Well let's see what you think of this.
Chapter 15
New years had come and gone, now it was the crappiest part of winter, nothing to look forward to, Arizona always hated the middle of January. It was always cold, and the week that followed Christmas had brought a snowstorm, dropping, in Arizona's opinion too much snow, and then came the cold. She pulled into her parking spot at the studio, shutting off her car, she reached for her bag, and got out. The temp thing on her car read -13, she saw before she shut it off. Callie had mentioned it wasn't going to be above 0 for the next few days. Shivering, as the wind hit her face, she almost ran to the door, she let out another shiver as she entered the lobby "good morning, Susan" she smiled
"good morning" Susan smiled back as Arizona passed her, when she got to her office the door was already open. Addie had come in early today, saying she needed to get something done for April. "damn it's cold" Arizona said taking off her jacket and hanging it on the hook.
"was even worse when I came in" Addie said not looking up from her computer, they had finally got her an actual desk, because of that the layout of Arizona's office had changed. Arizona shook her head and made her way to her desk, turning her computer on, she sat back in her chair. "what's that smell?"
"oh sorry, I tried this new coffee, from the shop down the street" Addie said "the first couple sips weren't bad, but" she laughed
"if it tasted like it smells I wouldn't drink it" Arizona shook her head
"yeah" Addie laughed again "I'll stick with my normal from now on"
"hmm" Arizona hummed as her computer came to life.
"so" Addie's voice was heard again "I heard you're going to be recording today"
"yeah" Arizona let out a sigh "April said it'd help the ticket sales for Rock Fest if I were to put out a new album"
"you got enough material?"
"I think so" Arizona let out another sigh "guess we'll see if it's any good" she shrugged opening her email. Seeing nothing too important she clicked it closed and sat back in her chair.
"I'm sure it'll be great" Addie smiled "oh Teddy told me that she signed a new author"
"did she? That's great"
"she's excited"
"she doesn't talk about work much, so I forget she even has a job" Arizona heard Addie's chair move "I'm going to get some coffee, you want some?"
"sure" she said looking up with a smile, Addie nodded and disappeared out of the room.
Xxxxxxxx
It was hard for Callie to get out of bed that morning, walking outside to the below 0 temp made it even worse. The growl of her truck when she started it up, yeah she wasn't a big fan of the cold. When the beast was finally warm enough she slowly made her way out of the drive, and off to work. Barbara and Daniel had pulled into the lot the same time as her, she parked in her normal spot and cut the engine, mentally preparing herself for the bite of cold air that would hit her as soon as she opened the door. She made sure she had everything she would need and opened the door. This was the time of year everyone hated, nothing to look forward to but cold, and snow. Sitting down at her desk, she turned her monitor on, shedding her coat, she laid it on the back of her chair and went in search of some hot coffee. Walking into the breakroom she found Daniel sitting at the table, a coffee cup in his hands "good morning"
"morning" he smiled, he had a soft spot for Callie, and couldn't wait for her to be officially part of the family. "so, I got a hold of a friend of mine who is connected with Good Morning America" he stops waiting for Callie's reaction, finding the reaction he knew was coming "they want to meet with Arizona"
"we're really going to do that?" Callie asked
"well" he shrugged bringing his cup to his mouth "if Addison really wants to stiff it to her parents, which I for one think would be a great idea" he smiles "it'd be our best option"
"alright" Callie nods, not that this really had anything to do with her but if Arizona wanted to do she'd be on board. "I'll call Zo later" he smiles looking at the time, he patted Callie on the arm and stood.
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Standing in the lobby, like she often does around the noon hour, watching Callie on the screen, she smiled, but was quickly replaced with a groan when she heard footsteps "that color always did look amazing on her" shaking her head she bit her cheek and turned to look at the intruder "Erica" she said her voice flat.
"look Arizona, I" Erica took a deep breath "I'll be honest" her voice was soft and calm "I came back hoping to have a second chance with her" Arizona nodded "but I can see she's" she stops as Callie's laugh fills the room, laughing at something Barbara had said "she's happy"
"she is" Arizona said not looking away from the tv "we both are"
"you love her?" Erica asked, Arizona could see the pain in her eyes when she said "I do, she's, she's my life"
"okay" Erica nods, and they both turn towards the tv. So many thoughts running through Arizona's head, was this war over? It couldn't be that easy, could it? With the news now over, Arizona made her way back to her office. Addie was at her desk watching as she came in and sat down, her mind still on the conversation she had with Erica. "what's up?"
