The Past
The Present
The Future
Seattle
02:35 PM
Her returned flight landed like only just an hour ago and Arizona couldn't believe her eyes as she was forced to face this situation with her now being so physically and emotionally tired .
"I will suggest you not to do that if it was hours ago ." Kahn said when Arizona put her hand on one of the now unrecognizable vehicles . "We believed that the fire started early in the morning . When I arrived , it was damn hot inside the garage . The fire was burning up like crazy . All three cars were on fire at the same time and like a perfect plan .. the fire detector wasn't working ."
Arizona was only forty five minutes on the plane when everyone on the security team called her cellphone repeatedly . But Arizona was unfortunately unreachable . So when she landed , she instantly felt disturbed seeing the amount of missed calls she received . And on George's order , three men were already waiting for her at the front gate just after she finished collecting her luggage .
With the bitter truth she had learn last night and here came a new problem ... Arizona's face was rough as she inspected the black sedan , it was the company's car that she hadn't yet to return to the office before her eyes ended up on her SUV and later , the Audi . "What did this sick person used to start the fire ? Gasoline ?"
Kahn nodded . "And .. I found this letter too , not far from the cars . It got your name on it ."
Arizona opened the letter and on instant , she felt like she was choking on her breath .
You left me bored here.
This time it was a computer generated letter and it was only a five words letter but somehow it brought up uneasiness feeling inside of Arizona's stomach .
"Did anybody saw anyone ? CCTV ?" Folding the letter , Arizona asked to the now temporary person in charge of the security team in Seattle .
"About that .. I wanted to show you the CCTV footage , if you will follow me to the surveillance room now ?"
Arizona nodded in silent .
"Coincidentally , nobody was here on the guarding duty when it happened . The guard that should be working today called in sick and there was no replacement as everybody seems like to spend their Sunday morning with families . No one noticed , not until the cars were badly damaged fifty percent . We did check the CCTV , though . An unidentified was seen carrying a gas can into the garage and started the whole damn fire . We couldn't really see his face as if he just knew where the CCTVs were located ." Kahn began explaining . "But still , we will call in the guard and see if he is really sick or there is something else going on behind his sudden sick leave ."
"No cameras from any angles caught his face clearly . We only saw the side of his face and that wasn't helping at all . What we knew for now , the man has a strong build and is a six feet tall . With the way he dresseed in a leather jacket and black boots , gloves he probably a well trained assassin with army knowledge ." The man continued with his words . "An ex army even ."
Arizona ran a hand through her hair , anxious . "An assassin ?" Army ? She questioned herself . Just what she actually did that pissed somebody like this ?
"Wild guess but that's what my instinct been telling me ." Kahn shrugged . "Without name and face , I couldn't send out a complete profile . O' Malley will do a double check on this footage when he gets back from Miami , see if I am missing something but for now , this is all we got . Security has been tightened up . But I suggest O' Malley and Reynolds fly out Miss Torres from Miami by tonight or early tomorrow morning . To retreat and regroup is the best decision for this situation ."
"You are right ." Arizona speed dialled George . The call was quickly answered just seconds after that , Arizona took a deep breath . It was the second time she would be speaking to the man today . The first call was to inform George that the mysterious son of a bitch had strike again in which George already knew about it first .
"You need to fly Callie into Seattle by tonight ." Arizona just went straight to the point without waiting furthermore . She was worried about the brunette's safety over there . Yes , she was confused and you could say hurting when she found out the truth about Lucia . But came to think , before she even began to punish the brunette .. Arizona deserved an explanation . The blonde was hurting but her confusion regarding this was far more a major problem in this situation . And it seemed like nobody was here to walk her out through the whole mess of confusion .
"Arizona ... I think it is impossible . They are painting the room now , it is all wet paint everywhere and crib hunting will starts only when the IKEA opens tomorrow . I can take her out of here if I came clean about what's happening in..."
"No , you can't mention anything to her about the fire . It will only makes her freak out ." Arizona quickly cut off , shaking her head . Not realized that she had been clutching on her phone too tight .
"I know you will say that . So , I have to remain tight lipped over this matter , right ? She will notices something is wrong if I keep pushing her to come back ." George replied on the other line . "Callie is smart and very curious , she will figures something is up if I don't act like myself ."
