Eyelids fluttering open, Rose Tyler finally woke up. It naturally took a few seconds for her eyes to focus properly, and for her sense of disorientation to dissipate. When this happened, she cast her gaze contentedly over her surroundings: the bed in which she laid was soft and comfortable with its plumped-up pillow and candyfloss-coloured duvet; her wardrobe was full of her favourite outfits and the dressing table was littered with various make-up items; the early sunrays crept through the gaps in her curtains and highlighted sections of the room in an inspirational manner. A dreamy smile upon her lips, Rose rolled over and checked the clock on her bedside cabinet. 7:30am.
Instead of groaning at the considerably early hour, Rose's smile extended. Although she was headed to work that morning, she had recently been promoted to assistant manager of the shop she worked in. Things were finally looking up for Rose – she was living in a cosy little cottage in the countryside that wasn't too far away from the town in which her job was situated, a job that was improving every day. She was working her way up in the world, slowly but surely.
With this thought in mind, Rose threw back the covers and all but leapt out of bed. Before getting changed, she brushed her teeth and hastily splashed water over her face in order to refresh and prepare herself for the day ahead. Rose then selected a neat, pastel-blue blouse along with a pair of freshly ironed black trousers, straightening them neatly once she'd got dressed into them. It was certainly a decent outfit, appropriate for working professionally in. It was then around 8:00am, therefore Rose hurried downstairs and fixed up some breakfast (a slice of buttered toast and a glass of orange juice), before grabbing a jacket and heading out of the door.
One handy feature of living where Rose did is that there was a bus stop only a five-minute walk down the road from her cottage that drove into town. Not having a car, the bus was Rose's chosen form of transport she used to get to work. It wasn't long before it arrived, and she settled into her usual seat, next to the window about halfway down the bus. After ten minutes or so, an elderly lady got on at one of the stops closer to town and decided to plonk herself next to Rose.
"Hello, love. You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" The old lady asked, her voice wobbling slightly due to her aged vocal chords.
"'Course not." Rose smiled courteously.
"It's nice to see polite young people about these days. What's your name, sweetheart?"
"Rose."
The old lady's eyes crinkled with happiness. "Beautiful name, that. It's my favourite flower as well. Rose… Yes, it really does suit you."
"Thanks." Rose grinned, her heart going out to the lady. "What's yours?"
"My name? Edna – it's nothing special, I know."
"Edna's a great name!" Rose protested, not wanting the lady to feel humble after treating her so kindly. "Besides, what's in a name? Names don't mean anything, really."
"Oh, everything's in a name, darling." Edna muttered, her sincere tone sounding rather sinister.
Fortunately, before Rose could think anything more of it, Edna's smile returned. "Well, looks like this is my stop. Goodbye, Rose." As the bus juddered to a halt, the old lady gradually got to her feet and plodded down the aisle.
"Yeah, see you later." Rose replied distractedly, too quiet for Edna to hear. She considered what exactly the old lady meant about names, it seemed a bit of an odd thing to say. Shaking her head, Rose told herself it probably didn't mean anything, and that it was nothing to be concerned about. Right now, she needed to focus on her day, and going to work.
The moment Rose entered the shop, any remaining worry about Edna departed her mind as she set to work on serving customers, ensuring products were well displayed, and generally overlooking the shop to make sure it was running smoothly. In her lunch break at 12:30pm, Rose met up with a couple of friends in town (Shareen and Mickey), but the rest of her seven-hour shift was spent within the shop. Time passed at a fairly regular pace; it didn't fly past too quickly, nor did it drag painfully on. All in all, the day was rather enjoyable.
Rose arrived back at her cottage at 4:30pm, immediately after finishing her shift and getting the bus back. To emphasise her relaxation, she got changed into a comfy jumper and some tracksuit bottoms, and proceeded to pad around her house in some fluffy slippers. For dinner, Rose fished out a curry that she'd made the previous day from the freezer, and microwaved it. After eating, she hurriedly washed up her plate and cutlery, and then had a nice, hot shower to signal the end of her productive activities for the day. To emphasise her relaxation, she got changed into a comfy jumper and some tracksuit bottoms, and proceeded to pad downstairs in some fluffy slippers. Finally, Rose concocted a creamy hot chocolate to settle down in her living room with.
Curling up on the sofa, the young woman switched on the telly and cradled her drinks mug. There was an hour or so to spare before Eastenders came on, so Rose decided to phone her mother for a chat.
"Hi, Mum." She greeted as the ringing stopped and her mother picked up.
"Rose! Oh, how lovely to hear from you! How is everything? Ooh, what about your job promotion? Is that going well?" Jackie Tyler instantly bombarded her daughter with interrogative questions, which was typical of her.
"Mum, slow down!" Rose laughed. "Everything's fine – my job's going great, thanks. How about you? And Dad? I heard that he was on the verge of a breakthrough with his latest invention."
Rose could hear her mum smiling on the other end of the line. "Well, you could say that, but it's definitely a work in progress. You know what your father's like – gets an idea, then doesn't bother to make it happen. He's working on it though. Tell you what, he's been invited up to Scotland to represent his company at this big fancy corporate meeting in a couple of weeks' time. Haven't you, Pete?" Jackie addressed her husband, from who came a muffled reply of confirmation.
"Wow, that's brilliant! Just think, my dad, up there with the big businesses." Rose enthused.
