Matt sat down at the table, sighing as he threw himself into the wooden chair. He placed his elbows onto the table roughly, and sunk his head into his hands, running them through his mop of hair. Hot coffee, in his favourite blue mug was soon placed down in front of him, and he looked up to see his best friend, Amy, smiling sympathetically as she took the seat opposite. "C'mon champ, Rory's making breakfast," she said, giving him a warm smile, flicking her red hair about. He looked up long enough to glare at her, before turning his eyes straight back to his lap. "You haven't eaten properly for weeks. I know your upset about being fired," she said, reaching her hand out to pat him on the back "But we're here for you."

Rory then came into the dining room, setting down a few plates, the biggest in front of Matt. Matt sniffed, and then sat up, too tempted by the alluring scent of hot bacon and eggs. "See, Rory made your favourite" Amy smiled, sipping her own coffee. Rory sat down too, next to Matt, and patted him on the back in an awkward sympathetic way, looking up at Amy worryingly. She made a spinning motion in her hands as Matt chewed on the bacon, coaxing Rory to go on. "Erm, we know the last few weeks were really bad. With getting fired and all." He said. When met with no reaction from their friend, Amy raised her perfectly plucked eyebrow up at him again, willing him to go on. Rory pulled a face, but Amy glared at him.

"And we know, mate. We know it was really hard when you and River spilt u-"

Amy kicked Rory in the shin hard, glaring at him. Her eyes screamed "That's not what I meant!" and Rory swallowed, stopping himself from crying out. Amy's kick really hurt. "Erm. Wha-what I'm trying to say is…is…erm…"

"It's fine." Matt said, uttering the first words he had spoken in a while, if you didn't count grunts such as "Pass the milk" or "change the channel, I hate this show." He looked up at Amy, who smiled at him again, and then glanced past her to the clock. It was 8:45.

"But you will, erm, get a job soon right? It's just the rent's due an-"

The plates clattered as Amy kicked him under the table again, harder, causing him to yelp this time. "Yes, yes the rent," Matt said, wolfing down the rest of his breakfast "If you must know, I've got a job." He said nonchalantly, standing up from the table and running his hands through his hair. "Henriks Department store, in town. I'm the new floor manager of the women's clothing section."

"That's great!" Amy said, standing up and picking up the plates. "When do you start?"

"In about fifteen minutes."

Matt raced towards the building, suit jacket flying behind him. He cursed himself mentally for poor planning. It hardly took him ten minuets to get there on the tube, but he was still late. His hair hung floppily over his eyes, his socks didn't match. His briefcase hit his left thigh as he ran, which wasn't a pleasant feeling and he knew he'd probably be bruised later.

He reached the building in decent time, as the tube station wasn't that far away, and he's never been in bad shape. He stops outside, breathing heavily and checks his watch. 10:13. Not too bad he thought. He looked up into the shop window , to check his tie in the reflection, but his face turned white when he realise he isn't wearing one. In his rush, he must have picked up the most ridiculous thing in his drawer. A dark blue bowtie. He looked like a huge dick and he knew it, but he was late on the first day already. He just took in a deep breath and sucked up his pride, stepping through the heavy doors.

The shop floor staff were all standing around by the checkout, looking bored. Henrick's was a big department store, and thankfully he only had to run the one department. The staff all looked relatively young, mostly female, but nothing special as they stood around chatting and chewing gum. He cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. He put on his best winning smile, and walked towards them. "I'm Matt, I'm your new floor manager." He said. None of them really reacted, and went back to chatting. One tall brunette girl, noticing his bewildered expression, nodded her head towards a door behind them. "Your office is there mate. Assistant manager will talk you through everything I guess."

He smiled and thanked her, grateful to have somewhere to hide away. He wondered who the assistant manager might be, what kind of bloke he was. Did he like football? Matt hoped so, as football was the only sport he was any ever good at. He tried to keep the smile on his face as he stepped through the door, but it dropped immediately when he opened it. In front of him, by the wall, a woman was bent over, picking up some files. She was dressed smart, but stylish navy trousers, short heels to match, a white blouse with a belt. Silver bangles clanked on her arms as she gathered up papers, before getting up and turning around to see Matt.

