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Chapter 64 - Along the Seine River
The Doctor had Rose put on a wild brimmed sun hat, sunglasses and a scarf. He put on his trainers and popped them into an alley.
He held Rose's hand and walked around to a small restaurant. People rode bicycles across the cobblestone streets and walked with shopping in their arms. It was a beautiful, spring day. The Doctor walked into the restaurant and spoke to the hostess in another language. The hostess was a very young lady who smiled and spoke the language back to the Doctor. She grabbed two menus and lead them to the second story of the restaurant to a balcony. A small table sat between several planted green plants. A clear view of the Eiffel Tower sat in front of them. The view was stunning.
The Doctor walked around and held out the chair for Rose. She smiled and sat down. She took off her sunglasses as he sat across from her and said something to the waitress.
As soon as the waitress walked away, he took Rose's hands and kissed them. "Paris! The city of love. I didn't know if you had ever been here before."
Rose smiled, "I've not been here. I've always wanted to see this! Wow! The Eiffel Tower! How did you know that this restaurant had such a view?"
He smiled, "I've been here. In Paris. Many times. I came here with Romana years ago."
"Who is Romana? The blue woman?"
He smiled, "Yes. She was a Time Lady. A companion of mine. Just a companion. Nothing more. Trust me. I also brought ummm... let me see if I can remember their names. Anji and the guitarist. Umm... Fitz! Yeah, Fitz. Adolf Hitler wanted to have his photograph taken atop the Tower to prove he had conquered Paris. We kept him from it, well...with some help."
The waitress brought them both a bottle of wine, two glasses, and a plate with cheese, breads and grapes.
He smiled at Rose. "They don't have chips in this restaurant. But they have cheeses and such. If you want chips, I'll take you someplace else later."
Rose smiled as he poured her a glass of wine and then himself a glass. He lifted his glass, "To grandparents, who can take the children so Mum and Dad can finally have their date!"
Rose laughed at him. "Was this what you had in mind last night?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm not going to tell you what I had planned last night. I'll do that another time. But, it was brilliant."
Rose smiled at him. "I have no doubt. Every place you take me is so wonderful. I love it."
He smiled as he held her hand. He brought it up and kissed it. "I'm going to sit over here to help me keep my hands to myself. Otherwise I'm going to be ... embarrassing. It's bad today."
Rose laughed at him as she saw him rub his face. "You are so funny. We could always go get a hotel room. Just shag all day."
"Oh, I thought about that. Believe me. But, I'll wear myself out for my football game." he gritted his teeth. "Is that bad that's where my mind went?"
Rose shook her head and laughed. "No, not at all."
"Things you can't explain to your coach when he's only four years old. Sorry, mate. Can't play after all. I'm on the injured list from a wild ninja woman who insisted on a quick shag that turned into an all day love fest. Can't even walk anymore. She's done a number on me."
Rose could feel his silly mood. He laughed as she smiled and drank her wine.
He smiled and drank his entire glass of wine. As he refilled it, he said, "I need to chat with you about something. Actually, about a million things. I wonder where to begin."
Rose ate some grapes as she looked at him. "You haven't told me about the Eiffel Tower. You always do that when we first get someplace. You must have a lot on your mind."
"Yeah, I do. Well, what do you want to know?"
Rose shook her head. "Do the thing you always do."
He looked curiously at her. "The thing?"
Rose said, "Yeah! You always tell me where we are, when it was made, and something about it."
He sat back and moaned. "See. I'm an educator and can't even help it. Poor Genie and Tony, huh? Alright. The Eiffel Tower. Made of wrought iron by the engineer Gustave Eiffel in 1889. It was built as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair. It is the most visited monument in the world. 6.91 million people last year. It's the same height as a 81 story building and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. There is a replica of it on Cabaltikar 45."
Rose pointed at him. "Yes! That's the thing you do!"
He laughed at her as he rubbed his hand through his hair. "I should say it all in French. You would find that to be more impressive."
"I wouldn't understand it. I took French in school, but don't remember anything except how to say, 'thank you' and 'hello'." Rose told him.
