Part 4

.

It was quickly decided that they would go and seek out their nearest branch of Tesco's after their cup of tea, and a shopping list was hastily put together.

That was how they found themselves pushing a shopping trolley an hour later arguing over the intricacies of how many packets of Rich Tea biscuits was deemed 'too much', ending with John resisting the urge to shout that he'd pay for the whole bloody lot if that would shut her up!

Martha really hated John Smith in that moment; he was far too childish for her tastes at times. If she had met him first rather than the Doctor she would never have agreed to travel further than the end of Chiswick Pier with him, and that was pushing it!

Seeing the various foods on display made her really miss her mum and homemade cooking. This was too much like being a student again. "I might go and visit my mum tomorrow," she said conversationally as they passed the freshly baked pies section.

"Do you? That's nice," John said distractedly, looking somewhere else entirely.

Martha frowned. What was he on about now, and what had caught his wandering attention? He seemed to be absolutely fascinated by the next aisle.

It was her! John was sure it was her meandering through the store and currently looking at the cartons of fruit juice. He was just about to jump into the central aisle and yell out to the woman he thought was Donna when he realised he might mess this up if he was seen with Martha. After all, he'd told Donna that he wasn't married to Martha; but didn't a shared trolley suggest quite an intimate relationship? Oh heck! He'd have to avoid her after all when his instinct was to rush up and grab Donna… grab her attention.

"Who or what have you seen?" Martha asked him suspiciously as he threw himself against the shelving.

He shushed her. "I'm not here, right!"

Martha agreed that he wasn't right in the head! "D-John, what is going on?" Martha demanded as she stood with hands on hips. So help her she'd slap him in a minute if he didn't stop behaving like a complete idiot!

John pointed vaguely round the corner of the aisle. "It's erm… I can't be seen here with you, it might lead to unwanted questions," he told her lamely.

Oh for the love of…! Martha sighed loudly in exasperation at his antics. Anybody would think he was in a spy movie or an adulterous husband. A thought that suddenly made her wonder if they had run into Rose; but surely they couldn't have? Especially as he wasn't supposed to remember anything from his normal life.

"Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" she asked bluntly, determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Oh no! But I told Donna…," his voice trailed off as he wondered what or how much he should admit.

Martha almost wanted to hug herself with relief that she wasn't having to deal with that scenario; that is, until his words sunk in. "What did you tell Donna? is it the same Donna from the office at school?" she enquired.

His guilty expression said it all. "Might be…"

"And why exactly can't she see… John, Come back here!" she called after his retreating figure.

But he had fled.

Donna spotted him hiding almost straight away, if you could call pressing yourself up against the baked bean tins as hiding. So she deliberately led him away to where the more embarrassing products were, hoping he'd eventually do something stupid. She didn't have long to wait as he trailed after her.

"That really isn't your colour," she drily commented as she found him pretending to be at one with the display rails of the bra department. A red flowery bra, size 36C, was hanging on his head.

"It isn't? Do you think I should have stuck with the cream?" he asked her nonchalantly as he fingered another item on display.

She nodded. "Definitely. Although you might want to try a slightly smaller size."

He looked at the size F cup label in horror and almost threw the bra at her.

"Can't handle it, eh?" she smirked. "Come on then, history boy; tell me why all the skulduggery. And don't try to tell me you're in touch with your feminine side."

He blushed. "You've caught me banged to rights, guv'nor, but society is to blame," he joked in his best Cockney accent.

Donna giggled loudly and swatted his arm. "I ought to have you arrested for stalking me," she told him.

"True! But you love me too much to do that," he replied, and deliberately gave her his best cutesy face; making her laugh again.

"So this is where you sneaked off to!" Martha stormed at John, choosing to ignore the presence of Donna for the time being.

"Oh! Martha! I was just… erm… This is Donna Noble. Donna, this is Martha Jones," he stammered guiltily.

The two women cagily said hello to each other.

The fact that Martha was pushing a trolley with men's shaving foam in it might have been dismissible if John hadn't acted so guilty. Okay, so he wasn't married, judging by the lack of a ring on Martha's finger; but that didn't mean he wasn't in a long term relationship.

"It was lovely to finally meet you, Martha. You must find it hard to keep a straight face with this idiot around all the time," Donna remarked. "I'll leave you to get on with your shopping." She then walked hurriedly away, and in no way did she leg it; nuh uh! And just because the only decent bloke who showed her the least bit of attention lately was shacked up with the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen didn't make her feel inadequate in the slightest! If she kept saying that last bit she might believe it one day; but for now she just wanted to cry. It also didn't influence her decision to get out of the store as quickly as she could.