"well" she shook her head "as always I stop to watch Callie and Erica came up to me" at the mention of this Addie gets up from her chair and gets closer "she made her usual snide comment"
"of course she did, what was it now" Addie rolled her eyes
"it wasn't the comment that got to me, it was what she said after"
"after?" she asked confused
"she told me that when she came back she was hoping for a second chance with Callie"
"that bitch" Addie snarled
"there's more"
"more?" Addie shook her head Arizona nodded "she said when she came back, she was hoping for a second chance" Arizona repeated herself "but she could see that Callie is happy"
"damn right she is"
"than she asked if I loved her"
"of course you do, a blind person could tell how much you love her, and she you" Arizona could tell Addie was getting upset "I guess I'm not understanding" Addie shook her head. Arizona let out a sigh "when I said I did, she just nodded and said ok"
"what?" Addie was now confused "so is it over?"
"I honestly have no idea, but I won't be letting my guard down"
"I wouldn't, not with all the shit she's said in the past few months"
"yeah I don't know" Arizona sat back in her chair, taking a deep breath, looking up when she heard noise in the door way, she saw April standing there "hey" April smiled
"hey" Arizona said
"you ready?"
"no" Arizona laughed, as she searched her desk for the book, she had been writing songs in, finding it "but let's go"
"I'll just wait here" Addie said a little disappointed she wasn't going to hear Arizona sing
"um no" April said "you're my assistant and I'll need you to assist me" she nodded towards the door. Arizona let out a laugh and shook her head, following April down the hall. Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket she pulled it out "hold on I have to take this, it's my dad" Arizona said hitting the accept call button "hey dad what's up?"
"not much" he said "I already told Callie but I wanted to let you know, if Addison still wants to do it I have been in touch with the producer of good morning America and they'd love to have you"
"oh right" Arizona said looking up at Addie "um" Addie gave her a confused look "hold on a sec dad" Arizona said into the phone then pulled it away from her ear "remember on Christmas when Teddy brought up" Addie cut her off "going on a talk show and outing my parents?" Arizona nodded "well he got in contact with a friend or something"
"we're really going to do it?" Addie asked,
"if you want to" Arizona shrugged, Addie nodded as Arizona put the phone back to her ear "dad can I call you back later, I'm about to head into the recording room"
"sure no problem honey, I love you"
"love you too"
"tell Addison not to worry, we'll stick it to them" he says then the phone went silent, Arizona laughed shaking her head, as she shoved her phone back in her pocket. "nope" April said holding out her hand "what?" Arizona asked confused
"no phones in the room" she said causing Arizona to roll her eyes and hand her phone over to April turning to Addie "make sure she doesn't send anyone embarrassing texts"
"you do a good enough job of that on your own" April laughs, Arizona rolled her eyes again, but laughed.
Xxxxxxxxx
Callie opened the front door to the house; she was always the first to leave and the first to come home. The time between when she got home, and when someone else came home always made her feel lonely. Although how could she be, other than these few hours, there was always someone here. Today she decided to do some writing, grabbing her laptop, after she changed into some comfy pajama pants, and a sweatshirt, she had stolen from Arizona, she made her way to the living room, lighting a fire. Setting her laptop down on the coffee table she fired it up. "dammit dead again" she groaned, standing back up in search of the power cord. Finally plugged in, the device powered up. A notification popping up of an email she remembered getting a few weeks ago, but never read. Clicking on the icon the message opened
Hello Callie, I just wanted to say I hope you and your new family have a merry Christmas. I know I haven't made life easy for Arizona, and that caused me to lose you along the way. I want you to know that I never intended on that. Honestly when I decided to come home, it was because of you, I wanted to see you again. Yes I looked you up, and saw you are engaged, that hurt more than it should. We should have never lost contact, and that I take the blame for. I will always love you Calliope, you were my first… well everything, no one will ever replace you. But I can see that you are happy, and in truth be told, that matters more to me than anything else in this world. So I will back off of Arizona, and try and make peace. Again I hope you have a merry Christmas and I hope that I see you around… the office at least.
