How We Got Here- Part Three
By: Erin
Disclaimer: Okay, Cassandra belongs to me, anyone from Rent belongs to Jonathon Larson and such, Wherever I Go, Coming of Age, When Happily Ever After Ends, Les Mis and any other play I happen to mention belong to whoever wrote them, who the rights are held by and etc. Mooing America is copyright to Erin Weir and Karen Sadler. Hmm... I think that's it, and if I missed anything, please don't sue me, I have nothing other then a whole bunch sparkling water.
That's kind of melodramatic 'And I wasn't there to see it', but hey, I'm a writer… and an actress. Anyway, it's not like I was dead or anything- it's just that we (meaning the cast of my show) had to go do some benefit thing in L.A. Apparently the show gives people the idea that drugs are bad or something. (Gee… considering the motto at the end is 'You can't get a boyfriend if you're on crack' and the only reason they try to take over the world is because their crackheads… I can't see where the committee got that idea from.)
That's enough of me being bitter, but I was really upset when I realized that this had been such an important night for everyone else, while I spent it sitting in a Toronto airport with my insane friend Karen and our resident hasn't-decided-yet-might-be-gay guy, Danny. Somehow we had been trapped into visiting my family, performing a concert for our old high school and then our flight was delayed. 'Twasn't fun and I was quite unamused. Besides all that, I had promised Mark I'd be home for this Christmas Eve.
"Why are you leaving again Cassy? You can't do this to me again!" Mark whined as I ran around my apartment attempting to pack so that I could get to the airport on time.
"I have to do a benefit thing because people thing that our show actually means something. And then I have to go back to Toronto because my mom wants me to and… yeah. Mark, do you know where Danny's purse is? It broke last performance and so I was going to fix it… except he needs it for tonight and damn! Where's my pink capris? I knew I shouldn't have brought the costume's home." Procrastination at it's best.
Mark sighed. "Cassy- calm down. You already packed the pants. Okay, now, inhale- exhale. It's just a benefit- you're too tense."
"Mark- the purse! The purse is an incredibly important part of the show- that's why they call him Angel! I need the purse right now!" But I took Mark's advice and sat down on the edge of my bed, breathing, while he tried to continue my packing.
"I think you're sitting on the purse." I stood up, sighed and handed the purse to Mark. "If anyone should be freaking out right now, it should be me."
"Why?" I asked, handing him Ashley's Act II- Scene 4 & 5 costume to pack.
"Because you're leaving me alone with happy couples again. I mean, I have to go to my ex-girlfriend's protest and meet the woman she left me for. And besides that you've practically convinced Roger to leave our apartment which means that he's either going to go outside and immediately have a fling with some blonde chick or sink back into his depression. Either way, it sets up a miserable Christmas Eve for Mark."
"Mark, I'm flying back Christmas Eve. It'll be fine. Christmas Eve this year will be just as good as it's been for the past 3 years."
"Easy for you to say, you're a girl with a boyfriend. I am a Mark with nobody."
"I don't have a boyfriend Mark. And you don't have nobody- you have me."
"You don't count, you're my friend. And you do too have a boyfriend, that guy who plays Angel in 'Mooing America'." Mark pouted at me as he continued my packing.
"Danny!?!" I laughed and Mark pouted at me more. "Danny is… Danny. I mean, I've known the guy since high school- I can't date him anymore then I could date Roger. Besides, he might be gay." I reached over and closed my suitcase. "Look, I promise, I'll be back for Christmas Eve and it'll be fine. Now, you take care of everyone for me, okay? I don't want to come back and find dead friends."
Mark grinned at that and handed me my suitcase. "I'll try."
"You do that. I'll see you in about a week, okay? Hug for good luck?" I held out my arms and Mark obliged and hugged me. "Don't worry Markarooni, everything will be the same as it was before."
As I walked down the stairs to go catch my taxi I heard Mark's voice. "Markarooni? That's a new one."
