CHAPTER 25

Callie's three-day board meeting overlapped with Arizona's conference presentation. The latina was buried in work related to the year's investments and trying to get everything ready. Her meeting had been planned for a year, and she had people coming in from South America and Europe.

Arizona was busy working on her project and preparing the presentation. As the date got closer, she got nervous. She had ground breaking results from her research, and her presentation and paper were sure to get a lot of attention. It made her wish Callie that was going to be there – for support and celebration.

When the day came though, Callie was in Vegas and Arizona arrived in L.A., both too busy to even talk on the phone.

When Arizona checked into the conference hotel, one of the receptionists called a personal assistant to lead Arizona to the room. When the blonde opened the door, she realized that Callie had changed her reservation from a regular double room to a suite.

Before leaving her alone, the assistant gave her a direct number she could call if she needed anything, and handed her a card from Callie.

Arizona closed the door behind her and slowly walked around the place. It was gorgeous. And it had the most amazing view of L.A. While standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the sitting area of the suite, Arizona opened the card.

It said: 'I own the hotel, and you book a regular room? You're an amazing and accomplished doctor, and you need space. Enjoy it! XOXOXO'

Arizona smiled and went into the bedroom of the suite. The bed was huge, and the bedroom had the same amazing view as the sitting room. She sat down on the bed and let her mind drift off for a while. She thought about Callie who was probably at that moment surrounded by piles of work and men in suits. She also wondered what Callie would do with these guys during or after the board meeting. Would they go gambling? Would they go to a strip club? And if they did, would Callie tell her about it?

She shook her head. She was nervous about the presentation and that's why she was now focusing on how Callie would be spending her night.

She got up from the bed and started getting ready. When she opened the dress bag to get out her outfit, she saw a note pinned onto the shirt. It was another message from Callie.

'You'll look stunning' it said.

She put the outfit on and looked at Callie's cufflinks. She imagined they would bring her good luck.

Then she ran through her notes one last time and walked to the auditorium.

She was one of the last speakers of the day, but got there a bit early so she had the chance to hear a few of the other presenters.

As she sat down she received a text message from Callie.

Meeting going very well. Sorry I haven't had time to call! Good luck! You'll rock the house! Clear your calendar. I want you ALL of next week - C

Arizona chuckled. She knew what Callie meant, but teased the latina by writing back You want to go to the movies or…?

I want to fuck! Callie wrote back.

Arizona gasped and immediately looked around to see if anyone had noticed her little outburst.

I'll see if I can squeeze you in ;-) I'm on in half an hour. Keep your fingers crossed.

I'll cross everything I have! 3

An hour and a half later as Arizona was rounding off her talk and making her way down from the stage in Los Angeles, receiving standing ovations, Callie was talking to a board member from Spain in Vegas. He was her favorite guy on the team and they got along very well.

"Qué tal la señorita Robbins?" he asked.

(*How is Miss Robbins?*)

"Muy bien, gracias. Esta en Los Angeles para hacer un discurso. Es…doctora y…ha hecha una investigación scientífica sobre un syndromé muy raro. Es gran cosa"

(*Very well, thank you. She's in Los Angeles to do a presentation. She's…a doctor and…she's done a research project on a very rare syndrome. It's a pretty big deal*)

"Porque estas aquí entonces? No deberias irte a Los Angeles?"

(*Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be in Los Angeles?*)

Callie blinked. She looked around at the group of people in the room – mostly men that were older than her. They were having a good time and all seemed happy with how the last few days had gone.

The meeting was over. Dinner was over. She wasn't needed for the chit chatting. She had no real obligations there anymore.

And then she thought about her dad. He would have stayed until the very last minute, making sure everybody had a piece of his time, making sure everybody left feeling like they were important. It's what left her waiting up till late with her mom when she was 9 years old – just so she could see him before going to sleep. He'd been a good dad. But he wasn't around very much, and somehow, even though Callie had always known that she was more important to him than the business, she had always felt like his presence was divided unevenly between his work and his family.

She didn't want that for herself. She didn't want that for Arizona. And she didn't want that for their future children.

Before Callie had a chance to do anything, a guy from a subsidiary in San Diego raised his glass and made a toast.

After that Callie didn't think twice. She clinked her glass and cleared her throat.

"Thank you for the toast, Luciano, and thank you everybody for a wonderful meeting. I feel like we addressed all of the important issues – especially regarding the Finex deal and the problems with the Cramer Foundation" She took a deep breath "I…I know my dad would be proud. Not just of me but of how well things are running. I think this is what he hoped for the business. And I know he was usually the last one to leave these meetings, always filling up everyone's glasses so that the celebration wouldn't end till late…"

People chuckled.

"…But, I can't do that tonight…because…I have a fiancée who's giving the most important presentation of her life…" Callie looked at her watch "…right now. In Los Angeles. And I need to be there to celebrate her tonight. So, I will leave you in hopes that you all have safe travels home. Remember that my office at The Mazatlán is always open"

She nodded at the group – faces full of smiles – raised her glass at them, drank the last of her wine, and then headed out, speed dialing Tim to take care of her luggage and transportation to the airport.

Only two hours later her plane touched down in Los Angeles.

Tim had arranged for a car for her, and it took a mere twenty minutes to get to the hotel where Arizona was staying.

Meanwhile Arizona had left the conference banquet. She was tired but happy. It had been a great conference, a great dinner and she had even given a couple of interviews to some medical journals and L.A. Times.

She'd also been booked to do a lecture on her continued research at the Yale School of Medicine later in the year.

And now she wanted to just lower herself into the bathtub and then crawl into bed. Tomorrow couldn't arrive fast enough. She was missing Callie.

She took a very warm bath, letting the water soothe her tense muscles. It had been a long day. A good day. And she felt relieved and grateful because everything had gone so well.

As she got out of the tub and put a bathrobe on, she heard a knock on the door. She looked at the clock on her phone. It was 11:00. She furrowed her brow. Who could it be at this hour? She decided that it was probably the assistant who wanted to check in on her, so she opened the door.

"Hey…so I was in Vegas, and the meeting had ended, and I was just standing around having wine and small talking, and I thought that maybe that was not where I was supposed to be. That maybe I was supposed to be here. With you. So I left…and…I hope it's okay…"

Callie looked like somehow she wasn't sure if coming there had been the right thing to do.

"Callie…" Arizona breathed out.

Callie stepped into the suite and closed the door behind her. She looked Arizona up and down. The blonde looked so cute in the bathrobe. She didn't look like someone who had just wowed the medical world.

"How'd it go?" Callie asked.

Arizona just nodded a few times "It was…amazing" she then said.

The latina took a step forward and pushed her lips against Arizona's. Arizona immediately became engulfed in Callie's scent and in the warmth from the brunette's body.

She let herself fall into the depths of Callie.

They made love so slowly, softly, and quietly that Arizona felt like she could hear their heartbeats beating in complete sync.

They both felt like they were exactly where they belonged.