When Rose and Alec had got into the car, Claire had been watching from her new vantage point, until a food stall holder indicated he wanted to put his chairs and tables where she was sitting so she had to move to where she had been the night before. She noticed neither of them had turned around, Rose seemed to be laughing at something and Alec had kissed her cheek as she got into the car, then they drove off.
Thinking it was bit early to start knocking on doors, since they had only just gone out and may have be seen, she went to get some breakfast, hoping her wage had been paid into the bank and thankfully, the day she'd had off yesterday wouldn't show until next week but now Alec had withdrawn the portion he paid for the cottage, she would have to be careful as a payment would have already been taken out yesterday for a week's rent since Alec had arranged for it to be paid from her debit card.
She wished she could have conned him into putting it in his name, then she wouldn't have to worry next week. The only advantage was, she could move whenever she wanted and stop the payments by ringing the bank and giving the reference number then leave the key with a neighbour.
Just after eleven, Claire decided to begin her search for Alec's cottage, getting no answer from the first door or the second, got a woman at No.3 who said she had only seen a man go in and out next door but had no idea who lived at No.1 so Claire thanked her and tried the next two cottages, both men saying they had no idea when she told them she was looking for a Scottish detective.
"Never spoken to anyone with a Scottish accent," the man at number 5 told her which left no answer at number six so she was no nearer eliminating other residents.
All she could do was hope the next time she saw Rose, she could walk undetected behind her and peek around the corner.
Disappointed, she went back to sit on the wall after crossing the road to use the ladies room, then discovered the pub had opened so she could have used theirs but she wanted to keep that in reserve, if she decided to stay late but the last bus on Sundays was earlier and she really needed to go home and get some proper sleep, to face her boss in the morning.
Maureen would be more than upset at her having Saturday off, after the days off swapping so she would have to still lay it on a bit and give the excuse she'd eaten some bad fish from one of the catering stalls. That was not what she planned on telling Rose though and if that didn't put her off Alec, then even more drastic action would have to be taken.
Back at the church, Alec wanted to be one of the first ones out but Rose said it would be rude to just sneak off, especially when there were a horde of reporters sitting on their car hoods, just waiting for someone going out.
"We'll wait then," Alec agreed, watching Joe Miller carry his youngest son up the aisle.
"Why have you been watching him for the last hour or so?" Rose asked Alec quietly.
"Why do you think? I don't trust a man who stays at home to look after the kids."
"I'll have to remember that."
Then he was wondering why she couldn't tell him she loved him.
"Should I add something to that?"
Rose nudged him to say she knew what he meant. Alec just raised his eyebrows and got up, pulling Rose with him.
"Let's get out of here," he leaned back to whisper to her as Becca turned as she got up.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Becca asked him.
"Rose this is Becca Fisher, owner of the Trader's Hotel, Becca, this is Rose Tyler, my girlfriend."
"Hi Rose, I think I've seen you in the High Street, do you work in the hairdresser's?"
"Yeah, I've seen you outside, nice to meet you."
"Come on Rose, you two can chat another time."
Rose just shrugged her shoulders and followed him.
"Are you trying to make friends Alec?"
"I don't need any friends, especially the local hotel owner. Did I tell you she was with Mark Latimer the night his son died?"
"No but you said you never bring your work home with you."
"Good point, shall we keep it that way?"
Outside, people were still talking, Ellie and Beth were together, Rose thinking that Beth looked like she was expecting and Alec tried to sneak past them but didn't get away with it.
"Inspector, would you and Rose like to join us all for lunch?" Beth asked him.
"We have plans but thank you all the same," Alec replied, not even asking Rose what she thought.
"Another time then?"
"Perhaps."
He didn't think it was such a good idea to be dining with his DS, let alone the family of the murder victim. Once back at the car though, Rose told him to lighten up.
"She was only being polite Alec," Rose told him as she put her seatbelt on.
