Chapter 4: You've Got Mail?

The next morning, Arizona felt much more rested than she had the day before. Deciding to let Sofia sleep a little while longer, she went into the bathroom to shower, wash her face and brush her teeth. As she got dressed, she had the feeling it would be a good day. She would have a smooth day at work and maybe today would be the day that she'd hear from Joey. She hadn't learned nearly as much about her during their conversation as she had revealed about herself but still she was staying confident she would reach out. She went downstairs to wake Sofia then went back upstairs to continue getting herself ready. Forty minutes later, she was headed back downstairs to make the last preparations for her day.

"Sofia, we're out the door in fifteen minutes" she called out down the hall before going into the kitchen. She made herself a cup of coffee then grabbed a bagel, yogurt and apple juice for Sofia to take with her. Ten minutes later, Sofia came down the hall. "Do you have everything?" she asked, pushing her breakfast toward her.

"Peanut butter please" she said pushing her bagel back towards Arizona. She grabbed the peanut butter from the cabinet and a knife and spoon from the drawer. She gave the spoon to Sofia for her yogurt and used the knife to spread peanut butter over her bagel.

"Do you have everything you need for this weekend?" she asked again. Sofia nodded. "Are you sure? You're going to mama's after dance. You won't be back here until after school on Monday" she reminded her. Sofia thought for a moment while she ate her yogurt then nodded again. Arizona's phone started to ring in her pocket. It was Callie. "Hey" she answered as she handed Sofia her bagel. "Yeah, we're just about to head out in a few minutes. Yeah". She handed the phone to Sofia who took and started a conversation with her mom while Arizona cleaned up. A few minutes later, Sofia came back and handed her back her phone. "Ok. You ready?"

"Umhmm" she mumbled. She finished her yogurt, put her spoon in the sink and the empty container in the trash then grabbed the other half of her bagel and juice before heading out to the car. Arizona turned off the coffee pot then grabbed her coffee mug and followed her daughter out the door. She dropped Sofia at her friend's house to spend the day until dance class then headed in to work. When she walked into the attending's lounge, Meredith, Maggie, Amelia, Alex, Jo, Jackson and Callie were all already there. They were eating breakfast, drinking coffee and exchanging small talk. She greeted everyone with a good morning and they all acknowledged her back. Callie came over to her right away, almost as if she'd been waiting for her to get there.

"Did you tell Sofia she can't go on the camping trip?"

"Oh no" she said with a laugh. "I told you, that's all you".

"Arizona that's not fair" she whined. "Why do I have to tell her alone?"

"Because you're the one saying no Callie" she said stating the obvious.

"I'm telling you, camping is awesome" Jo said interjecting from across the room.

"You shut it, Karev" Callie said with a glare. "No one asked you".

"Hey, I am an attending now remember. You can't talk to me like that anymore" she shot back. "I deserve some respect". They all exchanged looks and then burst into laughter. Arizona went into the bathroom, still laughing, to change into her scrubs. Jo hit Alex on the arm. "You're supposed to back me up" she said unhappy that he was laughing with everyone else.

"I'm sorry" he said trying, unsuccessfully, to stifle his laughter. She scoffed at him.

"Jerk" she said shaking her head. She stole the last piece of his bagel from his plate and ate it as the laughter died down.

"I think you got the right idea" Maggie said jumping in with her own opinion. "Camping sucks. You don't want to subject Sofia to that".

"I'm not touching that one" Jackson said under his breath. She side eyed him.

"I heard that".

"I think he meant ya to" Amelia said with a chuckle.

"Does anyone else have an opinion about this?" Callie asked, though not really wanting anyone else to weigh in. No one said anything. "Great" she said sarcastically before grabbing her cup of coffee and leaving the lounge. Teddy and Owen were coming in as she was leaving. They both said hi to her but received no response.

"Something the matter with Callie?" Owen asked with concern in his voice.

"She woke up on the wrong side of the tent this morning" Alex quipped getting a laugh from everyone. They all started to disperse leaving Teddy and Owen standing there completely confused. Arizona emerged from the bathroom in her scrubs.

"Hey" she said greeting them.

"Hey" they both said. "What's wrong with Callie?" Teddy asked. Arizona groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Sofia's camping trip". Teddy nodded her understanding. She had told her the whole story about their disagreement over the trip. "I told her she has to be the one to tell Sofia she can't go". Owen was still confused.

