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kitty_scribbleNot such a long wait to Chapter 3! And in even better news, I will be able to put Chapter 4 up before Christmas!
Title: What I did on my Suspension
Beta: The amazing, wonderful and fabulous![[info]](https://kitty-scribble.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=87.3)
jooles34
Characters: Ianto/OMC, mentions of Ianto/Lisa, Ianto/OFC and Janto
Words: 3106
Rating,Warnings: I'm bad with ratings, urm, possibly PG ish. One rude word. This is a flashback chapter tho :-)
Disclaimer:Whilst I do claim to own my ocs, I don't own the world or characters of Torchwood, but they all play so well together that it would be mean to split them up!
Summary: Ianto decides to use his suspension to reconnect with himself
Spoilers: None that I can think of. Unless you've never seen TW or Who.
Remember - your comments are like fabulous cyberhugs *grin*. Seriously, they keep me writing!
Lisa and Chloe were gossiping and giggling at the reception desk waiting for the rather delicious DHL delivery guy, when Yvonne Hartman swept by like a galleon in full sail.
“Hallett! With me” she stated imperiously, leaving Lisa to scamper after her.
Chloe mouthed “Good luck,” at her and gave a small wave. Lisa was directed into an empty office and Hartman spun on her heels to face her.
“I am expecting very important visitors in approximately 20 minutes, although they are likely to be late.” Hartman sniffed.
Her desire for punctuality was well known within One; she had once sacked a senior developer for being five minutes late to a meeting. Lisa wondered who would take such a cavalier attitude towards timekeeping where Hartman was concerned, and more interestingly, why Hartman would put up with it.
“They are to be shown into this office as soon as they arrive. Do not converse with them, do not tell them your name and for God’s sake, do not offer them your coffee. Any questions, no? Good. Go.”
Lisa shot out of the office and quickly walked back to the reception desk. The people who were coming had to be important; there was no other way Hartman would tolerate lateness, and the fact that she wanted to confine them to the ground floor meant that she viewed them as a potential threat. She was desperate to tell Chloe, but as she neared the desk, the DHL guy arrived and all thoughts of the mysterious visitors left her head.
Twenty minutes later Lisa and Chloe were sneakily reading Heat, making comments on Post-Its about the red carpet disasters and putting stars next to the items of clothing that they were planning to get in their lunch hour. One of the good things about working in London was you could at least get out and grab the latest thing. And you needed the latest thing if you were going to be noticed. Lisa might be a junior in HR currently, but she was determined to climb that corporate ladder. She had plans, and they did not include greeting people, filing and providing coffee.
The sound of the automatic doors opening caused them both to look up as a young man made his way into the foyer. He smiled, gave a slight nod in their direction and headed over to the white leather sofas and settled down into one. Lisa and Chloe looked at each other surprised; usually people presented themselves at the main desk and were then directed to wait, they didn’t usually walk in like they owned the place. Lisa opened the drawer with the two ‘for defence’ pistols in and slid one to Chloe. An unspoken ‘cover me’ passed between them and Lisa stood up, smoothed down her skirt and marched over to where the young man was sitting. She plastered her best ‘pleasant yet bland’ smile onto her face.
“Excuse me. Can I help you?” she asked.
The young man looked up and smiled slightly, Lisa was stunned by his eyes, glittering blue and full of amusement.
“I doubt it; I’m just waiting for my…urm, associates.” The smirk was audible. “It looks like they’re running late.”
His voice was low and musical and Lisa could have listened to it for hours. Up close, she could see that he was immaculately dressed; the suit was beautifully cut, the severe black pinstripe lifted by the stunning purple shirt and tie. A handkerchief of the same colour was tucked into his breast pocket and, now he had moved, Lisa could see that he was wearing cufflinks. She hadn’t seen someone this well-dressed since that joint conference with UNIT. She shook herself out of her reverie and realised that she had completely missed what he had said.
Blushing slightly, she said: “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I…urm, didn’t quite catch it, Mr urmm?”
