6 a.m. Uh? Calliope? When Arizona stepped out of the attendings' locker room at six o'clock in the morning, she saw that Callie was already waiting for her. Arizona wasn't quite sure if this was a good or a bad thing. She couldn't help her face lighting up at the sight of her, but she had an inkling that something was wrong.
"Calliope, good morning! I didn't expect you so early." She tried to sound cheerful, but probably sounded more sleepy than peppy.
"Hey. Listen, I changed my mind. I don't wanna go on a date with you." Callie's voice was still husky as she tried an apologetic smile and Arizona had difficulties concentrating on her words. "I hate dates, especially first dates. They're awkward and overrated."
Callie's words finally hit her. Arizona blanched. "Are you backing off?"
"I'm not scared. I'm ready for this. I'm ridiculously attracted to you, like, I-wanna-know-everything-about-you attracted to you." Callie blushed ten different shades of scarlet making this confession.
Arizona was puzzled and she looked at Callie, wide-eyed. She was at a loss for words, involuntarily holding her breath.
Callie continued. "But I was thinking...maybe we could do something less formal. Like just order dinner and hang out or something. Casual, you know. Not a date."
Arizona just stood there, nonplussed and blinked.An un-date? Callie was right, she had to admit, first dates were usually rather awkward. To be honest, they always made her feel like she was on a job interview.
"Sure." She led out a relieved breath. "What if I bring along dinner and we hang out at yours?" Arizona thought that Callie might be more at ease at her own place. "Do you like Indian food? There is this awesome Indian restaurant just round the corner from my place, and they have takeaways."
"Yeah. My shift ends at four. Six too soon?" Callie flashed her thousand watt smile at her. Arizona's heart began to beat faster.
"Mine too, six is fine," she smiled happily. "Can you text me your address?" Callie nodded, and they went back into the locker room and exchanged cell numbers. I handled that very casually. Arizona looked after Callie walking down the hallway, smiling like the cat who got the cream. She loved writing and receiving text messages, and she hadn't quite dared to ask Callie for her number before.
Arizona spent the rest of the day on cloud nine, and she didn't care that Bailey asked her three times why she was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I'm ridiculously attracted to you, Callie had told her, I wanna know everything about you. Arizona couldn't quite think of anything else right now than finally getting to know Calliope Torres, she couldn't wait to see her tonight. She wanted to know everything about her, too. What color her sheets were and what kind of shampoo she used, what made her laugh, if she was ticklish, if her toe nails were also painted black, what kind of cereal she ate for breakfast. Well, that wasn't for tonight, maybe that would have to wait a little, she thought dreamily. I am completely and utterly into this woman.
"Dr. Robbins!" she heard Bailey bark, and when Arizona turned her attention to the younger surgeon, Bailey stared at her reproachfully. "You listening?"
Arizona's smile suddenly vanished, and she realized she must have been grinning like a lovesick fool again. Still 11 and a half hours. How am I gonna survive the day?
9 a.m. She had made her rounds. Time was creeping. She had no surgery scheduled, however, she still had to take care of twenty or so sick kids and Bailey. Days without surgery were usually a relief and it was a good day for teaching Bailey, but today she wouldn't have minded a little more action at the hospital to get her mind off her date. Well, her 'un-date'. She was a little nervous, she had to admit. What if she backs off after all? Arizona sighed. She should be glad that there weren't any seriously sick kids currently on the ward, she scolded herself. She went to her office and with a look at her desk, where the papers piled up, she decided to do some long overdue paperwork. Still almost 8 hours. If you only knew just how attracted I am to you Calliope.
12 p.m. Arizona was getting hungry. She didn't like to eat alone, so she decided to have a look at the surgical board to find out who was free for lunch. The hospital seemed almost abandoned, and when she found Owen Hunt also looking at the board, they headed to the cafeteria together. She liked the trauma surgeon, despite his somewhat uncommunicative demeanor. He worked well under pressure and she admired that capability. Today, however, he seemed a little more absorbed in his thoughts than normal. She spotted Mark Sloan sitting alone at a table, and Owen headed directly to the plastic surgeon. She had adapted herself to a quiet lunch, but would have to rethink.
"Sloan, have you met Dr. Robbins? Peds surgery. Dr. Robbins, this is Mark Sloan, head of Plastics."
"Nice to meet you, Dr. Sloan," Arizona smiled at him, curious to get to know Callie's McProtective.
"Dr. Robbins," Mark Sloan nodded and let his gaze wander over her body, a knowing smile on his face.
