Disclaimer: I don't claim the rights to any of these characters. So, don't sue cause I don't have any money anyway.
Ch 3: But You're Not Trying Hard Enough
Mark adjusted his scarf when they got outside. "When is it gonna be spring?" he whined.
"Hey," Roger tapped Mark's arm, "it's beginning to snow."
"Let's hurry then."
There was a line outside the theatre, reaching the corner. Mark and Roger joined the end.
"What time does this thing start?"
"Around eleven," Mark answered.
"Okay, it's quarter of," Roger glanced at his watch, "they should be letting us in soon." As if on cue the line started moving, they slowly filed their way in and found two seats towards the back.
"What's the title of the first film?" Roger asked.
Mark glanced down at the program he had grabbed. "Two of a Kind," he said as he read through the summary. "Uhh… Roger…" Mark started, glancing at the cover of the program. It read: Gay Life: Independent Films. Roger wasn't paying attention.
"This thing has quite a crowd. Whoa, Mark, look at those guys!" ho motioned towards a guy walking in with a drag queen on each arm.
"Roger!" Mark snapped.
"What?"
"We might want to leave." Roger gave him a confused look.
The lights began to dim, as the announcer walked to the front of the room. "Welcome to the first in a series of independent film festivals by Gay Life."
The color drained from Roger's face as he frantically glanced around the room. Mark was pretty sure he knew what was going in Roger's mind: a situation like this would compromise his rock star image, at least that's what Roger thought, but Roger was very stubborn, nothing Mark could say would fix this situation. Mark stood up and pulled Roger's sleeve, motioning for him to follow.
One outside in the cold air, Roger exploded. "What the fuck was that, Mark?"
"I didn't know!" he defended himself.
"Like hell you didn't!" the musician spat, stalking off back towards their loft. The smaller man tried to keep up with him, but the driving snow was flying into his face and sticking to his glasses, making it very difficult to see. Roger strode ahead, not bothering to listen to Mark's pleas.
"Roger! Come on!" Mark shouted as he slipped on an icy patch. "It's no big deal!" he called as he clamored up from the sidewalk, ignoring the stinging pain in his elbow. Mark sighed and hurried to catch up with his friend, he finally caught him at the door to their loft; Roger didn't have his key.
"Now you have to talk to me."
"Open the door. Dammit Mark! Open the door!" Roger slammed his fist into the wall. Mark obliged and Roger stormed into the loft.
"What's your problem, Roge? I doubt anyone saw you," Mark tried to sound comforting. He took off his coat and threw it on the couch.
"You'd better hope so, Mark. If I lose my band and my music career, it'll be your fault!" Roger yelled.
"Wait a minute! This isn't fair. What the hell did I do? Just because you need to be a macho man all the time and have to make sure everyone knows what a man you are doesn't--" Before he knew what he was doing, Roger reached out and shoved Mark.
"Just SHUT UP!"
Mark fell back hard, his head smacking into table. Mark stayed down, stunned as the angry man stood over him breathing heavily.
"Mark!" a cheery voice rang across the loft. Maureen walked in followed by Joanne and Collins. "We got your message Ro-" she stopped. "What the hell is going on here?" She marched up to Roger. "Is this how you make things up to him? Trying to kill him?"
Roger was finally calming down. "No… I…"
"Mark, are you okay?" she asked. He slowly got up, and put his fingers to his temple, pulling them away he saw blood. Glaring at Roger, Mark ran out of the loft, right past Joanne and Collins, who were frozen in the doorway.
"Mark, wait!" Collins called, coming to his senses. "What happened?" he addressed Roger.
"I have to go find him," he said.
"I don't think that's the best idea," Joanne interrupted. He ignored her and walked through the door, almost straight into Mimi, who had just arrived.
"Hey!" she smiled, peering into the loft. "What's going on? Everyone looks so- Where's Mark?"
"Not now," Roger said, rushing past her.
(Yeah, it's kind of short… but I have another chapter ready for you. Well, I hope you'll be happy about that, cause I am enjoying writing this… Reviews, anyone?)