Senor Torres...she is still there...the lady doctor...she is still outside" Angela informed her boss.
"What?" Callie's dad looked at his watch it must be coming up to two hours. The woman was mad.
"Maybe..." Anglea started speaking nervous of her bosses reaction "...maybe you should...ummm...just see her and then she will go away".
Senor Torres shot her a stern look, but then did seem to listen and finally gave in. "Fine! Tell the crazy woman she has five minutes!"
Angela smiled quickly before turning to go and get the crazy blonde lady sitting under the tree.
Arizona wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. The tree was giving her some protection from the sun, but the heat, she wondered if she would ever get used to the heat and humidity. She had kept Callie informed and had said that she would wait for another 30 minutes and then admit defeat. Callie had argued with her that there was no point and that her dad was never going to see her, and just as Arizona had been thinking that Callie had been right, she looked up at the gate to the Torres complex and saw a face poke out from the gate, smiling at her and waving her over excitedly.
Shit! Arizona thought...he's changed his mind...it was happening.
"Hola Dr Robbins" the friendly face smiled "my name is Angela...you are a friend of Calliope's... the one from Seattle?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"Hi Angela...please call me Arizona and yes, I'm Callie's friend...well girlfriend...but thats kinda the problem You know her?"
"Yes my mother worked here for years, she has retired now...I took over from her...Senor Torres is a good man...he's just a little sad...but he is a good man...and I know he misses Calliope"
Arizona smiled at the young woman "I hope you are right"
They had reached the steps of the huge house and Arizona was all of a sudden very conscious of the hot mess she was. Angela was obviously thinking the exact same as she suggested Arizona might like to use the restroom first to freshen up.
"I think that would be a good idea. I wont be long" Arizona laughed and headed into the huge restroom like you find in hotels before closing the door behind her.
"Oh my god!" Arizona groaned to herself as she took in her reflection. Her face was bright red and there were sweat patches all over her top. Scanning around the room, she saw an electric hand dryer, so quickly took her top off and gave it a blast to try and dry her top. She noticed a can of deodorant and smiled as she realised that Angela had probably left that for her. She splashed some cold water on her beetroot red face and patted it dry, taking deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure. After a few minutes, whilst still very red, she looked semi respectable and opened the door to be greeted by Angela holding a big glass of iced water. "Much better" she smiled reassuringly "I thought you might like some water"
"Thank you Angela" Arizona grabbed the glass and finished it in three big gulps.
"let me take you to the library where Senor Torres is waiting for you."
Arizona ran her sweaty palms down the side of her skirt and took a couple of deep breaths. She had gone through the conversation many times whilst waiting outside, she had a speech all prepared and had won the first battle by getting this far, now she just needed to remain in control and get her words out without her emotions getting the better of her.
She followed Angela through the huge hallway which seemed to go on for ever. Arizona smiled to herself as she saw the spiral staircase and recalled the story that Callie had described of her and Aria getting into trouble as kids as they slid down the staircase.
Eventually she found herself standing at the doorway to the library where she saw Carlos Torres standing looking out of the window. Arizona was shocked at how much the past five years had aged him, how visible the pain he had been through was on his face.
"Mr Torres" Arizona started speaking "thank you for seeing me...I know you are a very busy man..."
Carlos Torres turned to look at the woman for the first time. She was still as blonde and perky as he remembered from before., although looking at her face, she clearly couldn't cope with the Miami heat.
"You have stamina I'll give you that Ms Robbins"
Carlos eyes seemed to bore into Arizona, he was as intimidating as she remembered the first time she had met him when he had thrown George AND Mark against the wall of the hospital. Their first meeting hadn't gone well, but Arizona hadn't given up then, and she wasn't about to now.
"Mr Torres firstly can I say how very sorry I am for your loss. I can't imagine..."
"No." Carlos interrupted firmly "No you can't imagine, so please don't even try"
Arizona recoiled slightly at the anger in Carlos's voice
"What do you want Dr Robbins?" He snapped at the blonde
Arizona had to stay strong and stick to the plan she had formulated "I'd like you to allow me to say what I have to say, to listen to me and then I'll leave."
"Five minutes. You have five minutes, although I very much doubt anything you can say will change my feelings"
Arizona resisted the urge to run and instead took a deep breath and smiled at the man still giving her the death stare. Arizona had always struggled with figures of authority, but she had got better over the years and was ready for this fight. "five minutes is all I need".
"Fine." Carlos said abruptly "you best start!"
Arizona watched as he left his spot by the window and walked over to a chair behind a big wooden desk and sat down. He maintained eye contact the whole time Arizona spoke, which freaked the blonde doctor out even more.
"Mr Torres I know you probably don't have a very high opinion of me, and I understand that to you I must seem like the person who changed your daughter, but the truth of the matter is...that wasn't me...that was you!" Arizona noticed Callie's dad's face prickle with anger at the suggestion, but Arizona continued "Callie is a strong independent woman who was raised to have a big heart, which over the past couple of years, like you have, has experienced immense pain. Her heart has been broken, and she has somehow grown stronger for it.