"Yes, then word gets around and they will expect special treatment. It was already a bad idea to go to the Miller house the other night."
"You just wanted to show me off."
"Yes, if the truth were to be told, I wanted to prove I wasn't what Miller thought I was."
"What does Ellie think you are?" Rose smiled as he tried to dodge several reporters who were less interested in them and scurrying back to where the Latimers were coming down the steps.
"Don't you think you should go warn those reporters off Alec?"
"No, Miller seemed to do an adequate job earlier."
"So, what does Ellie think you are then?"
"No matter, I proved her wrong."
Rose put her hand on his knee. She had a pretty good idea what his DS had said about him. They drove up to the next town and finding a café, had a quick snack then went to look around the shops, Rose was worried though about him walking up the hill. They came to a pharmacy that was open and stood outside.
"Well, are you going in?" Rose asked him slyly, nudging him with her arm.
"For what? I have no idea what else you want me to get Rose."
"Something other than what you've already got."
"It was embarrassing enough getting those, trust me."
"Well, no-one knows you here, do they?"
Alec stood for a moment, Rose looking at him. He was doing this as much for her as he was for himself, things would go too far after last night when neither of them would care whether he was taking responsibility or not and in the back of his mind, last Saturday night had been the exception. He may be suffering from a bad heart but the way Rose treated him, he could survive anything.
He took her hand and they walked inside but he got cold feet as they approached the section he wanted.
"Go find yourself some nice perfume love, my treat," he told her, going into his pocket for his wallet.
Rose smiled. "Don't you need any help?"
"No, I'll manage. Please love, this is bad enough as it is. Do they have a self-checkout?"
Rose was trying her best not to burst out laughing.
"Honestly Alec, you're behaving like a schoolboy, just go over and find something, I'm sure they sell loads a day, no-one will remember you."
"In case you forgot, I have been on the news," he informed her, taking a note from his wallet. "Buy something nice love, I won't be long."
She watched him walk off, pretending he was confident but knowing full well he wasn't. Still smiling to herself, she headed off to the perfume department, leaving Alec to get on with it but she couldn't resist glancing across the store as he looked at the shelf he wanted. Alec was thinking how could there be so many brands of one simple item, weren't they all the same and served the same purpose? It had been so long since he'd needed anything like that and now he'd found himself with a much younger girlfriend, it was something he'd have to put up with for a few more weeks because neither of them wanted any of the alternatives.
Eventually, after Rose going to find him, wandering around looking for her, they went off for a late lunch and Rose got him to admit no-one had actually cared when he'd gone to pay for what he had chosen.
"Aw, see, I told ya," Rose laughed as he admitted it.
"Yes, well, Miss know it all, how was I to know?"
"They only take notice of what you buy if you have a loyalty card."
"Good thing I've not got one then eh?" he smiled back as he studied the menu, his glasses perched on his nose.
"They make you look cute Alec," Rose remarked.
After lunch, Rose persuaded him to take a walk along the walkway surrounding the harbour though he made her walk on the outside, then they sat down at the end.
"It was nice to get away for a few hours Alec."
"Aye, let's hope our friend back in Broadchurch has been having as good a day, if she went back."
"I thought we were forgetting about her for today?"
"Sorry love. She's getting in our way again, I promise Miller will sort her out."
"We shouldn't be depending on other people sorting out our problems Alec."
"Believe me, if there was another way, I would take it but Claire obviously does not want to take notice of me. With Miller, she will have no other choice. It has to stop one way or another."
"I'm sorry Alec, I'm sorry she's been getting in the way of other things."
"I know love, I know that's been holding you back and we will stick to our arrangement until you have time to sort things out."
"Thanks, for understanding."
She put her hand on his beard, then kissed him. "You're a good man Alec, I wish the Doctor could have met you."
"Maybe he did."
"You would have known, remember?"
"Not if he had changed Rose. What if I met him, what if he brought you here, to meet me?"
