drabble prompts?!?! Ten x Rose: “My friend is out of town and I’m supposed to be taking care of his pet fish but it died and you work at the pet store help me find one that looks the same so he won’t notice"
Fish and Chips - ~3000ish ridiculous words; Teen
(AO3)
————–
8:30 a.m.
Rosewalks into the break room and clocks in, pulling her hair up into a messyponytail.
Sheyawns, rubbing her eyes.
She’s not used to being at work quite so early in the morning. Normally, of course, her shift doesn’t start ‘til eleven. But today isn’t a normal day. Not only is PetFriends having its annual Dog Food Double Coupon Day! – an event that brings dog-loving bargain hunters in from all over London – they’realso running their half-off cat grooming special like they always do the lastWednesday of the month.
Roseand her coworkers had to come in early today whether they needed the overtimeor not.
“Allright, everyone,” Jack Harkness, the store manager, says, striding into the break room and clapping hishands. People who’d been milling about and chatting put down their coffees andwater bottles and look up at him expectantly.
When he’s got everyone’s attention he claps his hands again. “To your battle stations!”
“Herewe go,” Rose says under her breath, bracing herself for the day to come.
———-
8:45 a.m.
To her very pleasant surprise, Rose isn’tin charge of cat shampooing today. What a thankless job that is. Her scratches from last week’s Shampooing Extravaganza! event still haven’tfully healed.
No. Today, she’s got the fish tanks.
Alot of the people she works with think the fish section is boring. Rose likes it, though. She’s knows more about the guppies, goldfish, and even the more exotic breeds they sell than most of her coworkers. And Rose has always found watching fish swimming round in their tanks rather soothing.
Perhaps most importantly for today’spurposes, though, the fish area is usually theeasiest section in the store.
But not today. Whoeverclosed up last night clearly forgot to tidy up by the fish. The cans of food are in total disarray, with different brands tossed haphazardly together. Even worse, the tank cleaning supplies are all in a jumble on the floor.
Ifthis stuff isn’t in order before the mad bargain hunters arrive in fifteen minutes it’s just going to make her day that much harder.
Rosesighs, tightening the elastic band around her ponytail. As she bends downto pick up the tank supplies she starts counting down the minutes until she cango home and go back to bed.
———-
10:26 a.m.
“Assistance needed at register three. Repeat: assistance needed at register three.”
Jack’svoice rings out loudly throughout the store over the intercom. And that’sRose’s cue.
Shehurries to the front of the store and quickly gets behind register three. She flicks on the overhead light switch to let customers know she’s open. A throng of eager shoppers rushes over immediately.
“Forma queue, please!” she tells them. “’s the only way I’ll be able to helpyou.” To her relief the customers comply immediately, lining up in front of her register in an orderlysingle file.
Rosecan still see the fish section out of her peripheral vision as she rings up thefirst customer. To her dismay, some crazy-haired bloke in a brown suit is there now, madly ransacking the supplies it took her nearly an hour toset to rights. He starts with the fish food, tossing each can aside halfa moment after he’s picked it up. Apparently not finding what he’slooking for in there he quickly moves on to the cleaning brushes, and then finallyto the little specialty toys hidden behind the fake coral reefs.
After he’s thoroughly trashed multipleshelves he runs his hands anxiously through his hair, making it an even biggerchaotic mess than it already was. And then, without putting anything backthe way it had been, he abruptly strides off in the direction of the store’sexit.
Roseclenches her teeth and shuts her eyes. In less than two minutes this idiotcreated another half hour of work for her. Just what she neededon the store’s busiest day of the year.
———-
11:58 a.m.
Roseis stuck on registers for the next hour and a half.
Shedoesn’t much care for register duty, normally. But there’s nothing to be done for it. This is the busiestPetFriends has been in ages. Even with everyone working extra hoursthey’re still short-staffed. Asking Jack to het her off registers so shecan go back to hiding among the fish is out of the question.
