Chapter Text
Andy Davidson stared at the clock intently, watching the second hand tick and waiting for his shift to end.
It had been a slow day so far. Desk duty had never been his favorite thing and he’d thought he’d left it behind him once he’d been promoted, but Angelica had called out sick today and Clara had brought up how skilled he’d been at manning the phones and how everyone had been immediately comfortable with talking to him when he’d been a PC and on desk duty and Andy had found himself flattered into subbing in for Angelica.
Finally, the second hand passed the 12 and he pressed the Make Busy button twice to log out of the phone and pushed his chair back from the desk.
“Got somewhere important to be, Andy?” Brad said with an amused smile on his face.
“I’ve uh gotta pick up my… uhm… Yvonne,” Andy said as he reached for his jacket and keys.
Brad laughed. “Your… uhm… Yvonne?” He teased. “You’ve been seeing each other for ages and you still can’t call her your girlfriend?”
Andy flushed as he shrugged on his jacket. “We haven’t really talked about it,” he muttered.
“So it’s complicated, is it?”
“Yeah…. I mean, no. I like her a lot and she likes me a lot and we get on well. We go out. That’s always fun. We stay in and that’s pretty fun, too. We’re a bit, I guess you could say “domestic” now. It’s all very- hang on a minute….” Andy glanced sharply over to Brad. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this! It’s none of your business!”
Brad just laughed in response. “Well, have a nice night with your… uhm… Yvonne. Go be “domestic” together and don’t have too much fun.”
“Ta,” Andy muttered as he opened the door. “Have a good night, Brad.”
He made his way to his car and began the drive to the hospital.
Yvonne had gotten off work early to go to a doctor’s appointment and he’d offered to pick her up afterward so they could go back to hers for the night. He’d packed his overnight bag in the morning, though he wasn’t sure he really needed it anymore. It seemed that every time he spent the night at hers, something of his stayed behind so he probably had enough clothes in Yvonne’s flat to last at least a month, but he didn’t want to draw her attention to that fact. Maybe she hadn’t noticed yet that he’d partially moved in and he didn’t want her to tell him that the number of his things at her flat was getting entirely ridiculous and that he should move some of it out. So he’d packed his overnight bag that morning with pajamas and a change of clothes as always.
The traffic was bad. It always was this time of day, but Andy could have sworn it had gotten exponentially worse these past few years. Cardiff was bustling. And he always thought it was nice to see signs of how the city had come alive, except when it wasn’t and he was constantly stuck sitting in traffic that hadn’t existed a few years ago.
He finally made it to the hospital and pulled up outside the front door. He was surprised to see that Yvonne wasn’t waiting for him, but he drove the car into the lot and parked.
He turned on the radio as he waited and gazed absentmindedly out the window as he tapped his fingers along to the beat of the music.
A few songs went by. He only recognized one of them, but he rather liked the second song and added it to his Spotify playlist before frowning when he noted the time on his phone. Yvonne was running later than he’d ever seen her be to anything.
Just as he was about to send her a text to ask where she was, he spotted her coming out of the hospital’s front doors.
He set his phone down, unlocked the doors, and watched her make her way across the parking lot.
“Sorry I’m late,” Yvonne said as she opened the passenger door and slipped into the passenger seat.
“Dim problem,” Andy replied.
She shut the door, placed her bag at her feet, and buckled her seatbelt before looking over to him. “You haven’t been waiting for too long, have you?”
Andy shook his head. “Just got here,” he lied.
She smiled as he started to pull out of the parking spot. “I’m glad.”
“Your appointment went on a bit long, didn’t it?” Andy asked casually.
“I already said I was sorry,” Yvonne said, a little peeved.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. Sorry.” Andy turned out of the parking lot and onto a main road. “I was just wondering if there was any particular reason or-”
Yvonne sighed. “If you must know, I was scheduling a follow-up appointment in a few weeks.”
“A follow-up appointment? What for?”
“To follow-up,” Yvonne said curtly.
“Yeah, I know, obviously. But what for?”
“To go over some test results,” Yvonne replied.
“Test results?”
“Oh, Andy. I’m… flattered that you’re worried about me, but, honestly, it’s fine. Routine. Nothing to worry about,” she said with a wave of her hand.
“Yeah?”
She could tell he wasn’t going to let this go. Damn him and his persistence.
“Yes,” she replied firmly. “I’m a woman. In my fifties. Menopause is-”
“Right, right, of course. Sorry. Wasn’t thinking. How was the rest of your day? Any new aliens moving into Cardiff that I should know about?”
Yvonne frowned at the abrupt change in subject. His blush was a little endearing, but also a little frustrating. Surely the fact that women went through menopause was not new to him. And, even though it was a lie, she felt a little offended at his embarrassment, but she let it go. He didn’t mean anything by it and she didn’t want him pushing any further into how her appointment had gone.
“It was fine. I’m happy to report that no new aliens have moved into Cardiff today,” she said. “That we know of, anyway. How was your day?”
“Boring, if I’m being honest,” Andy said. “Angelica called in sick and they asked me to fill in for her on desk duty.”
Yvonne shot him a sympathetic smile, knowing how much he hated desk duty despite how good he was at it. “I’m sure you loved that.”
“Hmmm…” Andy said absentmindedly. “Well, Angelica will owe me one. I’m thinking maybe we could take a weekend away? Whenever things are a little slow over at Torchwood….”
Yvonne smiled. “That would be lovely.”