AN: Hello everyone, sorry it took so long to update... Anyways, here is the new chapter and I think you guys will enjoy this one.

Callie's POV

When Mr. Avery and my father came with this gala idea, I thought it was completely absurd. How could two companies that had to merge because of money even think about throwing a huge party? Just to show people that they weren't as bad off as it seemed, I assumed.

If I thought it was an absurd idea before, what I see now makes me think it's even more absurd. As I walk around what used to be Santa Elena's lobby, my mouth drops open. There's a huge bar where our reception desk usually sat, there's a stage where there's an orchestra playing and the place is full of people wearing fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.

"Insane, isn't it?" I hear a voice behind me.

"Hey Jackson," I greet my new friend. "Yeah, completely insane. I told them it wasn't a good idea but they wouldn't listen to me."

"They will see you were right when the bills come." He said taking a sip of his glass of champagne.

"Oh yes, they will." I said laughing. "Where did you get this? I need alcohol to at least try to be sympathetic tonight."

"There. At the bar." He said as he pointed to the reception area.

"Oh God, I still can't believe our reception desk became a bar."

"Well, it's true… so enjoy it."

"Maybe after the first glass that won't be hard."

After I got my glass of champagne, Jackson and I decided if we wanted to survive the night we should enjoy each other's company, since we were the only ones that understood how big the hole in our funding would be after this party. Not after too long, Mark joined us and I finally could introduce the two of them.

"So you're the guy who took Torres on a date." Mark said. "I hope you didn't cross any lines…"

"You don't have to worry about that, I am a very respectful guy." Avery said raising his glass.

"Good to know." Mark said raising his as well.

As we were about to get back to our conversation a voice echoed across the room. "Can I have everyone's attention for a minute, please." Oh no, here it comes.

"In name of the Torres family and the Avery family, I would like to welcome you all to our party." Robert's voice filled the room being followed by a round of applause. "Now, as we all know, the Torres's and the Avery's are now one family. A family who has as an objective provide a better quality to our clients and comfort to our employees in a better place to stay and work, respectively. After years being in this business field as two giants, we decided to stop trying to be better than each other and join forces to create the best together."

"I think I'm gonna throw up." I said getting a laugh from the guys.

"And tonight," He kept going with his speech. "We are here to formalize this union and spend a great night with our friends. Drinks on me tonight, enjoy the party!" Those were his last words before leaving the stage.

"I can't believe he did it." Avery said with a frustrated tone. "Crappy speech."

"I didn't know an Avery was allowed to use that kind of language." Mark joked.

"Have you seen my father up there? Of course I'm allowed, there isn't another word to describe that."

"Yeah, that was really bad. "We decided to stop trying to be better than each other and join forces to create the best together" I said, mocking Mr. Avery. "Who bought that shit?"

We shared a round of laughter.

"Guys," Mark said getting our attention. "Is that Blondie?" He pointed to the direction Arizona was coming from.

"Holy crap!" Avery said when he stopped his eyes on the blonde girl.

I didn't understand what got them so impressed until I turned around. Arizona had this long black sleeveless dress, dark make up that made her blue eyes shine even more, shoulder length loose curls and heels that I couldn't really see.

"Wow…" was all I could manage to say.

"I should really try a move, she's hot." Mark said still staring at the blonde.

"You have a girlfriend." Avery reminded him. "Plus, you'd never get anything with her."

"Of course I would, look at me, I'm a Greek God."

"You can be whatever you want but you wouldn't, she's not into men."

"She's gay?!" I let out a little louder than I should.

"Yes, you're the only one that has a chance here, Torres."

"Oh shut up!" I said giving him a light punch on the arm.

"Wouldn't be the first time, Torres." Mark said making me blush, I couldn't believe he just said that.

"What?" Avery asked surprised turning to look at me.

"Hi guys." Arizona said as she finally reached us. Saved by the blonde! What took you so long to get here?

"Hey Blondie." Mark said with a knowing smirk. "You look great."

"Yes, Arizona, you're indeed stunning tonight." Avery said staring at the blonde.

"Thank you guys, but you should stop saying these things before I end up believing you." She said playfully but couldn't hide the blush that crossed her cheeks.

"You can believe them, you look beautiful Arizona." I finally managed to say something.

"Thank you, you look great too." I couldn't help but notice she was checking me out.

"See, you totally have a chance." Jackson whispered in my ear.

"Shut up." I said giving him another punch, this time a little harder.

"Is everything okay?" She said as she noticed our weird behavior.

"Yeah, yeah… everything's okay, just little Jackson that gets a little inappropriate when he's drunk." I said trying to pretend nothing was happening.

"Excuse me." And old guy said as he approached us. Saved by the bell once again! "You must be Jackson Avery, right?" Jackson just shook his head. "Ah, it's so nice to see you again! You might not remember me but I'm an old friend of your fathers, last time I saw you - you had just started college. I'm Jason Edwards."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Edwards." Jackson replied politely. The look on his face showed clearly that he had no idea who the man was.

