Her heartbeat quickened, awakening her fully. She blinked a few times, trying to process what she had just heard. She felt the same way, obviously, but she had to apply logic to this, to all of this; whatever /this/ was. "John..." She said gently, touching his cheek now, her thumb tracing his cheekbones. "Technically, we've only just met."

John raised his eyebrow at Clara, snorting, "I said I can, not I am..." He smirked at her and burst into a giggle fit, his hand dropping to her neck, leaning his head back to laugh.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Her head suddenly felt lighter. She leaned back on the pillows a smile on her face but he couldn't see it because she was covering it. "Ah. Fuck me, I totally misinterpreted that! Oh god, how embarrassing!"

John giggled even louder and leaned forward to kiss into Clara's hair, taking in her scent, "I already have," he grinned and leant back to laugh some more, "I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"It's okay." She slowly removed her hands from her face and looked at him, she couldn't stop herself from smiling. "It's good to know that. Both things, actually." Unfortunately, she knew, that this exact moment would haunt her until she died. Because it was a grave mistake she had made for not listening correctly.

John turned to face her again, a frown on his face, "Do you feel like it could happen?" He asked her bluntly, intertwining their legs again.

"Honestly? Yes. But I want to get to know you more, honestly. And I also want you to get to know me, just so you know how I am. It's not always pretty." She smirked at him.

John grinned and leaned forward to press a kiss to Clara's forehead, "I have no problem with that, Miss Oswald."

The kiss on her forehead made her blush. She had never gotten many of those and she liked them. "Good because you have no choice, mister."

John giggled again, like an over excited child at Christmas, "Yes mam," he winked at Clara and wrapped his arm around her, his chin resting on the top of her head as he bought Clara closer to him. "Now get some sleep, love."

She hugged him tight and kissed his chest. "I will. Hope you get some as well." She murmured as she hooked a leg over his waist. She was already draping over him like The Devil's Snare, but she couldn't help it, that's how she slept.

John smiled faintly, his arms wrapped around Clara's back as his fingers stroked her skin. A few hours after Clara had fallen asleep, so had John. Usually, he wouldn't sleep at all.

Clara woke up when the sound of her alarm in her phone went off. She woke up with a start, as always. She hated alarms. It was 5:30am, and she tried to disengage from John as fast as she could since he seemed to be asleep. How would she hate herself if she woke him up. She knew he fell asleep hours after her. It made her heart ache.

John startled awake as soon as he felt Clara move underneath him. He groaned and sat up instantly, feeling around for Clara. He swallowed as his eyes fell on her. His eyes were blood shot and his hair was a complete mess.

Clara shot up from bed to turn off the alarm, that done, she turned to him, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot I had it on. Oh my." Her eyes fell on the pasty whiteness that was him with his bloodshoot eyes and his hair a mess. He couldn't look any sexier right then.

"Go back to sleep. You don't have to go to work until, well, you want to so just lie down." She said as she bent to retrieve her toothbrush.

John grabbed Clara by her wrist and span her around, pulling her back onto his bed as she straddled him. He kissed her open-mouthedly and a lot lazier than usually. "Shut up and kiss me."

She gave him two more pecks on the lips until she remembered. She immediately pulled back and covered her mouth. "No,no,no, don't kiss me. Morning breath!" She hop off of him, toothbrush in hand and ran for the bathroom to brush her teeth.

John laughed and rolled his eyes, laying back on the bed, "I don't care!" He yelled to Clara, just to reassure her. He used both of his hands to mess with his hands and smiled to himself, content with his morning.

She heard him and chuckled to herself. Done with brushing her teeth, she put it back on her bag and straddled him again, leaning down to kiss him slowly, as she knew he liked it. John's placed his hands on Clara's hips, a sigh escaping his lips as he kissed her back, his hand running up her back and into her hair. Her skin broke into Goosebumps and she shuddered a little, feeling a bit cold. Her hands were holding his head in place as she directed the kiss and unconsciously, she started moving her hips. John pulled Clara closer to him, his own hips unconsciously moving as he kissed her, biting down on her bottom lip. John's tongue danced with Clara's, his hand resting on her cheek as he tried to fight for dominance. He could feel himself losing his control.

