Donna Noble had been called many things in her career: bossy, ballsy, and bitchy. Lots of words that started with a b, actually. (John would have laughed at that thought.) But she had never been called stupid. Sure, she could act uninformed or ditzy, it made her seem less intimidating, but she rarely ever was. From a very young age, Donna had been groomed by her parents to be venomous around the office. So she just sat back and observed, until she needed to strike.
What she had been observing for the past five years were Rose and John. Donna had known for years Rose had a schoolgirl crush on Jack, but Donna had also seen the way Rose and John interacted. John actually got nervous and flustered around her. The king of the boardroom was not anything less than in control at all times, except when it came to a shy, mousy, completely lovely girl who happened to live above the garage.
Her twin had always seemed to dote on Rose. He allowed her to use his private library. (Donna wasn't even allowed in there.) He brought her gifts just to see her smile. He had even gone to Rose's father to get permission to bring her into their social circle. Although Donna had seen that as John trying to ask permission to court young Rose, it hadn't worked out. He had been crushed to learn that Rose had a thing for the philandering member of the Harkness clan.
And Rose, although painfully shy, had always been able to speak to John. Those two had a casual camaraderie that neither one of them seemed to notice. Rose had hardly been able to speak to anyone before Paris. Hell, Donna had considered Rose a confidant for years and almost every conversation they had had been one-sided. There were a few times that Rose would talk to Donna, but those were few and far between. In those few moment when she had opened up, Donna had learned that Rose was very compassionate. Donna was also convinced Rose had so much untapped potential.
Yes, the pair had some obstacles to overcome. First, there was a fairly large age difference between them; however with every year that passed that became less of an issue. Then there was the difference in station. This mattered very little to Donna but the tabloids would be cruel, especially to Rose. Those were just a couple of the reasons why Donna hadn't pushed the two of them together yet.
After watching her twin's reactions to Pete's emails from Rose, Donna decided it was time to start pushing the two of them together. John always had a small smile on his face when her name was mentioned and had always pretended not to listen to the emails, while hanging on every word.
Donna had a plan, a brilliant plan in mind. The first step would be to invite Rose to do more things with Donna: parties, shopping, lunch and visits to the spa. The more chance encounters these two had the better. Step two would be to invite both of them someplace intimate, neither one expecting the other to be there. Next, Donna would conveniently not show up. That would leave the two of them free to... Well, Donna honestly didn't want to be privy to that part.
Steps one and two would be repeated until those two got it through their thick skulls that they were meant to be. Sure, Donna expected to do some hen-pecking and yelling at the pair of them; in the end, though, it would have been worth it to see them both happy.
It turned out that maybe Donna didn't need to have a plan after all. Rose and John seemed to be drifting towards each other, completely on their own terms. As long as Heartbreak Harkness stayed away from them and with his own fiancée, Donna expected to have another wedding shortly.
Donna had been astounded and a little angry to see Rose show up at her birthday party on Jack's arm. She would have personally throttled her baby brother if he hurt Rose. Donna's mind had been churning, trying to think of a way to separate Jack and Rose. Fortunately, John had taken matters into his own hands. Oh yes, Donna knew it was no happy coincidence that John had forced Jack to sit on those champagne flutes. Secretly, or maybe not so secretly, she was proud that John was willing to knock out the competition for Rose's affections.
The surprises hadn't stopped there. There had been the whisperings about the pair at the tennis courts, and then John had taken the entire day off yesterday to spend with Rose. Donna could not remember a time that John had ever done that. The man had never skipped a day of school to have fun with his friends. He had only called in sick once and that had been because he was in hospital and that time he had brought his assistant and laptop with him.
She had planned on interrogating him about it when he got home; however her dear brother hadn't returned home until after midnight. Then the man had the audacity to sleep in the car on the way into the office that morning. Not that Donna would have grilled him about his late night activities with Rose in front of Pete. She would get her answers, though, whether they came from John, who conveniently seemed to be in private meetings this morning, or from Rose, with whom Donna was about to have lunch.
"Donna?" Rose's voice broke Donna out of her thoughts.
"Hello, Rose, so glad you could make it." Donna motioned to the chair next to her. "Sit, sit. How have you been?"
Rose beamed. "I'm great, never been better."
"Paris seems to have done you worlds of good." Donna patted the other woman's arm. The two swapped stories from their lives over the past few months while they ordered. Donna filled her in on some of the office gossip, since she seemed to know what had gone on around the house. When the food arrived, Donna went in for the kill. "So, tell me about all those men who fell all over you in Paris."
Rose choked on her wine. "I told you, there isn't much to tell. I flirted a bit and there were several blokes who fancied me."
"Is that because you are still hung up on my little brother?" Donna got straight to the heart of the matter. It was time to see if the new and improved Rose was still so stuck on Jack that she would just end up hurting John in the long run.
Rose stiffened. "I went to Paris to get over Jack and to learn my position in the world."
"And did you?" Donna was naturally curious as to both counts.
"Well, I learned that I'm not fit to work in domestics." Rose was on the defensive, exactly where Donna wanted her.