"Jason is just fine, young man." He said giving Jackson friendly slaps on the shoulder. "Now, what've you got here?" He said turning to me. "She is really beautiful, you're a lucky guy."

"Uh, I'm sorry… what are you talking about?" I asked not really getting the man's point.

"Oh come on dear, you don't need to be ashamed. That 'we're now one family' thing can't be just about business."

"Oh no, we're not-" I tried to explain but a voice that came from behind interrupted me.

"They indeed are a beautiful couple, aren't they?"

"Dad, what are you doing?" Jackson asked just as surprised as me.

"Yes, Mr. Avery, what are you doing?" Mark emphasized Jackson's question as he approached me in a protective way. Arizona just stayed behind him watching everything.

"You guys don't need to hide it anymore now that it got out." He said with this cynical smile. "Jason here is not the only one to notice, now the news is out."

I could feel my heart race as I heard his words. I wanted to punch him in the face – and let's remember it's not the first time I've felt this way about Mr. Avery – how could someone play like this?

"I'm going outside to get some fresh air." I said trying to hide my anger but not being really successful. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, to tell Mr. Edwards I wasn't with Jackson that we were just friends, but it was one of those moments when you're too surprised – in this case, shocked - to have any kind of reaction.

I could feel Arizona's eyes on me as I made my way out of the room and Mark coming after me as I tried walk through the large amount of people at the party. "Mark, you don't need to come after me, okay." I said softly as I turned to face him. "I'm fine, I just need some time alone to think and maybe curse a little bit, okay?" He just nodded his head. "Thank you."

On my way out of the party I was stopped by some people to congratulate me on my relationship with Jackson, and as this situation hit me, I realized the only place I could have some sort of peace was upstairs in my office.

Arizona's POV

When I'm in the middle of the Santa Elena's lobby - I mean, which now has become a huge hall full of people wearing fancy clothes – I feel kinda lost. The merger happened about a month ago and it's been great working with Callie. Despite of what happened on my first day, when I thought she was a mean bitch with her employees, she proved herself to be really nice and sweet.

When she invited me to this party I wasn't really sure if I should come or not. I knew it was going to be a huge party, full of rich people and I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, but I just couldn't say no to her. And well, now here I am… all dislocated and alone because I don't know any of these people.

Mr. Avery just did his speech and I'm now trying to find Callie, Jackson or even Mark, who also proved that despite his boob staring thing, really is a really nice guy. I have to confess that Mr. Avery's speech wasn't one of his bests and what did he mean by only one family? That wasn't only about business, was it?

As I walk around still trying to find them I hear some people gossiping about Callie and Jackson's relationship…

Relationship? Wait… so that wasn't about business… they are together. 'That's just great.' I sarcastically tell myself.

After looking for them for a little longer I finally found them and they were all staring at me, and when I say all, I mean even Callie. I see they're talking about something and for a second I hesitate to go their direction, but it would be rude to turn around and pretend I haven't seen them when it's really clear I did. They all look really great in their fancy clothes. Not as great as Callie, of course, she was wearing a dark purple dress that had this long neckline that gave me enough view of her cleavage. My mouth is totally dry right now.

After greeting them we spent some awkward time together, I couldn't help but notice that there was something going on with Callie and Jackson. But it was soon over when a man approached us being followed by Jackson's father, who confirmed in front of all of us that Callie and Jackson were indeed in a relationship.

Callie seemed really mad, her face was so red I thought she was going to explode, but before it could happen she gave some sort of crappy excuse and started walking towards the exit and Mark left right behind her.

Deciding that I wouldn't feel comfortable in the middle of these people all by myself, I decided to head to the last floor where I work in Callie's office. My heels are killing me and I need to take them off ASAP!

It takes me a little longer than usual to reach the elevator but once I'm inside, alone, I feel like I can breathe again and first thing I do is take off my heels. 'God, it feels so much better!

As I walk down the hall heading to Callie's office something catches my attention. I can hear sobs coming from the end of the hall.

Finding it really weird I decide to go and check out if there's someone needing help. The situation scares me a little, I must say, the floor was supposed to be empty, even I wasn't supposed to be here.

When I get closer to the sound I notice it's coming from Callie's office and I immediately start walking faster.

When I reach the door – which was open – I am met with a heartbreaking scene. Callie is sat on the small couch that's in the room with her head between her hands and her sobs echoing all the room.

"Callie," I say to let her know I'm here. "Is ev-everything okay?"

"Hum?" She hums as she raises her head. "Oh, hey Arizona… yeah, yeah… everything is fine." She says as she tries to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her face.

"Are you sure?" I ask as I let my heels fall to the floor and approach to the couch to take the seat next to hers. "You don't look fine."

She just keeps staring at the wall across from the room without saying a word.

"You can talk to me, I know we're not friends or-"

"We are." She cut me off. "We've been working together for a month and we get along pretty well, so I assume I can say we are."

"Okay, so you can talk to me." I say with a soft tone, trying to make her feel comfortable.

"I-I don't wanna bother you with my problems. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She says now facing me.

