Disclaimer : I don't own Torchwood, the characters or anything pertaining to the Who-niverse (because let's face it, that would be wicked awesome). Just the OC characters and this fan fiction.
A/N : So here you have the result of the boredom that is my pre-uni summer vacation. I would say "Enjoy!" but as this is my first story, it's probably not much better than the final draft of Twilight (apologies to Twilight fans), but please bear with me. Oh, and sorry for the melodramatic synopsis - I suck at summaries.
Samantha was late. This was nothing new. She had been late all her life. She was three and a half weeks late coming out of her mother's womb and the habit stuck with her for sixteen years. She grabbed her backpack, her car keys, and a thermos full of coffee, which wasn't strange for her, even though it was two in the afternoon. Tired from school, she would need all the energy she could get to make it through the rest of the day.
Three times a week after school, she had an internship at the local observatory, taking only her required classes and dropping unnecessary electives to have time to leave early to take the early shift at the observatory. It was good work experience, as well as giving her a network of connections that would come in use later on. The one downside was her schedule: it was starting to take its toll, especially since she had no time to herself anymore.
She was just about to walk out of the door when the phone rang. She paused at the door, weighing if it was important enough to be even more late, but then she realized it made little difference at that point. With a reluctant sigh, she slammed the door shut and ran to the kitchen and reached across the counter, grabbing the phone from off of the hook.
"Hello?" she asked somewhat shortly.
"Hey, kiddo," her dad said on the other end, "Bad time?"
"Extremely," she said, and then, feeling bad, added, "I'm late picking up Charlie. I know, I know, it's my fault - I had to stay late in Physics for a make-up test and I didn't realize how long it would take. I'm on my way out right now - "
"Whoa, Sam, take it easy," her dad said, trying to put her at ease, "He can hang in there a few minutes. You won't be any good to him if you pass out from exhaustion, now will you?"
She sighed. "Right. Sorry. Point taken; absorbing oxygen."
She could hear him grin on the line. "Much better. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I'll be working a little late tonight, but I'll be home in time for dinner. I thought I'd pick something up. Chinese?"
"Yeah, that's fine," she said, glancing at the clock for the third time.
"Great. I'll see you both around six, then."
"Okay, see you tonight," she said with a smile, "Bye."
No sooner had she hung up the phone did she double back through the house and outside, locking the door behind her. She threw her backpack in the front seat of her car and plopped down in the driver's seat. She turned the key in the ignition, but all she got was an irregular sputtering. She tried it three more times, but all she got was the same result. Groaning in frustration, she looked in her purse, but all she had was a twenty pound note-only enough to get the observatory and back. She would have to walk to pick up Charlie from school. It wasn't that far of a walk.
She grabbed her backpack and the thermos-she would definitely need it today. She sipped the coffee as she walked the two miles to the school. She waited on the sidewalk as the throngs of elementary children poured out of the doors, either waiting on the steps or running to the buses. She saw Charlie before he saw her. She motioned to him, knowing that he would be expecting to see her beat up, silver Camaro. When he saw her, he got an excited smile on his face as he half walked, half jogged toward her.
"Hi, Sammie!" he called excitedly.
"Hey, little man," she said as he greeted her with his usual two second hug, making her smile, "How was school?"
"Fine," he said before changing the subject, "We're not walking all the way home, are we?" he asked breathlessly, as if the very idea of walking two miles instead of driving was making him short of breath.
"No," she teased in the same breathless tone, "We're walking the whole two blocks to the Collins' house, but if you feel like you're going to have a heart attack before then, just let me know."
He got a look of mock indignation on his face, the naive expression that only a child could have before she reached down and tickled him playfully on the stomach, making him laugh that high-pitched laugh that could make any bad day better.
They walked down the street, Charlie getting more animated as he told her about his day, from the art project in his class to the milk fight in the lunchroom. She smiled, listening attentively while simultaneously calculating how late she would be to the observatory and how long her mentor, Professor Bethlyn would lecture her for before letting her get to work.
She sighed, a small smile on her lips. A song that had played on MTV while she was getting ready to leave the house played in her head.
Just another Manic Monday.
A/N : So, yeah, kind of a slow starter, but more action in the next chapter. Reviews would be great.