George put down the paint plate on the floor as he walked to the corner of the room that should turned pink once they were all finished . "And I am not myself . Hell , I am currently shaking up with anger as I help them paint this wall . The bastard laid low for months and suddenly made a move again when I wasn't in Seattle . This room should be a pink baby room but all I can see is red ." He whispered in anger .
George always done his task beautifully . But this time with him still not be able to pinned and tracked down the person who had been terrorizing his employer ? It was only making him frustrated and honestly .. disappointed with himself .
"What George ? You like it red more than pink ?" Callie's voice was heard on the background . "Who are you talking to , anyway ?"
"George , do not tell her it's me . I don't want to talk to her ." Arizona said on the other line . She tried to be civil when she just suddenly showed up in front of the Torres's residence early this morning to tell Callie that she was going to fly out of Miami immediately because there had been an emergency in Baltimore and for the first time .. maybe , just maybe .. Callie believed her and not asking much about her sudden urge to leave Miami , even without the brunette herself .
I don't want to talk to her . Was that true that Arizona didn't want to talk to her girlfriend when she actually had lots of question inside her head ? Truth be told , Arizona wanted to talk to Callie about many things but she just didn't know how to ask .
"You are acting weird , George . Is that your girlfriend on the other line ?" Callie giggled . "Alright , I will stop disturbing you but please help us once you finish chit chat with her . Say hi to her for me please ."
"Hey , a very pregnant lady is not allowed in this room ." Carlos's voice could be heard .
"Come on .. I just want a little sneak peek ." And it was Aria's voice .
"You know , I will never slam the door in your face especially when you are pregnant with my baby but if you try to come in again , I will ." Edward chuckled .
"It is sad that you aren't here to join them . They turned out to be a very loud family ." George awkwardly showed his teeth and after making sure Callie was once again deeply engaged into the painting job , he focused himself with the other person on the line . "What was up this morning when you suddenly decided to leave ? As if you already knew something was going to happen in Seattle . And you lied to Callie about having an emergency in Baltimore ." He whispered into the phone .
"Told you . I have something else going on that I need to handle immediately ." Arizona replied as short as she could . "And don't judge me , George ."
"Sorry , I forgot that it wasn't my business ." George apologized . Working with Arizona for years and he knew when Arizona did something .. There's gotta be a reason behind it .. But even George sometimes couldn't read his boss's mysterious mind . "But did you get that thing handled ?" Still , he was curious what was that all about .
"No . I just landed in when Kahn phoned me about the fire . And now I have another thing to be handled while the thing that I should been handling now has been tossed aside for this time being ." Arizona sighed heavily . "I need a drink . And who the hell drinks in the afternoon ?"
George knew that the blonde was wrecked with Callie being far away from her and that was when he made a silent promise to himself that he would bring back the Latina in one piece , no matter what happened . "Arizona , I assure you that I will bring her home safely tomorrow . Early by afternoon , if not .. maybe in the evening ."
"Just ... keeps her safe ." Arizona said in a slow voice . She was tired .
"Will do ." George answered .
"Thank you ." Arizona hang up the call as she walked out of the surveillance room .
"Your penthouse is all cleared . And I am putting four men inside of your house for extra security ." Kahn followed Arizona from behind .
"Kahn ." Arizona suddenly turned around , patting on the back shoulder of the man . "You did a good job . Right now , I need you to clear the damages . The cars , the smells , the staints , clear it before Callie comes home tomorrow . She doesn't need to know this . I am going to get some rest for now ."
In the penthouse after Arizona had taken a shower . She ended up lying alone on the king sized bed as her mind wandered again to her first encounter with Callie after finding out an additional information about Callie's mother . An information or a truth that she was so damn sure would choose not to dig further if she knew it would ended up like this .
The truth , it left her with mixed feeling .. Confusion , hurt and a little bit of betrayal .
It was early in the morning when Arizona reached at the lobby of Torres's Hotel . She had asked Callie to come down via phone call without further details . Yes , she could just fly out of Miami without telling the brunette like she have did in the past . After all , she had the tendency of suddenly disappear .. remember ? But this time was different , she needed to speak to Callie in person before leaving , not be a coward like she was months ago .So , she said to the brunette that they needed to talk . But of course when she said they needed to talk , she didn't mean it about the truth she just discovered about her girlfriend's mother .
