The Doctor had stepped into his small office at school to drop off some papers before leaving to meet Rose for lunch. Having to now deal with tedious human tasks such as paperwork was yet another reason why he was counting the days until he and Rose could once again return to the TARDIS and their free-spirited way of life.

The Doctor glanced up from the task as he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," he called.

Dressed in a fitted fuchsia blouse and black pencil skirt with matching shiny black pumps, Professor Linda Brinkley, a fellow teacher at the school, stepped into his office. She was a very attractive, light brunette in her early thirties...and she'd had her eye on the Doctor from the moment he arrived at the school.

The handsome, charismatic Professor John Smith had not only turned the heads of some of his female students, but a few of the faculty as well. The two of them had said hello to each other many times in passing, but she'd never had a chance to engage the Doctor in longer conversation. She noticed he always seemed in a hurry to leave at the end of the day, and often appeared distracted — like something was always weighing on his mind. Since the opportunity to get to know him more personally had not been given, she decided it was time to take it.

"Professor Smith," she greeted pleasantly as she stepped in.

"Yes?" he replied distractedly, as he stacked the ever-growing number of papers on the desk. He glanced up. "Oh, hello. Professor...Brinkley, isn't it? You teach English in room 118?"

She stepped closer and smiled, delighted he had noticed. "Yes, that's right. And please, Professor Smith, call me Linda."

The Doctor straightened up from the desk. "Very well, Linda. And no need for 'Professor Smith'. You can just call me Do— ...John," he corrected. "You can just call me John."

Her smile grew, a glint forming in her striking, emerald-green eyes. "Thank you, John."

She went on. "I thought it was high time I stopped by and welcomed you to the school properly. Are you enjoying it here so far?"

The Doctor tucked his hands in his pockets and crossed one leg over the other as he leaned casually against the side of the desk. "Oh, I've always enjoyed a bit of teaching here and there."

"Where was your last position?" she inquired.

"I taught physics for a bit at a secondary school in London not too long ago," he replied, leaving out the little detail of blowing up the school in the process. In his defense, he had saved the Earth from the threat of the Krillitanes. "It's actually never permanent, though. Just something I do here and there on the side. I spend most of my time traveling."

"Ah," she said, the glimmer of attraction in her eyes growing brighter, "an adventurer."

He gave a lopsided grin. "That's me. Never stay in one place too long."

She slowly moved a little closer, looking up at him through dark lashes. "Well, maybe you'll find something here that will make you decide to stay," she replied, her voice dipping just a fraction lower as she spoke.

The Doctor took his hand out of his pocket and tugged on his ear, missing the double entendre behind her words, but feeling anxiety over being reminded of his current circumstances. "Actually, Rose and I are only planning to stay in Kendal temporarily. We're just renting a flat for a few months until we...regain our means of travel." His eyes drifted off distantly as he thought, once again, of the TARDIS.

She felt a sudden stab of disappointment at his words — and specifically at the mention of another woman. Apparently she had misread him. He had struck her as single. Linda cleared her throat and forced a smile back to her face. "Oh, I didn't realize you were married," she replied, trying to sound unfazed.

The Doctor's eyes snapped back up to hers, temporarily caught off-guard by the assumption. "Oh, no, no...I'm not...that is, Rose and I aren't married," he corrected. "She and I are…well…we're…," he trailed off then, a slight frown creasing his brow as he found himself unable to put into words exactly what Rose was to him. And how could he explain it? Rose meant more to him than he could ever put into simple words. "She's my…companion," he finally finished, settling on a word that still didn't come close to being adequate.

Linda began to feel more and more encouraged as he spoke. Maybe he wasn't so unattainable after all. Whenever a man struggled to even say what the woman in his life was to him, she took that as a sign that the relationship could not be very strong. Thus encouraged, she continued on.

"Oh, I see," she replied, trying not to look as pleased as she now felt. She cleared her throat, switching the topic off the other woman and back to herself. "I was wondering, John, if you might like to join me for a bite to eat."

"Ah, that's kind of you to offer," the Doctor replied, "but I was actually just getting ready to go meet Rose for lunch."

She nodded, her eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of the other woman's name again, but keeping her tone falsely pleasant. "Oh, yes, of course. Well, perhaps some other time, then."

The Doctor thought about it for a moment, then made an offer. "Actually, why don't you come join us? Since we haven't been here very long, Rose hasn't really gotten to know anyone else yet, and I'm sure she'd be happy to meet you," he said brightly. The Doctor was, as of yet, unaware of her designs on him and simply thought, the more the merrier!

