It was a busy night at Tardis, the hottest restaurant on the scene at the moment. Rose Tyler had just started working there as a busser and dishwasher. She'd been hoping to get a job as a server, but they had wanted someone with experience in a high end restaurant, so she'd have to try to work her way up.

Her mother thought it was beneath her, as Rose had previously been a server at Henrik's, a cafe on the other side of town, She thought Rose was doing herself a disservice by stepping down to an entry level position. But Rose knew it was worth it to put in her time at the bottom, because the servers at Tardis earned more money in one night than she had in a week at Henrik's. And after the cafe had burned down in a gas fire, she was lucky to have found work so quickly at all, and she wouldn't turn her nose up at this opportunity, even if it was a step back.

She showed up early every night, which made her a hit with her supervisor, Martha Jones, who was one of the two she'd interviewed with to get the job. She and the owner, Donna Noble, had been the ones to hire her However, of the two, Martha had been hesitant and only agreed because Rose had seemed to win over Donna with her personality. So Rose had set out to impress Martha from the start. Along with her punctuality, Rose had a sharp eye and a keen sense of timing, which enabled her to almost sense she was going to be needed before anyone said a word to her. Twice she had sensed one of the servers was carrying too much, or would get bumped in a crowded section of the restaurant, and Rose had appeared suddenly to make sure she didn't drop her load, or spill anything on any of the diners. This, along with her speed in clearing and setting tables, made her a hit with the wait staff as well. The regular bartender, Jack, had come to count on her more than anyone else to make sure his station was kept well stocked and cleaned.

In fact, the only person who didn't seem to be overly impressed with Rose was the executive chef, John Smith. He was the most sought after chef in the city, but rather than take any of the cushy jobs that were offered to him after he left his last job, he had opted to join forces with his best friend, Donna, to start their own restaurant. She would oversee the operations while he had free reign in the kitchen. There was a good reason they called him "The Food Doctor," or just the Doctor for short. He had a way of pairing things that didn't seem like they should be in the same room together, let alone on the same plate, and turn them into something absolutely delicious. He spent most of his free time experimenting with ingredients and spices to come up with brand new flavors that would astound people's palates. This was, after all, what made his food such a draw. Unexpected delights. So he was constantly feeling the pressure to top himself and keep Tardis on the map for more than just the usual time a restaurant is a "hot spot."

This desire to constantly be the best left him with a no-nonsense attitude that made most of the support staff timid, at best, to work with him. He was known far and wide as being not only the best chef in the city, but also the rudest and most demanding. If one pea on a plate was out of place, he was in his chefs' faces calling them out on it. He demanded perfection not only from himself, but from everyone around him.

Which was how it came to be that his first encounter with Rose Tyler left her feeling completely terrified of him.

One of her fellow bussers had dropped his tray of dishes in the hallway leading to the kitchen. He had been attempting to clean it up quickly before he got in too much trouble, but in his haste had cut his hand on a shard of glass from one of the broken martini glasses and Rose had stepped in to help, sending him to Martha to administer first aid.

Rose was kneeling, carefully picking up the larger pieces of glass before she could sweep up the rest, when the doors to the kitchen burst open suddenly and a string of insults preceded the man that entered the hallway.

"I don't know why it's so bloody difficult for you people to grasp the concept of plating. It's not difficult. Blimey, I work with idiots." he finished in a mutter, then spotting Rose. "Oh, speaking of, what the hell have you done? Do you have any idea how much those glasses cost? Bloody hell, is it your first day or something? No, any trained monkey could manage to carry a tray of dishes from one room to the other, that's no excuse. I'm going to talk to Donna, this is coming out of your paycheck…whoever you are." he finished, eyeing her up and down until his gaze fell to her name tag. "Rose, is it? Rose what?"

Rose got to her feet, her face beet red, afraid to correct his assumption that it was her fault, lest he think she was lying. "Rose Tyler, chef." she said, trying to hold her head up and look him in the eye, but one look at the fury in his eyes had her looking down again.

"Right, then, Rose Tyler. Get this cleaned up and make sure it doesn't happen again or I'll make sure you get sacked. I don't care if Donna says I can't fire people, I'll fire whoever the hell I feel like." he turned his head back towards the kitchen "D'you hear that? I won't put up with incompetence in my kitchen so if you lot can't get your act together you're out the door. No second chances. Here." he said, reaching for the broom leaning against the wall next to them and shoving it at Rose. "Get this cleaned up before I get back from the Donna's office. I don't want to see you in this hallway when I come back or I swear I'll have your job tonight."

Rose gaped at him as he stormed away, then startled as a hand grabbed her arm.

"Why didn't you tell him it wasn't you?" Jack asked, clearly having witnessed the whole thing.

"What? Like he'd have believed me in that mood? 'Sides, Adam's already on the outs with Donna after being late so much the last week or so. If he'd told Donna that Adam did it, he'd be sacked tonight for sure."

"You're too good to him. I doubt he'd have done the same for you." Jack said, glancing over at Adam who seemed to be playing up his injury to garner sympathy from the waitresses.

"Yeah, well, that's me all over, isn't it? I gotta get this cleaned up before himself gets back, so I'll talk to you later, yeah? And thanks, Jack."

"Anytime, princess," he said, with a wink.

"Oi! Don't call me princess!" she replied, swatting him with a towel as he walked away.

"I mean it as a compliment, not an insult." he called over his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure you do." she said quietly, but with a grin.

She would spend the next two weeks with the sole intention of staying as far away from the so-called Doctor as she could, but little did she know his plans were exactly the opposite. It wasn't at all because he enjoyed looking at her, or so he tried to convince himself.