Matt's eyes lingered for a little while, scanning her whole body as she stood up to face him. She was petite, a good few inches shorter than him, slim, blonde. Nice ass, good tits, he thought before mentally slapping himself. No, this is my assistant manager. Strictly professional behaviour Matthew. He breathed in, slowly, and smiled at her. "Hi, I'm Matt." He said, closing the door behind him.

She smiled, and god he nearly lost it right then and there. She had a killer smile, an open mouthed grin, with her perfect white teeth streaming through. "Nice to meet you Matt," she said "I'm Rose, Rose Tyler." She reached out her hand for him to shake it, and it took him half a second to respond, before he reached out his own hand and shook hers. He squeezed her hand gently, willing to prolong the handshake as much as possible, but she pulled away, walking over to the desk on the right side of the room, and placed her files down. "Your standard issued name tag's on the desk, yes you do have to wear it." She insisted, rolling her eyes. She didn't wait for his response, and continued her ramblings "That's your desk, opposite mine. You can personalise it with photos or whatever you want. Don, the last manager didn't really, but I like to, as you can probably see." She laughed, glancing down at her desk. He stepped forward and looked at it, smiling a little to himself. Her desk was cluttered with paperwork, and there were lots of photos in frames, and hung around the wall behind her.

"Yes, that would be a wonderful idea." He said, before turning to his own desk, which was barely a few feet from hers, and setting down his briefcase. He picked up the name tag and pinned it onto his chest, smiling to himself. "Manager. Matt Smith." He said aloud, flicking it with his thumb and index finger. Rose laughed as she turned back around to face him, leant against her desk. "Sounds official." She joked. He laughed, and she smiled and the two fell into a somewhat comfortable silence. After a few seconds, she stood up a little straightening her back, and chuckled quietly to herself.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing, honestly." She said, but she continued to laugh. He bravely stepped forwards, which was odd as he was never all that comfortable around girls. It had taken him almost a year to even ask River out.

"Come on. I'm the manager. I command you to tell me." He joked.

"It's just…"

"Just what."

She threw her head back slightly and laughed harder, and he could feel her cool, minty breath hitting his face. He blushed a little, realising how suddenly close they were standing together, but Rose didn't mention it, so neither did he. "It's just," she said again, covering her mouth wth the back of her hand to stop herself laughing again. "What in the name of fuck have you got round your neck?"

He blushed again, harder and stepped backwards. He remembered the bowtie, and his hand flew to it, fumbling with it. "It-It's a bowtie." He stutters before bowing his head slightly, smiling nervously "I know, it's ridiculous. I was in a rush to get here. Didn't want to be late on the first day."

She noticed his embarrassment, and smiled, moving her hand to his arm. "Aw, I'm sorry, don't be embarrassed… it kinda works" she shrugged, and he looked up to meet her eyes. They were an amazing shade of clear, sparkling brown. He could only associate them with the colour of whiskey. "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she reassured him, tweaking it. "Bow ties are cool."

At the end of the day, they were the last two left and she offered him a lift home. "Oh no, really, don't go out of your way." He said, reaching for his briefcase, and buttoning up his jacket.

"Oh come on, it's no trouble."

"No, really-" he tied to protest, but she just smiled.

"Come on, I owe you."

"Owe me for what?" he asked, raising his eyebrow and following her out of the office, through the shop floor, and into the cold November evening.

"For not being the boring, stuck up old boss I was expecting."

he smiled, to her and himself, and she clicked the button on her car keys. A little blue mini beeped from across the road. "Nice car," he said noting the personalised number plate saying Tyler and following her across the road, listening to the click of her heels across the street. "Thanks, my step-dad bought it for me for my birthday last year."

"Stepdad's doing alright then…" he said, reaching for the handle and opening the door. She clicked her way round to the other side and climbed into the driver's seat, flinging her files onto the backseat. He kept his briefcase balancing on his knees and ran his fingers across the leather upholstery of the seat. "Yeah. Pete Tyler."

"Oh right," he said, nodding "The Vitex Guy, lucky."

"Yeah, well, he's been my step-dad since I was a kid. Rescued me and mum from the perils of the powell estate and moved him in with us in his swanky town house. Not that he'd try and change mum for the world, and not that she'd let him."

"Sounds like a story from a movie or something." He raised his eyebrows, as the engine began to purr and she pulled off the pavement.

"Yeah, he's a good man." Rose said, turning briefly to look at Matt. He smiled at her.

