Hello my fellow MoJo lovers. This is my first fan fic that I've ever posted online under my current alias. Please read and Review and tell me what you think of my little brain blast. Xoxox Alpha Silver Wolf
Disclaimer: All right belong to the late, great Jonathon Larson. I'm only going to play around with his creations.
Summary: Joanne has always been the type of person to keep to herself, and not having many friends. So what happens when she meets the Diva of Avenue A? This is my take on how these two soul mates met and survived together. Pre-Rent.
Chapter One: Prowling
Joanne had always been one to shy away from the more eccentric way of life. She enjoyed the more mundane ways of living: going to small coffee shops and working on her current thesis paper for her finals, curling up on her red couch and reading a novel with a steaming cup of hot chocolate beside her, and as she got older, doing her paperwork in a quaint café not too far from her New York apartment.
She never tried to come out of her comfort zone too often, never seeking out her friends – the few she had from Harvard were normally too busy in their prosperous lives to spare even a second for companionship, nor trying to find that 'special' someone that everyone was harking about. No, she most definitely wasn't looking for that special someone … not after all the suffering she had to go through not too long ago with her previous partner.
Joanne shuddered at the thought as she walked through the nearly empty streets of Avenue A in New York city. That particular memory would be there to haunt her for months, perhaps years, to come. It had barely been a month since the night her partner, a business woman whom she went to school with back at Harvard, confronted her one morning after they had just woken up from a relaxing night in one another arms. She pointed out all of Joanne's little faults as if they were the biggest problems they had ever face while being together, and consequently the business woman threw her little tantrum and broke off their relationship right on their one year anniversary, leaving her and immediately falling into the arms of their male roommate – who at the time had his own girlfriend that he was planning on marrying that coming October.
Joanne grumbled as she pushed the thought from her mind as she headed over to her regular booth near the back of the quaint little café, and dropped herself into the chair facing away from the entrance. Sighing to relieve her frustration, the New York lawyer lifted her brief case she held in her hand onto the table top and quickly entered the lock code to open it retrieving a manila folder. Looking at the title of that particular folder, the mocha skinned woman let out another sigh before putting her briefcase down in the chair beside her and laying the folder open before her scanning the first page in silence.
"Can I take your order Miss? Or will you be having the same thing as usual?" A cheeky, boston accented voice said from beside her making the petite lawyer jump slightly in surprise at the sudden intrusion.
Schooling her features without a second though, Joanne lifted her head slightly and gave the quite attractive server a small smirk that allowed one of her dimples to show slightly, "My normal would be sufficient." She replied her eyes trailing from the servers icy blue eyes to her curvy figure before snapping herself out of her daze with a slight blush and looking back down at her work.
The waitress just smiled a knowing smile at the woman nodding somewhat as she wrote down her order, "Of course Sweetheart. I'll be right back with you coffee, water, and English muffin." She walked off after repeating her order, and to Joanne's embarrassment and pleasure, added an extra sway to her step that caused her nicely shaped bum to look even more tantalizing.
Joanne groaned inwardly as she tore her eyes away from the woman, moving her eyes back down to her most recent case with a sigh. She had taken another pro bono case in the run down area of Avenue B concerning a million dollar lawsuit against the police department and their recent aggravation towards the public in the area, going as far as to catch a known squatter's residence up in flames. If that wasn't enough, the lawyer was also swamped with two other divorce cases that weren't going over as easy as she thought they would between two wealthy partners who wanted everything the other owned. 'This is why I'm signing a pre-nup before I marry anyone. . . ' The lawyer thought to herself as she lifted her head and gave the waitress a soft smile as she placed her ordered items in front of her as well as her specific number of creamers and sugars she always asked for. "Thank you."
"You're welcome sweet heart." She said with a slight smile on her face as she looked at the mocha skinned beauty, "Don't work too hard over here. Relax a bit." She said winking at her putting down her ticket with a smile on her face before walking away to take care of her other customers.
Joanne blushed at the woman's words shaking her head ever so slightly before returning her perusing her file with barely any interest in it at the moment fixing her coffee the way she liked it with mindless ease. Flipping the pages ever now and again, Joanne sighed as she continued to read on about the reports filed against the police department's men and grumbled slightly as she sipped her coffee. All the evidence at the moment pointed directly at the culprits without any doubt, and all that would be needed to convict them would be a judge that really wouldn't want to push this to court. 'With my recent luck, I'm sure that I'll be going to court. . . . Instead of the easy way through this…' she thought dryly taking another small sip of the hot liquid.
Leaning back and sighing heavily in her chair, Joanne sighed and leaned her head back, her tight curls swaying slightly with the movement of her head before stopping back in their original position as she glared down at her paperwork in front of her with contempt. 'I really regret my decision of becoming a lawyer sometimes. . .' Joanne thought as she let her small, slim hand grasp the handle of her coffee mug and bring it to her lips again as her eyes continued reading the words printed before her. 'Today's going to be a long day. . .'
