Thank you again for all the reviews- keeps me writing! I'm having a little bit of writer's block on what direction I want this to go, so any suggestions are welcome too. Hope you guys like this chapter! Let me know what you think...here it is!
Why Am I the witness?
They had finally made it to July. There was no doubting that Mimi was pregnant anymore, as her stomach was now healthily round. She had started working at the NYU Library, thanks to Collins. Mark had been working on a new documentary for Buzzline, and Haylie had bought the jewelry store.
Roger continued to work nights at the bar and perform on Fridays as well. Collins continued to live in the loft while teaching summer courses at NYU. Things were going well for all of them, and even Roger seemed optimistic, which rarely happened.
Mimi emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a towel and drying her hair with her tee shirt. She sighed when reaching the bedroom and sitting on the bed. Roger was just waking up and smiled at her as she brushed her hair in the mirror.
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, placing one on her lower stomach as he kissed the back of her neck and looked at her in the mirror. Mimi turned to face him, and pressed her lips to his.
His hands danced down her back as her towel fell to the floor. She pulled him closer by the belt loops of his jeans. He smiled into her mouth when he felt her stomach press into him. "Good morning," she laughed, pulling away from him.
"Yeah," he smiled back, "Good morning." He leaned down to kiss her neck again, but she stopped him, giving him a knowing look.
"Roger," she pleaded, pulling his head up, giving a little laugh, "That's what got us into this whole mess."
He made a small pout at her before smiling. "I'm going to take a shower. Have a good day if you leave before I come out." He kissed her cheek and placed a hand on her stomach before snatching her towel from the floor and taking it to the bathroom with him.
"What's up with you?" Mark asked Roger as he made his way to the bathroom.
Roger sighed at him and started, "Well for starters, for the past two weeks, Mimi's been all over me. She gets me all excited and then stops and says 'we're gonna hurt the baby'," Roger threw his arm in the arm and made a girly voice.
Mark laughed at him. "Don't laugh at me, man," Roger started, "at least you get Haylie. I have to be celibate for three more months. I haven't done that since I was sixteen."
"Uh," Mark paused, "Withdrawal?" Roger rolled his eyes at Mark's comments, but was cut off when Mark suddenly grabbed his cheeks and planted a wet kiss on his lips. Roger made a noise before pushing him back.
"What the hell was that?" Roger said, his eyes wide.
"Well," he shrugged, "now you're not thinking about Mimi are you? Shut up and go take a cold shower. I'm sick of you complaining" He laughed, and heard Mimi snicker from the doorway of their bedroom as she watched them.
The bathroom door slammed. Mark shrugged again at Mimi before she laughed, "Thanks for relieving some of his sexual frustration." The door to the loft swung open and Collins had two cups of coffee in his hands. He handed one to Mimi and extended his arm to her.
"Ready to go Mommy?" he asked as she linked her arm in his.
She waved to Mark as they walked off to work. Roger liked that they worked on the same block, and Collins could walk her home at night and she wouldn't have to take the subway alone.
By the time that Roger had gotten out of the shower, the loft was empty. He looked around and sighed, "Alone at last."
He threw on his plaid pants and an old black tank top and perched himself on the windowsill with his guitar. He looked out the window, waiting for inspiration. He could feel the heat coming through the cracks in the window.
The heat had been unbearable. It wasn't like he could forget it with Mimi complaining and tossing all night. He had barely slept in weeks. One night last week, in ninety degree heat, Mimi decided that she wanted chicken soup for dinner and made Roger stand over a stove and cook. He laughed in the memory.
Roger peeled his pants off, and stood in his boxers. He sprawled across the couch, his guitar cradled in his arms still, plucking notes as he thought. He closed his eyes, trying to come up with something new to play.
I'm really really hot/My roommate kissed me and my girlfriend laughed/I'm having a baby/I like Stoli and Marlboros/and this song sucks..
He laughed at himself as he thought about how bored he was. Only minutes ago, he was thrilled to finally be alone. It was times like these when he missed Maureen's loud voice barging through the door. He smiled and let his eyes close again.
His eyes fluttered back open when he heard the door open. He turned to Haylie throwing her purse on the old metal table and flash a smile at him. "Where's Mark?" she asked walking over to him.
"Filming shit for Alexi, fucking bitch," he muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
She laughed and continued, "Writing a new song?" she asked.
"Trying to, but it's so damn hot and I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open," Roger said sitting up and rolling his neck.
"Here," she said walking behind the couch and putting her hands on his shoulder, "I give the best massages." Roger would have protested, but he decided to shut up when she started.
"Now I know why Mark keeps you around," he joked as she kneaded his neck.
"God, Rog, you're so tense. Loosen up a bit. You need to get out more and get away from all of this stress," she leaned over to smile at him. If he needed to loosen up, this was certainly helping.
"I wish," he moved his neck in circles, and he could soon feel her breath on his neck. Her hands snaked down lower onto his chest, and she soon had her face in the crook of his neck.
"Just need to forget about all that responsibility for a while," she said, brushing her lips against his ear. He flinched and pulled away quickly, standing up from the couch.
"How dare you," he said surprised, his voice lowering, "You think I'd actually fall for that? You think I'd do that to Mark?"
She walked back over to him, "Come on Roger, you can't tell me you don't want this." She dragged her index finger from his lips and into the waist band of his boxers.
"Get out," he pointed to the door, "Now." He left his arm held out as she huffed and gathered her purse before slamming the door shut.
"You're just in denial," she muttered while sliding the door shut.
