Callie was completely out of breath by the time she arrived back at the chaotic theatre, with her hands and arm sticky and wet from the coffee spill on the sidewalk and the jacket that was still completely soaked through, laying over her arm.

She jumped as am arm landed on her shoulders, and started to lead her away from the stage where she was headed, only stopping her attempt to shrug it off when she turned so that she had her face nearly overtaken by red hair, "Addison, why are you manhandling me?"

Addison's head was turned away from her, and she led them back to Callie's dressing room. It was admittedly an extremely small room, but it had been more than she'd been expecting. Then Addison was muttering, "You'll thank me for this. Richard is in a mood."

"A mood? He's been in a mood for weeks," she reminded her, huffing in annoyance as the other woman miscalculated the distance they had to make it through the doorway, subsequently knocking Callie's entire right side into the frame.

Blue eyes just rolled at her, "Yeah, not like this, though. Apparently, we have a full house tonight, and that includes several critics – including one from the New York Times – because the buzz from our pre-premiere performances has been that we might be on the short list to Broadway within the year."

At her words, Callie's throat went dry, her eyes wide, "You're – you're kidding me."

But her newfound friend just shook her head, as she moved to sit down on the edge of the vanity, "Dead serious. I mean, it was only a matter of time, right?" her cocky smirk simultaneously made Callie somewhat annoyed but also made her laugh, "With my name on it – and Sloan's, as much as it pains me to say it – and Webber calling the shots? I can't believe anyone is even shocked that it's a full house tonight."

When she thought about it, it actually wasn't that shocking; it was a production put on by the Richard Webber, and they had some cast members, namely Addison and Mark, who had already made splashes on Broadway.

But the words just seemed to echo in her head. A full house tonight.

The words thrilled and exhilarated her, but also terrified her. Because it was one thing to perform in front of two or three people at an audition. Or to perform with an entire cast, who were all performing as well. Right now, all she could picture was the four hundred and fifty seats beyond the stage – all filled and with all eyes on her.

Great, now she was actually shaking. She stumbled forward a few steps, gripping the edges of the vanity that Addison vacated seconds ago.

She didn't remember the last time she shook out of sheer nerves. Even when she'd gone on her first Broadway audition, she wasn't shaking like this. Because she didn't think that she'd ever been this nervous.

God, she thought she was going to be sick.

"All right. You were already late, which means Webber was freaking out even more. We should get back out there for the last few run-throughs. Cal, you ready?" Addison's voice made her jump, and grip the sides of her vanity even tighter. The redhead's hands landed heavily on her shoulders, and she stooped to be visible in the mirror, too. She frowned, making her "makeup face" as she looked at her face next to Callie's, "God, I'm glad this role is relatively light on the stage makeup. I fucking hate going out looking like a clown."

She wanted to agree, but she was afraid that she would just jumble out into a cluster of sounds.

It was only then that her relatively new friend really looked down at her, "Jesus, you're going to crack the wood on this if you keep clutching on it for dear life, Hulk. What's the deal?"

Wide brown eyes stared back at her from the mirror, and her voice was hardly a whisper, "I can't do this. Addison, what was I thinking? I could hardly make speeches in front of my class when I was in high school; there are going to be hundreds of people out there!"

Her friend's hands dropped from her shoulders, and she blew out a breath as Addison adjusted to once more hitch her hip onto the vanity, "Are you kidding? You can't even do a book report, but you decide to become a Broadway performer?"

Callie rolled her eyes up to laughing blue ones, grunting out, "You're really not helping."

After letting out a long-suffering sigh, she shrugged, "I'm not that much of a cheerleader."

Cheerleader. That reminded her; she desperately wished Arizona had had time to write back to the last letter she'd sent, revealing her fears of failure on the stage. Then again, the earliest she could have even received a response was today, and she hadn't been back home since early this morning, before the mail came. It was her own fault to try to discuss her fears with her letter friend.

