The smell of bacon cooking roused Steve the next morning. Getting out of bed he put a t shirt on to join the pyjama bottoms he had worn to bed and made his way to the kitchen.
"Morning," he said sleepily to Kate as he yawned and stretched. As he did so, the T-shirt he was wearing rode up his abdomen a little distance giving Kate a glance at the small amount of dark hair that led from his belly button to somewhere covered by his pyjamas. She found herself distracted by thoughts of what was found at the end of that trail. "You alright?" Steve asked her when he noticed his friend was stood staring vacantly at him.
"Fine," replied Kate quickly as she snapped back to the present, her cheeks reddening at what she had been thinking about. "Red or brown sauce on your bacon?" she asked as she got the bread out and started putting bacon on it.
"Red please," Steve replied. Kate wrinkled her nose at his answer.
"Typical southerner," she bantered as she put brown sauce on her own sandwiches. "Don't know what you're missing,".
"Don't care," Steve replied defiantly as he bit in to his first sandwich. "Perfectly happy with tomato, thanks,".
Just over an hour later they were on their way to the shopping mall. Being a Saturday it was packed and Steve was dreading finding a parking space. Surprisingly it didn't take long to find one and Steve hoped it was a good omen for the rest of the trip.
"Right I'm going to go and buy Chloe's present," Kate declared as they entered the mall. She had an idea of what she was going to buy after Chloe had mentioned her favourite bath scents one time whilst she and Kate were doing surveillance.
"I'll get the card then," Steve decided. If they split up, this trip could be over a lot quicker.
Kate headed to the bath and beauty store where she was drawn to display boxes containing different fragrances. One contained a host of creams and bath and shower gels in the scent Chloe liked. With Steve's contribution she would even be able to get the deluxe version. After a bit of thought, Kate decided she would take it to the till where the gift was wrapped for her.
"Where are you?" Kate asked when Steve answered her call.
"Heading over to you," Steve replied.
It wasn't long before Kate saw Steve and she met him half way. "Did you get the card?".
"Yep," Steve said as he showed Kate what he had bought. "Whaddya think?" he asked.
"You think this is suitable for Chloe?" Kate asked a little surprised at what Steve had chosen. Some unfunny sexual joke.
"It's funny isn't it?".
"Not really," Kate replied. "All you had to do was choose a card and you get this!" she said a little exasperatedly. "We're going back and getting something else," she ordered as she marched Steve back to the card shop to get something more suitable.
"Do we need anything else or is it time for lunch?" Steve asked as they left the card shop with a second card.
"Eat I suppose," Kate said as looked at her watch.
The couple headed to the eating area in the mall, but in doing so walked past a men's suit shop that Steve often frequented. Prominently displayed in the window was a large sign promoting 50% off all suits which drew Steve's attention.
"Can we just look in here, mate?" he asked. "I need a new suit after Wednesday,".
"Alright," Kate replied, following Steve in to the store.
They headed to the back where all the suits were and Steve instantly started browsing. A shop assistant soon materialised, sensing a possible sale and soon he and Steve were talking about the different suits available.
Realising they could be a while in this shop, Kate took a seat in a vacant arm chair and watched Steve getting measured.
"Can I get you a drink whilst your husband is being assisted?" another shop person asked Kate. "We've got all types of coffee, tea," she listed.
"I'll have a cup of tea, please," Kate answered, not bothering to correct the assistant on the status of her relationship with Steve who was currently disappearing in to a changing room with a suit to try on.
He emerged a little later in a browny coloured three piece suit. "What do you think?" He asked Kate as he stood in front of her for her inspection.
"Turn around," Kate instructed and Steve did so.
"Thought I'd try a new colour," he said as he allowed Kate to cast her eye over him. "It's called cappuccino," he added.
"Is it comfortable?" Kate asked, more concerned about practicality than colour.
"Yeah," Steve replied before something caught his eye. "Hey, Kate, what about this?" he asked Kate as he showed her a pocket watch which he put in his waistcoat pocket, the chain on display.
"You look like a twat," Kate informed him.
"Oh," Steve said disappointedly. He thought it looked quite dapper. "Hang on," he said as another suit caught his eye. It was a blue one.
"I like you in blue," Kate said.
"Yeah?" Steve said, interestedly. He'd file that piece of information away for use at a later date.
"I mean, the colour suits you," Kate added, realising she'd given a lot of information away.
"Have you got this one in my size?" Steve asked the assistant who was hovering close by. If Kate liked him in blue then he'd get a blue suit. One was quickly found and Steve was once again stood in front of Kate for her verdict.
"I like it," she informed him.
"Not too similar to my other blue one?".
"You could get both," the shop assistant pointed out. "It's two for the price of one,".
Steve thought about the offer.
"I'll throw in two ties for free," the sales person said, bribing Steve in to spending some money.
"Two ties and two belts and you've got a deal," Steve bartered.