A/n: I sorta doubt that the Marriott has really great room service, but this is of course purely fiction. I don't own Rent, "Written in the Stars," or any Marriott Hotel. And though there is really a Broadway and 86th on the Upper West Side (totally checked my subway map, haha), I would be really freaked out and surprised if there was a Holiday Inn across from a Marriott there. :)
Chapter 20
Joanne scowled, walking out of the hotel lobby. They couldn't get her a room. "No room at the Holiday Inn...Oh, no..." She huffed.
Luckily, as she glanced up, she saw a Marriott Hotel right across from the Holiday Inn. She went inside and easily procured a room, and it was much nicer than the other hotel. After texting Maureen with the new, correct information, she unlocked the door to the room, going inside.
Joanne sat inside of the spacious hotel room, staring at the comforter, decorated with swirls. The curtains matched the bedspread, and in across from the large bed sat a medium-sized TV, on top of the dresser. In a corner, there was a table and two chairs, with the bathroom directly across from it. The only light in the room came from a glowing lamp on the corner table. Overall, it was a cute little room.
Joanne wondered if she should have gotten a room with two twins, instead of one king-sized bed. After she had the thought, she laughed at herself. This was Maureen. She was just nervous, which was perfectly understandable.
Joanne's cell phone buzzed, and she looked at the screen, seeing the text from Maureen. What room? It said, and Joanne quickly texted back. 305.
Truthfully, Joanne felt kind of sleazy about getting a hotel room, especially because they were so popular for one-night stands. But this was different, she told herself. Besides, it was Christmas Eve, and only about Nine o'clock at night.
A knock sounded on the door. "Come in," Joanne called, knowing that it was Maureen.
"Yeah, I would love to, but...I don't have the key card." Maureen said, and Joanne could picture her biting back a laugh on the other side of the door..
Joanne mentally slapped herself, hurrying to the door with the key card. She slid it through the slot, opening the door for Maureen.
As soon as Maureen was through the door, she rushed over to Joanne, throwing her arms around the other girl and holding her tightly. Joanne sighed, feeling her nervousness disappear. Had she really been missing out on all this? How could they have even broken up in the first place?
Maureen pushed her back onto the bed, pressing kisses all over her face and neck. "I missed you so much, Pookie," she said between kisses, and Joanne moaned as Maureen's lips connected with the skin right below her ear.
"I missed you," Joanne managed, feeling her eyes slip shut.
"I missed your smell," Maureen said, burying her nose into Joanne's neck, sighing contentedly. Joanne tilted Maureen's chin up, kissing her lips gently. "I missed your mouth..." Joanne replied, basking in the familiar, warm feeling of Maureen's lips on hers.
Finally, after a few minutes of kissing, Joanne and Maureen laid on top of the bed, holding each other. Maureen's hazel eyes bore into Joanne's and Jo knew that the questions would be coming next.
"Joanne, as right as this feels..." Maureen trailed off, stroking Joanne's cheek. "We can't keep doing this. Your parents are going to find out that we're seeing each other again."
Joanne grinned. "They already know."
"What?" Maureen said, horrified. Her hand stilled. "Oh god, Joanne! But that means...How did they find out?"
"I told them." Maureen raised an eyebrow at that. "Um, details, now!"
Joanne nodded. "Well, I was moping around for three weeks-"
Maureen cut in. "Oh my god, me too. You've got me whipped, girl."
Joanne laughed. "Anyway, I was moping around. And Christmastime finally rolled around and, well, you know how hard it is to be alone at this time of the year."
Maureen nodded. "And everyone was at my house- Angel, Collins, Taya, Chris, even Alex. And...they all had someone...And I really missed you."
Maureen stuck out her lip slightly. "Awwww."
Joanne shrugged. "I think when Angel gave me this," she held up her hand, sticking out her ring finger. Maureen's face lit up as she recognized the ring. "That was the last straw."
Maureen leaned over and kissed her cheek. Joanne blushed, and continued. "So I marched downstairs and found my parents. I told them that I'm a lesbian, who is in love with you."
Maureen's mouth hung open. "Jesus. I wish I would have been there to see that. What did they say?"
Joanne shook her head. "Nothing. I went outside to my car and called you before they could say anything."
"Oh." Maureen sat up. "And Harvard?"
"Is not fair for them to hold over my head like that. I don't even want their money anymore. I want to be able to be me." Joanne finished for her, shrugging.
Maureen nodded. "You have a point, my little nonconformist." They sat in silence for a moment, before Joanne spoke up. "I love it so much, Mo," she said, admiring the ring.
Maureen blushed. "Thanks. I went and got it done a couple of weeks ago at a jeweler's. I slipped it to Angel on the last day of class, so he'd make sure you got it."
Joanne smiled, then looked down. "I'm sorry I didn't get you-"
Maureen cut her off. "Oh, stop it. You couldn't have known what I was planning."
Joanne nodded, and they fell into another comfortable silence. A minute later, Joanne looked at Maureen out of the corner of her eye, and then looked back at the bedspread. Maureen glanced back at Joanne, and finally they met each others' eyes. Maureen raised an eyebrow.
At the same time, they leapt at each other, their lips meeting in a hard kiss. After all, they had to make up for lost time. Maureen quickly deepened it, sucking on Joanne's bottom lip softly.
As Maureen's hands wandered over her body restlessly, Joanne felt a growing warmth inside her, accompanied by a tingly, buzzing feeling from the top of her head, reaching down through her toes.
Maureen started undressing her, and Joanne knew what this meant.
She pulled away reluctantly, reaching over to turn out the lamp, before Maureen stopped her. "Want to leave it on?"
Joanne raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"
Maureen nodded and smiled, and Joanne turned the lamp back on, bathing both her and Maureen's bodies in a soft, glowing light.