Roger sat back down on the couch, contemplating whether or not he should tell Mark about what had happened. On one hand, he deserved to know. On the other, Mark was finally happy and he had a life of his own. It would kill him to know what she had done.
When the film maker returned, Roger was still sitting in his spot on the couch. "Hey," Mark waved, throwing Roger a beer, "thought we could use these."
Roger faked a smile and cracked the can open. He took a long gulp and mumbled, "Why don't you grab one of those and come sit down."
Mark walked over. He saw the musician picking at his fingers nervously. "What's up?" he asked, "It isn't Mimi is it?"
"No, no," he shook his head, "Look Mark, something happened today."
"What do you mean something happened?" Mark moved closer.
"Haylie," he paused and breathed, "Haylie kinda came on to me."
Mark laughed, "Geez Roger, she was probably just being friendly. God, this heat's made you delusional." He slapped the other man's shoulder.
"Yeah," Roger scoffed, "If friendly is kissing your ear and slipping a finger down your pants?" Mark's face froze. Roger could see his body stiffen.
"You just can't stand to see me happy for once, can you?" Mark started. Roger began to defend himself, but Mark continued before he got the chance. "You know Roger, I've spent so much time helping you and now I'm finally happy. You just can't stand to see it can you? I should have expected this. I can't believe you're jealous. I bet you're the one who came onto her. You said it yourself, you can't deal with no sex. I can't fucken believe you Roger. Sex got you into this, and you can't even commit to your damn girlfriend? What an act! You know, you play Mr. Responsible these past few months, but it's all an act. Yeah, so responsible. That baby is gonna be sick and it's all because Roger was irresponsible and could only think about himself and couldn't keep it in his pants," Mark stopped and closed his eyes realizing what he had just said. He breathed heavily.
"You know what, Mark? Go talk to your girlfriend, because you know I'd just jump at the opportunity to cheat on my pregnant fiancée and ruin your happiness," Roger got up and took another long gulp of his beer before slamming it on the counter.
"I-I'm sorry," Mark stuttered.
"No, Mark. As always, you're right. I'm a fuck up." He looked into Mark's eyes. "And I may be a screw up, but I didn't touch or think about laying a finger on Haylie. I wouldn't have told you if I had."
Mark could hear the sincerity in Roger's voice. "Roger, listen. I didn't mean all the stuff I said. You know how I feel about you and Mimi," he looked down, shuffling his feet, "I can't believe she'd do that to me."
"I'm really sorry Mark. I just thought you should know." Mark didn't say anything, only nodded.
Mimi and Collins came through the door. Collins was laughing and holding a fan. "Look what I brought," he said holding it up.
"Woah," Mimi said when she saw the two men standing at the table, "Did someone die?" She laughed, "and baby, why are you in your underwear?" Her eyes moving to his pants lying near the couch. "That hot kiss earlier get you excited?" she purred.
He blushed. "I was hot," he laughed as Mimi ran up to kiss him hello, "Everything's fine. Mark and I were just talking."
Collins made his way to his "room", which was his old mattress behind a sheet in the corner of the living room. "What about we get Chinese tonight, on me?" he asked from behind the curtain.
"Mmm," Mimi said rubbing her belly, "This little girl would love some."
Roger laughed, "It's a boy for the last time. I swear, I know these things."
"Oh yeah," she laughed, "Dr. Davis says that it's a boy so it must be fact." She patted the top of his head and walked away.
The loft was practically silent for the rest of the night. The loudest noise was Mimi devouring and slurping her noodles and rice. Mark had made his way to his bedroom early, and Roger and Mimi had stayed up talking about wedding plans.
Collins was lying on the couch watching old 'I love Lucy' reruns, although it was more static than picture. He overheard Roger talking about how he didn't want his family and Mimi saying how she wanted both of their families there.
They had agreed on a small wedding at a little Italian place that Mimi had found near NYU. Collins smiled when he heard Mimi insist that they have the wedding at the end of October. He was even more impressed when Roger didn't protest or even ask why. He already knew. Angel.
It was nearly 3 am, and Mark still hadn't fallen asleep yet. He starred at the ceiling. He hadn't talked to Haylie and she hadn't called all night, which was weird because she had been spending all ofher time at the loft.He tried not to believe Roger, but he knew that not even Roger would make up that kind of a story.
He rolled his eyes when he thought back on how all the girls would swoon over Roger when they would go out to clubs years ago. Even April, who Mark was instantly drawn to, was more interested in the brooding rocker. He thought it was finally his turn to have someone. He rolled over and pressed his eyes shut.
It wasn't much later when Mark felt someone crawl into bed with him and place a hand on his shoulder. He turned over and rubbed his eyes, reaching for his glasses. He half expected it to be Roger, like he used to when he was upset and needed to talk.
He didn't have to put them on to see her dark wavy hair in the moonlight. Her dark brown eyes piercing through him, just as they always had. She frowned and sat up.
"Maureen?" Mark said surprised, finally adjusting his glasses.
"I just couldn't do it out there," she said. He could hear her choke up. Maureen didn't cry. If there was one thing Mark learned about Maureen, it was that she rarely cried. "I tried so hard Marky, but I just couldn't do it."
He went to speak but she continued, "Please, can I just stay here with you tonight?" She pouted her lips and he laid back down. She smiled and rested her head on his pillow. "Thank you, Marky."
He didn't know if he didn't have the energy to say no, if he really wanted Maureen to stay or if he felt comforted by having her there. For the night, there were no words or explanations. Just sleep.
