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Callie couldn't focus on work for the rest of the day. She was eager to get home, eager to get all things Arizona Robbins out of her head. Except that wouldn't be the case. Arizona would now always be around and there was nothing Callie could do to help that. She spent the afternoon getting information about the gang from Teddy. Callie remembered how Arizona said she and her brothers ran a shop. Now she was getting the information from Teddy that this shop was more than likely just selling off anything stolen for as much money as they could. Callie felt sick hearing all the facts about a woman who she had kissed, the same woman who looked as horrified to see Callie as what Callie looked to see her.
Finally, Callie's shift ended and she began the walk home. She needed a little bit of time to herself to process things but she was certain that she was never going to call Arizona's number after hearing of her business. She walked past the restaurant at the same time that Arizona was coming out. Callie began to pick up pace a little faster.
"Callie, wait" Callie stopped when she could hear Arizona get up close to her. She turned around.
"You failed to mention your shop was just a bunch of stolen goods. You know I can have you arrested for that?"
"Arrested for what? It's your word against mine Sergeant and you have no proof. Besides you also failed to mention you were a cop"
Callie sighed, knowing that Arizona was right – technically she had no proof that they were involved in anything illegal. Every lead the police had pursued in the past turned out to be a dead end and the gang always seemed to bring in enough money to bail each other out when it was needed. Callie was surprised to find out that Arizona had never actually been arrested but her brother had.
"I need to go and you need to stay away" Callie warned her.
"You never called" Arizona replied. "After that night, you never called. I thought it went well"
"Well, now I'm glad I didn't" Callie shook her head. "I have to go I think it's best that we just avoid each other…for the rest of time"
"In a small place like this?" Arizona laughed. "Come on Callie, it's been twice today. You can't deny the chemistry we had with each other"
"Well, here I am denying it" Callie nodded. "Keep your brother out of trouble and we won't have a problem, okay?"
"He's not the easiest guy to control" Arizona told her. "We're not bad people, it's not like we're buying the restaurant with blood money"
"And if I find out about anything dodgy going on behind that restaurant, believe me, I'll know exactly who to turn to" Callie glared at Arizona. "Goodbye"
Callie returned home to find Sofia and all her friends in the living room with boxes of pizza on the floor.
"Pizza for dinner?" Callie questioned.
"I figured you wouldn't mind" Sofia shrugged. "I've got you a pepperoni pizza, it's in the kitchen"
"You are a star" Callie smiled. "How's it going guys?" she addressed the rest of Sofia's friends as they mumbled their replies through mouthfuls of pizza. "Studying hard I hope?" the school exams were coming up soon and Callie was glad Sofia wasn't stupid and was putting in the hours that she needed to pass.
"Of course, Miss Torres" Maddie smiled, holding up a textbook for good measure. "Did you hear Angelo's has a co-owner?" she asked. She was Angelo's younger sister so it was no surprise that she'd heard the news. "Sofia is definitely glad" she smirked at her friend.
"Shut up" Sofia replied to Maddie as the rest of her friend group shared knowing looks with one another.
"What?" Callie asked. "Is there something you want to tell me Sof?"
"Nope" Sofia shook her head, glaring at Maddie for telling her mother anything.
"She has a little crush" Maddie blurted out.
"Maddie!" Sofia hissed, her cheeks flushing bright red.
"You're crushing on someone? That's nothing to keep a secret" Callie smiled.
"It's nothing" Sofia protested.
"Except he is joining us at the movies on Friday" Evie added. "He's really sweet and it's about time Sofia invited him along to something".
"And he said he can get us free pizza now his brother co-owns the place!" Xavier told Callie.
"Wait, what?" Callie turned to Sofia. "What's this guy's name?" she asked, her stomach lurching.
"Casey Robbins" Sofia smiled. "He's really nice mom"
"Oh" Callie's smile fell from her face. "Sofia I'm not sure this is a good idea"
"You don't even know him" Sofia told her.
"I know his family and his family are not people who I want you mixing with" Callie told her. "Trust me. Sofia"
"His family seem really nice" Sofia protested. "His older sister is really funny, you'd get along with her really well"
"Oh, I doubt that" Callie responded, remembering her earlier encounter with Arizona outside Angelo's restaurant. "Just promise me that you will stay away from Casey and the Robbins family"
"Fine" Sofia snapped, her cheeks burning. She waited until Callie heated up her pizza and went upstairs to leave the teenagers in the living room.
"Bummer Sof" Zola told her friend. "I wonder why your mum has such an issue with Casey's family"
"I have no idea" Sofia shook her head.
"So are you going to tell Casey you can't hang with him on Friday now?" Josh asked.
