Part 4
.
In the limited light of the upstairs hallway, Dr Davison glared back at John. "Good night, Doctor," he spat out. "See you in the morning."
"It wasn't… I didn't…," John began to defend himself.
"As I said, good night," Dr Davison repeated firmly to close the conversation, and turned towards the bathroom.
"Good night," John contritely returned.
Bugger! He was in trouble, and all for being chivalrous.
-0-
By the time he entered the dining room for breakfast the following morning, he was feeling anxious. Everybody except Donna was already there. "No Donna yet," he breezily enquired, hoping to lighten the mood
It didn't quite work.
"I'm amazed you aren't aware of her exact whereabouts," Dr Davison voiced.
"Tell me, dear boy: why? Why did you feel compelled to spend the night with her?" Dr C. Baker demanded.
"She's a sweet girl," Dr McCoy defensively put in.
"Yes, yes," Dr C. Baker readily agreed, "but she is not one of us."
"How do you know if he fraternised?" Dr Eccleston wondered. "It might be completely innocent. Perhaps he was getting rid of a spider from her room."
"It was something like that," John admitted. When they all continued to look at him, he blurted out, "She was upset. Something personal, alright."
To his deep embarrassment, Donna decided to choose that moment to appear.
-0-
It had long been established in Donna's life to get up early and help organise things for the day. Things like her father's medication, his breakfast, and little tempting snacks to last throughout the day until she could arrive home from work and take some of the burden off her mother. The fact that the well-oiled routine was no longer required was neither here nor there. It was in her bones to help out whenever necessary, so she had risen at her usual hour and gone to give Idris a hand in the kitchen.
Of course, the first thing she'd done was apologise for the dirty hot chocolate mugs on the draining board, explaining that Dr Smith had been attempting to cheer her up, and she offered to wash them as soon as hot water was available.
"Don't worry. He often sneaks down to make himself a mug of hot chocolate," Idris had assured her. "Why were you upset? Is there something I should know about?"
"Yes," Donna replied, knowing she'd have to give a potted history. "It wasn't anything he'd done, honest. He's rather sweet. No, I… This is going to sound daft but yesterday was supposed to be my wedding day, and I couldn't stop thinking that I was spending my wedding night hidden away in a university rather than the posh hotel I'd planned."
Idris moved closer to offer moral support. "Was the wedding cancelled by choice?"
"Not mine. My ex's choice; him and his fancy piece," Donna choked out. To her surprise, she wasn't as depressed about it as she had been. Perhaps Dr Smith had worked some special magic on her. "But I'm determined to move on, show Lance I don't need him to be happy."
"I'm sure you will," Idris agreed, and gave her new friend a brief touch on the shoulder. "Now, I don't know about you, but my gentlemen will be gasping for some tea by now."
"We can't have that, eh?" Donna shared a conspiratorial smile. "I'll put the kettle on."
A few minutes later she entered the dining room, holding a fresh pot of tea, and cheerily called out, "'Morning everyone!"
"There you are. Good morning my dear," Dr T. Baker pleasantly greeted her as the others joined in the chorus.
But her eyes went to check on Dr Smith as she placed the teapot carefully down, and she noted that he had the look of a chastised dog. Had they been picking on him, on her new friend? "What's going on? You lot been arguing?"
It was Dr McGann who tried to placate her ire. "We tend to argue amongst ourselves about theories, but it is never anything of any consequence. There is nothing for you to worry about."
"If you are attempting to patronise me, you can pack it in straight away; especially if you go the whole 'don't worry your pretty little head' routine," she threatened. "Because I may be female and thicker than two short planks compared to you lot but I ain't a pushover. Something is going on."
"We were erm…," Dr Davison began to explain.
"Worried about your honour," Dr C. Baker continued.
To answer her questioning expression, Dr Davison pointedly supplied, "I saw you leave Dr Smith's room late last night."
"And that's it, the reason for this Spanish Inquisition that seems to be going here, by the feel of it?" she blazed. "I'm more likely to have been borrowing a tube of toothpaste from him than arranging a quick bunk up, but apparently women are nothing but sexual predators as far as you're concerned. And IF I had suddenly decided that my life was incomplete without enticing him into bed with me, guess what. It would still be none of your business! Bloody men always trying to control women."
"Miss Noble, that is far from the case here," Dr T. Baker tried to calmly appease her.
Her eyes went wide. "Miss? Miss! Is my marital status all you can focus on? Thanks for nothing. Good to know you've got my back."
"Donna," John appealed to her, but she was having none of it.
"I'll meet you in the office later. For now, I'm going to grab myself a coffee, in the kitchen, because that's where us women belong, apparently, according to Dr Timewarp over here, and keep out of the way of flattening this lot before I've even started the job," she ranted.
They then all watched her flounce out in a huff.
Instantly standing up and abandoning his breakfast, John murmured, "Excuse me." And hurried off after her.
"Are you still convinced she isn't worthy of joining us?" Dr Eccleston openly queried, clearly impressed by her show of anger.
"You never know. She might achieve even more than Leela did," Dr T. Baker observed, and they all nodded with a wry chuckle as they remembered their feisty assistant from long ago.