"What camping trip? And why wouldn't she be able to go?"

"Her school is going on a camping trip next weekend and Callie doesn't think she should go because it's co-ed" she explained. He frowned.

"A school trip, that means supervision right?" Arizona nodded. "So, I don't get it. What's the problem? Camping is great".

"Callie thinks she's too young to go on an overnight trip with boys" Teddy said filling him in. His frown remained.

"But it's a supervised school trip" he said still confused.

"You're preaching to the choir" Arizona said putting her stethoscope around her neck. "Maybe you can try talking some sense into her" she said as she headed out. She had a few consults scheduled and two surgeries. She kept checking her email throughout the day to see if she had anything from Joey. She didn't. She said she would find her and she figured email would be the easiest way for Joey to contact her. She decided she would be more patient. It'd only been a day and a half, after all. At the end of the day, a group of them decided to go across the street to the bar to unwind from the day. On her way over to the bar, she talked to Sofia who was on her way home with Callie from dance class. Sofia always had a story to tell about the small adolescent dramas that always seemed to be happening between the girls. She was ready to say goodbye when they reached home. They said their "I love yous", wished each other a good night, then ended their call. When she walked into the bar, Meredith, Amelia, Maggie, Teddy, Jackson, Jo and Alex were already at a table. She ordered a vodka tonic and asked for it to be brought to the table. Even just ordering the drink made her think of Joey. She smiled to herself as she walked over and sat down in the open seat next to Teddy. The waiter came over and set her drink in front her. She thanked him as she shook out off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair.

"So did Callie tell Sofia yet?" Teddy asked her as she got comfortable in her seat.

"She's avoiding it" she said with a shake of her head. "which she won't be able to do much longer because Sofia is going to ask her. Monday's the last day for her to turn in the permission slip". She pulled her phone from her pocket and checked her email again. She didn't know why she was so invested in hearing from this woman. They'd only met once and only talked for a few hours. Still, she couldn't help but obsessively check for some sign from her.

"That is the millionth time I've seen you check your email today" she said noticing her check it yet again. Arizona quickly closed out of the tab and put her phone back in her pocket. "Who's supposed to be emailing you?".

"Nobody" she said with a shrug.

"You're lying" Alex and Meredith said at the same time. They'd all known each other for so long, they could read each other like books.

"I am not lying" she said offended by the accusation. She took her first drink from her glass the waiter had just brought over and tried to hide the smile that came over her face.

"See" Alex said pointing at her, "See that smile. You're lying".

"I am not lying" she said defensively.

"You're definitely hiding something" Meredith said eyeing her. "Out with it".

"I'm interested" Maggie said leaning forward, ready to hear the story.

"Of course you are" Amelia said under her breath. Maggie lightly jabbed her in the side with her elbow as she lazily blocked the blow that she knew was coming.

"I'm interested too" Jo said chiming in.

"Yeah, me too" Teddy said looking over at her. "What's the deal?"

"I don't have a deal" she said with a shrug. "I just… I was hoping someone would email me today" she admitted. "It's not a big deal" she said hoping they would move on.

"Who?" Alex asked. She just knew he'd be the one to keep pestering her. She took another drink without answering. "Come on, out with it. If you don't start talking, we all have to go back to listening to Maggie complain about how terrible online dating is" he joked.

"Hey" Maggie said taking offense while everyone else laughed.

"Ok, fine" she said finally giving in. Partly because she knew he wouldn't let it go but also because she really did want to talk about the beautiful woman she'd met. "I… met someone".

"Ha! I knew it" Alex said pleased with himself.

"I didn't sleep with her" she said, letting him know he didn't get it all right. He pursed his lips and gazed at her through squinted eyes, conveying his disbelief. "I didn't" she insisted.

"Ok, so what happened?" Teddy asked intrigued by this pronouncement of a possible new love interest. "She was supposed to email you and flaked?"

"And how did she keep you up all night if you didn't sleep with her?" Meredith asked siding with Alex on the disbelief.

"She didn't keep me up all night. I was just out late with her".

"So, what happened?" Teddy asked again, impatiently waiting for details.

"Nothing happened. I met her at the bar. She was my trivia partner and we won" she said bragging. "So we got free drinks until closing and we… we just talked" she said smiling as she remembered their conversation. "We talked until the bar closed. We walked out together and she said she would find me".