The young man raised one eyebrow and repeated firmly “No, I’m fine. My associates,” another smirk, “should be along at some point.”
“Oh” Lisa noticed that he hadn’t given her his name, she tried again. “So Mr……?”
She looked enquiringly at him and he met her gaze coolly. He was still smirking and made no attempt to give her his name. Lisa took a deep breath and continued.
“Is there someone that you have an appointment with? Can I contact them and let them know that you are here?”
“It’s fine; my associates will be here soon and they have all the details.”
He was enjoying her discomfort far too much for Lisa’s liking. She had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing and what was going on and she hated it when people knew more than she did. Part of the perks of working in HR was the way you got all the business knowledge first. This young man with his stunning blue eyes, beautiful accent and exquisite suit was an enigma to her, and what was worse, he knew it and found it most amusing.
“Oh right, in that case, can I get you some coffee?”
The young man’s behaviour was making Lisa nervous and she had completely forgotten Hartman’s rules for guests, but anyway, this guy couldn’t possibly be here to see Hartman, he was far too young. She decided to bite the bullet as he was obviously ignoring her polite hints.
“Can I ask your name? It seems silly to keep calling you Mr Urm.”
“No, no coffee thank you,” said the man, huffing out a small chuckle.
Lisa waited for him to give her his name, and waited, and waited. The young man just looked at her, the same teasing smirk playing on his lips. She put her head on one side and raised her eyebrows. He mimicked her, but only raised one. Frustrated, she huffed, spun on her heel and started to storm back to the desk when a bark of laughter stopped her. She slowly rotated round to find the young man standing and offering her his hand.
“It’s Jones, Ianto Jones” he said, smiling genuinely at her.
She shook his hand, noting that it was warm and firm.
“Lisa Hallett, HR.”
At this, Ianto Jones started laughing. Lisa snatched her hand back.
“What? What’s so funny?” she demanded, feeling a little offended “Just because I’m down here does not mean that I am only a receptionist.” She missed the narrowed eyes and huff of indignation from Chloe, but Ianto didn’t. “I’m actually waiting for some very important people at the request of Yvonne Hartman,” she stated, smugly pulling herself up to her full height and adding an air of superiority.
At this Ianto, whose laughter had been tailing off, started up again uncontrollably, until he was slumped on the sofa, wiping his eyes.
“Oh that’s priceless!” he said once he’d recovered himself enough to speak. “Lisa Hallett, I believe I may be your one o’clock.”
This sent him off into fresh waves of giggles whilst Lisa just stood in front of him feeling like she was missing something vital. Chloe was trying very hard not to join him, his laughter was infectious. Lisa glanced her way and she had to duck behind the desk to avoid her look. Slowly he calmed down again, hiccupping slightly and trying not to snigger when he looked at her face.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. You’ve not been prepared for any of this, have you? You’d best get Hartman down here; my associates are due in about five minutes and she’ll really need to be here.”
“My one o’clock? I don’t have a one o’clock. I’m down here for the VIP visitors as per Ms Hartman’s instruction. Visitors who are currently running late. And I assure you that I have made more than adequate provision for them. Ms Hartman will be notified when they arrive and not before.”
This Ianto Jones’ attitude had really put her on the back foot and she responded by pulling rank. This young man was obviously nothing to do with Torchwood, despite the Welsh accent. Although he did fit the general lack of respect for the organisation and authority that seemed to emanate from Three. The suit was wrong for there though, much too formal. They were always casual in their dress and manner. The rumour was that the Top Brass at both One and UNIT barely tolerated Three; they tended to use it as a dumping ground for ‘problem cases’. She took a harder look at the young man who was now stretched on the sofa.
“Are you from Three?” she asked, trying and failing to keep the sneer out of her voice.
