A/N
So the publishing of this chapter makes this officially the longest story ive ever written in terms of word count! So thanks for sticking with me. And CalzonaFan75, you get the cool status of posting the 300th review on this story!
The whole New York Times storyline is a work of fiction – I've done some research, but am definitely using artistic license when it comes to the process of articles being pitched and the process of freelancing.
The following morning, Arizona had got up earlier than needed so that she could walk Callie all the way to her hotel room. Stepping inside briefly, she cupped the brunette's cheeks, kissing her slowly.
"You're gonna knock them dead Calliope" she told her, with her trademark dimpled smile.
"Thanks" Callie forced herself to return a smile "I wish I had some of your confidence"
"Let me see if I can give you some" Arizona leant back in again, kissing her deeply.
"Hmm" the brunette pulled back from the kiss smiling "I think I got a little…maybe we could try once more for luck?"
The blonde shook her head, laughing "Do I really, really have to?"
"Consider it your girlfriend duties"
"Ok but you have to understand that I'm doing this completely under duress" Arizona smirked.
"Understood" the brunette grinned.
The blonde pulled Callie against her body, gripping her hips firmly as she let her tongue explore her mouth. Hearing the brunette whimper, she kept going, kissing her until she was sure that neither of them could think of anything else.
Slowly she pulled back, letting their lips gradually part. She watched with a smile as Callie took a few moments to open her eyes.
"I uh…yeah I think you definitely got something from you there" the brunette stammered.
"You're gonna be fine baby" Arizona pecked her on the lips again "and call me whenever you need ok? If I can't answer I'll call you back as soon as I can"
"Thank you" the brunette smiled "and I hope you have a good day"
"You go rock that shit"
Callie laughed "Bye"
As the door closed behind Arizona, there were a few precious moments where the brunette remained on cloud nine, her body still tingling as a result of the blonde's kiss.
However, the moment quickly passed and the feeling of bliss was replaced with sheer panic. She logged onto her laptop, pulling up her notes but the words seemed to just dance around the page. Cursing, she slammed the laptop shut again. She pulled off her clothes and headed to the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping under the spray once she was satisfied it was suitably hot.
The shower did its job, clearing her head just enough to take the edge off of her nerves. She checked her phone, seeing that she had a little under two hours until she needed to be at the New York Times Building, meaning that she needed to leave in about an hour.
Giving her wardrobe the once over, she mentally chastised herself for not having given any real thought to alternative outfits that she might need when she had packed her bag to leave Newport. Not that she really had any business attire. She scanned what she did have, looking for anything that could be put together to give at least an initial formal appearance.
She pulled out a pair of black jeans that could probably pass as tailored pants, at least unless someone were to inspect them closely. Which she was fairly sure they wouldn't.
Pulling them on, she then rifled through her limited selection of shirts, deciding that the most formal was a black button down that only showed an acceptable amount of cleavage. Turning to look at herself in the mirror, she cursed again.
"Shit Torres" she muttered to herself "you look like a fucking waitress"
Pulling off the shirt, she turned back to view the rest of her options. Immediately she was second guessing herself. Did she really need to look so formal? Obviously, she had experience in journalism, and nobody at her previous job really dressed up for work, but she had just assumed that things would be different at the New York Times. But she had no real basis for that assumption. With hindsight, she should have asked Maggie last night what Jackson wore to work or something, but now she was left to her own devices.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. Taking herself back to what Jackson had asked of her, she realised that in asking her to pitch a feature, he was asking her to bring herself to the table. And that meant not worrying about appearing too formal. So instead she pulled out a pale blue vest top with a lace front.
Looking in the mirror again, she eyed herself critically. She looked nice. Only nice wasn't really what Callie Torres was all about. She pulled on her trusty leather jacket and looked at herself again. That was better. Enough class to be taken seriously, but with an edge.
She opened the laptop again, and this time her notes seemed to make sense. But she knew that she couldn't rely on them too heavily because she was generally a terrible public speaker, and reading directly from notes only made her sound even more robotic.
Having read through the notes, she focused mainly on her research, realising that that was where her passion would come out.
Checking her phone again, she noted that it was almost time to leave, but that she also had a message from Arizona.
A: Just wanted to say I'm thinking about you, and you're gonna be amazing x
A wide smile spread across her face.
C: Well I can't stop thinking about that kiss you left me with x
A: Mmm me too baby. And there's gonna be a hell of a lot more where that came from tonight x
C: Is that a date? X
A: You bet. Clear your diary tonight because you're all mine x
C: Consider it cleared. I need to leave now but I'll be in touch x
A: You've got this baby. I'm going into surgery soon but message me as soon as you're done x
The brief exchange with Arizona, with of course the added promise of a date that night, had given her a much needed confidence boost. She put her laptop and phone into her purse, and headed out to ride the subway down to Times Square and 42nd Street.
Two hours later Callie practically skipped out onto Eighth Avenue.
She'd done it. She'd actually fucking sold a pitch to the New York Times. The New York fucking Times.
