Chapter Four
Sunday was known to most as the day of rest. Yet this well known saying didn't seem to apply to Callie. Instead she was stood in her local supermarket. The rest of the world had obviously received the memo about Sunday's as Callie's favourite supermarket was eerily deserted with the exception of the few staff that was forced to work by the large corporate chain on the day of rest.
Scratching her head the doctor looked between the two different types of cheese held in her hand. She searched her brain to remember which one it was that her eldest daughter had taken a disliking too. The week before Sofia had loved both types of cheese. However this week was a whole different story.
Frustrated Callie sighed, decided to throw both of the items into her shopping cart. She muttered under her breath, blaming her daughter for being unable to keep up with her continuous changing teenage taste buds.
Grabbing her shopping cart the brunette continued to shop but was abruptly halted before she had even taken half a step as she nearly collided with another body that breezed past her. "Hey!" Callie shouted in annoyance at the receding figure.
Callie watched as the person turned and looked over their shoulder, blonde hair flipping in the process. Callie quickly recognised the woman, "Miss Robbins?" she asked her face softening from the previous annoyance that had settled on her features when her sight locked on ice blue eyes of the women that was currently skating down the aisle.
"Doctor Torres!" A smile immediately inhabits the lips of the blonde on sight of the other woman. Both women's senses slowing down making them experience slow motion as they gaze at each other happily for what seems to both as eternity. That is until Callie hazed mind notice a large mountain of fizzy soda bottles, stacked from the ground to nearly as high as the ceiling that the blonde was quickly approaching.
Quickly snapping out of the spell the presence of the blonde constantly has her in, Callie's eyes widened "Watch out!"
Arizona turned her head back to face forward just in time to see what she was about to collide with, "Whoa!" Covering her face with her arms just in time to save her face from impact, Arizona screeched as her body slammed into the bottles, bowling down the entire display in one swoop before she herself tumbled to the floor.
"Oh my god" Callie rushed to Arizona's side, "Are you okay?" she asked crouching down as a few items continued to fall off a shelf behind the blonde having also been disturbed in the commotion.
"Um..." Arizona sat up slowly, rubbing at the back of her head where she had hit it on something in the fall "I think so..." Arizona blinked a few times trying to clear her cloudy vision. And when it did her eyes met the dark intense eyes of Callie's. "Well this is embarrassing" the blonde admitted turning a deep shade of crimson when her eyes darting around her at the mess she had caused.
Callie couldn't help but laugh, the scene laid out before along with the blushing blonde was very amusing.
Turning her attention to the laughing brunette, Arizona took a second to study the woman's face and concluded she was indeed even more beautiful than she remembered. The sound of the woman's laughter warmed the teacher's heart making it flutter and the sight made her unconsciously mimic the other woman, her own lips tugging into a smile and a chuckle leaving her lips. "I'm glad you're finding this entertaining."
Callie controlled her laughter but couldn't help but grin as she tilted her head in the direction of Arizona's shoes, "And thisis why I won't let Gracie have Heelys."
Arizona looked down at her feet, "I will have you know, that these shoes are an amazing way of transportation."
Callie raised a brow and nodded "Sure. Okay." she wasn't the slightest bit convinced.
"I just haven't mastered stopping yet." Arizona admitted, wincing when her fingers touched a sore spot at the side of her head.
Callie reached out her hand towards the blonde, startling her in the process. Noticing this Callie immediately froze the advances of her hand in mid air, "May I"
Arizona nodded and turned her head a little so the doctor could get a better reach. Callie gently nudged a fair hand away from the sore area, and then let her own fingers brush through soft golden locks to find the inflamed area on the woman's scalp.
The close proximity made the teacher nervous and the gentle touching made her temperature rise. Clearing her throat, Arizona looked up and fixed her eyes on Callie's, "So what's the verdict, doc?"
"Do you feel any dizziness or vertigo?" Callie asked, her hand leaving the already swollen area on Arizona's scalp, her fingers grazing the woman's cheek before gently hooking under the blondes chin.
"Nope" she breathed out, followed by all the air in her lungs.
"Do you feel nauseous at all?" Callie asks, lifting Arizona's chin slightly upwards so she could get a better view of the woman's pupils in the light.
"Nope" Arizona repeated softly, her mind memorising the exact shade of brown that made up Callie's chocolate eyes.