I don't know if you know, but but my brother Tim died in Iraq, and when I lost him, I became angry, I had so much anger and I...well I wasn't in a good place. Callie lost her mum and sister in close succession, and by all counts had the right to be angry, but instead she chose to channel that emotion into doing something good, she retrained to try and prevent other people suffering the same pain she had felt and watched you go through, she retrained to try and help cancer sufferers live a little bit longer, or be in a little less pain."
Arizona paused slightly before continuing "your daughter is a remarkable woman because of how you raised her, because of the morals and compassion you instilled in her growing up. She is a romantic and has so much love to give and she got that from her parents.
Five years ago we broke up because we wanted different things...it wasn't that we stopped loving each other. Things have changed and now we have a second chance, we want the same things...same thing...and that is to be together.
I said to you five years ago that I protect the things I love, and so this is me, here now, doing just that...protecting the most amazing person I have ever met, a person that loves you so much and it's because I love her too that I'm standing here now in front of you, asking you to please give her a chance, to please realise that Callie never set out to hurt Joe, or you...she was just a little lost and made the wrong decision...she isn't a bad person...she is an incredible person, who misses her father so much.
Senor Torres I love your daughter and I want so much for her to be happy, and the one thing that would complete her, is for you to be back on her life. For her to be able to spend time with her remaining family whilst she still can."
Arizona reached in her bag and pulled out the letter that Callie had written. Walking towards the desk Arizona held the letter out "This is from Callie. Please read it." Arizona tried her hardest to stop her shaking hand. Mr Torres took the letter without saying a word.
"Thank you for listening to me, for allowing me to try for Callie" Arizona turned and walked out of the room and hoped she had done enough. Hoped that her words would somehow make him remember just how amazing his daughter was and how life was too short to waste time fighting.
—
Papi,
I don't know if you will ever read this, but I hope with all my heart that you are, and that by the end, you understand me a bit better.
I miss you Papi. I miss you so much and I know I have disappointed you, let you down, but you have to understand that I never set out to hurt anyone.
In my career I have always know what I am doing, you raised us to have a strong work ethic, to push ourselves hard and never settle. It's because of you that I made it through medical training. Because of You and Mami that I am as strong as I am. But when it comes to my love life...I'm the complete opposite. I doubt myself, have massive insecurities, I fall in love easily, I confuse feelings for more than they are, because I want the happy ever after. I want a relationship for life, someone to grow old with.
I should never have married Joe. I hate that I hurt him and I didn't have the guts to end it as soon as I realised that I was making a mistake...but that's what it was Papi, it was a mistake. I made a mistake with George and rushed into marrying him and I did the same with Joe.
I know this might be difficult for you to understand, but I think deep down the thought of marrying a man and living what Is perceived as a 'normal' life has been something that I have really wanted. It's been something that has maybe led me to make rash decisions.
With George I was pretty lonely in Seattle, I didn't have many friends back then, and he offered me an instant family. Unfortunately, we were never going to work out and he cheated on me.
With Joe it was way too soon after losing Mami and Aria...I wasn't thinking straight and I got swept up with the idea of a ready made family with Joe and Sara. I saw how much you liked him and how he helped you laugh when you didn't feel like laughing, he was good for me, for us...but I should never have married him.
In both cases I have married men because I wanted a family, missed my real family, and I miss you so much now Papi.
Arizona know's that. Arizona knows how important you are to me...how miserable not having you in my life is making me. That's why she flew to Miami to talk to you. She always has my best interest at heart, she protects me Papi and I love her so much.
I know you probably don't want to hear that, but five years ago when we first met, you and Mami, well you eventually accepted it, you understood that I wasn't trying to cause any harm, but that I had fallen in love with someone who happened to be a woman. I was still the same Calliope.
Arizona and I split up because we wanted different things, but deep down we have never stopped caring for each other. Fast forward five years on, and we are both different people, but the love and care we have for each other is still there...stronger than ever before.
This is it for me Papi...this is the one...Arizona is the love of my life, the way Mami was yours. I walked away from her five years ago, but I'm not making that mistake again. I'm happy Papi. I'm happy for the first time in years and please be happy for me. The only sadness I feel is when I think of you, when I see daughters and fathers together, when I see Carlos and Rose and I miss you so much.
We have both lost so much that I can't bare the thought of losing you, of hurting you of us never speaking, of something happening and things not being right between us. We both know life is precious, I don't want to spend anymore time without you in it...but I want...need Arizona too.
I need you both. I love you both and I'm sorry if I turned out to be a disappointment to you, but I know what I want now and I hope you accept me for who I am. Good and bad. I'm not perfect Papi...but who is? I want us to be a family again, I want us to stop fighting and start living our lives. I honestly think it's what Mami would want.
All my love
Calliope x