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Clara Oswald collapsed on her chair as soon as Jack placed the bag on the desk, thanking him for helping her with the heavy bag. It was a good thing he was where he was because she was sure she would have dropped everything had he not been there and offered help.
The Doctor was totally useless as usual, high on that ivory tower of his, and he nearly hit her with his car, again!
"I really appreciate it," she said, beaming.
"Not a problem," Jack replied. "Your boyfriend woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" he asked jokingly.
She pursed her lips.
"Right, I think I took it a bit too far."
Clara arched a brow.
"See ya!" Jack said as he dashed out of her tiny office.
If only he knew what was going on with her love life. She really wanted to point out to Jack that she has a boyfriend, but one, he has been one of the nicest people she has ever met, it would be rude to just randomly cut in and say otherwise and two, at this point, she wasn't sure if she and Danny were still an item. It's a complete mess.
As if on cue, her phone beeped in the pocket of her coat and she pulled it out. Danny.
He's asking if she's free this weekend so that they could have a date.
As much as she was keen to have him over during the weekend and spend time together, she can't. There were test scripts that needed to be marked, she needs to take her cat to the vet and then continue working on a paper she recently started thanks to that Scottish bastard. No free time at all.
"She's coming – she's bloody coming!"
The text message from her boyfriend would have to wait as Clara immediately put her phone aside and discarded the coat, hanging it on the chair.
Clara Oswald had only been working at the university for a year and she had learned a lot of things.
She learned that the then-new vice-chancellor is a scary woman. The lecturer isn't terrified of her per se, but there is something the woman that told Clara to stay off her radar.
The second thing she learned is that the department is a fairly small one with about 40 faculty members and 30 postgraduates. Everyone seems to know each other well and is close-knit.
The third thing she learned, she hated Dr John Smith, aka, the Doctor. He has to be the most annoying, arrogant, pompous, rude, thinks-he's-better-than-everyone-else man she has ever met in her entire existence and just who calls themselves "the Doctor" anyway? His ego must be the size of Europe. Sure, he's made some contributions… well, lots of contributions in the field of mathematics and even won the Fields Medal, but that doesn't give him the excuse to act like a jerk.
She loves her job, but at the same time hates it, thanks to the Doctor.
Once the hallway became silent, she decided to see if the vice-chancellor has finally arrived and saw her standing in front of John's office.
Of course, why else would Professor Missy Smith come here, if not to see her brother?
Her connection with the Doctor is also the reason why Clara wanted to steer clear of her. She could fire her on the spot and no one would say anything.
As much as she felt tempted to sometimes slap that smug look off of the Doctor's face, she had to hold back. Clara had lost count the number of times she imagined running his foot over with her bike, or something similar of the sort, but never actually doing it mainly for fear she would get fired.
"If it isn't the drama king," Missy commented, loud enough for Clara to hear her.
"Can I help you, Miranda Priestly?" John said sarcastically, still seated and holding the packet of crisps.
"People have been complaining, again," his sister stated, frowning. "I've only been back for less than a day and the first thing I have to deal with is you."
"And Dr Oswald."
Clara froze in her spot by the door.
Missy sighed. "I'm warning you, John, this has been going on for long enough – stop acting like children, you and her."
"It's not my fault-"
The vice-chancellor raised her hand, signalling him to stop speaking. "I don't care whose fault it is – tell your girlfriend to knock it off, too."
Without another word, Missy made her way back to where she came from, putting the conversation to a complete stop.
Clara shut the door to her office when she saw John's shadow. She leaned against the frame as the sound of his heavy footsteps diminished.
She's glad that she was spared from the lecture. Come to think of it, Missy had never approached her since she first started working her, not that she was complaining.
Her gaze returned to the smartphone lying on the desk. Danny. She'll text him when she returns home.
To calm her nerves, Clara grabbed the empty mug next to the keyboard and headed for the break room which began filling with people. Some tea should help.
As she was busy making her drink, some of the postgraduate students began gossiping in the corner.
"I saw Clara and the Doctor fighting again today," Oishin said quietly. "They were blocking each other from getting into the lift, so I immediately took the stairs."
"From where I'm from, there's this saying along the lines of 'the more two people argue, the more likely it is they'll get married'," a young man by the name of Dan said. "Bet they will in two or maybe three years."
"Are we seriously gossiping about the lecturers here?" Bill asked.
Oishin glanced at Clara before he shrugged. "Guess we are – it's somewhat amusing."
"Practically everyone ships them," Bill muttered, quickly looking away as Clara turned around.
Clara Oswald couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Just moments ago, the head of the department, Professor Ian Chesterton had knocked on her door and asked her to see him in his office.
She couldn't recall causing any serious trouble, excluding the spat that she had with the Doctor earlier in the day, but that couldn't possibly be it since it's now what everyone has considered being a normal occurrence.