"So, what about you, family wise?"

He made a face and she laughed slightly. "So?" she coaxed.

"I've got brothers."

"Oh yeah, I've got a little brother. Tony."

"Ten of them."

She braked suddenly, but luckily they had gotten out of the busy London crossings and were down a side road. "Blimey," she said, starting to drive again "You're parents were busy. What are all their names? If you can remember."

He smiles softly, quickly glancing sideways at her as the can continues to slip through the night. "William, Patrick, Jon, Tom, Peter, Colin, Sylvester, Paul, Christopher and David." He played with the clasp between his fingers, clicking it open and closed.

"Even worse, I'm the youngest. But clearly my parents were good planners. More or less a year between each of us." He added with a laugh.

"Blimey," Rose repeated "Never any sisters?"

"Nope, but can you blame them for trying? After David, mum was sure I was gonna be a girl. But alas, here I am, boy bits and all."

"Congratulations." Rose laughed, and Matt joined in. He had barely known Rose for a day, but he already felt a strong connection with her. Amy had warned him about this before, saying he got attached to people too easily, but Matt just felt it with Rose. Stronger than he had ever felt 'it' with anyone.

He had been lost in watching her, and didn't realise they had pulled up outside his flat. "Matt," she said, bring him back to reality "We're here."

"Right, yes of course. Thank you for the lift Rose."

"No problem, Matt. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

"I'll be there." He smiled, climbing out of the car. He watched the blue mini steer off down the street, and turned walking towards his door. Suddenly a bib rang out and he turned around to see Rose, pulled up again, with her window down. "Promise me you'll wear the bowtie?" she asked, a coy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Matt grimaced, "God, I don't know. It's pretty awful."

"Oh come on! Please, for me?"

And that was it, he agreed and she laughed roaring off down the street. He wasn't sure entirely how she had convinced him to that, but it probably had something to do with how her blouse was precariously buttoned and the smile on her perfect pink mouth. He smiled to himself softly, and turned back to the door, opening it with the keys. He headed up the stairs to the second floor, letting himself into the flat.

"I'm home!" he called out, dumping his keys into the fruit bowl.

"Hey!" Amy called back from the kitchen, rushing to the door to give him a hug. "How was it?"

They broke apart and he smiled. Rory came round the corner, smiling and walked towards them to stand beside Amy. "Yeah, tell us, how was it."

"It was… good. different than I was expecting." He said, smiling, not meeting either of their eyes.

"Oh my god," Amy said, reaching her hand out to grab his face, squeezing his cheeks. "I know this look. Matt, have you met someone?"

"What? What? No. not at all. Never."

"Come on Matt, you can fool Rory with that bullshit, but not me. I know you ,remember?"

"Honestly, I have no idea what you're talking about," he protested "I just met her."

"Oh, so there's a her?"

Damn he called out in his head, feeling heat rushing to his cheeks. Yes Rose was nice, but she was just a friend. In a professional, work colleague way. So yeah, maybe he was having some… images in his head of her in a slightly different situation when she bent over to pick up a dress someone had left on the ground, and perhaps he had thought of throwing her up against the office door and fucking her until she screamed. But he was a bloke… that was just a bloke thing, right?

"Okay, maybe. She's just my assistant manager. It's nothing."

"Hmm, I'll believe that when you stop blushing, Matthew. I'm going for a shower." Amy smirked, giving his cheeks one last squeeze together before turning and padding to the bathroom.

"Can't believe you've already fallen in love again." Rory smirked.

"I've hardly fallen in love! Come on Rory. She's just some girl."

"Yeah, okay," Rory scoffed "You've practically got a semi just thinking about her."

Matt glanced down, and then back up at Rory, who was laughing. "Oh fuck off!" he said, but Rory just laughed harder. Matt rolled his eyes, and walked around the corner into his room, muttering 'wanker' under his breath. He barely knew Rose, yet she was already having this…impact on him?

He chucked his briefcase onto the floor, and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it on the back of the door. He walked over to his bed, and flopped down on top of it, sighing.

How many hours until tomorrow morning?

The next day at work, Matt and Rose sat in the office all day. Rose brought posh donuts with her and they both wheeled around on spinny chairs eating them and telling bad jokes about bowties.

