AN: Alright guys this is a big one for me. So enjoy. Oh, and don't hate me.
How Not To
Chapter Ten
(Callie P.O.V.)
Two Weeks Later
Pulling into my parking spot at Grey Sloan I am about to start my first day. Bailey was nice enough to give me another two weeks before I started since Sofia just had surgery and needed some recovery time. I look into my rearview mirror and fix my hair. I need to make a good first impression which is exactly why I dressed professional for the day rather than just wear a pair of scrubs and my lab coat all day. Feeling satisfied with my look I get out of the car and make my way through the staff entrance. I greet people who say hello and grab a coffee from the coffee cart then head to the elevators. I pull out my phone to check my schedule for the day and scroll through my emails. When the doors open, I'm met with a Teddy Altman.
"Morning Teddy." She greets me with a smile as I step on.
"Morning Cal, ready for your first day back?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." She places a hand on my shoulder
"Well you are the head of ortho again. You know what to do." The doors open at the ortho floor and I step out.
"Thank you, Teddy. Now both of us need to go kick some ass." We share a laugh as the door closes. I make my way down the corridor to my office saying hello to everyone I recognize. I make it to my office and take a seat behind the desk in the rolling chair. My office hasn't changed one bit. The familiarity of the office is comforting. I smile, close my eyes and lean back in my chair. It's so good to be back. I open my eyes when I hear a knock on the door. I stand up from my chair and grab my lab coat from the coat stand to my right and put it on and roll the sleeves up to my elbows. Once I deem myself presentable I take my seat back in my chair.
"Come in." A woman with shoulder length black, no brown hair and grey blue eyes walks in. She's wearing navy blue scrubs with her white lab coat. I stand again as she approaches my desk. She pulls her hand from her lab coat and sticks it out for a hand shake.
"Dr. Torres, my name is Dr. Minnick. I'm an attending here in ortho. It's good to finally meet the ortho god I've heard so much about." I take her hand and shake it firmly So you're the one who's been trying to screw my Arizona… I put on a smile that would make the most stuffy socialite proud and try not to grind my teeth.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Minnick and I prefer goddess actually. I've heard a lot about you." I motion for her to take a seat at one of the proffered chairs as a sit down in my own chair.
"All good I hope" she laughs nervously and I study her as she sits down in the chair to my left. She's pretty. Good skin, pretty eyes. Arizona must have an ortho complex. I send her my megawatt smile.
"Absolutely. Now what can I do for you on this wonderful Monday morning Dr. Minnick?" I see her shift in her seat so she is sitting up straight. That's right…be nervous.
"Well I was wondering if I could scrub in with you today. I saw that you were installing a Vertical Titanium Rib Prosthetic today. It seems interesting. Normally, they are done on kids but you're doing one on a full-grown adult. I thought it would be cool to watch also it would give me a chance to pick your brain about your regenerative cartilage research." I lean back in my seat and think on it for a few seconds. Why would I let her in on MY case? I should put her on scut work. Maybe pile on the intern work. Stop being mean Torres. She works in your department. Give her a chance.
"I would love for you to pick my brain about my research but I don't think my procedure would be that interesting for you. I thought you were interested in the sports medicine side of ortho. But since you came in here and asked politely sure, why not! The more the merrier." I send her another smile and I see her take a breath out.
"Thank you, Dr. Torres-" a knock on the door interrupts her sentence.
"Come in, please." The door opens and Arizona walks in. She is looking at something on a patient tablet so she hasn't noticed there is someone else in my office.
"Morning Callie, but I need an ortho consult." She finally looks up as she walks in and sees Eliza sitting in a chair. Her steps falter and her eyes go wide. Eliza makes a comment before I can.
"You could've paged me Dr. Robbins. I would've met you on the peds floor and saved you the trip." I snap my eyes over to Eliza and see her eyeing Arizona up and down with an overly happy smile on her face. God, could you be any less professional. My eyes shoot over to Arizona who has a fake smile plastered on her face.
"Thank you for the offer Dr. Minnick but I thought I should've asked Dr. Torres. I think she's seen a case like this before. So, I thought I should get her opinion." I look over to Eliza and see her shoulders slump down.
"Well, we were done here anyway I will see you in the OR Dr. Torres." She stands and exits the room and Arizona takes her place.
"So, you met El- Dr. Minnick?" I hear the underlying tone of nervousness in her voice. I reach over and grab my coffee and take a big drag.
"Yes, I met Eliza. She's actually scrubbing in with me after lunch. Should be a fun surgery." I meet Arizona's gaze and smile.
"Oh, that should be fun." She shoots me a dimpled smile.
"Yeah, so what's this case you need help on." Arizona hands me the tablet and I take a look.
