Chapter 1
That hot Saturday afternoon of July, Arizona got the confirmation that she wasn't able to pack, in fact she hated it.
Every time she put a book or a shirt in a box she got lost in her memories.
When she was younger her mother was there to help her, now she had to menage by herself.
It was the second day and she was already sick and tired of packing. Besides if she did something, she did it well, she had inherited it from her father.
So, nothing could be thrown randomly in a suitcase. Just like nothing, in her life, was left to chance.
She hated moving, yet there she was, moving for the ninth time. Maybe it was because it reminded her of her childhood? Maybe it reminded her of her family from whom she was slowly getting away? Maybe she simply didn't want to live with no roots anymore. Being a military brat, the constants in her life weren't her school friends or her bedrooms. The constants had always been her family and Nick and Teddy, her dad's colleague's children.
'Had been', because she had driven everyone away by now.
She rolled her eyes and she toke a breath trying to expand her lungs and clear her head. Without looking she took a step back, she stumbled on a pile of books and she fell on her butt "Dammit!"
Arizona Robbins hated all of this!
She glanced around her living room moving with her foot the notebooks, now scattered on the ground, and she thought that she had a few more days left.
So, taking a sip of her beer, she sat down on the mattress leaning her back against the wall. She raised her arm to reach her tobacco pouch on the window sill, she rolled a cigarette and she started smoking the second one of that day.
She had agreed with Nicole for a maximum of three per day and, even if at the beginning without her pack, she had lost her mind, now she was glad she had had a so intrusive mentor. On Monday she'd have thanked her.
She had another puff and took her phone ignoring the usual missed call. Tomorrow she'd have call, she thought.
In that moment she just wanted to pull the plug. She decide to text Lauren: she'd have been sorry if she left without a goodbye, after all.
Not even time to finish her cigarette before Lauren texted back:
L: Long time no see! I'll stop by the sushi and I'll be there. The usual?
Arizona put the cigarette out under the sill and she rushed in the shower .
She wasn't in the mood for small talk but Lauren had been her 'friend' for all this time, Arizona cared about her. Besides her stomach had started growling, so maybe eating something wasn't a so bad idea.
Her apartment wasn't inviting, especially the mattress they'd have used both as a table and a bed, so she decided to lay out a blanket in order to make the space a little more comfortable.
Opening the door she found herself in front of Lauren's wonderful smile.
'She is very beautiful' she thought. Yet, Arizona couldn't see nothing more in their relationship.
Lauren was used to the little attention Arizona gave to her house. It was evident that she didn't care. The apartment was actually always clean and tidy but you could say that the owner didn't spend too time decorating it.
"Come on!" Arizona said moving to the side to let Lauren enter "Sorry for the mess!"
"No problem!" and smiled in response "Mattress, right?" making her way to the living room not waiting for an answer.
The blond nodded and added "I'll get us something to drink and I'll join you!"
She knew her guest would have preferred some red, so she took a bottle and two glasses. She placed it all on a small box near the bed turned into a night stand, and she sat down facing the woman.
Starting to eat and pointing to the other end of the room Lauren said "How is the packing going? It seems you are at a good stage!"
Arizona answered taking a bite "You think? Things seem to pop out from every corner! I was going crazy, that's why I thought I could see you".
Lauren smirked cause she knew exactly what the blonde was referring to.
After all, the scheme was always the same: when one of them was in the mood, they'd meet, with no strings or expectations.
They had known each other since Lauren started working at Hopkins, while Arizona was doing her intensive fetal surgical residency.
At work the peds surgeon was considered a legend: she'd been able to combine two of the most competitive residencies in the time of one, but she always downplayed her achievements, saying it was her mentors's credit and that she didn't have anything outside the hospital to keep her busy.
She was hardworking, some could say a "workaholic", strict with interns, clear with adults and really appreciated by her young patients. But not many people knew the details of her off-work life.
One of her first nights in Baltimora, Lauren found her in a lesbian bar and the two decided to leave together.
Lauren would have even tried 'something more' with her, but she was certain she wasn't the only one seeing the blonde… Rumors spread fast in that bar and between nurses too.
Also, Arizona has always been frank: 'She didn't want commitment'. And Lauren was fine with it.
They talked about work and their last surgeries most of the time and after dinner Arizona carried the leftovers into the kitchen.
On her way back she found the woman stripping with her back to her. She joined her and placing her hands on Lauren hips said that that was her job, and she took control of the situation.
Later that night, Lauren was gone, and, exhausted, Arizona lighted her last cigarette.
She was excited about the next chapter of her life. The job she got was her dream job and, finally, it was becoming reality. Running a department would have been challenging and hard, but she liked challenges.
Except the packing one, she hated it.