The Shop at the Mall

Author: Milady Dragon

Disclaimer: I don't own either Torchwood or "The Shop Around the Corner".

Author's Note: I meant to have this up last week, but real life conspired against me. I wrote this as a second story for Reel Torchwood Round Four, and it is based on the 1940 movie "The Shop Around the Corner" starring James Stewart. I do hope you enjoy!

Chapter One

Dear Friend,

I was so glad to receive your letter. The last several days have been bad ones for me, so seeing your envelope in my post box felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I opened it immediately and read it right there in the post office, I'm not ashamed to admit. Your words cheered me immensely, and I had to write you as soon as I could –

Jack Harkness jumped at the loud rapping on his car window, and he crumpled the letter he'd been reading just a little as he reacted to the unexpected intrusion. His head shot around, and he sighed as he saw Suzie Costello standing outside the drivers' side window, a large grin on her face.

Placing the precious letter back in its envelope and slipping it into the inner pocket of his greatcoat pocket, Jack retrieved his keys from the ignition of his SUV then stepped out of the vehicle, greeting his friend. "Morning, Suzie."

"Is it from him?" she asked curiously, as they walked toward the rear of Williams Electronics together.

Jack smiled. "Yeah, it is." It had been at Suzie's urging that Jack start up a correspondence with his mysterious friend, after she'd seen an advert in the classifieds for someone looking for a pen pal to exchange ideas and correspond on other subjects of interest. Jack had baulked at first; in this day of internet and email, sending handwritten letters had seemed very prosaic, and he wasn't certain he'd wanted to take the time. But Suzie had pointed out that he had all the time in the world since his break-up with Estelle, and why not make a new friend, even if it was someone anonymous?

He had to admit, she'd been right. The letters had quickly become the highlight of his week, and even though they'd only been writing each other for a little over a month, Jack knew he was quickly growing to love his mysterious pen pal, whoever he was.

Jack used his key to let them into the shop. He'd been working for Williams Electronics for nine years, three of those as store manager. He'd gotten the job fresh out of the RAF, and was one of Rhys Williams' first employees…and his longest serving. Jack loved it there; Rhys was a good man to work for – even if he was somewhat of a Luddite, surprising for someone who'd opened a shop carrying all sorts of electronics gear. They also had a good group to work with…well, John was a bit of an arse, and Owen could be a royal prat, but they were a great team.

He and Suzie made their way to the employee lockers, where they hung up their coats. "Are you going to meet up with him anytime soon?" Suzie asked.

Jack shrugged. "I'd like to, but I don't know if he will. He was the one who wanted anonymity, after all."

His friend rolled her eyes. "Please. It's pitifully obvious you have a thing for him. Why not take it to the next level?"

Jack opened his mouth to reply…but instead, he belched rather loudly.

Suzie's eyes widened. "Dinner was that good last night?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "I ate way too much and I'm paying for it today." He was usually invited to eat with the boss and his wife once a month, and Jack always enjoyed it. Although he didn't actually appreciate Gwen Williams' flirting with him…it wasn't that she was unattractive, it was that she was married to his boss. Jack may flirt as well, but he'd never do anything to hurt Rhys. He liked the man far too much. Besides, he simply didn't approve of that sort of thing.

"Did you say you're paying for eating at the boss' house last night?" a sarcastic voice cut into their conversation. "Was it that bad?"

Jack rolled his eyes before turning toward the source of the interruption. John Hart had entered, followed by the others who worked with him: Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, and Andy Davidson. "I didn't say it was bad at all," he answered, as the three scattered to their own lockers, while John simply stood there, a mischievous smile on his lips. "What I said was that I ate too much. You're just trying to stir up trouble, John." Rhys made the best lasagne, and it was almost impossible not to eat more than usual.

"Well, yeah," he answered, as if Jack was just figuring that out. "We can't all be teacher's pet, can we?"

Jack chose to ignore the challenge in his voice. "Let's get it together, people. Shop hours start in ten minutes." John had been invited once to the Williams' for dinner, but never again, and he couldn't get the reason out of Rhys for nothing, which was a surprise as much as the man liked to rant.

"Jack," Toshiko piped up, "I have an out-of-shop call today; technical support on a customer's computer. If I'm right about what's wrong it shouldn't take more than an hour or two."

Jack nodded. Toshiko was their technical expert, and was often out on house calls. "Make sure you track your mileage… "

She smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "And how long have I been doing this?" she asked playfully.

"Yeah, yeah," Jack accepted the good-natured ribbing. "I know…long enough to know that. But if I didn't remind you, you'd think there was something wrong with me."

"I think I might be out later too," Suzie added. "I need to check the schedule but I believe I have that plasma installation that Owen sold yesterday."

Owen nodded. He was one of their best salesmen, even if he spent more time on than off the computer playing the games demos they got in. "Yeah, it's today, out in Penarth."

"You'll need Andy to go with you then?" Jack asked. Suzie was their installer, and would often take Andy out to do her heavy lifting.

Suzie agreed, and Andy grinned. "Gets me out of the stockroom for a change then."

