*big group hug for the sweet reviewers* Thank you guys :) And, well, we know from the summary that John will change his mind eventually, don't we?

Chapter 7

John had expected a lot of things. He had expected it to be difficult to find an alibi girlfriend, he had expected a string of awkward conversations, he had expected to feel relief once he had made the decision not to go through with it. What he hadn't expected, however, was the heavy heart that followed his goodbye from Clara Oswald.

She was the exact opposite of the women he had met before, lovely and sincere and somehow, she had made him tell her about himself without thinking twice about it, something John rarely did. As for her plan, it wasn't the usual "I want to get back at my ex-lover" scheme he had read about multiple times on Alibi. Instead, her story was very similar to his own, only that Clara was taking a different approach. She was done with her family's attempts to set her up and she had chosen a perfect form of revenge. One John could sadly not be a part of.

John needed a moment to recognise his feeling for what it was and he eventually settled on guilt. Somehow, he felt guilty for sending her away because a part of him had wanted to say yes and become her alibi boyfriend.

"Why did you send her away?"

John turned around and watched Susan enter the living room, reminding him that he still needed to scold her for eavesdropping once again.

"Because you were naughty and listened in on adult conversations," he lied, glowering towards his daughter who seemed entirely unimpressed by her father's glances.

Instead, she sank down on the sofa next to him with a sigh. "I liked her," Susan told him truthfully. "She seemed really nice."

"She was really nice," John confirmed.

When he looked at his daughter's expectant face, John realised that the time had come for the conversation he had wanted to have with her ever since she had started to support this silly endeavour. John needed her to understand why it was a stupid idea.

"I decided that I'm not going to do it," he told her in a calm manner. "I want to see grandma happy as much as you do, but I don't want to lie to her. Yes, you are right, it would have been a white lie, but a lie nonetheless. Besides, it would have been for just one evening and then what? I don't think your grandmother would stop asking about Clara once she met her. It's not something you can keep up forever."

Susie nodded. John had known that she would understand.

"And you don't want a real girlfriend," Susan concluded.

John uttered a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't want one, but that it wasn't as easy as some people thought. The perfect match was something rare and John was at that age where he didn't want to settle for less, not when he was perfectly happy on his own.

"What your mother and I had was very special," John told her. "I loved her very deeply and you don't find someone like that so easily, especially not at my age when you don't go out so much. But I think I deserve something special and so do you. If I bring a woman into this house, she doesn't just have to love me and vice versa, she has to be your friend, too, at the very least. You two will need to get along. I won't have it any other way."

"And someone like that is rare, I get it," Susan replied with a nod, but there was a hint of a smile on her face that John didn't really understand. It looked almost mischievous and he didn't like it. He knew that look from Missy's face and when she smiled like that, it never boded well for him.

"By the way, I'm glad you think like that," Susan announced. "Cause I don't want to share you with someone who isn't special."

Her response made John chuckle, but it also reminded him of something his mother had said to him, something Missy had said to him.

"But while we don't have a woman around," he began carefully, "you know that you can come to me with anything, right? No matter what it is, you can tell me."

At that, Susan rolled her eyes. "We're not having that puberty talk again, are we?"

"If it's something medical, I'm a doctor and I know a lot of things and if it's about boys-"

"Ew! Gross!" Susan exclaimed. "I'm way too young for boys!"

"Glad to hear you say that," John determined. "Keep that attitude until you're thirty and we're good."

John didn't actually expect her to do that, but when his daughter laughed, he felt reassured that everything was going to be fine. Lots of single fathers managed without a woman around and he was sure that they could do it, too. And maybe, just maybe, life had a miracle in store for them and he would actually meet someone who fit right into their lives like the last piece of a puzzle.

"Are you sure about Clara though?" Susan asked eventually. "Cause she looked really sad when she left."

Like a knife to the gut, John felt a twinge of guilt because his daughter was right. He had really disappointed Clara, but there was nothing he could do about that now. John had changed his mind and he wasn't going to change it back, no matter how badly his guilty conscience tugged at his heart.

