They meet one night in a Soho club and danced to the pulsing music under the flashing lights. They kiss through a haze of sweat, alcohol and lust, dancing and moving together almost in sync. Ianto revels in the feeling of Villiers' warm, seeking hands against his body. They have sex back at Villiers flat; it's steamy, fantastic and intense. In the morning they shower together and share coffee then part ways.
Two weeks later Ianto meets Lisa.
A couple of months later they bump into one another in the same suit shop. Ianto blushes and stammers slightly, mind suddenly filled with memories of skin on skin and sensual kisses.
Lisa walks up, a waistcoat in hand, and gives it to Ianto saying that it will compliment her dress.
"Who's your friend?" She asks curiously, as Ianto and Villiers are still standing together.
"Lisa, this is John we met several months ago…" Ianto trails off not sure how to continue but Lisa reads between the lines and looks uneasy.
"John, this is Lisa my girlfriend."
They politely shake hands and Villiers excuses himself, "Good to see you again Ianto," he smiles at Lisa, "and to meet you but I need to buy this and head straight back to work. I only get a short lunch break."
"It's the weekend," Lisa exclaims slightly.
Villiers smiles and rolls his eyes, "Working weekends is just the tip of the iceberg." He pats Ianto on the arm as he moves away.
Lisa and Ianto stand silently for a minute before Lisa says, "I can see why you liked him. He's like you, but a few years older."
After leaving that suit shop Ianto never sees Villiers again; eighteen months later his whole world is turned upside down.
Ianto wonders what would have happened if he had another life in another world, or on another Earth. What would have happened if he and John Villiers had gone from a one-night stand, to dating, to a relationship. He wouldn't have ended up with Lisa, wouldn't have dragged her mutilated body out of the ruins of 1 Canada Square and wouldn't have wound up in Cardiff with Torchwood 3 and Captain Jack Harkness.
But, if he had stayed with John and not ended up with Lisa he could have died and probably would have died that fateful day the Cybermen invaded. That would have hurt John so much, as much as Lisa had hurt him. He would never have known, truly known, that Villiers was the PA to the head of MI6, and not Universal Import/Export as he had been told; but John Villiers would never have known that Ianto was the archivist and researcher for Torchwood, and not H C Clements.