Unexpected Song 2/?
Title: Unexpected Song 2/?
Author: GreysAddictJ
Pairing: Callie/Arizona
Rating: M/NC-17 (for later chapters)
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. No infringement intended. Also, I don’t use a beta, so all mistakes are mine.
Summary: A/U - Arizona Robbins is a veteran musical theater composer with several Tonys to her name. But after a series of flops, she’s in serious need of a hit. Can rookie composer Callie Torres be the key to her success? Both hope for a hit, but discover that working together inspires more than just beautiful music. It’s also a loose modern retelling of one of my favorite novels. See if you catch on.
* * * * *
The next day, Arizona rolled out of bed in a sour mood. She was exhausted, as she’d stayed up late the night before, watching several different film versions of Pride and Prejudice, since she hadn’t read the book since high school. More importantly, she had a meeting with Callie at noon and she was not looking forward to it. She had gotten the sense that there was some underlying resentment or tension coming from Callie, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why. But a quick Google search for her name along with Callie’s quickly brought her an answer. She’d apparently made an offhand remark about the quality of Callie’s lyrics. No doubt Callie had taken it as a personal offense.
Arizona ran a frustrated hand through her hair as she readied herself for the meeting. She had somehow gotten roped into working with a total newbie, on a project that at least at the moment, seemed far from ideal. She regretted agreeing, but Miranda had caught her in a weak moment. Bailey had been right. She needed a hit. Her life had been one disappointment after another lately. Both professionally and personally. But that wasn’t all. She was feeling guilty for running late to that meeting, and despite the fact that she and Bailey were friends, she still hated making people wait. In addition, her head was spinning from the cause of her lateness.
Just fifteen minutes before she’d needed to leave for the meeting with Bailey, there had been a knock at her door. She’d opened it to see her ex Joanne standing there, looking slightly bashful with a handful of roses. Joanne was her ex both romantically and professionally. They’d been writing partners for 8 years and lovers for half that time.
Joanne was beautiful. Lithe and slim, gorgeous dark eyes and hair with just a hit of something exotic. Arizona had fallen for her the moment they’d met. However, it had taken Joanne a while to come around. Unlike Arizona, she’d never been with a woman before. And she was cautious.
Despite the length of their relationship, they’d never officially come out as a couple. Arizona had been giddy and in love. She’d wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Joanne had been more hesitant. She’d made excuses about how it might affect their career. How people might judge them differently. So, despite the fact that it went against everything she believed in, Arizona had kept quiet. She was in love. She was happy. She’d do what her girlfriend wanted.
Yes. They’d been happy. Or so she thought. She’d thought so until the night she came home sick instead of going to the benefit gala she’d originally planned to go to. She’d thought so until she opened the door to their apartment. She’d thought so until she saw the trail of discarded clothing across the living room floor. She’d thought so until she’d seen Joanne beneath the toned, masculine body of the leading man of their latest show.
All of those memories flooded back as she’d seen Joanne standing there in her doorway. It was first time she’d seen her in months. Joanne had pleaded with her. Begged her forgiveness. Promised to devote herself completely to her. She’d even promised to come out publicly as a couple.
Arizona had been tempted. The woman still had a pull on her heart, though the strength of the pull was fading. She’d hesitated, just for a moment, missing the happier times. But she hadn’t given in. In the months since their split, she’d realized she hadn’t been happy. Not for a while. Joanne was selfish. She was manipulative. And, though it had taken Arizona a while to admit it, Joanne had never really loved her. If she had, she wouldn’t have been ashamed of their relationship. And there was no other reason for hiding, given how accepting the theater community was. It had pained her to admit it to herself, but it was true.
She’d also realized that their failing relationship had affected their composing. Things had gotten stale. Towards the end, they’d written more out of obligation than passion. More because they should than because they were inspired. And the reviews and ticket sales reflected that.
She’d turned Joanne down. It saddened her how quickly Joanne’s sweet talking turned to vindictive insults once she’d realized Arizona wasn’t going to welcome her back with open arms. This only steeled Arizona’s resolve. Their conversation had quickly turned into a shouting match, which Arizona wasn’t proud of. But she’d had to get some of her bottled up anger off her chest. After 15 minutes of screaming, she’d finally stormed off to her meeting.