When her grandmother released her from her embrace, Clara sighed heavily and sank down on the familiar sofa, eager to drink a nice cup of hot cocoa and have some of her grandmother's biscuits. However, her nan's inquisitive gaze didn't escape her notice.

"What's wrong?" she wanted to know. "I know you love my biscuits and cocoa, but I doubt that's the only reason you came here on a Sunday afternoon."

It wasn't the only reason, her grandmother was absolutely right about it. After the meeting with John Smith, Clara had felt a particular kind of misery that only hot chocolate and biscuits could fix, but maybe, talking to her grandmother might also help.

"I had the perfect plan," she admitted in her despair.

Her grandmother cocked her eyebrows at her. "The perfect plan for what exactly?"

"Technically, this was your idea because you said to come to the wedding in male company and I realised I couldn't borrow Rory because Linda already met him once, so Amy gave me another idea."

Her nan was still eyeing her cautiously, but she waited for Clara to continue before dumping a spate of judgement on her that was sure to follow her explanation. And why wouldn't she judge her? Her plan, even if ingenious, was kind of mad.

"Amy found this website called Alibi where people find fake girlfriends and boyfriends and I thought I could pick someone who would drive Linda absolutely mad."

To her surprise, her grandmother started to laugh and Clara wasn't entirely sure whether she thought it was funny or ridiculous. Right now, it could absolutely mean both.

"And how did that go?" her grandmother wanted to know.

Once again, Clara sighed. "I found the perfect man. He's a doctor who owns a lovely house in Lewisham, but the thing about him is that he's a single father and almost sixty."

When her grandmother snorted, Clara knew for sure that her reaction was one of amusement. For some reason, she liked Clara's insane plan which should have lifted her spirits - but didn't.

"I'm imagining the look on Linda's face and it's a nice image," her nan admitted. "But if he's perfect for your plan, then why are you looking so glum?"

After taking a sip from her cocoa, Clara started to tell her grandmother all about today. How she had gone to meet John Smith, how they had somehow connected instantly and how he had informed her that he had changed his mind about the whole scheme. Clara knew that she would likely find someone else to play the part, that there were other people out there who were looking for a fake partner, but the truth was: she wanted John Smith.

Once she had finished her story, Clara received a sympathetic look from her grandmother as she reached out to pat her hand. "Are you sure he's not going to change his mind again?" she wanted to know. "I mean, if you got along well-"

"Nah, I'm afraid he meant it," Clara admitted. "He said he doesn't really want to lie to his mother and I get why. If it wasn't for Linda, I wouldn't do this either. It's quite a mean trick."

"It is, but a funny one in your case," her grandma replied, chuckling.

Clara blew the air out between her teeth. "I know I'm likely to find someone else, but John was actually perfect. Linda would never have been able to say anything about the age difference no matter how much she wanted to because who can say something against a good-looking doctor? Here, let me show you a picture."

Clara reached into her bag and pulled out her smartphone, quickly opening the app to show her grandmother what a handsome silver fox she could have almost taken to the wedding.

"Oh, he is a catch!" her grandmother exclaimed instantly. "And I'm not just talking about a fake date but a real one!"

Clara only half listened to her grandmother because as she spoke, a message popped up on her screen and Clara was ready to dismiss it immediately, not eager to get right back to the search after her first big disappointment when she noticed that the message came from John.

"He messaged me again," Clara said absent-mindedly, wondering what on earth the message could contain while the content loaded.

John Smith

Dear Clara,

I'm terribly sorry about the way I acted earlier and I want to make it up to you. Truth is, I had made up my mind before meeting you, but I'm willing to reconsider now. Would you meet me tomorrow at 3 pm? There's a café in Peckham I really liked called Petitou and we could talk again over some more coffee and maybe a slice of cake?

John

"He says he's willing to reconsider!" Clara announced happily and she felt her heart skip a little beat as her mood lightened instantly. If John was willing to meet her again, she still had a chance to change his mind and the prospect of that made a smile spread across her face. Maybe not all hope was lost just yet.

When she looked at her grandmother again, she found her nan smiling as well. "Go get him," she told her with an almost mischievous smile.

And Clara vowed to do just that.