Poor Mark. Sometimes I thought he wanted everything to be the same as it was before even more then I did. Actually, it had to be more, because at least I could run off to the theatre and immerse myself in whatever needed done there whenever I was lonely. Mark just had a video camera to disappear behind. He should have joined our little theatre cult, it would have done him a world of good. But then again, I always think everyone should be involved in theatre. I seem to remember trying to convince Benny to audition for a musical with me once. It wasn't pretty. I gave up that idea really quickly.
Anyway, L.A. worked out fine, although the trip home wasn't exactly fun. My grandmother was convinced from the time I turned 18 that I should get married. Every time I brought a guy friend home she thought we were dating and would try to convince him to propose. She tried to convince Collins to propose once. It was quite interesting to see him try to explain why he couldn't propose. All in all, this was a quite uneventful trip home though. Until our plane got delayed. That was just annoying.
We arrived in New York at about 11 p.m., 6 hours after we were supposed to. Karen offered to let me stay in her apartment that night, since it was closer but I was determined to keep my promise. Which is why I was standing outside the apartment building with a pile of luggage next to me at midnight on Christmas Eve.
"It's before midnight. I can still keep my promise- its still Christmas Eve. It's okay, it's still Christmas Eve. For a whole 5 minutes. It's still Christmas Eve. Still Christmas Eve," I chanted as I pulled my suitcase from the back of the taxi.
"Christmas Eve!" I randomly shouted, grinning as the taxi driver shook his head and drove away. It's always fun to scare people. I walked over to the main entrance and found it was locked. "'Tis odd. That's never happened before. Must be some stupid joke on the part of Roger or Mark." I rolled my eyes and yelled up to a third story window, "Okay, unlock the door guys! I'm cold!"
"It wasn't them. Their not even home," a voice behind me said, making me jump. I turned around.
"Damn Benny, you scared the hell out of me. If Mark and Roger aren't home, why is the door locked?" I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "You know, what, don't tell me now. I'm cold and I want to go into my apartment. You can tell me when we're in there. Pick up one of my suitcases and unlock the door."
"So controlling," Benny muttered, but he obliged and a couple minutes later I was attempting to make coffee in my apartment.
"Okay, I get to ask questions, you have to answer. Where is everybody?"
"They're at some party at the Life Café," Benny replied.
"Why aren't you there and why was the door locked?"
"I left because my being around seemed to upset everyone. And Alison's father padlocked their apartment and then locked the entire building because Mark and Roger wouldn't pay their rent."
"What rent? Mark and Roger don't have to pay rent." I noticed that Benny was avoiding making eye contact. "Benjamin Coffin the Third, what did you do?"
"I wanted Mark and Roger to pay rent."
"Why?" I practically shouted. "If you want to be friends again making them pay rent is not the way to go."
"No!" Benny protested. "I didn't actually want them to pay rent, I just wanted Maureen to stop her protest. I would have never actually made them pay, but they got all upset and won't listen to my reasoning."
"That's because it's stupid reasoning. You're an idiot." I attempted to hit him on the back, but I don't think he even felt it. "Why didn't you just ask Maureen to stop her protest and explain. Idiot!" I tried to hit him again.
"Cassy, stop. I don't need you mad at me too." Benny finally made eye contact and he just looked so sad.
"Benny, what's wrong…? You look sad, and that's not exactly usual. Roger and Mark are still your friends- you know?"
"Yeah, 'what happened to Benny, what happened to his heart? And the ideals he pursued.' That sure sounds like something a friend would say. Cassy, I'm not friends with you guys anymore- other then you. I've come to deal with it, you have to too."
"Who said that to you, Benny?" I asked, ignoring everything other then the first sentence.
"Roger."
"Was Roger upset when he said this?"
"Possibly. Probably. Yeah."
"Well, that explains it. Roger's an idiot when he's upset, Benny. An idiot!"
"Stop calling people that. And he's right. I'm not the same person I was before I married Alison. They think I married her for her money, I can tell. I didn't- I really do love her, Cassy."
