Pete's World - Rose's Flat
The invitation came a week later.
She'd just returned from another harrowing mission and a particular craving for sleep and the long drive back to the estate, Tyler Estate this time not the Powell Estate, was not something she looked forward to. So she settled on the flat she'd rented out just for this particular occasion. She trudged in, did a quick change and fell into bed decided to sleep until the next day when the doorbell rang.
Rose groaned, grabbed her pillow and tried to muffle out the sound. If she ignored it, it'll just go away.
"It's no use hiding, sweetheart!" Her mother's voice called out, "I saw your car!"
"I'm not here!" she answered, "go away!"
"You know I'll only knock harder and yell louder and in this world I'm a bit richer to buy off any cranky neighbors, so you might as well open up!"
It wasn't an empty threat, once when Rose was fifteen and she'd gone on her first night out with Shereen and fighting off a hangover she'd ignored Jackie's insitence she wake-up. Jackie wasted no time in resorting to other measures, which at that time meant bringing out a drum from Jericho, the drummer man she was seeing at that time, and brought the house down pounding on that stupid thing.
Jackie-of-the-present yelled: "I'm gonna count to three and if you're not up by then I'll start pounding!"
Rose sprang from her bed and dashed to the door, "I'm up! I'm up!" She all but threw the door open.
Jackie appeared, hair coiffed beautifully as it usually was these days but unlike the other Jackie her mother still took to the blue eye shadow she'd always used. "Well, look at you, sweetheart, all bags and no eyes!"
"That's a nice hello, I was tryin' to sleep you know!" She griped but returned Jackie's hug.
"You should try sleeping like all human beings." Jackie retorted, "At night."
"Pfft, normal is overrated." She stepped aside to let Jackie in, "What brings you by?"
Jackie puttered about the flat before answering, "Can't a mother visit her own daughter? I don't see hide nor hair of you after the party and now you're interrogating me!"
Miffed at the defensive tone she said, "I only asked what brought you here..." Rose trailed off and narrowed her eyes, "Right, what brought you here?"
"I missed you, is what it is," Jackie said sounding even more defensive, "and also you're mail has been piling up at home."
Rose only crossed her arms and casted a knowing look at her mother.
"Take a look! It could be any important correspondence you'd need fightin' alien threats of yours," and promptly dropped a set off envelopes on Rose's coffee table.Cranky as she was from lack of sleep her mother was right, she did have a lot of correspondence with scientists the world over and since the war with the Cybers majority of the population have taken to distrust anything electronic.
Rose sighed, "Yeah, I suppose you're right... I swear after this mission I'm going to take a leave of absence, stay with you and Grace, have ourselves a proper night out."
"That's all I want, sweetheart, I thought with you finally here we'd see more off you, not less."
A twitch of guilt made itself known. She loved Jackie and Grace and Pete but what she said to the Doctor back in the old universe still applied: Everyone leaves home in the end. She'd compromised enough as it is, staying in the Estate when able but never more than that. The urge to keep moving was too strong. She couldn't help feel boxed in at times by guilt, by love and by family. Many a row had been fought over the same topic until they'd settled on this compromise.
"I promise," she said, giving no indication on the things running around in her head, "you'll see more of me this week."
"Good," Jackie said and bent down to scoop a black envelope under the sea of white envelopes. "By the way, have you seen this? It's an invitation from that nice man, Harry Saxon."
Rose groaned, she should have known. "Mum..." she started then shook her head, "never mind, what is it about?"
"Turns out Lucy isn't the only one who could write, Harry Saxon could too!"
"Huh?"
Jackie began to tap on the coffee table, "Harry wrote a book and he's invited you to the book launch tomorrow night. He's such a nice man and he's going places too, be the next United Nations Secretary, I heard!" She let out a big sigh and aimed a disgruntled look at Rose, "If only you'd met him first than that Lucy!"
"Mum, he's already married to 'that Lucy'," Rose pointed out before taking out the cups from the cabinet and laid them on the kitchen counter, "'sides, he's not my type."
Jackie snorted, "Oh, please, he's exactly your type! Weasely and pretty the only time you've deviated from a type was with your Doctor with the big ears but he'd changed too, hasn't he? Into that weasely, skinnier than a rat pretty boy body."
She winced, "Let's pretend you know nothin' about my datin' history, yeah?"
"Will you be going to Harry Saxon's book launch?"
"Will you let me sleep in peace if I did?"
"I'll leave as soon as you say you'll go."
Rose placed the cup of tea in front of Jackie, "You do realize, he is still married?"
"Eighty-five percent of marriages end in divorce." Jackie countered.
Rose rolled her eyes, "You just made that up."
"What if I did? Will you be going or not?"
"All right, all right," she conceded, "I'll go! I'll glam up even, put less mascara, smile for the cameras and even do a bit of flirting so I can have a cladestine affair with Harry Saxon in the hopes that he'll divorce Lucy, marry me and then someday provide you with hypothetical grandchildren."
Jackie beamed at her, "That's a start."
"Now will you let me sleep?" She asked plaintively.
"Yes," Jackie said, all smiles, "as soon as we discussed what you'll wear tomorrow night."
Rose groaned and let her head fall to her hands.
"So, we're clear, you're attending Harry Saxon's party tomorrow night and not swanning off into some alien threat or saving the world."
"For the last time, mum, yes!"
"Just checking, sweetheart." Jackie beamed at her beatifically and stopped tapping.