Groaning, she lifted her hands to her heated cheeks and prayed that she wouldn't be sick, "How good are you at holding someone's hair when they throw up?"

The way that Addison fake-gagged was what finally made her grin, even if it was a little shaky, and then the redhead shook her hair back, "All right, listen. You're talented as hell. You've been singing the roof off the theater in every rehearsal, and if you tell someone this I will deny it to the grave, but there are times that your voice alone has blown me away. And I'm Tony nominated!"

The fact that she knew that Addison wasn't being at all teasing when she said that somehow calmed her a bit, "I knew you were jealous."

The redhead just nailed her with a stare, "Tony nomination."

"But –"

"Tony nom!"

"Addis –"

"Tony. Nom."

"No. Win," she retorted, and only moments later realized what she'd said. Feelings of nausea fled and she blushed – why did the words that came out of her mouth come out? "That didn't – I didn't mean – you know I think you're an amazing performer. Just getting nominated is –"

Addison's snort of laughter cut her off, "That right there is my favorite thing about you; when you put your foot in your mouth."

Callie let out a breath of relief, "I'm glad you seem to like it. Not everyone finds me being a spaz," her eyes lit up, "Speaking of me being a spaz," she reached out and pressed coffee-sticky fingers against Addison's arm.

Her friend looked down with a frown at Callie's appendages touching her before she arched her eyebrow, "Is this some sort of weird come on? I know that Caroline has feelings for Lila, but I don't get down that way," she stated, referencing how her character fell in love with Callie's in the musical.

"I – what? No! No, this is coffee! I was about to tell you that when I ran out to get a coffee, I came back late because I bumped into this girl, and spilt it all over myself – and a little on her," she added, thinking of the way the girl who she had knocked into looked at her.

A little shocked, a lot dazed, and just – with the most stunning eyes. Callie had initially been concerned about how intensely blue they were when they had first looked up at her from the sidewalk, thinking that the intensity came from the fall. But after they'd stood, they still held that same spark even as she'd joked with her. They'd made her feel all sort of tingly.

In a really good way, that made her ears and fingers and heart feel warm.

Addison hmm'd, "And she didn't flip out on you?"

"Nope, not even after I stumbled through an apology after knocking her right onto the ground," she somewhat couldn't even believe that.

Now she was being stared at again, "Huh. I thought you didn't have Sapphic feelings?"

She felt herself flush, "I never said that! And I don't even know this girl. The story was about the coffee spill, not the girl."

"The little smile on your face told me it was about the girl. Did you get her number? I hope you did; I'm concerned that the only person you ever tell me about is your pen pal. Which, by the way, is when you told me you didn't have Sapphic feelings," she tacked on, with a smart grin.

Brown eyes rolled as Callie scoffed, "I never told you I didn't have Sapphic feelings; I said Arizona and I didn't have Sapphic vibes –"

Addison's sculpted eyebrow remained in it's seemingly perpetual skeptical look, "Which I don't believe for a minute, but okay."

She ignored her and pushed on, "And to answer your question, no I didn't get her number. I was in a hurry to get back!" It had been a rookie mistake, she realized now.

Not that she'd even had that many relationships in the past to judge on, but still. How often did you literally run into a complete stranger who happened to be somehow cute and gorgeous, and also talked – possibly flirted? – with you after you made a literal and verbal mess?

Addison opened her mouth, and Callie awaited the snide comment before it closed again. Then opened a second later, "Well, I'm clearly not in a place to comment on romance. So I'll just say that you have no game."

Callie would've loved to disagree with her. Unfortunately, she couldn't.

There was a sharp knock on the door that made them both jump as the voice of one of the stage hands called out, "Webber wants everyone on the stage in five!"

Back to reality.

Addison stood again, "Listen, back to the original point of this, I'm just going to say that you've worked through learning all of the songs, the dances, worked through Webber tearing you a new asshole, and you came through on the other side. You're a fucking star in a musical – the hard parts are already done. Now you just have to show what you've worked for," she shrugged, and somehow the fact that she managed to be so blasé made Callie even calmer.