"No" Sofia shook her head. "That would be mean and all my mother needs to see is that he's a good guy" she told her friends. "And maybe in time, she will"
Callie had eaten half of her pizza and was halfway through a re-run of one of her favourite shows when her phone rang. It was Angelo. They were pretty good friends when he and Teddy dated and when Callie was dating Bianca they hung out together as a foursome. Callie would like to think they were still friends, even though conversation seemed a little strained and mostly about each other's work.
"Angelo?" she questioned. "Everything alright?"
"There's a gang of surfer boys in the restaurant" Angelo told her. "I told Tim they shouldn't be here but he said they were his boys and now he owns half the place I can't dictate anything"
"Are they doing anything?"
"Apart from getting drunk and leering on women, no" Angelo told her. "But I know what these type at like, things might get ugly here"
"Keep me updated" Callie told him. She lived closer to the restaurant than Teddy did so if something did break out then she could intervene easily, despite not being in uniform.
"I think you should come now" Angelo sighed and Callie could hear a commotion in the background already. She got out of bed and put her shoes on.
"On my way, I'll call for backup" she told Angelo as she ended the call, ready to deal with Arizona Robbins and her criminal lifestyle for the third time today.
Callie ran to the surf club and got there a lot quicker than expected. A couple of officers were just approaching the scene.
"Serge" One of the other officers greeted Callie. "What's the deal?"
"I had a call from the owner that a local gang are causing some trouble" Callie told the other officers. "Anyone we see causing trouble should be arrested and locked up for the night"
"Right-o Serge" The other officers replied as they made their way inside. They could hear glasses smashing and a lot of shouting. Angelo was stood by the door.
"Thank you for getting here so quick" he thanked Charlie. "Things kicked off when Sasha rejected one of the guys.
"Where is Sasha now?" Callie asked. Callie and Sasha were really close friends and despite Callie wanting to check up on her, she also needed to question her. "Was she hurt?"
"No" Angelo shook his head. "I got one of the waiters to take her home. Then things got really bad"
"We'll handle it" Callie promised him as she barged into the restaurant. Two men were currently involved in a fist fight and a couple of officers were trying to break it up. Callie realised one of the men was Tim Robbins, who she ran into earlier.
"If you're looking for someone to blame, blame Brody over there" Tim snarled as he was handcuffed and marched past Callie. "Can't handle rejection without a little bit of violence"
"I think I am capable of doing my job" Callie replied. "I propose everyone else here gets the hell out otherwise you'll be joining this pair in the cell tonight" she told the rest of the boys and Arizona who was behind the bar, with a young kid who Callie presumed to be Casey, the boy Sofia appeared to be interested in. A couple of insults were thrown her way as the boys were marched outside by the rest of the officers.
"You didn't have to arrest him" Arizona told Callie. "Tim was trying to resolve things"
"By using his fists?" Callie widened her eyes. "I've always found that to be the best approach" she muttered sarcastically. "Casey Robbins?" she glanced down at the younger boy who looked so much like his siblings.
"Yes?" he glanced up at her.
"Stay away from my daughter" she told him.
"Was that a threat?" Arizona butted in, standing in front of Casey. "Does it make you feel powerful threatening a kid?" she raised her voice. "Casey's a good kid"
"Stay away from Sofia" Callie repeated herself. "I hope that's the last time I have to tell you that, Casey" she continued. "You should get this place cleaned up Miss Robbins" she added, walking out the restaurant and back to the station so she could question Tim, Brody, and Sasha about what happened in the restaurant.
It was a long night at work and Callie didn't get home too late thanks to being left with questioning Tim, Brody, and Sasha. Sasha confirmed that Tim was trying to keep Brody of her back which is why he escaped with no charges against him. Brody, on the other hand, would be charged with harassment, but neither Tim or Brody were pressing charges against each other with both of them claiming it was a stupid fight and they had these types of stupid fights the whole time.
It was early morning by the time Callie got out and she was exhausted. Teddy would be on her own today as Callie's boss sent her home for the day to catch up on sleep. She walked back home via the beach, unsurprisingly bumping into Arizona.
"Where's my brother?" Arizona asked, slowing down from her run. "Has he been charged?"
"Nope" Callie shook her head. "Not this time"
"What you said to Casey was out of line" Arizona told Callie. It was evident that Arizona was overprotective of her little brother. "He's just a kid, so what if he's interested in your daughter?"
"Surely it's better to nip that in the bud now before things progress" Callie told her.
"So what, you want me to force Casey away from Sofia?"
"Something like that" Callie told her. "They'll move on they're young"
"I'm not telling Casey to stay away from Sofia" Arizona shook her head. "No way"
"I thought we weren't going to have any problems?" Callie stepped towards her.