Yours always
Erica.
Callie sat there stunned, rereading the email. Could that really be over? Shaking her head, she closed the browser and opened the tab for her newest story.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
"that's great Zo" April's voice came through the speakers
"but you want me to do it again" Arizona laughed, seeing April nod, as she played with a few things on the sound board. Arizona knew what to expect, in the time since she quit touring, she has been where April is standing. "ok again" April said once
"wait" Arizona said looking around the room, "what if I try it with just the guitar" April thought for a moment, saying something to Addie, then nodded to Arizona, who got up from the stool she was on, and grabbed the guitar that was sitting in the corner. Perching herself back on the stool, she placed the guitar on her right knee, she could tell right away it wasn't hers, but it would do. She started to strum, as she sang.
"I met you in the dark, you lit me up, you made me feel as though I was enough, we danced the night away, we drank too much, I held your hair back when you were throwing up" Arizona closed her eyes as she sang "Then you smiled over your shoulder, For a minute, I was stone-cold sober, I pulled you closer to my chest, And you asked me to stay over, I said, I already told ya, I think that you should get some rest" a smile on her lips as her fingers glided across the strings "I knew I loved you then, but you'd never know, cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go, I know I needed you, but I never showed, I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old, Just say you won't let go. Just say you won't let go" she held the last note, her mind was now on Callie. "I'll wake you up with some breakfast in bed, I'll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head, and I'll take the kids to school, wave them goodbye, and I'll thank my lucky stars for that night. When you looked over your shoulder, for a minute, I forget that I'm older, I wanna dance with you right now, oh, and you look as beautiful as ever, and I swear that everyday you'll get better, you make me feel this way somehow, I'm so in love with you, and I hope you know, darling, your love is more than worth its weight in gold, we've come so far, my dear, look how we've grown, and I wanna stay with you until we're grey and old. Just say you won't let go. Just say you won't let go" holding the note the same as she did before, her fingers in tune with the instrument they were playing with. She could feel the tears prick her eyes, with every word she sang she thought of Callie. "I wanna live with you, even when we're ghosts.
Cause you were always there for me when I needed you most, I'm gonna love you 'til, my lungs give out, I promise 'til death we part like in our vows, so I wrote this song for you, now everybody knows, that it's just you and me 'til we're grey and old. Just say you won't let go
Just say you won't let go. Just say you won't let go. Oh, just say you won't let go" she strummed the last note, then quieted the guitar as the room went quiet. She slowly opened her eyes. It was the first time that day she sang the song without April interrupting. "wow" came through the speakers, and it wasn't April's voice that was being heard, Arizona sniffled, then wiped the tears off her cheek. Arizona looked up and straight into the green eyes of her soon to be sister in law. "that was, wow" Addie said again.
"Arizona, that was amazing" April said finally looking up meeting her eyes "the acoustic version" April couldn't even finish her sentence she was lost on words "just you and your guitar, has always been amazing"
"well this isn't mine" she held up said item and put it back in the corner where she found it. "you want to hear it?"
"of course" Arizona smiled as her voice filled the room.
Xxxxxxxxxx
As much as Callie wanted to try and write, the words never came out, she sat there staring at the blinking curser, for, she wasn't even sure how long. Until the sound of the front door opening and closing, and someone cursing how cold it was, brought her out of her thoughts. "what are you doing?" she heard Teddy's voice. She looked up and was met with a confused looking Teddy. She shrugged her shoulders "I, I'm not even sure anymore" she let out a giggle, closing her laptop "what time is it?"
"4:30" Teddy said making her way to the love seat and sitting down, Callie pushed her laptop back on the coffee table so she wouldn't knock it off. That was the last thing she needed was to have to buy a new one.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pulling the car to a stop in the parking lot of Callie's work, Arizona looked around at the three others in the car. "you guys ready for this?"
