AUTHORS NOTES:
Well hey there, I don't usually do these, but I felt as though I had to this time, for a few reasons. Howard never bought a magazine (as he said he was going to in chapter four), he just went straight in there, mainly because he was forced by Sophie and Naboo. The whole "Naboo proposing to Sophie" thing stems from a few MSN convos between me and Sophie (lol). I wrote a fair bit of this whilst listening to "Take the 'A' Train" on my iPod. In fact, a lot of the songs mentioned in this story, I usually listen to whilst writing :D I need to make disclaimers and such more often. Those who have been waiting long enough for this chapter, enjoy it please, I wrote it when I got back from the jazz summer school and was well tired.
At a certain WHSmith down the road, Harriet was busy putting soft drinks cans into the fridge. She wasn't too fond of her job, but she also hated the landlady who ran the block of flats she was in, so she had to work for the money.
Sophie, Naboo and Howard all subconsciously shuffled down the street. Sophie and Naboo had donned civilian clothing for this event, as they knew they'd look funny if they went into a public place in their shaman garb. Sophie was wearing an orange t-shirt and a green pair of shorts, whereas Naboo was wearing a blue shirt, a floral waistcoat, neon pink cycling shorts and a baseball cap with the Microsoft logo stitched onto the side. Since this was Howard's big day, he was dressed in one of his smartest suits, with a black trilby hat softly resting on his head. He also had sprayed himself with large amounts of Vince's favourite cologne (which he had never returned). All three of them were walking down the road, with Howard humming Duke Ellington's "Take the 'A' Train" as they walked. Sophie usually despised of his humming, but since this was a large and special occasion, she let him be. They rounded the corner onto the street on which Harriet's work place was located, and Sophie and Naboo ran off ahead, dragging Howard along by the sleeve of his smart jacket.
"We're nearly there Howard!" cried Sophie happily.
"Are we?" he asked nervoursly, pulling free of the young shaman girl's grasp to fix his hat.
"Aye," she replied cheerfully. "See, there it is, just up there."
Sure enough, she was right. There is was, the place of work of his lost lover. He stood there, looking up at the sign.
"I don't want to go in," he sighed nervously.
"Oh sure," chuckled Naboo, before he and Sophie pulled him through the door.
Harriet was about to put the final can of Lilt in the fridge when she heard an awfully loud noise behind her. She spun around and gasped. The tall man in the doorway…could it be? She shook her head and looked in front of the man. The sight she was met with made her laugh.
"Sophiecake! Naboolio! What ARE you two wearing?" she laughed.
"Don't ask me," Naboo said. "According to Sophie, this is what you people wear!"
"No it is NOT!" yelled Sophie.
Harriet waved her hands about.
"Calm down you two!" she sighed, looking at them. "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"We have someone to see you!" chirped Naboo. "May we present to you…Howard Moon."
Howard walked out from behind the shamanic couple. "Hi there," he said nervously, before strolling over to Harriet.
Harriet by this time had gone bright pink, after realising that it WAS him, and what was going on.
"Hey…" she whispered shyly.
Howard looked at her for a second, before gently kissing her on the lips.
"I'm so thankful I found you again, beautiful," he smiled, his dark eyes sparkling.
"As am I," replied Harriet, who blinked suddenly.
Sophie and Naboo stood watching everything.
"I wish you were just that LITTLE bit nicer to me," sighed Sophie, staring at Naboo.
"Actually missy, I HAVE thought about this…" He knelt down, and Sophie gasped. "Will you marry me, Sophie?"
Sophie squealed. "Of course I will!". She hugged him tightly.
"So, do you want to go out sometime?" Howard asked Harriet.
"Oh sure!" laughed Harriet awkwardly. "I'm free tomorrow so…"
Howard cut her sentence short. "I'll pick you up at 7PM, and take you somewhere fancy."
He smiled at her. "I'd best be going, it looks like you have a lot of work to do."
Harriet sighed. "That I do."
"Well, I'll…hang on, where do you live?"
"That doesn't matter, just pick me up outside here, ok?"
"I shall. See you tomorrow darling. C'mon Sophie, Naboolio."
All three of them walked out of Harriet's workplace happily. Harriet sighed. They'd finally found each other.
