When Colin Met Nefertari
By Robspace54
Doc Martin is owned by Buffalo Pictures. This story is a work of fanfiction and in no way presumes any ownership of, or intrusion upon, the rights of the copyright holders of Doc Martin, the characters, or story lines.
Prologue – Near the end of Series 7.
"And when are you going to ask me out properly?"
Al was surprised by Morwenna's strong question. "Where'd that come from?" he asked. He stood a few feet away from her in the Doc's reception room, and she seemed different somehow; brighter, happier perhaps, as well as determined.
She smiled at him. "Guess I'm on a roll." She was afraid she'd scare him off. Come on Al, she thought, don't bolt.
He scratched the back of his neck. "Uhm. Tomorrow night?"
"That would be acceptable."
Al nodded. "Good. Tomorrow then."
She beamed at him; brighter than before. "Right."
Chapter 1 - Starters
Morwenna looked across the table at Al. It was the next night and he'd taken her out to the restaurant where they'd met once before. He'd shaved closely, so close she could see where he'd nearly scraped his cheeks raw. Better than his usual scruffy whickered look, and the sports coat he wore look new or at least she'd not see it before, not that Portwenn was much of a place for coats and ties. "I like your tie. Nice stripes."
Al glanced down to where he'd been fingering the too-tight knot at his neck. "Thanks."
"New?"
"Yeah." He took a sip of his beer. "Uhm, that a new dress?" It was rare he saw her wearing a dress, usually just some cockamamie looking combo of wild top and trousers, or worse shorts and tights; all in clashing colors. But tonight? She looked very trim and proper. The light blue dress suited her dark hair, and her blue fish earrings were contrasting enough to be noticeable. But were those feathers dangling from her earlobes as well? Feathers on a fish? Well, Morwenna had her own unique style, different from Pauline or Elaine.
Morwenna grinned at him and smoothed the pleats across her lap. "No, it was in the back of the closet. Janice helped me pick it out. I've had it for a while." Truth be told she'd bought it at the second-hand shop just that morning. It was hiding on a rack in the back. It wasn't something she'd wear just any day, but this was their first – call it a date? She glanced at nervous Al and took note of the obvious care he'd taken with his grooming. Yeah, a date. The dress fitted her perfectly and with new earrings, it felt faultless, along with a simple necklace of silver seashells, along with flat shoes. Yes Morwenna, she thought, good one. Good show.
He bobbed his head. "It looks, uhm, it looks good on you." He took another small sip of Tribute beer to have something to do with his hands, other than fiddling with his tie. He sighed. This wasn't quite going how he'd hoped it might. He was getting tongue-tied; not as bad as on Radio Portwenn, but close. He started to examine the bottle label, so he didn't have to stare at her, but her wanted too; oh yes.
"Thank you." She saw him fidgeting. "Problem?"
Al winced for he was mucking this up. "No. So… did you see the Doc and Lousier… at all today?"
She shrugged. "He closed practice for the day. He called last night – actually it was Louisa on the phone. She told me the Doc 'needed a rest' and that makes sense. But I did see her in the co-op this afternoon. She looked fine; tired perhaps, but with everything that happened…" Her voice petered out for she'd sworn to herself not to gossip. "You know."
Al nodded. "Right."
An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Taking a deep breath, she went on, ""But Janice saw them both today, and I asked her about the Doc. She told me," she dropped her voice, "that he had a rough time… looked quite different somehow."
Al nodded. "Yeah. Annie and Jim Winton are a bit odd, and their son as well. I run into him once or twice. Always has that brute of dog with him. Scary." He chuckled at her. "The dog too."
Morwenna picked up her wine glass and looked over at the waitress, holding her empty glass in the air. She caught the woman's eye who came straight to their table. "Another please."
"Yes," the waitress answered. "For you sir?"
Al squirmed a little as he tipped the beer bottle. "I'm good."
"Just the wine then," Morwenna said.
The waitress told them, "I just checked on your dinners and they'll be out soon." She smiled down at them, and Al felt her gaze keenly. He'd scrubbed his fingernails closely but they were still a bit busted after helping Dad move more barrels into Ruth Ellingham's shed. He pushed his hands under the table to hide them. Gloves, he thought – wear gloves the next time you're shifting gear. Right? Right, he thought. And my shoes? He glanced under the table. For all the polish and buffing he'd laid on they were old shoes, but the best he had though – his go to Sunday worship and funeral shoes. Oh, and the Doc's and Louisa's wedding too.