"His name is Eli Mason. He's 17. Osteosarcoma. I remember a few years back you did a successful case like this and replaced the infected bone with a healthy cadaver bone." I hand the tablet back to her.
"Yeah, I can help you. Uhm. I can round with you later and talk possibilities with the patient and his family. Let them know about the treatment and what not." Arizona perks up and stands.
"Thank you so much Callie. I'll page you when I go check on him after my next surgery. I should be out maybe 12:30. We can maybe grab lunch to review the case a little more, then we can round?" I follow her to the door.
"Yeah sure that's fine." She turns to face me once we reach the door and with being this close to her I can smell her perfume. It attacks my senses. I want to just breath her in but I know it will be obvious so I smile.
"Awesome. I'll see you in a bit then." She shoots me her dimpled smile and leaves. I close the door behind her and rest my forehead against the cold hard wood. Awesome…
The morning flies by with rounds and some chat with my co-workers. I got the page from Arizona a few minutes ago letting me know she was on the way to the cafeteria. I walk through the doors and make my way to the line. I grab some carrots, a small salad and a bottle of water because the meat loaf looks more like last week's mystery meat. I pay for my food and find a table. Once I sit down I survey the room. Some faces I recognize and some I don't.
"So, the rumors are true huh? You are back?" a chair pulling out beside me catches my attention.
"Yes, I am. And it's good to be back Maggie. Let me tell you that." I send her a smile.
"It's good to have you back Torres. This place wasn't the same without you." Soon the table is full with Maggie, Alex, Meredith, and Jackson. Jackson and Alex both groan causing the rest of us to look into their line of vision. I can't help but grimace when I see Eliza trying to talk Arizona into sitting with her. My jaw instinctively sets and my eyes narrow in on the ignorant brunette.
"She just cannot take no as answer. One date and she is all over Arizona." Jackson says. One date? They went on a date?
"Honestly, I feel bad for Minnick." All of our eyes shoot to Maggie. She is intently watching Arizona and Eliza. "I mean, come on she's pining for someone she has no chance with. Bad part is, I think she knows she has no chance." Maggie looks away and pops a grape into her mouth. I just sit back and listen to them talk.
"She might just think if she keeps bugging Arizona enough she might actually say yes." I decide it's time for me to say something.
"She's scrubbing in with me this afternoon. So, I'm pretty sure I'll get a good read on her later." All eyes look at me now. Meredith's eyes lock on to mine.
"You're letting Minnick scrub in with you?" I take a bite of my carrot and shrug my shoulders.
"Yeah, why not. I need some time to intimidate the woman who is going after Arizona. Gotta make sure they can handle the ex-wife pressure and stuff." Plus the more time, she's in my presence the less time she has a chance to convince Arizona. My comment gets a laugh out of them and I smile. I look over to where Arizona and Eliza are standing in line. Arizona says something and Eliza smiles. The smile isn't reciprocated as Arizona walks over to our table. Jackson pulls a chair from the table behind us for her. She sits down and huffs. I smile because of the similarities between the way Arizona huffs and how Sofia huffs when they're annoyed.
"You good Robbins?" Alex offers.
"Great, just great." Arizona angrily bites one of her carrots. I can't help but chuckle.
"Easy there, killer the carrot is innocent." Her blue eyes meet mine and she smiles a little. I give her a smile back. "Want to take lunch back to my office so we can talk that case over?" I offer trying to get her out of the cafeteria and away from being in the same room as Eliza.
"That would be great." We both stand and bid our friends goodbye and grab the remainder of our lunch. The walk to my office is quiet. Not awkward quiet which is a good thing. Once in my office we both take a seat on the black leather couch.
"There's only so long we can hide out here." I say as I pick up a carrot and bite. "She is probably going to come in here at some point. This is her floor too." I look over at Arizona and she's already looking at me. She glances away then back at me.
"Yeah well, being here is good enough right now." I lock gazes with her. I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes. I look away as I reach for my water.
"Penny for your thoughts? I can see the wheels turning." I look back over at her and take a sip of my water. Her eyes are looking down at her salad that was finally starting to look unappetizing.
"It's just…She just won't take no for answer. It's getting under my skin. I try to be a nice person I really do. I decline her offer every time nicely. I would've thought she got the idea by now. But now I just want to…to just… UGH she just…" Arizona slams her body back on the couch and covers her face with her hands. I can't help but feel bad for her but I also can't help but feel good about the fact she doesn't want to deal with Eliza. These relationship conversations seem to get a little easier as time goes on. It's comforting to know she trusts me enough to talk about this stuff with me. I move on the couch so I am fully facing her.