Maureen Johnson smiled a little bit as she danced around Avenue A with Roger and Mark not to far behind her. The leather pants and tank top clad diva was enjoying the sunny, mildly temperate day today and had forced the two men behind her with the enticing suggestion of free food to walk with her to the Life Café, the boho's most common hang out – even when they were broke much to the owner's dismay.
Walking into the café briskly and went to her normal seat in the largest window of the café with a smile sitting down with a bounce, watching as they both sat down in a more adult manner across from her. After a moment of tense silence, with Mark staring at her as if he were a kicked puppy, and Roger seemingly trying to ignore the love sick stares his best friend sent his ex-girlfriend, Maureen sighed and leaned her elbows on to the table looking at Mark with a cool gaze, "So mister film maker how is your master piece coming along these days?" She said with a cool edge to her voice as she looked over the blonde haired man, "Still nowhere near completion?"
Mark blushed a little bit and looked down and then looked back up at his ex-girlfriend, "I. . . . No I'm thinking about scrapping my script and going completely off script. . . ."
"Maybe, lets hope it doesn't suck like all of the rest of your stuff…" She said in a sickeningly sweet voice smiling ever so slightly as a waitress walked up to them taking the heat off of the cringing film maker more now. "Why hello there gorgeous," Maureen said with a smile on her face as she looked at the woman, "I'll take a green tea and a salad. Give these two boys whatever they want." She finished with a wink on her face.
"Sure thing sweet cheeks," She said smiling scribbling down the order before turning to the boys, "and for you guys?" The waitress asked her pen poised to write down whatever they wanted.
"1/3 pound burger with fries and a beer for me," Roger said quickly happy for the distraction the waitress made smiling a little bit at her.
"I'll have a tofu burger, fries, and a diet coke." Mark said in a soft voice as he looked down at the table top in front of him.
The waitress nodded as she finished short handing the orders and gave them a slight smile, "I'll get that right out for you." She winked at Maureen before going to the back of the restaurant to fill the orders.
Maureen smirked as she watched the woman leave, her big doe eyes caressing the woman's subtle curves as she moved away before moving her gaze around the shop looking at the normal patrons that littered the surprisingly quiet café at the moment. "So how are things? I heard that you were finally out of rehab and clean. That true? Or is it another rumor about the great Roger?" She finally asked never stopping her sweep of the café as if looking at the menu the restaurant may offer.
Roger frowned a little at the brunette and crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm clean." He said simply observing the diva before him with slight contempt as gazed over the gathered people in the café as if they were pieces of meat.
Roger nodded in agreement to Roger finally lifting his eyes from the table top that they had been inspecting for the past ten minutes to look at the wavy brown haired woman before him and cringed mentally as he observed how the woman was looking, no looking wasn't the right word in this situation, she was stalking her next victim for what he affectionately knew as 'The Tango: Maureen'. "Roger just got out the other day actually." He chipped in to look over at her with a slight smile upon his face using every ounce of his boyish charms on the girl he had spent two years with in hopes to get her attentions back to him.
"I'm glad you're out and about then Roger. Count this as my congratulations for making it out of that hell hole a better person." Maureen said as she allowed her eyes to return to her friends with a gentle smile upon her face. "I'm happy you are moving on with everything that happened. Just don't shut yourself off, Roger. It's not good for ya." She winked at the blonde man, "and keep the long hair. It suits you nicely. Very Rock-y" She said in a flirty voice a smile forming on her face as the man before her allowed a small smirk to appear on his normally stoic face.
Maureen allowed her eyes to drift from her old friend, and ex roommate over to the man whom she had recently dumped, 'its only been four days if I remember correctly…' Maureen guessed not necessarily caring much for that, 'though that puppy dog pout is cute!' She admitted reluctantly before slipping her eyes from him and resuming her search of the café. Moving them from an obvious couple not too far from her spot, Maureen stopped suddenly on the slightly hunched from of a woman, but not just any woman. She was beautiful, in a upper class sort of way. She had tightly curled brown hair that barely reached the base of her neck; smooth mocha colored skin, a lithe feminine build, and seemed to be just a bit taller than Maureen herself was. "My my my." She whispered to herself in a soft tone resting her chin a top both of her palms her tiger like eyes completely narrowed on the woman before her with a smirk on her face as their food was brought over to them.
Waving off the waitress after she delivered the food, Maureen looked over at the boys who scarfed down the meal as if it were the first they had eaten in weeks and gave a slight smirk. "I'll be right back boys." She said with a smirk standing up and sauntering over to the table that housed the mocha skinned beauty.
Joanne frowned a little bit as she looked over her paper work once more before frowning as a shadow obscured the light coming from behind her. Turning, the lawyer could have sworn she was looking directly at an angel.
"Hey, I'm Maureen Johnson."
If only Joanne knew how much this very sentence would throw her whole world upside down, she might have reconsidered calling her just an angel.