He watched as she took another bite of a celery stick she'd dipped in the spicy mayonnaise.
"Good this." She said crunching away. "And celery takes more calories to eat then you get from eating it."
Al laughed. "I'm not so keen on celery – sticks in my teeth. But I like the hummus." He picked up more crispy flatbread and dragged it through the dish of ground chickpeas. "On this crunchy bread." He took a small bite and the flatbread disintegrated in a spray of crumbs and hummus over his plate. "Oh bollix," he muttered.
Morwenna reached over and dabbed at his face with her tissue. "Had a speck right there."
Their eyes met and he flinched. "Right. Thanks."
Morwenna picked up a crab ball and popped it into her mouth. "These are good as well."
At a loss for more talk, he examined his beer until her wine refill came then she smiled at him. Come on Al, he thought, say something. Don't be like Mike Pruddy. Then she took a deep breath as she decided to light him up. "So Colin," she playfully to him after the waitress walked away, "how's all your entrepreneurial ventures going?"
Al laughed. "Oh great, really great. I was talkin' to my banker the other day, and it's all top notch." He got a big grin. "And you Nefertari? How's that medical information empire going?"
That made her giggle. "Oh, you know, plenty of regular plain-Jane stuff; some it is quite secret."
"I'm guessin' you know stuff you can't talk about."
Resting her arms on the table she leaned towards him. "Oh yes. So my assistant says that a certain Doctor, you know who, was seen in his PJs and robe this morning at ten o'clock!"
"Lord," Al muttered. "Had a bit of lie-in? Huh. He earned it."
"And the Head Teacher was still wearin' her yellow and white flowered robe at that hour as well."
Al leaned towards her and whispered, "My, my, Nefertari, that is rather… shall we say… juicy." He sat back in his chair, so the Doc and Lousier, I mean, this other doctor and the teacher, were almost acting like normal people. He smiled. "Your assistant?"
"Janice."
"So your housemate, I mean assistant…"
"Had to go up to the Doc's to return some of James Henry's things she'd forgotten at my house."
Al shook his head. "So perhaps a little kidnapping was just what the doctor ordered, or perhaps the teacher… ordered it? Do you think?" He laughed quietly.
"Al! Gee. But right," Morwenna. She snapped her fingers. "Like that maybe they can act like normal people. If those two ever could."
Al rubbed his jaw. "Normal? Normal. Well that's the thing ain't it? Some folks go puttin' on airs…"
She picked up her glass and looked over it playfully. "Says Colin."
His face fell. "You know I feel bad about that; the Colin thing."
"Well I called myself Nefertari." She chuckled. "What was I thinking?"
Their blind date through Cornwall Couples had been a bust as soon as each saw who their date really was. But that was five weeks back and now was now, so Al took the lead. "Been meaning to ask you," he said, "why Nefertari?"
"I looked her up. The head wife of Rameses II, and her name means 'beautiful companion'. And her husband called her 'the one for whom the sun shines.'"
Al nodded. "Musta been a looker then and greatly loved, no doubt. Smashing name."
Morwenna grinned at him. "Colin? Why Colin exactly?"
He shrugged. "I mean who'd want to meet for dinner with a fella named Al? Sort of a rubbish name, ain't it?" He toyed with his fork. He could have told her he'd taken it from the late Colin Chapman, who'd founded Lotus Cars, but that would sound stupid to her. Who was he, Al Large, anyway? Just a down on his luck plumber's son, who was trying to turn Ruth's farm into a working B&B, with a hook – a hook for fish. Instead he asked, "And this Nefertari, the original, when did she live?"
"She died about 1255 BC."
Al gave a low whistle. "'The one for whom the sun shines.' If we know her name after all this time, she musta been a hell of a woman." Understanding dawned on him. "And that's why you picked the name."
Morwenna pursed her lips. "Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
"Yeah," she said trying not to blush, but she felt her face grow hot anyway.
Before Morwenna could say more, the waitress brought their dinners, interrupting further comments.