A hint of a smile began to curl at her full lips. This wasn't exactly what she'd had in mind, but it would give her a chance to size-up the competition. "Yes, that sounds lovely," she agreed.

-:-

Rose hurried through town to meet the Doctor at their usual chippy. She was anxious to tell him her news about getting a job. He was already waiting there when she arrived, seated at an outside table. He had taken the liberty of ordering for her, already knowing what she wanted. He stood to greet her as she approached, and in her excitement, Rose failed to notice the other woman seated at the table he had just stood from.

"Doctor, guess what," she said excitedly as she rushed up to him, "I found a job."

"Oh, I knew you would," he said proudly, as he gave her a congratulatory hug.

It was then Rose noticed over his shoulder the woman seated behind him at the table, who then stood and came closer. The Doctor released Rose, then turned to introduce her to the woman who had accompanied him.

"I'd like you to meet someone. Rose, this is Linda Brinkley," he introduced cheerfully. "She teaches English down the hall from me."

Rose felt a tiny stab of jealously as she greeted the attractive woman the Doctor had brought with him. She hadn't been expecting this. Rose quickly shook aside the feeling, though. She was simply one of the Doctor's colleagues. "It's nice to meet you," Rose said politely as she shook Linda's perfectly manicured hand.

"Likewise," Linda replied with false civility as she lifted her chin and seemed to give Rose an appraising look.

Rose was trying to be polite, but there was something about this woman she just didn't like. And she seemed to be looking at Rose with concealed derision.

The three sat down together, Linda beside the Doctor and Rose across from them.

"So, tell me about this job," the Doctor said eagerly as he took a bite of his food.

Rose suddenly felt less enthusiastic about it than she had just moments ago, due to the presence of the other woman currently seated at their table. Linda was well-educated and had a good career. Rose knew she shouldn't let herself feel this way, but she couldn't help but think that saying she had a job in a pub would sound lowly by comparison — at least in front of this woman.

Not only that, but telling him the details of her new job might inevitably lead to her telling him some of the details of her past; and if and when that time came, that was not something she was going to discuss in front of anyone else.

She waved it off. "Oh, I'll...tell you about it later. You have a guest, and I don't want to bore her with the details."

The Doctor didn't understand her reluctance, but he let it drop.

Over the course of lunch, Rose found herself feeling like the third wheel. The Doctor and Linda were engaged in a lively conversation about language and literature, and laughing about things Rose was certain one would need to have an understand of Latin in order to find humorous.

Rose had never once felt looked down upon by the Doctor for her somewhat limited education. He didn't judge a person's intelligence by whether or not they had their A-Levels. But Rose inadvertently found herself beginning to feel inferior to the woman across the table.

Linda Brinkley's intentions towards the Doctor had also not escaped Rose's notice. The attraction was clearly evident in her eyes as she gazed at him lustfully, and in the way she placed her hand on his arm and leaned in closer whenever she laughed at a particularly witty remark he made. Which was quite often, actually.

Whether the Doctor was aware of it or not, Rose wasn't sure. It certainly wasn't the first time he had turned the head of another woman, and Rose knew it probably wouldn't be the last. He was a people person. The Doctor just had a way about him that drew people to him. And it didn't hurt that he was also gorgeous and tended to be a bit of a flirt, whether it was always intentional or not.

But Rose assured herself it didn't mean anything. After all, knowing the Doctor may never allow himself to be involved more intimately with her was a bit of small comfort in knowing the same undoubtedly applied to anyone else. But still, when you're hopelessly in love with a man, it isn't easy watching other women fall all over him, be it French courtesans or English teachers.

Linda finally glanced down at her watch. "We better be getting back," she told the Doctor.

"I suppose so," the Doctor agreed as they both stood.

"It was lovely to meet you, Rose" Linda said, her insincere politeness barely covering her true feelings.

Rose forced a smile. "Yeah, you too."

"I'll see you later, Rose," the Doctor said warmly.

Rose smiled again and nodded. Her smile faded as she watched them go, Linda hanging on his arm and smiling wantonly up at him. She might be a teacher, but she most certainly was not the bookish type. Rose knew exactly the type Linda seemed to be and thought she had probably missed her calling. Rose stuffed another chip in her mouth, then somewhere in the back of her mind could hear Mickey advising her to go easy on the chips. She could just picture Mickey right now doing his I was right dance about the Doctor being just another bloke.

And to think she had been worried about how the Doctor would handle being forced to live life on Earth, Rose thought to herself wryly as the fading laughter of the Doctor and Linda echoed off into the distance. Apparently he was adjusting just fine.