Title: The Tchaikovsky Affair
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: Currently PG, but M/NC-17 for later chapters
Disclaimer: The characters you recognize are not mine, but those of Shonda Rhimes. Also, this is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine.
Summary: AU. Arizona Robbins is the concertmaster of the NY Philharmonic, and her career is taking off. Will she be able to balance her ambition with her inconvenient feelings for the sexy new 1st cellist?
A/N: I'm always a bit loath to write AU, because you never know how it will be received, but I'm super excited about this fic. They say that you should write what you know, so that is what I'm attempting, though, clearly, I was never in the New York Philharmonic, so you'll have to allow me to have artistic license and suspend your disbeliefs. Once the seed was planted in my head and I began doing a bit of research, it started taking on a life of its own. I have many ideas for future chapters that are dying to be written, but I do have a hectic schedule at the moment, so I will try to update as quickly as I can. I really hope you guys enjoy it!
Chapter 1
Arizona Robbins always loved the first day of the new concert season. She loved seeing familiar faces she had missed over the break and looked forward to meeting the new musicians. She also enjoyed the challenge the first few weeks always brought – figuring out how to work as a cohesive unit and learning new and exciting pieces. She could feel the collective enthusiasm in the air as she practically skipped into the New York Philharmonic's spacious rehearsal room. This was a point in the season long before people began to get burnt out and exhausted from working long hours; a point before people began to show their true diva colors.
This year, however, she was doubly excited. Her hard work from last season had paid off and she had been given the highly sought after position of 1st violin and concertmaster. Being concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic was about as good as it gets. Added to the prestige was the fact that the featured piece of this season's main concert was to be Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto in D Major", including one of the most impressive and technically difficult violin solos in all orchestral history. Solos were always awarded to the first chair of the appropriate section. With this solo, Arizona was sure to become a household name in the orchestral circles and possibly even on a larger scale. It was going to mean a lot of work, but she had been preparing for this moment since she touched her first half-sized violin at age 4.
As she made her way to the back wall, she greeted her colleagues with warm smiles. She stopped to chat to those she knew, asking about their breaks and their families, and politely introduced herself to those who were new to the ensemble. Finally reaching the wall, she placed her bag and violin case down, before kneeling and carefully lifting her Stradivarius from the case. After tightening her bow and rubbing rosin on it, she walked to the front of the room, as the rest of the orchestra dutifully took their seats. It was well recognized that when the concertmaster was ready to begin, you needed to be in your seat waiting for your cue. There was a well-respected tradition of punctuality and orderliness that helped everything run smoothly. As concertmaster, it was Arizona's job to make announcements and discuss any administrative business for the day, tune and warm up the orchestra, and lead any sectionals before the director/conductor arrived. The key to the philharmonic's success was that it ran as a well-oiled machine. Just one person could bring this machine to a grinding halt, however, by being disrespectful or disorganized. Not to mention the fact that their intimidating conductor, Antonio Gallo, did not tolerate beginning a rehearsal late.
Arizona glanced at her watch before proceeding to the podium, where she tapped the back of her bow on the metal stand to get everyone's attention. At the sound, the entire ensemble ceased talking and warming up. After the last sounds reverberated off the walls, the hall fell to an eerie silence. Arizona briefly glanced around the room, taking in everyone's appearances, and frowned at the sight of the empty 1st cello chair.
"Welcome back to our veterans and welcome home to our new members! For those of you who don't know me, I'm Arizona Robbins, and I am concertmaster this season. We have a really awesome season ahead of us. It's an ambitious repertoire, but has the potential to be the best season the Philharmonic has ever seen. I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you this, but it will take dedication, hard work, and perseverance. Clearly, none of us are strangers to hard work, but I wanted you all to know – "
At that moment, Arizona's speech was interrupted by the clanging of the heavy metal door. She whipped her head around to glare at the offensive intruder and her gaze was met by the most piercing, soulful brown eyes. Arizona gasped and allowed her self to gape for a few seconds, before remembering how rude this intrusion had been.
Mumbling an apology, the Latina practically threw her red cello case against the wall, before unbuckling the latches as fast as she could.
Of course her case has stickers all over it, Arizona thought to herself. How unprofessional.
"Please take your seat…" Arizona demanded, gesturing for the brunette to proffer her name.
"Callie."
"Please take your seat, Callie." Arizona responded, with a tight smile.
