Chapter 3

Ianto arrived to the office even earlier than usual on Tuesday morning, today was the big day. He and Owen had arranged to come in early to check that everything was just right for the arrival of their new boss; they wanted to make a good impression and to start off in the right way, which hadn't been the case with Yvonne. And since that relationship had never got better, they thought they would try to make this one right from the beginning. It was only him, Owen and Gwen that worked full time, and then the new boss and his assistant (who he had insisted on bringing along) would be too, and they felt nervous but happy that they were finally coming.

Just before 8:30, Ianto went to the kitchenette to make a fresh pot of coffee before the arrival of the others, and as he was in there, he heard Owen talking to someone. He stuck his head out, and was incredibly surprised when he saw the American from last night! Why was he there? Then it suddenly dawned on him, the gorgeous man that had occupied his thoughts until he fell asleep the previous night, was called Jack, as in Jack Harkness – his new boss. He took a few moments to take all this in before stepping out to greet the new-comers. As he joined them, he could see the surprise on Jack's face as they locked eyes.

'Ianto? What are you doing here?'

Owen and the pretty Japanese girl standing beside Jack looked very confused, and surprised that the two men seemingly knew each other.

'Good morning, Jack! So I presume you're Jack Harkness, then, our new boss?' Ianto smiled before explaining to the other two that they had met in the park the previous evening, thanks to Myfanwy. Soon they all laughed and the incident seemed to make this first encounter less nervous.

The young woman next to Jack introduced herself as Toshiko Sato, she wasn't as much Jack's PA, as his computer geek, that he just couldn't be without. They all smiled at this, but Ianto and Owen looked briefly at each other and wondered if her knowledge in computers was the only reason Jack had wanted to bring her, and Ianto once again felt confused, as he wasn't overjoyed of the idea of her being Jack's girlfriend. 'What's wrong with me', he thought, 'Jack may be good-looking, but he's a man, and I have Lisa… No, I'm probably just nervous about this new situation, that's all…' but he couldn't seem to shake this hint of jealousy.

Jack's and Toshiko's first day at the Cardiff branch of Torchwood, went by quickly and they all seemed to get along very well. After the others had come in at about nine o'clock, they had had a short briefing in the conference room, where Jack and Tosh, as Jack called her, had introduced themselves and told them that no greater changes were in order, perhaps Torchwood would become a bit more personal (it seemed Jack was aware of Yvonne's reputation and how she had a barrier between herself and her employees), but no-one needed to worry about anything, and if they had any concerns, they were all more than welcome to go see Jack. Owen and Ianto had shown their new colleagues around the office and they talked some more of what they all had done previously. Jack was American, 36 years old, and had lived in the UK for the last fifteen. 28-year old Tosh had been born in Japan but moved to London with her family when she was five. Ianto and Owen told them a bit about themselves, how Ianto was from Cardiff, and had returned there after having been to University in London, and that he and Londoner Owen had both worked for Torchwood Cardiff for the last five years. After lunch Ianto served them coffee, as it had been forgotten about when they had been distracted by talking about Jack and Ianto's previous encounter. Tosh had smiled and said it was probably the best coffee she had ever tasted, and Jack had described it as orgasmic and made sounds accordingly, which made Ianto's cheeks go slightly red. Owen smiled and said that Ianto's coffee was one of the main perks of working at Torchwood Cardiff. Gwen, who was in charge of public relations, had been running in and out of the office all day to go to meetings, but joined them for coffee. Tosh, Owen and Ianto were all three slightly uncomfortable as Gwen and Jack flirted with each other. Ianto and Owen had thought it bad manners from Gwen's side, as they didn't know quite what kind of relationship Tosh and Jack had, at the same time as they felt slightly jealous, though not of the same person. Tosh, who had seen Gwen's wedding-band, told Jack off on the way home.

'Jack, you leave her alone! If she's taken, you are not to make any moves at all on her!'

'Oh, Tosh, it was just a bit of flirting, I don't even find her to be the most attractive among them…' he answered smiling, thinking of the tall, dark and very handsome Welshman that had occupied his thoughts the entire evening yesterday.