Hello, readers. I've been having trouble lately with some writer's block. I know where I want to go, but I don't know how to get there. It's hard. In the meantime, I'll try to get my creative juices flowing by working on a third part in the Blind Date series. I hope that you'll like it, as I've been brainstorming it and I think that it's interesting.

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Chapter 1: The Trouble Begins

John Smith was happy with his life. He had a good job, good friends, and a wonderful girlfriend. He and his girlfriend, Clara Oswald, had been dating for nearly two years and he had moved in with her about four months ago. To his surprise and delight, his dainty Munchkin, Little Missy the Amazing Sausage Cat, got along very well with Simon, Clara's enormous Siamese-Maine Coon mix. There was no risk of kittens because Missy was already spayed and Simon was already neutered. There was one problem, though: John hadn't met Clara's family. She wasn't ashamed of him. She had told him as much, and he most certainly believed her. It was just that they hadn't gotten around to doing it. It would happen eventually, John thought. He had just gotten home from work and he was looking forward to spending time with his girlfriend. He could hear her from another room, talking loudly on the phone. John hung up his coat on the coatrack and headed into the kitchen. Clara's back was facing him. He then had an idea. A wicked smirk appeared on his face as he slowly crept up behind her. She wasn't even aware that he was there. Once he was behind her, he leaned down and kissed her neck, surprising her. She let out a soft 'yeep!' He then whispered in her ear, "Hello, darling."

He then began to kiss her neck again. Clara let out a soft moan. She then started and let out a fake laugh before speaking hastily into the phone. "Oh, that? I was just cracking my neck." She let out another fake laugh. "Stiff neck. Long day, you know?"

Still feeling extremely mischievous, John then brought his tongue into the game and laved it down Clara's neck. She let out a muffled squeak, trying to hold back a moan. She was trying to pay attention to the phone. "Oh, same as usual. A student Rickrolled their presentation- AH! Sorry! Neck again!"

John continued his ministrations and Clara tried not to succumb to them while on the phone. A moan, this time louder, slipped through her lips. She let out a sigh before mumbling into the phone, "What was that? Neck?" Her eyes widened as she said, "Um, yeah! My neck! You're right. I should probably take a paracetamol and go lie down. I'll talk to you later."

Clara then hung up the phone and sighed, "Damn it, John, did you really have to do that while I was on the phone?"

John chuckled and said, "I didn't hear any complaints."

"Yes, well, as much as I enjoyed it, I really didn't want my dad to hear me moaning like a tart while I was on the phone with him." Clara replied.

"Oh, that was your dad?" John straightened up. "What was he calling about?"

"He wants us to meet him at a cafe in a couple hours." Clara replied. "I hope that's not a problem."

"No, we were going to meet eventually." John said with a shrug. "I didn't have any plans."

"Me, neither." Clara admitted. "I'm not sure what I should do until then."

John gave his girlfriend a sultry smirk and said, "I can think of something that we can do."

Clara rolled her eyes and said, "Really, John?"

"It's a good way to reduce stress." John pointed out.

Clara thought about it for a second before replying, "Okay, but you're going to have to use a condom. I'm switching to a different kind of birth control and I don't want to take any chances."

As Clara began to unbutton John's shirt, the doctor said, "Don't worry. I'll be a perfect gentleman."

The teacher grinned up at her boyfriend and, in a mock-threatening tone, said, "Don't you even dare." before pulling him down for a kiss.

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John nervously adjusted his necktie as he walked into the cafe with his girlfriend. Clara looked up at him with a smile and said, "John, it's going to be fine."

"He's going to judge me." John said. "He's going to make a scene because I'm his age."

Clara let out a sigh and reached up to adjust her boyfriend's necktie so it was perfect. "John," she said, "you didn't wear your plaid trousers or your hoodie this time. This shirt doesn't have holes in it. You're making a sincere effort to look more presentable for my dad. He is not going to judge you and he isn't going to make a scene."

"Are you sure that he won't make a scene?" John asked.

"Absolutely." Clara replied, "Now, let's go in there and impress my dad."

John smirked and said, "You're the boss."

The duo was told where Clara's father would be sitting before heading in. They were met with a man who, to no surprise, looked to be about John's age. "Clara!" the man said happily before reaching out to hug her.

Clara returned the hug and said, "Hello, Dad."

The man backed away after ending the hug and took a look at John. "Who's your friend?" Clara's father asked.

