songofsong | AU } Maybe in another life, we wouldn't be alone tonight

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AU } Maybe in another life, we wouldn't be alone tonight

Saturdays were always big days, but today, well, it was even bigger.

The World Museum was open to the trawls of parents and children that flooded in every weekend, a spell of bad weather driving in an even bigger amount than normal. What also helped, was the fact that a new space exhibition had arrived on the science level, one that Melody Pond had been angling for some time, and today was the big opening.

It had taken a lot of hard work and a lot of money, but it was finally here, and Melody was practically bursting with excitement as she zoomed around the museum, making sure everything was going smoothly. She'd heard there might be some special guests making a visit later, the kind of special guest that could possibly see her head hunted. Therefore, everything had to be running perfectly.

Passing one of her colleagues, Melody stopped him with a hand on the arm, requesting in hopefully pleading voice that usually got her her own way.

"Malcolm, would you mind standing by for the 3D showing? Just make sure everything goes to plan? Thank you, sweetie."

He was all too happy to oblige, which was why Melody had asked him in particular, and she watched him go with knowing look, unable to feel much happier than she did in this moment. With her hands by her sides, she did a little spin on the spot before she bounced off to continue with her duties, nothing able to wipe the smile from her face.

Everything was going to plan.

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There's a smile on his face, warm and free and excited. "Yes you are," he tells her, leaning in and kissing her once more. This time, he rolls her towards him a little, over him. Between them, his body seems to be awakening once again.

"Ooh hello," he smirks.

And so it begins all over again.

And begin it did.

From then on, not a day passes that they don't speak to each other somehow, whether by text, a phonecall, or their new personal favourite, video messaging. There's something a little brighter about Melody, she carries herself a little taller, and even though she's yet to see him in person since their time in London, there's no doubt this newfound relationship is doing good things for her.

It even triggers a few questions, people wondering what good news she'd had lately, some asking if she had a new man in her life, but Melody remains secretive about what exactly is making her so happy. Because for as much as she loves this new direction her life has taken, she isn't quite so ready to share it with everybody else. Because that part is harder to be happier about, and a hurdle she isn't yet ready to overcome.

Which is why, the next time she sees James, she's not entirely prepared for it.

He's been thinking about it for a few days. He wants to see her. Oh he has plans with her next week, of course, but next week feels forever away, and he simply wants to be with her. It's that reason then that has him boarding a train at Paddington to head up to Gloucester.

It's a busy Thursday, and when he steps off the train he heads straight to the nearest florist that he'd googled in advance. He buys flowers, bigger than he can really afford, but that doesn't matter.

Heading over to the museum, he heads straight for a member of staff, asking them to direct him to Melody Pond's office. He gets a couple of raised eyebrows, asked if he's a courier (he laughs that off), but eventually he's shown the way, a young blonde assistant that's looking at him a tad too closely. Ordinarily he might look back, but not now.

"She's just in a meeting," the blonde tells him. "But she'll be back soon. You can wait here."

And so wait he does, on a chair outside her office, in the corridor for all to see.

It's a long meeting, but James has arrived at the tail end of it. As her office door opens, a few rather important looking people in suits and ties file out, polite chatter and laughter echoing as they step out into the corridor. The group exchange goodbyes between them, shaking hands.

As they begin to depart, a couple of them notice James sitting there on a chair, passing him with a bemused sort of look, not quite understanding who he is or what he's doing there.

"See you soon," Melody's voice can be heard amongst the small crowd as she ensures to say goodbye to them all personally. "Til next time, Malcolm."

As they filter out, Melody begins to catch sight of somebody in one of the chairs outside her office, and it's only as someone walks out of the way that she realises who it is.

"James!" she says in her shock, a little too loudly, causing a couple of the businessmen to glance back at her from down the corridor.

James stands as people start to filter out the room, and he turns back, trying to see her through the collection of faces. There's a smile on his own, wide and happy.

"Hey," he says, stepping up to her and leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. "Surprise." He doesn't really notice the people looking back, probably for the best too because if he did it would likely make him kiss her as if to prove a point.

"Oh.. ok!" she stammers slightly, giving an awkward laugh after he kisses her on the cheek very much aware that they're still within view of the people departing. She moves back a short way, just in case he's tempted to take it a step further. "Yes! It most definitely is a surprise!" she agrees, anxiously looking towards the others and raising a hand slightly to see Malcolm off, who is giving her a wave.

Edited 2014-09-22 21:25 (UTC)

"Okay?" he laughs. "Is that what I get, 'okay'?"

It's only when he sees her looking off that his eyes follow, frowning a little before looking back towards her.

"Mel?" he asks, lips quirking in a smile, all but standing in her line of sight. "Hi?"

Distracted from making sure nobody is scrutinising them too closely, she looks back at James with a blink. "Hm?" she asks, having missed what he said. "Yes, hello!" she says, shaking her head slightly and starting again. "I didn't expect to see you here. You know, you really should give me some warning when I'm at work.. "

On the train up James had imagined all sort of ways she might react to seeing him. Shock perhaps, but every eventuality ended in a smile. Not the look that's on her face now.

He tries not to read too much into it, not yet, anyway. Instead he just smiles a little and shakes his head.

"Yeah well it wouldn't be much of a surprise then, would it."

Still in the corridor, his hand reaches out to touch against her hip. "Come on, don't I even get a kiss?'