"I know, Benny, I know. It's okay though, Roger was just upset. I'm sure he didn't mean it- try to talk to him when he's calmed down. It's okay." I looked across the table at Benny, who looked like he wanted to cry. "Oh, Benny, don't cry, I can't stand it when guys cry, it makes me sad. They still like you, I promise." I switched chairs to the one next to Benny's and hugged him. "It'll be okay, just talk to them."
"There you are!" A voice behind me said. "I probably should have guessed you'd be here with her."
I turned around and sighed. It had just gotten worse, Benny's wife was glaring at me and I didn't even want to think what she thought we had done. "Hi Alison. I'm guessing you want your husband back."
"Thank you very much, he's my husband now, not your boyfriend." Why are people always so suspicious of me? I've never actually hit on a guy who's in a relationship, even though people seem to think I do.
As I attempted to think of a reply, Alison grabbed Benny's arm. "Benny, we're going home now. You haven't been home all day, and I know why now."
She pulled him out the door, while Benny tried to explain, "Alison, baby, nothing happened. Cassy just got home from Toronto 10 minutes ago…"
Poor Benny. Not that I feel sorry for all of my friends or anything. It's not his fault that he doesn't seem to be able to re-start friendships. He's the type of guy who was popular in high school and seems to just expect everyone to like him. I wasn't even sure if he realized why everyone was so upset with him. Especially since I still was friends with him even though I was his ex-girlfriend. I mean, I can't be mean to anyone. The only person I was ever mean to was this really annoying girl in high school who drove me to it. She didn't get the point when I tried to avoid her, so finally I was forced to tell her that I didn't like her.
Anyway, the point of my whole rant was that Benny is not good at working to make friends. He just doesn't have the experience and makes due however he can. Which why he needs a friend that will yell at him when he acts like an idiot. (Not that I do that.) I guess a good example of his inability to work on friendships would be New Year's Eve that year.
I had the entire cast of 'Mooing America' over for a New Year's/cast party that night, but it wasn't a big deal, since nobody else was in the building. I hadn't seen Mark or Roger or anyone since I had left for L.A.- I guess they couldn't get back into their padlocked apartment. Just after midnight there was a loud thump filtering through my floor.
"Ashley!" Karen yelled, throwing herself at me and grabbing my waist. "The loud noise scared me!"
"Foolish child." I poked her with my foot and she stood up. "Ashley is the young one and Alex is the bossy older one. I should be running to you for safety." Karen shrugged, and I grinned. "I'll go see what's happening upstairs. Go mingle, I'm sure there's someone in the cast who hasn't realized how insane we are yet. I'll be back."
"Never say that! You're going to die now, Cassandra! We'll be leaving and find you lying at the bottom of the stairs with a broken neck! Don't you know the horror movie rules?" I shook my head at Karen's yelling and continued up the stairs.
The first thing I noticed as I reached the loft was that it no longer had a door. The next thing I noticed was that Mark and a few other people- a couple of whom I didn't recognize- were standing inside, seemingly celebrating. I, of course, decided to ruin this moment by running into the room and jumping on Mark. "Markarooni! You came back! Well… actually I came back, but that's not the point."
"Don't call me that again, Cassy. It's frightening," Mark smiled and I let go of him as he focused his video camera on me. "Close on Cassy, who strangely just called me 'Markarooni'. She also doesn't know anything that's happened since Christmas." He turned off the camera. "Roger isn't quite depressed anymore. He left the apartment, and besides that, I managed to keep all of your friends alive."
"Good good," I replied, grinning. I turned around and noticed the blonde man standing behind me. I jumped on him as well. "Roger-o! I'm so proud of you!" Suddenly I noticed the Hispanic girl standing next to him glaring at me and I let go.
"Roger, who's this?" the girl asked. Why is everyone so suspicious? True, I probably shouldn't have jumped on him, but this was amazing news. The boy hadn't left the apartment for at least 4 months.