After a few seconds of examining the teachers pupils and more than a few seconds letting her eyes study the blondes features, Callie dropped her hand from Arizona's face, to her own knee's and pushed herself on them to stand, "Well then all I have to diagnose you with is terrible choice in shoes."
Arizona gasped dramatically, before taking the hand offered to her by the doctor and letting herself be pulled up to stand. "These," Arizona pointed at her shoes, "Are awesome!"
The doctor chuckled at the blonde's choice of words, "Awesome?"
"Yes, awesome" Arizona stated with a smile and a nod. "I just got them today, for my birthday. I'm still working out the kinks." She admitted kicking her feet slightly as she looked down at them.
"It's your birthday today?" Callie asked receiving a shy nod, "Happy birthday!"She wished with a genuine smile.
"Thank you," Arizona smiled brightly her eyes had a twinkle and her cheeks dimpled, in what Callie could only describe a breathtakingly, beautiful, time stopping smile. Falling into a silence as the supermarket attendants arrived to fix the mess the teacher had made, Arizona found herself studying every inch of the brunettes face.
With her eyes lingering on Arizona's lips, Callie spoke reluctantly, "I best get moving, I'm working tonight. I hope you have a very happy birthday." Callie said again, "Be safe on those things," Callie indicated to the shoes Arizona had on her feet "I don't want to see you with a broken ankle in my ER tonight." Callie winked, chuckling.
Saying there goodbye's they parted sneaking glancing over their shoulders at each other for as long as their lines of vision would allow them.
"Happy birthday" Arizona turned her attention from the conversation she was having with best friend Teddy to the new arrival at the table.
"Oh … No" The teacher shook her head in disapproval.
"Oh come on!" The young man sighed heavily setting down the silver tray of different coloured shots. "It's your birthday!" He exclaimed excitedly taking a lighter out of his pocket and setting the spirits alight. "And I forgot candles and you have make a wish." He explained as he finished lighting all the shots. "So make a wish" he said waving his arms towards the flaming drinks.
Arizona shook her head and looked into eyes similar to her own, "What part of a quiet drink did you not understand?" It wasn't that Arizona hated birthdays she just didn't see the excitement in them especially now that all her birthday reminded her was that she was getting old. So she had decided it was just a day, like any other day. And she didn't want a fuss. However she had agreed to a quiet drink by Teddy's and Nathan's continuous nagging.
So now she found herself sat on a stool at a dimly lit bar. She had hoped to be home early as she had work the next day. However eyeing the flames from the shot glasses Arizona was losing faith in that idea.
"Come on I have one for every wonderful year you have lived." The man smiled excitedly pointing at the shots. "Blow them out!"
Rolling her eyes Arizona leant forward to blow out the flames.
"Wait!" Teddy's sudden and unexpected interruption made Arizona jump back upright, "You have to make a wish..." She reminded with a grin.
Arizona raised her eyebrow at her friend, before turning her attention to the tray set on the table. The teacher narrowed her eyes as she tried to think of a good wish, and when she did think of a good wish she leant forward to blow out her birthday shots.
Seeing the teacher's cheeks red as she struggled to blow out her birthday shots the other two occupants on the table leant forward to help blow the remanding few out.
"Yay!" the young man cheered, clasping his hands together with a loud slap before dividing the shot glasses up evenly between the occupants of the table.
"Uh-uh" Arizona shook her finger at the lad taking the glasses that had been in front of him away.
"Oh come on. I'm nearly 20 Aunt Zone" He grumbled unimpressed.
"Yes well I'm just teaching you another life lesson"
"And what's that?" He asked.
"Drinking responsibly"
Teddy chuckled at this, "And we're going to do this by drinking your share."
An hour into the "quiet birthday drink" the teacher was found slumped at the same stool hugging her nephew tightly. "I just love you so freakin' much!" she sat up unwrapping her arms from around the young man to reach up and squeeze and pull at his cheeks, "You've grown up so fast" her eyes watered slightly as she spoke loudly in her drunken.
"I love you too." He giggled at his aunts, finding her current state entertaining. "You're the best aunt anyone ever could ask for." he smiled wrapping an arm around his aunt and giving her a squeeze, while taking a drink out of the one beer bottle his aunt had let him consume.
"I can't believe I have to be in work tomorrow." Teddy groaned from where her head lay flat on a sticky table top. She was starting to regret the amount of alcohol she had consumed even in her drunken state she knew she was going to suffer in the morning.