"James," she laughs a little awkwardly, stepping away from him again. "Not right now. I'm trying to work." She knows the others are gone now, but there are still museum staff milling about and it wouldn't take much for one to walk past any moment. She doesn't want her scandalising love life to become gossip, not at the place she's in charge of.

This time it's hard not to leap to conclusions. Not only refusing but physically stepping back from him.

"I asked for a kiss not a quick shag up a doorway," he says, glancing aside to see what she's looking for.

"What?" he asks. "Mel?" his head dips a little, trying to grab her gaze back to him. "Can't stop working for five minutes to say hi to your boyfriend?" he asks, attempting to pull a smile from her again.

"James," she repeats his name, a little sterner now, trying to drown out the 'boyfriend' he just said loud enough to be heard down the corridor. She glances back before she sighs somewhat, raising her hands placatingly. "Look, I'm sorry. That was just a really stressful meeting, ok? I've got a million things to do before hometime. Can you just give me a couple of hours and I'll be with you? Why don't you have another look around?"

He doesn't buy it. "Your meeting, right," he says, looking at her with a frown. It didn't look stressful when she walked out with a smile on her face, a smile that had been there until the moment she saw him.

"Well I thought I could take you to lunch or something?" he tries again, one last attempt.

"I already ate, in the meeting. But thank you," she says, for she is genuinely happy to see him, she'd just prefer to see him after work, not during. With another glance at the corridor, she looks back towards him again. "How long have you been sat there? Did someone show you up here?"

He'd had it all planned out. Found this nice place near the museum, thought he'd take her there. But no, it's not to be.

"Not long," he says, the frown etching deeper into his face. "I asked at the front desk, this girl showed me up." But he doesn't pause after speaking, continuing, questioning. "You don't want me here, do you? Look at you, you keep looking up the corridor like you're terrified someone's going to find us. What am I, your dirty little secret, Mel?"

When he sees that, she immediately realises what she's doing and fixes her eyes on his like it'll make any difference.

"No!" she says quickly, insistent, but she's careful not to raise her voice too loud. "No, it's not that. Look, it's just bad enough as it is around here, with people gossiping. I don't want them to do that to us, ok?"

"Right," he says, but it falls a little flat.

He lets out a long sigh and rubs his hand up over his face. "Tell you what, I'm just gonna go. Text me when you finish work or something." He's very noncommittal. This really hasn't gone how he'd expected or how he'd ever hoped.

On that, he vaguely pushes the hefty bouquet towards her.

"Here. Do what you want with them I guess."

"James," she says pleadingly, frowning as the flowers are thrust into her hands and she takes them from him, looking down at the pretty blooms. "We'll do something tonight, I promise," she tells him, looking up again. "I'll be out of here at 6, meet me then? In the car park?"

"The car park?" he echoes back. "You sure. Wouldn't want one of the staff to catch you now would you. You sure we shouldn't meet a mile away. I mean somewhere you can be less embarrassed, right?"

"That's not what I meant!" she snaps in some frustration, but there had been a slither of truth there. "Don't have a go at me. You turned up out of the blue!"

"Yeah, for a surprise Mel. I thought it would be nice. I thought you'd be pleased to see me. Guess I was wrong, right?" His voice isn't angry, just tired and a little sad.

Maybe he'd got this all wrong. Maybe it was her just looking for a quick shag on her own terms. Was he being ridiculous thinking she wanted more. After all, he knows, he knows he's younger than her son.

"Just text me later, yeah? If you want. I'll be in town."

"I am pleased to see you. Oh! I'm not having this conversation with you now, I've got things to do!" she replies in a bicker, throwing a hand up slightly. She realises too late how patronising that could sound, but it's too late, because she's annoyed and he's upset, and the best thing all round is to give each other some space right now.

"Yes. Yes. I'm sorry. I'll text you later," she sighs, rubbing her forehead with her hand, frustrated with how badly she has handled all this.

He looks at her another moment but says nothing more than a , "See ya," before turning and heading off back the way he came. He wonders if he shouldn't just go back to the train station, head straight back home.

But he doesn't. Instead he goes for a walk, gets an overpriced coffee and wanders around aimlessly before bringing himself to sit at the bank of the river. It's there he sits, looking out at the water, watching it flow, and wonders what the hell he's doing.

She sighs as he walks off, looking down at the flowers she holds in her hands. They are lovely, and a thoughtful gesture. She only wishes she'd been able to thank him properly. Taking the flowers into the office, she spends some time arranging them into a vase before she sits back down to try and do some work, all the while distracted by the reminder of the flowers that sit across from her.

When six o'clock rolls round, she's glad to be out of there, if only so she can talk to James again and try and patch things over. She texts him as she leaves the museum, making her way towards the car park.

On my way. x

He loses track of time, sitting there, staring out at the water as he eats his meal deal sandwich he picked up from boots. It's a nice enough spot, at least, somewhere he can try and clear his head a little.

But then he's never been too good at that, has he? Well, other than that once. Cleared it pretty damn well then.

He doesn't realise the time when it rolls around to six, but even if he had, he has no intention of returning to the museum. He doesn't want another repeat of earlier.

When his phone beeps, he pulls it from his pocket, looking at it and taking a few minutes to reply. He notes, he gets a kiss in the text message. More than she could manage in person.

Not there. By the river.

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