"Roger, can you get the door please?" Mark yelled from his room as he sorted through the reels of film that were sitting on his bed.
"Sure, it's not like I'm writing one great song or anything." he said putting his guitar down in frustration as he went to get the door.
"Hey, do you have a light? I lost my lighter in the move and the store across the street is closed." a young woman asked smiling up at Roger as he opened the door. Great, another woman who needs a light. That's how Mimi came into his life. She needed a light for her candle. That was 3 years ago. She died almost 2 years ago. The last thing he needed was another girl knocking on his loft door looking for a light.
"Um, yeah." he told her taking a book of matches out of his jeans pocket. "Keep it." he said trying to get rid of her.
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to take your only matches." she said smiling at him flashing her bright blue eyes. They were lined in thick black eye liner and rose eye shadow. Not that Roger would know rose from pink, except it was the same shade April wore. Her golden blond hair hung in a sloppy pony tail going halfway down her back.
"Yeah it's cool. I have more." he told her trying to rush her out of the doorway.
"Hi I'm Stacy. Are you responsible for the music I've been hearing all day?" she asked smiling at him lighting her cigarette in the hall way.
"I'm Roger. Yeah, I play. I've been trying to write a song, but it's not coming together." he said frustrated.
"Why don't you come out for a cigarette? That always helps my writers block. Just stepping away for a little while. Then you go back with a clear head." she said smiling at him as she puffed her cigarette.
"No, I really should get back to work on my song. Maybe next time." he said blowing her off.
"OK, well it was nice to meet you Roger. I just moved in downstairs, so if you ever need someone to keep you company on your cigarette break, let me know." she said saying good bye as she turned on her heels and went down to her apartment.
"Nice to meet you too Stacy." he told her before closing the door and going back to his seat on the couch.
"Who was at the door?" Mark asked coming out of his room pushing his glasses back onto his face.
"The new girl downstairs. She needed a light for her cigarette." Roger said staring at the guitar laying in his hands.
"Oh? There's a new girl downstairs? Is she cute?" he asked pouring himself some water.
"I guess, if you like that type." Roger answered plucking at the strings.
"What type is that? Female?" Mark asked sarcastically.
"I don't know, she seemed a little scatterbrained. I mean she lost her lighter in the move and just started talking about smoking a cigarette being good for writers block. I don't know, she was just weird." he said concentrating on his guitar.
"Whatever. I'm gonna be in my room editing some stuff so I'll probably be at it all night. I'll see you tomorrow." he said going into his room.
"Sure." Roger said as Mark shut his door. He started playing again. He was getting nowhere. Why was witing a song so hard? He had no problem writing back in the day, so why was he having such a hard time now? "I need a smoke." he said to himself as he put his guitar down and started towards the roof. As he opened the door he heard a woman singing. When looked to see who it was, she stopped.
"Hey, I see you took me up on that cigarette break offer." Stacy said turning to him.
"Hey, you just moved in. How do you know about this place?" he asked lighting his cigarette.
"I went snooping around. I like to wander around and check things out. Plus I needed to take a break from unpacking. It was making me crazy." she said taking a drag from her cigarette.
"I know what you mean. I hated going through all the junk I lugged here. So I heard you singing. You have a nice voice." he said taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Thanks, I did some singing in the high school chorus and I just broke up with my rock band a few months ago. I wanted to write, so I quit so I can put more time into it." she said sitting on the ground of the roof.
"What kind of writing do you do?" he asked sitting next to her.
"Fiction mainly. I mean, I don't write my own songs or anything. I just mainly sing cover songs." she said smiling over at him.
"That's cool." he said taking another drag off of his cigarette.
"So what kind of band were you in?" she asked smiling at him.
"How do you know I'm not in a band now?" he asked smiling at her.
"I don't know. Just a feeling." she said looking down as she stubbed her cigarette out.
"Um, do you ever think about joining another band?" he asked quietly as he smiled over at her.
"Are you asking me to be in a band with you?" she asked smiling back at him.
"Yeah, I mean, I've been wanting to start a new band and you have a great voice." he said putting his cigarette under his foot to stomp out.
"I don't know. I was really looking forward to writing more. When I was in the band, I didn't get much time to between rehearsal and performing." she said looking up at him as he got up.
"OK. If you ever change your mind let me know." he said holding his hand out to help her up.
"I will." she said as he lifted her up. She fell into him. Their faces were inches apart. They just looked at each other for a minute and then turned away.
"I should get back to my apartment. My roommate's gonna wonder where I am." Roger said looking down as he looked down.
"OK. I should go back to unpacking anyway." she said smiling up at him as he turned to open the door.
"It was nice talking to you Roger." she said as she stepped through the door he was holding open for her.
