CHAPTER 1: THE COFFEE

Perhaps she should've expected it from the beginning. No one wanted her around for long. Why would the Doctor be any exception? Foolish girl. Foolish, foolish girl. What was she going to do, now?

She was stranded in a place she had no idea about and she wasn't even sure what time this was. Never had she ever felt so alone and lost.

"Little miss?" She looked up to see a figure approaching her. "Are you lost?" She frowned. The man was slightly hunched over and his footing wasn't quite stable. "I can help you if you want. I – ah – have a place you can stay."

"N-non, s-s'il vous plait…" she stuttered, backing away. Without the TARDIS to translate her words, she had forgotten that she needed to put the effort into speaking English.

"A Frenchie, mm?" He continued to advance on her. "I like meself an exotic woman."

With wide eyes, she turned around and began to run. She could hear his heavy footfalls pursuing her. Her heart was racing. What was she going to do? Where can she hide? "Laissez-moi!" she screamed. She turned a corner and crashed into another man. She screamed louder.

"Shh! Shh!" the stranger hushed her. "It's alright." He peeked around her and saw the other figure was retreating after noting that she wasn't alone anymore. "He's gone."

Anna breathed in a shaky breath and looked at the man. His features reminded her of many of those from her kind – blonde hair and blue eyes. She could tell that he was pale, even in the shadows. "Who are you?"

"Ralph," he replied before quickly adding, "I'm not a stalker or anything. I heard you screaming from there." He pointed to an apartment nearby. "I ran out and well... crashed into you, I guess. Not much of a saviour, am I?"

She shook her head. "You did well." She smiled at him. "Do you have anywhere I can stay that will accept these?" She slipped her hand into her coat pocket and produced the handful of coins that were not accepted at the shop while she was with Jack.

"You sound like a foreigner. You can probably exchange those for British pounds at the bank tomorrow morning."

She frowned. Where was she supposed to stay if she didn't have any money?

"You seem a bit lost and... you don't have anything packed. Do you maybe want to... stay with me – I mean – stay at my place for the night." A small blush appeared as he stumbled over his words.

Anna gave him an appraising look before nodding. If anything happened, she'd be able to deal with it, right? "Thank you."

Ralph smiled at her before the two of them made their way across the street.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

It had been three months since the Doctor left her in Chiswick. Anna had adjusted surprisingly well to her new environment. After the initial night with Ralph, she had gone to the bank as he had instructed. Instead of having a smooth currency exchange, however, the banker immediately told her to bring it to an antique shop instead. Apparently, her coins were not accepted anymore. Anna was disappointed, thinking that she would never have any money, but did as the banker told and found an antique shop with Ralph's help.

Immediately after she showed the antique dealer the coins, the elderly man had a look of awe on his face. He told her to wait as he disappeared into a door. Anna was sure that somehow, her coins wouldn't be accepted here, as well. Instead of referring her to another person, the man came back with a book. He squinted at the book and looked at the coins. Several more times, he repeated the action.

"My God... they're genuine!" he exclaimed.

Confused, Anna replied, "Of course, they are. I would never try and cheat anyone."

"But... where did you get such valuable coins?"

Again, she wasn't quite sure what the novelty was. This was but a mere fraction of what was in the manor. "It... it has always been in the place I lived in."

"Oh," he let out a breathless sound. "I can get you a good deal on these, but not from here. I will have to call several people. They'll be able to afford these."

He promised to set up everything by the end of the week, which left Anna wishing that he'd just give her the bad deal and get everything over with.

When she returned to the apartment, she told Ralph about what happened and he happily offered his home for the remainder of the period.

As promised, when Anna arrived at the antique dealer's shop at the end of the week, there were several men waiting for her. Some were as old as the dealer himself while others looks to be in their mid-thirties. All of them turned to her when she entered.

"Ah! Here's the young lady I was talking about," the antique dealer exclaimed. "She had the most fabulous collection of French livres and francs."

"Will I be wasting my time here if these are not actually genuine coins?" one of the men sneered.

"Now, Mr. Herold, I can assure you that these are in fact genuine."

The antique dealer turned to Anna. "Can you show these gentlemen your coins?"

Anna frowned, wondering what was so special about them, but slowly and cautiously retrieved the pouch that held her money.

When she pulled the drawstring, the men immediately leaned forward to try to catch a glimpse of the little objects.

The antique dealer gently laid the coins down on to the counter. There were 98 in total. Most of them were gold with several silver and copper ones.

Half an hour past before any of them decided to give their offer. The younger man spoke first. "Three hundred fifty pounds," he said.