She quickly sat down. Did he just check her out? Arizona couldn't believe it. She narrowed her eyes and shot him a severe look that was only reserved for her patients' interfering parents and libidinouscolleagues dragging her. He seemed as if he wanted to say something, but not a single word was spoken. He seemed to be silenced by her look, but his eyes shot daggers at her. Don't you dare mess with Callie's feelings, his eyes seemed to say. Arizona's look suddenly showed no more sign of her former belligerence. A wave of tenderness swept over her face, she relaxed and looked him straight in the eyes. I care about her. I want her. I won't hurt her, she told him with her eyes. Mark appreciatively raised an eye-brow, then flashed a smile at her. Callie was a lucky woman to have him as a friend.
They all ate in silence. Arizona had heard rumors that Izzie Stevens had stage four metastastic melanoma and was about to have surgery the next day. There was still no sign of Derek Sheperd. This would explain the tensed overall mood and the abandoned hallways. She briefly wondered how Callie felt about Izzie's condition. Anyway, it was a sad case. She finished her salad and looked at Owen Hunt, who finished the last bite of his mac and cheese. Arizona looked at her watch and nodded with a conspiratory smile at Mark Sloan. 5 and a half hours. Oh, Calliope.
2 p.m. The paramedics had just brought in a family caught in a car accident. The father seemed to have injured his leg, but the six-year-old girl seemingly had only a few scratches. Luckily, she didn't need any surgery, but Arizona wanted to keep a close eye on her and run some more tests. The little girl was still under shock. She helt the girl's hand and promised soothingly to ask after her daddy, while she let Bailey examine her.
The girl must have a guardian angel. It was a wonder that she was still alive and only left with so much as a few bruises and no interior damage. The girl had been sleeping in the back of the car, but she wasn't buckled up. Arizona fumed. She had no sympathy for such irresponsibility. She headed to find out about the girl's father, when she saw his name on the surgical board. It wasn't a big surgery that Callie was performing on him and she let out a sigh of relief. She could tell the girl that her daddy would be fine in no time. Again, she checked her watch. 3 hours 11 minutes, yay.
4 p.m. Arizona was glad that her shift was finally over. She left the little girl to the capable hands of Alex Karev and went straight to the locker room. She checked her cell and found no message from Callie. She was probably still in surgery.
When Arizona got home, she was giddy. She wasn't in the mood for a long lemongrass shower as she normally would, so she decided to get over with it as quickly as possible. She had no patience today and was bursting with energy. She didn't care about jogging, either, although she knew that it probably would have been a good idea to get rid of her restlessness that way. She simply wanted to kick the cloud she was still walking on and cursed herself for being so over the moon about a date that wasn't even a date. When she heard the familiar pling of her cell, she rushed to her purse to check her messages.
Arizona beamed. "Hey you got home later but 6 still fine. 1205 10th Ave, Apt 108B C.", the message said. So Callie lived basically across the hospital.
She was still in her bathrobe and walked over to her underwear drawer. She didn't think that any fancy lingery was in order yet, so she opted for a simple black satin bra with matching panties. When she stood in front of her closet, she considered her options. She didn't have so very many casual clothes. She grabbed a simple dark grey cotton shirt with a deep neckline and three-quarter sleeves. Blue jeans would do, she decided, and took out a brown leather belt.
Finished with her dressing, she went back to the bathroom to complete her makeup. She used only a little powder, rouge and pale pink lipgloss as she wanted to look as natural as possible. She took the bulbous bottle of Euphoria and dabbed some on her collar bone, behind her ears and a little on her wrists.
She looked at the clock again. 5.17 p.m. Soon. Very soon. She would need at least half an hour to get back there. She went to the kitchen and chose a bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon and then grabbed her purse and car keys on her way out.
Arizona stopped by Tandoor's to get their dinner and hoped that Callie liked Mango Chicken. She put the hot plastic bag, the wine and her purse on the passenger seat of her car and was glad that she was still in time.
When she knocked at Callie's door, waiting for her to open, she suddenly felt nervous again. She shouldn't be nervous, she told herself. This wasn't a date. Callie was attracted to her. There was no reason to be nervous. She had no more time to think about it as Callie opened the door, flashing her a wide smile that made her knees weak.
"Hey." Callie looked stunning in a midnight blue shirt that was pleasantly low-cut. Stunning and very much at ease.
"Hey." Arizona felt herself blushing at the sight of her. "I've brought dinner and wine," she said quickly and pointed at the plastic bag in her hands, handing her the wine.
"Great, come in." Callie's eyes still hadn't left her face when she waved her in and pointed at the red couch in the big living room to put down her purse. "Cristina is on call tonight, so we have the place all to ourselves. You hungry?"
Arizona nodded, smiling. "I'm starved. I've only had breakfast, coffee, and salad," she confessed.
At the kitchen, Callie put the mango chicken on plates and handed Arizona hers. They sat down on the stools and Callie poured in the wine. They ate quietly for several minutes then Arizona finally broke the munching silence. "So how was your day? Mine was pretty calm. I met Mark Sloan, checking me out at the cafeteria." She tried to suppress a grin.
