It had taken a long time for Callie to get to this point in her life. She had grown up privileged, and the crowd she ran with in high school was far from this crowd.
College had changed a lot of things for her though. That was when she first realized she was into women, first realized there was more to life than partying and playing the field, and when she first realized she was really, really good at sports. Football in particular.
It happened by accident. She was leaving her biology class late one evening, after staying behind to get some notes she had missed last week from her lab partner. She was completely engrossed in them and hadn't even realized she walked into a makeshift football game that was being played on the large expanse of lawn on the UCLA common grounds.
That's when another body came crashing into hers. Hard.
Turns out it was a group of girls who she had a few classes with. "Oh my god! Are you ok?" The red head asked reaching out a hand to help Callie up. "Fine." She said with a laugh. "I'm an idiot, it's my fault. I should have watched where I was going." Callie said shaking her head and brushing the grass off her jeans. "You took that hit like a champ!" The red head said with a smirk. "Well it's easy to take a hit like that when you don't see it coming!" Callie said with a huge smile.
"I'm Addison, Addison Montgomery." The red head said tucking the football under her left arm and extending her right hand. "Callie Torres." Callie said taking Addison's hand and shaking it. "So Callie, what kind of arm do you have on you?" Addison asked quirking up an eyebrow. "Are you hitting on me? Gotta say, never been hit on after someone literally tackled me to the ground." Callie said in a teasing manner. "You're funny. I like you... But we need another member for our team. And all of us have an ok throwing arm, but we are lacking in that department." Addison said handing Callie the ball.
"Honestly? I have never played before. Sure, messing around in high school and beach football, that fun stuff." Callie said shrugging her shoulders. "Well, here. Give it a shot. Throw this down to Amelia. She's the brunette in the orange shirt." Addison said handing Callie the football, and pointed down field.
With that, Callie threw the ball. It spiraled perfectly through the air, and hit Amelia's hand with a slightly painful thud. The way both Amelia and Addison's face lit up you would think she gave them each a puppy. She was a natural.
And that was how Callie found herself here, now.
She laughed to herself at the memory, as she looked around the empty locker room. This was the first official game ending of The Woman's Professional Football League (WPFL). And they had won. It wasn't even really a competition considering the score was 42-3. They had completely shut out the Seattle Cougars, and she couldn't be more thrilled!
This was a new day, a new age where women in the sporting community were seen as more than just a pretty face, she had heard enough of that crap to last her a lifetime. "You're so pretty why do you play such a violent sport." Was said to her more or less the same way by several people. Morons. Being pretty had nothing to do with it. In this league, they were seen as athletic and capable, and for that she was grateful. The uphill battle wasn't an easy one, but once enough people were interested in the idea, everything seemed to fall into place.
Callie's muscles were sore. The defense for the Cougars was fairly adequate, enough so that she got sacked twice. Being the quarterback, she usually didn't have to worry so much about that stuff, but it was the hazards of the game.
She rolled her shoulders a few times and moved her neck side to side, trying to loosen the angry muscles in her upper body. What she needed was a hot shower, and a massage.
But she was still feeling the high from her earlier win. She was still feeling the high from the nearly packed stadium also. No one expected the crowd to be that large or expansive. But it was.
"Torres! Why are you still in all your gear?! I thought we were going out to celebrate!" Addison said fresh out of the shower. She was already dressed in jeans and a t-shirt but her hair hung in wet tresses around her face.
"I was taking it all in." Callie said shrugging her shoulders as she began to work off her cleats. "We've come so far Addy, I just... I wanted a moment to take it all in." Callie said throwing her head back and taking a deep breath. "Well, get a move on! We are going to Dave and Busters to celebrate. Even coach Bailey, and coach Avery are going to be there." Addison said with a giggle.
"I'll meet you over there. Let me shower and change." Callie said, as she worked her way out of her Los Angeles Sharks jersey. "Fine, but hurry up. I'm starving and you know coach. She won't let us start until everyone is there." Addison said giving Callie one of those "death stares." She was famous for, "I'll be there soon." Callie said laughing and forcing herself not to roll her eyes.
Addison was on cloud nine, as she walked out of the locker room. She was doing what she had dreamt of doing for years. And she was doing it with her best friends by her side. Addison, Callie, and Amelia became inseparable after that initial run in. And by run in she mean literally.
The first official game of the WPFL and they had won. They had completely stomped the competition. "Ads, come on! Where's cal?" Amelia yelled impatiently from her car. "She wasn't even in the shower when I left, but she promised to hurry." Addison said with a laugh.
Amelia wasn't always the most patient person, and she was almost unbearable when she was hungry. So for all of their well beings, Addison hoped Callie held true to her word.
