Egypt, Dinner, and Al Calavicci

[alwaysbrilliant]

Who: Donna Noble and Albert Calavicci
Where: Egypt, outside the Cairo Opera House
When: Saturday, August 17th, 2007 at 7:33 PM

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[alavicci_cay]

A taxi at dinner time, even in a place like Cairo, was not an easy feat, but one managed to curb itself next to Donna. The back window came down and on the other side was a happy (if not a little too-appreciative) smile. "You wanna split--" Something must have occurred to the man because he turned toward the driver, waving a hand. "Hey, how d'ya say 'split a cab' in Arabic, pal?"

Al Calavicci didn't receive anything but a helpless shrug. He sighed, turning back to the window. Like Donna, he was dressed as if he was attending some sort of spectacular party, his tuxedo very precisely crisp and his bow-tie perfectly symmetrical.

Peering back out at the redhead, Al put on a charming smile and half-shrugged. "I don't s'pose you speak English, do ya, darlin'?" She certainly wasn't dark enough to be a native of Cairo, so he felt a little hopeful.

[alwaysbrilliant]

Donna heaved a sigh of relief; so far, in her limited travels, she hadn't proven herself much of an ambassador. Stumbling across another native English-speaker (an American, but who was she to whine?) was a piece of luck she hadn't seen coming.

"You got it, pal," she said, hauling the cab door open and sliding in beside the older man. "Where ya headed, then?" Before the man could answer, she looked up toward the cabbie, giving his reflection on the rear view a stern once over. "How much for a trip to Tahir Square? An' don't think about overcharging us up there just 'cause we're not from around here."

[alavicci_cay]

The cabby latched on to the first thing he understood and lit off out of waiting area in front of the opera house, jumping the curb and squealing the tires. Al had to look behind them just to make sure no one had fallen victim under the tires of the clunky yellow beast.

When he felt it safe to alleviate his grip on the upholstery, he looked at his watch and replied, "Yeah, sure, that sounds great. I've got some time to kill, anyway. We'll go there first."

He had the sneaking suspicion this woman was not in the best of moods, but just the movement of the cab seemed to lower her boiling point, so he offered his hand. "I'm Al Calavicci."

[alwaysbrilliant]

Donna took the man's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Donna Noble. You here on business, Al?" She quirked a skeptical eyebrow at him - tidy-looking older man, probably handsome in his day. Definitely not a local - he was tan, but only in that way the man who occasionally golf with her dad were.

She'd no sooner reached that conclusion when the cabbie screeched to a halt abruptly, throwing Donna forward. She saved herself from too much damage to her face by throwing her hand up, but somehow, she still managed to end up in a heap on the floor of the taxi. She yelped something awful when she heard a crunch beneath her, though there was no pain. She looked dazedly up at Al, and was about to speak when the cab took off again, causing her to be tossed forward once more.