Chapter 2
"Ms. Jefferson, there is someone here in the lobby waiting for you. Her name is Maureen Johnson. Shall I let her in?"
Joanne stopped writing when she heard the name her secretary called out.
"Uh, sure Kate. Let her in, thanks."
Maureen entered Joanne's office and marveled at the size. Ever since Joanne took over her father's practice, Joanne had been working hard to keep up with the reputation her father had left it.
"Got a promotion?" Maureen asked.
Joanne smiled at Maureen's question, knowing that she was being sarcastic, but also asking about the change.
"Sorta, my dad retired, so he left it to me to run it. And here I am, in his office, doing what I do best."
Joanne watched Maureen browse the books along her walls, wondering since when Maureen was ever interested in books. Her eyes traveled down, staring at Maureen, following the trail of Maureen's brunette locks, and down her back. Maureen turned around just as Joanne's eyes settle on her cute butt.
Joanne quickly returned her gaze back up to Maureen's face, turning a light shade of pink. Maureen caught it but didn't say anything. "Do you wanna lunch today?" Maureen asked.
"Lunch? Um…yea. Just give me ten more minutes, let me finish this write up and then we can go, you can have a seat there" Joanne pointed to the chairs placed in front of her desk.
Joanne picked up her pen again and continued writing. Maureen watched Joanne work. She remembered the times when she would come home late from the Life and see Joanne still up, working on her cases. Maureen always got angry that Jo would bring work back home and would never have time for her.
"That's part of the reason why we broke up. She worked too hard, and it wasn't fair. Someone like me needs a lot of attention, and if I can't have that, I wouldn't be able to work with it. It wasn't fair to her either…that night, was a mistake and I knew it, I shouldn't have made out with that girl".
Maureen had sometimes wondered what would have happened had they continued to be together. She was heartbroken when Joanne ended their relationship. She chose not to talk to her for months, and then they lost touch, not having seen each other until the night before.
Maureen marveled at how cute Jo looked while she worked. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, and her fingers were working fast.
"Okay! Let's go." Jo placed her pen down and got up to get her coat. Maureen walked over to the door and waited until Joanne put on her coat before stepping out.
They entered a small restaurant near Joanne's work and sat down.
"What have you been up to lately?" Joanne asked looking through the menu.
"Well, I haven't really been doing much anything else except acting. I still hold protests once in a while. But since I met Michael, I've been cast in a couple of plays and musicals. You should come watch me some time. It won't be as crazy as the old protests that you used to help me with." Maureen laughed.
"Do you still see the boho's anymore?" Joanne hadn't kept in contact with them all that much. Ever since she broke up with Maureen, the thought of seeing her would be unbearable, no matter who she was with.
"Not really, I see them at least once a month. Since I started acting, I moved out and found my own place, then Michael appeared. I met him while I was at an audition. He was the writer of the play that I was auditioning for, but we didn't start dating until after I got cast for one of the parts."
Joanne listened to Maureen's voice. She hadn't heard it in so long, and had forgotten how beautiful it was. Joanne's feelings for Maureen were coming back full force, and she didn't know how to keep it to herself. Joanne was glad to see that Maureen was happy. She saw how animated Maureen got when she talked about acting and singing for a living.
"Stop it Joanne. Maureen's got a boyfriend—soon to be fiancé. You can't get between that." Joanne felt a tinge of hurt as she watched Maureen talk about Michael. She clearly seemed happy with him. Who was Joanne to go and ruin that for her. It seemed to her that Mo had matured a bit. The way she carried herself and the way she spoke had changed from the time Joanne knew Maureen.
"Can I have a beer please?" Maureen asked the waitress.
"I guess not" Joanne thought to herself, hiding a smirk. "It's just ten past noon Mo', a beer already?"
"Its always time for beer, besides, Michael doesn't let me have a lot of beer, says it will mess up my figure and stop me from getting roles. I have it when he's not around".
Maureen was the same as ever, but just as different. She had grown from the Maureen that she used to know.
"How about you? Anyone in your life?" Maureen asked.
Joanne wished there was, and she wished that person were the one sitting in front of her. "No, there isn't anyone."
"No one? Not at all?"
"Nope, no one. Too busy with work, so I just kinda gave up with it until I was ready again. There were a few I dated, but it never amounted to anything". Joanne lied, not wanting to tell Mo that there was no one else since her.
Joanne looked at her watch, seeing that it was almost time to get back to work.
"Do you have to go now?" Maureen said, hoping that she wouldn't.
