Thanks for the reviews! Please keep reviewing. To answer a couple of questions, yes it is sort of based on Music and Lyrics and also Jo will play quite a big role in the story, but it won't be for a couple of chapters yet :) Hope you enjoy this next chapter!
Callie didn't think much of Arizona or her weird behaviour for the next couple of days while she performed a couple of low-profile shows in various places. As much as she hated to admit that Mark was right, performing was her life. Once she was up on that stage, every trouble she once had just disappeared. However, there was one problem that just seemed to bug her.
"She was in that band with Cristina Yang" Callie heard one woman say to her friend.
"I love Yang" the friend commented back.
Callie couldn't help but feel pissed every time Cristina Yang was mentioned to her. She had no idea how the others managed to get over the betrayal and then just give up on music. Hearing the two women praise Cristina forced Callie to give as much as she could in her last performance. Mark pulled her off the stage, once the audience had finished applauding.
"Seriously Cal, you looked like you were going to kill someone out there" he shot her a worried look and passed her a bottle of water. "What came over you?"
"Same old" Callie snapped, shrugging her shoulders as she did so.
"You have seriously got to let that go" Mark shook his head. "Big things are coming our way"
"You wanna give me a hint on that front?" Callie laughed.
"Not just yet, I want to make sure it's a definite" Mark smiled. "By the way, you killed it out there"
"I never imagined theme parks would be my top selling venues" Callie sighed. "But thanks"
"Have you given any more thought about your weird cleaner?" Mark asked. Callie shot him a look. "What?" he asked.
"She doesn't seem weird and no why would I?" Callie asked.
"She seemed a little bit standoffish"
"You're just saying that because she declined your invitation"
"It's not like it was a date!" Mark protested. "I am happily married. Maybe she's a big fan of yours"
"I don't think that's it" Callie added.
"Why is that?"
"Then she probably would have taken your offer up" Callie shrugged. "I'm not losing sleep over it, she did a good job cleaning and that's what she's paid to do"
"As long as it doesn't end up fatal attraction style" Mark added.
"I didn't get any super obsessed vibes from her" Callie added. "Anyway I'm tired and I'm technically finished…"
"Go" Mark urged her. "Oh and Callie"
"What?" Callie turned to face Mark once more.
"It's Meredith. She's holding a dinner party soon and she wants to know if you could come" Mark asked nervously, studying Callie for a reaction.
"Why wouldn't I?" Callie shrugged. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"There's a small catch.." Mark added.
"No" Callie shot back, immediately guessing said catch.
"It might be good for you to meet her again. All the former band mates are going to be there. Please for me?"
"Hmm" Callie narrowed her eyes at him. "What's in it for you?"
"Just my girls being under the same room for the first time in fifteen years" he smiled. He checked his phone. "I better get going before Lexie freaks"
He left Callie as quickly as he could. Callie pondered over whether she would accept the invitation to the dinner party or not. She'd have to at least sleep on it. On one hand it would be good to see Izzie again, as Callie only kept in contact again. But was that enough? Knowing Cristina Yang was going to be there was already making Callie's stomach lurch and the dinner party was a bit away yet.
"Auntie Arizona, can we play a game?" ten-year-old twins Nick and Lena chorused in unison. Arizona loved spending time with her niece and nephew, she really did. Only tonight she had a headache and there was nothing she wanted more than peace and quiet. Knowing her niece and nephew wouldn't dare give up that easy, she let out a sigh instead.
"Nothing too energetic" Arizona moaned pulling herself up off the couch.
"But we want to go on the Wii" Nick looked up at his aunt with his big blue eyes, the same blue eyes Arizona and Tim had.
"Not all of us have the energy of you pair" she smiled, knowing she still couldn't resist. "You and Lena set it up"
"Yay" The twins chorused again, bickering over who would get to set it up. Arizona watched them, too tired to tell them off. Besides after looking at the time, Tim and Beth would be back soon and then the twins would be their problem and Arizona could enjoy that bottle of wine she'd been saving for a while.
