"Oh my…." Rose muttered breathlessly as the Doctor opened the heavy oak door with a flourish and stood back to let her look inside.
His smile beamed happily at her as she stepped passed him into the room.
"It's amazing," she said softly, almost afraid to raise her voice in case she broke the near magical atmosphere of the place.
"See," he said, following her in, "I am so impressive."
Rose had been a little dubious when he had offered to show her the music room. She would have been quite happy to walk around the beautiful garden all day, basking in the artificial sunshine. It was almost as good as really being outside, even if it didn't quite smell right. But he had insisted that music room was really something and he wasn't half wrong.
It was like she'd stepped into a Jane Austen novel - or at least one of the films she had seen of them - only it was so much better in reality. The room was circular with a high domed ceiling that was covered with triangular, warm yellow panels. Each one contained its own beautiful painting of a different woman, draped with strategically placed pieces of coloured cloth. In the centre was a large, delicate looking chandelier that gave the room a warm, old fashioned glow. The walls were equally well decorated, with painted tendrils of flowers winding down the pale cream panels. There was so much ornate gold and plaster carving that Rose's darting eyes couldn't take it all in. If a person had had to make this it would have taken them years.
She wasn't so overwhelmed by the décor though that she didn't notice the centrepiece of the room; a gorgeous grand piano. Grinning she hurried over to it and sat down on the slightly worn school. Clearly it had been used a lot in the past, although the Doctor didn't really seem the piano playing type to her.
"Is this my surprise?" she asked curiously. It seemed like an odd thing for him to do. She had never mentioned that she played an instrument or anything.
"Nope," he said, brightly, rocking on the balls of his feet, hands clasped behind his back in an annoyingly smug way, "That'll have to wait until your ankle's a bit more settled."
She shook her head in despair at his secrecy, before turning back to the piano. She started tapping experimentally at the keys, managing to get through the first few notes of twinkle twinkle little star before she hit a wrong one. She smiled slightly to herself; she never was any good at this.
The Doctor grinned as he stepped up and leant on the back of the instrument, "I didn't know you played the piano."
She snorted a short laughed, "Not quite. Mum was always better than me."
"Really?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
"Yeah," she said, smiling at his reaction. He was right; Jackie Tyler didn't appear to be the piano playing type.
Rose frowned momentarily to herself. That was the second time she'd mentioned her mum today. In truth, she had been thinking about her a lot lately. Her birthday had passed just a month back and it was odd not to have been woken by her mum's off key singing and a hug. She wondered how many birthdays would pass before she saw her again. Despite the fact she drove her nuts most of the time, Rose did miss her. She was only now beginning to appreciate who her mum really was.
"She got banned from tech lessons at school for accidentally sawing a bench in half," Rose explained, realising the Doctor was staring at her curiously, "The music teacher was the only one who'd have her back more than necessary. Mum always said it was cos he fancied her. He taught her how to play the piano. She wanted me to learn too but I was never interested."
She smiled at her own childishness, "I wanted to do gymnastics because I liked the sparkly costumes."
The Doctor grinned, "I can just see you in a sparkly costume."
"Yeah, well you'd better keep that thought to yourself because it ain't gonna happen," Rose said with a short laugh, "I gave that all up when I was twelve."
"Why? What happened?" he asked curiously.
A wicked grin plastered itself on Rose's face.
"Boys."