Firstly thank you so much for your reviews and for agreeing to some drama. It will be Calzona end game, I've decided that, but they are going to have to work hard to get there!
After a flurry of chapters last week I've had a bit of a break this weekend. Blame Maaike83 as I've been enjoying their story Ortho Goddess so much, I haven't wanted to write my own.
Today I got my head down as I've finished work for Easter and I've started about five different chapters, I just need to finish them and get them into some sort of order.
This chapter jumps a little bit, but I hope you can follow the chain of events OK.
—
Arizona flopped down on the bed and reread the note again.
I just don't see this working.
Arizona crumbled up the note and threw it on the floor. She couldn't believe that the American and given up on them so easily. Sure she had messed up when she had said what she had about Callie being in the closet, but that didn't have to be the end. Arizona had come back to tell Callie that she was happy to wait for as long as it took for her to feel comfortable, but the brunette had run.
Arizona thought back to when Callie had pushed Jess Woods away when they had been photographed holding hands back in the States. Callie ran away when Jess had kissed her, she had be about to run back to Miami and now... now she had run back to London.
Callie, Arizona realised, quit when things got hard, maybe not professionally as you don't get to be as good as she was without hard graft, but personally she ran.
Arizona knew first hand that acknowledging and accepting a change in your sexuality wasn't easy. She had personal experience, experience that she had opened up and shared with the American...only for her to now run at the first sign of difficulty. Arizona didn't do that. She didn't open up to people, but there had been something about Callie that made her feel safe.
The more Arizona thought about Callie's reaction, the more annoyed she got, especially as she had opened up so much to the brunette.
She stood up and grabbed her phone and started typing a text to the striker.
I came back to talk to you, but it seems I was too late. I can't believe you chose to run back to London. I honestly thought you would have at least given us a chance to talk, but I guess I was right about you all along.
Arizona thought back to the the fight they had had when she had found the American about to book a flight home.
You bail. When things get hard. Well guess what Calliope...life is hard. We could have had something really good here, but I guess I wasn't worth the effort.
The blonde read back over the message, her finger hesitating over the send button. Did it make her seem too vulnerable? The blonde decided she needed a drink before she sent it and headed downstairs into the kitchen.
After pouring a glass of red wine Arizona lit a fire and sat in her favourite armchair. As she watched the flames she got lost in her thoughts. Only these thoughts were about poor Per. She still couldn't believe he was gone.
Pulling her phone of our her pockets she tapped in Alex's name and bought up a contact number. She wasn't even sure if it was the right number as they hadn't been in contact for over a year, but as she pictured her former father-in-law's kind face, she felt the tears start to slide down hers. Life was so shitty some times.
—-
Callie sat listening to sad music as the train sped through the dark Kent countryside, taking her back to London.
She had felt bad leaving a note for Arizona, but she honestly couldn't face talking to her and needed to be on her own. She need space to process what had happened. To reflect and move on.
As much as she liked Arizona...and she did like her...a lot, it was too much. Callie couldn't face all the shit that came with those feelings. It made sense to end it now before anything bad happened. She just hoped that Arizona was right and that Billy wouldn't say anything.
—
Hi Al. Not sure if this is still your number, but I heard the news about Per. I am so sorry. I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now, but I just wanted to say that I'm here if you want to talk. A x
Arizona didn't know if Alex would even get in touch following their exchange after the Chelsea game, but she felt she needed to try. If it were the other way round, if she was stuck in Sweden and something awful happened to David, she would appreciate the gesture. She got up and headed to the kitchen to top up her wine glass.
—
After Arizona had sent the text to Alex the Swede had responded more or less instantly saying she would love to talk. The ex-wives spent two hours on the phone together sharing their favourite memories of Per. Alex explained that Chelsea were trying to organise a private flight to get her back, but she was suppose to quarantine when she got there. They were trying push the funeral back to allow the striker to attend.
As Arizona topped up her wine glass she felt her guard slip slightly and so when Alex had said she missed her, the blonde had replied that she missed her too. Alex took hope and suggested that when she was back from Sweden that they could maybe meet up.
Arizona hadn't meant to give the wrong message. Truth was, sitting in her house in Deal reminiscing about happier times, Arizona had missed Alex...but the old Alex...the Alex before she had cheated. Arizona was sorry for Alex's loss, but she didn't want to get back together because of it.
As Arizona explained the situation to Alex, making it clear that she would happily support her if she needed it, she made it clear that it would be in her capacity as her ex-wife and Per's ex-daughter in law...and nothing else. Alex was quite for a few moments before she nodded and said she understood "guess you must like her a lot" Alex said sadly in reference to the person Arizona had said she was seeing.
"Yeah...I do." Arizona said slowly as she tried to keep the tears away as she pictured Callie walking away from her.