"Instead of arguing, maybe you should just do it before your parents get home" Arizona added. "Because I'm pretty sure it's close to bedtime.."
This stopped the bickering instantly, and Nick handed over the controls to Lena who set up one of the games to play. Arizona was glad it wasn't too energetic, in fact, she could probably play it sitting down. A couple of games in, Arizona received a text from Tim saying that they would be back in twenty minutes which made Arizona laugh to herself. It wasn't that Beth was strict, in fact, that was the case and Nick and Lena behaved better for their mother than their father. Arizona turned to the kids.
"Time for bed" she instructed.
"Please one more game" Lena asked.
"Well your dad just text me to say that he and your mom will be home soon and I don't think mom will be too happy with us if the games are still out" Arizona added.
Nick and Lena obeyed, following their usual bed time routine. Arizona was glad they were now of age to get ready and into bed themselves as babysitting them as toddlers was a lot more hassle. They had just gotten into bed once Beth and Tim came through the door.
"Hey" Beth greeted her sister in law warmly. "I hope they've been good" she glanced round the room for any mess. Arizona knew she didn't like anything being left out of place so the place was immaculate.
"Good as gold" Arizona smiled. "How was your date"
"Fine" Beth added. "Dinner was good"
"And the movie" Tim added.
"You fell asleep" Beth replied, smirking at her husband.
"I enjoy sleeping" Tim added. "So sis when are you next seeing Callie Torres…or more importantly, when am I going to meet Callie Torres"
"I'm starting to think I should be worried, the amount you mention her" Beth pretended to roll her eyes.
"I'm seeing Callie Torres tomorrow and you are seeing her never" Arizona replied.
"Spoilsport" Tim added, wrapping his arm around his wife. "Guess you'll just have to do" he winked at Beth.
"Anyway I'm going to get home, there's a bottle of wine that is screaming my name right now" Arizona told them. "I'll see you guys soon"
"Bye" her brother and sister in law replied.
Arizona walked back to her apartment, not a far walk from Tim and Beth's house which made it a lot easier for them to stay in contact with one another. Their parents lived a while away, and while it sucked at times, Arizona was glad that she didn't have the constant pressure to find someone just to please her parents. Her mother often wondered out loud when Arizona was going to marry and settle down with someone like Tim had. Without her parents being around, Arizona was free to date whoever she liked. She'd dated a few women, some were casual, others were for a longer period of time. But she was happy, there was no great need to find someone to settle down with. Besides none of the women she'd been with so far had taken her fancy just yet.
As she walked up the path of Callie's house the next day, Arizona was regretting finishing the bottle of wine last night. Her head was pounding and she wasn't that big of a drinker. She rang the doorbell, hoping that Callie's somewhat obnoxious agent wouldn't be there. From her brief time the other day, she didn't think Callie was too bad, she'd have expected a lot worse from someone who was famous.
Callie opened the door, dressed in a tiny silk dressing gown which didn't leave much to the imagination. Arizona took in the sight before her eyes. Callie Torres was definitely attractive, there was no doubt about that. Knowing that she was staring, Arizona shifted her gaze to Callie's eyes.
"I'm sorry I'm not dressed" Callie gave a feeble apology but no excuse as to why she wasn't dressed. Arizona didn't care, Callie's house was the only place she had to clean that day so the sooner she was done, the sooner she could go back to her own apartment and lie in front of the TV waiting for her hangover to slowly fade away.
"So how was your show?" Arizona asked, really just an attempt to make small talk. Callie smiled.
"It was good" she replied. "How was your date?" she asked, remembering Arizona mention that she had a date.
"Fine" Arizona simply replied. The truth was her date was not fine and Arizona still hadn't either called or received a call from her date. Chances are that would likely not happen as they just didn't seem to click. "We didn't click" she added, knowing that her previous response alone would just have been rude.
