London – June
Arizona had just finished the first day of the conference and returned to her hotel nearby when she got a text from Callie letting her know that her flight had landed and that she was jumping on the tube and would be there in about an hour.
She was so excited, not just at the thought of being able to kiss Callie soon, but of the fact that they were about to spend 18 uninterrupted days together and visit some amazing places. They hadn't seen each other for 5 weeks due to work and Arizona had struggled to stay focused during some of the sessions that day as her thoughts wondered to seeing Callie again. Arizona was presenting a session with Dr Herman tomorrow afternoon, so she decided to have a bath and run through her presentation one last time before Callie arrived.
Callie had decided to spend a couple of days in London to help with the jetlag and also to catch up with some oncology colleagues from the hospital where she had spent a summer working on a research project. As Callie sat on the tube travelling in from the airport she allowed herself to reminisce about her last visit to London. Dr Lauren O'Sullivan had been the lead researcher on the project at University College London and had taken Callie under her wings. One night Callie had had a little bit too much to drink and she had blurted out her relationship history to the redhead. Lauren, who was originally from Ireland, had listened carefully and Callie hadn't missed Lauren's face react when she had mentioned about Erica and Arizona. Callie had found herself developing a little crush on the Dr and there had definitely been some flirty moments in the lab that hadn't gone unnoticed by either of them.
Callie hadn't been with another woman since Arizona and so was a little nervous she was misreading Lauren's friendly nature for something else, so nothing happened until the last weekend Callie was in London. One of the other researchers had invited the team over to their flat for dinner. They had all spent the evening sharing stories and laughing and drinking before Callie had offered to help clear up the dishes. Lauren had immediately jumped up and offered to help and so the two of them had found themselves alone in the kitchen.
They scraped the plates clean and loaded the dishwasher whilst making small talk once finished Callie started to head back into the dinning room to join the others when Lauren had reached down and grabbed one of her arms to stop her " Cal, come with me a sec…" she said as she leaded them out of the kitchen onto the balcony. Closing the door behind Callie, Lauren had without saying another word, lent in and kissed Callie. Eventually pulling away her green eyes searched Callie's for approval which Callie willingly gave "God…I've wanted to do that a long time!" she smiled at the American. After a few minutes of kissing they reluctantly headed back to join the other party guests who were so engrossed in their conversations had hardly noticed their absence. Callie and Lauren had spent the night together and the that was it. They had accepted it for what it was.
Callie had returned to Miami and shortly after had met Joe and whilst she had remained in touch with Lauren, the two oncologists had never mentioned it again. Their relationship was purely professional as far as Callie was concerned, and she was looking forward to introducing Arizona to some of the gang she had stayed in touch with. Callie laughed to herself as she thought of Arizona meeting Paul who she knew she would love, but doubted that she would be able to understand a word he said in his thick Geordie accent.
Callie arrived at the hotel where Arizona was staying and heading straight up to room. She was feeling horny having spent the rest of the tube journey picturing Arizona's naked body. As she stood outside the room she took a deep breath to try and calm the nerves – she always got this way before she saw the blonde again, sweaty palms and she felt her throat go dry. Arizona turned Callie to Jelly just by being near her and they had three whole weeks together.
Arizona opened the hotel door to be greeted by a beaming Callie and the two of them rushed towards each other planting their lips on each other's mouths, mumbling their hello's and 'I love you's' in-between frantic kisses. Five weeks had felt like a long time and they wasted no time in ripping each others clothes off and climbing into bed.
Arizona's talk with Dr Herman had gone well and she spent the coffee break after answering follow up questions from a small fan club that had formed after hearing her speak. She was given a number of business cards from doctors across the globe and asked to get in touch with them.
Callie had gone to UCLH to catch up with the doctors who she had worked with a couple of years ago and it had been agreed that Arizona would meet them for drinks in Soho.
Whilst it wasn't Arizona's first time in London, she hadn't really explored it that much before, having mainly visited for work and spent most of her time in hospitals or getting lost on the tube. The hospital was super central and using google maps she was pleased that she could easily walk to Soho which was the gay area of London. As Arizona headed down Old Compton Street she took in the view of bars with rainbow flags waving outside, restaurants of all kinds and shop window displays of bondage and sex toys. At the end of the street there was a theatre showing Mama Mia and Arizona couldn't help but admire how the London gay community sat right beside families visiting the theatre. It was a lovely summer's evening and people were standing on the street with drinks in plastic glasses talking to friends and watching the world go bar.