Slowly she nodded, and let Addison's words completely sink in, "You're right. And besides, I have to prove those assholes who doubted me being cast wrong," she shot a more confident grin at her friend, who banged her fist down in solidarity.

"That's the girl I did shots with! And if you're still nervous when we're out there, just find someone in the audience that you know and concentrate on them," Addison stood and brushed her hands down the simple costume she wore, "Five minutes," she muttered before opening the door. Before she shut it behind her, she shot Callie a look, "And for god's sake, Torres, wash your hands."

"Get out!" she called back with a grin as the door closed behind her friend, and then slowly the grin fell away as she looked at herself in the mirror.

Okay. Breathe.

She could do this, Callie thought, as she leaned forward to apply a light layer of makeup, as she knew Webber would be picky during this rehearsal. Addison's final parting words didn't particularly cheer her up; there was no one in the audience for her.

Cristina and Addison were the only ones she could even hesitantly qualify as her friends who lived in the city – and Addison was already in the show. She had offered the family orchestra tickets she had to her roommate, who genuinely did seem sorry that she'd said that she couldn't come to the opening night show, but promised to come as soon as she could.

After she'd washed her hands, she was quickly making her way to the stage – she had another two minutes, but she figured that if there was ever a time to be even slightly early, it should be for the last run through on opening night.

Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she ran over some of her lines in her head, and she wasn't paying the attention she should have been paying, and she walked straight into the back of one of the theatre workers, who was standing outside of her dressing room, "Two for two," she murmured at herself for walking into people, "Uh, can I help you?"

He stepped forward, under one of the fluorescent lights, and it wasn't until then that she realized he held a bundle of flowers out to her, "For you."

Swallowing hard, she found that her thrill she'd felt upon immediately spying the bouquet seemed to wane a bit, because there was no way. She didn't even know anyone who was going to be out there, "I'm – do you need me to help direct you to someone?"

His response was to give her a weird look, and offer out the flowers towards her, "These were sent for you."

"That's impossible," she muttered, and eyed the flowers questionably, only reaching out for them when they were shoved even closer to her. A dozen roses, and there was a card in them with her name on them.

Then she swore she felt her heart actually stutter from excitement because she recognized that handwriting on the envelope. Even as her hands were itching to put the flowers down so she could rip open the envelope, she flushed and looked at the stage hand who thought she was insane, "Thank you!"

His response was a nod before he walked away, and she couldn't wait any longer before she reached to open the envelope, only sliding the card inside out enough so she could read the words scrawled there – did her pen pal look up when the opening date was and send her these from Pennsylvania?

Callie –

I didn't have time to write back to your letter; I had just gotten it and it was time for me to head out of town to my cheerleading competition.

Out of town to New York City, to be exact. And what do I find here, but the opening night of Altered Affection on the very night I'll be here?

Unfortunately, there were no tickets available for tonight's premiere :( I guess that's what I get for being a last minute buyer. So I just had to settle for sending you these instead.

I would have really loved to see you, but just so you know – you have nothing to be afraid of in terms of not being good enough to make it. You are talented, I can feel it in my bones. Don't be afraid about your talent, because you already made it. The scary part – not landing a role – is already done. Now you just blow them away with what you already accomplished.

Your fears from your letter are just not true. The show will not be a flop, the critics will not tear it apart, and you are legitimately insane if you think that for every one of you there are five others.

The roles have officially reversed, and I'm the creeper,
Arizona

She slid the card back into the envelope, before she cradled it in her hands, holding it close to her chest, and her smile expanded so wide, she thought that it would break her face in half.

The final, resounding nerves she'd been left with completely dissipated. She wasn't alone here after all.

The pounding bass that resounded through the club made Callie feel like the earth was shaking.

Then again, she herself was shaking. This time not out of fear, as she'd been hours ago, but from sheer exhilaration. Because she'd just been in her musical's opening night and she hadn't frozen, hadn't choked, and she didn't know if there was ever a time where her voice had sounded better.