"Aw, that's a shame. Still there's someone out there for everyone" Callie replied cheerfully. "Anyway I'm just going to jump in the shower" she smiled, turning around and walking away. Arizona watched her leave, checking her out as she walked. Her legs were unreal and Arizona had to force herself back into reality. She started to get on with the cleaning, after all, she wanted the job to be done quickly.
Meanwhile, Callie had completely stripped off and was waiting for the shower to warm up. Arizona seemed a little better when Mark wasn't around and Callie could understand why. Mark was a nice guy, but he was too much especially to those who didn't know him as well. She smirked, remembering Arizona obviously checking her out when she opened the door. It had been a while since anyone checked her out so openly and to be honest it probably made Callie's day. Callie checked the temperature of the shower, it was now hot enough so she jumped right in, knowing she had to be out before Arizona left.
Arizona had finished cleaning and was waiting for Callie as she didn't feel comfortable just leaving. She kept checking her watch, impatient that this Latina woman was holding her back from binge-watching TV shows all day. Finally, she came downstairs, the gown had unfortunately been discarded and instead she was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. Callie smiled apologetically at Arizona.
"You take the longest showers in the world" Arizona muttered, a little relieved that her going home was drawing closer.
"I'm sorry" Callie smiled. "So you need paying for today and the other day?" she asked, remembering Arizona had left so abruptly and without her money.
"Uh huh" Arizona replied, her eyes flicking to the tight t-shirt Callie was wearing. Callie pretended not to notice as she fetched her purse and handed Arizona the money.
"Here you are" Callie smiled. Arizona noticed it was a lot more than the usual rate, and gave her best smile.
"Thank you" she glanced down at the money, gratefully. Callie couldn't help smiling after seeing how brightly she could smile. Her blue eyes were shining and it was almost as though her smile was magical.
"So you're coming in a couple of days again right?" Callie asked. "Do you know how Teddy's doing yet?"
"That's right and from what I've heard she's still pretty sick" Arizona replied. "So I'm afraid you might be stuck with me for a little while longer" she shrugged.
"That's not a problem" Callie replied, glancing the blonde up and down. She shook her head a little and walked to the door with Arizona. "Thanks again"
"No worries" Arizona called out, already making her way down the garden path. Callie heard her phone ringing, it was Mark.
"Callie" he almost shouted down the phone so loudly that Callie held the phone a little further away from her ear. "I did it"
"You did what?" Callie asked.
"That thing, that I was trying to sort out for you, I did it" he replied excitedly.
"Well tell me what the thing is" Callie replied impatiently.
"So you know who the biggest artist is right now, don't you?"
"Yes, it's Jo Wilson" Callie replied, referring to the young starlet who seemed to always be number one. "What about her?"
"Well she just happens to be a big fan of yours, and I've been in contact with her manager and she wants you to write a song" he replied.
"What?" Callie screeched down the phone. This deal was huge, although there was one small catch. "But I don't write songs, I do the melodies because Yang always wrote the songs"
"How bad can you be?" Mark replied. "And if the answer is that is terrible, we'll find you a lyricist"
"Mark this is brilliant" she smiled. "Thank you"
"Don't thank me just yet" Mark added. "Miss Wilson's manager, an Alex Karev said that there's another contender for the song. Whoever writes the best song in her opinion, will go and sing it on tour with her".
"Well, who's the other contender?" Callie asked. Mark stayed silent for a minute. "Mark?" Callie repeated.
"It's Cristina" Mark revealed Callie's worst nightmare. Callie sighed, knowing she may as well not bother.
"She was the lyricist" Callie replied, her voice sounding a little deflated. "I'm doomed"
"You are not doomed. We will do it" Mark replied.
A feeling of determination came over Callie. Why should Cristina ruin this for her? Callie said goodbye to her agent and immediately got her laptop out searching for different lyricist's in the area. She was going to put her heart and soul into this song, but more importantly, she was going to win this, get to go on tour with America's current biggest superstar and finally get her revenge on Cristina Yang.