ToRose’s relief, Martha – who’d been grooming catsall morning – does the best she can to fix the mess that arsehole made of thefish section. She isn’t able to put it all back together before she’scalled back to the cat room but it’s a start.
“Whydon’t you go grab something to eat?” Jack says, coming up behind her andputting a hand on her shoulder. “We still have a long day ahead of us. Don’t want you burning out.” He winks at her.
“Thanks,”Rose says gratefully. She quickly locksup her register (before Jack has a chance to change his mind) and grabs herbag. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
———-
12:22 p.m.
WhenRose returns from lunch the fish shelves are an even bigger mess than they’dbeen before she’d left.
“Whatin the bloody hell happened?” she asks Martha, who’s on the floor picking upcans of fish food again.
“Thatmoron came back while you were gone, dug his mitts through every single item onthese shelves, and then ran off like the cops were chasing him.” Martha rollsher eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’ve beentrying to fix it for you but I’ve got furious, half-shampoo’d cats to deal with.”
Roseshakes her head.
“Thankyou, Martha. And no, don’tapologize. It’s not your fault,” Rosesays. She bends down and picks up a few cans. She starts tomethodically put them back on the shelves, willing them to stay put this time. “It’s his fault, of course. The tosser’s probably never worked retail aday in his life.”
Marthalaughs.
“I’msure you’re right.”
AsRose opens a can of food and gently shakes some flakes into the nearest tank,she vows silently to kick this guy’s arse if she ever sees him again.
——-
2:45 p.m.
Shedoesn’t have to wait long.
Twentyminutes before her next scheduled break, he shows up again. He glances around the store like a manic, lostpuppy. And then, with a look of mad determination on his face that Rose hasonly seen in action films where the hero’s about to do something extremelyrisky and very stupid, he makes a beeline right for the fish.
Roserolls up her sleeves and glares at him. She’s ready.
Ignoringher, the guy bypasses the food this time and heads straight for the tanks. Unfortunately, on his way to them he trips over a stray can, knocking over the display of cleaning supplies in the process and making, once again, a horriblemess of everything Rose has been trying to keep organized all day.
“Hey!” Roseshouts at him, eyes narrowed furiously. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The guy pauses, and then freezes. He slowly turns his head so he’s facing her. His bright brown eyeswiden in surprise behind his horn-rimmed spectacles.
“I’m…. sorry,” he says, very quietly. He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and bites down a little. His hands are shaking. For one insane moment Rose thinks he mightbe about to cry.
“Just…hey, it’s ok,” Rose says, holding her palms up in an attempt to calmhim down. “But… I mean, what are you doing? Why are you making sucha mess?”
Theguy buries his face in both hands.
“Ihave a big problem,” he mumbles between his fingers.
“I’llsay you do,” she says. “You keep trashing my store!”
Hedrops his hands. His face is white, ashen. “I’m… oh. Right.” He blinks at her a few times before looking around at their surroundings. “Sorry about that.”
She rolls her eyes. “Wanna tell me why you keep doing this?”
Hesighs. “Oh. Yes. Of course. You see, my friend’s fish. I… um. I’ve been watching it while she’sbeen out of town, you see? And…” The guy trails off, swallowingaudibly.
Ah.
Rosedoesn’t need to hear anything else.
“Thefish died while she was away. Didn’t it.” Rose has worked herealmost a year. If she had a tenner for every pet-sitter who’s had a fishdie while its owner was on holiday she could retire.
“Yeah,”he admits. “I think I must have done something wrong. I might haveforgotten to feed it. Or maybe I fed it too much.”
He closes his eyessadly. He looks dejected, and horriblyguilty, which makes Rose feel sorry for him despite the total havoc he’swreaked on her day.
“When I woke up today the fish just looked a littlesick, you know? A little peaky,” he continues. “But I couldn’t find a vet that would agree tosee a goldfish on such short notice. Or onany sort of notice at all, actually. SoI came in here – into all the stores in this part of town, actually; not just this one – to get some fish medicine that might perk him up.”
