This fic was inspired by the song 'Maybe After He's Gone' by The Zombies

Chapter 2

Luckily the rest of the planning went a bit more smoothly. No more escaped mongooses; Howard made sure of that. Bainbridge's visit was approaching and Howard's nerves were on edge. He had to make sure everything was perfect. There was no room for error when it came to Bainbridge.

As Howard was on his way back to the office he remembered that he had forgotten to sweep up some glass that had been broken during the incident in the reptile house earlier. He grabbed a broom from the hook on the nearby enclosure and trotted back to the house. He was still a bit shaken up from the issue with the mongoose even though it was all over now. Maybe Mrs. Gideon knew that he was the one who accidentally let the thing out of its cage.

Howard shook his head. It's impossible. She'd never find out.

Meanwhile, Vince was back at the reptile house to check on Mrs. Gideon. He bounced in through the glass door in his usual charming fashion.

"Oi, Mrs. Gideon! Is Sunny all better yet?"

Mrs. Gideon looked up at Vince and smiled.

"Oh yes, Vince! He's still a bit frazzled by the bite but he seems to be recovering quickly."

She brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes.

"Oh good! I was a bit worried for a bit." Vince replied with his usual goofy grin. "But listen, I gotta get goin'. I promised Naboo I'd help him hide a few things before Bainbridge gets here. You know about that crazy shaman! Woooooaaaah!" Vince crossed his eyes and gesticulated wildly with his hands.

Mrs. Gideon laughed quietly but her eyes didn't stray from Vince's face.

"Don't go yet. I still haven't thanked you properly for saving my Sunny."

She moved closer and put her hands on Vince's chest. She played with one of the pins on his jacket flirtatiously.

"Erm…yeah. Well, it's all fine, Mrs. Gideon. No trouble, ya know!"

Vince laughed nervously and tried to edge backwards, finding himself in the centre of the room.

Mrs. Gideon moved with him and slid her hands up onto his shoulders.

"No, I need to thank you properly, Vince. A beautiful young man like yourself needs proper gratitude."

Vince was about to say something to brush away the odd remark but he was interrupted by Mrs. Gideon's lipsticked lips pressing against his own.

Vince was shocked by the gesture and felt very uncomfortable. He put his hands on the older woman's hips to try to push her away but it only seemed to make her more intent on sucking his face off.

Howard arrived at the reptile house and was about to open the door when he saw something strange through the glass. He squinted his eyes so that they were even smaller, trying to make out what the darkened shape was. No, there were two shapes. Two shapes that were awfully close together. But what were they?

It hit him. He suddenly felt sick. He knew what the shapes were but couldn't believe what he saw.

Vince was standing in the middle of the room and Mrs. Gideon was with him. She had her hands placed on his shoulders and his hands were on her waist. Their lips locked together in a passionate kiss with, as some would say, "no room for the Lord". Howard dropped his broom and tore himself from the hideous sight. He ran off without considering his destination. His heart was pounding in his chest and the only logical place he could consider running to was the zoo office. He turned the corner violently, skidding on the sand and burst through the door of the main building. Bob Fossil stood in his path.

"What do ya think you're doin', stink-for-brains?" Fossil scowled, his breath smelling like he had flossed his teeth with old cheese. "Bainbridge is gonna be here any minute and we don't have time for any pussyfootin' around, capisce?"

Fossil puffed out his chest, trying to look as important as he could.

Howard's face turned a violent shade of magenta as a sudden burst of strength he never knew he had coursed through his veins.

"Oh sod Bainbridge!" He cried out and pushed past Fossil. Fossil was too bewildered to follow but shouted back, "Oh, I will! I'm gonna do that tonight, shrimpy boy! Just you wait! Sod means 'fuck' right? Cuz, if it means 'fuck' I'm totally gonna do that!"

Howard ignored the ramblings of that deranged maniac and clumsily ran through the office door, slamming it behind him and leaning up against it.

Vince pulled himself away from Mrs. Gideon, bewildered. He had seen Howard run off out of the corner of his eye and knew immediately that something was very, very wrong.

"What's the matter, Vince? Don't you like me?"

Mrs. Gideon gazed into Vince's big blue eyes coyly and batted her eyelashes.

Vince choked a bit and replied, "Oh, I like you fine! You're, erm, gorgeous! There's just some things I need to attend to right now. Just hold on a tick!"

Vince squirmed out of Mrs. Gideon's grasp and raced out the door.

"Oh…Oh, 'Oward…