She needed more time to talk about that thing out loud and certainly they would not talk about that thing here . Her heart was still sting by anger with the relevation that she had to discover by herself , anger that was all meant for that one Lucia Torres . And at this point she wondered why Lucia lied about the truth that they actually had cross a path before this . Even if it was technically not by face to face , Lucia must have recognized her based on the fact that she had taken the case .
The case , the trial that Arizona wasn't brave enough to sat in the court and heard them talking about Joanne and Aiden and all of the stuffs regarding the chronology of how the accident that killed two innocent people happened . She must have read those files before going further with the case , so she must had seen Arizona's face somewhere in the file as the plaintiff .
"Honey , what's going on ?" Callie did a little ran as she approached the blonde the first thing she got out from the elevator . "Don't tell me you changed your mind and wanted to come with us to the church . It is still early , though ."
"No ." Realizing that it came out cold , Arizona cleared her throat . For all she knew now , Callie may not aware of this problem and the war against her mother that she was about to unveil once she got the confusions and angers tone down . She loved Callie too much to blame Callie for her mother's action . And channeling the confusion and anger towards the older Torres was definitely much more easier . Now for Arizona , Callie was only part of this collateral mess .
"Are you okay ?" Callie raised her eyebrows , looking worried . She sat down next to the blonde .Arizona was hesitate to answer it . She had promised to Callie that there would be no more lies about their feelings .
"No , not really ." Arizona chose not to lie but she also chose not to explain why . Putting on her poker face , Arizona forced a smile to her girlfriend . "I have to fly out of here ."
"Now ?" Callie's forehead furrowed . "Why ?"
And that was when Arizona chose to lie . "I need to handle something in Baltimore , my hometown ."
"Arizona ? Is there anything you want to talk to me ?"
For a moment , the blonde panicked a little . Callie knew already about the thing Arizona discovered about Lucia ?
Arizona stared at the Latina emptily , not sure of what to say before she finally answered Callie's question with a question too . "What do you mean ?"
"Your parents ? Is everything okay with them ? What's happening in Baltimore ?"
Arizona let out a huge sigh of relief . Oh .. But Callie took it as a bad signal , freaking out .. She stood up in hurry .
"Is it really that bad ? Oh my God , I'm coming with you . Wait here , I will go pack up my suitcase ."
"No , no . Everything is okay ." Arizona grabbed Callie's hand , reassuring her that it was all okay . She needed a little space from Callie for now and the brunette following her back to Seattle wouldn't help the situation . She wasn't mad at her girlfriend , it was just .. being near with Callie was suffocating her and not to mention , making it more confusing than it already was . "My parents is all okay . It is just some real estate thing regarding their property that also involves my signature ."
"You had me worried for a second ! But still , I can come with you to Baltimore . It's been a while since the first time I stepped into the house of Robbins ." Callie suggested anyway .
"No , you are going to the church . And after that you will do baby room shopping with the rest of your family . You are going to spend your Sunday doing the unusual things with your family and not be stucked with me in a plane ." Arizona smiled as she imagine in her brain the way Callie would be spending her day today . But when Lucia's face came on her brain , she frowned a little . Gladly , Callie didn't see the little frown
"Are you sure you don't want me to follow you ? You wouldn't regret it ?" Callie smirked devilishly . "It will be two days for you without sex and I will only return tomorrow ."
"Even if I don't fly out today , with your family always stealing you away from me .. I am positive that there will be less sexy action for both of us ." Arizona joked lightly .
Underneath the sorrow truth she just learnt , she was suprised that she still managed to act as if she her heart was at peace . Guess , she was good at faking a happiness . Just like how she faked her 'normal' life in front of her parents before Callie happened . Meeting Callie had put a stop of everything she forced to fake and for once , Arizona didn't feel like she needed to run away
"Well , then .. Don't forget to send my regards to your parents ."
Arizona smiled , nodding .
The blonde frowned in her bed as the flashback was suddenly interrupted by the ringing tone of her cellphone .
Callie's name was on the screen . Arizona just stared at her phone emptily , waiting for it to finally went silent . And it did but not too long after that , her phone started to ring again . The blonde sighed , she knew she just had to pick it up . She slid her finger to the left side , placing the phone next to her ear .
