Dr. Callie Torres sat alone in a bar drinking what must have been her twentieth shot of tequila. She normally did not drink so much but today had been a bad day. In fact Callie had been having a lot of bad days. It all started a couple of weeks back when she realized that her beloved husband, George, was sleeping with a stick figure bimbo named Isabel Stevens. This prompted a messy if not quick divorce. Divorce is hard for everyone right? Well, of course it is but most people don't have to see their ex-husband and his mistress every day at work. Callie had the unfortunate luck to work at the same hospital with George and Isabel. Or Izzie as her friends affectionately called the doe eyed home wrecker.
Callie's troubles were not limited to her unfortunate marriage; she was also sabotaging herself at work. A prestigious title had been bestowed on her at the hospital, Chief Resident. However, for the past week she had been acting like a bumbling idiot. Her private life was wreaking havoc on her professional life. And her career was the only thing she had right now. If she didn't get it together she would lose her position and lose her reputation in the hospital.
And to add to her trouble Callie had began sleeping with an attending at the hospital, Mark Sloan. He had a reputation for screwing every woman he could find. They had been having sex for about two weeks now. The sex was great, Mark was great, but she knew that she was playing with fire. She was spending every night at his hotel room. She needed a plan but she was too drunk to strategize and perhaps too drunk to care at the moment. "Bartender! Another round."
The bartender walked down to the end of the bar and poured another five shots of tequila for the intoxicated orthopedic surgeon.
Mark Sloan was a plastic surgeon at the same hospital and he had been watching Callie self-destruct all week. That day at work he decided he was going to be helpful. Helpful wasn't generally in Mark's nature but for some reason for this woman he wanted to be helpful. Mark walked into Joe's bar and spotted Callie sitting at the bar. Mark walked over and motioned for the bartender. "I will have what she is having."
The bartender nodded and walked over setting up five shots of Tequila for Mark as well.
Mark took some money out of his pocket and said "Just leave the bottle."
The bartender nodded and set the bottle in front of Mark and walked off.
"So are you trying to ruin your career or are you just self destructing completely?" asked Mark. "Because you are doing a pretty good job at it." said Mark drinking his shots of tequila.
For the first time since he sat down next to her Callie looked at Mark and acknowledged his presence. "Do you know what it is like to be the laughing stock of the hospital? Everyone there is intimately acquainted with my failed marriage."
Mark chuckled at her question. "You do remember when I first arrived at the hospital right?" "Derek punched me for flirting with Meredith…" "Everyone found out that I was Derek's former best friend and that he had walked in on me having sex with his wife, Addison." "I was public enemy number one." "And people were always staring at me." "I just had to take the stance that I didn't give a damn."
"But you brought your situation on yourself. You came to Seattle knowing that this would be an issue." "This was sprung on me." insisted Callie.
"Was it really?" "You are telling me that there were never any signs that your marriage to George wasn't working. Or maybe that your marriage should have never really happened? You had sex with me and then the two of you got married." said Mark drinking his other shots. "It was the same for Derek and Addison. Those two should have never gotten married but they did anyway."
Callie rolled her eyes at him and said "Pour me a shot." Callie said "Alright so maybe I had a few warning signs." "But I loved him and…I just wanted it to work."
Mark poured two shots for Callie. "Well, you can't force something doomed to succeed." "Listen, I don't claim to be some sort of relationship guru. My most meaningful relationship was my friendship with Derek and that blew up in my face." "But I always had my career left to go back to." "You need that same kind of stability in your life or you are going to drown in this."
Callie was about to respond when George, Isabel, Meredith, Cristina, and Alex walked into the bar. They were all interns from the hospital. Callie wanted to leave and she moved for her purse to get up.
Mark grabbed her hand and said "If you start running now you will never be able to stop. Is that what you really want?" "You've worked hard to get where you are." "You've been at that hospital longer than either of them."
Callie glanced over seeing George and Isabel together and she nodded. "You are right." "I am ready to leave. Not because of the two of them but because I feel very drunk and very light headed."
Mark chuckled and said "Well, why we don't get out of here then?" "We can go back to my place."
Callie was going to say no but something about the smile on Mark's face always made her feel weak in the knees. "Alright let's get out of here." Callie grabbed her purse and stood up waiting on Mark.
Mark tossed money on the bar to pay for Callie's drinks and stood up putting an arm around her as they left the bar.
