Thank you so much for the comments! Yes, you're excited about Bill. But how will Clara react to her?

Chapter 29

She had waited a week and a half and her pain and anger were slowly fading away. Clara had hoped that John would man up and call her, but since he hadn't and she was growing tired of waiting, Clara decided to make the next step or otherwise they would still be avoiding each other in a month. Her English class ended just in time to catch John for his lunch break, so Clara hurried back home – only instead of going home, she headed towards his practice and she was feeling a little nervous as she did. What would she find? Would John be happy to see her? Would it be awkward? Had he missed her as well? He must have, according to Missy, and she had missed him, too. In fact, she was still missing him terribly and the thought of having lunch with him both warmed her heart and scared the hell out of her. What if he pushed her away again? What if she was in for another disappointment?

When she stepped inside the practice, she found it empty – apart from Nardole, who was munching his sandwich at his desk. John would have a fit if he was here and saw it, so he had probably gone out to have lunch.

"Hey Nardole," Clara greeted him, trying to sound cheerful, "Can you tell me where John is?"

"Hi Clara," he replied with his mouth full. Then he swallowed. "John is having lunch."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "I kind of figured that. Can you tell me where he went?"

Nardole pulled a face and shook his head. "Sorry, no. He and Bill just went out to have lunch. That's all I know, but my bet is on a restaurant."

"Bill?" Clara asked, puzzled, "Who's Bill?"

"She's a nuisance."

"She?!"

"Yeah, but apparently she's nice and John loves that she follows him around like a dog," he rolled his eyes. It was more than obvious that he didn't like Bill, whoever she was, and right at this moment Clara didn't like her either. There was a woman in her husband's life that she didn't know about – of course she didn't like her.

"Who is she, exactly?"

"Ah, just some med school student shadowing him this week," Nardole made a dismissive gesture, "But John has already suggested that she can come back any time she has questions or needs help with her classes. Madness, if you ask me. I don't like that he's so friendly with her."

Just like that Clara's heart sank into her boots and for a moment she thought she could feel John slip away from her. They hadn't been in contact for over a week when their relationship was already fragile and now he seemed to have found someone he liked. It was unusual for John to hit it off with someone so quickly and he wouldn't just take a strange woman out to lunch if he didn't like her. Clara felt a little sick. What if it was already too late for them? What if he fell in love with someone else before his memories returned? What if that had already happened? Clara had taken into account that she might find a new disappointment while coming here, but that was something she would never have expected and it was so much worse than she had feared.

"No, it's definitely you who should call," Bill said and took a large bite off her pizza before she continued mumbling, "Definitely you."

"What if she's not ready? She was still crying when I left," John argued, "What if she hates me now?"

"Okay, Doctor,-"

"Doctor?" John raised his eyebrows, "So I'm the drug dealer now?"

"Better than murderer," she replied, still chewing, "Anyway, you're an idiot. You don't leave a girl when she's crying – basic dating rule number one. So, yeah, you should definitely call because she won't."

"Why not?" he demanded to know, not understanding why Clara couldn't just call him when she felt ready.

"Okay, she might cause you're married and she loves you. But you told her, you specifically told her that you wanted the dating experience and she's probably very confused and very hurt because to her that has already happened years ago."

"Yeah, well, I'm confused, too," he mumbled and looked down at his plate. He hadn't even touched his food yet.

"I'm not doubting that," Bill told him, "But you wanna be with her, so you gotta make a move because right now she's probably not sure about what you want. Really, men are so complicated."

"Oh? Men are complicated?"

"Yeah," she argued, "They leave you wondering about whether they like you or not. With women it's easy. You tell them you like them and in most cases you'll get a fairly straight reply."

"Or fairly gay one in your case," he chuckled.

Bill laughed at his reply. "I'm so glad I followed that girl into your practice. You're a really cool guy and an awesome tutor."

"Right back at you," he sighed.

"So you'll call your wife?"

"Yes, yes, I'll call my wife," John rolled his eyes, "Now, about the shadowing and tutoring, how are the preparations for your exam going?"

"Uhm," she bit down on her lip, granting him a sheepish smile.

"Hey, don't tell me I've quizzed you about all those bones yesterday for nothing."

"I had a date yesterday," she mumbled, "Didn't really get around to cramming."

"A date?"

Then a smile spread all across her face. "Bonnie," she explained.

"Ah," John sighed. Well, that was just one more item on the list of things he would have to break to Clara.

When John got home after a long, exhausting day he checked his phone, hoping that Clara might have called him in the meantime, but he found no missed calls whatsoever. Missy didn't seem to be at home either, so John went straight into his room, clutching his phone in his hand. He couldn't chicken out. Not now. Bill would give him an endless lecture tomorrow if he did. And he was still missing Clara. In fact, it seemed to get worse every day they didn't talk. Two and a half weeks. It was definitely time.

John unlocked his phone and dialled her number, listening to the ringing of the phone until finally she picked up.