"Yea, almost…" Joanne looked up at Mo' and saw the look on her face. Joanne knew that look, she remembered the countless times Maureen had used it on her, "…but I'm not gonna go in. I want to catch up with you. It's been awhile. I'll call into work and tell them." Joanne said, smiling.
They continued to chat for a while longer. When nightfall came, they both headed to the Life where the boho's came to meet Joanne.
Collins saw Joanne walk in first and wrapped her up in a large hug. "Well look who it is. The lawyer finally found it was time to come and grace us with her presence." He laughed, putting her down gently.
Everyone rushed to greet Joanne, pulling her into a big group hug. As everyone caught up with Joanne, a round of drinks were brought along every few minutes. By the time everyone was done drinking, almost everyone was either drunk or tipsy. Joanne was drunk from all the drinks they kept buying her.
"I'll see you guys soon" Maureen called to the bohos, "I gotta take this one home". Maureen held Joanne against her side tightly, knowing full well that Joanne was never one to be able to keep her drinks down.
As they stumbled down the street, Maureen held Joanne up as they continued down to Joanne's apartment. Taking the keys from Joanne, Maureen found the right one and opened the door.
The apartment was a lot smaller compared to the one they used to live in together.
"How'd we get here so fast?!" Joanne said happily, as she continued to hold on to Maureen.
"We flew here Jo". Maureen joked, leading Joanne to her bedroom.
"I didn't know you could fly!! You never told me that!"
"I'm kidding Jo, come on, let's get you into bed. Its getting late."
"Ohhh….Mo' I don't feel so good" clutching her stomach, Joanne started towards the bathroom.
As Joanne emptied her stomach into the toilet, the diva held on to her hair, rubbing her back slowly.
"Thanks, I don't remember the last time I drank so much, and I think that time was with you guys too." Joanne said, flushing the toilet, "that was gross".
Joanne reached for Maureen's outstretched hand and pulled herself up.
"Ugh, I am not doing that again in a really long time".
"You didn't even have that much."
"I had enough to make me feel like shit", Joanne groaned.
"Come on, lets get you into bed. You have work tomorrow, and I need to get going." Maureen said, wrapping her arm around Joanne's waist, walking her to her bed.
Jo looked at Maureen, the memories flooding back to her. There were too many memories and it hurt her to think about them. There were several times Jo came back drunk with Maureen. It would be one of them that had to help the other into bed just like Maureen was doing now. There were the times that they made love to each other on nights like these. "Stay with me", Jo pleaded to herself, somehow hoping that Maureen would hear her.
Maureen could feel Joanne against her. Her own heart was beating fast. She didn't expect to hold Joanne so close and so tightly. She gently led Jo to her bed, propped her feet on her bed and took off her shoes for her.
Jo looked at the clock. It was 2:30 in the morning. It wasn't safe for Maureen to go out walking at night by her self. She was happy she found an excuse to keep Maureen with her.
"It's pretty late, maybe you should stay here for the night?"
Maureen's ears perked up at the suggestion, her eyebrows raising. "Sounds like someone wants me to stay with her." Her heart raced at the thought of sleeping next to Joanne.
"No that's not how I meant it" Joanne quickly said, "Oh yea, sure, you totally meant it that way" she thought to herself.
Maureen looked at the clock, she realized how late it was, "I don't have any clothes to change into…
"Just borrow mine, you should know how I organize them in the closet…hurry up, I'm getting tired of talking…I wanna sleep."
Maureen laughed as she walked towards the closet. She changed into Joanne's pajama bottoms and left her tank top on. "I don't have a place to slee--" she realized, walking back into the bedroom that Jo was already asleep. She knew what this meant, that she had to sleep with Joanne. "It's nothing…it's not like you've never slept in the same bed before". She hesitated for a moment before slipping under the covers. Maureen lay awake on the bed, unable to sleep due to the thoughts racing through her mind.
"This doesn't mean anything. I am with Michael now and I'm really happy. Then why do you feel like this is where you want to be? I don't. Yes you do. Shut up. You can't shut me up! I'm Maureen Johnson!! Well so am I, so I am going to shut you up. Michael is going to ask me to marry him soon! And I love him. Yea, but we both know that you don't even know what your answer will be.
"ARGH!!" Maureen groaned, burying her face into the pillow. She tossed and turned most of the night until finally sleep overcame her.
AN: i'm so happy there were reviews--and such nice ones at that. thanks for reviewing and reading. hopefully i can churn out more chapters soon. thanks!