This lead to a fresh burst of giggling. “No, definitely not!” He looked up at her, caught the expression on her face and raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem with Three, Miss Hallett?” There was an edge of steel to the words and Lisa inwardly berated herself for letting her guard slip. He could be anyone, oh God, what if he was a journalist? Her career would never recover. She would be stuck in the admin side of the business, or demoted to receptionist. She cursed herself for being so stupid, and then had a brilliant idea. She could give him a drink and drop some of that forgetting stuff in it, turf him out and no one would be any the wiser. Problem was, they never kept that stuff on reception, she would have to take him further into the building in order to get some. And that really wasn’t option.
Lisa realised that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place; she also realised that Ianto Jones was still staring at her, waiting for an answer. This was the second time she’d drifted off in front of him and, by his expression; he was definitely less amused this time. Part of her was pleased to have rattled him, but a larger part of her was still panicking about what exactly he was.
“Umm.” She pulled her thoughts together and realised that there may be a very easy way out of this potential mess; she just had to downplay her earlier comment. “No, no problem at all.” she said brightly. “Coffee?”
“I don’t think so,” he said with a knowing grin. “I may have a problem with your sweeteners.”
Lisa blushed. Well that pretty much confirmed him as Torchwood.
“Go and get Hartman,” he said. “Your VIPs will be here shortly.”
Lisa took the dismissal for what it was and scurried back to the reception desk.
“Well that went well.” Chloe whispered to her.
Lisa looked up sharply at the sarcastic tone.
“Shut up,” she hissed and dialled Hartman’s personal number. “Hello, Ms Hartman, I have been informed that your VIP guests will be here shortly.”
The voice on the end of the line sighed heavily. “Are they here?”
“Not yet, but someone who says he is their associate arrived a short while ago and…”
“For God’s sake, girl, are they actually in the building?”
“No, but this gentleman…”
“I do not care about random gentlemen and what they may or may not know. Do I make myself clear?”
Lisa quailed at the icy tone pouring down the ear piece. At times like this, she was glad Hartman could never remember her name.
“Yes, Ms Hartman, I’m sorry for disturbing you”
“You should be. Ensure that the next time you choose to disturb me, it’s to tell me that my guests have arrived and are safely ensconced in meeting room one.”
“Yes, Ms Hartman; sorry, Ms Hartman.”
“Goodbye, Miss Hallett,” and the line went dead.
Lisa sighed, what a time to be remembered.
Suddenly the front doors hissed open and two people marched through them. Lisa and Chloe looked up as the figures strode up to the reception desk. The leading figure was a woman and she strode in like she owned the place; not even Hartman had that much presence. Her long leather coat flowed round her as she walked, the heels from her over-the-knee boots ringing off the marble flooring. Her hair was vibrant red and she seemed a force of nature as she made her way towards them. She was the same height as Lisa, but seemed tiny, possibly because her companion was huge. Tall, not overly broad, with olive skin and a shock of dark spiky hair. They both had green eyes, which were currently focussed on her.
They walked past the young man, who had stood to attention as soon as they entered, without looking his way. The woman clicked her fingers and he fell into step behind her and to the left of the giant. They reached the desk and gave mega-watt smiles to Lisa and Chloe. The woman banged her arm on the desk causing them both to jump.
“Hartman, now!”
Chloe recovered first “May I ask who is here for her?” She smiled pleasantly.
The grins facing her turned feral, but it was the red-headed woman who spoke.
“Lady Catrina D’Artu and Lucca, with Ianto Jones.”
Lisa quickly phoned up to Hartman’s office as the lift doors opened and Yvonne Hartman stepped out, followed by another man.
“Lady D’Artu! Lucca!” Hartman strode out of the lift, hand outstretched. “How kind of you to honour us with your presence.”
“Hartman,” Lady Catrina said, shaking the proffered hand firmly. “And this is?” she added, turning towards the slight figure.
“Mr Kearney, our head of HR. I believe that it is a HR matter that you wish to discuss so I thought it would be prudent to have him here.”
“Well, I’ve certainly not come on a social call. I have better things to do with my time than deal with petty bureaucracy, but needs must. Meeting room?”
“This way Lady D’Artu.” Lisa interjected.
Hartman shot Lisa a look of daggers and missed the eye roll that passed from Lady D’Artu to Lucca and Ianto. Hartman turned a bland face towards the three and gestured towards the office.