Another man scoffed. "Three hundred fifty? I'm not surprised, O'Connell, you only have a small little corporation." He turned to Anna. "I am willing to give you four fifty."

The others frowned, not wanting to be outdone. The offers continued to increase until O'Connell finally said, "Two million."

They froze. It was certainly not worth two million.

"Any other offers?" the antique dealer asked them.

No one spoke up.

"Well, then. I think we have our winner. Congratulations, Mr. O'Connell. I assume you will be writing a cheque?"

Anna tilted her head. Check?

"Yes." The brunet nodded and began to write on a piece of paper before handing it to Anna.

She took the cheque and looked at it. Sure enough, it read two million. "Can I buy things with this?"

O'Connell stared at her, taken aback by her strange question. "You will have to deposit it into a bank first." At her confused expression, he realized that she may not know what he was talking about. "Have you ever gone to the bank before?"

"Once," she replied. "The man there told me to come here."

"Do you have a bank account?" Again, she bore a confused look and the man laughed. "I'll accompany you there."

Anna quickly thanked the antique dealer who smiled at her warmly before following O'Connell to the bank. She looked at the small, seemingly insignificant paper in her hand. How could this possibly be worth two million? Of course, she had heard of bank notes, but had never seen one herself. Was this one of them? It didn't have the stamp that she had heard about. Had she been duped? If only the Doctor was here, he'd know what to do, but if he was... she wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

Setting up the bank account was more tedious than she thought it would be. She was required to produce a photo identification card and one more with her name on it. She had neither.

With a small bit of bribing from the man beside her, the banker happily complied. In another few minutes, she had a bank account under her name. He had even managed to get her several fake IDs under the name Anna Belaire.

When everything was done, O'Connell offered to buy her lunch, while she nodded with much enthusiasm. She had skipped breakfast to come to this ordeal and her stomach was growling profusely.

"Thank you, Monsieur O'Connell." She smiled at him as they sat down in a small, toasty cafe. "I would never have known what to do without you." She took a sip of water. "Why were you so adamant to obtain them?'

"Keegan is fine." He smiled back at her. "I have always been fascinated with French history. I'm of French descent, you see, and during my time in university, I had a minor in French history. On one of my projects, I studied a very extraordinary woman."

Anna tilted her head. "Who was she?"

"She had a very peculiar name," he replied. "Cassandriana."

Anna choked. "Cassandriana?!"

"Do you know her?"

"She... I..." What was she going to tell him? "I have heard of her," she finally managed to squeak.

"What have you heard?" Keegan was leaning across the table, eager to hear about what she had to say.

Anna looked down, wondering how much to tell. To be honest, she would love to talk about her mother, but most of her memories of the Seraphixian had faded over the centuries. She would, however, be glad to tell him anything she could. As she pondered, another thought came to her. "Have you researched her lineage?"

He shrugged. "Vaguely, but just with how much she had accomplished was amazing and it always struck me as odd that no one really knew much about her."

"That's true." Anna frowned. Her mother was an amazing woman. If only the King had valued her more.

Since that time at the cafe, Keegan became one of Anna's closest friends, next to Ralph who had insisted that she stayed with him despite her gaining a quick fortune. She didn't want to exploit the man's hospitality, but she was also reluctant to stay in an apartment alone, so she agreed.

She did, however, started to work at a place called HC Clemens. Despite the money that she had, Anna was bored by herself. Ralph had to work from morning to late afternoon and she had nothing to do, so with a bit of help, she managed to secure a job at the office. It was an entirely new experience. All the workers were cramped into a large room with dozens of cubicles.

It was not easy making friends there. Everyone seemed to already know everyone and she was the new girl who didn't quite belong. Not only that, she was bored here, as well. Working in the office was absolutely nothing like travelling with the Doctor. It was a monotonous routine.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Are you still working at HC Clemens?" Keegan was sitting with his feet resting on the coffee table and a warm cup of tea in his hand.

"Mhm," Anna hummed. "I have been working much less, though, after the promotion. Funny how the system works. Work less, get more money.

He laughed. "Yes. It's quite unfortunate. The people who work the hardest are paid next to nothing." He turned to her. I can't believe you're still working there after complaining how boring it is."

She shrugged. "It is something to do and the pay is good."

"Something to do for seven years?"

"Nothing better to do with my life."

"You can marry me," he suddenly blurted.

It may have sounded like something out of the blue if anyone had been eavesdropping, but the two of them had gotten to know each other very well. Anna was happy to spend time with him and she knew that he had feelings for her. He was rather open about it, but also extremely patient.

