Maureen set down her glass and looked at her watch. 7:00 pm. She looked around for the waiter so that she could pay. He was showing a large group of people into their seats. She tapped her fingers on the table impatiently. Unfortunately, the family consisted of small children and older people that held up the crowd as they piled into the restaurant.

She stood up. When nobody stopped her, she walked as fast as she could to the door and exited into the cold winter air.

Her apartment was completely empty when she got home. She took a beer out f the fridge and opened it on the bottle opener that was so often used.

She stepped out of the open window onto the fire escape and watched the action below her on the street: There were some police harassing an old woman sleeping next to the trash cans. Behind the police, listening to everything they said, was Mark.

"Hey Mark!" she called down to him. He looked up at her and waved. Then hushed her with a sweep of his hand and pointed to the police. Ignoring this she yelled, "Come up here I want to talk to you!"

Mark paused then reluctantly, he turned toward the apartment. Maureen ran back inside, grabbed a pair of keys off the table and ran back outside. Mark was waiting for her. She threw the keys down at him and he, like always, missed them. He disappeared underneath her and after a while she heard the keys in the door. She waited by the door until he was all the way in and then she kissed him. He looked a little surprised, but happy, his glasses a little lop-sided.

"Hi Maureen." He said blushing. "You said you wanted to speak to me."

"No I just wanted to…" she paused in search for a better word. "Take advantage of us being alone without Roger or Benny." Mark thought about what she had said for a while then understanding jumped onto his face.

"I don't know Maureen. I have work to do. I hear the police are in the park again …" He drifted off as she closed in on him.

"Mark you can't have an excuse now! Come on. Roger is never out of the house. We won't have another chance for a while." She pushed him against the wall and started at his neck. A clearing of a throat interrupted them and the looked behind them. Roger was standing in the door way with a funny grin on his face.

"Oh sorry am I interrupting?" He asked with fake surprise. Mark looked startled and embarrassed

"We didn't…I didn't…Were you… You were…" mark stuttered, but Maureen cut him off,

"Yes you were interrupting. Why are you home? You are supposed to with Benny… Where is Benny?"

"I don't know where he is. And I didn't feel like leaving today. I'm too tired." Roger walked back into his bedroom and Mark and Maureen heard him lay back down. They rolled their eyes at each other and sat down on the couch.

"I wish we had a TV." said Mark, voicing what the four room mates had been wishing since they had bought the apartment together. But that was before Roger had turned into…well…a house slob.

The door banged open and Benny came in. He threw himself on the couch next to Maureen. He put his legs across hers and took a drink of her beer.

"Hey get your own!" Maureen snapped and grabbed her beer out of his mouth causing liquid to trickle down his face.

"God Maureen! What's up with you? Any way. I don't think we will have enough money to buy beers for to much longer." He rushed the last sentence hoping that they wouldn't hear it.

Mark and Maureen jumped up. Even Roger reacted. They heard a bang in the other room and Roger came running out of the room.

"What d you mean no more money!" Rogers face was red. Benny stood up and yelled just as loudly,

"Maybe if I wasn't the only one working, then we wouldn't be so fucking poor!" Roger was taken aback by Benny. Every one usually treated Roger with sympathy and never yelled at him or talked to him harshly, especially Benny. "And any way, now none of us have a job. I got fired." Benny clapped his hand over his mouth.

Shit! I am such an idiot. Where is that whole speech I rehearsed over the walk here. Now Maureen is going to have a cow, no not a cow a freaking elephant!Yep. Look at that. Her face is turning red, here it comes, and she's going to explode. 1, 2, 3...

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU GOT FIRED BENJAMIN COFFIN THE THIRD!" Maureen slapped him. He backed up into Roger, but not even Roger was going to help him. "Do you know how much trouble it took me to get you that job? I had to call so many people, and that cost money! Then I had to show you where the office was, taking time out of my day, when I could have been working on my new protest! What is wrong with you?" She opened her mouth again, but didn't say anything, just gave him a look to kill and sat down in the middle of the couch, Mark making way for her ahead of time. Even though she was the only woman, she ruled the three men.

Everyone was silent for a while, watching Maureen, afraid that she would explode. Finally,

"So, why were you fired anyway?" Maureen glared at Benny. Benny leaped into an explanation,

"Well you see my boss has had it in for me from the beginning and today when I was flirting with one of the girls I worked with and he freaked out. He said that I wasn't to 'fornicate' on the job. He mad to big of a deal out of it. What does fornicate even mean?" Maureen didn't relinquish her gaze on Benny, and eventually he fell back.

"So how are we going to get money now? Anyone know?" She looked around at the other men. Roger shrugged and went back to his room. Mark looked at her like a hurt puppy dog. "It's all right Mark. I know you're working on your script writing." Then she turned back to Benny. "So what are you going to do? You have a good plan Benny or I swear I'll-"

"I have a job interview tomorrow." Benny said quickly.

"Oh good. We should get you lawyer. I'll go to the court house, right now." Maureen said in a much more cheerful voice. She grabbed her coat and gave Mark a look. "Well, are you coming with me?" Mark started.

"Yeah sure."

"Wait Why do I need lawyer. I've been to a lot of interviews. I don't need help from a lawyer." Maureen turned on him. "Or it might help me seem like I am more devoted to my o or something. I'll see you I a little while." Maureen and Mark left.