A/N: I am so sorry for the long wait! I hope you guys are still with me!
Chapter 4
Derek watched as his best friend walked up and down the halls of Seattle Grace with a proud smirk on his face. He was at the nurses' station watching as Mark basically pranced toward him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Derek asked as Mark came to stand next to him.
Mark flashed a smile at his friend, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Mhmm..and I'm having a bad hair day." Derek said while stroking his perfectly styled hair.
"What? A man can't just be happy every once in a while."
Derek crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"Okay fine!" Mark said giving up, Derek smirked and waited for Mark to continue, "I'm going out with Callie tonight." he said with a wide grin. He winced once Derek slapped him on the back of his head. "What!?" he demanded.
"Your going out with Callie!?" Derek asked incredulously. Mark continued to the spot that was hit.
"Yes I'm going out with Callie," Mark clarified, "What's wrong with that?"
Derek let out a chuckle, "Mark," he started, "If you hurt her, I will personally light your comic book collection on fire." he threatened, knowing fully well that Mark had a soft spot for his secret love for authentic comic books.
"You wouldn't" Mark said crossing his arms over his chest.
The long time best friends stared each other down, "Oh I will," Derek said defiantly, "I'm serious, Mark," He said sternly, "Callie is important to me, she's like a little sister, if you screw her over-like you do every other girl you date-I'm gonna have to deal with, and therefore I'm gonna have to deal with Addison."
Mark laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "Trust me, man, Callie's different," he said with a smile, "There's something about her that just..." he trailed off, "Look, I'm not gonna hurt her, I promise."
Derek simply shook his head, "You better hope you don't hurt her," he threatened, "If I'll have to deal with Addison's wraith , so will you." Derek became very serious, "And you don't want to see her wraith, trust me."
With a simple chuckle Mark walked away from his friend without another glance his way.
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Back at the hotel, Addison watched as Callie flitted her way around the spacious room. She watched her best friend, since elementary school, glide around getting ready for her date. Addison sat back on the bed, glass of wine in hand, trying to wrap her head around the what her friend had just dropped on her.
"Wait, wait," Addie said waving her hand, "Let me get this straight...Mark Sloan asked you out? Like on a date? A DATE date?" she punctuated the word 'date' for extra emphasis on her shock.
Callie glared at her friend through the mirror where she was applying her eyeliner, "Yes, Addison, I, Callie Torres has been asked on a date."
"That's not what I meant," Addie explained, "I mean, from everything that Derek has told me about Mark, he doesn't seem like a guy who dates." she paused and thought for a moment, "He seems like the fuck'em then chuck'em kind of guy."
Callie put down her straightening iron and turned around to face her friend, "Addie, we're just having fun." she walked over to the bed and plopped down next to Addison, "Besides, he lives here, we live in New York, it would never work out anyway."
"Just, don't let yourself fall for this guy, Cal" Addison warned, "You know you're a softie on the inside," she teased and got a slap to the shoulder from Callie.
"Shut up," Callie snapped at her, "I am not a softie, I am a fucking hardcore surgeon, and I am not gonna let a hotshot plastic surgeon who's cocky, and sexy...and hot..." she trailed off thinking about the way Mark's muscles rippled with every move he made.
Addison watched her friend drift off and she simply chuckled while she shook head, "Mhmmm...not a softie my ass." she muttered under her breath. Callie shot her a glare as stood and made her way back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
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An hour later, Mark made his way down the 7th floor of the Archfield and made his way to Callie Torres' hotel room. Finally reaching her door, he made a quick check of suit and raised his hand to knock on the door. After a few moments, he was surprised to see Addison Montgomery answer the door.
"Mark" she said with no emotion. Mark flashed her a grin.
"Addison, how are you on this fine evening?"
Addison rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let him in, "Oh, I'm just peachy." Mark chuckled as walked through the door.
"Wow, Derek must really be satisfying you." he said sarcastically. Addison slammed the door and pushed past him.
"Callie! Your daaaaaaaate's here!" she called. Callie emerged from the bathroom and shot Addison a harsh glare. She then turned to Mark and pretended that her breath didn't catch in her throat at the sight of him in a tux.
