And a Souffle, Please

by the antisocial insomniac

Chapter 3- Wednesdays

"Doctor! Do you really know how to drive?!" Clara's knuckles were white as she held onto the back of her seat for dear life. "I thought you said that you could get me to work safely! This isn't safe!"

"Clara, please shut up. Short hops are difficult. I need to concentrate."

"Watch out for the tree!"

The Doctor groaned and pulled to the side of the road, the TARDIS shaking slightly as it came to a stop. "My driving is perfectly normal!" he exclaimed, turning to face Clara in annoyance. "Do you want to walk or not?"

Clara sighed and relaxed in her seat. "Fine. Just… go a bit slower, okay? You're gonna get pulled over if you aren't careful."

The Doctor pulled the gear back into drive and eased the vehicle back onto the road. After a minute of silence, he sighed. "Sorry," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the road in front of him. "I'll be more careful from now on."

Clara rolled her eyes, even though she knew the Doctor couldn't see. "It's fine. I would have stayed, anyways." she stayed quiet for a moment, watching the various shops and trees and bits of sidewalk go by outside the window- or windows? She quite liked the little painted-on windows, actually. Not that she would ever tell him that. "Still. Your car is strange."

"So am I," the Doctor replied automatically. "What's bad about strange? It's more fun."

"I suppose." It was quiet until Clara continued. "Are you really just the Doctor? Is that really what everyone calls you?"

"Yup, that's me. Just the Doctor. Hello!" he waved his hand, then jumped a little when the car swerved.

"You don't have an actual name, then?"

The Doctor sighed. "Of course I have an actual name. I just don't give it out to any random person on the street. Even the people who work in my shop don't know me as anything more than 'Doctor.'"

Clara's eyes widened. "Wait, you own the shop? The entire thing?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Yeah. It's not that hard, really. Just a lot of coffee-buying and muffin-baking and money-managing and people-hiring. Well, I guess it's a little more complicated than that. Maybe a five out of ten on the scale of difficulty. Probably a smidge more." he stopped, and Clara stared at him in a shocked silence. Boy, this man could ramble. "I guess it is pretty hard, after all. Yowzah. I've never really thought of it as being perticularly challanging before."

Clara coughed, choking down a laugh. "Did you… did you seriously just say… yowzah?"

"Yeah, I did. Honestly, the lot of you. You're no better than Amy," the Doctor muttered, annoyed. "Seriously. It's just a word."

"Sorry, who?"

"Right, my fault, sorry. Amy and her husband, Rory, were friends of mine." the Doctor kept his eyes glued to the road, but Clara could see that it was a touchy subject, so she didn't press further. "Amy… she was always telling me that I said 'yowzah' too often. I don't know. I like the word, personally."

"I don't see a problem with it," Clara agreed, her brow creasing with thought. "I mean, I once had an otaku friend that used to say 'kawaii' way too much. It wasn't that I didn't like the word so much as she could go up to a bloody doll and swoon over it like it was the most adorable thing on the planet. But yowzah? I think it works."

The Doctor nodded. "The whole 'kawaii' does seem a bit much."

As he pulled the TARDIS up in front of Coal Hill School and stopped, the Doctor turned to Clara. "So… this was a nice chat," he said awkwardly.

"Yeah," she replied. "It was."

"Want to do it again sometime?"

Clara smirked. "Down, boy," she replied,making the Doctor's face fall. Clara panicked. "Sorry, not what I meant. Today is Tuesday, right? I get off early on Wednesdays... I don't have classes the last two periods of the day, so I get my grading done then and leave right after the students do. That's when I usually come by your shop. Want to meet up then?"

"Okay," the Doctor agreed, "see you tomorrow then?"

"See you," Clara sang, sliding out of the car. But as the Doctor watched her practically bounce into the school, he couldn't see her smile.

"Jenny, is the Doctor back yet?" Vastra asked in annoyance, balancing four coffees in her hand. "I could really use some help here."

"He can't be out for too much longer," she replied. "Besides, I think I hear the TARDIS."

"I'm working this Wednesday," a loud voice announced from the kitchen as a door slammed shut. There was a swish as the Doctor threw his jacket onto its hook and brushed through the double doors into the main shop. "Vastra, you can have Wednesday off. Think of it as repaying you for covering me just now."

Vastra rolled her eyes and turned to the Doctor, pouring some tea into a cup for a customer. "Don't even try to hide it. She told you she comes here on Wednesdays, and you want to talk to her, don't you." the woman smirked. "We know you too well, Doctor. There's no point in lying."

"Actually, we had a nice chat, and she said she would like to do it again sometime," the Doctor stated in a 'matter-of-fact' tone. "At which point she suggested she would stop in on Wednesday. So shut up." He rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands in the little sink under the counter before giving the woman who Vastra was serving her pastry. "Besides. Why would I suggest Wednesdays if I don't usually work?"

"He's got a point, ma'am," Jenny put in, leaning back on the counter.

"Jenny!" the Doctor spun happily and gave his friend and employee a hug. "When did you get here? I thought you had a doctor's appointment!"

"It ended early," she said with a shrug. "Anyways, tell me about this Clara figure!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"How do you know her name?" the Doctor asked, looking at Vastra and raising an eyebrow. "Did you know her name the whole time?"

"I knew her name after someone called the shop and I had to pick up the phone and take a note. Did you know she left her phone number, Doctor?"

"That's great!" Jenny burst in. "Doctor, this is fantastic!"

"And you're uncharactaristically happy," the Doctor replied, suspicious. "Are you sure that your doctor's appointment was normal?"

"I'm certain, sir," Jenny confirmed with a smile. "Why wouldn't it be? Now, back to Clara…"

A/N: Chapter 3 is up! Hope you enjoyed! The nextchapter should be up soon, but I start school on Thursday and so starting then I'll be a lot busier. On a side note… wow, I've gotten so many comments/follows/favorites recently! Where did you all come from?! :O I appreciate every comment, and each favorite/follow makes me smile. : )

I HAVE A PLAN, GUYS. This fic is going to follow the canon epsiodes in a way, with some plot points taken or inspired by the events in season 7. So, be prepared for that!

Thanks for reading!

~Aria