A/N: As I often do, I've gone back and tweaked the previous two chapters. Sorry, I probably should use a beta or take more time to develop the story before posting, but I was kind of excited to start this one and get it done before the S12 premier this week.
Noticing Arizona's fake 'everything is fine' smile plastered on her face, Callie leans over slightly resting her arm across the blonde's back and whispers in her ear, "Are you okay?"
Arizona turns towards her and they lock eyes for a moment, blue eyes soften a bit and a small smile crosses her face, "Yes Calliope," she says softly and slightly leans back into the touch.
Meredith glances over and sees the two of them all cozy and gives Callie a questioning look, so Callie slowly removes her arm and turns to talk to Bailey on her other side.
Amelia is sitting on the other side of Meredith and she looks around and realizes that everyone is talking among themselves, so she asks, "Dr James, what makes you want to move from East to West?"
Glancing across the table and then correcting her gaze down the table, the blonde smiles at Amelia and smoothly replies, "Well, Dr Shepherd it seems that some of the best of East eventually moves to the West."
"Oh that is a good point," Meredith agrees. "Although I grew up on both coasts, half of us moved here from the East coast."
"I didn't, I moved here from Miami. But then this is the farthest I could get from my family without living in Alaska." Callie says joking.
They all share a laugh and then Jackson orders a few bottles of wine and everyone starts to relax a bit. The dinner is long, but they all share some fascinating stories about past cases and each other.
Tori realizes that this is a really tight group. She's almost got it all figured out. Amelia is Meredith's sister-in-law, Callie and Arizona are divorced, Meredith and Weber have almost a father/daughter thing going, since he was a resident with her mother. Jackson and Meredith have almost a sibling bond, maybe since they both had surgeon mothers. Bailey and Callie were residents together and Meredith and Arizona survived a plane crash together.
"Dr James?" Jackson repeats to get her attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry Dr Avery. I was just taking it all in." Tori explains, smiling around the table.
"I just wanted to say, I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you for coming out and meeting with us. I know that this hospital probably wasn't even on your radar, until my mother mentioned it to you." He adds. "But your knowledge of our facility has been impressive. You certainly did your research."
Pausing a moment to collect her thoughts, Tori replies, "Actually, I almost submitted for this position the last time it was available, but the timing was bad for me personally. I've been following Dr Torres' cartilage work, as a former college athlete, I may need some work on my knee soon." She says lightly, smiling at the Latina.
"Oh, I've had great success with the WNBA team and have helped a couple of their athletes avoid knee surgery with my cartilage project." Callie says excitedly.
"Dr Torres is one of the team doctors for the Seattle Storm, WNBA team and the Seattle Sounders, men's soccer team." Meredith explains.
"Don't forget the Seattle Reign women's soccer team." Callie adds. "I just started working with them."
"Wow, Dr Torres. That is impressive." Tori exclaims.
"Well, I was hoping to get on the Seahawks team of physicians, but until Marty over at the University hospital retires, I don't have a chance. Though with the cartilage project, I've consulted on a few of the players."
"How interesting.." Tori says focusing on the woman across from her until she notices that she's a little nervous by the attention.
Turning to Arizona, Tori asks, "Dr Robbins, I understand that biking is really popular here, do you still bike?"
Everyone turns to Arizona surprised by this, as they've not known this about her.
Callie blurts out, "Biking? Arizona?"
"Tori, I haven't biked since I graduated med school and could afford a car." She says smiling and everyone laughs.
"But really, you were a biker?" Callie asks.
"My apartment was close to campus and I didn't need a car, so I just rode a bike. I'm sure everyone here had a bike at one time." Arizona asks deflecting the attention.
They all look around the table, Arizona is so private, this is a rare glimpse into her past. Amelia jumps at the chance to ask, "Wait, did you wear bike gear?"
"She did have bike gear." Tori confirms then adds, "how many races did you compete in?"
"A few, again, it wasn't a big deal. It was just a stress relief, Callie you played softball, Meredith was it lacrosse?" Arizona asks her friends, again deflecting the attention.
"Wait, don't you have a bike in that storage unit. I never understood why you kept that storage unit after we bought the house," Callie says turning to face the blonde beside her.
"Um Calliope, this is perhaps a conversation that we don't need to have now. Later, okay?" Arizona says putting her hand on the Latina's leg to get her attention.
Glancing down briefly at the contact, Callie agrees and then turns back to face the group. "Well this was certainly interesting, I didn't realize the two of you were friends in Med school." She directs at Tori, still distracted by Arizona's hand on her leg, Callie moves her hand on top of it and smiles discreetly at her.
"Oh we weren't actually. We, uh, just had friends in common and well, Dr Robbins was pretty hard to miss. She was top intern and resident each year of med school. Even though I was ahead of her, she was the one to watch. I've followed her career, we both were mentored by Dr McCale and he continues to measure his students against her." Tori explains, turning her gaze back to the blonde.
Uncomfortable by the attention and then realizing that her hand is still in Callie's lap, Arizona fidgets and carefully withdraws her hand. But sensing her discomfort, Callie slides her hand back over and squeezes her hand before letting go completely.
"Dr McCale is a fan of yours as well Dr James," Webber interjects. "He spoke highly of your time as Chief Resident and mentioned that he recommended you for Trauma Chief at Boston Gen, where I believe that you beat out a few more seasoned Trauma surgeons for that position."
"Yes, that was rather surprising for me to get that position and after almost ten years, it's time to move on and explore new opportunities." Tori replies.
The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly and soon they are heading out. Callie stops Arizona and offers to drop her off at her place. Meredith goes home with Amelia and Jackson and Webber take Dr James back to her hotel.
"Well that was certainly interesting," Callie says as they get in the car.
"It was weird, I didn't realize she knew those things about me. I don't really know much about her at all." Arizona says still a bit uncomfortable by the attention at the dinner.
"How is it, that I didn't know that you were into biking?" Callie asks putting the car into gear and backing out.
"Because when I moved to Seattle, I put my bike in storage and haven't biked since." Arizona explains.
"I get that, but what I don't understand is why." Callie turns slightly as they stop at the light.
"It's a long story and not that interesting." Arizona replies, staring into her soft brown eyes full of concern.
"Okay, I'll let it go for now. But this was nice, we don't ever just spend time together any more and I'd like to. Could we get together for lunch soon or dinner?" Callie asks, pulling up in front of Arizona's building.
Admitting to herself that it has been nice to spend time with the brunette, Arizona surprises herself by asking, "Would you like to come up? I have a new tea that you might like."
"Oh, well it's not that late. Sure, I'd love to see your place again." Callie says smiling happily.