“One moment,” Lady D’Artu held up her hand. “Lucca sweetie, could you check it out for us? There’s a love.”
The large man clicked his heels together and gave a tight bow before moving through to the meeting room. Hartman shifted uneasily.
“Something wrong?” the smaller woman asked sweetly, innocence radiating from her face. “It’s just a precaution, you can’t be too careful nowadays.”
Hartman gave a sickly smile and Lisa became aware that Ianto was trying to catch her eye. She glanced over to him surreptitiously and he winked at her, apparently forgetting their earlier animosity. She smiled slightly and he winked again, this time the smile was more natural. Then he stuck his tongue out and she had to hide the giggle behind her hand.
Lady D’Artu’s voice suddenly cut across them.
“Jones, stop flirting with the receptionist and try to maintain some degree of professionalism, or I may have to Retcon you.” There was a very resigned air to the words
“Oh, they’ve already tried that,” Ianto said quietly.
“Really?” Lady D’Artu shot a hard look at Hartman.
“Lady D’Artu, I can assure you, I never authorised anything of the sort, or even intimated. And we don’t keep that substance down here.”
“It may have been my fault,” Lisa said quietly. “I wasn’t sure who Mr Jones was, so I offered him coffee, nothing more.”
Lady D’Artu fixed Lisa with a sharp look. “Hummm,” she said, pondering something. And then, “Well done, Jones, you played your part well.” Ianto gave a small bow and was treated to a grin from Lady D’Artu. “Show off” she added affectionately.
At this point, Lucca returned and whispered something to her. She nodded and then said, “Shall we? Jones, wait here. Try not to make these girls fall in love with you any more than they have already.”
With that she and Lucca swept into the meeting room, trailing Hartman and Kearney in their wake.
“Yes, Sir,” Ianto said to her back, leaning on the reception desk.
“Sir?” Lisa asked, once the meeting room door was closed.
Ianto shrugged. “It's what she prefers” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Now tell me, isn’t this the most exciting day you’ve had so far here?”
Lisa giggled in spite of herself. “What was all that about earlier?”
“If I’d told you then, it would have ruined the surprise and she would have killed me.”
The sound of the meeting room door opening stopped their conversation. Lisa noticed that Ianto straightened up immediately, clasping his hands loosely behind his back. Lady D’Artu swept out of the door and spun on her heel, her coat flowing from the motion.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
She shook Hartman’s hand and strode past the reception desk, closely followed by Lucca. As she passed the desk, she again clicked her fingers and Ianto fell into step behind them. The sound of her heels echoed around the reception area, almost drowning out the sound of her voice.
“What did I tell you about the receptionists Jones?”
“We were just chatting,” came the oh-so-innocent reply, as Ianto looked back at Lisa and winked conspiratorially. Lisa grinned and then sighed as she saw Lucca’s arm snake out, his fingers tangling briefly with Ianto’s. Damn, it was always the pretty ones.
Mr Kearney bustled past the desk, his hands full of paperwork.
“Ah Lisa, could you come and sort these out. They need processing as soon as possible.”
“Of course sir, I’ll get on it right away,” she said, taking the paperwork automatically.
“They’re pretty intense aren’t they?” Mr Kearney looked back towards the main door, as if expecting the strangers to storm back through.
“Yes, very,” Lisa gave a half laugh. “Forgive me, sir, but who were they?”
“Them? Oh, that was Torchwood Four.” And with that, Mr Kearney disappeared into the lift.
Lisa and Chloe exchanged shocked looks and their heads both jerked up when the automatic doors opened again. Ianto Jones jogged in and placed three small black squares of plastic on the desk.
“Lucca thought you might want your bugs back.” He turned to go. “Oh, and, be seeing you, Lisa Hallett, HR.” He gave a dazzling grin and jogged back through the doors.
Lisa stood with her mouth open for a few seconds before looking down at the papers in her hand. “Inter-office Transfer Form: - Jones I, Researcher” stared back at her. Lisa looked back up at the door and gave a small smile. Oh yeah, things were going to get very interesting!
