Maureen flounced out the door of Joanne's apartment, her smile wider than the moon she often screamed about. As per usual, this morning she had woken up with an intense desire to see someone, anyone. Unlike usual, Joanne was gone for an early conference. It sucked, because Joanne was usually good for a little snuggling in the morning. Anyway, Maureen had finally decided to go see Collins, who was working that day. Angel was at Mimi's, she knew that, and Roger was doing a segment for Mark, who had hounded him for weeks until he gave in one particularly beer-filled night. So Collins was the lucky winner.
As she made her way to the subway station, Maureen dwelled on Collins. They had a special relationship, like a brother-sister one. Something inside them both had attracted immediately, though the fact that one was gay and the other was a lesbian kept the attraction from becoming romantic. Instead, they grew to love each other like siblings. When Collins had found out he was HIV positive, Maureen hadn't left his side for days, keeping him from sinking to April's level. When Maureen realized her true nature, it was Collins whom she told first, and Collins who encouraged her to do what she wanted most (Mark, of course, didn't know that). She loved him, and the pleasure she took out of seeing him was just what she needed that morning.
The station was full, though why she couldn't guess. Only freaks like her, she reasoned, woke up at one in the afternoon. But then, most people hadn't spent the night before dancing and singing and discussing whether gummi worms or gummi bears were the best after-sex treat. Maureen, purely to spite Roger, had one with gummi bears. She loved to bother him. She really did.
The shriek and clang of a train filled the smoggy, humid air, and Maureen gladly stepped into the air-conditioned compartment. Except, this being New York, the AC in the train was broken. The heat was even worse, and about thirty other closely packed people didn't make it better. Maureen fanned herself, shaking back her hair.
As she looked at the interesting graffiti on the walls, Maureen happened to notice two men standing near her. They were about twenty, maybe twenty-one. One of them was shaped like a potato. The other, who had short blonde hair like Mark and was wearing a Roger-esque leather jacket and black jeans, was staring at her in a way she knew really well.
Maureen smiled to herself. Here was a chance to have some really good fun. She wasn't thinking of cheating: first of all, she wasn't in the mood, second, she had been trying to cheat less (and surprisingly succeeding), and third, the man who was checking her out reminded her too much of Roger and Mark. She had actually dated both of them; one much longer than the other. Still, cheating on your girlfriend with a guy who reminded you of two ex-boyfriends is just wrong.
Maureen waited until the blonde boy looked towards her face for once, then smiled smoothly, letting her eyelids fall about halfway down. His eyebrows shot up and he stiffened, a smile spreading across his own face. Maureen, enjoying herself, slowly and seductively slid back her gauzy "jacket", completely uncovering her less-than-skimpy halter-top. She leaned back and yawned like a cat, showing off what the halter-top did and didn't leave to the imagination.
That was all it took. The boy stood and pushed his way towards her, a grin on his face. Maureen smiled up at him, her flirtatious skills in top gear.
"Hey." His voice was low, the kind of low that a guy uses when a sexy woman is running hands through her hair and blinking slowly at him, such as Maureen was doing.
"Hey yourself." She giggled, drawing him in with her eyes. He grasped a pole, suddenly unsteady.
"I…uh…just noticed you from across the thing," he gestured at the crowded train compartment, "and I saw that you were alone. And I thought, someone like that should never be all alone. So I just came over to see if there was something I could do for you." Maureen giggled again, and ran a hand over her thigh. His eyes followed her fingers, and she knew she had him.
"Well, aren't you a thoughtful man. I'm just going to visit a friend; how about you?"
"Oh, you know; going nowhere." He shrugged, trying to convey the image of a disaffected, "cool" guy. "So, unless this friend is a 'special' friend," he waggled his eyebrows at her, "how would you like to go have coffee sometime? You know, just us, alone in a café, talking…" he trailed off, practically making a kissy face at her. Maureen almost felt sorry for the guy. His lines were about as pathetic as Angel's attempts to bake, though not quite as disastrous and possibly life-endangering.
"Oh, great!" she squealed. But then her face clouded over, and she scratched her head. "Wait, what day?"
"Um, how about tonight, at Rosa's?"
"Ohhhh, sorry," she said, putting on the most remorseful face she could. "But my girlfriend and I were planning to have some really great sex tonight, and I'm afraid I just won't have time to fit you in." As luck would have it, that moment was the one the doors slid open and the familiar setting of the NYU stop came into view.
"Oh, gotta run! Bye!" Maureen grabbed her jack et and flounced through the door, turning once and managing to catch a glimpse of the boy's stunned, humiliated, and slightly repulsed face.