Once seated, Rose and the Doctor sat in awkward silence. Rose was a jumble of emotions, not quite sure how they've gotten to this point. The Doctor on the other hand wanted to kick himself for taking advantage of the situation. He didn't want Rose to leave him, but he didn't want to risk their relationship because of what happened. Not that he was complaining. Kissing Rose was better than any adventure they had so far. Her lips were soft and there was almost a sugary taste to her when he dipped his tongue inside her mouth… The Doctor groaned inwardly. He had to stop thinking about that. His thoughts were leading him elsewhere. He only meant to celebrate Rose's birthday and show her a good time, but he knew deep inside that he would also be playing with fire the minute he asked her to wear the tight fitting outfit. His baser male instincts had ruled his thinking when he thought of where to take her next. Perhaps he felt reckless; especially after Mickey had left them when he chose to stay in the alternate world.
Rose had been depressed after Mickey's departure. The Doctor knew that she loved Mickey, but also knew that her relationship with Mickey had changed because of him. He couldn't say that he felt sorry for that because in the end Rose chose to continue traveling with him. In fact he almost felt a sense of triumph when Mickey had sadly declared that in the end it was all about the Doctor and Rose. The truth was he was afraid to be alone and feared it even more now that his relationship with Rose had started to shift into something more.
"I guess we should leave now," he heard himself say. "I'll go talk to our host, be right back." He stood up without glancing at Rose and began to look for the gentleman that seated them in the beginning.
Rose didn't know how to react to his lack of sensitivity. He just walked away! He just left her and walked away! She thought of leaving him. Would serve him right. Trouble was she didn't remember exactly where they left the TARDIS so she was stuck without a possible way of leaving. And then a thought popped into her head. If the Doctor chose to play mind games with her, she might as well torment him long enough to see how far he was willing to carry this little game of his.
As Rose fumed in her seat she didn't notice that one of the dancers had been watching her and the Doctor. The dancer, a very handsome well built man, smiled inwardly to himself as he watched the skinny man with the pin stripped suit walk away from the young blond woman. He saw his opportunity and approached Rose, carrying two drinks with him.
"May I?" he asked Rose as he stood in front of her.
At first, Rose was about to decline, but then thought better of it as she saw the Doctor deep in conversation with their host. "Sure," she said giving the man a dazzling smile. "My friend is otherwise engaged."
"So he's your friend then?" the dancer asked. "It didn't look like it a moment ago."
Rose laughed. "A mistake," she said. "You know, wine, music, dancing…"
The man smiled. "I'm Alberto," he said handing her his spare glass of wine and sitting down on the Doctor's empty seat.
"I better not," Rose said declining the offer to drink. "I've already had too much."
"Please," Alberto insisted. "It's not polite to decline an invitation to drink, you know."
The last thing Rose needed was to be impolite. She was in a strange planet and for all she knew this could be part of their custom. So she took a deep breath, accepted the drink and took a small sip. 'Great,' she thought, 'more sangria.' Not that she was complaining, but she already had her fill of the sweet drink. Still, she thought, Alberto was certainly wonderful to look at and his voice was a beacon of seduction. For once she wanted to feel wanted, not discarded and forgotten. She glanced over to where the Doctor was still otherwise engaged and she decided to give her full attention to Alberto who looked at her with half lidded eyes as he sipped his wine.