Title: What I did on my Suspension
Beta: The amazing, wonderful and fabulous
jooles34Characters: Ianto/OMC, mentions of Ianto/Lisa, Ianto/OFC and Janto
Words: 3106
Rating,Warnings: I'm bad with ratings, urm, possibly PG ish. One rude word. This is a flashback chapter tho :-)
Disclaimer:Whilst I do claim to own my ocs, I don't own the world or characters of Torchwood, but they all play so well together that it would be mean to split them up!
Summary: Ianto decides to use his suspension to reconnect with himself
Spoilers: None that I can think of. Unless you've never seen TW or Who.
Remember - your comments are like fabulous cyberhugs *grin*. Seriously, they keep me writing!
Lisa and Chloe were gossiping and giggling at the reception desk waiting for the rather delicious DHL delivery guy, when Yvonne Hartman swept by like a galleon in full sail.
“Hallett! With me” she stated imperiously, leaving Lisa to scamper after her.
Chloe mouthed “Good luck,” at her and gave a small wave. Lisa was directed into an empty office and Hartman spun on her heels to face her.
“I am expecting very important visitors in approximately 20 minutes, although they are likely to be late.” Hartman sniffed.
Her desire for punctuality was well known within One; she had once sacked a senior developer for being five minutes late to a meeting. Lisa wondered who would take such a cavalier attitude towards timekeeping where Hartman was concerned, and more interestingly, why Hartman would put up with it.
“They are to be shown into this office as soon as they arrive. Do not converse with them, do not tell them your name and for God’s sake, do not offer them your coffee. Any questions, no? Good. Go.”
Lisa shot out of the office and quickly walked back to the reception desk. The people who were coming had to be important; there was no other way Hartman would tolerate lateness, and the fact that she wanted to confine them to the ground floor meant that she viewed them as a potential threat. She was desperate to tell Chloe, but as she neared the desk, the DHL guy arrived and all thoughts of the mysterious visitors left her head.
Twenty minutes later Lisa and Chloe were sneakily reading Heat, making comments on Post-Its about the red carpet disasters and putting stars next to the items of clothing that they were planning to get in their lunch hour. One of the good things about working in London was you could at least get out and grab the latest thing. And you needed the latest thing if you were going to be noticed. Lisa might be a junior in HR currently, but she was determined to climb that corporate ladder. She had plans, and they did not include greeting people, filing and providing coffee.
The sound of the automatic doors opening caused them both to look up as a young man made his way into the foyer. He smiled, gave a slight nod in their direction and headed over to the white leather sofas and settled down into one. Lisa and Chloe looked at each other surprised; usually people presented themselves at the main desk and were then directed to wait, they didn’t usually walk in like they owned the place. Lisa opened the drawer with the two ‘for defence’ pistols in and slid one to Chloe. An unspoken ‘cover me’ passed between them and Lisa stood up, smoothed down her skirt and marched over to where the young man was sitting. She plastered her best ‘pleasant yet bland’ smile onto her face.
“Excuse me. Can I help you?” she asked.
The young man looked up and smiled slightly, Lisa was stunned by his eyes, glittering blue and full of amusement.
“I doubt it; I’m just waiting for my…urm, associates.” The smirk was audible. “It looks like they’re running late.”
His voice was low and musical and Lisa could have listened to it for hours. Up close, she could see that he was immaculately dressed; the suit was beautifully cut, the severe black pinstripe lifted by the stunning purple shirt and tie. A handkerchief of the same colour was tucked into his breast pocket and, now he had moved, Lisa could see that he was wearing cufflinks. She hadn’t seen someone this well-dressed since that joint conference with UNIT. She shook herself out of her reverie and realised that she had completely missed what he had said.
Blushing slightly, she said: “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? I…urm, didn’t quite catch it, Mr urmm?”
The young man raised one eyebrow and repeated firmly “No, I’m fine. My associates,” another smirk, “should be along at some point.”