"Arizona ?" The voice was pure as it always sounded .
Silence .
"Hellooo ? Is anybody out there ?" Callie called again , this time mimicking a deep , husky voice .
"Yes ." Arizona finally answered .
"Well , there you are ." Callie smiled into the phone when she heard Arizona's voice .
Silence .
Callie raised her eyebrows . That's odd . "Are you okay ? How's Baltimore ?" The Latina asked , assuming that her girlfriend had taken a direct flight to her hometown .
"I'm in Seattle ." Arizona confessed , not sure what was the point to keep on lying about her whereabouts . "Not feeling good , changed the direction of the flight ."
"Are you sick ?" The voice of the person on the other line was filled with concern .
"Flu and fever ." It seemed like when the blonde stopped lying about one thing , she created another one .
Callie stared at the wall that she just painted . She had a feeling that Arizona was closing off again . Something that she witnessed frequently back then of the days when Arizona was still sad and in an unhappy place . "Are you mad at me ? For not being there ? Beside you ?"
"From where did you get that vibes ?" Arizona gulped down , she gotta worked more on her poker face .
"Your voice sounds like you are wishing you could hang up the phone without offending me ."
"I was sleeping , Callie ." Arizona said coldly . "I will call you back when I am myself and not controlled by the medication I have taken ."
"Are you sure that you are okay ? I wish I could fly out tonight but my sister ..." Callie looked all around the empty room that was still wet with paints . "She still needs me , at least until tomorrow ."
Please stop asking me that question . Arizona closed her eyes . "I'm fine , just enjoy your time with your family ."
"Okay , then . Have a good rest , honey . I will miss you ." Sensing that Arizona seemed not wanting to carry on with their conversation , Callie said her goodbye .
"Okay ."
It was a short reply from Arizona before the line finally went dead . Callie looked down on her phone . As their romantic relationship started to progress , Callie had notice that Arizona hardly got sick because of fever or flu or cough . So maybe when it came to this kind of situation , it seemed like a tricky thing for them both to handle . Callie slid her phone inside of the pocket , taking Arizona's cold behaviour as nothing serious .
Meanwhile Arizona was lying flat on her back , staring at the ceiling after having her phone tossed to the other side of the bed . And then there she was , falling into a deep thinking .
The Next Morning
0945hrs
It wasn't really still early morning when Arizona woke up with a buzzing headache . She went to sleep very early last night and slept through the long forteen hours , certainly something that she usually didn't do .
And now with the headache she had , she felt a little regret going extra overboard with her sleeping time . Eventhough she didn't plan of waking up this late , she knew she could have just set an alarm . Moving in slow motion , she was hoping that method would make her buzzing head go easy on her . The blonde later made her way to the bathroom to search for painkillers .
After getting herself settled with her morning routines , Arizona found herself sitting alone in the kitchen . She sat on the stool , her gaze was thrown to the view outside of the window . She wore a little frown on her face , something that nobody could quite figure out why and what was actually in Arizona's head now .
There was a turmoil , for sure . Arizona knew she was a very sensitive person especially after she opened up . That was why she chose to just numb her feeling before Callie happened in her life . Because it had always been easier that way . If she didn't care , she didn't have to feel all that sensitive feelings .
The blonde felt many emotions all at once and she felt it very deeply that sometimes the rare trait turned to a flaw . She did everything with a high intensity . She overthinked too much , she cared too much , she hurted too much .
Arizona stared down the phone in her hand , she saw it earlier that there was actually one text message from Callie . But somehow , she felt a little reluctant to open it . For the first time in her life , she actually took her time before opening the message from Callie . Usually she would just open it on instant , whether it was a message or a voicemail . Even if it was only a text , she could hear Callie's beautiful voice inside of her head when reading the text .
Hey , how are you feeling ? Still having the flu ? I hope you are doing okay . I'm flying back to Seattle this evening . See you soon , baby .
- Callie XO
And now was no exception , Arizona read the message that was sent by Callie two hours ago . Except this time Callie's voice inside of her head was filled with worry .
Replying with only a quick okay and see you , Arizona slid the phone inside of her track bottom pocket .
