Thank you all for the reviews after the last chapter and for keeping the faith with me. In this chapter Callie in back in Miami and needs Stacey's help.
Miami two weeks earlier
Callie promised Stacey that she would explain everything when she was back in Miami and they could meet face to face. She knew she needed to fill her friend and manager in on what had happened in London so that she could try and stop the story, and she didn't want to do that over the phone.
Stacey was waiting for Callie at the airport and as they walked back to the car the manager didn't waste any time "so NOW will you tell me what the hell happened in London?" she said looking over at her friend.
"OK, but maybe don't drive just yet...until I tell you." Callie said as they reached the car and climbed in.
"You're not pregnant are you?" she asked with a worried look on her face as and climbed in behind the driver's seat.
Callie nearly choked on her mouthful of water at the suggestion. Shit, Stacey was way off the mark here and this was going to be a shock to her friend.
"No Stace...I'm not pregnant." Callie said with a seriou look on her face..
"OK so then what was so urgent that you needed to come home asap? I thought you were starting to enjoy it over there. "
"I was" Callie said as pictured her teammates after the Chelsea game and how happy everyone had been, she pictured her lovely house which was currently being packed up by the removal company and lastly, she pictured Arizona. Those blue eyes and that dimpled smile. Fuck...she had to come clean to Stacey.
Callie turned to face her friend "Look Stace I need your help."
"OK well as your manager that's kinda my job Cal." Stacey responded getting worried now about what had happened.
"The National Enquirer is planning to run a story on me." Callie said taking a deep breath as she worked up to telling her friend what the story was about.
"Shit Cal" Stacey said surprised at the news "what about?"
Callie looked down at her hands and took another deep breath and opened her mouth, but the words didn't form. She had practised this conversation over and over on the flight from London, but now when it was crunch time, the words just wouldn't form.
Callie remembered when Arizona had been so patient with her that night when she had told her what had happened with Jess. How she had made her say out loud that she liked girls. Now she just needed to find her voice again and say those same words to Stacey.
Stacey could see that her friend was struggling, Callie was clearly worried about telling her something, which made her feel sad. They had always shared things, but there was something that the striker was keeping from her.
Stacey reached over and took her friend's hand. "Cal it's ME...you can tell me" she said softly.
Callie looked over at her friend and finally found the courage to tell her secret. "They are writing a story about me having a lesbian lover in London" Callie responded.
"Oh for gods sake... not that old story again, seriously don't they have anything better to write about?" rolling her eyes at the content of the story "...I mean, just because you're a soccer player, it doesn't make you gay!"
"But I am" Callie whispered under her breath.
Stacey didn't hear her friend as she was too busy moaning about the lazy so-called journalists at the Enquirer. "Honestly, that piece of junk magazine. Who is it? Jess again?" Stacey said as she pulled out her phone and started tapping out an email "we'll threaten to sue them unless they pull the article."
Callie sat there looking at her friend who had totally not heard what she had said. Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat the brunette tried again "we can't sue them Stace.."
"Sure we can!" her manager replied confidently interrupting Callie as she continued to tap out the email to their solicitor instructing them to stop the article.
"No, we CAN'T!" Callie said raising her voice so that she got Stacey's attention. "We can't sue because..." Callie said before taking a deep breath "...because it's true… I was with another woman in London" the brunette said holding her breath as she waited for her friend and manager to respond.
Stacey looked at her friend in shock. They had known each other for years and Callie had never said anything about liking girls before. She was totally surprised.
"Oh right" was all she could manage unable to make eye contact.
"Wow, Stace - is that all you've got to say?" Callie replied. She had feared the worst but hoped for more than that!
"I'm umm I'm sorry Callie...it's just a bit of a surprise that's all...I err had no idea."
Stacey said still avoiding her friends' gaze. "Neither did I...not really...until..." Callie didn't finish she pictured Arizona climbing out of the swimming pool that first night.
"So um is it Jess? You know, the girl you...kissed?." Stacey asked
Callie took a deep breath as she pictured kissing Arizona. She shook her head.
"Stace it was way more than a kiss...I was falling in love with her." Callie swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she said the L word "But No...it wasn't Jess...it was someone else, and I need you to keep her name out of the article, otherwise..." "Otherwise what?" Stacey asked
"Otherwise...her career will be over." Callie said softly looking at Stacey with a scared look in her eyes.
"Shit...it was Arizona?"
Callie nodded her head slowly.
"Did she...did she force you..."