He smiled. "Do you speak any language other than English? Cockney Slang or Howie's crazy cowboy slang?"
Rose giggled, "No, I don't. I thought about trying to pick up some other language, but don't know if I'm smart enough for that."
He rolled his eyes and groaned, "Oh goodness, woman. It's really not that hard at all."
She sipped her wine and looked at him, "Says you who can speak everything! Please. I can't keep track of this means this and that-"
He shook his head. "No, that's the wrong way to do it. You are translating it before you even know the language. You have to ...um... think of yourself as an infant. Ugh. This is hard to explain. It's like you open a new room inside your head. Just for that language. So, when you speak it, you just open that door and sit in there while you speak it. Does that make sense? I feel like I'm doing a bad job explaining it."
Rose looked serious at him. "Yeah. That makes sense. Did everyone of your people know all of the languages or is that just something you do?"
He rubbed his hand across the table. "There was a reason I had to learn them all. Um... that's one of those things I don't want to talk about."
He refilled Rose's glass and ate some cheese.
"Okay, what is something you want to talk to me about? Or do I need to drink some more?" Rose asked him.
He laughed, "Oh geez. You know me too well. First things first. Your name. Rose Tyler. I've called you that forever it seems. But now we are married. Traditionally, you would take my name, but we both know it's not really my name. Everyone in the world knows who Rose Tyler is. You've been nominated for a Nobel Prize with that name. I wanted to know what you wanted do to about that. I'm good with whatever. But, if we're going to adopt Genie, we need to decide so we can know what to write on the paperwork."
Rose drank her wine, "Yeah. I thought we would have more time to think about that before I had to make a decision. What do you think?"
He shook his head. "Nope! This is your name! I'm not in this!"
Rose shook her head. "Ugh! I helped you when you picked a name!"
He drank all of his glass of wine and smiled. "That's true. You sure did. Alright. Let's figure this out." He dug around in his pockets and brought out a small pad of paper and a pen.
He looked up at her. "Alright. Well, you could just drop Tyler. I just don't think that's really a good idea. That was the point I was trying to make."
He wrote down on the paper:
Rose Marion Tyler
Rose Marion Smith
Rose Marion Tyler-Smith
Dame Rose Marion Tyler-Smith of the Powell Estate
Rose, the Sex Goddess, Tyler-Smith
He smiled and handed the paper across the table to Rose. He poured himself some more wine and chuckled as he drank. He knew she had read the last name idea when she looked up at him and said, "Really?"
He shrugged his shoulders and drank his wine. "I told you. It's bad today. I can't even help it. But, I'm going to stay over here and behave myself."
She laughed at him. "Good luck with that."
She looked at the list.
"I've never asked. Where did Marion come from? Your mum a John Wayne fan?"
Rose looked up at him, surprised. "What? John Wayne?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, his name was Marion. Marion Mitchell Morrison. Good football player and pre-law student at the University of Southern California. If he had never broken his collarbone surfing, the world would have never known him. The Duke! What a guy! Every bit of the man you think he was!"
Rose smiled at him. "It was my Gran's name."
He patted the table. "Ah! Yeah, that makes more sense."
She looked up at him. "Your name. Your real name, it's so beautiful. Hard to pronounce though."
He smiled. "Good. Because you can't ever say it."
She smiled. "I know that. Were you named after someone?"
He shook his head. "No, people don't do that where I'm from. I have no idea why I was named that. Probably some prophecy or something. That's usually what happens."
Rose sipped her wine. "Let me guess. You'd rather not talk about it."
He smacked the table top. "She's learning! You are right!"
She laughed at him and handed him back the pad. "I think I probably should hyphenate it. That way there's no question who we are talking about. Legally anyway. You can call me whatever you want."
"Good! I'm picking the last one then!" he teased.
"Except that!" she laughed.
"Fine! Your name! I'll probably just continue calling you Rose Tyler. That just sounds...right. Rose Smith... sounds like someone else. I don't know. Maybe I'll get used to it." he considered.
Rose smiled, "That's fine."
