Clara woke up, her head throbbing with the pain of the worst hangover of her life. She opened her eyes for just a second and closed them again quickly, the light blinding painfully. She dragged the duvet over her head and just wanted to fall back asleep, but something didn't feel quite right. This wasn't her bedding. Hers was fluffy and warm and the one she was wrapped in felt smooth and slightly cooling. Despite the pain she threw away the duvet and opened her eyes. In panic she realized that she wasn't in her bedroom, she wasn't even in her own apartment. She stared around the scarcely furnished, completely unfamiliar room. There was the bed she was lying in, a small closet and a rug. Where was she? Clara frantically searched her brain for an answer, but the previous night was nothing but a huge, black hole. She had gone to her classes the day before, to the library and then to a pub, where she had met. . . oh God.
She must be in her professor's apartment, or rather loft, by the looks of it, with no recollection of how she had gotten here or what might have happened afterwards. She was afraid to check under the duvet, but she could feel the bedding on her skin and knew she was naked. Clara buried her head in her hands. What had she done?
She scanned the room for any piece of clothing and luckily found her knickers. She got out of bed and quickly put them on, but the rest of her clothes weren't here. All she could find was her professor's shirt from last night. With no other choice than to walk around naked, she slipped it on and carefully opened the sliding door to what seemed to be the living room.
Clara crossed it carefully, trying not to make any noise when she found herself in front of another sliding door. She didn't know what to do so she knocked.
The Doctor opened the door carefully and she considered herself lucky he was already dressed.
“Sorry, I didn't know if I should wake you or not. Hope you didn't miss any classes,” he said apologetically and gestured for her to come into the kitchen, “I made coffee, if you want some. Ham and eggs are almost done as well.”
Clara walked into the room and sank down on the nearest chair. “What time is it?”
“Almost 10,” he replied, busying himself with rearranging the plates.