In one universe, Jade Bennett is the companion (and later wife) of the Doctor; in another, she's engaged to a divorced father of three, Doug McCleod; in another, she's the girlfriend of DI Alec Hardy; and last, but certainly not least, in another, s...
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Jade groaned as she walked down the steps. "Marina, how many times did I tell Emmy no more blind dates?" Jade asked as Marina helped Aria get ready for her dance class. "Sis, relax. Oh, and if he mentions his kids, be enthusiastic, but not too enthusiastic. If you're too enthusiastic, he'll think you want to have one with him too soon, but if you're not enthusiastic enough, he'll think you're bummed that he has kids. And laugh at all his jokes," Marina directed. "What if they're not funny?" Jade asked. "They won't be. But laugh anyway," Marina said. "And, halfway through the date, I will give you a phone call and give you a fake excuse to leave. If the date's going well, just hang up. It's foolproof."
"I'm not doing that. That sounds rude," Jade said just as Rodney, Marina's husband, entered. "But it does work," he argued. "One time, I had my mate Kaden call and say my dog ate a spark plug."
Marina just glared at him. "Rodney, you were with me when that happened," she recalled. Rodney stammered. "No... you... you must be... thinking about... come on, let's get to the dance studio."
***
Jade looked around the restaurant noticed a man in a grey blazer and white dress shirt with messy brown hair and brown eyes. She walked over. "Excuse me sir, are you Dave Tiler?" she asked. Dave looked up. "Yes, I am," he replied. "I'm Jade Bennett. My younger sister, Emmy, set us up," Jade said. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Jade," Dave said. "Nice to meet you too, Dave," Jade said, shaking his hand.
"Shall we get a table?" he asked. "We shall," Jade replied, smiling as she took his hand.
***
Jade took her seat at the table Dave had secured for them and they placed their orders with the waitress. "Emmy also mentioned that you have kids," Jade blurted out. "Yes. Five, actually," Dave answered. Five kids?! Jade thought. "Could you tell me about them?" Jade asked.
"Well, there's my oldest. Tanya, she's about eighteen," Dave began. "Then, there's Lucy, she's about fifteen. Then Paul, he's eleven; Ewan, he's nine. And then Evie, she's six years old."
Though Jade was a little nervous, she was able to relax as he continued talking about his kids. She even asked him if he could show her a few pictures.
While they were talking, they were startled by a fire alarm. "Everyone evacuate the building. This is not a drill," a female voice said over the intercom. Jade grabbed her purse and, without thought, Dave's hand and they exited the building as quickly as they could.
***
Rain had started to come down hard, so Dave and Jade had to stand under the awning of another building across the street. One of the waitresses came out of the restaurant and explained that there was a small electrical fire in the kitchen, but they had to close early for precautions.
Jade shivered after feeling a bit of rain drop onto her exposed shoulder. She felt something warm wrap around her body and turned around to see Dave giving her his jacket. "Thank you," she said. "You're welcome," he said.
Jade smiled. She had to admit, despite the fire at the restaurant and the long wait for food, this had gone better than any of the blind dates Emmy had set her up on. Dave seemed like a sweet guy and genuinely cared about his children.
"How about we get some takeaway food?" Dave suggested. "Sounds good," Jade replied with a shy smile.
***
Jade had taken a cab to the restaurant, so she went with Dave in his car. They got chips from a shop that was about thirty minutes away from the restaurant.
"So, Emmy told me that you're an actress," Dave said. "Yeah. I mainly work in musical theater. Mostly amateur productions and workshops," Jade answered. "What shows have you been in?" Dave asked. "I've played Veronica Sawyer in Heathers, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Beth in Merrily We Roll Along, Cinderella in Into the Woods, Millie in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and I played Thumbelina in a workshop production of the Don Bluth film."
"Evie loves that movie," Dave mused. "I love it, too. Jodi Benson was amazing in it," Jade said. "Who's Jodi Benson?" he asked. "She voiced Thumbelina, but most people know her as the voice of Ariel in Little Mermaid, which is my favorite Disney movie," Jade answered. "I love watching the behind the scenes stuff as much as the movies. Did you know that they were going to cut 'Part of Your World' from the movie after one test screening?"
"Really?" Dave asked. "Yes," Jade said before she dove into the whole story.
***
Dave pulled up in front of Jade's family's house. "Yeah, this is my place," Jade let him know. "Jade, I had a wonderful time tonight," Dave said. "So did I," Jade said, her pale cheeks now flushing with red. "Maybe we can go out again sometime?" Dave suggested, his voice full of hope. "I'd love to," Jade said. "How about next week?" Dave asked. "Sounds good," Jade agreed. "Good night, Dave."