And even better, Jackson had offered her a $2,000 payment upfront, with a minimum of an additional $2,000 when the article was completed. He'd told her that the base rate for freelance articles was 50 cents a word, but he'd been so impressed by her pitch that he'd upped his offer. Which she, having taken a deep breath and resisted the urge to squeal and jump on him, she graciously accepted with a handshake.
Pulling out her phone, she called Arizona's number. As she had expected, she got the blonde's answerphone.
"It's me. Call me back call me back call me back" she chanted excitedly, pausing before realising that she should probably not leave the blonde guessing as to the outcome of her meeting "Oh, and it's good news by the way, just in case my voice didn't give that away"
Hanging up the phone, she took a deep breath, inhaling the city air. In a couple of hours, she'd have $2,000 in her bank account. And that meant she felt justified in treating herself to a new outfit that would sufficiently blow Arizona's mind that evening.
Given her current location, she decided to take a stroll to Fifth Avenue, allowing herself a little time to window shop in the stores where a single dress would probably blow her entire paycheck.
She'd just finished admiring a very beautiful, and she assumed very expensive, dress in the window of Valentino when her phone rang.
"Hey beautiful" she answered, seeing Arizona's name come up on the screen.
"You did it!" the blonde exclaimed.
Callie laughed "Yeah, I guess I did"
"So what happened? I mean, they bought the article right?"
"Yep! They seemed really excited by it. And guess what?"
"What?" there was an audible smile in Arizona's voice.
"We shook on a two grand payment upfront which should be hitting my account today"
"Really? That's awesome. We are sooooo totally celebrating tonight"
"Hell yeah we are" Callie grinned at the excitement in her girlfriend's voice.
"So what are you up to now, Ms Hot Shot Journo?" the blonde smirked "Actually, don't tell me. You're shopping, aren't you?"
The brunette looked around suspiciously "Are you…watching me?"
Arizona laughed "No, but you've always loved shopping, and I know how much it's been killing you being in this city and not being able to get the full Fifth Ave experience"
"Ok that's kinda creepy"
"What is?"
"I'm literally stood outside Valentino on Fifth Avenue right now"
"Valentino?" the blonde questioned "You did say two grand not twenty, right?"
"Yes. Don't worry, I'm just looking at all the things I'm gonna buy when I hit the big time"
"You're planning on being Valentino big?"
"Right now I feel like I could walk on fucking water…and you…well, I have you to thank for being my biggest supporter. I definitely took some of your confidence in there with me today"
"Hey" Arizona said sternly "don't you start trying to push the credit onto me. You did this. It was your hard work, your ideas, and your pitch at the end of the day"
"Doesn't mean I can't be grateful to you"
"Well I will accept your gratitude, but what I really want is you to tell me about the damn article!"
"And I promise, I'll tell you all about it tonight when I pick you up for our date"
"You're picking me up, huh?"
"Uh huh. How about I get you from outside the hospital after your shift ends?" Callie suggested.
"Sounds good" the blonde agreed "but all I have to wear is what I left the apartment in this morning"
"Good point" Callie paused, thinking on her feet "how about I get the spare key to your apartment from the concierge and bring you something else to wear?"
"Is this your way of telling me you're gonna go sneaking through my underwear drawer Calliope?"
"Well I wasn't…" the brunette teased "but now that you've put the idea in my head, you never know…"
Arizona lowered her voice "Well you feel free to sneak away because you know you're always very, very welcome in my underwear"
"Mmm now that's good to know" Callie breathed "as I have every intention of being very deep inside…it…tonight"
"Calliope" the blonde bit her lip "You can't do this to me while I'm at work"
"Do what Arizona?"
"Talk to me like that…turn me on…"
"You started this whole thing by talking about your underwear" the brunette pointed out.
"Damn. Ok" Arizona changed her tone, raising her voice again "well you're welcome to the key and I will see you tonight"
The brunette laughed "Ok, I'll see you later"
"Have a fun shopping trip"
"I will. Bye baby"
"Bye gorgeous"
Hanging up the phone, Callie decided to continue with her afternoon as planned. She grabbed some lunch, and then headed to Macy's. It wasn't quite Valentino, but it was a million miles away from any store that they had in Newport, and more important, it was affordable.
It took a couple of hours, not that the brunette was complaining as Arizona had been right, she did love to shop, but she eventually found the perfect dress.
Having stopped for a coffee, she caught the subway back to Arizona's apartment. Despite her teasing, she made no attempt to go through the blonde's underwear drawer, instead taking her time to browse her dress collection. She settled on a strapless floaty pink number, and having examined it, decided that it could definitely be worn without a bra. That just left shoes, and she had to admit, Arizona had an impressive collection. She picked out a white stiletto, picturing the way it would accentuate the blonde's calves below the knee length dress. Satisfied with her choices, she put both in a bag, along with Arizona's make up bag, before starting to get herself ready.
An hour later she was ready. The new dress that she'd purchased was black, strapless, and clung to every curve on her body until it finished asymmetrically from mid thigh to below the knee. She'd straightened her hair, and added a killer pair of black heels. Giving herself the once over in the mirror, she smiled. Arizona was not going to know what had hit her.