It was as though she was walking on cloud nine.

She was still walking on cloud nine, even though it had been almost two hours since their final bows had been taken. God, people had wanted her autograph. Her autograph!

And now they were at some trendy club to celebrate. Their cast, who seemed to be slightly warming up to her, though she didn't have high hopes, had actually invited her out. Though she was on the cusp of whether or not to actually go, the answer had been decided for her when Addison had draped her arm over her shoulder, and dragged her along, telling her to live a little.

So here she was. Living.

Most of their cast mates had already dispersed and she doubted that she would see them at all tonight. Callie shouldered her way to the bar, figuring that at the very least, she deserved a drink for such a fantastic show, and also, Addison was most likely there.

She'd received her drink quickly, and scanned her eyes, but saw no sight of her friend. Then just as she turned, someone knocked into her arm, and she tensed as the alcohol splashed out of her cup and seeped into her shirt. Though it would be impossible to get rid of the high she was living on right now, she really wondered what the odds were of this happening twice in one day.

Reaching out, she placed her now empty glass on the bar, and turned around, already hearing the person who'd bumped into her shouting slightly to be heard over the music, "I'm so sorry!"

"It's fin –" she had already started to say when she turned around fully and came face to face with the same simultaneously cute and gorgeous woman from earlier. Now, instead of looking rushed, she looked even more… wow.

Like, wow.

Her body was now out of her thick winter jacket and jeans and into a short, tight black dress. Callie's mouth went dry as she took it all in, and she barely managed to find her voice a few seconds later, "I – it's fine. I think you owed me one," she added with a small smile.

The one she got in return was almost blinding – she'd forgotten that the woman had the most adorable dimples. She met those intense blue eyes, that were now complimented with smoky makeup and seemed impossibly more intense, as recognition struck in them, "Yeah, you should be thankful I'm not knocking you to the ground of this place. It's probably dirtier than the sidewalk."

She could feel herself blush at the woman's teasing, "At least you had had a backpack on to break the fall. And I've taken two drinks to the chest!" she gestured up to herself, and briefly was grateful that she was wearing a black top.

That cerulean gaze was staring, though, and even as she felt herself blush, she had to bite back a smile. Was it normal to smile when being ogled?

But then the blonde seemed to snap out of it, and looked up, flushed, "Twice in one day, though. What are the odds?"

"About one in 1.6 million," Callie responded before realizing that sounded supremely lame, and she rushed to explain as the shorter woman lifted an amused eyebrow at her, "I – there are about 1.6 million people who live in Manhattan."

"Interesting," the blue eyed beauty gave her a grin, and for once, Callie didn't feel like someone was mocking her when she said something stupid. "I –"

It was that choice moment when she was found by Addison, who was indeed already drunk, and the redhead's arm wrapped around her shoulder, her face coming in close to hers, so her lips were right next to Callie's ear, whispering, "Sapphic vibes."

The blonde's eyes darted back and forth between them for a second. Then she to nodded just a bit as if in understanding and ducked her head as side stepped Callie just a bit to pick up a tray that she had waiting for her, stocked full of drinks.

Quickly, Callie reached up to take Addison's arm away from tucking around her shoulders, and gently moved her a respectable foot away as if to get that message across. Before Addison could say anything evocative, as Callie thought she might, if the way her eyebrows were waggling up and down suggestively was any indication, Callie nailed her with a look.

As the blonde's back was to them, and she waited on her final drinks to be put onto the tray, she leaned in to hiss into Addison's ear, "I already have no game! You're not helping."

Her friend threw her head back in laughter, "Okay, okay. Good luck! I hope you get luc –"

Callie's hand flew up to cover Addison's mouth just as the blonde turned around to give them an odd look, though it was a look accompanied with an adorable half-smile.