"Good, I never thought they suited you." Donna leaned in. "And did you get over Jack?"
"Why?" Rose leaned in as well. "Would you not approve?"
"Of you and Jack?" Donna shook her head. "Absolutely not, you are much too good for that brother of mine. You deserve someone with a similar outlook on life. Jack and Christina, on the other hand, are perfect for each other. Both are so modern, I'm convinced that marriage will have an open door policy."
With a snort of laughter, Rose relaxed a little but was still guarded. "So you have no problems with my being the chauffeur's daughter then?"
"As long as it's not Jack that you have your eye on, I have zero issues with your background." Donna gave her a big smile. "I know you, Rose Tyler, and you are smart, funny, caring and an all-around wonderful young woman. You know, I can think of several fine young men I could set you up with in a heartbeat…"
"No!" Rose protested a little too loudly. Several other patrons of the restaurant turned and tutted at her for her inappropriate outburst. "Sorry," Rose apologized, blushing slightly. She turned back to her lunch companion. "Donna, it's not really necessary for you to set me up with anyone. Although I do appreciate you thinking of me, I have someone else in mind."
Donna smirked. "Someone who's not Jack?"
"No, it's not Jack," Rose said, shaking her head. "I don't want to say anything, though. It's still early and I'm still not sure what's really happening. Donna, please don't say anything to anyone."
"Don't worry, Rose, my lips are sealed." Donna took a sip of her drink. "Are you seeing him again soon? You don't have to give me details. But know that I'm here if you want to talk about it."
"Thank you," Rose said with a small smile. "I'm seeing him tonight actually, dinner and dancing. He is a magnificent dancer."
"Oh, what are you wearing? Is it French and low cut?" Donna asked.
"I have no idea. I figured I'd go shopping after this and get something fabulous." Rose waved a hand dismissively. "Can we not talk about this right now? It feels like I'm jinxing it."
"Sure," Donna said, nodding. "I heard that you've started painting again and that your first Paris showing was met with rave reviews."
"How… How did you know about the art show?" Rose asked, perplexed. "I hadn't told anyone about that, not even Dad."
"John told me. I thought that you had told him about it. He knew how much I loved the painting you did of the Estate and how much I wanted another one of your paintings…"
"No, I never told him. What do you mean, another one of my paintings?" A light went off in Rose's mind. "You bought the Estate picture?"
"I did," Donna confirmed. "But because I loved it. It's hanging in my office, along with the one that John got me for my birthday." For a moment Rose didn't say anything, she just sat there staring slack jawed into space. Donna wasn't sure how Rose was going to react next. Would she be angry? Or upset? Or maybe she would think that Donna bought wanted them out of some sort of pity?
What she didn't expect was for Rose to start laughing. But she did, for three whole minutes. "Oh my, Donna, if you wanted a painting so badly I would have given one to you. There was no reason to spend so much money on one."
"Nonsense." Donna chuckled as well. "You, my dear, are a professional artist and deserve to be paid for your excellent work. I would love to see what you're working on, though."
"I'll drop by sometime with my sketch pad." Rose was still giggling slightly. "Which painting did the great John Harkness manage to snag for you, from my art show that he shouldn't have known about?"
"The one of Notre Dame at night," Donna replied. "I'm going to have the electrician's in next week to put in some new lighting for it."
"Good, that one's my favorite. I sat in a café across from there all the time. It was one of my favorite views of the city." Rose sighed. "There's so much out there to see, Donna. And I want to see it all, to be inspired by it and to paint it." She turned and looked Donna straight in the face. "I'll be leaving again in a few weeks, off to see the world, not sure how long I'll be gone this time. But I hope we can do this again before I go."
"What are you talking about?" Donna asked. "You can't be leaving. What about that new bloke you're interested in?"
Rose shook her head. "He's wonderful, but his life is here and I can't see myself staying. Traveling would be good for him, I think, but I could never see him doing it. Could you?"
"I don't know who he is, Rose. So I couldn't possibly have any idea what would be good for him."
"Of course you know who he is." Rose smiled sadly. "I don't want to hurt him, but I can't stay tied here. I should end it before it can really begin," she said with a shake of her head. "Sorry, I'm not sure why I just said all that. Forget I said anything."
"Maybe you should stay awhile. See where things go before making any more life changing decisions." Donna knew now that she had her work cut out for her. "John has never in his life taken a day off of work to spend with anyone and he did for you yesterday. And I have never seen him take a woman out for a night of dinner and dancing. He positively hates dancing."
Rose chuckled. "He didn't seem to mind the other night. We would have danced all night if he hadn't… well, if the situation hadn't gotten a little out of hand. I like him, really like him, but not in the silly way I liked Jack. It's amazing, but it's too much too fast. It's only been two days. Not even two days."
"It's been years, Rose," Donna whispered mostly to herself. She had to do something before one or the other of them talked themselves out of this. In a split second decision, Donna opened her purse and threw some money down on the table. "Come on, dear, let's take you shopping. The best thing to do in a situation like this is to buy yourself something pretty." Donna half pulled the other woman from the room for a little retail therapy.