This did not go unnoticed by George and company.
Mark walked with Callie out to his car and opened the door for her.
Callie kissed him and said "Thank you Mark…for everything." She climbed into the car and put on her seatbelt.
Mark closed the car door and walked around to the driver's side. He hopped in and took off toward his hotel. When they arrived at the hotel Callie was half asleep, so Mark helped her out of the car and walked her up to his room. He helped Callie get into his bed. Mark climbed into the bed and drifted off to sleep after awhile.
The next morning Callie woke up slightly confused as to where she was until she rolled over seeing Mark next to her. She moved the sheet and looked down at her body and realized she was still fully clothed and so was he.
Mark opened one eye and looked at her. He chuckled and said "No, I didn't take advantage of you last night. I prefer when you are an active participant."
Callie chuckled and then winced in pain. "Ow…well that is good to know for future reference." "My head is killing me."
"That tends to happen when you drown your sorrows in tequila." "Lucky for you today is your day off or you would be screwed." said Mark.
"Yes, lucky me I don't have to face the jackals today." "Thanks for rescuing me last night." "It meant a lot to me." "I was in a really bad place."
"You don't have to thank me Callie. I'll always rescue you if I have the chance." said Mark. He realized how out of character that was for him and decided to change the subject. "Well, it just so happens that today is my day off too." "Why don't we spend it together?"
Callie thought about it for a moment and then said "Sure, I don't have any other plans for the day. As long as it doesn't involve getting out of the bed right now."
He laughed and said "No, it doesn't involve getting out of the bed right now."
"So what do you have planned for the day or are we just hanging out?" asked Callie. Callie laid on her side looking at Mark and had to stop herself from smiling. There was just something about this man that drew her in but also scared her. There was a trail of broken hearts in Mark's wake. And she wasn't his type or at least what she had become to identify as his type. She was nowhere near a size zero. She was scared that she would fall for him and end up with her heart broken…again.
Mark said "Well, I've finally decided to buy the ultimate bachelor pad." "I thought you could come and check it out with me." "I got the keys for it yesterday." said Mark.
"Hmm, finally deciding to put down roots here in Seattle? How mature and adult of you." said Callie. She playfully looked around the room and said "Where is the camera? Am I being punk'd?"
Mark chuckled and said "You know me if there was a camera in the bedroom it wouldn't be to punk you." "It'd be to fu…"
Callie cut him off by putting her hand over his mouth. "Thank you…thank you very much." She chuckled and said "Sure I would love to come and check out your place with you."
"And help me go furniture shopping?" asked Mark.
"Ah now I see why you want my help." "You know me, throw a leather couch or two in the room and I say it is done." said Callie.
Mark chuckled and said "I am glad our decorating tastes are in sync." "I think I am going to hire a professional to do it." "I don't feel like actually decorating an entire place." "I just want to be able to move in and start living."
Callie smiled and asked. "So what is this place like?" "Is it every bachelor's wet dream?" "I am imagining a stripper pole in the center of the room."
Mark chuckled and said "Well, it is 3 bedroom 3 and ½ bathroom penthouse with a view of downtown Seattle." "Who could ask for more?" asked Mark. He laughed and said "No, there is not a stripper pole." "But if you feel like giving me a show I can always buy a retractable pole."
Callie chuckled and said "Well, I can't wait to see it." "Well, you know me….why strip when I can just give you the best lap dance of your life." Callie covered her mouth and yawned."But for now I think I want to go back to sleep."
Mark chuckled and said "Go ahead Boozy sleep off your dinner." He kissed her in an almost tender away and then pulled back. Mark moved closer to Callie and wrapped his arm around her and closed his eyes too.
Callie felt herself snuggling closer into his warm embrace almost involuntarily. It didn't take Callie long to fall back to sleep. When she woke up again Mark was just coming out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist.
He smiled at Callie and said "You have good timing. I was just about to wake you up." "It is officially 1:00 in the afternoon." "I figure we can leave here and grab lunch before we go to see my new place."
Callie smiled and said "Sure that sounds great to me." Callie got out of bed and undressed before heading into the bathroom to start her shower.
Mark was about to get dressed but thinking about Callie nude in the shower was having an expected effect on him. He smirked to himself and untied his towel and tossed it onto the bed. He opened the bathroom door and said "Room for one more?" He smirked and walked into the shower with Callie.