He asked, "Do you want to order an early lunch? I have some other stuff I need to chat with you about."
Rose nodded as he translated the menu for her. They decided she would just let him order something that he thought she might like.
He covered his face and sighed. "Umm... okay. I need to talk to you about something I've done."
He dropped his hands and took a deep breath, "I've talked to Pete about it and he's very happy, but I need to tell you before you find out about it and punch me again."
Rose rolled her eyes at him. "You probably need it as much as you have been shielding me lately. What's going on?"
He ran his hands through his hair, "Trust me, love. That's the reason I'm in such a state. I've been shielding you so much lately that it's made me... umm..."
"Randy?" Rose helped.
He pointed at her. "That's the word! I can't feel you in my mind when I do that. It makes it extremely difficult to concentrate on anything. Except. Well. Shagging."
Rose rolled her eyes and sipped her wine. "Good! Glad to know you are punishing yourself, so I don't have to."
He laughed as he rubbed his face. "Oh man, you have no idea! Anyway. Okay, I've bought something. Ummm... yeah... and I have all of the paperwork back at the flat to sign. First, let me explain." he begin.
Rose smiled at him, "Oh boy, this will be good."
"If this dimension is running parallel to the other one...in about...umm... five years, there is going to be a movie come out about this daft bloke who travels all over Europe. The entire purpose of his journey is to drink beer from the breweries in Europe to determine which is the best one. His conclusions, which I agree with completely, is that New Germany has the best beer in the world. Based on this, it leads to a ton of people flocking to Germany to drink the best beer in the world. Then, the owners of the bars start bottling their beer and selling it around the world. They make billions of dollars. It becomes a huge thing."
Rose smiled in disbelief. "So, you've bought a bar. In Germany?"
"No, not really. I've bought...umm... a few breweries in Germany. But, these small breweries also run their own bar. Does that make sense? They do that some in other places to."
Rose nodded. "Yeah. That's alright. Why do you think I'll be cross about that? I know you love that beer. Sounds like a good business opportunity to me. If you don't drink the place out of business first."
He laughed, "I thought about that. I don't want to change anything they are doing, I'm just the owner now and get a profit of all of the sales. Pete loved it. He thought it was brilliant. He gave me some ideas about offering tours to people to make some more money. I don't know if I'll do it or not. I'll have to talk to each brewery and see what they think about that."
Rose looked at him curiously. "Each brewery. How many did you buy?"
He sat down his wine and looked at her. He bit his lip and groaned. "Yeah, here's this part. Numbers. I always seem to have to be giving you a number." He laughed.
She raised her eyebrow at him. "Out with it Old Man. How many?"
"Twelve. Including Weihenstepahn. It is the oldest brewery in the world! It's been operating since 1040, Rose! Then there are five more this morning."
Rose held out her hand. "Okay, stop. So seventeen in all?"
He bit his lip. Um... no. In all there are twenty-four."
"Twenty-four! What the hell?" Rose yelled at him.
He held up his hand to try to calm her down. "Those other seven are not mine. Those are Pete's. He asked me to purchase those for him when I spoke to him the other night. He wants in as well. All of the ones we have are some of the oldest ones in Germany. The best ones!"
Rose laughed, "I don't believe this. Pete is making deals in his sleep?"
The Doctor laughed. "Yep! Crazy, huh? I told you I didn't think he slept. Apparently, he just makes deals in his dreams. What a guy!"
Rose shook her head as their lunch arrived. The Doctor had ordered her Boeuf Bourguignon which she recognized immediately and was relieved. His dish was very strange looking.
"What the hell did you order?" Rose asked him.
He smiled as he picked up his fork. "This is something similar that they have on...um... Plact. Yeah, that's what it's called. I used to love that dish. I hope this is just as good."
Rose was enjoying her meal. 'Oh, mine is gorgeous! Wow! Thank you for ordering me something normal. What is that called that you are eating?'
"Artichauts et Encornets, Jus Barigole a la Begamote!" he said as he put some in his mouth and tasted it. "Similar. Maybe better!"
Rose looked at what he was eating and made a face. He looked up at her, "What?"
