Once inside Mark and Thalia fought their way through a darkened sea of people to find Roger and Mimi. "I think I see them at the bar." Mark yelled over the pulsating music while squinting in the direction of the lounge/bar area of the club. "Come on." He said pulling Thalia behind him.

Beyond the dance floor and woofer system, the back area of the club was quieter. "I think I just got my hearing back." Thalia said as they walked up to Roger and Mimi.

"There you two are, it's about damn time you joined us at the bar." Mimi said from her seat on top of Roger's lap. Roger was nursing a beer that Mimi kept taking sips from.

"I guess it's time to start the night off right." Thalia said while digging in her pockets for her wallet. "Bartender, fix me a rum and coke."

Roger looked at Thalia, momentarily shocked that she would be ordering a drink like that. "Aren't you a little young to be ordering drinks like that?"

"No, I'm twenty-three; I'll be twenty-four in December. Right Mimi?"

"Yep, she's two years older than me and four years younger than Angel."

"You could have fooled me." Roger said scratching the back of his head and looking at Thalia again.

"I've fooled a lot of people, it is just a gift. Mark you want something to drink?"

"Just a beer please." She nodded to Mark while he sat down on the empty seat to the left of Mimi and Roger. Two minutes later Thalia returned with their drinks and handed one to Mark, who was about to pay her back when she pushed the money back into his hand.

"Keep it; think of it as a thank you for inviting me out tonight. You don't know how long it has been since I've had free time to hang out with normal people."

"Thanks."

"Someone come dance with me." Mimi said as she hopped off of Roger's lap when a fast beat song played over the speakers. "T?"

"Mimi, you know I would love to, but I've been on my feet all day and am enjoying sitting down right now. I promise to dance with you later on tonight."

"Alrighty then, I'm holding you to that. Vamanos Roger." She said as she yanked on his arm.

"But I'm not done with my beer yet." His girlfriend solved his problem by taking his beer and chugging it for him.

"Now you're done. Come on." She said, sashaying her hips, beckoning him to follow her.

"She is so lucky she's got a sweet ass…oh and that I love her." He said to the two sitting down. "I better get going before she gets angry, or worse, finds someone else to dance with."

"Have fun. We'll be right here." Mark told him as he pushed his friend in the direction of the dance floor.

"Roger doesn't look like much of a dancer to me." Thalia said after taking a long swig of her drink.

"He isn't but with Mimi he doesn't have much of a choice." For a long while the two fell into silence, listening to the music in the background, searching for something to say to one another. Thalia was the first to break the silence.

"So tell me something interesting about you Mark. Like why you carry around this camera." She said pointing to the piece of equipment carefully placed on his lap.

"Oh I love to film; I've written screen plays and filmed documentaries. I film everything and anything that I have enough battery to film. One day I'm hoping to open the eyes of the world to what is really going on in society."

"That's pretty deep. Have I possibly seen any of your work before?"

"Not unless you watch Buzzline."

"With Alexi Darling? Sorry I only watched one thing on that sleazy show, the 'vampire drag queens who are also compulsive bowlers' segment. After that I definitely couldn't watch anymore."

"Yeah, I'm not proud of it, but I work for her. What can I say; it keeps Benny off our backs and food on the table."

"Benny?"

"Evil landlord."

"Oh. I have one of those too. But I can't judge you on your workplace; why else would I still be working for the man who I would love to strangle the life out of with my own two hands? It's just what you've got no choice in doing. It's not about selling out, but doing what's in your best interest. I'd do anything to keep myself and my son off of the streets."

"Exactly, you are the first person who said that my working for Buzzline wasn't selling out. It's not like I've given up on my Bohemian ways, it just isn't easy to stay that way anymore."

"Thank you, government that says we won't help you unless you can pay."

Mark laughed at her true statement. "What about you Thalia? Tell me some of your interest."

"I like long walks on the beach, ice cream sundaes on especially hot summer days, and staying outside on a nice night to watch the stars."

"Is that all?"

"I absolutely love to draw and paint. Actually, I love everything about art. To me it's like visually writing beautiful poetry across a blank canvass. I'm a licensed art vendor and sometimes work in Central Park doing portraits and name signs for tourists on the weekends, when I have the time."

"Really?"

"Yeah really. You'd be amazed at how many of them will come over and ask for a portrait. My favorites to get are the couples who want a portrait together; you can see so much love in their looks at each other. Most of them are the same though, loud and obnoxious; with their touristy outfits and dazed looks that scream 'how the hell do I get out of this place and back to my hotel?'"

"All in all, you've got to love tourists; they give real New Yorkers a good laugh. I love to watch them trying to read a map of town or worse, trying to figure out the subway system."

This statement caused Thalia to laugh and Mark liked the sound of her laugh. It wasn't nasal, irritating, or forced, but a genuine bell-like laugh. "Whenever one of them asks for directions, I just tell them the truth. Take a cab; it'll be a lot less confusing." She said as she played with her napkin.


One hour later

"Looks like Roger got tired." Mark said as he spotted the flustered-looking guitarist making his way towards them alone. "What'd you do with Mimi?"

"I left her there; she was too into the music to come back with me."

"My feet don't hurt as much as they did before, I'll go dance with her." Thalia said getting up from her seat across from Mark, which Roger sat in immediately, and made her way onto the darkened, crowded, dance floor.

"So what has really gotten you this upset?" Mark asked his best friend.

"Mimi was dancing a too close to this guy for my liking and didn't even realize it. The guy was basically eye-humping my girlfriend right in front of me."

"Roger have you seen the dance floor? There's hardly any room to breath, let alone room to dance."

"I know, but it defeats the purpose. My girlfriend should be aware of her surroundings when she's with me, at least curb her nonchalant flirting."

"Whatever Roger."


A/N: Don't know when the next chapter will be up. Next chapter for How it Happened before the week is over. Now REVIEW please.