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Chapter 4
"This is the best lasagne I've ever had," Amy said with her mouth still full and Clara only nodded in agreement as she stuffed another piece into her mouth. After the official tour had stopped for a lunch break the group had started to dissolve and since both Clara and Amy had felt quite hungry by that time they had decided to find the nearest restaurant.
"I'd like to go back to that little souvenir shop we passed earlier and get something for my grandma," Clara remarked after a moment, "She's never been to Lisbon so she told me to bring back a little something."
A small frown appeared on her friend's face. "Actually, I wanted to see that little church from the inside. The one where we're supposed to meet with the group."
Clara shrugged. "Well, I could go back to the shop on my own and then meet you there in an hour."
"Alright," Amy agreed, "Do you want the map or-"
"No, that's fine," Clara smiled at her, "I have my phone. I'll find the way back."
They finished their lunch and paid before Clara set out to walk back towards the souvenir shop she had spotted earlier, loving the summer wind blowing through her hair and the scent of a foreign city in her nose. Travelling had been on her agenda for so long, ever since she had graduated from school but something had always come between her and her plans. The death of Mary Maitland, her new job at Coal Hill and most recently Danny. They had been to Brighton together for a week during their last holidays together but that could hardly be considered travelling. All those plans they had made together, Norway, New Zealand or the European capitals tour – none of that would ever happen. If Danny was here with her now. . .
Clara quickly banned the thought from her mind and luckily she was provided with the perfect distraction when she found herself standing right in front of the souvenir shop. She reached for the door handle and pushed just a second before they collided.
The Doctor dropped his postcards on the floor and Clara immediately stepped back, the annoyance rising up inside of her again. Why did he have to be everywhere? Why was he always in the same place she wanted to be?
"Can't you watch it?!" she yelled at him before she could stop herself.
After he had come back up from picking the postcards off the ground the Doctor glared at her right before he burst into laughter. "I think you ran into me, not the other way around."
She was about to bark at him, say something nasty back but Amy's words were still ringing through her mind. Let it go. "How about we just try to avoid each other?" Clara suggested, "You don't talk to me, I don't talk to you."
The Doctor snorted. "I think you'll find that I haven't made any kind of approach towards you. Vomiting on my shoes – that was you. Annoying me at breakfast – also you. Running into me-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Clara rolled her eyes, "Can I go into the shop now or are you planning to block the door the whole day?"
The Doctor stepped aside to let her pass and the door fell shut behind him with a bang that made her flinch, making Clara shake her head once more. That man would never find a woman, not even on a cruise filled with singles, not while he was acting like an arrogant idiot.
Seeing all those souvenirs on display however Clara decided to concentrate on the more important task of finding something nice for her grandmother. She selected the prettiest postcards to send to her granny, her father and Danny's adoptive parents with whom she hadn't spoken in a few weeks. They'd be happy to hear a few nice words from her. Clara filled them out right in the shop before buying a giant mug that had the skyline of Lisbon printed on it for her grandmother and listened closely to the directions the shop owner gave her to the nearest pillar box.
Just as she headed out of the shop there was suddenly a snapping sound and Clara almost stumbled over her own feet, only catching her balance at the last moment.
"Crap," she muttered when she looked at her own two feet. The strap of her sandal had ripped out of the shoe, leaving her with nothing but a useless sole barely attached to the rest.
"Crap, crap, crap," Clara repeated angrily, freeing her foot of the useless object. Looking at it more closely she immediately realized that there was no way of repairing it now so she would have to suck it up and walk barefoot at least until she found a shop selling shoes.
The cobblestone was jabbing into her foot and the heat of the sun had warmed it up so it felt like it was burning her skin but as long as she kept to the shadows thrown by the buildings she would be fine. She just needed to make it to the next shoe shop.
Following the directions of the shop owner she quickly found the pillar box – and she also found something else that was a lot more unpleasant. The Doctor was standing at the ice cream vendor right next to it, enjoying a large portion of of what looked like very delicious ice cream. He would start laughing at her as soon as he spotted her dilemma and that was something she truly didn't need right now. However while Clara was still debating what to do he had already noticed her.
