He slumped down onto the nearest park bench, burying his face in his hands. His tall, slender figure and short, spiky brown hair contrasted the dull grey morning. Usually the Doctor’s good looks made heads turn, but his face was sad. Nobody likes to talk to a sad stranger, so they trudged on, ignoring him completely. There weren’t that many people in the park to begin with, and those who were there hurried past in the rain, attempting to reach their cars as fast as possible. He hadn’t even noticed that it had started to rain.
“Rose.” he moaned,
“Rose. Martha. D-Donna…”
His voice trailed away into a sob. He was sure he would never be happy again. He promised himself that he would never again allow himself the pain of losing someone he loved. So, he sat on the bench and cried. He should have been going back to the TARDIS, but he couldn’t bring himself to step into those doors. He had just come from Donna’s house. And she hadn’t known him. She had said, “Yeah, see ya.” as though he were a stranger. Because of him, because of what he had done to her, he was a stranger. He had made her forget. He wished he could forget.
He was too busy sobbing to notice that a girl of about 14 had sat down on the opposite side of the bench. She didn’t seem bothered by the rain. She, like he, was crying, and appreciated the rain that masked her tears. She too buried her face in her hands. Neither noticed the other for a long time. Finally, the girl looked up, wiping the tears away, attempting to pull herself together. When she finally got a glimpse of the stranger next to her, she did a double-take. Then, she stared expectantly, almost eagerly at him until he looked up. The rain had stopped now, and he too wiped his eyes dry, looking around for a moment before his eyes settled on the girl. There was nothing particularly special about her. In fact, she was quite plain. She had muddy grey eyes and a pale face. Her hair was brown and pulled into a tight ponytail. The only reason he had noticed her at all was because of the tear stains on her face. She had been crying too, he realized. But when she held her gaze upon him, he became unnerved and stood up. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him. He started to casually stroll away, hoping that she wouldn't follow. He glanced back and quickened his pace, but she continued to pursue him.
Who was she? he wondered as he began to run,
and why was she following him?
He knew better than to go back to the TARDIS, so he went around a few corners, attempting to dodge her, but eventually he gave up this tactic, realizing he was trapped in an alleyway, and decided to confront her. He turned around to face her.
“Alright!” He called, whipping around dramatically,
“Who are you, and what do you want?”
He tried to make his voice sound confident, but this was difficult as he had just gotten done crying, and everyone knows that your voice shakes for a while after crying.
The girl turned the final corner, panting, to see him in his full glory. She stood in awe for a few moments before realizing that he was addressing her. She grinned slightly.
“Alright, mate, who sent you? Was is Angeline? Or Jerry?”
The Doctor’s face contorted into confusion.
“Sent me? I might ask you the same question!”
Her grin stretched further.
“You’re good, I’ll give you that,” she said,
“But really, you can tell me. It was Angeline, wasn’t it? I bet after I texted her she sent you to cheer me up. Well done, mate. You can come out now, Angel!” She called the last line into the dark alleyway and glanced around, obviously expecting a friend to pop out of nowhere. When no one answered, her grin disappeared and was replaced by a sad frown.
“Oh, I get it. John sent you. Wasn’t enough to mock me to my face, had to send a mate out to do it for him? Typical!” She huffed and started to leave.
“Wait!” The Doctor called. He cursed himself as the words formed in his mouth. He wasn’t going to talk to another one. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone else. Nevertheless, he found himself saying to the girl,
“Look, I don’t know an Angeline, or a John. I don’t know who you are or what you want. So do you mind explaining what’s going on?”
“Oh, that’s real nice.” The girl retorted angrily,
“Where’d John get you? You look like the real thing, honestly. I shouldn’t have followed you. Should’ve known Angel wouldn’t go this far to cheer me up. Really, you can cut the act. I’m not buying it.”
“Buying what?!” Now it was he who was frustrated.
“Look, we’re obviously at an impasse, and if John’s paying you, then whatever. You’re not one of his regular mates, so he must’ve hired you. I might as well see how far you go with this act. Let’s get chips.”
His face fell.
“Oh, wow, you are good.” She sneered,
“Let’s just go, I’m buying. The name’s Lily, not that you didn’t know that already.”
She grabbed his hand and pulled the bemused doctor into a nearby shop.
“I might as well enjoy this, even if it’s just to spite John.” She said as they entered. She looked over at the girl who was working behind the counter and said,
“Table for two, Allie.”
The girl behind the counter led them over to an empty window seat. She seemed to be staring at the Doctor, too. He didn’t like it, but he knew he would just have to deal with it if he wanted to know what was going on. He mentally kicked himself for allowing his curiosity get the better of him, but sat at the table nonetheless. The girl called Lily looked at Allie and said,
“John’s doing, Al. And I’m going to turn his own trick around on him. And we’ll have my usual.” Allie evidently understood this statement, and she walked away to get whatever was Lily’s ‘usual.’ The doctor, meanwhile, was watching Lily with fascination. He leaned in close and asked,
“Who are you really?”
She just stared at him. Her mind raced as she realized that John had not sent this man. She had just chased a random stranger around town and then invited him to dinner. Her face reddened.
“I’m nobody. I’m sorry to have bothered you, sir. It seems I have mistaken you for someone else. Have a nice day.”
She stood up, walked up to Allie, who was bringing a large basket of fish fingers and custard, and said,
“Don’t bother.” She whispered some other things into her ear, then Allie’s face reddened too.
Allie went back into the kitchen and did not come out again.
The Doctor was left sitting in the restaurant alone. He sat there, flabbergasted, attempting to work out what had happened. After a few minutes, he stood up and left for the TARDIS. He began to think about Donna again as he walked.
‘I’m nobody.’ That’s what the girl had said. That’s what Donna said too. And she had turned out to be the most important woman in the universe. The Doctor suddenly made up his mind. He had to find the girl. He turned around and raced back through the restaurant doors.
TO BE CONTINUED!!!