"Excuse me, Addison Montgomery?" An unfamiliar voice ran out from beside her. "Yes." Addison said stopping in her tracks. She was stopped by a petite blonde who had curly blonde hair. She was positive she had never seen her before. "Hi, sorry to approach you like this, but... Oh I'm Arizona Robbins." The blonde said extending her hand. "Addison, but you knew that." Addison said with a small smirk.
"Right." Arizona said returning the smile. "I'm actually a sports reporter for ESPN and we are running a story on the new WPFL and their top players." Arizona said with a dimpled smile. "Really?" Addison asked quirking up one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Yes. And with some digging, we actually found out that you had a previously formed friendship with two of your team mates. Amelia Shepherd, and Calliope Torres." Arizona continued.
"Callie." Addison corrected. "Callie?" Arizona asked confused. "Yes, don't call her Calliope unless you want her to tackle you." Addison said with a laugh. "Right, I'll remember that." Arizona said with a small smile as she pulled out a pen and paper from the back pocket of her jeans to jot down some notes.
"Anyway, this seems like a fascinating story, and we were wondering if maybe after you next game we could sit you ladies down and do an interview." Arizona asked hopeful. Addison quietly contemplated her answer before addressing Arizona again. "I'm ok with that, but you might want to talk to Amelia and Callie and see how they feel." She said clearing her throat.
"Amelia is in the car back there." Addison said pointing to her friend before waving her over. "She's hungry, it might not be the best time to ask her, but..." She started to say as Amelia came over in a huff. "Seriously. Food... Now!" Amelia said as her stomach rumbled in protest.
"Amelia, this is Arizona, Arizona, Amelia." Addison said ignoring the hungry brunette. "Nice to meet you." Amelia said mustering up a smile. "Likewise." Arizona said once again extending her hand. Amelia reached out and shook it with slight force, hoping to speed things along.
"Arizona here is a reporter for ESPN." Addison said with a smile. "They want to run a story on Me, you, and Callie." Addison continued on as Arizona looked between the two friends. "Great, cool, sign me up... After dinner!" Amelia said causing Addison to toll her eyes and Arizona to force down a giggle. "Next game Ami! God you act like you didn't eat a buffets worth of food before the game today." Addison said shaking her head
"Addy, I'm a running back... Maybe this is news to you, but I move a lot on that field, which means I burn a lot of calories, which means after a game I'm starving." Amelia said sticking her tongue out at her red headed friend. "She's a little dramatic." Addison said in a teasing manner over to Arizona who had a full dimpled smile fixed on her face.
"You guys are really long time friends." Arizona said her smile growing. "Yup. Now food. It was great to meet you Arizona! See you next week!" Amelia said turning to walk back to her car.
"I better go before she leaves me." Addison said laughing. "Callie is still in the shower, but she shouldn't be long." Addison said as she started to walk away from the amused blonde. "Great. Thank you for your time, I'll see you two next week." Arizona said turning to make her way back to her own parked truck.
"What'd they say?" Alex asked as he munched on a sandwich. "Well, I got two out of the three to agree. Just waiting for the third to agree... Callie Torres." She said sighing as she leaned her back up to the truck. "I still don't know why you needed me to come for this." Alex said as a piece of lettuce fell from his mouth. "Because you're my camera man, and my wing man! If I can't charm the pants off of someone you can always bully them into the interview." Arizona said with her megawatt smile.
"Please." Alex scoffed rolling his eyes. "You charm the pants off of all women." Alex continued on. "Gay, bi, straight... It doesn't matter. Do you remember that girl Chrissy?" Alex asked with a laugh. "Chrissy?" Arizona said drawing her eye brows together in confusion. "Yes. We were at the company Christmas party two years ago, and she had been flirting with me all night..." Alex said shaking his head. "Ahhh yes, and I left home with her that night." Arizona finished with a laugh. "So see. I'm useless." Alex said shrugging his shoulders. "Not useless, you're the best camera man a girl could ask for!" Arizona said blowing him a kiss.
She resumed her position of leaning back against the white SUV. It was a company car that was "gifted" to her contingent on her signing with the ESPN company. It was one of the many perks she had been offered if she had decided to sign their five year contract.
She was only to eager to sign. She graduated in the top 5% of her class with a degree in communications from USC. She had actually done her internship with CBS and had been working behind the scenes of the NFL league.
That's when she heard about the opening at ESPN and the WPFL and applied. She didn't have high hopes. It was sought after by four other women she had graduated with, all of them also in the top 5%. But she got a glowing recommendation from her boss at CBS. He wanted to keep her, but he also didn't want to hold her back. ESPN was offering her things, CBS just couldn't afford to do at the time.
Why she doubted herself no one will ever know. She was made for the camera. Her blue eyes pierced the screen, and her resume was impressive. Not only did she have a degree in communications, but she had several film classes under her belt, so she knew how it worked both behind and in front of the camera. She was also head editor for the USC news paper where she actively wrote sports columns for everything from women's volleyball to men's lacrosse.