"Yeah well he's Mark Sloan. But don't worry. He doesn't sleep with every beautiful woman that comes his way anymore." Callie explained, winking at her. "He's with little Grey now. You're completely safe."
"No, I didn't mean that," Arizona grinned. "I think he checked me out because of you. He seemed very protective of you. And I think he tried to tell me to be nice to you."
"And, are you?" Callie took a sip of wine.
"Am I what?" Arizona asked, momentarily distracted by Callie's lips meeting the dark red liquid.
"Being nice to me," Callie teased.
"Oh, very much so," Arizona put on an angelic face. They both laughed and finished their chicken.
"I certainly hope so," Callie said teasingly, while she took away their plates, "because if you're not nice to me, I'll be sorry that I've skipped sunrise yoga." She led the way back to the living room.
"You do sunrise yoga?" Arizona asked and sat down on the couch, impressed. "I've always wanted to try, either yoga or pilates. I only go jogging or to the gym, but I skipped that today, too," she confessed with a sigh. "It's too bad, it was such a calm day and I should have done it. I'm a little restless today."
"Yeah, sunrise yoga is very relaxing before or after work." Callie smiled at her. "I started when I found out about George and Izzie. I tried everything just to distract me, you know."
Arizona was a good listener and listened intently at what Callie was telling her. That she had been trying to get pregnant, and how confused she was when she discovered her feelings for her best friend. Arizona told Callie about her first feelings for her mentor and why it didn't last, and she hoped that Callie would understand her newborn comment now. In many ways, Callie's experiences seemed to mirror her own. They were very much alike, yet so different in character. Callie was also different than any other woman she had ever met. Howrefreshing. Calliope Torres, I'm more and more drawn into you.
"Shall I put on some music?" Callie suddenly got up from the couch, having a strech. She turned and pointed at the big screen that she had just switched on, revealing her iTunes playlist. She handed Arizona the little white remote control before she sat down next to her again, leaning back, only a few inches away from her now, their hips barely touching. "You can make your own playlist, if you like. Most of my friends and guests do."
"Sure." Arizona smiled and took the little remote and the keyboard and looked at the list of playlists. She was very aware of the closeness to Callie. Callie, Callie bad mood, Callie good mood, Cristina, Cris&Mer, Mark, Meredith, Lexie in Love, Owen, Sunrise Yoga, there was a whole bunch of playlists. She created a new one called Arizona super good mood and flipped through the albums in cover flow mode in search of some songs she wanted to add.
It had grown dark outside, and Callie switched on the floor lamp and another lamp on the table, basking the living room in an almost intimate glow.
Arizona added 'My life would suck without you', which completely suited her momentary mood, followed by some upbeat songs of the new Gomez album, glad that Callie and she seemed to have some overlap in musical taste. She was even more happy when she discovered Sia and added some Sia songs as well. Sadly, no Tegan and Sara except 'Superstar'. They were her favorite. But given Callie's musical taste, she might also like more of them. She chose Lucia Iman as last song and finally, she proudly anounced, "Alright, here's my playlist".
Callie got up, took the remote and turned on the volume. Then she turned back to Arizona, smiling at her, tugging her hands towards her. "Come on, let's dance it out."
Arizona smiled back at her and followed her willingly onto the carpeted dance floor. They were dancing wildly, turning, swirling to the techno-rock beat of the music, carefree, flirtatious and just enjoying the company of one another. Arizona was amazed just how natural and unaffected Callie was; completely unashamed and devastatingly sexy.
The second wine bottle was half empty now, and they both giggled dizzily when they started some kind of impromptu dance, like two teenage girls in front of a video clip who didn't have a care in the world. Callie was almost facing her, still dancing wildly, but then they both became slower and slower, holding up their hands, waiting for the chorus to continue their impromptu dance.
"Wait…," Arizona announced. They stopped their dance, moving in slow motion. "And ... here... it come's" And again they put their hands back in the air, dancing, swirling, jumping happily around and laughing.
Pieces
falling from me
You can have them for free
I've never felt so
complete
Pieces falling from me.
The chorus lyrics perfectly corresponded Arizona's feelings, she had indeed never felt so complete before. Callie's hands were suddenly on her hips again with the briefest of firm grips from behind and as quickly as they came together, they parted again, resuming their little dance of happiness, looking at each other, turning around again, like on a rodeo ride, a whirlwind of energetic delight.
Pieces
falling from me…
Upon the last line, they both collapsed on
the couch, exhaused, dizzy, laughing and overjoyed.