"Hi" She said with a smile. Mark appreciatively gazed at her, taking in the way the tight-almost sinful-red dress showed off every single curve, his eyes traveled from her toned, bronze legs to her hair curled perfectly around her shoulders. He took in every single aspect of her and found himself suddenly speechless for the first time in his life. Callie flushed under his lustful glare and cleared her throat, catching his attention.
"Hey" he managed to choke out. "You look...amazing."
Callie tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and eyed him up and down, "You don't look too bad yourself." she slipped her feet into her black peep-toe pumps, then grabbed her jacket and purse.
Mark walked over to her and helped her into her leather jacket, that just so happened to match his, "Ready?" Callie nodded and turned to Addison.
"Don't wait up."
Addison rolled her eyes and walked with them to the door. "Not too late now," she called to them, "her curfew's 11 and not a minute after!" Callie shot Addison a look over her shoulder and listened as the red-head laughed her way back into the hotel room.
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The mood in the car to the restaurant was comfortable. Now, they were pulling up in front of a quaint little restaurant that Mark insisted had the best Italian food. After putting the car in park, Mark hopped out of the car and made his way to Callie's side. Opening the door for her, he held out his hand and smiled when she put her, much smaller and gentle hand in his. With a hand at the small of her back, he led her to the entrance and ushered her in.
Bebbo's Restaurant was small, but very romantic. Each table was lit with a single flame candle that was bright enough to dine comfortably in. Callie scanned her surroundings and found herself impressed, she never would have thought that a man like Mark Sloan would even know about a place like this. But then again, she didn't quite know him, only what others told her and she was willing to cut her chances and really get to know this guy.
Once they were seated, Mark noticed the look on Callie's face, he decided to question her on it, "What?" he asked.
Callie put her hands up in defense, "No it's nothing," she reassured him, "But I never really pegged you for a romantic, candle-lit dinner date kind of guy."
Mark chuckled and picked up his menu, "Well, there's a lot you don't know about me, Calliope." he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Callie winced at the use of her full name and narrowed her eyes at him.
"No one calls me that," she reminded him, "the only person who calls me that and lives, is my mother." Callie said with a smirk, "And frankly, you don't look like an older, much older version of me, so you are not allowed to call me that."
"Fine, fine," Mark said in defense, "I won't call you that, Callie." Callie nodded her head and took a sip of her wine glass, "But, I do want to ask why, your name is beautiful, why not use the whole thing?" he said with genuine adoration.
Callie thought for a minute before answering, "I guess, I always thought it was too..." she trailed off looking for the right word.
"Extravagant?" Mark suggested.
"Over-the-top" Callie corrected. Mark laughed and quickly quieted after Callie raised a firm eyebrow in his direction.
"Okay, fine," he gave up, "Changing the subject, where are you from?"
"Miami," she answered with a smile, "What about you?"
"I'm originally from New York." Callie almost spit out her wine at his answer.
"New York?" she asked stunned, "How did you end up all the way out here in Seattle?"
Mark nodded, "Yeah, New York," he smiled, "I guess after college, me and Derek decided to both come out here and do our residency and we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave."
"I love New York," Callie commented, "I don't know how I could ever leave."
"I loved New York too," Mark agreed, "But there was just a lot going on that we both needed to get away from." Callie nodded her understanding, knowing that going deeper into this conversation might be a little too much for a first date. Their waiter came to their table and quickly took their orders, bringing them another bottle of wine.
After the waiter left, Mark looked over at Callie, "Why did you go into Ortho?"
"Why'd you go into Plastics?" She challenged. Mark shook his head and laughed.
"I asked you first."
Callie pursed her lips and nodded, "Okay fine, I chose Ortho because when I see a problem I know exactly how to fix it." she smiled, "When I fix people, I guess it kinda fixes me too, in a way."
Mark nodded, "But why would you need fixing, beautiful?" Callie rolled her eyes and Mark continued, "I guess it's my turn then, huh?"