Why does he want to speak to her? Is he going to finally fire her?
She couldn't afford to lose her job.
"What are you doing here?" John asked as quietly as possible with a hint of annoyance in his voice as he stood in front of Ian's office.
"I could say the same thing to you – are you stalking me?" she retorted.
He scoffed and crossed in arms. "I do believe it's the other way around."
"Don't be full of yourself, grandpa!"
He took offence to her comment. "I am not that old!" he growled.
"Those plaid trousers," she said, pointing at them. "Say otherwise, well, more like a mid-life crisis, really."
The Doctor glared at her.
"And your attack eyebrows don't scare me."
"Attack eyebrows?!"
Clara merely smirked, enough to cause him to grit his teeth.
Suddenly, John laughed.
"What's so funny?"
He shot her a smug look. "Nothing, it's just that while I may wear plaid trousers and possess attack eyebrows," he stated before raising his arm to her height. "At least I'm not an elf."
She felt tempted to slap him. "Screw you!"
"You'd have to buy me dinner first."
Ian's office door swung open and the head of the department stared at the two lecturers with a blank expression. "It sounds to me like the both of you need a room."
The Doctor and Clara looked in opposite directions, avoiding eye contact with Ian.
She couldn't help but feel anxious as Ian pushed the door further to let them in. Oh, they were in so much trouble and not to mention she embarrassed herself in front of the head of the department.
"The reason I called both of you here is that I wanted to inform you that we'll be having an open day next week," he explained. "Well, it's actually two days long."
Clara wondered what he was getting at, standing as far away from the Doctor as possible.
"I'm guessing we're going to have to give a lecture taste test?" John asked.
"Yep," Ian confirmed, looking at the schedule. "The second day on Saturday, so both of you will have to be here during the weekend – the department will compensate, of course."
Clara remained silent. Why did she have to go to work on a Saturday and work alone with the Scottish bastard no less?
"Why do I have to work with her?" John complained.
"Because everyone else either has other plans or have done their part for the open day," Ian replied. He made the right decision to inform them in person. "Anyway, I've sent you an email and everything is in there."
That was the end of the conversation, so the two lecturers left the office, unhappy that they had to spend a weekend together.
"I can't believe this," John grumbled after the door shut.
Clara rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour. "Oh, shut up, grandpa – just accept your fate and move on."
"And you looking disgusted in Ian's office screams mature."
She pushed him aside and returned to her office as she has a lecture in less than twenty minutes.
"Can you feel the love tonight," Jack sang, holding a cup of coffee in his right hand.
The Doctor whirled around, slightly startled. "Where did you come from?!"
"Everyone could hear you two argue in the hallway," his colleague answered. "The hallway full of offices and lecture rooms."
"It wasn't my fault."
Jack took a sip of his coffee, following John to the break room. "No, nobody can blame you or her – love makes us all do crazy things."
"I am not in love with Clara," the Doctor insisted, slamming the cupboard after taking out a packet of crisps.
Jack merely laughed. "I would have dated you and her if the two of you weren't in love with each other."
"That's a disturbing thought."
"I'm quite the catch – don't deny it, John."
The Doctor frowned and wrinkled his nose in response, munching on some crisps.
"Anyway, back to my main topic, were you and her having a lovers' quarrel?"
John shut his eyes and sighed.
"You should feel grateful that I ship you with Clara – I'm willing to die protecting this ship."
He wanted to bang his head against the cupboard now.
"Let me guess, you and she-who-shall-not-be-named have to work on open day?"
At least Jack finally got somewhere. "Yes, unfortunately, regretfully, sadly and unhappily, we have to."
"Lecture taste test?"
It wasn't the so-called lecture taste test that made John dread the upcoming open day. It was the fact that both had to be present during the Q&A sessions. He could always avoid Clara during her turn, but there was no way he could escape from being in the same room as her after that.
Jack whistled. "The universe is obviously trying to get you and Clara closer together – take the relationship to the next level."
"What?" the Doctor retorted. "Are we going to duel every time we argue instead of just exchanging insults?"
"More like smooch," Jack whispered, winking.
"The she-devil is here," John muttered when Clara walked into the break room.
"I heard that!" she snapped, and the room immediately fell silent.
The two postgraduate students who were lounging on the sofa rose to their feet and left in a hurry.
"And what exactly did you hear?" he asked, smiling sarcastically.
Two can play that game. "I don't actually mind being called the devil – I'll take it as a compliment," she said. "I mean, if I'm the devil, that means I'm in charge of hell, and you look like the sort of person who would go to hell, so that means I can personally torture you for all eternity – I'll own you," she whispered, face merely inches from his before pulling away.
John stared at her for a few seconds before he blinked.
Clara then washed her mug with a triumphant look on her face before leaving.
Jack, on the other hand, stared at his friend with his mouth agape. "This is why you guys are meant for each other."