“Fish medicine?” PetFriends doesn’t carry fish medicine. Rose isn’t even sure there’s such a thing as fish medicine.
He nods. “Right. Fish medicine. But, well… I wasn’t able to find any. Not in any of the stores, actually, no matter how many times I came back to look through all the shelves.” He has the decency to look sheepish. "I’m afraid I’ve been a bit destructive, haven’t I. And horribly rude. I’m really sorry about that. I’ve been… well.” He swallows again. “I’ve been a bit panicky today.”
He trails off, looking, once more, on the verge of tears.
Roseknows what’s coming next. “And now?” sheprompts anyway, her voice kind. Now thatshe knows this guy is just a terrified, clueless pet-sitter, not a total arsehole, most ofher earlier fury with him has vanished.
Theman sighs. “And now, little Nemo’sfloating on his back in his tank, mouth wide open. Dead as the proverbial doornail.”
Nemo? The fish’s name was Nemo? Rose has to fight back a laugh.
“I’msorry,” Rose says, biting her lip.
Theguy nods. “Thank you,” he says, sniffing. He looks up at her with brown,sorrowful eyes. Something in Rose’schest twists a little at how sincerely upset he is over losing his friend’sfish. “And now… well. I, uh… I think I needyour help. That is, if you’re not too cross with me for wrecking yourstore.”
“Myhelp?” she asks in surprise. “I mean… yeah. Of course,” she says. “I work here, so… of course…” she says again.
“Ah,thank you – err, Rose Tyler,” John says,reading her name tag.
“That’s me,” she confirms.
“Brilliant. Oh, I’mJohn,” he says, sticking out his hand. He smiles broadly at her,showing off his straight, very white teeth. “John Smith. It’s a pleasureto meet you, Rose.”
—–
3:05 pm
“No,”John says emphatically, for the tenth time in as many minutes, as Rose holds upyet another tiny goldfish in a net for his inspection.
“Areyou sure?” Rose asks, frustration mounting. “They all look the same,yeah? More or less?”
Johnshakes his head. “Unfortunately, no. They don’t.” He standsup straight, sniffing. “Nemo had a very distinctive black stripe on hisbelly. None of the fish you’ve shown me so far has got that stripe.”
Rosesighs and dumps the fish back into its tank.
“Wedon’t have any goldfish with black stripes, John,” she tells him. “We didlast week, but we sold out of them.”
Johncloses his eyes and sighs. He rubs at the back of his neck distractedly.
“Ifthis friend is so important to you, you really should come clean,” Rose tellshim. “Tell her the truth. It’s notright, you know – passing off some other goldfish as the one she left youwith.”
Johnnods glumly. He looks down at his shoes.
“Sheshould never have left him with me,” he mumbles, so quietly Rose almost can’tmake out the words. “I’m rubbish at this sort of thing.”
Roseswats him reproachfully on the arm. He looks up at her, eyes wide withsurprise.
“You’re not rubbish. It’s the fish that are rubbish. Or their lifespans are, anyway. They normally live about a week.” She shakes her head. “The really luckyones maybe last a month. Occasionallytwo, but that’s about it.”
Johnblinks at her, stunned. “Really?”
“Really,”she confirms. “When’d your girlfriendget Nemo, anyway?”
Johnholds up his hands defensively. “Oh,no. No, no. Donna’s definitely not my girlfriend.” He shakes his head vigorously, his lips pressed tightly together in a thin line.
Rosesmiles in spite of herself. Is heblushing? “Fair enough, then. When did your friend get Nemo?”
Johntugs a little on his ear, thinking. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe lastmonth?”
Rose nods. “There you are, then. Nemo’snumber was up. Had nothin’ to do withyou.”
For the first time since walking into the store Johnlooks hopeful. “Really? I mean… are you certain about that?”
She smiles at him. “Yes.”