I had noticed it before, but now that she's closer I can see that she's got beautiful eyes… even if they're a little red from crying.

"You don't bother me." I say placing an assuring hand on her shoulder. "You know, sometimes it's better if we let it out, instead of holding it with us. If you let it out, vent a little bit, you'll even be able to breathe better."

"What?" She said now laughing a little. "Where did you read that?"

"I just made it up." I said giving her a dimpled smile. "It worked, made you laugh a little."

"Yes, it did. Thank you." She said smiling at me.

"You don't have to thank me, you have a beautiful smile, why hide it?" Oh my God, did I overstep? I thought. I didn't mean to say that, it just came out.

"You've got a pretty smile yourself. Cute dimples." She says making my heart beat faster. Did she really say that? 'Okay Arizona, snap out of it, she said it because she's trying to be nice, she's not flirting with you.'

"So, you wanna talk now or…"

"Are you sure you wanna listen?"

"I'm sure." I say giving her an affirming nod.

"It's… it's just these people down at the party, they talk about things as if they know what they're talking about and it just messes with me, mainly if they're talking about me." She said letting out a defeated breath.

"Yeah, I understand how that feels… I've faced that a lot of times. They think they know what they're talking about and they think they can judge you." I say deciding to open up a little too to make her feel a little more comfortable.

"In my case it's not the judging, I don't even know if they're judging but…" She takes a deep breath before going on. "How can someone play with your life, making up things and saying it to everyone who is around to hear?" I can see tears filling up her eyes as she talks and it just breaks my heart. I wish I could do more than just listening, even if I still don't know what it is that is bothering her this bad.

"You sound really upset…"

"Upset? I am pissed! You were down there, you probably heard people talking about-"

"You and Jackson?" I cut her off and she just nodded. "People love to talk about other people's lives, don't let it bother you or Jackson. People have no business in your relationship."

"What?" She snaps her head. "No, that's the problem… there's no relationship. Jackson and I are not a couple, his father made it up, I'm talking about Robert. Him and all the people he told this lie to, of course."

"It's not true?" I say a little surprised myself. "But you guys went on a date and downstairs you seemed pretty close."

"Arizona, no, it's not true!" She says a little snappy. "We went for dinner but that's something his father did too. When he accepted the merger he said he had conditions and one of them was that I go on a date with Jackson. And downstairs, it was nothing, we're just friends."

"That's an absurd. I knew Mr. Avery was manipulative but not like this. I'm sorry, I didn't know about that."

"Yes, he is… I'm really sorry for Jackson, I thought I had a father that was tough to deal with. Him? It's way worse." She says with a calmer tone now. "And no, don't apologize, I'm the one who should apologize, you're here trying to help me and I'm snapping at you… I'm sorry." She says looking softly into my eyes.

"It's okay, don't worry."

An awkward silence took over the room. She was once again staring at the wall and I was staring at her. I could stare at her the whole night to be honest. And I could see that this whole Jackson thing wasn't the only thing bothering her, but I decided just to let it go, she will talk when she's ready.

"Did you change your mind about me?" She asked out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry?" I asked without understanding what she was talking about.

"On your first day here… when you arrived I was yelling and was sort of rude with you. I'm sure that made you think I'm some sort of boss witch that hates her employees…"

"No, I-"

"Yes, you did." She cut me off once again. "I could see the look on your face. I'm no mind reader but I could imagine the kind of things you were thinking." She looked at me for a few seconds before asking again. "So, did you change your mind?"

"Yes, I did." I said letting out a small laugh. "You're a good person. I've known you for all of a month but I know you're a good person. And I see how you talk to everyone here and how much they respect you. And that's nice, they respect you because you respect them, not because they fear you or something like that."

"So you think I'm a good boss?" She asked playfully.

"So far, so good." I play along giving her a little push to the side.

"As much as I loved staying here talking to you, I should go downstairs." She says with a sad face.

"Of course." I say raising up from the couch. "You have your people down there, you should definitely go."

"I was actually saying that because my glass is empty." She says as she points to her empty glass of champagne. "And my people are no longer there, Mark sent me a text saying him and Jackson were going somewhere called 'Joe's'."

"Oh, I see…"

"But what about if I go down there, get another glass and come back so we can keep talking? We'll spent a lot of time together and like I said we are friends… well, not really but we should, I'm surrounded by men the whole day, it'd be good to have a friend who's a girl. Anyways, we should learn more about each other."

"I have a better idea." I say as I head towards the door. "What if I go down there and get a whole bottle, maybe two and a glass for me, because I don't have a glass, and then I come back and let you learn more about me?"

"Won't you get in trouble because of it? I don't want my new friend to get in trouble."

"They won't see me, don't worry."

"So, what are you? A ninja?"

"Oh Callie, Callie… there are so many things you don't know about me." I say playfully as I walk out of the room.

This night shall be fun.

AN2: So? Did you like it?

P.S: I'd like to thank you guys for the follows, reviews and all those people who favorited this story ;) See you next chapter.