"Maybe she's the type of woman you can't just politely decline. You might have to get nasty about it." Or you could just give her a right hook. I think Bailey would make an exception for the circumstances. Arizona groans and uncovers her face and looks at me.
"I know but that isn't me. I don't like to get nasty." I place my hand on hers and smile softly.
"I know but I think you have to. She seems really dense. Get it over with. Rip it off like a band aid." She smiles over at me.
"Yeah, I am. As soon as I have a free minute." I squeeze her hand then let it go. I pick up another carrot.
"I mean if you chicken out I will be glad to do it for you." I smile and take a bite of my carrot. A look of shock spreads across Arizona's face and her mouth drops.
"Would you?" I can't help but laugh.
"No honey, this is your battle to fight." I tense up at the slip of the pet name and I see she is unfazed by it which makes me feel better. I clear my throat and close my salad container.
"So, about this case." I look over at her as I take another sip of water.
"Right." We spend the next hour talking the case over. Coming up with different solutions if the parents don't like the cadaver bone idea. I honestly missed these days. Talking through cases while eating lunch in one of our offices. Or just enjoying each other's company. I look up from my notebook I'm scribbling notes in and find Arizona looking at me with a small smile on her face. I try to read her face but I can't pick anything up. I know she's thinking of something. She locks eyes with me and her intense blue eyes seem to reach right to my soul. Oddly, the vulnerability doesn't scare me off.
"Thank you, Callie." I smile at her and stand to put my things back on my desk.
"No problem, it is my job. Plus, it's a really cool case." I turn back around and sit on the corner of my desk. I see Arizona cock her head to the side slightly.
"Not just about the case, Callie. For talking to me. About Eliza. I kind of expected you to be short with me about it, honestly. It means a lot to know we can talk without one of us getting into a screaming match. I like that we can have civilized conversation." I'm slightly taken back by her comment. Not what I was expecting… I walk over to the couch again and take my seat beside her again.
"Well, if you ever need to talk about anything I'm here. I promise. Whether I like the topic or not. I am here. Bend my ear all you want." I send her a smile and I notice a sparkle in her eyes that I haven't seen in a long time.
"Thank you, Callie…" I see Arizona get suddenly nervous and her eyes shoot down to her hands in her lap. "Callie, can I ask you something?" She looks up at me again now I'm the one who feels nervous.
"Uhm yeah, sure. Shoot." I turn a little to face her head on. I brace myself for anything to come out of her mouth. I see Arizona take a deep breath and she looks away from me. This can't be good.
"I think I'm going to ask Eliza for drinks." That I was not expecting. Her words hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart went to being in overdrive to not beating at all. I could die right now. It feels like I'm dying. She pulled my heart from my chest and crushed it with a baseball bat. Before she notices my hurt I throw on my best mask and give her my new and improved fake smile that I can only hope she believes.
"Not to sound harsh. But you were just complaining about her. So why the sudden change of mind?" I see she bought my fake smile. It tears my insides up to try to sound supportive. Because let's be honest, all I want to do is scream and jump up and down and throw a tantrum. But that won't get me anywhere. If there's anywhere to get now…
"To tell her exactly how I feel. I need to get things straight once and for all. Hopefully in a more personal setting she'll get my message." I nod my head. Part of me wants to believe her but the other part of me wants to grab her by the shoulders and tell her how stupid she's being. She's an adult. She knows what she's doing I guess. Bullshit! She's giving that other woman a reason to pursue her more! How can she be so stupid? I sit up straight and ignore my internal battle and look Arizona dead on.
"If you are completely sure this is how you want to handle this. Then I support your decision." Even if is a VERY WRONG one. Before she can say anything in return my pager interrupts our conversation reminding me of my surgery with…her. "Oh uhm, I've got a surgery to get to…" I see Arizona's shoulders slump and her eyes dart to the floor. I place my hand on her shoulder which makes her look at me again. "I have your back on this. If you think it's the right thing then go for it. I'm here. Talk to me if you want to." I send her a genuine smile.
"Thank you again Callie." She leans in and unexpectedly hugs me. I can't help but hug her back. My arms wrap around her and for the first time in a long time I feel at home. I can't help but close my eyes and enjoy the connection. Before she pulls away she whispers in my ear "Now, go be a Rockstar, Rockstar." Her words make me smile and we pull back from our hug. We both stand and exit my office. We head in different directions. I head to the attending's lounge to change and she heads to the elevators. Let's go be a Rockstar.
AN: Alright, I know. You guys are probably mad. But I promise. There is a method to my madness. Just hang with me. The next chapter will pick up with Callie's surgery with Eliza. I decided to split them up because this chapter is a monster compared to the rest. Once again. I repeat. DO. NOT. HATE. ME.