With one last look, Addison went on her way, and Callie scratched the back of her neck, still feeling like she was blushing, "Uh, she went to go find her fiancé."

She was an awful liar, and she wondered if it showed. Not that Addison didn't have a fiancé, but Derek certainly wasn't here. They weren't even really speaking right now.

The blonde nodded slowly, her smile growing into a bigger one, "I kind of have people waiting on these," she nodded at the tray of drinks in front of her.

"Oh, right! Well, I could help carry some? Maybe wring my shirt out into a glass and provide a free drink?" she found that her stomach erupted in butterflies when the girl chuckled.

"That won't be necessary, you should keep your shirt on for now. And considering your track record for carrying drinks, you probably shouldn't help me carry them, either," the blonde tilted her head, and lifted an eyebrow, as if she was saying, duh.

Callie felt her cheeks flame, because even though she hadn't made any overtures, really, she felt like she was being rejected. And she forced a smile, "You're probably right." Then she tipped her head as if she was tipping her imaginary hat, to say goodbye.

Her own actions made her blush harder with an inner cringe.

She watched as the nicely done up, sexily curled blonde head ducked away from her, and walked back towards where the booths were with her tray of drinks.

No game indeed, she thought about herself, as she turned back to the bar.

But it was only moments later when she felt a hand brush against her own, and she jumped before she was facing the blonde again, who had apparently delivered the tray and was watching her with an impish smile, "Because of the nature of our meetings and the fact that I've inadvertently deprived you of hydration, I think it would only be appropriate of me to buy you a drink."

Her face lit up in sheer delight – there was no other words for it, "I think that would probably be fair. I'm feeling a bit parched."

That dimpled smile came out in full force, and for a moment, she wondered if it was actually possible for a smile to be made of sunshine.

"What were you drinking?"

"Guess!" she bounced on the balls of her feet for a moment, before she wondered if this was a reason of why she had no game. If she did, she would probably have leaned coolly against the bar and told her in a low voice.

As it was, the other woman seemed to enjoy it, as blue eyes narrowed in thoughtful deliberation as they scanned her face and then her outfit, "Hmm." Then she leaned in, her face coming towards Callie's, and she felt her breath catch in her chest.

Then the woman ducked and she sniffed at Callie's shirt, where the remnants of her drink was, and the encounter left her feeling a little dizzy, but the blonde came back up, smiling triumphantly, "Rum and coke!"

"You cheated!" she forced her bottom lip out in a pout, "You were supposed to guess!"

The sun, she thought again, as those eyes sparkled up at her, "I did guess; I made an educated guess based on context clues using my senses. I can't help it if I have extraordinary senses."

And extraordinary other things, Callie thought, but only sighed out, "Mhmm."

"Don't be sad, you're getting a free drink!" came the response, as her drink was ordered, and the blonde leaned back on her elbows against the bar, "So what led you here tonight? Aside from stalking me, of course."

Brown eyes narrowed, "Excuse you! You could very well be stalking me! I was the one who walked away from us first, earlier. You could be a serial killer!"

Something flickered in those eyes, as the blonde mumbled so quietly Callie could hardly hear her, "Peel off your skin and wear it as your own."

And then she took a step back so quickly she nearly tripped over her own feet, and she knew that her fear was evident on her face, "I - I – what?"

But the other woman was shaking her head as she let out a laugh that she tried to hide, cutely Callie might add, behind her hand. Great, now she was thinking serial killers were cute.

The blonde just shook her head, "I'm sorry, I realize how creepy that was. My hyper paranoid friend was talking about serial killers the other day, and I'm only realizing right now that I should probably just stop talking, right?"

She was already charmed, "As someone who regularly puts her foot in her mouth, I think I can forgive you. And to answer your question, I'm here to celebrate. My friend from a little while ago, and some other people I know came out. What about you?"

