Without you here [Attn: Lynne]

After his date with Lynne, Owen went back to work in the autopsy bay. It was a slow day, so he spent most of it looking over the same files and rearranging the same tools. Despite this, Jack showed no sign of letting him go home at a decent hour. Owen supposed he had it coming, but it still bothered him. He wanted to see Lynne again, or at least talk to her. He looked up into the main part of the hub, but couldn't see anyone. It was a bit quiet, too. He sighed heavily to himself.

Owen spotted his mobile on the tray across from him. He looked around again and picked it up. He found Lynne's name on his contact list and hit send, waiting impatiently as the phone rang.

Lynne had no sooner walked back into the apartment and into her bedroom and decided it was off with the coffee-covered shirt. Halfway through struggling to get the wet material over her head, her mobile started to ring. She tossed the wet shirt into her dirty clothes hamper and snatched up her phone, not bothering to look at the caller ID as she picked it up.

"Hello?" she answered, pulling open a dresser drawer and rifling through the clothes there until she found the shirt she was looking for. She held the phone between her jaw and shoulder, pulling the shirt on awkwardly and then dropping down onto her bed.

"Hello?"

Owen smiled slightly upon hearing Lynne's voice.

"Hey, Lynne, it's, uh.. It's me, Owen."

"Hey, Lynne, it's, uh.. It's me, Owen."

Lynne smiled. "Hey..." she replied, rolling over onto her stomach. "Still at work?" she asked, a bit of a pout in her voice.

"Still at work?"

"Yeah..." he said, his smile fading. "Not sure when I'm going to get out, my boss doesn't want to let me off that easily," he gave a small laugh. "I guess I just called to say 'hey'. That's a... That's a bit lame, isn't it?"

Lynne laughed a little at the latter part of his statement. "I'm glad you did. Is it pathetic that I miss you already? Clingy, probably; sorry. But, I'm glad to hear your voice, anyway..." she replied softly, switching the phone to her other ear. "I ran into your friend on my way to the bank today...like, literally ran into her..."

"I'm glad you did. Is it pathetic that I miss you already? Clingy, probably; sorry. But, I'm glad to hear your voice, anyway..."

He smiled. It was a little pathetic, but he didn't mind. He wanted to see her again, talk to her. An hour at a time wasn't enough

"I ran into your friend on my way to the bank today...like, literally ran into her..."

"Who-- Tosh? I hope everything was okay, I haven't seen her since I got back," he joked.

"Who-- Tosh? I hope everything was okay, I haven't seen her since I got back," he joked.

"Oh, yeah...well, she spilled coffee down the front of us both, but...yeah it's okay. She didn't remember me, but she apologized, anyway...she seems okay..." Lynne replied casually.

"Oh, yeah...well, she spilled coffee down the front of us both, but...yeah it's okay. She didn't remember me, but she apologized, anyway...she seems okay..."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Are you okay?"

Lynne bit her bottom lip. His concern made her smile. "I'm fine. Cold...but fine. It was iced coffee," she replied. "Other than my bruised ego from having to walk back home with my shirt wet, stained, and sticking to me...I'll live," she said lightly.

He smiled. "Good. I mean.. Not good that you were cold and wet, but good that.. um... you weren't hurt, I guess...'

Lynne rolled onto her back again. "Do you want to stay the night with me tonight?" she blurted out, taking herself a little by surprise. Her cheeks went red and felt hot as she closed her eyes and put her hand over her eyes, wrinkling her nose and furrowing her brow. Smooth, Lynne. No, really... she thought miserably.

"Do you want to stay the night with me tonight?"

Owen's eyes went wide. She was blunt, wasn't she. After taking a moment to recover from the shock, he answered her. "Uh. Yeah, actually. I, uh... I'd like that..." He smiled slightly. He didn't care if she meant for a shag or not, he wanted to see her, to be with her.

There was a long pause and Lynne felt her stomach twist uncomfortably. Yeah, that did it. That scared him off. Nice going...

But then he finally spoke and Lynne let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Uh. Yeah, actually. I, uh... I'd like that..."

She smiled sheepishly, blushing even though he couldn't see her. "I mean, since my roommate is out of town...left for a business trip this morning. It's not anywhere near as nice as your flat, but...I kind of get the feeling it's going to be difficult to find time when we're both free, otherwise." She said it in a relaxed voice and carefully made sure that she didn't sound disappointed. Owen was probably a very busy man, being a doctor, but Lynne, too, had a lot on her plate and very little time to spare, so she didn't want him to think that she felt it was his fault.