"That looks like bits of squid." she told him.
He rolled his eyes. "You took French in school? Did you really? And you don't know that Artichauts et Encornets means artichokes and squid? What? Did you sleep through class?"
She pointed at him. "Listen here, Old Man! I'll punch you out again!"
He laughed at her as he drank his wine.
Rose looked up at him and said. "Let's talk about Physics."
"Physics and squid! Go ahead, my dear!" he told her as he continued to eat the dish.
"Why did the Fifth Dimension roll up? Is that something you can tell me?"
He poured her and himself some more wine. "Well, tell me why you think it rolled up. Let's talk about it."
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. My best guess would be something in nature made it do it. Like when a plant's leaf rolls up as it dies. Only, the Fifth Dimension is obviously not dead. But there are lots of things that do roll up. A bug when it's trying to protect itself, for example."
He nodded his head as he ate his dish. "Yes. Very good. That's very close. You can go with that explanation."
"Is that what Einstein thought?" Rose asked him.
"Well, he could never decide. He just kept asking me why. He also thought it had something to do with the other dimensions being built-out. But, that's not it. Your explanation is closer to what happened."
"But, you can't tell me?" Rose asked.
He looked at her and shook his head. "You know I can't. But if you figure it out, then I can tell you are right. Funny how that works."
She went back to eating her lunch.
He could feel her emotions. "Nervous about tomorrow? Your speech?"
She nodded. "A bit. In a way, I want you there. But, I think that will only make me more nervous."
"Just say the word, and I'll be there!" he told her.
She shook her head. "No. I'd be too embarrassed to give that speech with you listening. Jack has agreed to go."
He nodded. "Yes. Him, Shakes and most of the guard are going to be there. I need to fix something on your watch before you go. I'll do that tonight. I don't know why I haven't thought about it before."
Rose asked him, "What are you doing to my watch? You mentioned that this morning."
"Jack had a personal shield when he fell through the Void. I don't know why I haven't thought about that. I can put a personal shield on your watch that will protect you from all sorts of stuff. Gun shots, those damn dart things they shot us both with that night, all sorts of things."
He felt Rose start to get upset and quickly added, "Rabid dogs. Insane weapon developers when his girlfriend is out of town. Deranged mummies, the Lockless Monster, little Chihuahuas with a bad attitude, Jackie's cooking..."
Rose started to laugh. "Crazy husbands who can't keep their hands to themselves."
He shook his head. "No, sorry. It won't help a bit with that."
Rose laughed, "Good. I love that he can't keep his hands to himself."
He smiled and ran his hands though his hair. "Oh, I need a hotel here in Paris. Just for a few hours. Oh man. To hell with that damn football game!"
Rose laughed. "You know you don't mean that. Tony would be so disappointed."
"Yeah, can't disappoint my little brother. Besides. He will yell at me. Funny how he's the most polite young man until he puts on that referee kit. Then he's a crazy man."
Rose laughed, "Speaking of children. What is going on with you and Genie?"
He finished up his dish and sat it to the side of the table and started drinking his wine. "Oh. Yeah. That. Ummm... I tied her to me. Telepathically. The other night after she screamed in my head when I was fighting those Daleks. It's not a permanent connection. And it's nothing like ours. It's a child's connection. I meant to tell you about it. I can tie her to you as well. I've just had so much going on."
He grabbed his fork and started eating off of her plate. Rose asked him, "So, you can sense her emotions?"
He nodded, "I can tell when she's asleep or awake. Her emotions. Her pain. Any of that. Right now, she's extremely happy. She's having a lot of fun."
"Can she feel the same from you?"
"No. No more than she could before. She's a strong empath though. Geez. This morning, she asked me if I cried when my family died. I told her yes, because she refuses to cry around me. She could tell I was lying and told me!"
"You didn't cry?" Rose asked him.
He waved it off. "Don't change the subject. She knew. I don't know if that is normal. Can you tell when I'm lying?"
Rose looked at him. "I have no idea. If I think you're lying, I tell you."
