The Aftermath of Callie and Arizona - Volume II

Don't Provoke An Angry Bear Or A Dutiful Wife

"You did what to my wife?!" I immediately stood up from my chair and stepped up to the edge of Charley's desk. At the same time, she moved backwards in her seat and almost seemed to cower as I looked down on her from my standing position.

"Arizona, I didn't mean for it to happen and it will never happen again, I promise. You have to believe me."

"Oh, you are damn right it will never happen again! If anything, EVER HAPPENS again that even remotely crosses a line between you and Calliope, so help me God when I tell you that you will not want to be on the receiving end of my wrath and fury. In fact, if it does happen again and if I were you, I'd consider joining the witness protection program. As a daughter of a Marine, I was taught to fight and to fight hard till the end."

I saw the look on Charley's face change to one of real fear after hearing and registering my words. I could tell she understood what I was saying and where I was coming from.

I was breathing faster now as a rush of adrenaline mixed with caffeine surged through my arteries and veins.

"I assume this means Callie is no longer working with me and understand. Arizona, will you please apologize to Callie for me? I feel horrible my split-second bad decision is the reason why I've lost her as an expert witness."

"Charley, for the record, I never said a thing about Callie not being able to still consult with you. And as for apologizing to Callie, that's up to you, not me. She needs to hear an explanation and an apology from you, Charley."

With a mystified and perplexed gaze on her face, Charley said, "Wait a minute, you're still going to let us work together? I figured after my inappropriate behavior that you would..."

I cut her off, "Callie has loved her time working on the case and I know your client will greatly benefit from her assistance. So, even though I'm not thrilled with the situation, it would be unfair to deprive your client and Calliope, both. However, going forward, there will be some rules in place that I expect you to follow and enforce."

"Arizona, I have no problem doing whatever you ask me to do, going forward. What is also concerning me, is where do I now stand with you? Have I completely destroyed our friendship? Arizona, I am so sorry I kissed, Callie. Believe it or not, I'm not that good with women. I'd like to think I am, but truth of the matter is, they always hit on me. I've never had the courage to approach a beautiful woman myself. So when Callie fell on me, it was so nice to feel her warmth and her touch. I truly got carried away thanks to the wine or I wouldn't have kissed her."

I acknowledged Charley that I heard her words, but continued saying what I needed to say before she rambled on again about being, sorry. There's only so many times you can hear someone utter that word before it starts to tarnish it's meaning.

"I will let you know the conditions I expect, but as for us, I'm not sure where this puts our friendship, Charley. You're unfortunately going to need to wait for my response, as I'm not sure myself how I feel about all this. You're definitely going to need to give me a long minute to think all this over."

"I understand Arizona and hope you can forgive me." Charley had thick tears welling up that she quickly wiped away so she wouldn't look weak and start crying in front of me.

"Will you please speak to Callie today and tell her what actually happened between the two of you on Monday night? I think you owe her an explanation sooner than later."

"I will, Arizona."

"As well, I have a few requests going forward when you spend time with Callie. For damn sure, no more meetings at your house, period. Excuse the pun since you live in a floating home, but that ship, has sailed. Second, I expect you both to meet in hospital conference rooms, with the blinds always open, in well traveled areas where you can be seen at all times."