"I remember you." A voice called from behind Piper. She turned around and saw the man that helped her and Harry yesterday.
"Kenny!" Piper smiled at him. After agreeing to help Harry shop for decorations for his house, they made a plan to meet up in front of Murphy's before heading to the store.
"Piper, right?" He doubled checked walking over wiping his gloves off on his pants.
"That's right. How are you?" She asked.
"I'm doing alright. Getting ready for another busy day." He said looking at the lot.
"That's good. You really do have beautiful trees so I wouldn't be surprised if sold 'em all."
"Well thank you. Dad always insists on the best." He said nodding.
"Oh, you were for your father? That's lovely." Piper said.
"Yeah, I did, but he's a bit older now and my mum wanted to retire in the countryside so he finally let me and the missus take over. I'd say we're doing an alright job." He said.
"The woman who rang us up yesterday is your wife? She's very beautiful." Piper complimented.
"Thank you. She's the greatest. Doesn't mind being in the cold all day." Kenny smiled.
"Ah I'm sure she does it 'cause she loves you." Piper said.
"I sure hope so. So, what are you doing here? Picking up the tree already? Thought you wanted to pick it up in a couple days?" He asked.
"Oh no, nothing like that. I'm here to meet a friend of mine. We're going shopping for decorations." She said grinning. She couldn't wait; she loved Christmas and she loved shopping so this was the best of both worlds.
"I hope it's not that bored lookin' fella from yesterday. Looked like he couldn't wait to get out of here." Kenny shook his head. Most people that came through his lot had a look of wonder and excitement to them. Not the guy from yesterday, Kenny reckoned he couldn't care less about the holiday season.
"Actually..." Piper trailed off as she spied Harry walking towards them. Kenny turned to see what she was looking at and let out a hearty laugh.
"What's so funny?" Harry asked stepping up to the duo.
"Nothing." Piper said. She wasn't sure why Kenny was suddenly laughing so hard.
"I'm sorry mate, I'm just imagining you picking out Christmas ornaments while sipping hot chocolate." Kenny apologized with a laugh.
"I can pick out ornaments and tinsel." Harry frowned.
"I'm sure you can. I'll let you two get to it, but you listen mate," Kenny said facing Harry, "try not to look so bored today. She's excited and no one likes company that is uninterested. It's Christmas time and people should be happy at Christmas." He said seriously. Harry's eyes widened as he nodded. Kenny smiled triumphantly before getting back to work.
"Shall we?" Piper asked. Harry gruffly nodded while shoving his hands further into his pockets.
"Must they play music so damn loud?" Harry grumbled as they walked into the small shop sipping his coffee. Piper giggled before looping her arm through his.
"It's to get you into the spirit. It builds the atmosphere." She said. She didn't know where to look first; the display of decorated fake trees, the ornaments, the cute trinkets, or the tins with pictures of delicious food on the front.
"As if anyone could possibly forget." He frowned.
"Oh hush." She said bumping his shoulder lightly.
"So where to first?" He asked smiling to himself. He was beginning to really enjoy her company. She made him smile even when he didn't want to.
"First we have to...well how big of a tree are you planning on getting? And you can't say you want a table top." She said side eying him. Harry merely laughed and shook his head.
"No table top." He agreed. "Something to go in the corner of my flat." He said. He slowly looked at all the decorations hanging up and tried imagining them in his flat.
"Wonderful! We can go back to Murphy's and get a tree for you. They're nice there." She said.
"Okay." He agreed again. "So, what now?" He asks.
"To the ornaments." Piper said. Harry sighed but let her drag him wherever she pleased.
"No. No way!" Harry protested while shaking his head.
"Oh, come on, it's cute." Piper pouted. The skiing snowman was adorable and would look just as adorable in his flat.
"Ugh, fine." He relented rolling his eyes. It had pretty much gone this way since they started; he'd protest whatever she picked out, she'd pout, and he'd give in. He didn't mind though.
"None of this goes together." He said looking into their basket.
"No biggie, life's too short to worry about matching ornaments. Much more fun to just have fun with it." She said waving her hand.
"Tell that to my mum." Harry grumbled.
"Oh?" Piper inquired gently. She didn't want to come across as too pushy.
"Growing up it was matching outfits for Christmas cards and matching ornaments on the tree. All of our tableware matched and the PJ's always had to match etc." He said.
"Sounds adorable. Were they onsies?" Piper asked looking at ornaments. She couldn't help but smile as she pictured him in a Christmas onesie.
"Heavens no!" He said. "Wouldn't have agreed to wear a onsie past 5." He said.
"I think Christmas onsies are cute." She shrugged.
"That doesn't surprise me." He said under his breath.
"I heard that." She raised an eyebrow with a smile.
"It's not a bad thing. I like it about you." He said shyly looking up at her. He felt his cheeks redden as he pretended to take great interest in the ornaments.
"So now we have all these ornaments, tinsel, lights, and other random decorations." Harry mused looking through their cart.
"All Christmas essentials." Piper said seriously.
"Oh wait, we need Christmas music!" She exclaimed before taking off towards the music section. "Can't believe I almost forgot." She said shaking her head at herself.
"Oh man." Harry grumbled following behind her. He found her in front of the CD's seeming to have a major internal battle.
"You know I can download all these songs on Spotify." Harry said.
"Duh, but it's not the same. There's nothing quite like physically putting a CD in. It's like an actual book over an e-book; there's nothing like feeling the physical pages." Piper said without taking her eyes off the CD's. Should she pick a compilation CD like NOW That's what I Call Music, or should she get a bunch of different artists' CD's?
"Fair point." Harry agreed. "Always preferred vinyls myself." He said. Piper looked up at him with a small smirk.
"That doesn't surprise me." She said. She looked around and spied a box of old vinyls. Stepping over she thumbed through the records and stopped on an Elvis Christmas album.
"Are you an Elvis fan?" She asked pulling it out.
"Who isn't an Elvis fan?" He asked making grabby hands towards the album.
"Alright so I've got Burl Ives, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and now Elvis. Should I get the Now That's What I Call Christmas CD as well?" She asked looking through the cd's in the basket.
"My mom loves Dean Martin." Harry commented. He vividly recalls having to hear some Dean Martin song every Christmas.
"A woman with good taste." Piper nodded. Harry picked up the Now That's What I Call Christmas CD and examined the songs on it.
"Ugh Justin Bieber, we can put this back." He rolled his eyes. "We've got better music here anyways." He said putting the CD back.
"Sounds good. Alright so we're good for now?" Piper asked. She doubled checked that they had everything. Decorations? Check. Ornaments? Check. Music? Check. Candles? Check. Everything looked good.
"You tell me. You're the boss." Harry shrugged.
"Like the sound of that." Piper grinned to herself. "Okay, lets head out." She said leading them towards the front.