Day 3.

It's Christmas Eve and the day consists of, mostly, asking Gareth if you can bring Emma to the party, helping out with the food, the décor and stuff—it's going to be in Gareth's appartment—and then, before you know it, it's almost 7, and time to get ready for the party. You've told Emma about how sex is viewed nowadays, so she can be careful if afterwards you decide to go to a club or something. Then you get ready.

You put on a black on shoulder chiffon dress, studded flats, feather cross chain drop earrings, a large onyx and diamonds necklace, and your watch. Then you go to the living room and wait for Emma to come out. She's wearing a beautiful turquoise dress, with a simple necklace and she's tied her hair in a ponytail.

"Love the dress." You smile at her.

"Thank you." Emma answers, shyly.

"Ready to go, then?" She nods and you exit your appartment, just to knock on the one next door. You ring the doorbell, and Gareth opens. He's wearing a light blue shirt, that matches his eyes, and black pants—trousers, God, this language thingy is annoying—and you have to admit he looks handsome tonight. You can't help but smile at him. He lets you in.

Arthur and Caren are already in. You haven't seen them in about a week, because the Rift hasn't been quiet these past few days, and when it had, you had to take care of the three newcomers from 1953. Not that you'd tell that to your friends. Mostly, you just told them you were needed a lot at work, and you couldn't spare time for them, because you always got home exhausted, which was entirely true.

Emma knows Torchwood and real life are different. She knows she can't mention where you work, what do you do, and all, mostly because she knows very few details herself.

It's a nice night. Dinning, smiling, joking around. You make everything in your power for Emma not to feel so left out, and Arthur even flirts a bit with her, but it's nothing serious. Well, that and he's not much of a flirt, so whenever he tries, you can't help but chuckle a bit. You've come to consider Arthur and Caren family by this point, and, to be honest, you wouldn't have it any other way. You're starting to feel like Emma's also part of this weird family you've got, and you're glad, because that's what she needs now. A good friend, someone that could easily become a family member for her, even if there's no blood relation.

At some point, the conversation turns to jobs and stuff, and once again, you repeat your typical special ops routine and move on. Emma reveals she's still looking for a job. At that, Caren's face lights up.

"Oh, oh, I know! If you're interested in fashion, the shop my friend Pam works for is opening a new branch in London. They're looking for employees. Maybe you could try it out? The interviews are tomorrow, and I bet they'll offer you a job on the spot." Caren and her optimism never fails to pass on everybody else. You can't help but smile at that, and Emma's face lights up as well.

"That's fantastic!" She exclaims. "Thank you so much!"

Then, it all goes into different ways, you split into different conversations. First with Gareth, then you're having a conversation with both Caren and Emma, then it's all about Arthur telling you an anecdote about something that happened to him in the past few days and you can't help but laugh at the story.

It ends rather too soon, but Emma has the interview tomorrow and Caren and Arthur both have to work. Gareth's off duty, and, Rift-permitting, you are as well, so you decide to do meet up for lunch, and maybe watch a movie later. Then you say goodbye and walk back to your flat—wow, that's new, a British word coming out of your mouth without you thinking about it first—and prepare yourself to go to bed. Emma's rather happy, and you notice she enjoyed herself so much at dinner, and you can't help but smile at that, because even if you know she will get the job on the spot and she'll have to move to London and you'll miss her a lot, she's having a great time adjusting to this new world, and you wouldn't take any opportunity away from her. Of course, you still plan on keeping contact, and speaking whenever you can, but she'll be fine, and that's what matters.