The Other Girl
Chapter One
It had all started late one November evening, it was a Friday night and the streets of Cardiff Bay were buzzing with life; young teenagers hanging out and drinking, business men laughing and joking around a table and families settling down for a peaceful, family meal.
Ianto Jones sat alone in the far corner of a local bar, he felt very out of place in his smart, expensive black suit among young, pretty women and rowdy men drinking non-stop; the night was only just beginning for them. He took his phone out of his pocket once more, checking for messages, anything from Jack. He had been waiting for almost twenty minutes now and Ianto was getting impatient. He sighed and tucked his phone back inside his pocket then jumped suddenly as he noticed a figure standing over him.
"Easy!" The figure… a woman said, she had a thick Welsh accent and she smiled comfortingly at Ianto as he sighed out in relief. "Little bit jumpy you are!" she commented, "Not waiting for some dodgy dealer, are we?"
Ianto shook his head. "No," he replied, "Just a friend."
She grinned knowingly and winked at him, "Ah, just a friend."
"I- I haven't been stood up!" Ianto replied. 'Jack wouldn't do that' he thought to himself 'Not without a reason'.
"Hey, I didn't think you had!" The woman told him. "I mean, who would stand you up?" This comment caused Ianto to blush vigorously, he turned away slightly to hide his embarrassment.
"Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you," she said, placing her hand on his shoulder, "I'll leave if you like."
"N- No," Ianto replied, turning to face her once more. "Sorry. Just… do I know you?"
The woman shook her head, "Nope" she replied. "But I'm here alone, you've been sat here waiting for the last half hour or so a-"
"Twenty-three minutes," Ianto replied. "Twenty three," he pulled a stopwatch out from under his jacket and showed it to the woman, "Well- twenty four now."
She laughed and rolled her eyes slightly, "You keep that with you always?" she asked. "It's pretty neat, must have cost a fortune."
"Family heirloom," Ianto replied, turning away from the woman once more.
"It's alright," she told him, "I won't pry."
Ianto smiled at her then pointed towards the seat opposite, "You want to join me until my friend comes?" he asked.
"That'd be lovely," the woman replied, slipping into the empty seat. "I'm Rosa by the way".
"Ianto," Ianto replied, offering her his hand. She shook it gracefully and then turned around quickly to wave to the bartender. "A pint of bitter please!" she called, "And what would you like, Ianto?"
"I'm alright thanks," he replied.
"Oh, no! I insist!" Rosa protested.
"Oh, alright then." Ianto said, not wanting to argue, "I'll just have an apple juice please."
"As you wish," Rosa replied. "So," she said, turning back to face Ianto. "Who's the lucky girl then?"
"Sorry, what?" Ianto asked her, confused.
"Well, you're sat here waiting for someone who hasn't stood you up and it's obviously some kind of date, I mean… you're all dressed up, so who is she?" She grinned at Ianto, as he blushed once more.
"It's no-one," he told her.
"Ah, the illusive no-one," she said, suspiciously, raising her eyebrows. "So does this no-one have a name?"
"Yes, infact he does," came a voice from behind Rosa. She turned around to see a tall, handsome and confident looking man standing beside the table. He grinned, pulled a chair over from a nearby table and swung himself casually onto it. "Hey Ianto," he said, taking hold of his hand underneath the table and giving it a squeeze, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"
Ianto nodded awkwardly. "Jack, this is Rosa and Rosa-"
"Captain Jack Harkness!" Jack cut in. "I'm Ianto's… boyfriend." He grinned once more especially after seeing the expression on Ianto's face. Ianto was stunned to say the least, Jack hated the term 'boyfriend', he never used it and whenever Ianto had tried to bring their partnership up Jack had always avoided the subject, 'I hate labels!' he had said. Yet here he was, introducing himself to a total stranger as Ianto's 'boyfriend', Ianto knew if he had said that Jack would not have been best pleased which is why this introduction surprised Ianto somewhat. Ianto's expression, in fact, was even more surprised than Rosa's who looked slightly taken aback at first yet regained her composure almost straight away.
