her tone still light hearted.

But Grissom stared back at her, his expression dead serious. Catherine's face fell and she gripped the first thing that she reached.

To his luck, the only things he kept in that closet were clothes. Still, the way she raised up the tie that she grabbed, was enough to show him that she was ready to strangle him.

"That's the one I was planning to wear to the ceremony!" he blurted out, reaching out a hand.

It worked, she stopped. Pheww.

"Well.. not that it matters now… since we're not able to attend."

She hissed. Damn.

"Catherine, calm down. You know Ecklie… he lives to torture me. I wouldn't put it past him to have someone out in front of my door, making sure I was going to attend."

He must have said something right because Catherine suddenly froze. He watched as her lips curled into a small, mischievous smile.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," she said, suddenly amused, putting the tie back down.

"What?" he asked again, curious.

"Nothing," she shrugged.

"Catherine!!"

"Do you realize… how this all will look?"

"Like we got stuck, how else would it look?" he shot back.

"Hmmm…" she said.

She was thinking about something and he didn't even want to know.

"What do you think it will look like?" he asked finally, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Gil. Think. Our cars in front of your condo­"

"Townhouse!"

"Sorry. Our cars in front of your townhouse, your door locked... we are missing from the ceremony, and we don't answer our calls. What exactly does it look like to you?"

Realization finally hit him and it was Catherine's turn to watch him be annoyed.

"You know… Greg will never let us get away with this," she said and he grunted at the idea.

"If we make it out alive, that is," she added.

TBC...