"Find you?" Amelia asked with distaste in her tone. "Why does she have to find you? Why didn't you just give her your number?"

"I- I…." she blew air, "I asked her if she wanted to exchange numbers but she said she'd find me" she explained. They all looked at her questioningly. "I know it's… it's weird" she admitted.

"Weird? She blew you off and you're still looking for an email from her. That's weird" Alex said crassly.

"Alex" Meredith said, chastising him.

"Well, wait a minute" Jackson said joining in the conversation, "How exactly was she supposed to be finding you?"

"Google I guess" she said with a shrug. "She said there couldn't be too many fetal surgeons named Arizona".

"Well, that's true" Amelia agreed.

"Yeah so, she might not have been blowing you off" Jackson said. Nobody else seemed to share his optimism.

"Well, what'd you talk about?" Jo asked curiously. "Did she seem interested?" Arizona's smile grew wide.

"Ok" Meredith said laughing, "That smile". They all knew that smile. It was her highly confident, slightly impressed with herself smile.

"She was… definitely interested" she said confidently. "But she was… she was…" she struggled to find the right way to describe her, "hesitant? I did most of the talking" she admitted.

"Oh no" Maggie said shaking her head. "You brought the thunder".

"The what?" Arizona asked with a confused chuckle.

"The thunder" she repeated. "It's what I do sometimes when I'm nervous. I talk a lot to hide it so that people take me seriously and don't think I'm scared and small" she explained. "You brought the thunder".

"Remember you did that to me on your first day?" Jo asked over the straw still in her mouth. Maggie laughed.

"Oh yeah, totally" she nodded.

"And you called me every name except my actual name".

"Yeah, I did that too" she said slightly apologetic.

"I didn't bring any thunder" Arizona argued. "I wasn't nervous… at all" she added. "I was completely comfortable" she said remembering how easy it was to talk to her. "Oh god" she said remembering more and more how easy it was to talk to her. "Maybe I was too comfortable. What if I scared her off?"

"Why would she be scared off?" Teddy asked.

"What'd you say?" Meredith asked as she waved to get the waiter's attention. She gestured for another round for the entire table, getting a nod of acknowledgement.

"Everything" she said mortified. "I told her everything".

"What's everything?" Teddy asked needing more detail.

"I... told her about Sofia". Everyone thought that was logical. "I told her that I'm divorced and… I basically told her the entire history of my relationship with Callie". They all stared at her, wondering how much history was the entire history.

"A-An-And by "entire history" you mean…." Teddy asked leaving the end open for her response.

"I mean entire history" she repeated. "Africa. Callie and Mark and how we had Sofia. Callie and Penny, the custody battle, New York". She listed all the things she told her. "Oh my god" she said covering her mouth, "I even told her I cheated on Callie" she said with embarrassment. They all physically and audibly cringed.

"Wait, what? You cheated on Callie?" Maggie asked in shock.

"Where have you been?" Alex asked before taking a drink from his fresh beer.

"It was before you moved here" Jo said, getting her up to speed.

"Why would you tell her that?" Meredith asked, snickering through her discomfort for Arizona.

"Yeah, that's not exactly… first conversation information" Teddy chimed in.

"Well, I didn't plan for it to come out" she said obviously. "It was just so easy to talk to her" she said expressing what she'd been thinking. "She wasn't very interested in talking about herself. Is that a military thing?" she asked looking at Teddy. "You're getting to know someone you're interested in and you just let them do all the talking?"

"Wha... have you met me?" she asked joking but serious.

"What did she say when you told her about stepping out on Callie?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, how did she react?" Jackson asked. He wasn't usually interested in "girl talk" but he was completely tuned in to Arizona's story.

"She didn't say anything" she shrugged. "She didn't even seem put off by it" she said actively remembering that particular part of the conversation. "She just listened. She was a fantastic listener" she said with a smile.

"Ok, so she listened" Alex said slouching forward, "but what did she share? I mean, what do you know about her?"

"Umm, well she's in the military" she started with the most important thing she knew. "It's why she moved here. She has a big family".

"Oh, how big is her family?" Jo asked interested in how in depth she went.

"One bigger than the Sheppard's" she said looking at Amelia.

"Shut up" she said surprised. People always thought five kids was a lot. Growing up there weren't many families as big as the Sheppard's.

"Mom, dad, four brothers and a sister. All military at some point" she said giving the breakdown.