“Okay, then,” John says. “Unfortunately, though, I still have a bit of a problem on my hands. Even assuming his death wasn’t my fault, Nemois still dead. Your store apparently has no lookalikes, and Donna’s my best mate. What do I do?”
Rose smiles at him. She takes his arm. “Come with me.”
——
3:45
John holds up his new plastic container to eye leveland looks at the little clown fish swimming around inside it.
“You think she’ll like him?” John asks.
Rose shrugs. “Imean, it’s not a pet you can cuddle or play with,” she says. “All he’s really ever gonna do is swim about in his little tank, you know? But if she liked Nemo as a pet she’llprobably like this new one well enough.”
He looks up at her, smiling a little.
“Thank you so much for your help today, Rose.” He looks down at the ground and toes at thefloor with his trainers. “Howcan I… um… how can I thank you? For, youknow… talking me down earlier, and for all your help?”
He’s blushing again. Before she can stop herself from doing it Rose dips her fingertips into a nearby tank. She flicks a few droplets of water in his direction. Sheknow she shouldn’t do something like that to a customer – but he just looks socute, and daft, and ridiculous right now, blushing in the middle of the fishsection he spent most of the day destroying, holding up his silly little Tupperwarefull of fish and water in his fancy suit and trainers.
“Hey!” he says, sounding affronted as the drops land on his tie. But he’s grinning at her now, showing off adelicious little dimple in his cheek Rose hadn’t noticed earlier. He rubs theatrically at his necktie, pretendingto dry it off.
“I have an idea for how you can thank me,” Rose says,smiling back at him. She touches the tipof her tongue to the corner of her mouth. His eyes track its movement, making Rose’s stomach do a funny littleflip.
“Yeah?”
She nods. “Yeah. You can help me clean up the mess you’ve made today,”she says.
He nods, still smiling. “It would be my pleasure, Rose Tyler. And I suppose it’s only fair.”
—-
8:26pm
When Rose gets back to her car at the end of thelongest day at PetFriends she can remember, she sees a piece of lined notebook paper foldedneatly in half and tucked underneath one of the wipers.
Huh.
Confused but hopeful, and with her heart in her throat, Rose reaches out and grabs thenote with shaking fingers.
As soon as she begins to read it her suspicions are confirmed. And she breaks into a broad smile.
—
HiRose,
(Orat least, I hope this is Rose. While wewere tidying up the pet store a very pretty girl named Rose told me she attended Crimmons University for a few semesters. And this car has a Crimmons University sticker on its boot. So I did some deducting, etc.)
Anyway. Rose: if this is indeed your car, and you arethe one reading this note, I wanted to thank you, again, so much, for yourpatience today. You really helped me. God knows after the way I behaved I certainlydidn’t deserve your kindness.
Also. I was too nervous to ask you this inperson while we were tidying up… but I was wondering whether, as an additional way to make up for my beinga total prat today, you might be interested in having a drink with me sometime. Or chips. Or whether you’d like to do anything at all with me sometime, honestly. I’ve never left a note like this on a girl’scar before but in my defense you are kind, and caring, and giving in a way Idon’t think I’ve ever quite experienced before, either. Not to mention gorgeous, and smart, andfunny. I wish I knew more aboutyou. I’d love to get the chance tolearn.
Feelfree to toss this note in the rubbish bin if you think this is creepy. But I’d love to hear from you. If, you know. If you want.
Yours,
John
Ps: Here’s my number: 555-555-1010
Pps: In case I didn’t mention it earlier, I thinkyou’re ~quite the catch.~
——
Rose bursts out laughing at this ridiculous man and his ridiculous pun.
Grinning from ear to ear, she tucks John’s little noteinto her purse. She’s starving, and right now she needs food and a long sleep more than anythingelse. But anyone who’s willing to go tosuch mad extremes over a bloody goldfish…
Well. Shesupposes there have been worse things to come out of a long day at work than this.