"Fuck no!" Callie interrupted angrily at the very suggestion "of course not...she would never do that...it was me that wanted it...wanted her...I umm well it's just she's been through so much Stacey, I...I need you to stop her name from coming out. Please I need your help" Callie said with tears in her eyes.
Stacey looked at her friend and smiled softly. Whatever she felt about Callie's newly discovered sexuality, her client needed her now and so the soccer agent kicked in.
"OK. So do we actually know what info they have? I mean are there any photos?"
Callie shook her head "I...I don't think so."
"Do you know how they got hold of the story?"
Callie nodded"Jess found out about it and one night she was drunk and jealous so told a friend of hers who just happens to hate me….Jules Spencer. Jess feels awful about it."
Stacey thought for a few moments before answering "OK, well we might be able to use that guilt to protect Arizona."
"How?" Callie asked intrigued by the suggestion.
"Seeing as we can't threaten to sue them for libel, the next best thing we can do is feed them some misinformation and lead them down the wrong alley," Stacey said looking at her watch. "What time is it in London?" she asked the striker.
"About 10 pm why?." Callie said still puzzled over what Stacey had in mind.
"Because I need you to call Jess and tell her to get this Jules person to call whatever scumbag journalist she spoke to back and tell them they have the wrong name. That your lover isn't Arizona... it's actually Jess Woods!"
"What?" Callie responded "I can't ask Jess to do that..."
"Errr yeah you can...especially if you want to protect Arizona... it's the only option. Trust me...a story about two soccer players being in a relationship is not a big deal - although I appreciate it is to you, but a story about you and your coach..."
"Physio...she was my physio" Callie corrected her manager.
"OK coach, physio it's the same thing... it's a person of authority and it is a bigger story, so we need to reduce the blast damage by taking away the dynamite - in this case, Arizona's name."
Callie wasn't sure if Jess would agree but she didn't see what other options she had.
- Jess had instantly agreed with the plan and had called Jules who called up the magazine and corrected her story stating that she had got it wrong and didn't want to get sued.
The journalist at the mere mention of the word sued had changed the name in the story from Arizona's to Jess's and the article was tweaked to report on how two homesick US soccer stars had found comfort in each other's arms.
Stacey then prepared a short statement denying any relationship between the two players and confirming that they were just friends ready to use when the story broke.
"You do know, from a PR aspect, it looks worse you coming home like this!" Stacey said as she finally switched on the car engine to start the journey home.
"I know, but I had to be near my parents in case it all came out." Callie explained
"Are you going to tell them?" Stacey asked knowing how shocked Mr and Mrs Torres would be.
"I...I don't know. It was hard enough telling you!" Callie admitted.
Stacey glanced over at her friend "listen I'm sorry if my initial reaction wasn't, you know, what you hoped for...it's a shock Cal" the manager admitted as she focused on the road.
"Was it really though?" Callie challenged "I mean...after the rumours about Jess - which by the way we're not 100% false, I mean nothing happened, but it nearly did….did you not stop and think about the fact that I hadn't had a boyfriend in about six years! Did you not think that was a little odd?" she asked looking over at Stacey.
Stacey considered her answer "I guess I just put it down to you focusing on your career. I mean you have had boyfriends in the past, we've talked about sex and stuff...it just never occurred to me that you might be a...lesbian." Stacey said hesitating before saying the last word.
Callie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling at the sound of the word. "I have a lot of working out to do Stacey, but I think I'm bisexual for a start, but I need to get to grips with it better myself first before I feel comfortable telling people."
"I get that" Stacey said, "and Cal, I am pleased you told me...and I'd really like us to talk this through some more...you know if you feel comfortable?" Stacey offered
"Thanks, Stace. I really appreciate that. I think it will help me come to terms with it a bit better."
—
Once Callie had been dropped off at her parent's house and hugs and kisses had been exchanged, Callie made an excuse that she needed a shower and headed to her old bedroom.
There was one last thing she needed to fix. Reaching for her phone she pulled up Maddie McDonald from the LA Times number in her phone and pressed the dial button.
"Callie!" Maddie said down the end of the phone surprised the striker was calling her after how the interview had ended.
"Hey, Maddie. Listen I hope I'm not disturbing, but I just wanted to apologise for the other day...for reacting in the way I did."
"OKaaaay" Maddie replied a little bit suspicious of where this conversation was going.
"The thing is...this is all really new to me Maddie. I mean REALLY new... and I appreciate your offer about the LA Times being sympathetic to me...I do, but the fact is, I need to do a lot of soul searching right now and then I have to sit down and tell my parents, and I...well I would hope you and the paper would show me the decency to be able to do that first."