Clara took John's hand in hers and said, "Dad, this is Dr. John Smith. My boyfriend."

Clara's father's gaze immediately shot to John. The doctor could almost hear his thoughts about the considerable age difference between himself and his girlfriend. Clearing his throat, John said, "Hello, Mr. Oswald."

There was a brief silence before Clara's father finally smiled. He then patted John on the arm and said, "Call me Dave."

Clara let out a sigh of relief. Dave didn't seem to notice. He turned to his daughter and said, "Well, come with me. There's somebody that I'd like you to meet."

John and Clara followed Dave over to a table. Sitting there was a woman with a rather severe case of what Clara might call 'resting bitch face'. The petite brunette's eyes widened when she saw the woman. Nonetheless, she followed her father to the table and sat down. John, of course, sat down next to his girlfriend. Dave smiled and said, "Clara- and John, I suppose- I'd like you to meet Linda."

Clara forced a smile and said, "It's nice to meet you, Linda."

Linda gave an obviously fake smile and said, "Likewise."

John cleared his throat and said, "I suppose that Dave has a reason for bringing you here."

Dave nodded and said, "Yes, of course. I need to get to that."

The older Oswald took Linda's hand in his and smiled at her. The then looked at Clara and said, "Linda and I are getting married in four months."

All color drained from Clara's face. She cleared her throat and said, "I, ah, need to pop off to the loo for a minute."

John moved aside and allowed his girlfriend to pass. One minute turned to two, and then more. Dave looked at John with a concerned look on his face. The doctor cleared his throat and said, "Ah, I'll go check on her. Be back in a minute."

John then got up and headed over to the lavatories. He knocked on the door to the ladies' room and called out, "Clara? Are you okay in there?"

"I'm fine." Clara said loudly.

"Clara, if something is bothering you, please, tell me." John pleaded.

There was a brief silence before the door opened and Clara exited the ladies' room. She inhaled deeply before exhaling audibly. She looked at John and said, "Do you remember the Siamese breeder I told you about? The one who wanted to kill Simon if someone didn't take him?"

"Of course." John nodded.

"That's her." Clara replied. "Linda is the Siamese breeder who owned Simon's mum. I don't know if she recognizes me since we only spoke through email and we only saw each other once, when I picked Simon up."

John inhaled through his teeth. "That's bad."

"I know." Clara said.

"Maybe she's changed?" John suggested. "Eight years can change a person."

"It is possible." Clara admitted. "What should I do?"

"Give her a chance, at least for a while." John replied. "For your dad's sake and your own. If you decide that you still hate her after a while, you can tell her to kiss your arse and be on your merry way."

Clara snickered and said, "All right, I'll give her a chance- for my dad, not for her."

Clara then stood on her tiptoes and gave John a quick peck on the lips before heading back over to the table where her father and Linda were sitting. The petite teacher and her boyfriend sat down in their seats. "Well, congratulations, you two." Clara forced a smile again.

Linda gave that sweet, sickly fake smile and in an equally sweet voice, said, "One of the reasons that I wanted to meet you before the wedding, Clara, is that I wanted to make you one of my bridesmaids."

Before Clara could respond, Dave said, "Isn't that wonderful? I'm sure that you'll make a wonderful bridesmaid, Clara. John can be your plus-one."

John and Clara both held back a grimace. It seemed that she wasn't being given much of a choice. The petite brunette cleared her throat and said, "Well, I'll do my best."

"Excellent!" David said happily as the waiter arrived. "Now, what does everybody want for drinks? I'm buying!"

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When Clara and John arrived back at their flat, the doctor immediately removed his jacket and loosened his necktie. The young teacher plopped down on the sofa, let out a sigh, and said, "I can't believe this. I can't believe that my dad is getting married."

"Well, he's a single adult, Clara." John replied. "Single adults sometimes get married."

"I know, but why'd he have to get engaged to that woman?" Clara asked. "I know that I'm supposed to give her a chance, but I don't know how I'm going to get along with someone who wanted my cat dead at one point in time. How would you feel if someone wanted Missy to die?"

As if on cue, the little Munchkin appeared at Clara's feet and mewed at her, clearly asking to be picked up. John watched with amusement as his girlfriend placed his cat on her lap and began petting her. He, Clara, and Jack were pretty much the only humans that Missy liked. "Clara, if I had a quid for every time someone told me that they wished that my cat would fall out of a tenth-storey window, well, I'd certainly have enough to take you somewhere very nice for dinner." John replied. "She's been called a 'feline Maleficent', and I don't mean the not-entirely-evil Angelina Jolie version."

