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Vera's footsteps echoed off the passageway walls as she strode towards the platform to catch the underground back home. Had, as was normal for this time of day, the passageway been packed with London's ever moving population it would have parted, scared by the venom in her step and her slightly worrying chuntering.
Anyone brave enough to eavesdrop might have drawn several conclusions from her mutterings. For instance, she was not a natural morning person, but somehow had ended up with a job that started at 6:30 in the morning and courtesy of managers who kept changing their minds had to work for thirteen solid hours today changing her original ideas until they were exactly what she had come up with the previous day.
It would be easy, but wrong, to have concluded that she hated travel – after all she seemed very pleased not to be in Lisbon. However, that was largely since that was where the managers, and the rest of the office, had fled to, joining the seasonal diaspora of Londoners. As attractive as Lisbon was (she had never visited it), that was offset by the thought of dining with the managers. In fact, she loved the idea of travel, and was secretly planning for several years of globe trotting.
Arriving at the platform, Vera glanced up at the display which was happily saying the next train was due in 43 minutes, prompting a resigned "Oh Great!" from Vera. To pass the time, she reached inside her coat pocket and pulled out her liseuse and continued reading.
Some time later, she closed her liseuse, exclaiming, to the still empty platform. "Panama?! Why would any author choose Panama? Oh well; let hope that Red.." Vera frowed and looked down the underground tunnel, convinced she could hear running feet. Suddenly the display board changed to "next train approaching."
"Oh goo---" Vera stopped in disbelief as a tall, thin figure in a long flowing coat appeared out of the darkness running effortless down the tunnel. With the graceful bound of an acrobat, the figure leapt up onto the platform and was about to continue up the stairs, when a he must have caught sight of Vera. With a graceful spin, he turned almost full circle to face Vera and ran forwards.
In the few seconds till he reached her, Vera concluded several things. Firstly, no-one should be able to look that stylish and dapper having just run down an underground tunnel. Secondly, for no reason she could determine, this person was pure charisma at a level that was unnatural. Thirdly—
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Do you like running?" asked the Doctor, with a faint antipodean twang, as he took Vera's hand.
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