She was grateful for her job. She loved everything about it. Every late night spent in her downtown LA city office, every heart dropping moment of getting her story in on time, every seemingly impossible task she was faced with. The perks didn't hurt either.
The only downfall of her job was, she had very little time for a social life outside of work. Sure she had met and interviewed several attractive women but it never went beyond that. Come to think of it, that wasn't really the problem at all. She still had two days off a week, and now that she was settled in her job she was home most nights before seven in the evening.
She'd used her job as an excuse for her single lifestyle for the past two years. But the truth of it all was she just didn't find anyone she was interested in. She was in a damn good job, kicking ass and truly making a name for herself. She was proud of it. She wanted someone as equally motivated, someone who made her laugh, and someone who saw her as more then just blonde hair and good looks. Someone who could captivate her, and hold her interest.
That was hard. Especially In a city like LA where looks where everything. It's not that she didn't appreciate when someone commented on her looks. In fact most times it was flattering, but she was more than a pretty face. So much more, and she wanted someone in her life who could see that.
"What ever happened to Chrissy?" Alex asked as he crumpled up his trash and tucked it into a bag. "No idea. She moved I think." Arizona said shrugging her shoulders. "She was hot..." Alex said with a smirk. "I forgot all about her until you mentioned her, honestly." Arizona said with a sly smirk. "shut up. You know you love to rub that in my face every chance you get." Alex said throwing a piece of paper toward Arizona.
Just as she ducked to deflect the object the door to the back of the stadium flew open. Both Alex and Arizona slightly jumped as the steel foot came into contact with the cement of the building. "That her?" Alex asked clearing his throat. "Must be." Arizona said fixing her shirt.
Even from this far away she could tell that Callie Torres was a vision. Her raven hair was pulled back into a messy pony tail, and she wore a simple purple shirt and blue jeans. But she was gorgeous. "Hard to tell that from under her helmet." Arizona thought as she approached her.
"Callie, Callie Torres?" Arizona shouted after the woman who was taking long strides toward the only other car parked in the parking lot. "Yea?" Callie asked confused as the attractive blonde approached her.
"I'm Arizona Robbins. I'm a reporter for ESPN." Arizona said smiling and holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you." Callie said returning her smile and setting down her bag. She then took the blondes hand in her own and shook it lightly. They both jumped back but continued to hold their hands in contact. An unmistakable spark shot through them both and blue eyes met brown and locked there.
"I...uh... I... Hmmm." Arizona said pulling her hand back before tugging on her shirt. She was at a loss for words. This never happened to her. Ever. But the beauty in front of her was beyond words, and she could swear there was a spark when they touched. "Sorry." She said with a small embarrassed laugh as she cleared her throat.
"I'm doing a piece of the WPFL and we want to run a story on you and your friends Addison and Amelia." Arizona finally managed to get out. Brown eyes danced with delight, and a huge smile was formed on Callie's face as she watched the blonde struggle. She was adorable, adorable and sexy a rare and intoxicating combination.
"What kind of story?" Callie asked tucking her hands in the front pockets of her jeans. "Well we found out that you and your friends were actual friends before the league started. My boss is convinced it'll help bring more viewership to the league. It'll be a human interest story that we'll air after the game two Sunday's away." Arizona said bouncing back and forth on her heels.
"Amelia and Addison already agreed to it." Arizona said with a hopeful smile. "Well then, Ya sure." Callie said without any reluctance. She would have agreed to do it again anyway, just to look at Arizona. She was already captivated by those big blue eyes.
"Super!" Arizona beamed. "I have sideline passes to next weeks game. So we will set something up after that." Arizona said excitedly. "Great." Callie said simply not moving from her spot. She tilted her head to one side as she regarded the blonde standing in front of her.
"What?" Arizona asked smiling. She could see questions bouncing around in those beautiful brown eyes. "Arizona... It's just... That's a very interesting name." Callie said licking her lips. "Not any more so than Calliope." Arizona came back as she looked up at Callie through long eyelashes.
"Callie..." She corrected. Wait, how did you know my name?" Callie asked confused and slightly amused. "I'm a reporter Miss. Torres. I did my homework." Arizona said with a wink as she started to make her way back to her truck with a slight sway in her walk. "See you next week." She said leaving a stunned Callie frozen in place as she crawled in her truck and started the engine.
"Wow." Arizona thought as her heart pounded in her chest. She said nothing as she and Alex pulled away from the parking lot and out to the busy streets of LA. She was mesmerized, and so few words were spoken between her and the raven haired beauty.
Words didn't need to be spoken. There was an energy that had built between them. An energy that almost threw her completely off her game. She was already captivated by one Calliope Torres. "A beautiful name, for a beautiful woman." She thought, as she flipped on her radio and let a smile creep across her face.