"So Roger, when are you gonna forget about Callie and go out with me?" the young redhead asked looking up at Roger as he got off stage.
"Not now April. I'm not in a mood for you right now." he said walking away from her.
"You know Roger, she's not coming back." she said following him.
"You don't know that." he said looking down at her.
"Yeah well, Maureen doesn't think she's coming back either." April said looking up at him.
"I wish you would stop talking about my life behind my back." he said looking down at her.
"We're roommates. We talk to each other." she said looking up at him.
"You guys don't know anything." he said taking the beer off of the bar drinking it.
"Well I see you here and you're lonely and pathetic. You look like you could use some company." she said drinking her martini.
"April just leave me alone." he yelled walking away to go out the back door to the alley. He reached into his leather jacket for a small baggie. He opened it up and dipped a key into it. He brought it up to his nose and snorted it's contents. He thought about Callie before dipping the key back into the baggie, taking another snort of cocaine. "Here's to you Baby." he whispered before putting the baggie away and going back inside.
"Come on, dance with me." April said taking his hand and dragging him onto the dance floor. There was a slow song playing on the jukebox and she grabbed him, pressing her body against his. He didn't have the energy to fight her anymore. He was numb. He let her hold him swaying to the music. "Do you want to get out of here and go back to my place?" she asked looking up at him.
"Uh, yeah. Yeah. I don't want to be alone anymore." he told her quietly as she took his hand and led him out of the bar. When they got back to April's apartment, they had sex. The next morning he woke up and looked around at his surroundings. He didn't recognize where he was. He looked down at the woman laying next to him and couldn't believe who he was laying next to. "Oh man." he whispered looking over at her before starting to get dressed.
"Roger hey, you're up." she smiled looking up at him.
"Yeah, um.. I gotta be getting home. Mark, Collins and Benny are probably wondering where I am." he said looking down at her slipping on his socks.
"I was gonna make breakfast. Don't you want some?" she asked looking up at him.
"No... um, I gotta get out of here." he told her quietly before leaving the bedroom.
"Roger, what are you doing here?" Mark asked sitting on the couch.
"Um... Mark, hey... um...what are you doing here?" he asked looking over at him.
"My girlfriend lives here, remember? What are you doing here?" he asked looking up at him.
"Oh right... Um... I gotta go. I'll see you at home." he said rushing out the door.
"Good morning Mark." April smiled looking over at Mark as she came out of her room in a pair of short shorts and a cut off tank top.
"What are you doing April? You know he's still hung up on Callie." he asked looking up at her.
"Yeah well, he was lonely and she's not here so I had to be." she said going into the kitchen and pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"April, you know he still loves her. He'll always love her." he said getting up to talk to her.
"I'm not looked for love Mark. I just want to hang out with him. It's not a big deal." she said taking her coffee and going towards her room.
"He's my best friend April. I'm not gonna see him get hurt." he said looking over at her.
"We're not getting into a relationship Mark. We're just friends hanging out, having sex. Good sex by the way." she told him going into her room and closing the door.
"Whatever." he said looking over at her as Maureen came out of the bedroom.
"Who was at the door?" she asked playing with her hair.
"Roger. He just left. Him and April slept together last night." he said looking over at her.
"What about Callie? Did she call? Did they break up?" she asked looking over at him.
"Not that I know of, but I don't like this. Roger's gonna be really screwed up now." he said looking over at her.
"Oh yeah, he was doing so great before." she said sarcastically. "I'm gonna go talk to her." Maureen said looking over at him.
"Don't bother. I already tried." he said as she walked towards April's bedroom door.
"Yeah well, I'm not gonna let her hurt him anymore than Callie being gone already has." she said barging into April's room. "April, what the hell do you think you're doing?" she asked walking over to her bed.
"I'm drinking coffee listening to music. Why?" she asked looking up at her.
"You know what I'm talking about. You know how much he still loves Callie. Did you really think sleeping with him was gonna make him just forget about that?" she asked looking down at her.
"I don't know Maureen, but he has to get over her eventually. So why not with me?" she asked looking up at her.
"Because you're not Callie, April. Just don't hurt him, OK?" she said looking down at her.
"I'm not trying to hurt him Maureen. I'm trying to help him. You should have seen how he looked last night. He was like a lost puppy. I was trying to make him feel better. And the sex was great, so I guess he felt better for a little while." she said looking up at her.
"That's not what I'm talking about April, and you know it. He's very fragile these days. He's gonna get hurt and I'm afraid he can't handle that right now." she yelled looking down at her.
"Maureen, I'm just trying to help him. Obviously, leaving him alone isn't working. It's been 6 months and he still hasn't started to move on with his life. Someone had to do something." she yelled looking up at her.
"April, leave him alone, OK? I'm serious. Roger is off limits." she told her before storming out of the bedroom.
"We'll see." she said quietly before Maureen closed the door.
"Where were you all night?" Benny asked looking up at Roger as he sat at the metal counter drinking coffee and reading the paper.
"Nowhere." he answered going straight into his room.
"What's with him?" Benny asked looking over at Collins who was sitting on the window seat reading a book.
"I have a feeling he did something he regrets." he said getting up to go to Roger's room. "Rog, I'm coming in." he said entering Roger's bedroom.
"Go away Collins. I really need to be alone right now." he said laying on his bed.
"What did you do?" he asked sitting on the bed.
"Not what. Who?" he said looking up at him.
"Oh Roger. What did you do?" he asked looking down at him.
"I don't want to talk about it." he said holding his pillow tight not facing him.
"You know you can tell me, right?" he asked looking over at him.
"I said, I don't want to talk about it." he yelled getting out of the bed and going to his dresser where his pictures of Callie were.
"Roger, talk to me. Where were you all night?" he asked looking over at him.
"I slept with April. Damn, I'm so stupid." he yelled running his fingers through his hair.
"Dude, April? Are you serious?" he asked looking up at him.
"I know. It was stupid. She just got me at a weak moment and I guess I let it happen." he said looking down at him.
"Yeah well, if you'd stop shoving that shit up your nose, you'd have better judgment." Collins yelled looking up at him.
"Collins you have no idea. It just hurts so much not having her here. I'm sick of being alone." he yelled looking down at him.
"I know Rog. I love her too. But she's gonna call any day now and then she'll come home. You'll see." he said looking over at her.
"I've been hoping for 6 months, but I'm starting to think it's never gonna happen. She's gone for good." he said looking down at the picture of Callie.
"I don't think she's gone for good Roger. She just needed some time. She still loves you." he said going over to him.
"What makes you so sure?" he asked looking over at him.
"Because I grew up with you guys, remember? A love like yours doesn't die. You're each other's destiny." he said looking down at him.
"I'm starting to think I have to find myself a new destiny." he said looking up at him.
"She'll call Roger. You'll see." he said putting his hand on Roger's shoulder.
"How do you know that?" he asked looking over at him.
"Because she the only woman I'll ever love. Trust me man. I know her." he said before leaving the room.
"Thanks man." Roger said watching him leave before laying back down in his bed.