“Oh” Lisa noticed that he hadn’t given her his name, she tried again. “So Mr……?”
She looked enquiringly at him and he met her gaze coolly. He was still smirking and made no attempt to give her his name. Lisa took a deep breath and continued.
“Is there someone that you have an appointment with? Can I contact them and let them know that you are here?”
“It’s fine; my associates will be here soon and they have all the details.”
He was enjoying her discomfort far too much for Lisa’s liking. She had a feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing and what was going on and she hated it when people knew more than she did. Part of the perks of working in HR was the way you got all the business knowledge first. This young man with his stunning blue eyes, beautiful accent and exquisite suit was an enigma to her, and what was worse, he knew it and found it most amusing.
“Oh right, in that case, can I get you some coffee?”
The young man’s behaviour was making Lisa nervous and she had completely forgotten Hartman’s rules for guests, but anyway, this guy couldn’t possibly be here to see Hartman, he was far too young. She decided to bite the bullet as he was obviously ignoring her polite hints.
“Can I ask your name? It seems silly to keep calling you Mr Urm.”
“No, no coffee thank you,” said the man, huffing out a small chuckle.
Lisa waited for him to give her his name, and waited, and waited. The young man just looked at her, the same teasing smirk playing on his lips. She put her head on one side and raised her eyebrows. He mimicked her, but only raised one. Frustrated, she huffed, spun on her heel and started to storm back to the desk when a bark of laughter stopped her. She slowly rotated round to find the young man standing and offering her his hand.
“It’s Jones, Ianto Jones” he said, smiling genuinely at her.
She shook his hand, noting that it was warm and firm.
“Lisa Hallett, HR.”
At this, Ianto Jones started laughing. Lisa snatched her hand back.
“What? What’s so funny?” she demanded, feeling a little offended “Just because I’m down here does not mean that I am only a receptionist.” She missed the narrowed eyes and huff of indignation from Chloe, but Ianto didn’t. “I’m actually waiting for some very important people at the request of Yvonne Hartman,” she stated, smugly pulling herself up to her full height and adding an air of superiority.
At this Ianto, whose laughter had been tailing off, started up again uncontrollably, until he was slumped on the sofa, wiping his eyes.
“Oh that’s priceless!” he said once he’d recovered himself enough to speak. “Lisa Hallett, I believe I may be your one o’clock.”
This sent him off into fresh waves of giggles whilst Lisa just stood in front of him feeling like she was missing something vital. Chloe was trying very hard not to join him, his laughter was infectious. Lisa glanced her way and she had to duck behind the desk to avoid her look. Slowly he calmed down again, hiccupping slightly and trying not to snigger when he looked at her face.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. You’ve not been prepared for any of this, have you? You’d best get Hartman down here; my associates are due in about five minutes and she’ll really need to be here.”
“My one o’clock? I don’t have a one o’clock. I’m down here for the VIP visitors as per Ms Hartman’s instruction. Visitors who are currently running late. And I assure you that I have made more than adequate provision for them. Ms Hartman will be notified when they arrive and not before.”
This Ianto Jones’ attitude had really put her on the back foot and she responded by pulling rank. This young man was obviously nothing to do with Torchwood, despite the Welsh accent. Although he did fit the general lack of respect for the organisation and authority that seemed to emanate from Three. The suit was wrong for there though, much too formal. They were always casual in their dress and manner. The rumour was that the Top Brass at both One and UNIT barely tolerated Three; they tended to use it as a dumping ground for ‘problem cases’. She took a harder look at the young man who was now stretched on the sofa.
“Are you from Three?” she asked, trying and failing to keep the sneer out of her voice.
This lead to a fresh burst of giggling. “No, definitely not!” He looked up at her, caught the expression on her face and raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem with Three, Miss Hallett?” There was an edge of steel to the words and Lisa inwardly berated herself for letting her guard slip. He could be anyone, oh God, what if he was a journalist? Her career would never recover. She would be stuck in the admin side of the business, or demoted to receptionist. She cursed herself for being so stupid, and then had a brilliant idea. She could give him a drink and drop some of that forgetting stuff in it, turf him out and no one would be any the wiser. Problem was, they never kept that stuff on reception, she would have to take him further into the building in order to get some. And that really wasn’t option.
