Charlotte Bolton wasn't supposed to disappear in the middle of the aisle. She was supposed to get married. Instead, she finds herself jumping around a fictional character's timeline and learning something new every day.
[#1 in #rosetyler on 1/31/202...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
OCTOBER, 1913 / PRE HUMAN NATURE
edited as of march 5th, 2021
Time is subjective. The happier you are, the shorter it seems; The sadder you are, the longer it will seem. But, how one spends that time is a part of the question. Sadness can turn into many things, depending on who you are, it can become anger, wrath, and it can tear you apart. For Charlotte, whenever she turned sad, months ago by now, she would crowd herself with work, making sure even the simplest things were done right.
However, now without a job, in not only a different universe but an English town in 1913, Charlotte went from store to shop to restaurants, trying to find any sort of work she can do on her vacation. She didn't know why no one would hire her... Was it her lack of connections? The stolen dress she wore?
Either way, after getting a tip from the manager of the bar, she arrived at the library owned by a newlywed couple, looking for someone to watch the library as they go on their honeymoon (their first choice bailed on them at the last second).
When Charlotte entered the empty, one-room library, she was met with an area that seemed more like a home than a library with a balcony leading up to a bookshelves-wall with an opened door in the middle, and, when craning her neck, could see a bedroom. Behind the counter, a blond man appeared from the back room (which looked to be a kitchen from her view). Once explaining her motives for working there, he immediately accepted her for the role.
"Wha- Really?" she responded, in shock.
"Of course, no one else has applied, and we're in a rush to get out!" his grin drops. "What was your name again?"
Charlotte, knowing too well the Doctor would be here, and severely needing a break, lying in order for neither Martha nor him to find her (she's assuming he'd know her from his dreams, like how he'll know Martha and Rose from them). So, in response to the library's owner, she shook his hand as she said, "Mary Thomas."
"Great to meet you, Mary, now let's talk about what your life would look like here..."
---
Mary Thomas ran the library for the next four days with smiles to the people coming in and writing down the due dates in a large binder. While her boss didn't give her the okay to do so, she still used the kitchen and slept in the bedroom.
It wasn't just Mary living in the home-converted-library, a couple of times every day, Aino would appear. However, unlike the other times, they seemed to find sanity in each other's presence with the notes they gave each other before switching control. While Charlotte found it repulsive having Aino around, she became accustomed, an unfortunate thing that was purely a survival instinct.
It was the fifth day working at the library when Charlotte heard of a new teacher at the local boys' school. Maybe just a week ago she would've run up there, demanding to meet him. Now, she only wanted to gather some of her things from the TARDIS to make her stay more comfortable. So, closing up the library during her lunch break, she hopped on her bike and hoped she could find the TARDIS. Just for her things, though.