Still breathing heavily, they were lying next to one another, facing the ceiling. Arizona slightly shifted and moved behind Callie, wrapping her arms tentatively around the other woman so that they were spooning. Her hands slightly shivered. The first tunes of Sia's 'Distractions' played, and Arizona could feel Callie breathing next to her face. They were both very still now. She could feel the warmth of her hand and the heat of her body. Arizona briefly tightened the grip around Callie and pulled her deeper into her embrace, closing her eyes, feeling suddenly absurdly happy. "Finally I have you," she whisperedand pressed her lips on the silken fabric on her back, a wave of tenderness surging through her.
Unstirring and in unison, they listened to the beautiful song, still not saying anything, only breathing barely audibly. Arizona felt Callie's fingers gently tracing circles on her wrist. She shifted again and ever so lightly kissed the nape of her neck, then moving over to the sensitive spot behind her ear. She half expected Callie to stiffen, but she didn't. Instead, she heard her very quietly moan. Was there any sexier sound? she wondered hazily. She smelled the intoxicating scent of soap and perfume as she playfully nuzzled her neck.
Arizona was a tactile person, and she didn't know for how long she would be able to keep her hands in check. No woman had ever felt so good, so right in her arms. She felt a rush of sensation flooding through her. It was something very intimate for Arizona to feel her, but not to be able to look in her eyes. She yearned to feel Callie's soft skin under her fingers, but didn't quite dare yet.
Instead, she let her palm slowly crawl onto her ass, feeling the soft curve and massaging the mellow flesh through the thick fabric of her pants. She felt Callie breathing raggedly before she finally let out a soft moan, her body fully responding to Arizona's touch. She tentatively moved her fingers to the small of her back, then grabbing a tight hold of her ass, all along nuzzling her neck and planting featherlight kisses on her sensitive skin. Callie slightly moved her hips into hers, subtly wiggling her ass, obviously wanting to get even closer to her. Arizona was delighted. She had never felt anyone being so responsive to ass stroking. I believe I have found your sentitive spot already, Calliope. I guess we have that in common.
They were still wrapped up in the newness of each other's touch, when they heard the key turn in the lock and Cristina and Owen stepped into the room. The two doctors were talking quietly, when they spotted the cuddled up couple on the couch.
"This is so not happening again. You do have a thing for blonde attendings," Cristina said dryly, rolling her eyes. "Can't you two get a room?"
"We had a room till you came in here," Callie retorted, her voice revealing a mixture between amusement and frustration at the sudden interruption.
They both sat up, now demurely sitting next to each other again, albeit hip to hip.
Arizona heard the last sounds of 'Soon we'll be found', and the irony of the words wasn't lost on her. She caught Owen's perplexed look, and answered him with a conspiratory grin. She placed her hand on Callie's thigh. From now on, Owen and Cristina would probably see them together a lot more often.
"I should get going," Arizona said with a somewhat crooked smile, reluctantly getting up and removing her hand from Callie's thigh. "I'm on the early shift tomorrow."
Cristina and Owen vanished to Cristina's room, and Callie walked her to the door, her hand protectively on the small of her back.
They smiled at each other, nervousness apparent. Their eyes locked as Callie tightened the grip at her waist. Arizona could scarcely think. She could scarcely breathe. She nervously licked her lips, her eyes on Callie's mouth now.
"I'm going to kiss you," Callie whispered, slowly closing the distance between them. Arizona closed her eyes, all senses heightened, and Callie's mouth finally found her own. She tasted of wine and lipgloss and of something else altogether that must be Callie herself. Arizona deepend the kiss, gently sucking her lower lip, playing with her tongue, savoring her taste. She felt dizzy. It was a long and deeply intimate kiss. Callie had turned her, she realized, so that her head was against the wall of the hallway now. Her right hand was slowly crawling along Callie's back, caressing her hip until it had reached its destination, cupping her ass and stroking the soft flesh. Callie let out a soft moan, and Arizona felt herself smile triumphantly into the kiss, slightly losing tongue contact. When Callie broke the kiss to rest her head on her shoulder, placing both hands on her ass and pulling her into an embrace, Arizona snuggled closer, feeling deliriously happy. This was the kiss she had been waiting for. I am falling in love with you, Calliope.
They both stayed quite still for a few moments, just feeling each other's breath, before Arizona slowly wiggled free.
"I should go," she smiled affectionately at Callie, not wanting to leave. Their fingers were still interlaced.
"Yes you should." Callie gave her a thousand megawatt smile before she reluctantly let go of her fingers, one by one. "Sweet dreams." She winked at her, still smiling and gazing at her.
"Sweet dreams to you too," Arizona grinned in return. Their eyes still locked, she turned around to leave.
When she heard the door click shut, she felt suddenly very bouncy and decided against the elevator, almost skipping down the stairs. She had a big smile plastered across her face, revealing her dimples to perfection. All she could think of right now were Callie's full lips and the softness of her ass. If this wasn't one hell of a date, then I really don't know. You know you have me, Calliope.
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