Donna Noble-Temple was having one of those mornings where time was not on her side. Sure, it had started nice enough, waking next to her husband by the sun warming her face and the sound of gentle birdsong outside. It was pure bliss. That was, until Donna glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand, followed in quick succession by a loud exclaim of "SHIT!"

Immediately, she threw the covers off herself and shook harshly at Shaun's shoulders. "Wake up, we're late!"

"Late, how?" her husband's voice croaked faintly behind her, but Donna was already on her way to the kids' room.

Knocking on the door, she adopted a slightly more gentle, yet in no way less urgent tone. "Kids, wake up! Mommy forgot to set the alarm, we're late!"

Where she normally walked the children to school, she now rushed them there by car. And she would have had her kids at school on time, if she hadn't been pulled over by a police officer who proceeded ticketing her for speeding in a school zone. She bumped her head against the steering wheel of her car and wished with all her heart she had a time machine.

Electing to leave the car on the car park across the street from the kids' primary school until she somewhat calmed down by the end of the day, she texted her boss and continued her journey to work on foot, stopping for a tall cup of coffee at a local coffee shop. The universe knew she needed it. It was when she went to fetch her wallet from her bag, that she noticed she'd taken the wrong lunch box from the counter. She must have accidentally switched out her own lunchbox for her son's in the mad dash to get Shaun and the kids dressed, fed and out of the house. So rather than the leftover pasta she'd been so looking forward to, she was stuck with bologna and mayo on white bread. Nevertheless, she paid for her coffee and persevered.

Just a little over an hour late, Donna had finally almost made it to her latest place of employment when she heard a painful metallic grating sound and a large, hollow thump coming from an alley just ahead. Just a truck scraping by a wall and knocking over a rubbish bin, Donna convinced herself. This was not her problem.

That was what she kept telling herself.

Once she reached the alleyway, she couldn't help but peek in, only to be steamrolled by a tiny, blonde girl who ran from the alley like she had the devil on her heels. The pair of them tripped and stumbled backwards. The cup of coffee left Donna's hand to make a nosedive onto the girl's long, white coat while the contents of Donna's bag spilled all over the pavement.

"I'm so sorry!" they both cried in unison.

The girl - or rather, woman, now that Donna noticed she was a little older than what she'd originally taken her for - was now clambering off of Donna. She looked both physically older and in a way Donna couldn't quite put her finger on.

Once the woman's boots were firmly planted on the concrete, she bent down and extended a hand to Donna to help her up. Donna smiled as she looked up to her. But for some reason, a look of recognition passed the strange woman's face.

"Donna," she swore she heard the woman whisper. The woman stared up at her, dumbstruck. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she kneeled on the pavement and was suddenly very preoccupied with collecting all of the items that had come out of Donna's bag.

Donna, most experienced temp in Chiswick, noticed the woman was hiding something from her and felt her temper suddenly acting up. "How do you know my name?" she asked, crossing her arms. She vaguely felt she was supposed to know the strange woman's name as well, but nothing was coming up.

The woman, still busy with her items, kept on loading them into her bag. Wallet, pens, lunch box (the contents of which earned Donna a judgy look)... She went on.

"I asked you a question," Donna said urgently.

"Name tag. I read it on your name tag."

Donna glanced at the contents of the woman's hand. "You mean the one you're holding right now? The one I wasn't wearing when you bumped into me?"

The woman shoved the name tag into the bag and looked up at Donna guiltily. Being a mother for eight years had taught Donna a thing or two. This one called for a different approach. She sighed theatrically, walked up to the woman and squatted next to her to help her gather Donna's stuff. Sometimes, it felt like her bag was bigger on the inside.

"I'm sorry. I just have this vague feeling I'm supposed to know you, but…"

"It's fine," the woman insisted. "I get that sometimes. I'm quite used to it."

"What's your name?" Donna asked, turning to her.

She was silent for a moment, almost as if she had to think about it. "Rose Smith. It's been a long time, so I don't expect you to remember me."

Rose… Donna remembered a blonde Rose, she thought. Yes, she definitely did! Her hair had been longer than it was now, but hair could be cut off and restyled. And she dressed much differently from when she last saw her, but 2008 was a long time ago and nothing changes quite as fast as fashion.

Yes. Rose. This was her.

"No, no! I remember you now!" Donna said excitedly. She was probably grinning like a dork, but she was happy to pleasantly surprise Rose. No one should have to be used to being forgotten like that. "We did something really important back in '08! I'm just having a little trouble remembering what it was, exactly."

Rose smiled sadly and nudged Donna with her elbow. "Everything you do is important. You're the single most important woman in the entire universe. And don't you ever forget that," she said as she rose to her feet and helped Donna up again, handing her her bag back before pulling her into a crushing hug.

"I'm sorry about your coat," Donna whispered.

"Don't worry about it. I can always wash it," Rose said, pulling back and giving Donna a reassuring pat on the upper arm. "It's good to see you again, Donna."

"You're leaving?" Donna asked, having forgotten about her job altogether.

"You know me. Always running. And I'm afraid you have a job to be getting to." Rose turned on her heel to leave when Donna called after her.

"Wait!"

Rose turned back to face her as Donna dug a pad of sticky notes and a pen out of her bag and started scribbling her number on it. She tore off the top sheet and held it out to her.

"My number. If you ever want to catch up, or just talk about," Donna shrugged, "whatever, just call me, or text me or whatsapp. I plan on not forgetting you this time around."

Rose smiled and took the sticky note, folding it up and putting it away in her pocket. "Good old Donna. I might hold you to that," she said as she patted her pocket. "I really must be going now. Tell Wilf 'the Doc says hi' for me. He'll know what that means."

"Sure. I will," Donna said, nodding. "See you around, then?"

"Definitely. See you around." And with that, Rose turned on her heel, sweeping her coffee stained white coat behind her and running off to her next adventure.

Maybe today wasn't so bad after all.