"I think that's obvious, don't you? He never explained how he set me up with that apartment, he said it was Mickey but now I think about it, how would Mickey have known?"
"Have you only just worked that one out eh?"
"We're not all great detectives, show-off. How did he know I was coming back though?"
"Seriously? You found him, remember? He could have arranged all that while he was bringing you to the right year. Then he dropped you off, found me and made sure we met. I got the job offer out of the blue, I just asked for a transfer, I had no idea until the last minute where I was going, it could have been anywhere."
"You could be right, it would be just like him to ruffle someone's feathers and get you the job at Ellie's expense."
"She will get over it. There is just one flaw though, he would not have known about Claire."
"Yeah, remind me to thank him for not knowing about that. I hardly told him anything though, I'd been so mad at him for leaving me again, even with James but he seemed disappointed things didn't work out between us."
"Then maybe he wanted to make it up to you?"
"By bringing you to Broadchurch but how did he find you?"
"I had been in the news over Sandbrook and I did not have a beard back then."
Rose smiled, putting her arm around his neck.
"I'll take your word for that then. I think we are right Alec, it's too much of a coincidence but it still doesn't solve my own problem. When I came here, I had the option of going back and for the time being, I'm stuck here, just like I was when I was, well you know where."
"Oh, so you don't like being stuck here with me?"
"I never said that Alec. If I have to be stuck somewhere, I'd rather be stuck with you. Just no conversations about houses and mortgages though."
"A bit soon to bring that up love."
"Yeah, long story. You've already got a place and so have I."
"Yes and until you sort out things in your mind, we will do what we did last week but you stay with me on your days off and the weekend, it will keep Claire away if she chooses not to talk to Miller tomorrow."
"Are you giving Ellie her number?"
"She already has it, Miller will call her before she starts work in the morning. Don't worry love, I already told you, she is on your side."
"That was before we turned down lunch with her friend."
"It will make no difference, it would have been a bad idea to accept."
"So, does she want to meet both of us? I'm not walking down with Claire."
"No, just make your way down as normal, I won't be there though, I have to leave it to Miller."
"Yeah, I get that. I'll go, I'll leave the clinic until my day off then shall I since you found what you wanted."
"Not funny Rose," he replied, looking at the small plastic bag next to Rose's shopping bags.
They made their way back to Broadchurch but as Alec turned into the street, he thought he saw Claire sat at the end but didn't want to upset Rose. They'd had a nice day out, forgetting everything and hopefully tonight, she might tell him that she loved him but that was about to be spoiled.
He went to the passenger door and retrieved the shopping bags then as Rose reached the pavement, he told her to take them inside.
"What's wrong Alec?"
"Nothing love, I just thought I saw Claire sitting on the wall down there."
Rose looked but couldn't see anyone. "Leave it Alec, let's not spoil the day."
"I'll just walk to the end, it may not have even been her."
"Shall I come with you?"
"No, you go inside, I won't be long. Go on, I'll be fine, I just want to see then I'll call the station, have them make sure she gets on the next bus."
"Well just you be careful, you don't want to go to hospital before your appointment, do you?"
Alec smiled. "No love, I'll be fine, I had enough of her the other night, remember?"
Alec locked the car and walked off down the street, Rose debating whether to follow him or not but went up the short path instead. She was about to unlock the door when the woman next door came out.
"Oh, hello dearie, someone was asking about the man who lives there earlier, said she was a friend of his."
"Did she have a Welsh accent by any chance?" Rose asked the woman.
"Yes, she did but she seemed a bit dodgy to me so I said I didn't know who lived there, he's always out anyway. He hasn't lived here that long, are you his girlfriend?"
"Yeah, I'm Rose, don't you recognise him?"
"Should I?"
"Never mind then, thanks for telling me, I'll let him know."
"Is she a friend of yours?"
"No, not exactly, she works with me, that's all."