"as ready as I'll ever be" Addie said
"alright" Callie smiled as she opened her door and got out, she led the group inside, since she knew her way around, Daniel was waiting in a conference room with a reporter, the introductions were made. And the four sat around the table, along with the reporter there was a camera man, and Daniel with Barbara being the mother bear that she was, in the background. As the reporter got comfortable, she started with Arizona, asking questions about her career, and about the wedding. Arizona took the interview into her own hands when she said "you know, most people think I was named after the state" Arizona said looking into the camera, she shook her head, "that's not true, you see, I was named after a battleship, the USS Arizona, our" she nodded her head towards Teddy, "great great grandfather was serving on the Arizona" she pauses taking a deep breath "when Japan attacked pearl harbor. He saved 19 men, before he drowned. Pretty much everything our" she made sure to put emphasis on our, so Teddy was included "grand father did in his life was to honor that man" she let out a breath "not too many people know this story"
"it's the first I'm hearing it and I'm a big fan" the reporter said Arizona had forgot her name if she were being honest, she didn't really care, this interview wasn't about her, it was about getting Addie's story out there. "Teddy and I were both raised to be a good man in a storm" she looked over at Teddy who had ahold of Addie's hand. "by both our father and our grandfather" Teddy smiled, Arizona reached for Callie's hand "when Teddy first came out, she was scared to tell our grandfather" they both let out a chuckle at the memory "she made me go with her, for back up. We were prepared for a long speech, but you know what he did" Arizona was now looking into the woman's eyes as she shook her head "he asked if she was still the person she was raised to be"
"not expecting him to say that, I stood there shocked, that man, who didn't have to accept me, after all I am adopted" she paused a moment "but he did, he accepted everything about me" she looked over at Addie "when I met Addison" she smiled pulling Addie's hand to her mouth kissing the back of it "and I heard her story, it" she stopped "it killed me, how could a parent not accept their own child?" Arizona was watching the reporters reaction as it clicked on what they were actually doing, she moved in her chair, "Addison" Addie perked up hearing her full name "tell me about it"
"well" Addie took a deep breath "I always knew I was, different" she said using air quotes "and when I finally realized at 13, that I was attracted to girls, I started to look at them differently. I didn't have a girlfriend or anything back then, but when I'd go to parties, and they'd want to play truth or dare, or spin the bottle, I found myself hoping it'd land on a girl" she laughed "I was almost 15 when I met Molly, at a party, my friends back then, if you could call them friends, decided we were playing 7 minutes in heaven" the reporter nodded, to say she understood the game. "when it was Molly's turn, the spinner landed on me, and we got up and went into the closet" she smiled "I'll spare you the details" she laughed "anyway we started hanging out more, making out, and well" she shrugged "one day I decided I wanted to tell my parents, I didn't know what I expected, but it wasn't what came, my parents" she said their names loud and clear "were not so accepting, they listened, like most parents do, but later that night when I was in my room, they came in with a bag, told me to pack it and get the hell out of their house. Which I did, and I haven't spoke to them since"
"wow"
"I'm sorry I misled you" Arizona said to the reporter "we just wanted to get Addie's story out there" the reporter nods "there are so many people out there that are afraid to come out and I" she cleared her throat "we, all four of us, want them to know it's ok to be who you are, and what you want"
"how did your parents react when you told them you were" the reporter started "falling in love with Callie" Arizona finished for her looking at Callie "yeah" she laughed
"well Teddy was already out, so I knew they'd be cool with it" she smiled "but I think they always knew something was coming, I mean, to me it's not about what sex the person is, it's about who they are as a person" she leaned over placing a kiss on Callie's cheek, causing Callie to blush "and you" the reporter asked "what is your story"
"I came out at a young age" Callie smiled "so neither of my parents were surprised, I'd never had a boyfriend or even a crush on a boy" she shrugged "so they were cool, and my dad just loves Arizona, he was the one who brought me to Denver"
"oh right you met after that accident" the reporter said, causing Arizona to roll her eyes, that accident was both the best and worst thing that had ever happen to her. Yeah it brought her to Callie, but it also caused some major health problems. Arizona sat back in her chair answering the random questions being thrown at her. Until it was finally over, and the four of them were sitting in her car, she felt herself being able to breathe.
"so now what?" Teddy asked getting settled in the backseat, Arizona looked at the time "lunch"
"great I'm starving" Addie said, Arizona met her eyes in the mirror and nodded, putting the car in gear and driving away.
So, is this the last we hear from Erica? I guess we'll have to wait to find out. The song in this chapter is Say You Wont Let Go by James Arthur. The next chapter will be a time jump. Thanks for reading...