[ooc: NFB due to distance / Spoilers to Doctor Who S3 / OOC comments welcome]
She'd just returned from another harrowing mission and a particular craving for sleep and the long drive back to the estate, Tyler Estate this time not the Powell Estate, was not something she looked forward to. So she settled on the flat she'd rented out just for this particular occasion. She trudged in, did a quick change and fell into bed decided to sleep until the next day when the doorbell rang.
Rose groaned, grabbed her pillow and tried to muffle out the sound. If she ignored it, it'll just go away.
"It's no use hiding, sweetheart!" Her mother's voice called out, "I saw your car!"
"I'm not here!" she answered, "go away!"
"You know I'll only knock harder and yell louder and in this world I'm a bit richer to buy off any cranky neighbors, so you might as well open up!"
It wasn't an empty threat, once when Rose was fifteen and she'd gone on her first night out with Shereen and fighting off a hangover she'd ignored Jackie's insitence she wake-up. Jackie wasted no time in resorting to other measures, which at that time meant bringing out a drum from Jericho, the drummer man she was seeing at that time, and brought the house down pounding on that stupid thing.
Jackie-of-the-present yelled: "I'm gonna count to three and if you're not up by then I'll start pounding!"
Rose sprang from her bed and dashed to the door, "I'm up! I'm up!" She all but threw the door open.
Jackie appeared, hair coiffed beautifully as it usually was these days but unlike the other Jackie her mother still took to the blue eye shadow she'd always used. "Well, look at you, sweetheart, all bags and no eyes!"
"That's a nice hello, I was tryin' to sleep you know!" She griped but returned Jackie's hug.
"You should try sleeping like all human beings." Jackie retorted, "At night."
"Pfft, normal is overrated." She stepped aside to let Jackie in, "What brings you by?"
Jackie puttered about the flat before answering, "Can't a mother visit her own daughter? I don't see hide nor hair of you after the party and now you're interrogating me!"
Miffed at the defensive tone she said, "I only asked what brought you here..." Rose trailed off and narrowed her eyes, "Right, what brought you here?"
"I missed you, is what it is," Jackie said sounding even more defensive, "and also you're mail has been piling up at home."
Rose only crossed her arms and casted a knowing look at her mother.
"Take a look! It could be any important correspondence you'd need fightin' alien threats of yours," and promptly dropped a set off envelopes on Rose's coffee table.Cranky as she was from lack of sleep her mother was right, she did have a lot of correspondence with scientists the world over and since the war with the Cybers majority of the population have taken to distrust anything electronic.
Rose sighed, "Yeah, I suppose you're right... I swear after this mission I'm going to take a leave of absence, stay with you and Grace, have ourselves a proper night out."
"That's all I want, sweetheart, I thought with you finally here we'd see more off you, not less."
A twitch of guilt made itself known. She loved Jackie and Grace and Pete but what she said to the Doctor back in the old universe still applied: Everyone leaves home in the end. She'd compromised enough as it is, staying in the Estate when able but never more than that. The urge to keep moving was too strong. She couldn't help feel boxed in at times by guilt, by love and by family. Many a row had been fought over the same topic until they'd settled on this compromise.
"I promise," she said, giving no indication on the things running around in her head, "you'll see more of me this week."
"Good," Jackie said and bent down to scoop a black envelope under the sea of white envelopes. "By the way, have you seen this? It's an invitation from that nice man, Harry Saxon."
Rose groaned, she should have known. "Mum..." she started then shook her head, "never mind, what is it about?"
"Turns out Lucy isn't the only one who could write, Harry Saxon could too!"
"Huh?"
Jackie began to tap on the coffee table, "Harry wrote a book and he's invited you to the book launch tomorrow night. He's such a nice man and he's going places too, be the next United Nations Secretary, I heard!" She let out a big sigh and aimed a disgruntled look at Rose, "If only you'd met him first than that Lucy!"
"Mum, he's already married to 'that Lucy'," Rose pointed out before taking out the cups from the cabinet and laid them on the kitchen counter, "'sides, he's not my type."
Jackie snorted, "Oh, please, he's exactly your type! Weasely and pretty the only time you've deviated from a type was with your Doctor with the big ears but he'd changed too, hasn't he? Into that weasely, skinnier than a rat pretty boy body."
She winced, "Let's pretend you know nothin' about my datin' history, yeah?"
"Will you be going to Harry Saxon's book launch?"
"Will you let me sleep in peace if I did?"
"I'll leave as soon as you say you'll go."
Rose placed the cup of tea in front of Jackie, "You do realize, he is still married?"
"Eighty-five percent of marriages end in divorce." Jackie countered.
Rose rolled her eyes, "You just made that up."
"What if I did? Will you be going or not?"
"All right, all right," she conceded, "I'll go! I'll glam up even, put less mascara, smile for the cameras and even do a bit of flirting so I can have a cladestine affair with Harry Saxon in the hopes that he'll divorce Lucy, marry me and then someday provide you with hypothetical grandchildren."
Jackie beamed at her, "That's a start."
"Now will you let me sleep?" She asked plaintively.
"Yes," Jackie said, all smiles, "as soon as we discussed what you'll wear tomorrow night."
Rose groaned and let her head fall to her hands.
"So, we're clear, you're attending Harry Saxon's party tomorrow night and not swanning off into some alien threat or saving the world."
"For the last time, mum, yes!"
"Just checking, sweetheart." Jackie beamed at her beatifically and stopped tapping.
[ooc: NFB due to distance / Spoilers to Doctor Who S3 / OOC comments welcome]