"I thought she was a bit pushy. Nice to meet you Rose, I'm Phyllis. Who is he then?"
Since Alec hadn't been there long and was a bit of a recluse, she saw no harm in saying.
"He's the detective in charge of the investigation into that young boy's death on the beach."
"Oh, is that him? He's Scottish isn't he? Like I said, I've never talked to him."
Rose smiled and said goodbye. Down at the end of the street, there was no sign of Claire, Alec looking across the road and across the other side of the river that came to an end at the road bridge and continued behind the row of cottages.
Claire had seen him get out of the car and look in her direction and had crossed the road and disappeared into the catering area. She intended getting something to eat by now anyway so she hid out of sight and went to order some food, hoping he wouldn't go up that far but she was opposite the police station and hoped the two officers who knew her were not on duty yet.
Alec could do nothing but walk back to the cottage since he'd lost sight of her. There was no point in calling the station yet since he had no idea where she had gone, he would call later and if the two same officers were on duty tonight, he would make sure they checked the end of the street as well as the shelter.
Rose was getting worried until she heard the door opening.
"Did you find her?"
"No, she disappeared across the road somewhere, I'll call the station later."
"Alec, she must have followed me last night, she must have been lucky and seen me by the caravan park."
"Aye, that's the only way she would have found out. Don't blame yourself love, she would have found out sooner or later. After tomorrow when Miller's talked to her, things should ease off."
"What if she takes no notice?"
"Then Miller won't mess around with her, Claire will be given a final warning to stay away or charges will be brought against her."
"I hope it doesn't come to that, will I have to file a complaint against her?"
"Yes, if it was you she followed, I don't really think she would try to follow me."
"Your next door neighbour said Claire had been asking about you this morning, she must have seen us going out."
"Damn, she must have got here early then, maybe she found somewhere to sleep rough, she would not have paid for a taxi, you should have heard her on Friday night, claiming she barely had enough money to pay the rent now, then she has the nerve to take the next day off."
Rose patted his shoulder. "Forget about her Alec, she's no match for Ellie."
"I hope you are right. Did you buy anything nice when you went off?"
"Just that perfume, I'll save it for if we go out."
"Then Wednesday night, after my appointment, we will go somewhere out of town."
Claire had come out of her hiding place and gone back to sit on the wall, hoping they weren't going out but would Alec have already told those officer where she had been sitting?
Just after eight, Alec called the station, after he and Rose had done some serious kissing on the sofa and he'd got her down to her underwear, Rose insisting they waited until they went to bed for anything else.
"So you are willing to let me try what I bought earlier then?" he asked, helping her put her top back on and trying to fasten his shirt.
"Yeah, I will go to the clinic, see what I can do but they may not be very helpful, I already got something but I can't use them yet."
"Yes, you already told me love. We have to talk though because I need to know how you feel about me, you've kept very quiet about it."
"I know and I'm sorry Alec, really I am. All this with Claire, well since I met you, I've not had time to decide, if I want to go back when my device starts to work again or not."
"I know your family are back there, I understand you are anxious to see them again but it may not have been that long for them, maybe only a few days."
"I could never work it out but yeah, it won't have been a week for them just yet, it's longer for me that's all. I never stayed anywhere this long. When my device starts to work, I'll have a better idea though James sent me to the wrong year but I'm sure that was unintentional and I'll go back to just after I left."
"Yes and what happens then eh? Will you come back again and if you do, to the right year, to me?"
Rose knew it was bothering him though he'd not said anything about it since she had told him.
"If you'd asked me that the other night, I would have given you an answer, yes, I would have gone back but return again? To Claire doing this to us?"
"Then she would have won, that is exactly what she wants Rose, for you to disappear. Where does that leave me eh?"
"I was gonna say I changed my mind since then, she can't win, I can't let her. Once she backs off, for good, I can sort the rest out. How long do I wait though, until I go back? I left in hurry Alec, I just wanted to put as much distance between myself and James as I could and get some answers but I never got any answers, how could I have asked the Doctor when he'd changed?"