"Mimi, this is Cassy Wilson- my ex-roommate. I told you about her- she's the actress." Roger smiled and put his arm around the girl's waist. "Cassy, this is my new girlfriend- Mimi Marquez. She lives downstairs."
Mimi smiled as well. "Nice to meet you, Cassy, I've heard a lot about you. I probably should have realized who you were when you called him 'Roger-o'."
I shook my head. "What kind of stories have to been telling this girl, Roger? You can't go around making people think I'm crazy- it's bad publicity." I looked back at Mimi. She looked so familiar… but if she lived downstairs… "Are you the girl who lives across from me?"
"If you're the girl who always has the loud parties, then yes I am. On the second floor."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Do we bother you? I didn't realize our parties were that loud. Theatre people- at least my theatre people- are kind of insane."
Mimi laughed. "It's okay. You guys always sounded like you were having fun. It was fine."
"If you were lonely you should have come over. I don't think we'd have noticed an extra person and even if we did we wouldn't have cared."
Mimi's eyes flashed. Ooh, I struck a nerve. "I didn't say I was lonely. You just sounded like you were having fun."
Just as I was about to reply to Mimi, one of those little party favor things blew and I turned around to see Benny enter and stare at the door laying on the ground. "You guys really didn't have to destroy the door. Anyway, Mark you might want to turn on your video camera for this."
Mark shrugged and pressed the record button. "Talk away Benny."
"I regret the unlucky circumstances of the past week," Benny began formally.
"Circumstances? You padlocked our door!" Roger broke in.
Benny glared in his general direction and continued, "And it's with great pleasure on behave of Cyber Arts that I hand you this key- it's for the padlock." He looked back at the door. "I guess you don't need it anymore."
Mark looked at his camera and sighed. "My battery's dead."
Benny shrugged. "You can reshoot. I'll say it again."
"Whoo, photo opportunity. Great Benny," Roger sarcastically broke in.
"Why did you change your mind anyway?" Mimi added.
"The credit is all yours, Mimi. You made a good case. Your girlfriend's pretty smart there Roger." Benny grinned and I blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Hey, that's not how you put it yesterday!" Mimi protested.
"What are you doing here anyway, Benjamin?" Maureen said. I hadn't even noticed she was there, which just proves how observant I am. "We know you hate us. Maybe you should be back with Muffy-darling at her estate."
"That's not nice, Maureen! I seriously would rather be here with you guys then in Westport."
"Oh, shut up, Benny, nobody cares." Roger rolled his eyes.
From where I was standing I could see Benny's jaw clench, but I don't know if anyone else noticed. If they did- they didn't care. "Hey, Mimi, since you're so seductive, maybe you should convince Roger there to leave me alone."
"Liar."
"Maybe you should tell your boyfriend there what you wore? Black leather and lace. Or how my desk was a mess afterwards." Oh God, I knew what he was doing now. "Or maybe you should tell him who your last boyfriend was!"
"I'm not her boyfriend, I don't care!" Roger yelled as I grabbed Benny's arm. I knew it was too late though, Roger already looked jealous.
"Okay, that's it. No more. Get your ass out in the hall right now, Benny." I pushed him out the door and nervously grinned at the collection of people staring at me. "Heh, talk amongst yourselves, people, I'll be back in a bit."
I walked out the door and saw Benny sitting on the stairs about halfway between my floor and this one. "What the hell was that, Benny? Breaking up a new relationship is not the way to get them to be friends with you again. You don't do that! This is Roger's first girlfriend since April and you're going to ruin it for him? What the hell's wrong with you?"
Benny stared up at me. "Don't you think I know that, Cassy? I panicked. Nobody was listening to me and no one was believing me and nobody cared. God, I used to be friends with these people. What was I supposed to do- let them make fun of me?"
"Yes!" I hit him on the back. "Idiot! At least you didn't have to try to tear them apart like that. Idiot, idiot, idiot!" I punctuated each word with another hit on the back.