John's breath caught in his throat at the sensation of her tongue on his neck and he opened his eyes to look at her, his fingers tracing the skin on her hipbone, "I was going to say you're going to be late for work..."

At first, she couldn't process it but then realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh, shite!" She bent, kissed him hard one more time and went to pick up her bag with her clothes.

"You are so distracting, mister." She groaned and went to the bathroom.

John kissed her back, but groaned when she had left his lap. He pouted and stood up, leaning in the doorway of the bathroom, "I am your boss, you know. You don't have to go in until I tell you too, really."

She started putting the clothes she was going to wear on the toilet seat and put her make up bag on the sink. "I know-" Clara said as she started to undress.

"But I don't want any special treatment. I'm still your secretary and secretaries must be there earlier than their bosses. I am practically the second in command, people always ask me questions when the boss is not present."

John nodded, "Okay, that's a good point. Brownie points to you, Oswald. Might give you a raise," he winked at her and then walked behind Clara, wrapping his arms around her waist, his face nuzzling into her neck.

She had taken her socks and shirt off when he came behind her. She smiled at him as he nuzzled her neck. "As much as I enjoy your attentions, I have to ask you to stop. I'll make it up to you later but I am really like fifteen minutes behind schedule, dear."

John sighed, placed a kiss on Clara's neck and jumped out of her way for the rest of the morning, moving back into his bedroom to lay on his bed, using a remote to open his blinds to the dimly light New York City outside of his huge Windows.

Right before she left, she grabbed her bags and kissed him good-bye. The driver actually drove her to her apartment even though she had told him not to and then drove her to work. She was happier than she had ever been in years and she was dreading what might go wrong in the work or in her personal life. Noticing that she was already gnawing on her nails, she took out a pill and swallowed it. The effects would be effective in half an hour, though. She took memos for John and scheduled a few meetings as she waited for him to come, if he came, that is.

John had arrived at work three hours later at eight o clock. He grumbled a 'Morning' into his coffee as he walked across the floor to his office, sending a lopsided smile to some people. He opened his office door and sat behind his desk, logging on his computer. John wore a blue suit with a white shirt, black shoes and a black tie. He opted for wearing his glasses today and his hair was swept back.

She saw him but really didn't look at him for longer than what was decent and busied herself with work. She had received a fuck ton of calls in those three hours and she had scheduled four meetings for him today and three for tomorrow, she didn't want to overwhelm him with work. Instead if going to his office, as she would have done, she simply sent him his schedule, which was color coded, to his email, letting him know that his first meeting was at ten. John carried on with his work and seemed to be in and out of meetings all day. By four o clock, he was tired and sat at his desk, glasses off and rubbing his fingers inbetween his eyes. Damn headaches.

Clara looked behind her, the blinds were pulled up and she could see John clearly. She supposed he was experiencing the beginnings of a headache, so she opened her desk drawer and took a few headache pills from different brands, she didn't know which one he liked and went to get a bottle of water from the break room. With both items in hand, she opened the door softly, without knocking. "Headache, I suppose?" She asked softly as she placed the water in front of him.

John looked up from his hunched over position in his chair and raised his head slowly, blinking up at Clara. How did she know? He smiled fondly and picked up the bottle of water, taking the paracetamol from her hand. He threw back his head and swallowed the tables with a few gulps of water. He stared up at Clara, scratching his head as it messed up completely. "Were you watching me, Miss Oswald?" He asked her, a smirk on his lips.

She rolled her eyes playfully at him and pointed at her desk, then turned to him. "I just looked to take a peek. You came out of a meeting about an hour ago, it's only logical that you would have a headache." She smirked at him.