"Cal...if it were up to me, we wouldn't even be mentioning it, but you know what editors are like...I'm not sure how long I can stall this story." Maddie admitted.
"I know...I get it, I'm a household name and selling newspapers is a business...but you know what would also sell...a book!" Callie said revealing her trump card.
"I'm not sure I'm following Callie".
"I'm offering you the chance to write my autobiography Maddie. I'll sit down with you and we can go through everything my upbringing, my success on the soccer pitch and finally my coming out story which would be an exclusive in the newspaper." Callie held her breath as she waited for the journalist's reply.
"OK...well, I'm not going to lie, that all sounds interesting...what's the catch?" Maddie asked in her journalistic voice.
"I need you to bury the story until after the Olympics. I need to win the Olympics and make my parents proud of me for one last time before I break their hearts".
Christmas Day
Their plan with the National Enquirer worked and after a couple of hours of internet activity with people retweeting the story and TMZ covering it, it had died a death thanks to some TikTok influencer being arrested for DUI.
Callie had warned her parents that there was some gossip coming out again and Carlos had threatened to sue, but Callie had managed to calm him down and after a day he had moved on.
Callie called Jess to wish her a Merry Christmas and see how she was doing after the story had hit the internet. "Oh it's fine" she had replied relieved that the plan had worked. "No one really gives a shit over here, especially as we're female soccer players. Now if we had been two men, that would have been completely different".
"But are people saying stuff to you?" Calls asked
"Nah not really" Jess laughed "although there were a few Spurs fans on Twitter moaning about me being the reason their star player left as they lost again today"
"Yeah I saw that"
"Other than that...it's fine Cal. I warned my parents, although I do think they are starting to believe there may be something behind it"
"Oh no Jess...I'm sorry"
"It's OK Cal….I mean there is truth to it...I am actually seeing someone!" Jess said going a little red down the camera.
"No way!" Callie said happy for her friend "that's brilliant news Jess...who is it? Is it the one you went for a walk with the other week?"
"Yeah...yeah it's Sanne" she said smiling at her friend.
"The Dutch goalie?"
Jess nodded "it's obviously early days, but it's going really well, she coming over in a bit for Christmas Dinner."
"Wow, you cooking! You must be trying to impress her" Callie teased. She was so relieved that they had managed to stay friends after everything that had happened, and she was so happy that Jess had met someone.
"Haha, very funny Torres! what about you and Arizona?"
Callie sighed "There is no me and Arizona!"
"Have you heard anything from her? Did she get in touch after the story broke?"
Callie shook her head "Nope. nothing and I don't think I will" Callie said sadly as she thought of the blonde. "I mean why would she? I'm the one that freaked out after someone saw us holding hands, I was the one that ran, first back to London and then all the way back to the States. She hates me!" Callie said as a lump formed in her throat.
"She doesn't hate you!" Jess said trying to reassure her friend "she's probably just protecting herself, you know after the Alex thing"
"Maybe, I mean that would make sense. I just feel like I've messed everything up and now it's too late to even try."
"Why don't you send her a Merry Christmas message, to test the waters?" Jess suggested, "if she ignores you you kinda have your answer."
"Maybe," Callie said thoughtfully
"Listen I have to go I need to put the dinner in the oven, but good to speak to you Cal and I'll see you in a couple of weeks at the training camp."
Callie had been recalled to the National team following her good form at Spurs and they had two friendly internationals scheduled for the end of January.
"Can't wait to see you." Callie said excitedly
"Yeah although you do realise the other girls are going to proper tease us" Jess laughed.
"I know...I've seen the Whatsapp messages. Who knew our teammates were so funny!" Callie said laughing as she recalled the photoshopped picture of Jack and Rose on the Titanic with Callie and Jess's faces on it.
"Say hi to your folks from me..and text her Cal...what do you have to lose?" -
A few cocktails later and Jess's words ringing in her head, Callie hit the send button on a message she had decided to send Arizona. She had gone up to the attic after her call with Jess and found some old photos of her in her teenage skater phase. She then sent an audio file of a song that was out at the same time. She hoped it would make the Brit smile and maybe start up a line of communication between them.
Unfortunately, it didn't and Callie never heard back from Arizona.
—
Unfortunately our girls have drifted apart, but in the next chapter they will be reunited. Keep the faith and as ever, stay safe!
Sarah x