"Like, if I was to tell you...ummm... you can regenerate without a head, I kidnapped two teachers of Susan's, and I once was a woman. Which of those is not true?"
Rose sat her wine down and started to laugh hysterically. "Oh, please don't make me answer that! Oh my god! You are crazy. Where do you come up with that stuff?"
"Really! One isn't true! Which one is it?" he asked her seriously.
"Every conversation with you always goes, mental. I'm surprised it's taken this long for this conversation to go that direction. I don't know. Tell me."
He rubbed his beard and thought. "Nah. I'll let you think about it and guess. It would interesting to see what you think."
"I'm not guessing that! No way!" Rose demanded.
He watched her eat as he patted the table. "I thought of something you can use in your speech. If you want to. Sir Issac Newton. Brilliant man. Hid out from the plague and cooked up his Laws of Motion and all sorts of other things. One of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution. Well, he was invited to many speaking engagements, but no one ever came."
Rose looked surprised at him. "Why?"
"He was so wrapped up in his work, he rarely ate. He rarely slept. He never even bathed. And believe me. You had to be really gross in 1687 for anyone to really take notice. People couldn't stand to be around him from the smell and plus he just looked...infected. Everyone was too scared to come hear him speak."
Rose looked seriously at him. "So, you are trying to tell me to take a bath?"
He chuckled, "No. Just thought you would find that interesting. Brilliant guy. I couldn't stand to be around him for that reason though."
Rose pushed back her plate and drank her wine. "This is nice. Being out with just you."
He smiled, "It is really just me this time. No bodyguards in the corner. Hiding out, making a video of me doing something embarrassing. Are you alright? Do you really feel safe?"
She grabbed his hand. "I really do. I'm with you and I know you won't let anything happen to me."
He kissed her hand and smiled. "Still, Shakes thinks I'm crazy. But, he's never had to deal with it."
"How are you doing with everything? Having a flat full of people must be driving you mad."
He shook his head as he leaned back and crossed his arms. "Nah, surprisingly not. Everyone is there, and I know everyone is safe. I really miss Pete, though. I miss chatting with him... so much. I didn't realize it, but I think I've probably spoken to him several times a day since I've been here. Him being in the hospital has left a huge void in my day."
"At least you can speak to him while he's in this coma. I'm sure he likes that. He can still keep up with what's going on out here."
"Yeah, but his is missing everyone. He hates he missed seeing Tony at the football game last night. He has made himself..." he cleared his throat, "I really nice dream to keep his mind entertained, but he's already sick of it. He wants to come back home. I want him to come back home."
Rose could feel his sadness. "He'll be back to driving you mad soon enough. Enjoy the time off, Director."
"That's another thing. I'm anxious for him to wake up so he can take this damn Director thing back from me. I don't know if I like it or not, but there is a lot of things I would like to do differently there. Experiments they have no business messing with. Special teams that need to be formed. Things I want to do, but wonder if it's worth the trouble. Do you think Pete would undo anything I did there?"
Rose sipped her wine. "I doubt it. You know him. If you think it's a good idea, he usually agrees with you."
He rubbed his beard and considered. "Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. I might put something together. I have a lot of damn paperwork to do tonight when I go to the hospital. My life has become all about signing my name to stuff. You wouldn't believe it, Rose."
Rose giggled. "I remember Dad saying the same thing. It's just part of it. He had his secretary put all of the signing stuff on one day so he knew he didn't have to deal with it too much more through the week. It helped."
"I'll chat with Michelle to do that. She might be doing it already. Is she human? Do you know?"
Rose laughed at him. "Oh good grief! I'm sure she is! She's just really good at what she does!"
He shook his head. "Too good! Something else is there. I can tell."
"Are you always so suspicious? Rose asked him.
"Yes! In these cases. I have the Director's pad now. I'm going to look it up and see tonight! I'll let you know."
Rose smiled at him. "I bet she is!"
He smiled at her, "What do you bet? Because I'm fairly certain she's not. She's a mutant if she is. She knows too much. Eyes on top of eyes. Like a ... spider!"