"Yeah, we're going to make a week of it – Pete's booking a nice hotel for five nights so we can do some sightseeing up there as well."
"That sounds really great, Mum. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time." Rose was overjoyed that her parents were striving for success and making their way up in the world – she figured she'd inherited their genes for that personality aspect. However, before Rose could add to her congratulations, she got distracted by a strange noise originating from outside her home. It was a mechanical sort of coughing, highlighted by intermittent spluttering. Frowning, she rose from her seat and slowly stepped into her kitchen, since it was the room at the front of her cottage, facing the road.
Jackie continued talking on the phone. "Thank you, sweetheart. Anyway, what else have you been up to? Apart from work, obviously. Didn't you say you were meeting up with a few friends? That'd be nice. I know you're not too far away from us, but I'm sure it's still lonely sometimes. It'll do you good to meet new people, make new friends, maybe even go on a few dates! Okay, I know you always get embarrassed when I mention boys, but your father and I just want you to meet someone nice, that's all. Mind you, a lot of couples meet by accident. That's probably the best way. Sorry, I'm babbling again, aren't I? Rose? Rose, are you there?"
"Uh, yeah…" Rose replied absently. Whilst her mother was speaking, she had been peeping out of the blinds in her kitchen window, surveying the scenario in front of her. The odd noises from before turned out to be coming from a car – a small, blue Mini Cooper – that appeared to be in some trouble. Due to the descending darkness, Rose couldn't see who was inside the vehicle, although she could detect some stifled shouting from them.
Curiosity naturally getting the better of her, Rose decided to head out. "Sorry, Mum, but I've got to go."
"Rose, what-" Jackie began, but it was too late. Her daughter had already hung up and placed the phone on the kitchen counter. Kicking off her slippers, Rose shoved her feet into a pair of boots and hastily dragged on a coat in preparation to exit the house. She picked up her keys just before stepping outside.
Once she was closer to the car, Rose could distinguish the person inside as a man with a truly impressive head of hair, but nothing else about him became clear until she was stood right next to the window.
The man remained oblivious to Rose's presence while he verbally raged about the current state of his car to himself. "Ahhh! Come on! Please, Travis, I'm begging you. You can't give up now – we've come this far. Bessie wouldn't have let me down like this! I can't believe-"
At this point, Rose knocked politely on his window. "Hi." She waved, grinning.
Groaning in humiliation, the man wound down the window so he could speak to Rose without any barriers getting between them. Judging by his appearance, he was rather young, likely in his mid-30s. He had excitable brown eyes that complemented his mass of brunette hair, and his cheeks were dusted with freckles. A brown, pinstripe suit adorned his lanky frame, along with a light blue shirt and an eccentrically patterned tie. "You heard all that, didn't you?" He winced.
"Yeeeaaah…" Rose replied, giggling at how mortified the man looked.
"Just my luck." The man sighed in frustration, still slightly humbled. "First my car breaks down, then a lovely young woman catches me talking to myself like a madman."
"Your car… That would be Travis, right?" Rose teased.
Scratching the back of his head in a nervous gesture, the man explained in an amusingly defensive manner. "So, I named my car Travis. I'm sure loads of other people name their cars, probably stranger names than Travis, too. I mean, it's not that weird, is it? Is it?"
Rose raised an eyebrow. "What about Bessie?"
"Don't miss a trick, do you? She was my old car, I had to sell her when I moved to London." The man caught himself before he nattered on for too long. "Anyway, I'm sure you've heard enough about my peculiar car-naming history. I'm guessing that's your house I just broke down in front of?"
"Yep. I don't know how you knew." After seeing how flustered the man felt, Rose couldn't resist poking fun at him further with her sarcasm.
"Oh, I'm known for my perceptive eye." He bantered in return, almost startling Rose with his stunning grin. "Something I can't know by seeing, though, is your name." He prompted, his grin reducing to a cheeky smile.
Rose laughed, probably at how blatantly smooth he was being. "Rose. My name's Rose."
"Nice to meet you, Rose." There came the blinding grin again. "Well, I suppose I should try and get this thing working again." He opened his arms, gesturing towards his car.
Rose thought for a moment. "Why don't you come in? It'll be completely dark soon, and it's cold out here – you might as well come in and have a cuppa while we're waiting for breakdown services to arrive."
"Breakdown services?" The man frowned.
"What, you seriously think you can fix your own car in the dark?" Rose made a valid point.
"Maybe." He looked hurt. "Well, not in the dark. I mean, I could have a go if it was light. I'd probably have to buy some things from a garage, and possibly inquire about it, but I could do it."
Chuckling at the man's attempt to act knowledgeable, Rose told it as it was. "In other words, it's not gonna happen."
Opening the car door, the man finally stepped out. Whether this was because the discomfort of speaking through a car window had eventually overwhelmed him, because he'd made the decision to enter her house, or simply because he needed to stretch his legs, Rose didn't know. In fact, she supposed it was a mixture of all three. It wasn't until his limbs were stretched out to their full length when she realised how tall he was. Now, when he spoke, Rose had to angle her chin upwards for her gaze to meet his.
"How about this," He began. "I won't bother calling breakdown services, but I will wait until the morning. Then, I'll try fix the car, and if I can't, then I'll call for help. That alright?" He smiled.
"Fine by me." Rose returned his content expression. "Come in, I think it's about time we had that cuppa."