"As I was saying," Arizona continued, as Callie stepped over people to get to her seat, ungracefully trying to avoid hitting anyone with her large instrument. "I wanted to say that my door is always open. We are all trained for these arduous hours ahead of us, but if the stress is ever too much, please come talk to me at any point. One of the things I love about playing with the NY Philharmonic is that we are a family. A crazy, ambitious, workaholic family, but a family nonetheless. We look out for each other, and as your newly appointed leader, I want to continue to foster that kind of environment.
"You have been given the rehearsal schedule for the next two months as well as my contact information. All questions regarding the schedule and music should be directed to me and I will refer questions to Maestro Gallo if needed. I shouldn't have to remind you, but punctuality is key," she said, pointedly staring at Callie, "to the success of this ensemble. It is also important to me, as it's my head on the chopping block if rehearsal starts late. Those of you who have worked with Maestro Gallo before can attest to the fact that he does not appreciate tardiness."
Callie sank back in her seat, a sheepish and apologetic smile on her face.
"Lastly, there has been one change in the schedule. This Friday I will be holding a cello and bass sectional instead of horns on the Prokofiev. Please review the first 4 pages of your scores on your own and come prepared to do some hard work. Ok, well that's the end of my little spiel. Let's get to some tuning!"
Arizona finished her speech with a big smile, showing off her dimples. Arizona laughed as the 1st violin section, soon to be followed by the whole orchestra, began to applaud her. Despite the one disturbance in her welcome speech, she believed she was off to a good start. She giggled and bowed dramatically, before bringing up her violin with a flourish to play the concert A.
As the orchestra finished tuning and the cacophony dimmed, Maestro Antonio Gallo strode purposefully through the door. The orchestra unanimously leapt to their feet and cheered on their revered and feared conductor. He hopped on the podium and raised his hands to silence the ensemble and gestured them to take a seat.
"Please, please, that was not necessary. Actually, it was; I am the great Maestro Gallo, after all." The orchestra laughed nervously. One was never too sure whether Gallo was being serious or if he was mocking his world famous inflated ego.
"I trust that Ms. Robbins has given a rousing welcome speech already, and I know all of you know who I am, so without further ado, we will dive right in. We have a lot of work to do. We will start with the featured piece. Please pull out the Andante of the Tchaikovsky."
Three hours later, the orchestra was still fumbling their way through the middle movement of the Tchaikovsky. They were all excruciatingly talented musicians and obviously knew their parts, but it simply was not jibing. The sections were out of sync with each other and Arizona was convinced the violas were lagging behind and pulling the entire ensemble with them. Her beloved 1st violins were, of course, nothing to do with the problem.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Gallo said, "Okay, take a 10 minute water break, everyone. Try to find some rhythm while you're at it." He could never resist being a little snarky.
Arizona gently rested her violin against the back of her chair, and headed out of the atrium and to the bathroom. Once there, she splashed some cold water on her face and combed her fingers through her unruly curls. This was not how she was expecting her first rehearsal to go. She had to keep reminding herself that it always took a few weeks to gel.
She was pulled out of her internal dialogue by a cough behind her. Glancing in the mirror, she was once again met with those gorgeous brown eyes. She sucked in a deep breath before turning to face the gorgeous brunette.
"Hey, I-I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I have a pretty long commute and my bus – "
"I'm sure you have a great excuse, Callie. Everyone always does when they're late. I know you're a newcomer here, but you should know that it doesn't matter what your excuse is at this level. This is the freaking New York Philharmonic. We are the cream of the crop. I don't know your history or your credentials, and frankly, I don't care. You're 1st cello so you must have done something right to get here, but you can no longer ride on talent alone. You must be professional, and in my book, the number one rule of professionalism is being on time. I have a lot riding on this, as concertmaster and personally, as the soloist. It's your first time and I don't hold grudges, so let's move on. Just don't be late to my rehearsal again."
With that, Arizona quickly marched out of the bathroom, leaving a stunned Callie in her wake. Arizona was aware that her speech was much harsher than necessary. She had done nothing to diminish the stereotype that concermasters, and 1st violinists in general, were divas. Had it been anyone else, she would have made her point, but probably with much less attitude and she would have undoubtedly finished with her charming smile.
Her problem with Callie was not that she was late. It was that with one look, she had made Arizona's legs wobble and her heart lurch. She could not have any inconvenient feelings threatening her success. If that meant making an enemy rather than a friend (or lover, her misguided brain reminded her) on her first day, then so be it. In this line of work, it was the unfortunate truth that you had to make enemies to rise to the top.