Next chapter up! btw, a lot of reviews have been saying that they want to see more of Roger's reactions to this whole deal. I promise that it will come up later (hah haha, i know something you don't know) so that's why i'm staying slightly moot on the point for now. Anyway, this is a bit of a filler chapter, but the next one might possibly be the biggie! oh, and Saran VD promised me a sticker if i wrote more...so I WANT MY STICKER!!
"Mimi, is everything all right?" asked Mrs. Marquez. Mimi looked up and nodded vaguely.
"Why do you ask, Mama?"
"That plate has been dry for five minutes, but you're still drying it." Mimi glanced down and found that she had indeed been drying the same plate she had first picked up. Embarrassed, she laid it down and picked up another one.
She was helping her mother with the dishes after dinner (at her mother's insistence). The meal had been awkward. It had taken half an hour and all the persuasive power that Maureen, Collins, and Maureen possessed to get Angel to come out of the bathroom, and even then she had refused to talk to Mimi. They had managed to convince her that she should go down to Mimi's for dinner, but Angel talked only to Mrs. Marquez, and even those words sounded like they were chipped from stone. The magnificent act of before was much more forced, and even the boisterous, rather gluttonous Mrs. Marquez had noticed. Her chats with Angel about his and Mimi's supposed life in New York often died as Angel trailed off and just glared at Mimi.
It was finally over though, and Angel had retired upstairs to "spend a little time with his friends" as Mimi put it, watching Angel's back as the door closed on it. Now she and her mother were doing the dishes, though Mimi was, to put it mildly, distracted.
"Angelo seemed a little quiet tonight as well," mused her mother as she rinsed a bowl in sudsy water. Mimi began to dry a ratty colander that was probably older than she was. Her mother had brought it from home, along with twenty thousand other cooking utensils. They seemed to have worked, because the mountains of food she bought and prepared were just as delicious as the ones in Mimi's memory.
It was too bad that everything has seemed like sandpaper on her tongue.
"Yes, well, I think he was tired. He had a busy day at work." Mimi grimaced as she thought of Angel. Stubborn, sadistic little-
"Or…he might have a certain question on his mind." Mimi's mother sounded as though she was struggling not to yell something aloud. Mimi perked up. What did her mother mean?
"What are you talking about, Mama?"
"I am talking about him proposing to you!" Mrs. Marquez burst out happily, nearly splashing dirty water all over her daughter. Mimi struggled to conceal her annoyance and sighed.
"Mama, I reeaaally don't think so." Mrs. Marquez snorted.
"Mimi, I saw the way he looked at you. It was obvious. Oh, I am so excited!" Mimi threw down her dish towel and headed towards the bathroom.
"Mimi, where are you going?" Away from you, Mimi wanted to yell. Instead, she only grunted and slipped into the bathroom, where she sat down on the toilet seat, head in her hands.
"Go away."
"Angel…"
"Go away!"
"Angel, talk to me. Don't do this." Mimi leaned against the wall of the building, shivering slightly in the chilly night air. Angel stood in front of her on the fire escape outside the loft, hands on the rail as she looked out across the street. She still looked like a guy, though the glasses were off. Mimi found herself wondering how it would feel to have to spend the day in those clothes, how strange and uncomfortable it would be. But Angel is really a guy, she reminded herself. She actually does dress like that sometimes. Inside, the others sat around in the loft, occasionally glancing at the two of them out the window. How they had gotten Angel to see her was a miracle. Mimi didn't want to know, though. She wanted to focus on getting Angel to at least talk to her.
"Look. You don't have to talk. Just listen." Angel didn't respond. Mimi decided to see that as assent.
"Ok. Here it is. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying to my mom for years and not having the guts or brains to just tell her about my life or Roger. I'm sorry for dragging you into it and not giving you a real choice in the whole thing. I'm sorry for forcing you to do stuff you didn't want to do, and for subjecting you to my mother. I'm especially sorry about that." She noticed a very minimal twitch of Angel's lips. Was that a smile? Encouraged, Mimi kept talking.
"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about it, and that I acted like you had a responsibility for my problems or something. And I'm sorry about my mother moving to New York. I want you to know that I'm going to do everything I can to keep that from happening. I won't let this wreck our lives. Ok?" No answer. Mimi sighed.
"Angel, please. I said I was sorry; what more do you want? I can't do anything right now. Don't you get th—"
"I will forgive you on one condition." Angel's voice was stern. Mimi nearly fainted with relief.
"Anything!" Angel turned to look at her. Her eyes glinted in the streetlight.
"Get your mother the hell out of here." Mimi nodded so fast, her head was a blur.
"I will, I will! Oh, thank you so much, Angel!" She threw her arms around her friend. After a moment, Angel's arms went around her too. Mimi squeezed Angel tightly and felt a small amount of weight lift from her shoulders.
"Thank God," she said when they finally pulled apart. Mimi grinned at Angel, who rolled her eyes and smiled back. "I'm so glad…"
"Me too. But listen, you," said Angel shaking her finger at Mimi. "I'm a patient person, but even I am getting really tricked off with this whole thing,. It's gonna have to end…soon."
"It will," said Mimi, sounding way more confident than she was. Angel raised an eyebrow, but turned to go into the loft. Mimi caught her arm.
"What?"
"Well, um…" Mimi trailed off, reluctant to say what she had to. Angel sensed something bad was coming and got wary.
"What is it, Mimi?"
"See, my mom is staying the night so she can look at apartments tomorrow—not that I'll let her—but anyway, I think she expects that since you live in my house, you…sorta…sleep there. So I think you need to sleep at…my house tonight." Mimi braced herself for the explosion.
She was absolutely right to do so.
Ick! I am actually getting really ticked off with Angel for forigivng Mimi so much, especially since the whole thing is ridiculous. But Angel will be Angel, I guess. Stay tuned for the Climax: Next Chapter. Funful!
luvvies!