It was with that swirl of emotions that she’d received Bailey’s proposal. She knew she should’ve said no, but there was no sense in trying to back out now. There was a contract. And she didn’t want to upset Bailey. It was only a six week trial after all. Then she could gracefully bow out. Even if this Torres girl turned out to be awful, at least she was easy on the eyes. There was that benefit at least.
* * * * *
As Callie readied herself for their lunch meeting, she warred with her feelings. On the one hand, she’d been truly blessed with this opportunity. Not only was she getting a chance to compose for one of the biggest producers in the business, but she was getting to work with one of the greatest lyricists of her generation. Yes, that lyricist had been unfairly mean. Yes, she was annoyingly perky and bubbly. But that didn’t take away from the fact that Arizona Robbins was a musical theater legend in the making.
Despite this great opportunity, Callie was not looking forward to the meeting. How could Arizona work with someone whom she thought so little of ? And how could Callie be expected to work with someone she knew didn’t respect her? She was a rock star. She knew it. She just needed everyone else in the business to know it.
Still, just the thought of having lunch with that woman turned Callie’s stomach into a jumble of nerves. She’d torn apart her closet trying to find just the right outfit. She didn’t know why exactly. She felt all the nerves of a first date. Which was silly. She had no reason to impress this woman. After all, this was strictly a professional meeting. And what she wore was not going to do much to change Arizona’s opinion about her composition skills. Still, it couldn’t hurt to feel just a little sexy and bad ass. It’d help her fake the confidence she didn’t feel.
Despite her misgivings, she really needed this to work. She was living in a tiny sixth floor walk up with her cynical sarcastic roommate Cristina. Her savings was dwindling. Her father had cut her off when she’d been “foolish” enough to end her unhappy marriage, quit her corporate job, and move to New York to follow her dreams. If she didn’t get some success soon, she’d be forced to find a job, probably two, in order to stay in New York. That would not leave much time for writing music, thereby defeating the whole purpose.
Thankfully, Bailey’s offer had come at just the right time. Now Callie had to pray that the project continued past the six week trial period. And that it continued with her as composer, whether or not Arizona agreed to continue. And Callie had to admit that she wouldn’t be that upset if another lyricist stepped in. Or if Bailey decided to let her write both the music and lyrics. Her lyrics weren’t that bad… Callie’s gut tumbled at the thought. As much as she hated Arizona for her comment, deep down she knew there was a grain of truth. She’d never been in love, even with her ex-husband. The lyrics had lacked depth. But it didn’t mean her pride didn’t still sting from the barb.
* * * * *
Callie sat at a table for two at a small café. She tried to distract herself with the hubbub of the busy servers, the other customers, her phone, and anything else she could think of. She struggled with her nerves, even though she tried valiantly to convince herself that she had nothing to be nervous about. She told herself that it didn’t matter what Arizona thought. She told herself that she was plenty talented - otherwise Bailey wouldn’t have chosen her. She told herself that she just needed to get through the next six weeks. She told herself she wasn’t there to make friends. Despite all this, her stomach was filled with butterflies. And when she saw the bubbly blonde whirlwind that was Arizona Robbins stroll through the door, those butterflies turned into small birds.
As Arizona entered the café, her eyes scanned the room for Callie. Finally setting her eyes on the pretty raven-haired woman, she proceeded to the table. She ignored the slight flutter of her heart as she saw Callie. Sure, she was cute, but that wasn’t anything to get all worked up about. This was a business arrangement, plain and simple. And she’d learned her lesson the hard way with Joanne. Mixing business and personal could have disastrous results. And she wasn’t about to complicate things with a short fling with Callie. If she needed a fling, she could easily find a willing candidate with whom she didn’t have to work. She was hot. There were always women lining up for her.
As Arizona slid into the chair opposite her, Callie’s nerves went into overdrive. She took a deep breath, noticing the slightly enticing fragrance that followed Arizona to the table. Somehow, the slight citrusy scent, along with the small, dimpled grin of Arizona comforted her and she felt herself relaxing.
“Hello, Calliope.” Arizona said as she sat down.
Callie’s hackles immediately went up at the use of her full name, but she decided it wasn’t a battle worth fighting. “Hi.” She responded, before glancing down at her menu.
Deciding to break the ice with a little small talk, Arizona picked up her menu. “So, what’s good here?” She asked, since the restaurant had been Callie’s choice.