"You're beautiful," Joanne said to the diva, and Maureen grinned. "I've just thought of a good Christmas present to give you. For now, at least," Joanne smirked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
"Oh?" Maureen said, pulling Joanne on top of her. "And what would that be?"
Joanne leaned down and captured Maureen's lips in a toe-curling kiss, and the drama queen moaned. "You'll see..." Joanne whispered.
~x~
Joanne awoke sometime later in the fluffy hotel room bed, stretching languidly. She looked at the clock. It was just past midnight. Joanne heard the comforting sound of the shower running, and she listened to Maureen singing in the shower.
"Is it written in the stars? Are we paying for some crime? Is that all that we are good for, just some stretch of mortal time?" She heard Maureen's strong, beautiful voice floating out from under the door.
Joanne chucked. She was singing songs from Aida again. Though now that she thought about it, the song was kind of fitting...
Joanne curled back up under the covers, smiling to herself. Listening to Maureen's voice squeak on a high note, she knew that she had made the right decision.
A few minutes later, the bathroom light clicked off, and the door opened. Joanne, with her back to Maureen, feigned sleep as she heard Maureen emerge from the room with probably only a towel on.
Seconds later, she felt an extra weight on the bed, and a warm arm that smelled like soap wrapped around her waist. "Jo..." Maureen said softly. She kissed Joanne's shoulder. "Wake up..."
Joanne opened her eyes, pretending to wake up. She rolled over closer to Maureen, smiling sleepily at her.
"Hey, sleepyhead," Maureen said, brushing a strand of hair from Joanne's eyes. "I'm hungry."
Joanne nodded. "Me too." She glanced over at the clock again. "But it's midnight."
Maureen rolled her eyes playfully. "So? They probably have like, 24-hour room service or something."
Joanne laughed. "Mo, it's not the Waldorf-Astoria." She pointed to the sign hanging above the menu: Room service- 8 AM - 10 PM, it read.
Maureen grabbed the phone, dialing the front desk's number. "Watch this." She put it on Speaker Phone as it rang. "Front Desk," a woman chirped into the phone.
"Um, oui," Maureen said, putting on an extremely bad French accent. "Je voudrais un baguette, et du fromage! Oh, et un bouteille de..." She looked at Joanne frantically, searching for the word. After all, she'd never really listened in French class.
"De Vin!" Joanne whispered.
"Oui, de Vin! Beaucoup de Vin!" She laughed, and the woman on the other side sighed. "I'm sorry, could you please speak English?"
Maureen cleared her throat. "Oh, yes, yes mademoiselle." Her bad accent sounded even worse in English. "I am Maureen Johnson, French supermodel. I come to America to do photoshoot, but oh, I am so hungry. Room service?" She asked, giggling when she saw Joanne shake her head.
"Oh, yes, of course Ms. Johnson! I'm so sorry. We'll have Room Service bring you something to eat as soon as possible." The lady said, and Maureen proceeded to order the most expensive food off of the menu, charging it to her father's credit card.
"See, I told you," Maureen said when she finally hung up. Joanne wiped tears out of her eyes. "Wow." She laughed.
In record time, there was a knock on the door, announcing the arrival of the food.
Maureen got up and answered it. "Ms. Johnson?" The lady from the front desk asked timidly, looking inside the room. She took in Maureen's robed figure, and looked at Joanne, who had quickly thrown on a robe of her own. The woman cocked an eyebrow.
"Oui, c'est moi!" Maureen smiled, looking eagerly at the cart of food that the woman was wheeling in.
"Here is your food, miss. I hope you enjoy," she said, opening the bottle of wine for Maureen. "This is a very expensive wine, miss, a fine choice." She looked at Joanne.
"May I see your ID?" She asked her as she opened the wine.
Joanne panicked internally. "Uh..."
Maureen cut in with her accent. "Uh, no, no, she is my lesbian lover," she said, pulling Joanne close.
"Okay..." the woman said, "but I still need to see her ID. She doesn't look twenty-one to me."
Maureen leaned in, licking Jo's face. "Do you care to see what my people invented, Mademoiselle? The French kiss, no?" She leaned in, latching her lips onto Joanne's. The woman left quickly, severely disturbed.
Joanne and Maureen spent the rest of the night with their food and wine, getting very tipsy.
"That chick was right," Maureen giggled as she took another sip from the bottle. Joanne took a bite of her pasta.
"Mmm?" She responded.
"This is good wine, Pookie." Maureen said, handing it to Joanne. "I know," she said, taking a swig.
They both paused for a moment, looking out the window. It was snowing hard outside.
"And it's beginning to snow..." Maureen sang softly, smiling at Joanne.
"Merry Christmas, Honeybear," Joanne said.
"Merry Christmas to you, Pookie," Maureen replied, kissing her on the lips. They pulled apart, eating more of their food, before Maureen spoke again.
"Hey Pookie, wanna do something French? Wanna get naked?" She untied her robe, pulling at the fabric drunkenly.
"How is that French?" Joanne asked, but she didn't protest.
Maureen shrugged, reaching for the tie on Joanne's robe. "I don't know, but I'm drunk and kind of want to eat pasta off of your naked body," she replied. She stopped, thinking for a moment. "Or maybe that's more Italian."
Joanne let her, and the two spent the rest of their night together, laughing and eating and drinking together into the wee hours of the morning.
Wow, that was fluffy. A break from angstiness, no? Okay, translations:
Je voudrais un baguette, et du fromage! = I would like some bread and some cheese.
Oh, et un bouteille de Vin. Oui, de Vin! Beaucoup de Vin. = Oh, and a bottle of wine. Yes, wine, lots of wine!
Oui, c'est moi = Yes, that's me.