"Want anything else? There's some doughnuts in the break room or I could get you something. I just saw you drinking coffee so you need to get something else in your system." She said as she pocketed the other pills in the pocket of her dark grey blazer. Underneath, she had a black button up shirt and a black pencil skirt, as always.

John found himself looking Clara up and down until he snapped out of it and sat up, clearing his throat as he played with the buttons on his suit jacket, "No, Thank you. I'm not hungry. Could you send, uh…" He paused and looked down at the files on his desk, "Jack Harkness in for me? I think he's our next model for the underwear shoot." He smiled up at her, completely forgetting that Clara had been with him years ago and way before John.

Clara's heart stopped cold and frowned. "Jack Harkness?" She whispered softly and walked around the desk to see the file. Sure enough, there was a picture of Jack's face and a full body shot. "Dammit." She muttered under hear breath. "I'll...I'll get him for you." She smiled nervously at him and made her way to the door.

John frowned and stood up, moving his jacket away as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Clara," he called to her, his blue eyes stuck on hers. "Is there a problem?"

She decided to be honest, no point in hiding stuff and lying, it would just make things worse. "It's not a problem, more of an inconvenience. Jack and I...we...were involved. He was working for the army after getting an American citizenship, I think...not sure how he came to be a model." She shrugged.

"But it's alright, I'll get him." She went out of his office quickly, in search of Jack Harkness.

She almost couldn't believe it. But there he was on the lobby, arriving late as always with his leather jacket, sunglasses and tight trousers, chatting up a couple of girls. Typical. "Jack! Up! Now." She said and turned for the lift, holding the door open for him. Now she remembered why she had broken up with him.

Clara left so quickly John wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. He placed his glasses back onto his face and sat behind his desk, unbuttoning his suit jacket. He peered out of the window, a stern look on his face as Clara and Jack returned. He had to be hard on Jack, he had multiple other male models lining up for the job to be on the cover of his magazine.

Jack was polite in the lift, he did ask her what was she doing in NY, they talked a little but the conversation was strained. She went to John's office and opened the door, Jack not far behind. "Thanks, love." He told her after he had entered John's office.

"Save it, Harkness." She replied with a roll of her eyes and left them both to have their little meeting. She was nervous, very nervous. She sat at her desk and swallowed a xanax with a bit of cold coffee.

After a few hours, John's meeting with Jack had finished. They both stood up, grins on their faces as they shook hands. John opened the door for Jack and followed out after him, hands back in his pockets as he beamed at Clara, "Deals been made. He has four months with us as the face of the magazine. We're about to go down to the photoshoot now. Would you like to come with us?"

"Sure!" She grabbed her own IPad and left with them. She wasn't as nervous anymore and was able to think things objectively. What had made her feel out of her depth was Jack's sudden appearance. But now that everything was going smoothly, she could breathe a sigh of relief.

John placed his hand on the small of Clara's back as he guided her down the stairs, making sure she wouldn't fall. He nodded for Jack to open the door and he walked through with him, smirking at the large room with white walls and props laying around and racks and racks of men's clothing. He smiled and shook the hand of his photographer.

"Rory, good morning. How's the wife?" He asked him, referring to Amy. He knew a lot about his employees already. Rory beamed at him and sorted out his camera, shaking John's hand.

"She's great, really. Wants me to get home to her, been busy photographing all this week and I haven't seen her."

John sighed, genuine sympathy in his voice as he spoke, "This is your last photoshoot, I promise you." He nodded at Rory and turned to Jack who was already undressing infront of everyone and changing into one of the new suits John had designed.

Clara talked a little with Rory after he had finished talking with John. She asked him about what type of camera would be nice for an amateur in photography, she obviously was talking about herself and Rory told her he would email her the possible cameras and equipment she would need. She thanked him and went to stand next to John as Jack was buttoning his trousers.

"Those clothes are very nice, whose the designer?" She asked him with genuine interest.

John folded his arms over his chest, looking down at Clara with a raised eyebrow, "Me..." He told her, clearing his throat as he looked back at Jack.