"Cassy, stop it. Sooner or later you're going to bruise me." Benny grabbed my wrist and made me sit down beside him. "Besides, everything I said was true. It's not my fault if they took it the wrong way."
"Yes it is! You implied. Foolish boy! Idiot!" I hit him again and he grabbed my wrist again- this time holding onto it. "God, Benny."
"What am I supposed to do? We had plans together- me, Mark and Roger. We were going to open a cyber studio together. I finally got the money for it and when I was going to open they start a protest against me. It's not fair, Cassy; they didn't even stop to hear me out. All they did was protest about how I was evicting people who were squatting. I did it for them. They don't even care."
"Oh, Benny, I'm sorry." I didn't know what else to do so I just hugged him. "I'll talk to Mark, okay? Sometimes he listens to me. It's okay, honey, it's okay." I let go and looked him in the face. "Do you want me to call a taxi to get you home?"
"No, I was actually serious when I said I'd rather be here. Alison's father is over." He shuddered and I laughed.
"Look, I don't think you're exactly welcome upstairs so why don't you go down to my party. Find my friend Karen- she'll help you 'mingle'." After sending Benny down to my apartment I turned around and noticed Mark looking down the stairs at me. "I sent Benny down to my party. He's kind of upset."
"Why should he be upset?" Mark asked. "He's the mean one."
"I'll explain later," I said quietly, walking up the stairs to meet him. "Anyway, change of subject- which lovely girl in your apartment did you kiss at midnight?"
Mark sighed. "Nobody, I was surrounded by three couples. Quite depressing for Markarooni, here."
"Awww, poor Markarooni. I'll kiss you." And so I stood up tall and did. "Come along now, its time for Markarooni to introduce me to the woman who stole Maureen-kabob from him."
"Stop calling me that!" Mark protested. "And I don't think Maureen would exactly appreciate being called 'Maureen-kabob' either."
"Meh. 'Tis no big deal." I grinned at Mark as we walked through the hole where the door once was. Suddenly I heard a voice call my name and turned around to see yet another blonde I recognized. I, of course, jumped on this person as well. "Hey, it's the drummer person. Have you been keeping warm, honey?"
"You know my Angel?" A deep voice rumbled in my ear.
"Collins!" I let go of Angel and hugged the taller man. "Of course I do. Angel used to hang around outside the theatre when I was in that 'Happily Ever After' musical. The one I always forced to come inside when it was cold out." I stared at Angel. "Didn't I make you come back to my house for dinner once? Because I felt bad because I made you come inside when you should have been outside making money. I don't think you were home that night though, Collins."
I noticed Collins mouthing something at Angel. "I certainly am not insane, Collins. I tell only the truth. It's true that I used to hang out with Angel here, just like it's true that there are scary old guys at the end of the Toy Story movie. Right, Angel?"
Angel smiled and nodded. "As insane as she may sound, darling, she's right." He… she, I guess, turned toward me. "Why don't you tell me what you've been doing lately, Cassy?"
"Well, me and my friend Karen- remember the crazy blonde one that always touched your head? Well, anyway, we're-" Just then a high note floated through the floor.
"What's that?" Maureen asked, covering her ears.
"Um… I think I know what it is. One of the girls in the chorus was in 'La Boheme' once, and she likes to show off. I think she's singing 'Si Mi Chiamano Mimi'. I should probably go stop her." I shrugged apologetically. "I'll see you all whenever." With that I ran back down to my apartment to save Benny from whatever he was being put through.
Apparently, during that year everyone else grew much closer. At least from
what they all (mostly Mark) told me through out the year and what Mark and
Collins told me afterward. I did see everyone at least once a week, but I spent
most of my time at the theatre. We were through the preview period, which meant
that Karen and I had to do revisions. Fun fun. I wish I could have spent more
time with all of my old friends that year, but it was seriously impossible. The
only one I saw often enough was Mark. I wish I had seen everyone more.