She told him more about her family. How her mum may live in a four bedroomed townhouse, slap bang in the middle of London, but still liked to sit around in velour tracksuits, drink tea and watch eastenders. She told him that her brother tony was eight, and a right terror.

"But I don't get it," he had asked, spinning around on the chair "If Pete's , why do you work here? Assistant manager of on small sector of a department store? I'm sure he could get you a much better job."

"He could," Rose said, shrugging "And he's offered countless times. But it's just, I got this job myself. With my own half-decent school grades. He's always provided for me. For my eighteenth birthday I got the rights to a savings accounts he'd been feeding since I was ten. I got a hundred grand."

"A hundred grand?! What did you do with it?"

"I've barely touched it. Bought myself my flat, and left it alone since. Just doesn't feel like mine, you know? But working here, all the money I make is mine. The clothes I wear, food I eat. I earned it. I guess it's just a pride thing, you know?"

"I get it. I suppose. Just one hundred grand is a lot of money to be sitting around. Ever thought about doing anything with it?"

"I dunno," Rose shrugged again, wrinkling her nose "I guess I always wanted to go travelling. But never had anyone to go with."

"I'd go with you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I inherited a bit of money when my dad died a few years ago. Not much, considering it had to be shared between a lot of us, but I don't know. The old man must have had a secret stash under the floorboards or something. We were never exactly rich when I was a kid."

"What was it like, with ten older brothers?"

"Ninteen awful years of hand me down clothes, meatloaf and no privacy." Matt snorted "Then Amy asked me if I wanted to look into getting a flat with her."

"Amy's your girlfriend?"

"Oh no, god no. just a mate of mine."

"Oh" she said, raising her eyebrows "So it's one of those: 'we're just mates but we want to shag each others brains out' things, yeah?"

Matt just laughed "No, that was her and Rory. Me and Amy were friends since primary, and then we met Rory in college. The two of them were really good mates, and he was in love with her. Eventually, I had to let her know, because I caught Rory wanking over her knickers more than once."

"Oh yeah," Rose laughed "what happened next?"

"Well he shouted 'Matt, what the fuck, get out. This isn't what it looks like' or something along those lines." He joked, leaning his head back in the chair to look at her. She was doing the same, feet propped up on the desk. "No you idiot, what happened between them?"

"They got together. Then I ended up walking in on them shagging more times than I'm proud to admit. Still do, considering the three of us living in the flat together."

"Well. At least they're happy."

"Yep."

"So you don't have a girlfriend, at all?" Rose asked.

Matt shook his head, and sighed, his heart aching a little. "I'm a member of the recently dumped club, unfortunately."

Rose winced, "Sorry. Wanna talk about it?"

"There isn't much to say. Met in college, we were going out for two years, and I loved her. Then I found out she was shagging some other bloke the whole time, and she ended it because she'd rather have been with him."

"That's shit." Rose sighed.

"Yeah. It is." He agreed.

"I hate all that relationship crap."

"No boyfriend then?"

"No. when I was about nineteen I started dating a mate of mine that I'd known since we were kids but, he was more into it than I was. So I had to end it, as you do."

"And there's nobody else?"

"Nope."

"Well that's just unfair. Two god damn amazing, young people like us. Living in one of the best cities in the world, and we're both painfully single. That's just unfair"

"Yeah, but hey, you never know," she said, sitting up in the chair "The right person could just be right under our noses. Maybe we just haven't realised it yet."

He swung around on the chair and looked over to her. Her whiskey eyes were lost in the ceiling. The rise and fall of her chest made him feel safe, and whole, and another emotion that he couldn't quite yet understand. There was a lot about this that he didn't understand. All he knew was that she was there, on the pathetic blue office chair spinning around slowly. The light from the shitty lamp on the desk illuminated her perfectly. All he knew was that she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

"Do you want to… I don't know, go out for a drink or something?" he asked. "I mean… if you want to, or whatever." He was nervous, and panicky. He hadn't meant to just ask her that. She'll probably say no. we've only known each other for two days.

"Yeah. Alright. How about, you come over to mine and we'll eat? Yeah?"

He couldn't stop the excited grin that spread across his face, but thankfully she wasn't looking at him. He just swallowed, and smiled. "Yeah. that sounds perfect."

Another new story because i can't get enough. my muse strikes randomly. please review, i hope its okay. updates will be as often as i can. try to imagine Rose as Billie Piper in SDOACG, looks wise.