"Pookie, hurry up…Roger, what's going on?" Maureen demanded as she opened the door to the loft, Joanne following behind her.
The scene before her was a strange one. Angel, hands on hips and legs planted firmly, was standing in the middle of the room, glaring at Mimi, who looked like she was about to cry. Roger was sitting on the metal table, and Collins had the couch. Mark was huddled in one corner, looking like the shouting going on between Angel and Mimi was scaring him.
"Mimi, I swear to god, I will not give in to you this time. I was promised I'd never have to do it, and I never will. Case closed."
"But Angel, my mother will make me go home! I don't want to go home! Please, just for a day!"
"No! No, Mimi, I won't do it! There has to be another way to do this! For god's sake, she's your mother, girl, you shouldn't be this scared of her!"
"Angel, I'm begging you. What, you want me to get on the ground and plead? Roll over? Fetch a ball?"
"How about play dead?"
"Angel!"
"I'm sorry, Mimi, but I'm really pissed off about this whole thing! You lied to your mother for four years, and now when it's all about to fall through, you go the easy way out for you, which is the worst way out for me! I've done twenty million things for you, girl, and I'd do a million more, but not this! Not this!"
"What the hell is going on?" whispered Maureen as she plopped down next to Collins, having edged around the two fighting the middle of the room. Joanne sat next to Roger, crossing her legs and watching Mimi and Angel curiously.
"Man, you will not believe this." Collins quickly filled Maureen and Joanne in on the situation. By the end of his telling, Joanne looked some where between amused and confused, while Maureen was struggling not to laugh out loud.
"So Mimi's trying to convince Angel to pretend to be her boyfriend, just so that her mother won't drag her home?"
"I know, but apparently, Mimi's mother is magic or something. Basically, if she says come home, Mimi will go with her tail between her legs. Get it?"
"Looks like Mimi's losing the fight, though," mused Joanne as Angel shook her head firmly. Roger shrugged and leaned forward, propping himself up on his palm.
"Hey, you guys, I've been keeping count. So far, Mimi has asked Angel to do this twenty-four times, and Angel's said no, fifty-six times." Mark, who had come over to join them, squinted at his paper. "Wow. Angel really doesn't wan to do this, does she?"
"Ya think?" said Collins, rolling his eyes. Mark settled himself on the table beside Joanne, watching as Mimi and Angel argued.
"Ok, Angel, fine! I give in!" Mimi said after six more minutes of nonstop begging. Throwing up her hands, she glared at the drag queen. "I won't make you do it. But just remember; if my mother takes me home—which she will, Angel, even if I stood up to her—then I'm not coming back. I'm gone forever, and that's the last you'll hear of me. Are you willing to risk that? Are you willing to risk losing me?" Mimi sounded like a cross between a lunatic and soap-opera character as she said this, but it was the perfect thing to say. Angel was looking at her with a strange look on her face.
"Mimi, your mother can't just take you…"
"Yes, Angel, she can. But you don't care, do you? You care more about one tiny freaking day than letting me stay here in New York, with you, with Roger, with everyone. You don't care about me." Mimi looked forlorn, her eyes huge and her lips quivering. Angel completely knew this was a trap, but she couldn't help it. That's just the kind of person Angel was.
"Mimi, that's not true."
"Is it? Prove to me that it's not true, Angel, by going through a little discomfort for a single day just so that I can stay here forever. Please, Angel. I don't think it's too much to ask." Mimi had Angel caught now, like a rabbit in headlights. Angel squirmed, flinched, looked away. But she was well and truly hooked, and she knew it. Everyone leaned forward, eager to watch her break.
"…Fine. Fine, fine fine! I'll do it." Angel looked horrified with herself as soon as the words had come out of her mouth. But Mimi squealed and jumped into the air, throwing her arms around Angel's neck.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Thank you so much, Angel! I love you, thank you so much!"
"Oh god, just kill me," grumbled Angel, wriggling out of Mimi's grasp and sitting down on the big chair, head in her hands.
"Well, Angel, it looks like from tomorrow morning till tomorrow night, you are going to be our little Mimi's boyfriend," said Maureen, smiling as she walked towards Angel. Angel only moaned. The others clustered around her, shaking their heads and struggling not to burst into laughter. Mimi was grinning like a Halloween pumpkin, and already she was taking charge of the whole thing.
"Okay now, we're gonna need to start soon and move fast, because my mother is coming tomorrow. Joanne, I want you to draw up a list of clothes for Collins, mark, and Roger to get together. We'll experiment with them for Angel later."
"Experiment what?" asked Angel in an alarmed voice, but Mimi ignored her.
"Collins, Mark, and Roger, work with Joanne on that list. Maureen, I'm going to need to you down with me in my apartment. Joanne, join us when you've finished the list." Eyes sparkling, Mimi turned to look at Angel, who was staring at hr with a mixture of contempt, fear, and apprehension.
"We've got a lot of work to do."
