Roger dashed across the street to the Life. The cold weather was horrible; it only pushed Roger to further search for Mimi. Roger went inside the Life. It felt good to be back in New York City. Roger found Benny sitting at the bar. He slid into the stool next to his estranged friend.
"Welcome home," Benny said in hopes of lightening the tense air between him and Roger. "How was Santa Fe?" Roger shrugged.
"Okay I guess." Roger's gaze was fixed on the surface in front of him.
"She still loves you, you know." Roger looked at Benny. "Mimi, that is. She loves you." Roger stood up. He didn't need to hear this from anyone, especially Benny.
"If you know where Mimi is," he growled.
"I'd tell you," Benny said in a calm voice. "Trust me, I would. I'm not that heartless, contrary to popular belief. I'm over Mimi, it was a fling." Roger rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, I have to go find my girlfriend." With that, Roger turned on his heels and left the Life.
Mark bound up the stairs to Angel's apartment. He wanted to see how Angel had been holding up lately. Mark knocked on the door. Angel answered it. He was in sweatpants and one of Collins' flannel shirts.
"Hey Mark," he said as he gave Mark a hug. "Come on in." Mark followed Angel inside.
"How've you been holding up, Ang?" Mark and Angel sat on the couch together. Angel shrugged.
"Pretty good. You know, Mark, you don't have to come and check on me; I'm a big boy."
"I'm worried. You can be honest with me. How are you holding up?"
"I'm a mess, Mark," Angel confessed. "I miss Collins so much." Mark was at a loss at what to do. "We had talked about what would happen and what we would do, but it was only talk. We only talked about it, because we knew that we had to."
"Collins was one of my best friends, and he wouldn't want to see you like this. Where's the old, bubbly Angel we used to know?" Angel got to his feet.
"I don't know. There's so much shit going on right now. The love of my life is dead, and my best friend is gone!" Angel broke down into sobs. Mark had never seen him cry. Even at Collins' funeral, he had stared ahead, stone faced. Mark got up and gave Angel a comforting hug. He wasn't really good at this comforting thing, but Angel needed him.
Roger scanned the vacant park for any sings of a leopard print jacket. No luck. Roger continued to walk through Tompkins Square Park. Leaning up against a tree was The Man. Roger rushed up to him. He was the only one that Mimi would buy heroin from.
"Hey, hey!" Roger exclaimed. He skidded to a stop in front of his old dealer. The icy December air burned his throat and lungs as he caught his breath. "Have you seen her?" he asked as he held out a worn Missing flier for The Man to see. The Man looked it over.
"Mimi?"
"Yeah,
have you seen her?"
"Not recently." Roger sighed.
"If you do, please send her home." The Man nodded. Roger left to continue his search. Time was running out to find Mimi. She couldn't last that much longer on the freezing streets without her medicine.
A/N: The next chapter is the last.
Tina101