"It was nice talking to you too Stacy. I'll see you around." he said going into his apartment as she went down the stairs to hers. When he got back inside he picked up his guitar and started playing again. All of a sudden the words came to him. He started writing them down. Then the music came to him. He was doing something he hadn't been able to do in over 2 years. Write music. He wanted to play it for Stacy, but he didnt want her to get the wrong idea. The last thing he was looking for was a relationship. But she was pretty cool.
"Where did you disappear to?" Mark asked coming out of his room for more water.
"I went up to the roof for a cigarette and the new girl was up there, so we were talking. Did you know she used to be in a rock band and she's a writer." he told him looking back at him from the couch.
"Really? That's cool. What does she write?" Mark asked smiling at him.
"Fiction mostly. She quit her band to concentrate more on it." he told him putting his guitar down.
"That's cool. I'm gonna go back in and finish up my editing. Don't stay up too late. You have work tomorrow." Mark said heading back into his room smiling.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll go in in a minute. I just want to finish this thought." he told him looking down at his notebook.
"OK Rog. See you in the morning." Mark said shutting his bedroom door.
"Yeah, OK." he said picking up his guitar again and plucking at it. After about a half an hour he decided to go to bed. He was tossing and turning all night. He couldn't get Stacy out of his head. Her face, her hair, her eyes and her voice. She was so beautiful, even with her hair pulled back into a sloppy pony tail. He finally fell asleep.
"Rog, work. Come on you gotta get up." Mark said pounding on Roger's bedroom door before making coffee. He knew waking Roger came with some risks, but having coffee ready would soften the blow.
"Yeah, I'm up Mark. Geez, you're worse than my mom was." he said stretching as he got out of bed and went into the bathroom. As Roger turned the shower on there was a knock at the door. Mark walked over to answer it.
"Hi, you must be Roger's roommate. I'm Stacy, I just moved in downstairs." the blond woman said smiling at Mark.
"Yeah, hey. I'm Mark." he said confused but taken. Her blond hair was wet and appeared brown. She wasn't wearing make up and had on a pair of jeans and a tank top.
"Hi Mark. It's nice to meet you. I was wondering, do you have any coffee? I can't find my coffee maker and I'm useless in the morning without coffee." she said smiling at him. While it was true she couldn't find her coffee maker, she could have just bought a cup from the cafe down the block. She had been thinking about Roger all night and just wanted an excuse to see him again.
"Um, yeah. Come on in. I just put on a pot. Roger can't function without coffee either." he said smiling as he opened the door wider.
"Thanks so much Mark. I feel like such a flake. I mean, I lost my lighter in the move and now I can't find my coffee maker. I should really label things better." she said sitting at the metal counter as Mark poured a few cups of coffee as the shower water turned off.
"No problem. So Roger tells me you used to sing in a band and you're a writer." Mark said smiling at her.
"Yeah, I just broke up with my band because I wanted to concentrate on my writing." she said picking up the coffee, drinking it black. A habit she picked up from never having enough money for milk and sugar.
"That's cool. Roger's trying to start a new band. Maybe you can help him out with it." Mark said as the bathroom door opened and Roger stepped out wrapped in nothing but a towel. The top half of his body was still wet. "Hey Rog, Stacy's here." Mark said drinking his coffee as Stacy looked back towards Roger.
"Hey Stacy." he said rushing to his room.
"Hi Roger. I lost my coffee maker, so I figured I would take a chance and see if you had one." she said smiling as he shut his bedroom door.
"He has to get ready for work." Mark told her sitting on the stool at the counter.
"Oh, OK. I'll get out of your hair then. I'll see you around the building." she said getting up from he counter.
"You don't have to go. Roger'll be out in a minute. He's less cranky, once he's had his coffee." Mark said taking a sip of his coffee.
"No, it's OK. I have to be getting back downstairs anyway. I wanted to get some unpacking done today. I'll talk to you later, Mark. Thanks for the coffee. When I find my coffee maker, I owe you." she said leaving the loft.
"Hey, where's Stacy?" Roger asked looking around the loft.
"She went back downstairs. She wanted to do some more unpacking. She's nice." he told him as Roger sipped his coffee.
"Yeah, she is. I gotta get to the garage. I'll see you later." Roger said finishing his coffee quickly before running out the door.
"Yeah, see ya later." Mark said as Roger left. As Roger ran down the stairs he passed Stacy's apartment. It was Mimi's old place. He looked at the door and kept going. Stacy heard him come down the stairs, but by the time she got off of the floor and opened the door, she could hear the door downstairs slam shut. She thought Roger was cute, but he seemed very anti social. Especially to her. She closed the door and went about her unpacking. By 5 o'clock she was done unpacking and had started writing. She sat on the fire escape holding her notebook and pen and began writing some stuff down. Most of it was about Roger. His long golden blond hair, his piercing green eyes, his incredible smile, and his gentle voice. She heard someone come out to the balcony upstairs, so she looked up. It was Mark. "Hey neighbor." he said smiling down at her.
"Hi Mark. I found my coffee maker finally, so tomorrow morning coffee's on me." she said looking up squinting her eyes due to the sun.