-0-
John found her angrily washing up a cup in the sink. "Donna are you alright?" he softly questioned as he approached her.
"Does it matter?" she bitterly wondered, rubbing the porcelain to within an inch of its life.
He delicately took the item from her grasp. "It does if you're this cup," he joked, and placed it out of harm's way. "I didn't want to betray your trust, so it seemed best to let them think whatever occurred to them instead of providing the truth. Sorry."
Now calmer, she reasoned, "It's not you who should be sorry. I didn't mean to make it some bloody big secret. It's just… It's shaming, being jilted, at my age."
"It's shaming at any age," he acknowledged, and opened his arms to offer a hug.
She readily took the invite, snuggling into his embrace.
While she couldn't see his face, he asked his burning question. "Did you really mean that about the toothpaste?"
Shrugging, she mumbled, "People tend to forget to buy a tube of the stuff."
"Yes, but…."
She lifted her head to regard him. "Would you prefer me to go the bunk up route?"
"No. Yes. No. Maybe," he blustered. "I mean… I don't know what I mean," he lied. "It just sounded rather final."
"I'm not saying you're unattractive, for a long streak of nothing, but I hardly know you. Not enough to plot an affair of some sort," she reasoned. "If your ego really needs it, I'll say you're alright."
"You had no problem flirting with Dr McGann last night," he muttered.
"Jealous," she teased. "I'm not working with him, Dr Smith," she evenly stated, "so I need to get us right."
"I think you can afford to call me 'Doctor' or preferably 'John' when we're alone like this. Don't you?"
"I think you know the perfect way to make me feel better, John." She smiled coyly at him and let go. "Thank you for flirting with me. It's done me a world of good. Now, let's get on with the real reason I'm here."
"Real reason?" he floundered.
"Paperwork," she brightly announced.
His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Erm, Donna. Do I need to remind you it's only Sunday? No work until tomorrow, so you get to explore or rest today."
"D'uh! I know that," she confirmed. "But it doesn't mean you can't show me the sights. There's no doubt a reprographics room to find, a secret stash of printer paper, all your old newspaper cuttings for us giggle over; that sort of thing."
"Well, it's a very pleasant walk from the college shop to my lecture room," he allowed. "We could have a pub lunch or a picnic. How does that sound?" he enthusiastically proposed.
"You know what, Doctor? That sounds great."
"Then let's go," he suggested, and offered her his arm to take.
She readily wrapped her hand around the crook of his arm. "Who needs a honeymoon when we can have this?"
"Are you being sarcastic?" he wondered.
"Just for once, I don't think I am," she replied. "Well... okay, maybe a little bit." Causing them to laugh together as they walked.
-0-
It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, and whilst John enjoyed spending time in the sunshine, after showing Donna his lecture room and office space, he wasn't quite so keen to return home where disapproving looks might upset her day. He was acutely aware that his colleagues' affection had its limitations, but she didn't need to know. Especially if they were going to suspect them of doing a lot more than drink hot chocolate in bed together.
Having decided that he didn't fancy going to a possibly crowded pub, he wanted something more intimate. "Shall we make the most of the sun by grabbing some sandwiches from the kitchen and having a picnic in the gardens? We might not get another chance to," he offered.
She squinted up at the sun for a second. "True. You never know how a British summer will go," she agreed. "It might be months before we can do this again."
"Are you off out somewhere?" Idris asked when they appeared in her kitchen some minutes later.
"Just showing Donna the grounds. You know the sort of thing," he blustered.
"Keep saying it like that and she'll think we're having a secret affair," Donna chided. "Nothing more than enjoying the sun, Idris. I've been told there's a lake worth seeing."
"There is," Idris enthused. "It's beautiful with a view of the old mansion across the water." She then cheekily aimed at John, "It's nice and secluded."
The sudden flush on his face made Donna wonder if he'd been caught there with his girlfriend. Best not to ask yet, she decided. Instead, she busied herself collecting drinks before insisting on making the sandwiches rather than let Idris do it all.
A short while later, Idris watched them happily saunter away, across the grounds towards the ornamental gardens and beyond. Someone appeared by her side as she stood there by the kitchen window.
It was Dr T. Baker who joined her to watch them. He often tried to sneak up on Idris, but she was always aware of every movement. Although the walking stick had been a dead giveaway as it hit the stone tiled floor.
"What do you think, Idris? Did anything unsavoury happen between them last night?" he quietly asked.
Without turning her head, she answered, "Not at all. They are at the beginning of a very healthy relationship."
"Yes, you need to build a strong bond with your assistant," he commented.
"There's that too," she added.
He instantly gaped at her in surprise. "You think there might be more to them in time?"
"I do indeed." She turned her full state onto him. "Hearts need to love and be loved. They both have so much love to give and yet had no one to appreciate it properly. Together they can achieve whatever they desire. Whether it ends up as a close friendship, marriage or full parenthood, is up to them, but they will adore their time together."
"Ah, but you know if they will or not. I know you do," he surmised, his old eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Perhaps I do," she smugly replied. "Like I know you have come in here to request tea."
"As always, Idris, you are a marvel."
-0-