Lisa realised that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place; she also realised that Ianto Jones was still staring at her, waiting for an answer. This was the second time she’d drifted off in front of him and, by his expression; he was definitely less amused this time. Part of her was pleased to have rattled him, but a larger part of her was still panicking about what exactly he was.
“Umm.” She pulled her thoughts together and realised that there may be a very easy way out of this potential mess; she just had to downplay her earlier comment. “No, no problem at all.” she said brightly. “Coffee?”
“I don’t think so,” he said with a knowing grin. “I may have a problem with your sweeteners.”
Lisa blushed. Well that pretty much confirmed him as Torchwood.
“Go and get Hartman,” he said. “Your VIPs will be here shortly.”
Lisa took the dismissal for what it was and scurried back to the reception desk.
“Well that went well.” Chloe whispered to her.
Lisa looked up sharply at the sarcastic tone.
“Shut up,” she hissed and dialled Hartman’s personal number. “Hello, Ms Hartman, I have been informed that your VIP guests will be here shortly.”
The voice on the end of the line sighed heavily. “Are they here?”
“Not yet, but someone who says he is their associate arrived a short while ago and…”
“For God’s sake, girl, are they actually in the building?”
“No, but this gentleman…”
“I do not care about random gentlemen and what they may or may not know. Do I make myself clear?”
Lisa quailed at the icy tone pouring down the ear piece. At times like this, she was glad Hartman could never remember her name.
“Yes, Ms Hartman, I’m sorry for disturbing you”
“You should be. Ensure that the next time you choose to disturb me, it’s to tell me that my guests have arrived and are safely ensconced in meeting room one.”
“Yes, Ms Hartman; sorry, Ms Hartman.”
“Goodbye, Miss Hallett,” and the line went dead.
Lisa sighed, what a time to be remembered.
Suddenly the front doors hissed open and two people marched through them. Lisa and Chloe looked up as the figures strode up to the reception desk. The leading figure was a woman and she strode in like she owned the place; not even Hartman had that much presence. Her long leather coat flowed round her as she walked, the heels from her over-the-knee boots ringing off the marble flooring. Her hair was vibrant red and she seemed a force of nature as she made her way towards them. She was the same height as Lisa, but seemed tiny, possibly because her companion was huge. Tall, not overly broad, with olive skin and a shock of dark spiky hair. They both had green eyes, which were currently focussed on her.
They walked past the young man, who had stood to attention as soon as they entered, without looking his way. The woman clicked her fingers and he fell into step behind her and to the left of the giant. They reached the desk and gave mega-watt smiles to Lisa and Chloe. The woman banged her arm on the desk causing them both to jump.
“Hartman, now!”
Chloe recovered first “May I ask who is here for her?” She smiled pleasantly.
The grins facing her turned feral, but it was the red-headed woman who spoke.
“Lady Catrina D’Artu and Lucca, with Ianto Jones.”
Lisa quickly phoned up to Hartman’s office as the lift doors opened and Yvonne Hartman stepped out, followed by another man.
“Lady D’Artu! Lucca!” Hartman strode out of the lift, hand outstretched. “How kind of you to honour us with your presence.”
“Hartman,” Lady Catrina said, shaking the proffered hand firmly. “And this is?” she added, turning towards the slight figure.
“Mr Kearney, our head of HR. I believe that it is a HR matter that you wish to discuss so I thought it would be prudent to have him here.”
“Well, I’ve certainly not come on a social call. I have better things to do with my time than deal with petty bureaucracy, but needs must. Meeting room?”
“This way Lady D’Artu.” Lisa interjected.
Hartman shot Lisa a look of daggers and missed the eye roll that passed from Lady D’Artu to Lucca and Ianto. Hartman turned a bland face towards the three and gestured towards the office.
