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Disclaimer: I don't own, Russel T. Davies does... I have no money, so suing it pointless...
Encounter No. 3: September 2003
The day of picking up the Captain, Ianto had been sitting with some friends in the cafeteria at lunchtime, and he'd found out about a bet that Director Hartman currently had going with her group of PAs. There were seven of them in total and all of them were nice people, hard workers and good friends, absolutely nothing like the devil incarnate who sat in the office they worked for.
Not many people in the Tower liked the Director: she was sarcastic, power-hungry and rude to anyone even slightly below her. Ianto had never actually met her but he had zero desire to do so. He was happy to believe what his friends told him.
However, when he found out about the terms of the deal, he couldn't help but feel sorry for them; they obviously had no idea what the Captain was going to be like. When he'd gotten out of the car outside the building, he skulked off into the foyer, carrying a pitch black thundercloud over head. He seemed to exude stubbornness, and Ianto had no doubt that he planned to be late to every meeting and appointment he had over the next few days. His friends, betting against Hartman's forecast of the Captain being late the next morning, were all going to lose twenty pounds to her.
It was precisely that reason which made Ianto get to work early the next day and give the Captain a wake up call. Literally. He let the number ring until it was picked up, a groggy voice answering.
"Yes?" It was obvious that the Captain wasn't a morning person.
"Sir, this is your morning wake up call. I've been asked to remind you that you have a meeting with Director Hartman in an hour, which I would suggest being on time to." Ianto sat back in his chair at the call desk, hoping that the man wouldn't just hang up and go back to sleep. The young man doubted that he even knew that there wasn't supposed to be a wake-up call.
"Oh, really? And why would you suggest that?" Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes and called a little upon his vast reserve of patience.
"Well, she has a bet on with some of her staff that you'll be late. If you're not on time, she'll win herself twenty pounds from everyone taking part… If you're on time, she'll owe twenty pounds to seven of her assistants…" Ianto let the last sentence hang open, knowing immediately that the words had had the desired effect on the Captain.
"Just for reference, who am I talking to?" That made him smile. There wasn't exactly an abundance of welsh workers at Torchwood One, but then again, he was living in Cardiff, so maybe he wouldn't find that so strange.
"It's Jones, sir. Ianto Jones." With that, Ianto put the receiver back in the cradle and allowed himself a smile as he pushed himself out of his chair and went to find some actual work to do. He was pretty sure there was some filing he'd volunteered to do for Mr. White, the Chief Archivist. He'd find out all about the Captain's arrival and the bet later on.