With a simple nod from her, Mark thought truthfully before answering, "The first week of my residency, a 9 year-old girl was admitted to fix a cleft lip. When I prepped her for her surgery, she kept talking about how maybe the people at school might stop teasing her now that she'll look like them." Callie watched as anger rose in Mark's eyes, but were quickly replaced with awe. "Before I put her under anesthesia she caught my hand and told me how thankful she was to have people like me to fix kids like her. The only thing I wanted to tell her was that she was perfect just the way she was, but the look in her eyes when she woke up and saw herself couldn't have made that surgery any less important." The twinkle in his eye when he remembered her face caused a slight shiver to run down Callie's spine. "The fact that medicine did something like that, the fact that *I* helped change her life with such a simple surgery basically pushed me into Plastics, and I haven't regretted it ever since." He ended his reason with a smile that Callie found, not only charming, but one of the brightest she had ever seen a man wear proudly on his face.
After letting his words sink in, Callie grinned at him, 'Wow," she commented, "If I had an experience like that I probably would've gone into Plastics too."
Mark shook his head, "Nah, Ortho suits you just fine." Callie ran a hand through her hair and tried valiantly to hid the blush that crept on her cheeks.
Their food arrived and the pair shared light conversation each learning new and interesting things about the other. They talked about their respective childhoods, favorite arts and music. By the time they were finished with dinner, both Mark and Callie felt like they had known each other for years. After paying the check, Mark led Callie out of the restaurant and boldly reached down for her hand and intertwined their fingers.
Callie looked down at their laced fingers and smiled up at him. Once they reached the car Mark helped her in before trotting over to his side and slipping in. He peeled out of the parking lot and headed back to the Archfield. When he finally pulled into the driveway, he turned off the car and hopped out.
With their fingers interlocked, Mark escorted Callie up to her hotel room and slowed once they came to her door. He reached up and lightly caressed her cheek.
"I had a really good time tonight."
"So did I." Callie said with a smile. Mark leaned forward and left a soft kiss to her cheek.
After pulling back, he whispered, "Goodnight." When he made a move to walk away, Callie grabbed his hand pulled him back to her.
"Where do you think you're going?" She said, seduction dripping from her lips. Not letting him answer, she lunged forward and crushed her lips to his. Mark immediately reacted to her and circled his arms around her waist. Callie's arms moved up his arms and came to rest around his neck. Opening her mouth slightly, Callie wordlessly invited him in to explore her mouth. Feeling her mouth open to him, Mark slipped his tongue into her and laved his tongue over hers. Callie moaned quietly into his mouth while her nails lightly scratched the hairs at the nape of his neck. Pulling her closer, Mark pushed her back up against one of the walls of the-thankfully-empty hallway. His hands trailed slowly down her body, taking in every curve, stopping to draw small circles at her hips until he reached the round globe of her ass. Callie moaned as he gave her a nice squeeze pulling her closer to him, letting her feel exactly how much she was effecting him. She lightly nipped at his bottom lip, drawing a hiss from him, before pulling the slightly swollen lip between hers and soothed the pain. Before any other moves were made, the room door across the hall flew open and the pair shot away from each other. There, standing in the doorway was the smirking face of Derek Shepherd and a not to impressed glare of Addison Montgomery.
"I should've known what all that noise was out here." Derek said with a slight chuckle. Callie tried to stop the flush that built up on her neck from moving to her cheeks, but her efforts were shot and she turned bright red.
Addison crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at the pair, "Looks like you two had a fun night." She said sarcastically. Callie lifted her gaze to her friend and took in the fact that Derek was clad in only his boxers and Addison in her bathrobe.
"I could say the same for you, Addie." she said defiantly. Knowing that she had gotten herself into this, Addison grabbed Derek's arms and dragged him back into her room, not without sending her friend a hostile glare.
Callie laughed as Addison slammed the door before turning back to Mark. "Tonight was great, thank you."
Mark stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. "So, how about you let me take you out again tomorrow night then?"
Pursing her lips, Callie nodded, "Sounds great." She slipped her key into the slot and pushed her door open. Before walking in, she turned back to Mark and left a sweet, soft kiss on his lips and pulled away with a smile. "Goodnight, Mark."
With a shit-eating grin on his face, Mark watched her step through her door, "Goodnight, Callie." Sending him a small wave goodbye, she shut the door and rested her head against it. On the other side of the door, Mark gazed at it before turning down the hall and walking toward the elevator with a little spring in his step. If he didn't know it, he was beginning to think that Callie Torres was the one. Well, the one for him anyway.