There was that radiant smile again, "I'm here to celebrate, too! My friends –"

Then she was cut off as a somewhat frantic looking redhead, followed by what seemed to be a handful of other similarly dressed up girls, ran up to the blonde, and leaned in to say something that Callie couldn't quite catch. But she did see the way her acquaintance seemed to growl and blue eyes rolled toward the ceiling in frustration.

And, almost as if it was magic, the flash of emotion in her eyes seemed to go away, and a mask came down, over it. The only thing left there was a somewhat apologetic look towards Callie, "I'm sorry. I have to go."

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed, "It's okay." She waited a few seconds, debating if she should ask for the woman's number – or would that be weird?

It was too late anyway, as almost immediately, the blonde turned around, and started commanding the girls who had approached her, before hurriedly walking away herself, throwing Callie one last look over her shoulder.

A name probably would have been nice to ask for, too.

The ringing from her cell phone was what roused her from a dead sleep. As one dark eye peeked open, she groaned, and started slapping her hand around on her bedside table for where her cell phone was.

It was on top of the envelope she'd received from Arizona, both of which she'd taken out of her pockets when she'd arrived home at around four in the morning and dropped there.

Blearily, she opened her eyes to look at her phone, seeing that it was Addison calling. Slamming her eyes shut again, she blindly touched her phone to receive the call, "What?"

"My, you're charming," came the response, and she would have rolled her eyes had her eyelids not been down to protect from the sun and had they not been just too tired to even move.

"As charming as you're going to get from me when you're calling me at eight, and I've had less than four hours of sleep," she grumbled into the receiver, "Is there a reason you're calling or did you just need to hear my extremely charming voice?"

Addison barked out a laugh, "You should be thanking me. The New York Times review was just put up online. I thought you might want to check it out. Bye!" And then she was gone.

That worked better than a direct injection of caffeine right into her bloodstream could have worked at the moment, and she shot up to sit up in bed, fumbling with her phone in her haste to pull up the review.

Altered Affection had the odds of failure as a love story all over it; on the surface, a tired plot that could mirror a mediocre romantic comedy. However, this story that tells the simultaneous devolution of one relationship while subtly evolving another, skillfully produced by the mind of Richard Webber, is an enchanting web of tales, carefully spun together.

The entire ensemble was flawless, and seasoned entertainers Mark Sloan and Addison Montgomery sparkle. However, no star is shining brighter than newcomer Callie Torres. She brilliantly portrayed love and self-discovery, and only a heart of stone would have not cried on her lament of loss in "I Miss You."

Torres' magnificent performance leaves this reviewer uncertain as to how this is the first time the world has heard her powerful voice and certain that we will hear more of it on big Broadway stages, and soon.

"Oh my god! Oh my god!" she cried out. Falling back onto her mattress, she felt breathless, like she was flying, and she wasn't entirely sure, but she was fairly certain there were tears on her cheeks.

This was unreal.

Impatiently, she started looking up the other publications that had published reviews from the previous night, and her eyes lit up as they read over phrases such as: Theatre lovers, don't miss the opportunity to see this musical now with slightly cheaper seats, before it will surely be moved to Broadway and Callie Torres as Lila is an absolute delight.

And her personal favorite: This critic would go as far as to say that this night could be pinpointed as the night a new star was discovered; a star who goes by the name Callie Torres.

Unforgettable. Another excited squeal left her throat, uncontrollably, while her legs kicked out in happiness. A star is born.

For some reason, as she dropped her phone, her instinctive reaction was to roll over and reach for the envelope that came in her flowers from Arizona. Biting her lip, she pulled out the card completely this time, and reread it.

She didn't know why it made her smile even bigger – she hadn't even known that was possible, but it did. This time, however, as she closed the card, she noticed another tiny chunk of handwriting.

Curious, she decided that it looked like Arizona had written it hastily, as it was messier than usual, and she felt like it had been written timidly.

Ten digits, and then the quick scribble underneath:

Call me sometime.

If you want.

Please let me know what you think! Thank you so much for the feedback so far, I greatly appreciate it and I love everyone's thoughts!

Thank you for reading.