"He is still James's brother Rose or is he his twin, clone, whatever. He grew out of severed hand Rose, what does it make him?"
"Enough to be exactly the same in every detail, he remembered everything we did together, even before he changed on me the first time and he also remembered everything up until I went back to find him. James described himself as a duplicate, it was better than what he wanted to call himself, an anomaly. He said there had never been a metacrisis before and it was hardly likely there would be another one. I don't know why the Doctor wouldn't tell me how he'd changed though, did anything happen here in the last few years?"
"You mean aside from planets in the sky and that crazy Christmas everyone thought they were someone else?"
"What? Why did you never tell me Alec?"
"Because you had enough to deal with and it's over."
"Then tell me what happened."
"Another planet appeared in the sky, after everyone was affected by some kind of illusion, I forget the details. Some say the old Prime Minister came back but he's been dead for years, his wife went mad and shot him, apparently, there was never a public trial but she was locked up, in Broadfell Women's Prison and funnily enough, it was destroyed by an explosion, just before that red planet appeared in the sky."
"Did you say a red planet?"
"Why, do you know which one? Some say it was Mars for some strange reason."
"Alec, did it look like it was on fire?"
"I never saw it, you can look it up online but Daisy said something about it."
"It was Gallifrey, the Timelords came back for some reason but they can't have done, they were lost, in the Time War."
"Well some must have got away but how can a planet appear in the sky?"
"Well you had 26 of them before. Still, James wouldn't have known about that, maybe that's why the Doctor kept quiet, he more or less threw me out of the Tardis, he seemed in a hurry. I wanted to ask him so much but one look at him and I knew my Doctor had gone. I was lucky the first time but he thought I'd be happy with James."
"You can't blame him love, you went looking for him and you got to keep a part of him. It maybe never occurred to him you wanted the real thing."
"Yeah, he maybe genuinely thought we'd be happy and we were, once we got over a few things."
"Those things are still holding you back Rose, I know you still need time but just for tonight, let me show you how I feel about you. What do you say?"
Rose leaned over and touched his beard. "Don't ever get rid of that completely, will you?"
"For you love, no, I'll keep it."
"It makes you look dead cute and sexy."
He raised his eyebrows, questioning her judgement.
"I don't know about either of those attributes Rose, don't think you are getting away with not telling me what you really feel."
Claire had been trying to dodge the two officers, who had been told she had been seen hanging around on the wall at the side of the pub on the corner after Alec rang the station. She knew they would catch up with her and she needed to go home, well it wouldn't be her home much longer, what was the point in keeping it now?
No, she would keep it until the end of next week and pack up and leave, not that she had much to take with her anyway, just a few belongings and her most treasured one that she kept on her all the time for fear Lee would discover where she lived and turned the cottage upside down looking for it.
The two officers caught up with her just before the last bus turned up.
"Don't worry, I'm leaving," she told them as she saw the bus come around the corner.
"Then we'll stay until it leaves Miss Ripley."
Claire was annoyed they now knew her name after Friday night when Alec had given her a warning.
"Suit yourselves, have you got nothing better to do than be Alec Hardy's personal lackeys?" she smirked, fishing her bus pass out of her jacket pocket.
"You were told to stay away Miss, you were seen watching Miss Tyler earlier."
"Can't I sit on a wall drinking coffee now?"
The bus door opened and a few people got off so Claire just gave them a grin and got on, thankfully it was reasonably light so she wouldn't nearly miss her stop as she had rung the bell just in time the other night. Sitting at the back again, she began plotting how to get Alec back and how to wear Rose down and already had a few ideas that wouldn't take too much effort. Now she had to step up her plans if she was going to be leaving at the weekend and she would take Rose Tyler down before she left – that would destroy Alec at the same time for bringing her to that awful cottage and abandoning her.