"Nice to meet you," she replied. "Mind if I call you Jack?"
"Be my guest," Jack answered, moving out of the way slightly as a waitress arrived with Rosa and Ianto's previously ordered drinks. After placing them carefully on the table, she caught Jack's eye and turned to face him, smiling.
"Can I get you anything, sir?" she asked him, brushing her fringe subtly from out of her eyes.
"I'm fine thank you," he replied, flashing a grin back at her.
"Well, let me know if you change your mind!" she told him, melting inside slightly as he winked at her, causing Ianto to roll his eyes in disdain.
Jack turned back to face Ianto, who had been sitting in silence sipping at his juice slightly whilst Jack flirted. "I'm so sorry I'm late… honey," he told Ianto. "I got really hold up, this thing occurred and well, I had to sort it."
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Ianto asked, still revelling slightly at the fact Jack had just called him 'honey'.
"I left it at the hu-work," Jack replied, stopping himself slightly as he noticed that Rosa was still sitting there, looking a tad uncomfortable. "Sweetie," said Jack, finishing off his sentence. Ianto raised his eyes slightly; he was very suspicious now… First of all Jack had labelled him his boyfriend, second off he had called him 'honey' and now he was calling him 'sweetie'?
"Right, ur-that's fine," Ianto told him.
"You forgive me?" Jack asked, pouting and clasping his hands together in forgiveness.
Ianto grinned sheepishly; yes… this was definitely Jack. He nodded causing Jack to drop his 'Please forgive me, I love you' expression, and before Ianto could say anything else Jack had leant over the table, put his arm around Ianto's shoulder and had started to kiss him. From the corner of his eye Ianto noticed as the waitress who had served them earlier turned to face their table; her eyes widening and jaw continuing to drop as she noticed the two men, one of them the guy who had flirted with her just a minute ago. Her eyes then flitted over the two men and focused on something else and she shook her head slightly as she noticed Ianto's eyes on her. It was then that Ianto remembered Rosa, feeling guilty he pulled away from Jack and then turned to face her, feeling increasingly bad as she sat slightly apart from the table, staring very uncomfortably into her drink.
"I'm so sorry, Rosa. I…" he started.
"Don't worry about it, really. You just got…" she trailed off also.
"Caught in the moment," Jack filled in. "Tell me about it." He sighed wistfully, and then pecked Ianto on the cheek. "Anyway we've got to go," he told Rosa, picking up his coat and swinging it over his shoulder, "It was good to meet you Rachel".
"Rosa," she corrected him as Ianto smiled apologetically at her. "It was lovely to meet you," Ianto told her. "I mean it."
"I know you do, Ianto," she said, smiling back at him, and then groaning slightly as Jack grabbed hold of Ianto's shoulder and pulled him towards him.
"Come on, honey!" he exclaimed, agitatedly. Waving goodbye at Rosa, Ianto took hold of Jack's hand and allowed him to lead him out of the bar door into the cold winters air.
"Now, what was all that about?" he asked Jack as they turned the corner and Jack hastily let go off Ianto's hand.
"Who was that?" Jack asked, making it clear that he wasn't willing to answer Ianto's question until Ianto answered his.
"I don't really know," Ianto replied. "Her name's Rosa, we… got chatting."
"I want you to stay away from her," Jack ordered him. "She's bad news."
"Jack, you don't even know her!" Ianto argued.
"And neither do you, now please do what I say."
Ianto sighed; he knew it wouldn't be wise to argue any further with Jack, so stayed quiet… for a few minutes.
"So you'll let me be your boyfriend?" he started "But only when it suits you. And calling me honey… really?"
"Look, I really don't want to talk about this right now," Jack told him. "Another time, okay?"
"Okay," Ianto agreed, not wanting to cause an argument. "Now can I take your hand again, please?" he asked. "'Honey' and 'sweetie' I can live without, but… that was nice."
Jack smiled slightly to himself and then removed his hand from his coat pocket and offered it to Ianto who grinned and took it in his own, and then together the two men walked on through the busy dark streets of Cardiff, blissfully unaware of what the future held for them.