—-
Just as Callie's train pulled into the station Stacey called with details of the interview they had arranged with the LA Times. Callie had forgotten all about it and had pleaded with Stacey to get it pushed, but her manager had insisted they stick to their commitment.
A photographer was scheduled to come to the training ground on Tuesday and then Callie would be interviewed via zoom by Madeline McDonald. Maddie was a former soccer player herself and was now a regarded sports journalist, focusing on women's soccer. Maddie had interviewed Callie on numerous occasions across the years, and Callie had appreciated the support the writer had shown her over her career, and how she continued to highlight the challenges that still existed in the women's game.
—-
Tuesday - interview day
Sam and Arizona couldn't help but watch the American as she posed in front of the photographer, doing some tricks with the ball, whilst still managing to look beautiful.
"She is gorgeous" Sam had said matter of factly.
"Yeah alright... don't remind me!" Arizona had replied.
In the end Arizona hadn't sent Callie the text. She didn't want to come across as too needy. So they hadn't spoken to each other since the American had walked away down the Deal seafront on Saturday.
"You do realise you two are going to have to speak to each other at some point!" Sam said to her friend who responded with a leave it look.
"I'm just saying that maybe you both need to sit down and talk it through."
"Errr I'd happily do that Sam, but clearly Callie doesn't want to talk." Arizona responded
"Well maybe that was the case on Saturday, but she could have changed her mind. You know, time apart does help sometimes." Sam said hopefully. Arizona had called Sam whilst on the drive back from Deal on Sunday and filled her friend in on what had had been gutted at the news as she genuinely thought the American was good for her friend.
"Hmm well I kinda feel it's up to here to get in touch if she does want to talk. I'm not going to look a fool. If she's changed her mind then great...we can sit down at talk and move on from this blip. If she doesn't want to talk, then that's it. End of". Arizona said in a composed tone that she hoped Sam would buy. Truth was she had stopped herself from driving over the Callie's so many times over the past two days.
Arizona took one last glance at the brunette as she posed in front of the Club logo, her megawatt smile visible from across the training field. Arizona felt a dull thud inside at the prospect of them really being over.
—-
Callie showered and changed into comfy clothes and poured herself a glass of wine
Before settling on the sofa with her laptop. As much as she liked Maddie, she wasn't looking forward to the interview.
Callie clicked on the zoom link she had been sent and smiled as she saw Maddie's face smiling back at her.
"Hey there Callie. How are you?" The journalist asked warmly.
Callie replied
"Oh I think you are on mute." The journalist said as she watched the strikers mouth move but no words come out of the speaker.
Callie fiddled with the settings and tried again. Damn mute button!
"Can you hear me now?" She asked as she pressed some keys not fully understanding what they did.
Maddie smiled and gave a thumbs up "perfect"
"Oh good...sorry about that...Hi Maddie, I'm good thanks." Callie replied
"Thanks so much for taking the time to speak to me." The journalist said smiling down the camera. "I hope OK if I record this. I can send you a copy afterwards if you want".
"Sure that's fine and I don't think I'll need a copy, but thanks for the offer." Callie didn't think that they would be discussing anything controversial today.
"Great, well I'm sure you're super busy Callie, so let's kick off if that's OK with my first question...why London?" the journalist asked.
"Well as you know I was carrying an injury and when the season got cancelled in the States, my priority was to find a team to train with and to get my fitness levels back up. I asked my manager to put some feelers out and Tottenham were the first team to respond with an offer." Callie smiled "I must admit I had to google them and I was maybe hoping for somewhere a little warmer like Spain, but once I saw the set up at Spurs and talked to the manager, I felt it was a good fit."
"OK so you mentioned you had to google Spurs, what's it been like playing for a team that isn't that established? As someone used to playing for the top teams, that must have been a hard adjustment." Maddie asked.
"Well We're are a new team having just been promoted the year before to the Women's Super League, but I've been blown away by the commitment of the players. The results weren't going their way at the start of the season, but we have a new manager in place now and things are turning around". Callie responded
"And you're scoring goals again. How does that feel after your time out of the game?"
"On a personal level it feels great to back on the scoresheet and to be contributing to the success of the team, I may have only been here a couple of months, but I've been made to feel so welcomed at Spurs." Callie pictured Arizona kissing her and closed her eyes to get rid of the That was a welcome.
"Really? So if Orlando Pride rang you up and said the season was starting again and they wanted you, you wouldn't go?" Maddie asked the Latina.
Callie paused before answering "well that isn't an option, so at the moment I am 100% committed to Tottenham and I intend to see out my contract."
"So as you know a number of national team players headed to the UK when the league got suspended because of Covid, have you seen many of them? Do you hang out?" Maddie asked.