Callie, seeing that Arizona was going to be friendly, decided to respond in turn. There was no sense in unnecessarily injecting conflict. Even if she felt a bit resentful, she could hide it for the sake of their working relationship. “Well, their tuna burger is great, as are all of their salads.” She replied.
Arizona nodded in understanding and studied the menu. There was something about this woman . . . She couldn’t quite place it. But Callie just unnerved her slightly. Maybe she just needed to get laid. Arizona returned her thoughts to the menu as she made a mental note that maybe it was time to make a trip to her favorite gay bar with her friends. Find someone to take the edge off.
After ordering their meals, they engaged in small talk for a while. As their meals arrived, Arizona got down to business. “So what do you make of Pride and Prejudice? Who’s your favorite character?”
“Lizzy, of course.” Callie said. “She’s very modern and pretty forward-thinking for her time. I respect her for not letting societal pressures get to her, for not compromising who is she or settling for the first man who takes a liking to her.”
“I can see that. Though I do think she was awfully quick to judge people, don’t you think?” Arizona asked.
Callie bristled slightly at the dig at one of her all-time favorite literary characters. “Sure, she judges people. But usually with good reason. Mr. Darcy, for example, is a condescending, pompous ass for the first half of the novel. Why shouldn’t she judge?”
Arizona smirked slightly. “I think Darcy is just misunderstood. Besides, you’d be a bit condescending too if you had to deal with her ridiculous family and their overtly gold-digging motives.”
Callie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She knew, somewhere beneath the anger that was beginning to build, that she was overreacting. But she couldn’t help herself. She stabbed at a piece of lettuce in her salad with a bit too much violence. “Some people are just too wrapped up in their own trumped up view of themselves to notice when they’re being judgmental asses. And that just because some people come from less prestigious backgrounds doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re any less worthy. That they’re somehow less talented or kind or worth less notice.”
Arizona rolled her eyes. It wasn’t quite clear whether Callie was talking about the book, or something more personal. Unable to back down, she threw out her best retort. “And maybe some people are too easily offended. Too eager to judge a person by first impressions. Whether it’s fair or not. Wounded pride is at the root of this whole thing, I think.” Arizona said, with a slightly self-satisfied smirk. Callie’s eyes flashed with anger. Arizona felt a sudden jolt between her thighs. Calliope Torres was beautiful in any light. But angry Calliope Torres. Drop dead stunning.
Callie opened her mouth to reply when Arizona’s phone went off. Callie rolled her eyes at the rudeness. Clearly Arizona didn’t even care enough about the meeting to put her phone on silent. And even ruder, Arizona answered after looking at the caller ID.
“Hi Miranda. What’s up?” Arizona said.
Callie’s anger was tempered a little at the realization that it was Bailey on the other end of the call.
“Uh huh . . . yeah. . . I don’t know. I’m not sure I’m free . . . okay, okay . . .” Arizona sighed and gestured with her free hand. “Okay. I’m in. But I get to bring a date. Yeah. She’s here with me actually.”
Arizona pulled the phone away from her ear. “It’s Bailey. She wants us to come to her apartment for a little get together. Apparently she tried to call you, but got voicemail.”
Callie looked at her phone and saw that she did indeed have a missed call from Bailey. Arizona handed her the phone. Callie spoke with Bailey, got the details, and reluctantly agreed to go. As much as she wanted to get as far away from Arizona as possible, she couldn’t say no. Especially since Arizona had already agreed. She wasn’t going to be the one to back down.
The phone call had cut into the conversation enough to cool their near-screaming match. However, the tension was still there. As Callie stared across the table at Arizona, she struggled to contain her emotions. They were such a mixture. Of tension, of anger, of frustration, of . . . something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint. As much as she really hated Arizona at the moment, she also felt drawn to her. Felt the need to spend time with her. And she had no idea why.
They said their goodbyes a short while later, having agreed to work on a plan for where songs belonged in the story, They shook hands somewhat awkwardly, holding on just a moment longer than was normal. Callie’s mouth was dry and she felt a little unsteady. It must be the nerves and excitement and frustration of working with THE Arizona Robbins. Or something . . .
Arizona left the café and headed straight home. She needed a cold shower. Callie was frustrating and stubborn and fiery and . . . very, very hot. It was definitely going to be an interesting six weeks. To say the least.