Jack chuckled; he knew how much Andy wanted to be out on the floor, instead of doing their fetching and carrying. And who knew…closer to Christmas, they might actually be hiring more sales help. And Jack thought Andy was more than capable of moving up.

"Good morning, team," came the jovial voice of their boss, Rhys Williams. The man himself bustled into the employee's room, a large smile on his friendly face. He clapped his hands. "Are we ready for another day?"

They all answered in the affirmative. Working for the Welshman was one of the best jobs; he appreciated all of his employees.

"Fantastic," Rhys said. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

With that, they scattered. Jack headed toward the front door, to roll up the metal shutter and let in the first of the days' customers.

The day went well. They weren't too busy, and there were times when Jack would think about the man he'd been writing, and how much he looked forward to his letters. He sometimes wondered what the mystery pen pal looked like, but then would dismiss the notion knowing that it really didn't matter. He was getting to know someone from the inside, and to him that felt more solid and real than any sort of physical relationship…which said something about Jack Harkness. He'd always been a very physical person, needing that connection in order to relate to people. But now…that had changed. His friend had changed him without even knowing it.

During lunch, he took the letter back out of his coat, to finish reading it. He hadn't had a chance, when Suzie had interrupted him earlier that morning.

Are you tall? Are you short? Are your eyes blue, or brown?

Don't tell me.

What does it matter, as long as our minds meet? We have enough trouble in our daily lives; believe me, I know that better than anyone.

But there are so many great and beautiful things to discuss in this world of ours. It would be wasting precious moments if we told each other all the little vulgar details of our lives, they aren't important to what we have.

"Jack?"

He looked up, aware of the sappy smile that had to be on his lips, and he didn't care. Rhys stood in the doorway, his dark eyes twinkling. "Love letter?" he asked.

Jack folded it up and tucked it away in his jacket pocket. "Not really," he admitted. "But it's from a friend."

"Very good friend, looks like," his boss teased.

He couldn't deny that. "What can I do for you?"

"Just wanted you to meet the new guy I just hired."

Jack's heart sank. It had long been decided that any hiring should come through him; Rhys had proved to be a sorry judge of character, seeing the good in everyone and not willing to do even the smallest of background checks. That had led to one too many people trying to get one over on the boss and him, and Jack always had to keep his eye out for any trouble.

Rhys got that stubborn look in his eye. "I know what you're thinking, Jack Harkness," he said, wagging his finger. "Just remember, I hired you once!"

He couldn't deny that either.

"And this young man impressed me," his boss went on. "Nice clothes, nice manners…and he managed to sell an entire home entertainment system before I even hired him!"

Jack leaned back in his chair, impressed despite himself. "And why was he even talking to a customer? Where was anyone else?"

Rhys rolled his eyes. "John had to run an errand for me. God knows where Owen is, and Tosh is in the back working on a bad motherboard for a client. And you were back here. Apparently the woman thought he worked here because he was professionally dressed and approached him to help her. He knows his stuff, and with Christmas coming in a few months, we could use the extra help out front."

"I'd actually thought of bringing Andy up from the back –"

"Bloody hell, Jack! He's not a tech or sales! And you think I can't hire?"

Jack felt irritated at Rhys' casual brush-off of Andy. "He's been here for years, and he's been learning from Suzie –"

"No, Jack. Andy's stock, plain and simple. Now we have a real salesman in the shop, and I intend on keeping him." Rhys' expression went from belligerent to pleading. "At least give the man a chance."

Well, it seemed he didn't have a choice. "I'm keeping my eye on him though."

"I'd expect no less!" A wide smile graced his boss' genial face. "C'mon, meet your new salesman."

Jack followed his boss out onto the sales floor, and at his first sight of the newest member of his team he couldn't help but think it wouldn't be such a hardship to keep an eye on him, after all. Dark hair, blue eyes…a nice body in a perfectly fitted charcoal suit…yep, not so hard at all…

"Jack," Rhys said, "this is Ianto Jones…Ianto, this is Jack Harkness, my general manager."

Ianto held out a hand, and Jack took it, letting his grasp linger just a few seconds longer than was quite necessary. "Welcome to Williams Electronics, Ianto Jones," Jack greeted.

"Thank you, Sir," Ianto answered, the Welsh accent backing up the Welsh name. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

"I just bet you are," Jack said with a leer.

"Down, Jack," Rhys chuckled. "Don't scare him off with your flirting."

"I feel I'm up to the challenge, Sir," Ianto replied, one eyebrow raised.

Jack knew he was going to enjoy working with the young man.

That was, until Jack got his hands on Ianto Jones' resume.

Torchwood Technologies.

The impressive young man had worked for Torchwood Technologies.

Everyone knew about Torchwood Technologies. They'd started off as a good idea; as a research and development firm that specialized in computer-driven products, including a sat-nav-type device called ATMOS. But it had turned out that their testing process had been flawed, and a lot of people had died when ATMOS had literally turned into a bomb under the correct circumstances. Jack had lost a friend to one of the devices before they'd been removed from every vehicle they'd been installed on. Torchwood Technologies had subsequently gone out of business.

Ianto Jones had worked at Torchwood Technologies in London, and that wasn't good in Jack's opinion.

That continued to colour his perceptions of the young man for quite a while.