This is a sequel to "Apprentices", so if you read that Apprentices first, this will make more sense.
Note: I do NOT own Vince, Howard or Naboo but I DO own Sapphire and Peter. :)
"Look at this, Sapphire. It's a special edition Gary Numan album." Vince said, showing her a CD wrapped in plastic. "It's rumoured that he actually put this in its box and sold it on eBay."
"Are either of you gonna help me with this stock or are you just gonna look at that piece of musical stench?" Howard shouted up the stairs.
"IT'S NOT MUSICAL STENCH!" They shouted in unison.
Howard sighed. The pile of stock he was carrying teetered. An ornamental music box fell from the top and, unfortunately, it fell onto Vince's Mick Jagger shrine that he kept in the corner. A candle fell over and it all went up in flames. Panicking, Howard dropped the stock and looked around desperately for the fire extinguisher.
A smoke alarm beeped shrilly from downstairs.
"What's happening?!" Peter asked fearfully, coming out of his room.
"Howard's set fire to something." Sapphire replied, smelling smoke.
"Oh crap! My Jagger shrine's down there!!!" Vince shouted in terror.
"Not to mention your best friend." Peter added, but Vince ignored him. He rushed downstairs.
"VINCE!!!!!" Where's the fire extinguisher?" Howard yelled as Vince came downstairs.
"It caught fire last time I tried cooking. It was "Made In Britain"!" Vince replied.
Then he screamed so shrilly it covered up the sound of the smoke alarm. "My shrine!!!!"
The shrine had been reduced to ashes.
"I hate you Howard!!" Vince screamed, slamming the door behind him.
"Wait for me!" Sapphire cried, running after him.
Peter came downstairs with a bucket of water which he threw onto the fire. The flames hissed then died out.
"What are we going to do, Peter?" Howard asked, slumping to the floor. "Vince and Sapphire have gone, all our new stock burnt with that shrine and the shop stinks of burning photographs."
"I don't know," Peter replied despondently. "Sapphire left her phone here so there's no way of contacting them and Naboo's gonna be furious."
They sat in silence for a while, thinking. How were they going to locate Sapphire and Vince and even if they did, would Vince ever forgive Howard for what happened? The silence was broken when Naboo came in. He looked from the depressed jazz musicians sitting on the floor to the smoking pile of ashes in the corner.
"What the hell happened here!!?" He yelled, waking Howard and Peter from their thoughts.
Howard jumped to his feet. "Uh…well…what happened was -"
"I don't want to hear any excuses!" Naboo interrupted. "Tell me exactly what happened!"
"Right…well…" Howard couldn't form the words. He was terrified of the furious look in Naboo's eyes. Peter sighed and stood up.
"What happened was," Peter began as Howard smiled gratefully at him. "Vince and Sapphire were upstairs, drooling over some CD, and Howard shouted upstairs for some help. They ignored him and he sighed, which caused the colossal pile of stock he was carrying to wobble. Something fell off the top and onto Vince's Mick Jagger shrine. A candle fell over and set light to the whole shrine. Howard dropped the stock, which then caught fire." He gestured to the pile of smouldering ashes in the corner.
Howard, who had now regained the ability to speak now that Naboo had calmed down, added "Then Vince came downstairs, noticed that his shrine was on fire, screamed that he hated me then stormed out of the door, followed by Sapphire. Unfortunately, she forgot her phone so we can't contact them."
"Right, I can see this was an accident. I need to think." Naboo said, going upstairs.
"This is just great. If he can't think of anything, no-one can." Howard sighed and resumed his depressed position on the floor. Peter put his hand on Howard's shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't worry. I'm sure he'll figure something out."
Hours later, Vince was huddled under Sapphire's thin coat while she sat next to him, worried. After they left the shop, Vince had gone round all of his friends asking if he and Sapphire could stay with them. They'd all refused. After that, he had gone to a chip shop and got a portion of chips and cheese for him and Sapphire. He was livid with Howard. It seemed like he would never forgive him. They had gone to the children's park to try and think of somewhere they could stay where Howard wouldn't find them. Vince had fallen asleep in the little house after about an hour. Sapphire wasn't sure what to do. She and Vince had put their money together and they only had just under a tenner. They wouldn't survive a week with savings that puny. She sat down, thinking. What could they do to raise money? She hummed under her breath, like she always did when she was thinking. Then, the idea came to her. A band! She could involve a few of her friends and they could make shed-loads of money. With that optimistic thought in her mind, she settled down to sleep.