Anna looked down at the cup of tea in her hands. She could marry him and move out of Ralph's place. Keegan was also home more often, so she'd probably be able to leave her job and spend time with him, but... despite being asked to marry him several time before, it still didn't quite feel right. He was not the man she wanted to spend her entire life with. She wanted... "Keegan, you know my answer. I'm not quite ready for marriage, yet." It was... true to an extent. She wasn't ready for marriage with anyone living here on this Earth. "You should go find yourself a girl." That sounded more insensitive than she wanted it to.

"But I have..." he mumbled. He wasn't getting any younger. In several weeks, he'd be turning forty.

Anna felt guilty. If only she had met Keegan first. She knew without a doubt that they could've been happy together. Right now, she was still foolishly holding on to the hope that the Doctor would come back for her, but thinking back to what happened to Sarah Jane Smith... it didn't seem likely. Was she throwing her future away for a man who would never return her feelings?

"Okay," she finally said.

"What?" Keegan looked at her in confusion. "Okay what?"

"Okay, I will marry you," she said, smiling as his face lit up.

"You're serious?"

She could feel a blush forcing its way to her face. Did he have to act that surprised?

"You don't even want to go on dates first? Flowers? Dinners?"

Anna laughed. "Haven't we already done all that?"

He took a moment to think before nodding. "I guess we have." He smiled widely at her before moving off the couch and kneeled on one knee.

"Keegan, what are you doing?"

"Shh!" he hushed her. "Let me do this properly." He cleared his throat and retrieved something from his back pocket. "Anna Belaire, will you marry me?" The ring was beautiful – silver with a large diamond between two clear sapphires.

She held her breath. It was simple to say 'yes' before, but when he's actually kneeling in front of her, it felt completely different.

Keegan was starting to feel nervous. She was silent for far too long. Did she change her mind?

"Keegan..." She closed her eyes before opening them and smiled. "Yes, I will marry you."

He laughed and quickly placed the ring on to her finger before she could protest. "You'll be Mrs. Anna O'Connell, soon." He leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers. "Can I kiss you?"

Anna swallowed. His lips were so close and feeling him so near made her heart race. "Yes, please."

He was gentle with her, knowing that she was inexperienced. He allowed her to take the initiative, but when he felt her hand in his hair, he groaned and pressed harder.

"I love you, Anna," he whispered.

Anna smiled and continued to run her hand through his hair. "I love you, too." And a part of her did love him. It was impossible for her not to. Not only had he helped her with establishing a new life in Chiswick, he also proved that he could commit to her. He would love her and only her.

"I've waited so long for you to say that."

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

The next day, her coworkers saw a glowing smile on her face and the sparkling diamond that adorned her finger. They immediately rushed around her and asked who the lucky man was. "Keegan," she replied.

"O'Connell?!" Beth gasped. "The rich, hottie millionaire?! Did I mention that he was rich?"

Anna laughed. "Yes! He asked me last night."

From behind her, someone asked if she wanted a cup of coffee and feeling the elation, she thought it'd be alright to have just one cup. No harm in that, right?

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

"Lance, one more!" She was waving her cup happily in the air, riding atop a very tired looking dark skinned man. "More! More! More!" She had already consumed six cups and was eager to get her seventh.

"No!" he groaned, wondering how much longer before his back would give out. "No more! Get off me!"

"Princess Adreanna wants more!" she exclaimed. "I will have you beheaded if you defy me!"

Lance sighed and wondered if everyone in the office was a lunatic.

Eventually, he managed to calm her down enough to dump her on to a stair step and ran away, leaving the promise that he'd retrieve another cup for her.

In her hazed set of mind, she happily stayed sitting on the step with a wide grin on her face. After several people walked by, giving her odd glances, a redheaded temp stopped and asked if she was alright.

"I'm waiting for my cup of coffee!" Anna explained.

"Are you mad?" came the next question.

"He said he was going to come back with a cup of coffee!"

"Exactly how long have you been waiting?"

A small frown began to form on her face. How long? She wasn't sure, but when she first ended up here, the sun was high in the sky. Now, the sun was setting. How long had she been sitting here? "He said he was going to get me a cup..." A pout appeared when she realised that he was probably not going to come back. "He promised!"

The redhead groaned. Why did she have to be so nice and stop to actually ask why she was here? To be honest, she only passed by this stairwell because someone told her that a lunatic was sitting there. "And you believe him?"

"He promised!" she repeated, pathetically. "Will you give me a cup?"

The redhead contemplated whether helping this woman would help her get a promotion. What if this mad woman could help her with her career... whatever that may be? "Fine. Come on," she conceded. "I'm not going to leave you here blocking the stairs."

