Thank you for the reviews :))) Sorry, no update yesterday. I was too excited about the episode to write :D
Chapter 4
When John entered the diner he could already spot Clara behind the counter, busy at the coffee maker. It seemed as if half the town had gathered here for lunch today.
"Hey there," he greeted her with a wink.
Clara smiled and pushed a cup of a coffee in his direction. "Sorry, I'm a bit busy here right now. Are we still on for tonight?"
"Erm, about that," John began but stopped when he saw the disappointment appear on Clara's face, "I actually have a different proposition. Instead of you just listening to me play the guitar we could," he hesitated, "Go out?"
Clara opened her mouth to speak but John didn't let her. He didn't want her to say no immediately and he knew that she was going to do just that.
"The guys from the garage asked me if I wanted to join them for billiards at the bar. They said I could bring someone and I thought you might want to."
A frown appeared on Clara's face but she quickly hid it behind a smile. "Oh, no, that's okay. You should go. Get to know your colleagues. We can see each other another time."
John knew exactly why she didn't want to accompany him. Clara wanted to avoid going out because of the way people looked at her and he wouldn't allow that as an excuse.
"The guys I work with seem really nice, Clara. I doubt they would treat you disrespectfully," he said sincerely, "Please, just give it a try. If you don't like it you can leave but at least try. A young woman like you shouldn't be sitting at home all the time."
For a moment Clara seemed to consider it.
"Please?" John asked again.
She rolled her eyes. "Alright. I'll go with you. You won't give up before I agree anyway."
"Absolutely right. I'll pick you up at 7?"
Clara shrugged. "As good a time as any."
"Great," he beamed at her, "Now, can I get a sandwich to go before I have to get back to work?"
She nodded and left him standing next to the counter to vanish into the back of the diner. John felt a little proud of himself. He wanted to help Clara regain a normal life more than anything and he was sure that that was the right way to do it.
OOO
Clara felt utterly nervous. In the past few years she had gone out only on very few occasions and she had always chosen to go to the next town to do so. Clara hadn't set foot in the bar John would be taking her to in years and she had no idea how the evening would go down. Maybe he was right. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But what if it would be?
Clara turned the ring on her necklace around between her fingers and eventually hid it under her clothes like she always did. A glance into the mirror showed a pretty, young woman wearing a nice dress. She hadn't had the chance to wear any of her dresses in a long time and it felt good but it also felt slightly wrong. A part of her was still convinced that she shouldn't be allowed to have fun anymore. Clara had had her fun, a lot of it, and she had also paid for it.
A knock on the door roused her from her doubts and Clara took a deep breath. Straightening her skirt she walked towards the door and opened it.
John stood on the corridor and smiled when he saw her.
"Are you sure you want me to come with you? My bad reputation might rub off," Clara said shyly.
"I don't care," John replied as he extended his arm to her, "I might cause you to get a new, bad reputation though."
Clara took his arm and closed the door behind her. "How so?"
"People might think you moved on from the black man to the old man."
She chuckled. "I don't care," Clara repeated his words with a smile.
The bar wasn't too crowded. It was, after all, a Thursday night and people would have to get up early for work the next day and when the two of them entered hardly anyone seemed to take any notice them. Except for John's colleagues. Clara recognized one of them as a regular from the diner and she knew that his name was Raymond. The other one she had seen when she had brought her motorcycle in for repairs and she believed that he was called Thomas.
"John," Raymond said with a laugh, "When I said you could bring someone that didn't include girlfriends and wives."
"Ray," John said calmly, "Clara is just a friend and it was either bringing her or blowing you off. We already had plans for tonight."
"You work at the diner, right?" Raymond asked her.
"Yes, that's right," Clara replied nervously.
Raymond smiled and pointed at her. "Out of all the waitresses you make the best sandwiches. Do you know how to play billiards?"
Clara glanced at John and then back the other two men. "Actually, no. I've never played."
"That's okay," John reassured her, "I'll show you."
While John went to get the cues Raymond and Thomas explained the rules of the game to her and they looked quite happy that Clara would be teaming up with John to play against the two of them. Clara guessed they already saw themselves winning. She also noticed that they seemed to treat her normally like they would any other woman. Either they didn't know of her past, which seemed highly unlikely given the speed at which gossip travelled in this small town, or they already respected John enough to extend that respect to her.
When John returned with the cues Thomas had already set up the billiard balls and they all agreed that it should be up to Clara to move first. She took the cue from John and set it down on the table.
"No," he laughed, "That's not how you hold it."
A moment later John was standing behind her, so close that her back touched his chest and he helped her adjust her grip on the cue. Clara hadn't been this close to another person in a long time and all of a sudden she realized how much she had missed it, how much she truly wanted someone to hold her hand or to embrace her. In her loneliness she had forgotten what it felt like.
John gave the white ball a good push with the cue, tearing Clara out of her daydream and one ball already found its way into one of the holes.
"Not bad for your first shot," he said as he stepped away from her.
"That wasn't me," Clara said, looking at him, "That was you."
"You'll get the hang of it," John promised and looked over to Raymond and Thomas who were busy deciding which one of them would go next.
Apparently he realized that they weren't at all paying attention to them so he leaned closer so Clara.
"See, it's not that bad here at all," John whispered.
"Yes," Clara admitted, "You were right."
Clara and John, as it turned out, weren't that bad of a team after all and once Clara had figured out how exactly to work the cue she had really started to enjoy herself and even caused them to win some rounds.
"Thank you," she said sincerely as they made their way back to their apartments, "You were absolutely right. It wasn't bad. Quite the contrary. I've had a great time."
"We should do this more often," John suggested. Both of them stopped in front of her door.
"Yeah," Clara replied with a smile.
"You deserve it," his expression suddenly seemed a lot more serious and Clara thought for a moment that he had been reading her thoughts. She had been thinking that she wasn't allowed to be happy, she had even felt guilty about it before going out, "You deserve to have fun, you deserve to do what you want – no matter what they think or what they say."
The smile slowly faded from her lips. He was right, as always, and Clara was so grateful that he had stepped into her life. In just two weeks he had made a difference to her entire world. To her it seemed as if he was saving her from her loneliness without even knowing it.
Without thinking she flung her arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could and after a moment of hesitation Clara could feel his arms around her back as well, even though his touch was gentle, hardly there at all. Oh, how she had missed hugging someone.
"Thank you," she whispered.
When they parted Clara realized that John was smiling.
"Good night, Clara Oswin Oswald," he said gently.
"Good night, John Smith," she replied.