“One moment,” Lady D’Artu held up her hand. “Lucca sweetie, could you check it out for us? There’s a love.”
The large man clicked his heels together and gave a tight bow before moving through to the meeting room. Hartman shifted uneasily.
“Something wrong?” the smaller woman asked sweetly, innocence radiating from her face. “It’s just a precaution, you can’t be too careful nowadays.”
Hartman gave a sickly smile and Lisa became aware that Ianto was trying to catch her eye. She glanced over to him surreptitiously and he winked at her, apparently forgetting their earlier animosity. She smiled slightly and he winked again, this time the smile was more natural. Then he stuck his tongue out and she had to hide the giggle behind her hand.
Lady D’Artu’s voice suddenly cut across them.
“Jones, stop flirting with the receptionist and try to maintain some degree of professionalism, or I may have to Retcon you.” There was a very resigned air to the words
“Oh, they’ve already tried that,” Ianto said quietly.
“Really?” Lady D’Artu shot a hard look at Hartman.
“Lady D’Artu, I can assure you, I never authorised anything of the sort, or even intimated. And we don’t keep that substance down here.”
“It may have been my fault,” Lisa said quietly. “I wasn’t sure who Mr Jones was, so I offered him coffee, nothing more.”
Lady D’Artu fixed Lisa with a sharp look. “Hummm,” she said, pondering something. And then, “Well done, Jones, you played your part well.” Ianto gave a small bow and was treated to a grin from Lady D’Artu. “Show off” she added affectionately.
At this point, Lucca returned and whispered something to her. She nodded and then said, “Shall we? Jones, wait here. Try not to make these girls fall in love with you any more than they have already.”
With that she and Lucca swept into the meeting room, trailing Hartman and Kearney in their wake.
“Yes, Sir,” Ianto said to her back, leaning on the reception desk.
“Sir?” Lisa asked, once the meeting room door was closed.
Ianto shrugged. “It's what she prefers” He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Now tell me, isn’t this the most exciting day you’ve had so far here?”
Lisa giggled in spite of herself. “What was all that about earlier?”
“If I’d told you then, it would have ruined the surprise and she would have killed me.”
The sound of the meeting room door opening stopped their conversation. Lisa noticed that Ianto straightened up immediately, clasping his hands loosely behind his back. Lady D’Artu swept out of the door and spun on her heel, her coat flowing from the motion.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
She shook Hartman’s hand and strode past the reception desk, closely followed by Lucca. As she passed the desk, she again clicked her fingers and Ianto fell into step behind them. The sound of her heels echoed around the reception area, almost drowning out the sound of her voice.
“What did I tell you about the receptionists Jones?”
“We were just chatting,” came the oh-so-innocent reply, as Ianto looked back at Lisa and winked conspiratorially. Lisa grinned and then sighed as she saw Lucca’s arm snake out, his fingers tangling briefly with Ianto’s. Damn, it was always the pretty ones.
Mr Kearney bustled past the desk, his hands full of paperwork.
“Ah Lisa, could you come and sort these out. They need processing as soon as possible.”
“Of course sir, I’ll get on it right away,” she said, taking the paperwork automatically.
“They’re pretty intense aren’t they?” Mr Kearney looked back towards the main door, as if expecting the strangers to storm back through.
“Yes, very,” Lisa gave a half laugh. “Forgive me, sir, but who were they?”
“Them? Oh, that was Torchwood Four.” And with that, Mr Kearney disappeared into the lift.
Lisa and Chloe exchanged shocked looks and their heads both jerked up when the automatic doors opened again. Ianto Jones jogged in and placed three small black squares of plastic on the desk.
“Lucca thought you might want your bugs back.” He turned to go. “Oh, and, be seeing you, Lisa Hallett, HR.” He gave a dazzling grin and jogged back through the doors.
Lisa stood with her mouth open for a few seconds before looking down at the papers in her hand. “Inter-office Transfer Form: - Jones I, Researcher” stared back at her. Lisa looked back up at the door and gave a small smile. Oh yeah, things were going to get very interesting!