"Damn. Mom and dad were getting busy" she jested.

"I bet they're all welcome home babies" Alex said, joining in on the joke. They all laughed.

"Ok" Maggie said through her laughter, "what else?"

"We were in med school in Maryland at the same time".

"Oh no way" Maggie said delighted by the coincidence.

"That's cool" Jo said also pleased.

"Get to the good stuff" Alex said impatiently. "Who'd she cheat on?"

"Alex" Jo said smacking him on the shoulder. Meredith and Jackson laughed.

"She didn't say she ever cheated on anyone".

"Ignore him" Jo said rolling her eyes. "What else did she tell you?" she asked encouraging her to go on. Arizona blew air as she thought about what else she knew about Joey.

"Umm" she said as she struggled to remember anything else she knew. "She, uh…" They all waited for her to go on.

"That's all you know?" Alex asked dissatisfied. "When and where she went to medical school and that her family is big and military?" She nodded hesitantly. "That's only two things. You practically told her your life's story and she only told you two things?"

"Oh, honey" Amelia said with a sympathetic frown.

"Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I didn't tell Derek that much about me when we started dating" Meredith said hoping to make her feel better.

"And he didn't tell you he was married" Alex shot back at her. "You were even".

"She did say she was a great listener. That's something... good" Jackson said, also trying to make her feel better. "Maybe she just... needs time before she can open up to talk about herself".

"Yeah, yeah" Teddy agreed, "Maybe it's… that" she said hesitantly. It was obvious they were grasping at straws.

"She had to tell you more than that" Jo said hopeful. "I mean, you were talking until the bar closed. She had to contribute something".

"She's a trauma surgeon. She did her residency in Hawaii" she remembered. Her smile grew again. "She guessed where my name came from before I told her" she said happily. "Nobody's ever done that before. And she really admires her parents. She chose a post here to be closer to them. They live in California with her sister".

"See, there's more" Jo said happily. "What else?"

"What's her name?" Maggie asked, realizing she never said.

"Joey" she said simply. They all looked at her waiting for more.

"That… that's it" Teddy asked. "Just Joey". Arizona nodded.

"She didn't tell you her last name?" She shook her head.

"But I didn't tell her mine either" she said in her defense.

"Yeah, but Joey is like a nickname" Meredith said before finishing her drink. "What's her whole first name?" Arizona realized for the first time that she'd never said her full first name. "You don't know" she stated more than asked. She shook her head in defeat.

"So, even if you wanted to look her up, you wouldn't be able to" Amelia deduced.

"She's totally not gonna email you" Alex said finishing his beer.

"Alex" Jo said chastising him yet again. "You're all being so negative" she said looking around at the long faces. They felt bad for Arizona because they could tell from the way she talked about this woman that she actually really liked her. "None of it means anything. How little she talked or not telling you her whole name. Maybe she didn't talk about herself much because she was completely interested in everything you had to say. And maybe she only told you her nickname because she was comfortable and relaxed and didn't want to be all… formal with you" she said giving another, more positive interpretation to her behavior. "You won't know, you can't know, unless you talk to her again".

"Well how's she supposed to do that if she can't find her?" Maggie asked, bringing back the negativity.

"It hasn't even been a full forty-eight hours since they met" she reminded them. "You said she's in the military and she just moved here" she said turning her attention back to Arizona. "So maybe she's busy getting settled in or maybe she had a training thing and hasn't had time to look you up" she said throwing out some possibilities that didn't include her blowing Arizona off. "Just give it some more time before you give up".

"Damn" Amelia said impressed with her optimism. "Now, I'm hopeful for you". Arizona laughed.

"I won't give up" she assured her. "Can we talk about something else now please?" she asked hoping they could move on.

"Something other than sucky internet dating" Alex said before Maggie got started again. Arizona loved the new, post therapy Jo who was full of hope and optimism. If it weren't for her being there, giving her encouragement, she might've listened to the others and thought it was a lost cause. She looked to Jo and mouthed a grateful "thank you" to her as the conversation moved on to Teddy talking about some crazy patients she had in the ER that day. She decided she would hold on to hope. One thing she knew for sure was that Joey was interested in her. Even if she had reservations about seeing her again, she knew, at least, that she wanted to. "That's not nothing" she thought to herself as she listened to the conversation going on around her. She remembered something else Joey said. She was staying positive that she would get what she wanted. So, that's what she would do too. Just stay positive.