"I mean, since my roommate is out of town...left for a business trip this morning. It's not anywhere near as nice as your flat, but...I kind of get the feeling it's going to be difficult to find time when we're both free, otherwise."

"Yeah," Owen said, a bit nervous. "Wa... Was that your roommate, in front of the bank this morning?" He tried very hard to sound more interested than jealous, but suspected he failed.

Lynne giggled a little. "No, that was the guy from the coffee shop. The random guy who bought my coffee when I realized I had no money. I didn't think I'd get to see you again so soon, so I needed to go to the bank and take out cash for a cab; he seemed to know his way around your part of town so I asked him if he wouldn't mind showing me the way," Lynne explained. "His name's Dan. Nice guy...a little awkward and goofy, though..." she added offhandedly.

She paused. "No, my roommate's..." her voice trailed off and she smiled a little. "Are you jealous, Owen?" she asked, chewing her bottom lip. "Because you haven't any reason to be..."

"Are you jealous, Owen?" she asked, chewing her bottom lip. "Because you haven't any reason to be..."

"Well, I don't know," he said, running a hand through his hair, "you said you thought it was a one-night thing, so I did know if you-- I mean, I'm not saying you're-- I just... well, shit." He brought his hand up to his forehead and rubbed. "I don't know, I guess I was a bit... you know... jealous," he added quietly.

Lynne smiled a little as Owen seemed to stumble over his own words. She thought it was absolutely adorable. "Well," she said gently, "like I said...you've got no reason to be jealous. I'm not seeing anyone else...and I don't want to," she said, forcing herself to cut off the rest of her thought. She didn't want Owen thinking she was clingy already; it'd scare him off and she liked him far too much. Lynne hadn't actually felt the way around anyone she'd seen that she did around Owen; not since her ex, anyway.

"Well," she said gently, "like I said...you've got no reason to be jealous. I'm not seeing anyone else...and I don't want to."

He smiled. She was forward, and he liked that. "Good... good. I, uh... I can't wait to see you tonight." shit, that was lame. He thought about sneaking out of work while it was quiet, but hated the thought of Jack interrupting him while he was with Lynne. "It's uh," he tried to explain, "It's been a bit of a strange day at work. You know how it is."

"It's uh," he tried to explain, "It's been a bit of a strange day at work. You know how it is."

Lynne more than understood that sentiment. Spending an afternoon being patronized by rich elderly women and then spending the evening and night being hit on by skeezy men? Made for a strange day almost every day, simply by contrasting so heavily.

"Yeah, I really, really do," she laughed. "If it's really slow, I could come by and see you if you didn't think you'd get in trouble... Kind of like you did for me last night, without realizing it..." she offered almost hopefully. Waiting for him to get out of work for dinner or to stay the night was going to be torture.

Her roommate came to visit her all the time at work when it was slow; she was "just a phone call away" from walking over to break up the monotony in Lynne's day. Even though Owen was a doctor, Lynne didn't know of any hospitals near the Millenium Centre. Maybe it was just a private office, so she didn't think anything of asking. Seemed similar enough to her job in its own ways, anyhow.

"Yeah, I really, really do," she laughed. "If it's really slow, I could come by and see you if you didn't think you'd get in trouble... Kind of like you did for me last night, without realizing it..."

Shit.

"Uh... I don't think so... My boss doesn't... appreciate people... milling about, if you know what I mean. Thanks, anyway..." He didn't want to lie to her, but he couldn't tell her about Torchwood.

His reply seemed a little awkward and Lynne frowned slightly. Tosh had been quick to decline Lynne's offer to walk her back to work, as well, come to think of it. Reflexively, Lynne felt herself stacking more bricks onto the proverbial wall she hid her true self behind. If Owen didn't want her coming to see him, all he had to do was say so, after all...she didn't think - she hoped, anyway - that she'd given him the impression that she was too pushy.

"Just thought I'd offer," she replied, her voice carefully devoid of the disappointment she felt toward the rejection. "I don't want to get you in trouble, anyway...that'd be bad," she added a little more lightly.

Owen heard Jack moving in the background. "Listen, I gotta go. I'll see you later, though, alright?"

Lynne frowned slightly, but wasn't upset - he was at work, after all and if she'd called him while she was at work, she'd be out of a job, if she was caught. "Okay," she agreed easily. The last thing Lynne wanted was to get Owen into trouble with his boss; she'd already made him late. "Just call me when you're ready," she reminded him.

"Just call me when you're ready," she reminded him.

"Yeah," he smiled, "of course... 'Bye." He closed his mobile and clung to it for a moment before putting it back in his pocket ascending the stairs to the main room of the Hub.