He was wearing plaid trousers that reached his ankles, white socks and brown loafers. He wore a simple white shirt buttoned to the top and a beautifully designed grey jacket, but it was a different fabric to the normal jackets and the jacket almost looked silk and had velvet inside. It took a certain man to look good in these clothes.

She nodded approvingly. "Good job, boss." Jack did look great in those clothes and he knew it because he was already making poses, making the make-up artists laugh as she applied make-up to his face. Jack then turned his face to look at Clara and winked at her. Clara in turn, scowled at him and focused on her IPad.

John smirked and kept his eyes on Clara and what she was doing. He grinned at her, "I'm taking it I have nothing to worry about from you two?" He questioned her, glancing up at Jack as he sat on a stool and had a few pictures of him taken smirking and tensing his muscles.

"Nope. Absolutely not." She put her IPad under her arm and looked at Jack briefly then at John. "Not at all." She did notice some things they had in common. Both had Scottish heritage, Jack was a little bit older than her while John was a lot older. Also, they were both arrogant fucks, but Jack was vainer. She wouldn't tell John that, though.

John placed his hand on Clara's lower back as he moved her into a smaller room. He needed to speak to her privately. The room was one of those rooms photographers used that were dark and dimly lit with a red light. He shut the door and turned to look at Clara, a frown on his face. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Because I can hire a new model."

She was touched that he valued her input but she couldn't make him hire a new model just because she felt uncomfortable. "I am not entirely okay with this but I do have to admit that Jack really knows how to wear those clothes." She smiled at him in the darkness.

"No biggie, you don't have to hire another person, Jack is great for the job."

John smirked down at Clara, "I trust my instincts, Miss Oswald. Jack is perfect for this, women do like an Army man," he winked at her and leant his arm on the wall right beside Clara's head, his other hand in his trouser pocket. "If he makes you uncomfortable or speaks to you, I'll have him fired and have him replaced by David, another Scottish model."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "There's no need for that, really. I'm a grown woman, I can deal with him just fine. Plus, as you said, women do love an Army man and I bet your David guy isn't an Army man so..." She tapped his chest with the IPad's pen and smirked at him.

"Give Jack a chance. If his pictures are shite, you know what to do."

John simply nodded, his blue eyes dropping to the pen tapping his chest. "I'm giving him a chance and I trust my decision, I'm just looking out for you, Miss Oswald.." He said as he stared back at her, his jaw clenching.

She noticed his jaw clenching and she supposed he was slightly angry...or trying to control himself, she didn't know. "I appreciate it but he's harmless. What else can he do besides flirt with anything that has a pulse?" She sighed. "You don't have to worry about anything."

John stood up straight, cleared his throat and buttoned his suit jacket up, "I'm not worried if that's the case," he ran a hand through his grey hair and adjusted his glasses.

"What other case could there be, John?" She asked with her arms crossed, head cocked to the side as she raised an eyebrow at him.

For once John felt quite intimidated under Clara's stare. He stood up straight, fiddling with the cuff links on his wrists, "No other case, don't worry."

She rolled her eyes and put her IPad on a table then grabbed his hands to keep them still in her grasp. "John." She said as she used her teacher voice, hopefully it will give her results with a grown man.

"Look. At. Me."

John raised his eyebrow at her, looking down at their joined hands. He chewed his bottom lip and stared down at Clara, "I am looking at you..." He trailed off, his blue eyes full of admiration for Clara Oswald.

She smiled at him. "Indeed. Give me a smile, come on, so I know you're alright. You've been far too serious since we went inside this room."

John leant his arm on the wall, he looked down once more and then stared at Clara, a smile breaking out as he was about to talk. It was a toothy grin, showing all his teeth. "It's dazzling, isn't it?"

She started laughing, her dimple more pronounced now. "It is and I love it." She leaned up to kiss the corner if his mouth and then picked up her IPad. "Let's go out and see how everything is going, yeah?"