Rose was laughing at him. "I bet you...ummm... what should we bet?"
He sat looking at her smiling. "I'm always up for sexual favors, personally."
Rose rolled her eyes. "I have it! If I'm right, you have to go three days without any alcohol of any kind."
He moaned, "Ugh. That will be hard to do. There's some great stuff here. And I own a few bars, now."
Rose smiled and looked at him with her tongue in teeth. "But, if you are right, I'll do anything to you that you want me to. Sexually, but it's got to be something we've done before. No introductions of weird stuff of yours during the bet."
He smiled like a loon at her and bit his lip. "Oh, I like this bet! But, for three days! My bet is for three days, yours should be too."
Rose smiled. "Sure! Three days of whatever you want."
He clapped his hands. She could feel his excitement. "Oh yes! I'm going to find that out as soon as I can! I know I'm right. No one is that damn good! Get some mints, woman and lots of lip gloss! Oh, and that soap! Oh man! I love this bet!"
Rose laughed at him. "You might be wrong."
He shook his head. "Nah, I'm not! I know!"
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Old Man. What do you want to do next? We still have hours before this game of yours."
"Ugh. Sundays. They drag on. It's not even noon. Ugh." he complained. "What do you want to do?"
"Well, what do people do in Paris?" she asked him.
"They drink wine and walk beside the river. Want to do that? Would you feel safe with just me doing that?" he asked her.
"Yes. Let's go do it. I've never done that." Rose smiled at him.
"Sure you don't want to find a hotel, instead?" he asked her.
"My gosh you weren't kidding it's bad today! If you want, we can do that."
He shook his head. "No. I better not. Football game. Ugh! Damn!"
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They walked beside of the river, arm in arm, and continued to talk. They found they had a lot chat about. No one recognized either one of them and the weather continued to be beautiful.
Rose remembered and asked the Doctor. "Okay, Jack. The Face of Boe. Is that the same huge face in that tank that we met?"
He shook his head, "I really don't know. He has told me that before. I've thought about it and just can't be sure."
"You said you met him when he was older. Was that who you were talking about?"
He nodded. "Yeah. But, he's here now and I honestly don't know how to get him back. He could be here for years. Centuries. We have no way of knowing. Legend says that The Face of Boe is supposed to be older than time. Which is honestly just crap. I'm not even that damn old."
Rose laughed at him.
"What does legend say about you?" Rose teased him.
"Oh, so many things. Things I tell my daughter at night to make her sleep." he chuckled.
"You and Jack are so funny together. I had forgotten how much you two picked on one another."
"I think it's more him picking on me! You should have heard some of the drinking game questions he cooked up last night. Wow!"
"I don't want to know. But you know what? I think I'd like to do a drinking game with you. There's some stuff I would like to know."
"Not getting that damn number out of me."
"No, other stuff."
"Like what? You can just ask."
"Nah. Jake always comes up with some of the best questions. I'd rather just play."
He nodded his head and smiled. "Okay. Just play. Next time we are all together. We'll play."
As they walked past a flower stand, a man came out and sprayed the flowers with water. Without thinking, the Doctor grabbed Rose and spun her around to prevent her from getting wet. At the same time, he also grabbed the hose from the man's hand while twisting his arm behind his back. The entire thing happened so fast that Rose wasn't sure what had happened. She felt his sudden shock, which scared her.
Realizing what happened, he smiled embarrassingly and let the man go. The shop owner spoke in French to the Doctor and seemed to be apologizing. The Doctor laughed and spoke back to him, laughing. Both of the men shook hands, and the shop owner gave Rose a flower as he smiled.
The Doctor turned around and Rose saw that he was soaking wet where he had been sprayed. She laughed at him. "Oh goodness. I'm sorry about that."
"No, that's my fault. At least it was just water." he smiled as he spoke to Rose.
"The way you reacted, I thought it was something far worse." she told him.
He ran his hands through his wet hair. "I honestly did at first, too. That's probably why I reacted that way. Sorry, I scared you. But, I did warn you about this! Tell you what, Rose. Let's go someplace else. I have the best idea."
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