Suddenly sneeze , the pale hand quickly reached for the tissue on the counter as she felt fluid coming out from her nose . Damn , she really had a runny nose . That's just great , Arizona rolled her eyes . She looked all around the kitchen , she wasn't feeling that hungry but she needed to eat something before taking the medication .
The blonde was thinking something as a back up plan when two of the guards inside of her house suddenly came into the kitchen .
"You have someone waiting for you in the lobby ." The female bodyguard spoke .
"Who is it ?" The blonde had her eyebrows arched by now .
"Mrs. Torres ."
"As in Lucia Torres ?" Oh , just why Arizona isn't so surprised . Frankly speaking , she had expected this visit but .. just not this fast .
"Yes ." Both bodyguards answered in unison .
"I will be down in ten minutes ." Arizona told to the two person that were standing in front of her .
"New York's waffle is still the best ." Lucia put down her fork before wiping her lips with the white napkin . "This one is just overrated . But it says on the door that it is supposed to be The Best Waffles in Seattle City ." She pointed her finger toward the leftover of her late breakfast .
Both women had gone out to have a little chit chat . And Lucia was the one specifically asking for a restaurant serving a breakfast menu as a place for them to had the talk since she had caught an early flight just to be in Seattle and she haven't had a breakfast yet , at least that was what Lucia told Arizona .
The blonde quietly analyzed the older brunette in front of her . They still haven't had the talk about that one particular thing and Lucia seemed to be a little too bit nonchalant over this meeting . Like underneath the small opinion she pointed out about the waffle she had just now , there was actually nothing biggie that had brought her here today . Like Lucia was here today because she wanted to do some waffles tasting .
"You want to have a little taste ?" Lucia pushed forward the plate in front of her .
"No , thanks ." Arizona took a sip of her coffee . She wasn't sure anymore for how long she could just play along with whatever game Lucia wanted to play with her . "What brought you here in Seattle , Mrs Torres ? Does Callie know that you are here ? Seeing me ?"
Right after she finished voicing out her questions , Arizona sneezed into the handkerchief that she had brought along . Damn , blue eyes shook her head , hoping that it could shake off the uncomfortable condition of her nose .
"Bless you ." Lucia said , smiling right at the sick blonde in front of her .
"Cut the crap , what brought you here ?"
"Ouch , you were very nice two days ago ." Lucia stated . "What changed ?"
"What changed ? That is quite an interesting question ." Arizona stared down into the brown eyes . Blue eyes were both lit up . Not with excitement but with burning anger . Arizona tried to maintain her normal voice but it came out a little bit raspy , might be because of the flu . "It changed after I knew the whole story . The truth ."
Lucia just nodded her head . "I figured you have known the reason on why you felt like we have met before this . Although before we didn't see eye to eye but only from the newspaper perhaps ? Especially when I heard from Aria that Callie told her that you had flew out from Miami less than 24 hours after the dinner night we all had together ."
Arizona said nothing but her eyes were still locked with the brown eyes .
"Did it set you free , the truth ? Are you going to leave my daughter , now that you have known the truth ."
"What do you mean ? This thing right now , is only between you and me . You were the defending attorney for those bastards that killed Joanne . I wouldn't leave your daughter just because I can't stand to see your face . Callie is innocent here ." Arizona's voice had gone a little over the pitch . When she made the decision to flew out of Miami without Callie , it seemed like she was punishing Callie for being the daughter of the attorney that defended her late wife's killers . Yes , Arizona's team won the case but in reality .. the blonde always felt like they had lost the case as Lucia managed to get it down from fifteen years of prison to seven years .
And no , Arizona wasn't punishing Callie . She was in a state of confusion herself , trying to digest what she had just learn . And in order to digest the truth without doing any harm to her relationship with Callie , Arizona knew that she needed an extra space to do that in silent and that was why she distance herself from Callie . It was just a temporary fix until she could figure some other way to deal with the truth .
"I see . Callie and you haven't sit down and talk about it , the guilty feeling that she feels like she owes it to you ?" Lucia faked a shocking face . "I'm sorry , I'm just gonna stop here ." Lucia stood up abruptly .
"What are you saying ?" Arizona raised her eyebrows . "What guilt ?"
"The whole truth , Arizona ." Lucia shook her head repeatedly . "There's something else you both should talk about . She isn't that innocent ."