"I know, I know. Queen of Evil." Clara said. "But what would you do if someone actually tried to throw your cat out of a tenth-storey window?"

John thought about it for a moment. He then replied, "Well, if that happened, either Jack or myself would be in jail for what we would do to anyone who tried to hurt Missy. If I was the one to go to jail, she would become your cat."

"If you were in jail, whose face would she plant her arse on when she wants to be fed at 5 AM?" Clara asked bemusedly. She then realized that the conversation had switched directions and snapped, "Hey! Damn it, John! Don't change the subject!"

John shrugged. "Whatever you say, boss."

Clara sighed and asked, "What am I going to do, John?"

"Talk to your dad about it." John replied. "He's your dad and he's the one getting married. If you have concerns, bring it up with him."

Clara smiled and said, "All right, I'll do that. It couldn't hurt."

John returned the smile and pulled his girlfriend close in a one-armed hug. He then leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the top of her head. Things were going to be just fine. After all, how bad could being a bridesmaid possibly be? It was going to be simple.

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It turned out that no, being a bridesmaid was not simple. Linda's demands got crazier with every appointment. She wanted a matcha and mango cake with cinnamon and blueberry buttercream, which sounded atrocious. She wanted the buttercream to be blue and it absolutely had to be with a tropical theme. Nothing would convince her to change her mind. Clara finally decided to call her dad, who said, "Please, just cooperate her. It's her special day and she deserves to have a perfect wedding."

So, Clara bit her tongue and put up with it. For six weeks, she had been fighting the stress until it finally became too much for her. She was having trouble keeping food down because she was vomiting so much from the stress. She couldn't reacall a time when she had been that nauseous. She was exhausted and had actually gained weight. This stress was driving her body crazy. She couldn't wait until the wedding was over.

Clara was currently at the bridal shop, where Linda was picking out dresses for herself and the bridesmaids. The bridesmaid dresses that the bride-to-be picked out were bright, safety orange satin mostrosities, knee length and strapless with poo-brown sashes. They. Looked. Hideous. Clara tried to convince her that there were better options, but Linda just acted like her future step-daughter was being overly dramatic and called Dave. When she handed the phone over to Clara, the exasperated older Oswald said to just cooperate with his fiancee and that he was sure that it would look fine. Resigning to the fact that she would have to wear the ugliest bridesmaid dress in the British Isles, Clara tried her dress on to find that it was a bit tight. She walked out to show Linda, who immediately said, "I thought that you told me the truth about your size."

"This usually is my dress size." An exasperated Clara sighed.

"Well, clearly, you've gained weight." Linda huffed. "I'm not going to get a new dress for you. You're going to have to slim down before the wedding."

Clara could hear the perfect, blonde bridesmaids snicker at her. The teacher bit back a sigh. She was doing this for her dad, she reminded herself. Linda snorted and said, "You need to find a better bra, too."

Clara let out a quiet groan of extreme annoyance. Yes, her breasts had gotten a little bigger recently and were somewhat tender, but that was probably the result of her new birth control pill. It wasn't a huge change, but it was still embarassing when Linda commented so loudly on it. The older woman indicated with her finger that her future step-daughter needed to turn around. "You're going to need to wear heels at the wedding." She held her hands about fifteen centimeters apart. "About this high. Preferably stilettos. You're much too short, compared to the other bridesmaids."

Clara inwardly groaned. Yes, she did wear heels on a semi-regular basis, but fifteen centimeters was asking a lot of a person's feet. She felt another wave of nausia roll through her body. Somehow, she miraculously managed to not throw up on the spot. Stupid wedding. The stress was doing crazy things to her body. She was doing it for her dad, she reminded herself once again. These crazy symptoms would probably stop once the wedding was over and she wasn't so stressed out. If they continued, well, she wasn't sure what she was going to do. It was probably something harmless, she thought dismissively. It was then that Linda spoke again, this time in that sickly sweet voice. "Oh, Clara. Don't worry. You'll look fine in that dress. You'll look just as good as the other bridesmaids after you lose some weight."

Clara held back a sigh. This whole debacle couldn't be over soon enough.