After a couple of wrong turns she had eventually found the bar where she was meeting Callie and sent her a quick text to say she was here before pushing opening the door. As Arizona walked in she spotted Callie laughing with a striking red haired woman who she assumed was one of the oncologist. Arizona watched as Callie checked her phone and read her text, and turned towards the door and smiling as she saw the blonde head towards her.
Callie grabbed her hand and lent in and planted a slow kiss on Arizona's lips before pulling a part and introducing Arizona to the group "Paul, Harry, Jules and Lauren… this is Arizona my girlfriend". Arizona's face burst into a huge dimpled smile as she waved a little hello to the strangers clearly giving her the once over. It had been a long time since Callie had called her her girlfriend and Arizona was still buzzing from the thrill. How old was she? 12?
" Hey everyone" She said pulling herself together " It's really nice to meet you…can I get anyone a drink?"
Paul insisted on buying the drinks as she was a guest…well that's at least what Arizona think's he said as his accent was like nothing she had ever heard before. She turned to Callie and gave her a 'help me' look at which point Callie squeezed her hand and lent in so that only she could hear "Don't worry…no one can understand him, it actually get easier the more he has to drink!" Arizona gave a little smile at Callie's words and squeezed Callie's hand back in thanks.
They spent some time talking about Arizona's session at the conference and how she had chosen her specialism. It turned out Lauren's research focused on paediatric oncology – basically trying to find a cure to stop children dying of cancer which Arizona thought was pretty cool. She knew Callie admired Lauren and that they had kept in touch over the years with the Irish woman often reporting back on their latest research and clinical trials. Callie hadn't mentioned how mesmerising she was. Standing at least 5ft 10, her skin was perfect with a spattering of cute freckles over her nose and her hair was silky smooth. She looked effortlessly natural and Arizona couldn't help but admire her.
They talked about the couples holiday plans and made suggestions of restaurants to visit and the best beaches to go to. The drinks flowed and Arizona noticed how much Lauren was staring at Callie, they had a close relationship and that made Arizona a little uneasy.
After a couple of hours the American's were starting to flag and decided to call it an night. Arizona popped to the loo before they left the bar and as she walked back to the group she saw the way Lauren was looking at Callie and the way she rested her hand on the base of Callie's spine, rubbing it slightly as she lent in to whisper something in the brunette's ear. Arizona had thought Lauren had been flirty all evening, but put it down to her being a tactile person, but now Arizona's 'What the Fuck' alarm bell started ringing inside her as she rejoined the friends deep in conversation and noted that Lauren hadn't removed her hand off Callie's back.
Arizona's admiration of Dr Lauren O'Sullivan quickly turned to suspicion as she stood by and watched the redhead hug Callie a little bit too long for Arizona's liking as they said their goodbyes.
"It was lovely to meet you Ari" Lauren said as she leant down and gave the blonde a peck on the cheek. Callie gave Arizona an apologetic glance as she knew how much Arizona hated people she hardly knew shortening her name. Callie looked over at Lauren who was watching Callie and suspected that Lauren had done it deliberately to get a reaction. "See you for lunch tomorrow." Lauren had added as the two of them left the bar.
Their hotel was only a short walk away, but they were beat so decided to jump in a cab and during the journey Arizona was distracted. Yeap…..she knew Callie thought to herself and she now regretted not saying something sooner.
Callie didn't know about every girl Arizona had been with over the past five years so she didn't think it was worth mentioning her history with Lauren to Arizona, especially as Callie hadn't thought about Lauren in that way in years. However, Lauren had been flirty as the drinks kicked in and Callie had chosen to not make a big thing about the Irish woman rubbing her back the way she had. There was nothing there from Callie's point of view, but she was now worried about Arizona who by the look on her face wasn't Lauren's biggest fan.
Once back in their hotel, Arizona apologised for being quiet and said something about being tired after her session today and having to get up early for the last day of the conference. Callie heard the bathroom door lock behind the blonde and the shower start up.
Once alone in the bathroom, Arizona tried to pull herself together. She had no right to be jealous, of Lauren and Callie, but she couldn't help herself. It was one thing to know about Callie's other partners, but to stand there and have it rubbed in her face all evening it was a bit too much.
When they had first gone out together Arizona hadn't liked Mark who constantly reminded her that he could give Callie something that Arizona couldn't. I had been hard for her to feel that Callie was really committed to her and wasn't going to go off with another guy after George, Mark, Alex.
Arizona knew she was making the situation worse by raking over old ground and over analysing things. She realised she just needed to just go and talk to Callie about it now. Switching the shower off she unlocked the door and headed out to find out the truth about Dr Lauren O'Sullivan.