The Camera Loves You

Chapter Seven: Non Believers

"Last Christmas I gave you my heart,

But the very next day you gave it away.

So this year to save me from tears,

I'll give it to someone special…" -Whigfield

After the celebration at the Life Café, everybody went separate ways. Mark and Joanne knew that they would be taking care of Roger's gig equipment in the morning. The bohemians jabbered about having another party like this on New Year's Eve. It was starting to sound like a plan. Musetta and Mark helped Stacie get back home, as she was too intoxicated to walk. She seemed okay with this though, and kept blurting, "La vie boheme!" every few minutes.

Sir Chubbsworth meowed worriedly when his master fell on top of the bed, but Mark and Musetta were just grateful that she was back in the apartment.

"Thanks," said Musetta to the filmmaker.

"It's no problem, Muse," Mark replied with a nod and prepared to leave.

Musetta frowned and fought against her instinct to just let him go. "-Wait!" she yelped. "Um, would you mind going for a walk with me?"

Mark looked at her, bewildered. "You want to go for a walk after midnight in Alphabet City?"

"Just a little one. It's Christmas Eve," she said.

"Alright, just don't forget your coat. It's cold as hell out there."

Musetta nodded and bundled up warm with her coat and scarf. "I'll be right back, Stacie. If you need anything, we'll be right outside."

"La vie boheme!" her roommate shouted.

Mark and Musetta shook their heads at Stacie and walked out the door. Christmas lights glowed in many windows that made colored patterns on the streets like light shining through stained glass windows. In the distance, Mark heard the familiar singing,

"Christmas bells are ringing,

Christmas bells are ringing…"

"Nice night," Musetta said.

"Yeah," Mark replied. He noticed that light snowflakes were falling on them. "Oh, great, now it's snowing."

Musetta's eyes seemed to sparkle when he mentioned it and she looked around. "Oh, isn't it pretty? It's like a painting in the air!"

"It's just snow, Muse."

"-But it's Christmas snow."

"Well, I guess it makes things more poetic or something that way."

They stayed silent after that, communicating only through expressions every now and then. Musetta seemed so gleeful about the night. Perhaps, Mark thought, it was because of the drink or two she had at the Life Café, or maybe she was just easily inspired by things like this.

A large snowflake landed on Musetta's nose and she laughed. She continued to chuckle about it for some time afterward.

"What is it?" Mark finally asked her.

"It's just something my mom told me when I was a little kid," she said. "She told me that if a snowflake lands on your nose that you'll fall in love. Ha, stupid, right?"

"Yeah…I mean, no, I-well, it's a novelty idea I guess," Mark stuttered, trying to make up for any mistake he had made.

Musetta took a breath. "Do you believe in falling in love?"

"What? Me? No, no," he answered. "I mean, love's been a pain in the ass to me. Who needs it?"

"So…did you love Maureen?"

Mark looked to he ground and sighed. "Yeah, I did. She's part of what messed up the whole picture for me." He gripped his scarf and began to tug at it angrily. "You think that somebody cares about you as much as you care about them, but you're fucking wrong! Instead she broke my heart."

Musetta frowned. "I'm sorry I asked. Look, it's Christmas, let's just forget the shit in our lives."

"Okay," Mark agreed with a breath and a nod, then thought about it. "So why did you ask me? Do you believe in falling in love?"

Musetta took another pause and they stopped walking. "No, I guess not."

She looked at him after that, and for a moment, they did nothing but look into each other's eyes. The colors were like two pools of clear blue meeting two identical forest ponds. Neither of them noticed how closely they were standing to each other on slightly trembling feet, and Musetta did not realize that she was actually leaning toward Mark. Just as they had three days before, their noses nearly touched at the tips. The warmth of the each other's face was so welcoming in the cold night air. The snowflakes landed on Musetta's eyelashes, which helped her with the romance when her eyes shut gracefully. Mark's eyes soon followed. At last, their lips met with a small touch. It was hardly even a peck, just an experiment.

When their lips came apart, Musetta looked to her feet, blushing with such embarrassment that Mark could clearly read her face: I'm sorry.

Mark's next action was almost automatic. He placed a finger gently under her chin and made her look back at him before saying, "I-uh, I know that we don't believe in falling in love or anything, but mind if we tried that again?"

She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

They both chuckled before Musetta slowly reached her arms around Mark's shoulders and gripped him lightly, waiting for a sign. Mark carefully wrapped his arms around Musetta and pulled her close until their lips could touch again with just a tug toward one another. And so, they shared another kiss, this one real and truer to their hearts. Like a scene in an old Christmas movie or painting, they stood together that Christmas Eve, the snow and cold not bothering them in the least as the night went on and the snow fell all around.

* * *

Roger played his guitar once more that night in the loft. Mimi listened to the notes contentedly with her head on his shoulder and her foot twitched along, like the movement of waves on a lake.

"Happy anniversary, Rog," she said at last.

Roger smiled. "Two years."

Mimi stood up from her spot and looked through her bag. "I have something for you. It's nothing great, but…" She pulled out a small box with a ribbon around it. "Here. It's for Christmas and for two years."

Roger took the present and opened it to find a new guitar pick with a simple red heart on it. He thought of something sentimental. "Now I'll have your heart with me whenever I play. Thanks, Meems."

They kissed and smiled lovingly at each other before the door opened quickly and they snapped out of their romance. Mark came inside, grinning wider than his face could contain, putting his camera down on the table almost carelessly.

"Looks like someone had a pretty good time taking a drunk back home," Mimi commented with a giggle.

"What took you so long anyway?" Roger asked.

Mark missed his friend's question at first and paused before answering, "Oh, uh, I-I just got a little distracted." He coughed and tried to hide his smile. "I was…filming something interesting."

Roger and Mimi smiled at each other then turned back to the filmmaker. "Did you kiss her, man?" Roger asked.

Mark finally decided to admit it. "-A few times, actually."

Mimi cheered and Roger played an almost triumphant chord.

"Guess this means Marky's got a girlfriend," said Mimi.

"Finally," Roger added on top of that.

Mark shook his head. "Shut up, guys."