Yet again John found himself standing stunned as Donna Noble walked away from him. What had possessed him to hide the fact he was there with Martha? In hindsight it had been an amazingly bad decision. All he'd managed to do was make the situation look decidedly suspicious.

Martha watched the emotions play over his face with very mixed feelings. Yes, she'd long hoped to see such an expression on his face, but she'd wanted to be the reason for it in a good way. Why couldn't he ever think of her in that way? And what was so special about Donna, with her ginger hair, blue eyes, curvaceous figure and evident sense of humour? All of that should have been easy to compete with. Martha needed a comforting hug. "I'm going home to see my mum," she stated defiantly.

When John blinked pathetically at her and said, "Pardon?" Martha wanted to abandon him forever.

John slumped against his front door after shutting it. He had to be honest with himself; he had messed up big time. Martha was furious with him for sneaking off to catch a peek of Donna, and Donna had waltzed away thinking God knew what about him. He wanted to make it up to her, he needed to make it up to her for the sake of his own sanity; and how the heck was he going to do that?

He had tried to explain things the moment he had seen her in school. "Donna…?" he had started to say.

"Good morning, Mr Smith. If you have any request could you put it in my in-tray, please ," Donna had formally said before trying to walk away from him.

John made a grab for her forearm to halt her progress. "Please Donna, let me explain," he begged her. "It isn't what you think."

She eyed his hand with disdain. "How on earth could you possibly know what I think? Unless it has to do with the fact that I don't mess around with men who are clearly taken. Now kindly let me get on with my job and you can finish playing silly buggers somewhere else instead."

He let her go then; it had seemed a good idea at the time. Perhaps he could get Martha to explain things weren't like that? Except he couldn't see Martha agreeing to ever help him out again.

Martha was just coming out of her classroom when she noticed two year eleven girls regarding her sympathetically. "Do you think she knows?" one whispered to the other.

"Knows what, ladies?" Martha sternly asked.

They both looked sheepish. "Knows about your boyfriend, miss." They both exchanged looks at this point. "He's been cheating on you, miss, with the new woman in reprographics."

Part of Martha was delighted they were showing her such loyalty. She gave them a friendly smile. "Firstly, he isn't my boyfriend but only my friend. And secondly, he isn't cheating with anyone, least of all Miss Noble."

"But we saw him, miss!" the other girl declared indignantly. "He was all over her like a rash!"

"Yeah, he well fancies her," the first girl confirmed. "My friend in group B said he always tries to get her to stay and talk in their lesson."

What could Martha say to that? "And does she stay?" she heard herself ask.

"Usually she does. Amy said they flirt like crazy, but then she would say that," was the reply. "It's a bit sick if you ask me. Old people shouldn't act like that."

Martha wanted to laugh at their obvious ageism. "Jealous!" she retorted. "I've got better things to worry about than Mr Smith's love life." Except she did worry about his love life; very much.

John put his hand in his pocket and rediscovered the earring sitting in there. Thank you! He finally had a first class reason to talk with Donna privately.

The next time he saw Donna was in a crowded corridor. "Er… Miss Noble? Can I have a quick word with you, please?"

She couldn't get out of that sort of public request, could she?

"What did you want, Mr Smith? I haven't got long to hang about here talking to you," she said, using her professional voice again.

John waited for her in the doorway of what he thought was an empty classroom. He lowered his voice just in case little ears were listening. "The thing is, Miss Noble, I found this in my bed the other day. " He held out his hand to show her the earring. "You left it Friday night, if you remember. I didn't get the chance to give it to you at the weekend."

Donna's expression softened slightly, relieved that he wasn't being a prat. "Thank you for returning it to me," she said as she took it from his open hand.

He gulped nervously. "I'm really sorry about the misunderstanding; I really am. I need to tell you the truth."

"Let's do ourselves a favour and leave it be. Okay, so there's no marriage, but we both know it is serious," she argued.

"But Donna, please!" he begged. "I need you to…"

Donna put her finger on his lips to shut him up. "No," she stated before sadly walking away.

John was too busy watching his happiness walk away to notice the three pupils listening in the open walk-in cupboard. They saw him sigh despondently and leave. "Did I hear right? Did he say they got married but it turned out to be illegal?" one girl asked.

"They eloped! How romantic," the second girl swooned.

"He tricked her into marrying him. Now that's what I call love," the third girl commented. "I think she ought to take him back."

"What do you reckon he gave her?" the second girl asked.

"A wedding ring; I'm certain of that," the first girl stated.

"If only she would go back to him. She'd be mad not to. Let's go tell the others," the third girl suggested enthusiastically; and the three year eights hurried off.