Mae and The Doctor

1 - Mae Wenbridge

I'm Mae Wenbridge. I live in Fox Hood, a small town in Scotland. When I was younger, I wanted to be an astronomer - or at least married to one. The stars have always fascinated me. Right now, I'm an intern for a radio show. Not really sure how it's going to help me become an astronomer, but I like to be active and doing something.

"Mae, get me some coffee, will ya?" a groggy voice calls after me. I glance over towards it and see the radio host, James O'Neil. He's slumped in his chair.

"Sure thing," I call back to him, and I go to the break room.

When I get there, I spot an unfamiliar man. He stares at me. Deciding to ignore him, I go to make some coffee. It's going to take a while, so I sigh and lean against the counter. Just look anywhere but him. The walls: their pattern has always interested me, because it's just black and gray diamonds with a strip of white tiles about a foot from the ceiling going horizontally. Although the tables are also white, the chairs are an assortment of colors which look weird next to the boring blue of the vending ma-

"Your coffee's ready, I think," says a man's voice beside me. I look to the coffee pot; it is only halfway full. Knitting my brows together, I finally look to the man. His hair is dark brown and swept to one side; he has a long face and a peculiar jaw; he wears a tweed jacket, a bowtie, and suspenders. I notice he doesn't have a name tag.

"Do you work here?"

The man reaches into an inside pocket and thrusts out a card.

John Smith
Intern

He flips it toward himself to read and nods before putting it back into his pocket.

"I'm the new intern here," he says matter-of-factly. I eye him as he speaks, because 1, he isn't Scottish; 2, this town is small, so why is he so unfamiliar?; and 3, this show is local so I highly doubt he's heard of it.

"No you're not," I hesitate a bit, "I am."

Stepping closer to the man, I see nervous eyes. But they quickly turn to casual and curious as he reaches for my hair.

"Goodness, you've got some gorgeous hair," he smiles. My hair is curly and wild. I slowly push his hand down and take a quick look at his ring finger. He isn't married.

"I get that a lot," I tell him.

He smiles still, but his eyes look lost and nostalgic. Then he suddenly turns and points to the coffee pot behind me. "Coffee's ready!" John grabs himself a styrofoam cup and pours some in. When he takes a sip, he immediately spits it out.

"What on earth," he mutters and dumps the rest out into the sink. Meanwhile, I've poured a cup for James, and I screw a cap onto his travel mug. I glance up to see John's face still disgusted as he glances around the room.

"So, what do we interns do here?" He claps his hands together once. "I'm very keen on intern...ing." His eyes travel away from me as he seems to question the word "interning".

"Just... follow me. I'm sure someone could find something for you to do."

Then I glance over to the coffee all over a nearby table. "How about you start off by cleaning that up, yeah?" I nod towards the mess and walk off. Once I'm out, I hear an odd noise. It's like a buzzing, but also not; it's like a wuhwuhwuhwuh.

"John?" My head pokes back into the break room. He fumbles to return something to his pocket.

"Yes?" He leans against a table, trying to look casual.

"Did you hear that noise?" I glance towards the ceiling, and then a security camera.

"Uhh, nope, no sounds heard here," says John. Then he looks to the camera as well. His face looks nervous again, so I leave quickly. I drop off James's coffee with a smile and run off to the security room. The guard is watching a separate television when I walk in.

"Hey, you can't be-! Oh, Mae," the guard, Bill, relaxes back into his chairs and continues watching the TV.

"Bill, have you seen anything odd on the screens recently?" My eyes search for the breakroom and fall upon static.

Bill replies, "How recently, and what kind of odd?" He rolls his chair over to the desk and presses a button. I tap the screen that has static.

"What room is that?"

"The breakroom," he says, a hint of confusion in his voice. But then he shrugs and glances at me. "So, my shift ends the same time yours does. How about we go for some pizza?" This takes me away from my curiosity of John Smith.

"I'm, uh... I wouldn't mind," I say. Then I give him a smile, because I honestly can't help it. Bill suddenly looks relieved.

"Cool, so how about that place on Millers Street?" He's grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright, sounds good," I hear the buzzing noise again. "See you then," and I rush out the door. I spot the back of a tweed jacket disappear into the storage closet and close the door. Casually, I walk towards it and look around. Then, quickly, I reach for the doorknob and push. As I slip inside, I almost scream at what I see. Before I can, a large hand covers my mouth. There's a giant blue police box, in a little closet. I could've ran into it if I was moving quick enough.

"You need to leave," a voice whispers in my ear sternly, "Now." Is that John? I kick open the doors to the box, as they seemed to be ajar. My eyes widen.