"Dr Altman!" Arizona exclaimed a little too loudly startling a few people in the quiet bar, however not noticing in her intoxicated state Arizona continued to talk loudly in excitement, "Dr Altman!" She said again making the person in question pry her head off the sticky table. "I saw Dr Torres today." She stated smiling at the memory of the meeting.
Teddy rolled her eyes before asking, "You ask her out, yet?"
"Ask her out?" Nathan ears perked up at the new topic of conversation "are you bringing me home a new mommy!" He asked his eyes sparkling with glee for his aunt - the women that had, through the years become the closest thing to a mother he had.
Teddy giggled from the stool she sat at, "New mommy. She's only had one conversation with her!" Teddy informed. "And that wasn't much of a conversation"
"Two actually!" Arizona cut in. "We've had two conversations"
Rolling her eyes Teddy continued, "Two conversations then." Turning in her chair slightly to face Nathan, she placed her hand over her heart and held it there, "They gaze at each other from afar." She sighed dreamily, "They smile. It warms her heart." Teddy continued to tease receiving a slap to the arm from Arizona.
"Stop teasing!" Arizona pouted, "She could be the love of my life for all we know."
Nathan smiled, and asked, "What's she like?"
"Amazing" Arizona had said simply.
"I only took my eyes off her for one second!" Teddy stumbled over her own feet as she hurried down the corridors. "Maybe two seconds
Catching the older women and steadying her Nathan sighed, "We promised her we wouldn't let her do anything embarrassing!" Nathan reminded, pulling her down the deserted corridors of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. "I can't believe you let her get away!"
They had stayed at the bar until closing and Nathan had left the two women standing outside the bar as they continued to complain about having to walk the very short distance to the car in the heels they were wearing. As they stood their Arizona had noticed the large hospital entrance a short distance away and decided she had wanted to go there and seek out Dr Torres.
Teddy had tried her best to object remembering their mutual promise to keep each other from doing anything stupid and something you'd may regret when waking up sober. And seeking out a crush while intoxicated could never end well.
But when Teddy received a message on her phone all her attention had turned to reading it through her double vision and Arizona had taken this as her opportunity to make her escape.
"Arizona!" Teddy hollered down the abandoned hallway, before giggling at her voice echoing against the walls. "Hello?" She shouted liking the echoed sounds that was returned to her ears.
Clamping his hand around the giggling woman's mouth Nathan, shushed her before seeing a flash of blonde hair dart across the corridors across from them. "Hey! Stop!" He called after the figure before quickly following.
Callie glanced up at the large hanging clock on the wall from where she sat behind the desk in the ER. It was a slow night however that wasn't unusual at such an hour, yet Callie tried to push even the thought of it being quiet out of her mind not wanting to jinx the down time she had that enabled her to finish her Sudoku.
"Calliope" Callie had been so engrossed in her puzzle she hadn't notice the women stood opposite the desk from her.
Quickly sitting up straight in her chair, Callie pulled her feet off the table they had been resting on, pulling with it a stack of files onto the floor. "Hey!" Callie was surprised to see the blonde teacher. Following the woman's gaze to the stitched letters of her name on her lab coat, Callie realised she had never really introduced herself to the blonde. "Oh it's Callie," She said, "Only my parent's call me Calliope." She looked back up to find that nobody was there anymore. Frowning Callie stood up and lent over the desk and looked around the corner. Confused when only seeing a few nurses in the distance Callie frowned wondering if she had just imagined the presence of the teacher. Shaking her head, unsure if she had hallucinated she decided it was defiantly time for coffee.
"I am very disappointed in both of you." Nathan looked in the rear view mirror at the two woman sat silently in the back seat.
Nathan found his aunt standing in the ER, and had quickly and discreetly thrown the drunken women over his shoulder and ran out the building with her. They stopped outside the building to allow Teddy time to empty the contests of her stomach, all the while Arizona had to be held back while she kicked her feet in the air trying to get back into the building claiming she wanted herself some Calliope.
Studying the women in the back seat of the car before turning his attention back to the road Nathan thought his aunts had indeed taught him a lesson on responsible drinking after all.
A/N
Sorry for the long delay. Since my last chapter I have moved and worked long hours and to top it off my iphone I use to write this has a shattered screen.
However I have muddled through! And here's and update. For the reader that was interested to know if the "love at first sight" speech was inspired by the film imagine me and you. It was a bit and it was also something I'm wondering about. Anyone else believe in love at first sight?
Let me know what you think about the story so far.