Howard drummed his fingers on the desk behind the till.

As normal, Vince was late. No doubt, he would have a wonderful story to explain this. Despite the fact they lived together upstairs, and Howard knew, he was asleep up there when he woke up that morning.

The door opened.

"Morninnnnnnn Howard! 'ey, you'll never guess what right..."

"Vince. You are late." Howard's voice sounded firm, for a moment he was smug. It wasn't often he was able to stand up to Vince. He had, a charming nature, a childlike view of his surroundings, an artistic display of the true fun in the world. Every time, it would be this nature that convinced Howard not to be angry with Vince.

At that moment, the door clicked again. Howard stared at the girl, she was beautiful. Not normally his type, with wild rainbow hair, bright jeans and a dark top, yet she was so beautiful.

She smiled, as did he. Howard gestured to Vince that he had dibs on this girl.

"Vincey baby! How are you?" The girl spoke. Howard's smile fell.

"Eh... Excuse us for a second please. Shop business and all that," Howard said, politely though his anger.

Vince was smiling and making eyes at the girl. Howard dragged him into the back of the shop.

"How the hell did you do that?" Howard whisper-yelled.

"Do what?"

"Get with that girl! I had dibs and everything!"

"Uhm... guys, the doors still open. I can hear everything!" The girl yelled. Awkwardly, Vince pulled the door shut, smiling as he did so.

"This is what I wanted to tell you man! Laurie's my girlfriend. We're together now. Like, for good. I mean, I know I'm a player, but there's no-one like her Howard"

Howard sighed. Again, he had lost to the charm that was Vince Noire.

The Nabootique was quite empty that afternoon. It was a Sunday, so the fact surprised no-one. Naboo was out of town, along with Bollo. This un-nerved Howard greatly. It was usually these times that something would happen, caused by Vince, and typically, he would have to save the day and become a hero.