"Did you lose something?" he asked, nodding towards her feet.
"That's amusing you, isn't it?" Clara spat back, her voice heavy with sarcasm as she approached the pillar box, her broken shoe in one hand, her postcards in the other.
"Not at all," he replied, licking his ice cream, "Just wondering whether it's an accident or a fashion statement. Or whether you had an accident on your own shoes this time."
"None of your business," Clara said matter-of-factly, dropped the cards in the box and headed in the opposite direction without the intention of paying any more attention to him.
"I think you're headed the wrong way!" the Doctor called after her.
Clara growled even though she was already too far away for him to hear it and swallowed her reply. Who did that man think he was? Even the pain the cobblestones were causing her foot didn't seem to matter as she walked away from him as quickly as possible.
It wasn't until she had already turned around a few corners that Clara was beginning to realize that the Doctor had been right. With no idea where exactly she was she drew her phone from her pocket and opened the app that was supposed to lead her back to the church. Yet the maps wouldn't load.
"Oh come on," Clara complained to the device, "We're in a city! There should be reception!"
And yet there wasn't as her phone failed to log into a Portuguese network. The only thing her phone allowed her to do was to make emergency calls and something told her that a broken shoe and a lost tourist wasn't enough of an emergency for this kind of call. If Danny was here he would never have allowed for them to get lost. If Danny was here he would have fixed her shoe or offered her his own before letting her walk barefoot. If Danny was here. . .
"I told you it was the wrong way," a voice with a Scottish accent said a few metres behind her and when Clara turned around the Doctor was smiling at her. She had expected it to be belittling but somehow his smile seemed somewhere between mildly amused and sincere.
"Go away," Clara told him and turned around to resume her walk.
"Still the wrong way. The church is in the other direction." He was following her.
"Who says I'm going to the church? Maybe I'm headed elsewhere?" she stared straight ahead, determined not to let his comments get to her.
"And where will you go with no map and only one shoe?"
Finally Clara stopped. She inhaled sharply before turning to face him. The Doctor still wasn't laughing. "Why are you following me? To laugh? To gloat? Or do you just want to annoy me?"
"I was going to offer you my help," the Doctor explained with a light shrug.
She snorted. Yeah, as if. "Your help? Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Clara didn't know what to reply while she was still trying to figure out whether he actually meant it or not. She really couldn't tell at the moment until he stretched out his hand.
"Give me your shoe," he told her.
"Why?" her voice was wary.
The Doctor rolled his eyes, seemingly impatient. "I'm hungry and women's sandals are my favourite. To fix it, of course!"
Reluctantly and still uncertain about the whole situation Clara eventually handed over her shoe. She watched as the Doctor sat down on the nearest bench and produced a small case from inside his camera bag. When he opened it Clara spotted nail scissors, a small screwdriver, needle and yarn, several plasters and a tiny tube of instant glue.
"Why?" she asked again, sinking down in the seat next to him while the Doctor immediately began to glue the strap of her sandal back to the sole.
"Why what?"
"Why are you helping me?"
The Doctor blew the air out between his lips. "Because I've already plucked pieces of broken glass out of feet and it's not pretty," he explained harshly.
Clara didn't dare to say anything else, so instead she kept watching his fingers do their work and hold her sandal together until he eventually handed it back to her.
"Here," the Doctor said, "That'll last for the rest of the day, I think."
She was just about to thank him for his help when the Doctor abruptly rose from the bench. "Alright, let's get back. The others will already be waiting for us by the church."
"I can find my own way back," Clara protested but was immediately silenced by the look he threw her.
He let out a groan before he shook his head. "You're a stubborn one, aren't you, Clara Oswald? Well, swallow that pride for a moment and follow me."
After she had put her shoe back on her feet Clara rose from the bench as well and started to trail after him, only now realizing that he seemed to remember her name from the very first evening while she had never even heard his.
