You're Late
Jack sighed. 8:58 A.M, he thought to himself. Cue Tosh.
The door opened and through it strolled Tosh. 'Morning!' she called happily.
'Good morning to you,' Jack said.
8:58 and thirty seconds, he counted. Enter Owen.
Once more, the door opened and Owen came in. 'Why do we have to be in so bloody early?' Jack heard him mutter.
'Because it's the time every respectable person goes to work,' Jack responded. 'Though, I'll admit, that's a stretch for you. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you're a complete scoundrel and not at all respectable.'
Owen laughed softly. 'Touche,' he admitted.
9:00, Jack told himself. Here comes Ianto.
Ianto moved through the door at his usual clipped pace. 'Morning,' he said.
'Perfectly punctual, as usual,' Jack said.
'Thank you, sir,' Ianto muttered.
Jack sighed. Everyone here. Except one.
Gwen. 9:03, she'll show up.
10 minutes later...
Gwen rushed through the door. 'Sorry I'm late,' she called. 'Just... just got held up.' Her voice cracked. Jack stared at her. He could see through her feigned smile. Something was eating her.
'Gwen?' he called. 'I need to talk to you.'
'You're late,' he stated as Gwen shut the door behind her.
'Yeah, I know that. Thanks for telling me, though,' she said.
Jack felt something tug at his heart strings. He could tell she was hiding something. She was covering up her real emotions with this feigned bravado. He marveled at her bravery. My darling Gwen- always so brave.
'What's wrong?' he asked.
'I'm afraid my clock is slow,' Gwen said with a smile. A fake smile, Jack told himself sadly.
'I'm serious, Gwen. What's wrong?' he asked again.
And Gwen- his usually amazingly brave Gwen- broke down. She fell into a chair and sobbed into her hands. 'Oh, Jack,' she moaned. 'I'm so sorry.'
'For what?' he asked. Standing up, he moved around his desk and knelt next to her. He gently took hold of her wrists and brought her hands away from her face and looked into her eyes, expectant for an answer. 'For what?' he repeated.
She made a general gesture. 'For this. For breaking down in your office,' she said, still crying.
'Don't worry,' he said in a hollow voice. 'What happened?' Suddenly, he glanced at her left hand, which he was still holding, and realized the absence of the ring she had been sporting only the day before. 'Oh, no. He didn't.'
Gwen nodded, taking her right hand out of his and wiping her eyes, finally seeming to get a hold on her crying. 'This morning. He said he'd found someone better.'
'What?' Jack asked, shocked.
Gwen nodded. 'I'm late because... well, because of that, really. Just couldn't bring myself to get out of the car.'
Jack sighed. 'Gwen, you don't need to worry about coming in each morning. We' aren't all like that bastard-'
'Jack!' Gwen burst out. 'Please, don't talk about it.'
'Right,' he said. He got to his feet and paced his office. He'd always known Rhys wasn't good enough for Gwen. He remembered the time when he'd needed Gwen's help on a case, and (fortunately, he thought) interrupted a dinner shared by the couple, and he also remembered Rhys' anger and temper as Gwen had followed him. Fortunately, he also remembered that Gwen had chosen to follow him instead of staying with Rhys...
Angrily, he turned at watched Gwen sitting there, her head held high, the tears drying on her face as she regained composure. No, Rhys was never good enough for such a strong woman.
'I can't believe you put up with him as long as you did,' he burst out angrily. 'He treated you like shit, and you put up with it.'
Gwen just stared straight ahead, unmoving. Strong.
'You know, if it were someone else, they'd have cracked. They would not have let him do that.' He stopped pacing. 'Why did you let him treat you like that?'
She turned her head slowly and looked him straight in the eye. 'I didn't care.'
'What?' He was astonished. 'You didn't care?'
Gwen just shook her head and stood up.
Jack saw the hurt in her eyes and felt his anger melt. He moved to her side and pulled her into a hug. He felt the tension leave her body and she relaxed into his embrace. 'If I were Rhys, I wouldn't have let you go.'
She looked up at him, amusement splashed over her features.
Jack didn't know what made him do it, but he gently stroked her cheekbone with his fingers. 'Seriously, Gwen. He's an idiot for letting you go.' And with that, he lowered his head and kissed her.
She stood frozen for a moment, not responding, but not pulling away, either. Jack waited for a minute, until finally, Gwen started to kiss back. Thrilled, Jack only broke away when he felt Gwen's breathing become shallow.
He looked down at his brave Gwen, and saw her smile. And boy, was it shaping up to be a perfect day.