The frown and pout quickly disappeared and a wide grin remerged. "Thank you!"

This woman was nice.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Donna had only been temping for two days. She didn't know anyone, but wasn't particularly shy about voicing her opinions. On the second day, she had overheard a co-worker gossiping about one of the women who worked there. Immediately, she was hooked. Who was she and why were they talking about her?

She kept her eyes on the screen, but leaned slightly over to one side to listen more closely. The woman was sitting at the east wing's stairwell. Looking about her, she noticed that no one was really working, so she casually announced to no one in particular that she was going to go to the loo. She walked casually towards the toilet and casually changed her path when she rounded the corner.

Step by step, she kept her eyes peeled for the woman and quickly found her just two floors down. The woman looked young, in her twenties and she was humming happily to herself, swaying side to side to the rhythm. She really had no intention to actually speak with her, just to catch a glimpse, but curiosity got the best of her. What could possibly go wrong?

Donna slowly made her way over. "Are you alright?" She was cautious. This lady could possibly be lethal.

The woman turned her light grey eyes to Donna and happily declared that she was waiting for coffee.

"Are you mad?" Donna was starting to regret coming down here. What if she was a lunatic who had gotten a job from a family friend and was bound to return back to a mental asylum?

After having an extremely strange conversation with the woman, Donna decided to give her a bit of pity. She just wanted her coffee and whoever was supposed to return just abandoned her on the stairwell.

When she led the woman back to her floor, she began to walk towards the coffee maker, but the Head of Human Resources gestured to her. Well, at least she hoped he was gesturing to her. He was extremely attractive and the fact that he was the head of a department was enough to make her comply to his every whim. He asked if she wanted coffee and at first, she said 'yes' because there was still a woman waiting for her cup, but after he poured it for her, she decided that she needed it more. Well, perhaps she didn't need it exactly, but here was an attractive bloke who just made her coffee!

Fortunately, when she returned to her cubicle, the woman was already gone. She didn't need to explain why there was now an empty cup in her hand.

D*O*C*T*O*R W*H*O

Anna groaned when she realised that she had had coffee. How did she end up with a cup in her possession... How did she end up with six? The coffee was making her feel jumpy and jittery, now.

How did she even end up on the eighth floor? She was certain that she had been on the stairwell... She remembered a redheaded woman helping her down and promised her coffee, but Anna quickly left after snapping out of her caffeinated stupor.

That day, when leaving the office, she managed to bump into the woman, again. She was looking much happier than she recalled. "Hello," she greeted the woman.

She seemed surprised, but smiled at her all the same. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, leaving Anna extremely confused. "I'm glad that you're alright and you haven't died from coffee overdose, but I've just met the most amazing man. He asked me if I wanted coffee and I said yes. I was going to give it to you, but then how could I just give his gift away. That would be rude, so I drank it and it tasted fabulous. But that man! He's the Head of Human Resources. His name is Lance. Doesn't that sound manly? Lance. You know, like the sword thing."

Anna blinked at her. She wasn't sure how much actually made sense in her head, but she heard the name 'Lance' and was sure that it was the one who had abandoned her in the stairwell. She didn't blame him. Coffee made her behave oddly.

"And you know what he offered me after I finished the coffee? He said if I liked it that much, he'd make it for me every day!"

"That is... wonderful," Anna replied with an awkward smile. "I am glad that you had a good day."

"Yes!" the redhead exclaimed. "And it was all thanks to you! I'm Donna, by the way."

Anna laughed at her enthusiasm. "Anna. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Donna narrowed her eyes at her. "You know, you're really different without all that coffee."

"So I have been told. I really try to avoid it... most of the time."

The two woman continued to converse as they made their way down the street. Before she knew it, Anna was already in front of Ralph's apartment. "I will see you tomorrow?"

"Of course! We can have lunch together!"

Anna smiled and happily agreed. During the past seven years, she had made good friends at HC Clemens, but none she had felt any connection to. Donna, however, had a very amiable character that was impossible to resist. "I would love that."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Here it is! The sequel! I know it's been FOREVER since I've updated, but I've started watching Doctor Who again and have ever gotten to the Twelfth now. The problem is, I still need time getting used to him. He's quite different. I have, however, become less adverse to Clara. I don't know why I had such a hard time with her, but I also had a hard time with Donna when I first watched those seasons. Now, I love Donna to bits and pieces!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to finish this installment, so it could be touch and go. I'm actually having quite a bit of trouble working with the episodes. I'm going to try really, really hard not to follow a transcript because I know that will always zap all my creativity away. Hopefully that'll work out well!

I really hope this chapter turns out alright. I can't wait to hear from you guys.

Echo