"If you are mean towards Casey for no reason then we'll have a problem" Arizona took a step closer to Callie. "And I reckon I've got a good shot"
"Is that a threat?" Callie asked.
"It's a promise" Arizona replied. "See you around Serge"
"Hey Casey" Sofia smiled as she wandered up to the youngest Robbins family member at school later that week. "We're still on for Friday right?"
"I don't think that's a good idea" Casey replied, unable to look at Sofia right now.
"What why?" Sofia replied. "Come on Casey, it'll be good"
"I don't think your mum sees it that way Sof" Casey sighed as he made eye contact with Sofia. Sofia sighed.
"My mom will come around" she told Casey.
"I wouldn't be so certain of that. She had a run in with my sister the other night"
"So?" Sofia questioned. "I thought you were looking forward to it"
"Of course, I was looking forward to it" Casey told her. "I've liked you for a while now and then you invited me along and it was the happiest I'd been in a long time. I don't want to cause any issues between your family and mine"
"Casey" Sofia sighed. "You are coming with us on Friday and then on Saturday, you and I can go grab a milkshake at the diner. I'm sixteen, my mom can't stop me doing anything" she smiled. "I've liked you for a while now too" she smiled. It was true, it began a couple of months ago when they were paired together in science class. At the time, Casey lived in Mangrove River and they talked about him moving to Summer Bay. Now they were finally here and Callie was doing her best to stop it all.
"Okay" Casey grinned. "I'll see you later Sof" he smiled, kissing her on the cheek before he walked away.
Friday soon came around and Sofia and her friends were getting the bus into Yabbie Creek to go to the movies. It was a regular Friday night tradition for them and a lot safer than going off to some party and participating in underage drinking. Sofia was meeting her friends at the bus stop and was just finishing applying her make-up when Callie came back from work. Things had been iffy between them once Sofia found out Callie had told Casey to stay away from her.
"You look nice" Callie commented.
"You don't have to stand over me, I'm not some dumb little kid"
"And I'm not some dumb old parent either. I know Casey's still going to the movies with you guys"
"So what?" Sofia added. "He's friends with everyone, you can't ban everyone from talking to him" she rolled her eyes. "It's not like we're going to be alone or he's going to take advantage of me"
"I know" Callie muttered. "I overreacted. Of course, Casey can be your friend"
"Is that all he can be?" Sofia glanced up at her mother. "I really like him, mom"
"I don't want him to break your heart or put you in danger Sofia" Callie replied. "I'm only trying to look out for you"
"Maybe instead of judging the family as a whole, you should try judging Casey on his own" Sofia told her.
"You are going to be late" Callie told her, completely avoiding Sofia's question. "I'll see you when you get back" she hugged her daughter and received a weak hug in return. She knew Sofia was still bitter about Callie's attitude towards Casey.
Once Sofia had left Callie headed over to Angelo's place for a takeaway pizza. Partly because she was hungry but partly because she knew Arizona was working behind the bar again. Even though the two of them were butting heads, Callie wanted nothing more than to pin her up against a wall and reciprocate the first kiss they shared. Still that was never going to happen, not with the differences in their lifestyles.
"You eat pizza a lot" Arizona told Callie as she walked up to the bar.
"You seem to always be behind the bar" Callie commented, choosing to ignore Arizona's comment about how much pizza she ate. "I hardly ever see your brother behind here"
"That's because he's the big boss, not the waiter" Arizona informed her. "What do you want Callie?"
"Well I want a pepperoni pizza" Callie told her. "And I came by to tell you that Casey is joining Sofia and her friends at the movies tonight"
"You changed your mind?" Arizona questioned, a small smile forming on her lips. "He's a good boy" she told Callie.
"Well he better not let me down" Callie replied as she waited for her pizza to cook. She opened her mouth as if she had something else to say, but decided against it.
"Do you have something to say?" Arizona asked.
"Nope" Callie shook her head. "Just waiting on my pizza"
"You know for a moment there, I thought you were going to ask me out" Arizona muttered, low enough that no one else could hear their conversation. "Seems a shame to let all that chemistry go to waste"
"The only place I'm likely to ask you out to is the police station" Callie told her.
"Well" Arizona pursed her lips as she leant forward enough so Callie could see her cleavage. "That would be a weird first date, but you know if that's what you want…"
"You think this is funny don't you?" Callie raised her eyebrows. "We kissed once and we went our separate ways" she smiled as another waiter came out clutching her pizza box. "There's nothing more to it"
"Whatever you say Serge" Arizona called out after her as she watched Callie walk out of the restaurant.