"Well we're under pretty strict rules in terms of who we can hang out with, but I've seen Jess Woods and we have a WhatsApp group which is mainly used for moaning about the weather! It can be pretty cold out there some days. I'd like to say I'm getting used to it, but I grew up in Miami and I'm warm blooded, lucky the team have hats, snoods, gloves, puffer jackets, blankets so we stay wrapped up when on the bench." Callie joked
"So aside from the weather, what else is the biggest difference?"
"The game is a lot more physical. I probably get flattened at least ten times a game, and whilst we're used to playing against teams like that when playing for the national team, it's not every game." Callie explained
"You mention the national team, how big a factor were the Olympics in 2021 in your decision to sign for Tottenham Hotspur?" the journalist asked.
"Oh it was a huge factor. I needed to play. I needed to get my speed and strength back and get games under my belt in the lead up to the Olympics. It was 100% the reason why I came here. Nothing makes me prouder than representing my country and being part of the National team."
"You missed the recent friendly against The Netherlands, I believe that was your first international game you've missed in ten years?"
Callie hadn't realised it had been that long, but she had prepared to be asked about,this and the new great hope and had prepared.
"Yes, up until now I've been very lucky re injuries and I've proudly represented my country whenever asked. I can't tell you what it feels like to play with that team of women, they are all remarkable players." Callie responded positivel.
"You will have seen the debut from Hope Powell, the teen sensation who scored a hatrick on her international debut."
"Yes, yes Hope had an amazing game. I umm sent her a message on Twitter congratulating her after the game."
"Oh you did, so there's no rivalry between the two of you then? You know the new kid on the block and all that?" Maddie pushed Callie
Callie paused, she wasn't going to give Maddie the headline she wanted about being jealous even though she was.
"Of course not. I'm happy for her. She has a great future in front of her, but I'm not finished yet. The physio team at Spurs have been amazing and I'm scoring freely again, so I hope I'm showing the selectors that I've still plenty to offer."
"Ah yes, the physio team, lead by Dr Arizona Robbins. I understand she's been helping you a lot recently, settling in to UK life?"
Callie all of a sudden felt nervous, why was Maddie asking about Arizona.
"Well the whole team have to be honest, it's a great set up with amazing facilities and I've been made to feel very welcome" Callie repeated her earlier statement.
"Listen Callie, we've done enough interviews over the years for me to be honest with you here...There's a story going round about you and the doctor having a sexual relationship and I wondered if you wanted to say anything for the record?"
Callie felt the room spin as Maddie's words sunk in. Shiiit. How did she know. Had Billy gone to the press?
Callie tried her hardest to keep a poker face as she answered "Well it seems I'm in a relationship with everyone these days. Just last week I was apparently seeing one of the defenders from the men's team." It was a complete lie, but she needed the journalist to believe it. "Jeez it's amazing I get any time to play soccer if you believe what they say about my love life!" Callie chuckled as she tried to joke her way out of the difficult situation.
Maddie wasn't laughing. She was deadly serious as she followed up "So you're denying it then?"
"Yes I'm denying it, and if that's the true angle of this story then this interview is over!"
Callie said angrily.
"Wait Callie..." Maddie said keen to keep the striker talking "Look this interview started out they way it was pitched, but my editor got a tip off that the National Enquirer are going to publish a story about your alleged relationship with, and I quote 'London Lesbian Lover' " Maddie said used air quotation marks as she read out tag line.
Callie felt a wave of nausea flood over her as she listened to Maddie, fuck what was she going to do. Did they have any evidence to back up the story.
"We go way back Callie and you know I'm a huge fan of your...I just wanted to let you know and give you the opportunity to tell your story...you know on the back of the rumours about you and Jess earlier this year. We don't have to do it now, I just thought it might be something you could be interested in". Maddie said with a smile.
"Well you thought wrong. I'm not going to be commenting on it. I'm here under the false impression this interview was going to be about adapting to playing football in the UK, not my love life, which quiet frankly is none of your good damn business. This interview is over!" Callie could hear her voice was shaking with a mixture of nerves and anger as she slammed down the laptop before bursting into tears. Shiiiiit! She yelled out loud. It was coming out...even if she wasn't ready to do the same!
—
Hmmm so what now for Callie? How have the press found out? Was it Billy?
Should Arizona go speak to Callie, or is she right to wait for Callie to make the first move?
I'd love to know what you think.
So I see another old character is returning to Grey's this week. Every Friday morning I wake up and check Twitter to see if Calzona have made a appearance. Nothing yet, but they have to bring them back!
Every time I think we're getting on top of this damn virus, I read about increases in cases in other countries. I hope everyone is safe where you are reading this story. Please take care. Sarah x