I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing on my bedside locker, sneaking a peak at the alarm clock next to it, 9:30 am. Great. I groan in frustration as the unanswered phone buzzes again. Picking it up harshly, my mood alters immediately as a rush of unexplainable excitement flutters through my body upon seeing the sender.
[1 new message: Arizona]
Morning sunshine. I was wondering if maybe you wanna grab a coffee later? X
Morning sunshine? Was she flirting? No. What do I do? As I begin to reply another message comes through. This time however, less excitement, more nerves.
[1 new message: Henry]
Hey Cal. Look, I'm really sorry but something's come up this afternoon, maybe we can grab dinner tomorrow night or something?
For some reason, dinner seems more terrifying, coffee's casual, dinner's formal. But I had come all this way, it needed to be done, we needed to talk. I text a quick response of acceptance while I contemplated Arizona's offer. Coffee would be ok, like I said, it's casual, something you do with friends. Why not?
Good morning J yeah, coffee sounds great! See you in an hour? There's a nice little coffee shop near central park, Central Perk, text if you need directions J x
I opted to keep it casual. No flirting. I like guys. I have always liked guys. Arizona just happened to pop into my life at very vulnerable time, and I was able to appreciate an attractive woman when I saw one. That's all it was, an appreciation.
But, if that's all, why does my stomach do somersaults when my phone vibrates with a reply. Stop psyching yourself out Callie! You're making this a much bigger thing than it actually is!
Arizona:
I know the one J See you then! X
I let out a shaky breath. Why was I so anxious? She's just a girl. I reminded myself. You have tons of female friends! She's just a girl, just a girl… just a girl, with stunning blue eyes, kissable lips and I body that makes you want to rip her clothes off on the spot. No! I did NOT just think that.
I showered and dressed, borrowing one of Addison's oversized t-shirts, after realising my own smelt of a mixture of stale body odour and beer. I snuck quietly out to avoid waking my still sleeping friends. The New York October air consumed me the moment I stepped onto the street, stinging my ears and turning my nose and ears a subtle shade of pink, waking me up and diminishing my light hangover. New York really was one of the most beautiful places I'd ever been. I always loved coming here, making a mental note to make my visits more frequent. I relished the smell emitting from the street vendor's carts, the sweet sugary smell of waffles and danish pastries, the smell of coffee from the star bucks on every corner. The streets were surprisingly quiet (well, for New York), then again it was 10:30 on a Sunday morning.
I spotted her blonde curls through the window of the coffee shop, my heart jumped into my throat at the sight of her. She looked so adorable in an oversized sweatshirt and jeans, a pair of ridiculous looking earmuffs on her head even though she was inside. I moved inside and felt a rush of happiness at seeing her face light up when she spotted me.
"Hey." She greeted, rising to her feet and encasing me in a tight embrace. She was stronger than she looked.
"Morning." I replied, my lips betraying a lazy smile.
"Late night?"
"Mmmm you could say that," I supped gratefully at the coffee she had gotten me, "Catching up with old friends. How about you?" This wasn't so bad. I don't know why I had been so nervous. It was easy to be around her, I felt comfortable. The connection I felt to her having only known her 24hours was alarmingly intense. I felt like I could tell her anything. Be truly myself.
"In a sense." her cheeks became slightly flushed and I felt it best not to quiz her night any further, she clearly didn't want to divulge, so we switched the conversation to another topic. It flowed so freely, the banter felt so natural.
I laughed watching Arizona drink her vanilla cream frapuccino, with extra whipped cream, that somehow ended up on her nose.
"What?" She asked with a smile, though her tone was slightly self conscious.
"It's just… You've got a little something…" I reached forward, wiping the cream from her nose. Our eyes locked and a surge of sparks fluttered around us. It was one of those earth-shattering gazes that you never want to end because it feels like the only thing in keeping you alive.
After five seconds of intense eye foreplay, we were broken apart by what seems to becoming a recurring disturbance in our relationship. The vibrations of a cell phone. It was becoming an annoying trend.
Arizona jumped and reached for the silver phone near the edge of the table.
"Sorry." She looked genuinely apologetic as she flicked open the source of intrusion.
Reading it quickly, she looked at me with a pained expression.
"Everything ok?"
"I am so unbelievably sorry!" She began gathering her things. "I completely forgot, I have somewhere I need to be in like," She looked at her watch, "20 minutes." She stopped, looking at me with remorse, "I had a really nice time Calliope." A shudder rand down my spine at the way she said my name. I nodded in acceptance but I couldn't hide the disappointment on my eyes.
"We'll do this again?" She asked, a worried look on her face.
"Of course." I nodded again, and then she left.
I finished my coffee on the walk back to Addison's. I couldn't comprehend it. I kept telling myself that I didn't care, that she was a friend and nothing more, I barely knew her, but the disappointment I felt every time I watched her walk away was excruciating. She certainly seemed to have some weird hold over me.
Having been so lost in my thoughts I hadn't realised reaching the apartment.
"And where have you been?" Addison asked, propped against the door frame, fully dressed, coffee in hand.
"Went to get coffee." I offered in response. "Didn't expect to see you so mobile today." I teased, causing a smile to spread across her features.
"Well, I did say we had to get you some clothes." She defended, eyeing my appearance. "Shall we?"
"Where's Mark?" I enquired as we made our way down the stairs and back out of the building.
"He left about a half hour ago. Something about Lexie and morning sex." We both left at our manwhore of a best friend. He had a heart of gold but this behaviour was typical.
We began in Macy's. Not sure why, I hate the place, always so busy, never anything overly eye catching, and insanely overpriced if you ask me.
"I need to pick some things up for the apartment." She answered the question I had not voiced.
We made our way around the kitchen appliances, stopping every few minutes so Addison could analyse a toaster, microwave or other household crap.
"Ugh." I let out an exasperated sigh. "Addie, I thought we were going clothes shopping? We've been staring at toasters for over an hour."
She looked up at me with amusement.
"And we will. But first, I need to find some things for the kitchen."
"Why?" I whined. "You're kitchen's full of shiny, working, goodness." I added in an attempt to goad her into moving on.
"It is, but I want red." She clearly wasn't budging.
I sighed again, settling with a strained, "Fiiiine."
I turned on the spot and that's when I saw it.
A mixture of emotions soared through me in a second, anger, hate, loneliness, hurt, confusion, you name it, I felt it, all rippled through my body. There, standing no more than five metres away was my reason for being here in the first place, like Addison, analysing kitchen appliances, scanning the desired items with a registry gun in one hand, the other, around the shoulder of a girl that wasn't me, a girl with flawless blonde curls and perfectly proportioned figure. No. Turning to the side and leaning down to place a tender kiss on top of the head of his partner, I saw it, her warm, dimpled smile and hypnotising blue eyes were unmistakeable. Arizona. My eyes must be deceiving me. She's gay. Isn't she?
I grabbed hold of a nearby shelf for support, anything to keep me upright. The thing that confused me above all else is that I wasn't sure what hurt more, seeing Henry with someone else, or that that someone else was Arizona.
"Callie. Caaalliiiee." I was snapped out of my stunned stupor by Addison's hand waving frantically in front of my face.
Upon hearing my name Henry broke away from the blonde and looked in my direction, eyes wide and panicked but the rest of his features remained composed. Not sure the same could be said for me, if I looked half as broken as I felt in that second. I felt winded, he, no, they, may as well have taken a running kick at my gut.
"Addison, I need to get out of here."
A/N: And the plot thickens ;) ..Review?