"No , you are not going anywhere until you explain your point of view of the truth ." Arizona grabbed Lucia by the wrist as the older woman started to walk away .
Lucia quickly gave a sharp stare at her wrist that was now grabbed by Arizona . Looks like somebody took the bait ..."It is not from my point of view . It is Callie's . And it isn't my place to say anything if Callie still hasn't told you about this ."
"Sit down ." Arizona ordered . "I want to hear about it ."
"Callie and Aria talked about a lot of stuffs . And this stuff was told to me by Aria , I knew about it not until recently ." Lucia took her seat again . "Callie and you met unexpectedly at the coffee shop . But ..." Lucia looked up and stopped speaking .
"Go on , I am still listening ."
"Everything after that was all planned ." Lucia closed her eyes . "I don't think you want me to continue , Arizona ."
"I still don't understand . You said about the whole truth but I don't think what you just said is connected at all with any of this ."
"I can't believe that Callie is still keeping you in the dark about this ." Lucia sighed before she ended up trying to continue with her long explanation .
"Callie knew the truth about me being the defending attorney ever since the early stage of your relationship with her started . When she knew about your late wife and your son .. and me being the reason one of the defendants in the case got away freely without being jailed , she felt the need to fix the situation as to her , I was contributing to your pain too . Seeing your condition and how unpeaceful live you had after your wife died got her guilty feeling built up inside her chest . So she inserted herself in your life , trying to show you how to live and go on after the tragedy . You knew , Callie is very smpathetic towards other people . And you also knew that my relationship with Callie isn't really that tight , so to her .. I was a monster in this situation , I always have . And what she was only trying to do here was fixing my error in which I wouldn't ever admit it as an error . I am just a lawyer , doing a job for her client ."
Arizona said nothing . She was voiceless , unable to react . Her eyes were trained on the coffee mug in front of her . It looked like as if she was scanning the mug but she was actually staring at it blankly . Her head was spinning as it absorbed the new truth she just heard . It was a little too much for her to take in , but Arizona forced her brain to face the truth anyway . The real truth . "She knew it all along ? From the start ?" Arizona asked , her voice was very slow . Almost like a whisper but still could be heard by Lucia . The world , it seemed like it was spinning very fast and Arizona couldn't catch up now .
"Yes . And in my opinion , it was a suicide mission . She wanted to bring joy in your life again . She told Aria that she will leave you at some point after making sure she got your life all stabilized ." Lucia smiled but only inside of her heart . Poisoning Arizona's mind seemed to be easy than what she originally thought . "Callie , her intention was pure but still .. it's a little manipulative . I'm sorry if you feel that my daughter somehow manipulated you and your feeling ."
"I will admit that I don't want to see you or any other women with my daughter and yes I hope this will be the end for both of you . And if you ask me do I realize that what I have just said might destroys your relationship with Callie ? Yes , I realized that . But do I agree with Callie's ways of trying to fix things ? No , I don't . You deserved to know the truth , Arizona ."
Arizona didn't say anything . She just looked at the wooden table as if her gazes could look through the hard material . She felt shocked , confused and betrayed . All at once .
And not to forgot , that one feeling that she had never felt before against Callie .And that would be ... anger .
Everything I knew was a lie . It was all fake . Arizona felt like the air that was now surrounding her had started to close off . The blonde closed her eyes when she felt a few small tears had started to fell . She didn't want to shed a tear . Even if she wanted to do so , it would definitely not in front of Lucia .
Sometimes the past is something you just can't let go of .
And sometimes the past is something we'll do anything to forget .
And sometimes we learn something new about the past that changes everything we know about the present .
A/N : I know most of you will say that Arizona is still running in circle and never actually learns from her own mistake of keeping secrets to herself and away from Callie .. And most of you probably will questions Arizona's capability of loving someone and letting people loves her . Maybe that is just how she is or is she just too afraid to be vulnerable again ? She's been trying so hard to shape her life , to leans against Callie , to trusts the brunette but with the truth she just learns .. What is going happen now ?
And do we trust Lucia's story of the truth ?
P/S : Sorry that it took almost one month for me to upload this new chapter . Untilnext time , see you all again : )
Saturday
17th November 2018
1920HRS