"That'll be cool. Listen, I'm meeting up with some friends at the Life Cafe, do you wanna come, or do you have plans?" he asked looking down.
"Yeah, I could eat. And since I'm new here, I don't have any friends yet. It sounds like fun." she said standing up. "Let me just get changed. I'll meet you downstairs in 5 minutes." she said before climbing in her window.
"OK, I'll see you in 5." he said going back inside and getting his bag before heading downstairs to wait for Stacy.
"Sorry it took so long. I had to fix my hair." she said smiling at him as she ran out the door of the building.
"It's OK. I've only been down here a few minutes." he said smiling at her.
"Liar. I heard you coming down the stairs 10 minutes ago. But thanks for not making me feel bad for keeping you waiting." she said fixing her pocket book on her shoulder.
"No problem. Are you ready to go?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, is Roger gonna be there?" she felt stupid asking about Roger since Mark had been the one to invite her, but he just looked over at her and smiled.
"Yeah, it was his idea actually. He called from work and asked me to invite you so you would get to know some people." Mark said as a larger smile crossed her face.
"Oh, OK. It's just I don't know anyone and I guess I gotta eat." she said looking down at her feet.
"Here we are, the great Life Cafe. We've had some crazy times here." Mark said seeing everyone inside. Roger was sitting quietly as Maureen, Joanne and Collins laughed and drank.
"I can't wait." she said smiling at Roger through the window as Mark opened the door and she went in.
"Hey everyone, this is Stacy. She just moved in downstairs from us." Mark said introducing Stacy to everyone. Roger stood up and smiled at her.
"Hey Baby, welcome to bohemia." Collins said standing up to greet Stacy.
"Hi, it's nice to meet all of you." she said smiling as Roger held the chair next to him out for her.
"I'm glad you could come." he said quietly as she sat down hanging her pocket book on the back of her chair.
"I'm glad to have been invited." she said smiling at him as the waiter come to the table.
"Do you want a drink?" Roger asked looking over at her.
"Yeah, just a beer please." she said leaning forward on her elbows.
"OK 2 beers over here." Roger called out as he smiled at Stacy.
"So Stacy, tell us about yourself. What do you do?" Maureen asked smiling at her.
"Well, I used to sing in a rock band in Long Island, but I decided to quit so I could write more. I start work at a diner a few blocks down tomorrow as a waitress." she said smiling at them as the waiter brought the drinks.
"That sounds cool. What do you write?" Joanne asked smiling at her.
"Fiction. I'm trying to write a book and being with the band didn't give me enough time to do that." she said smiling at them.
"That's cool. Roger writes songs." Collins said taking a sip of his beer.
"I know, I heard him yesterday." she said taking a sip of her beer.
"Do you want to go out for a cigarette?" Roger asked quietly looking over at her.
"Yeah, I could go for one." she said smiling at him as they got up.
"We'll be right back. Smoke break." Roger said as they left the cafe.
"So, is there something you wanted to talk about?" Stacy asked as she took a cigarette out.
"Yeah, I wanted to see if you thought anymore about the band thing?" he asked as he searched his pocket for his matches as she took out her lighter.
"I found it." she said handing it to him.
"Cool. So about the band thing?" he asked lighting his cigarette.
"Oh, sorry. Um, I was wondering who else would be in this band. I mean, if it's just you and me, I mean, I don't play an instrument or anything and you know I don't write songs." she said rambling as he cut her off.
"Stacy, slow down." he said letting out a puff of smoke as he laughed.
"Yeah, sorry. Um, I'm not really good at this. I mean, I've never been asked to start a band. I always just auditioned for a band that already existed." she said blushing from embarrassment.
"Well, I know you can sing. I was just thinking of doing something accoustic for now. At least until we can get a real band together." he said smiling down at her.
"OK. Sounds good. We better get back inside." she said tossing her cigarette into the street.
"OK." he said opening the door for her as they went to the table. She was disappointed that he didn't try to kiss her, but she guessed there was a good reason for it.
"So did we miss anything?" she asked sitting down.
"Not really, did we?" Maureen asked smiling at her and Roger.
"Well Stacy and I are starting a band. She's gonna sing and I'm gonna play guitar." Roger said smiling at them.
"That's awesome Roger." Mark said smiling as he drank his beer.
"Yeah, we're gonna do something accoustic until we can get a real band together." Stacy told him drinking her beer.
"That deserves a toast. To Roger and Stacy's new band. What are you guys gonna call yourselves?" Collins asked raising his beer bottle.
"We haven't thought that far ahead, but I was thinking of a name. What do you think of the name Misfit Bohemians?" Stacy asked looking over at Roger, who laughed.
"That works. To the Misfit Bohemians." he said raising his bottle before taking a sip.
"That sounds like the pefect name." Joanne said laughing. "How did you come up with it?" she asked smiling at Stacy.
"I don't know. It sounds cool." she said smiling at her.