Roger's Little Secret
Roger opened the door to the loft and looked around anxiously. "Hello?" He called out. No answer. Good he thought as he let out a sigh of relief. He pulled out the brown paper bag he had been clutching tightly in his jacket as he looked around one last time. Thank God no one's home. As he stepped over to the couch he took off his jacket and flopped down. A small grin came across his face as he started to reach into the bag.
"Hey Rog!" Collins called to him, walking out of the bathroom.
Roger yanked his hand out of the bag and quickly stashed it under his coat. "What are you doing here?" He asked quickly.
"Grading papers. I figured there was no point in going all the way back to my place before we went to dinner. So I'm just waiting on you guys."
"Oh."
"So what are you up too?" Collins asked cheerfully as he walked over and sat down in the chair.
"Um… nothing." Oh good Davis. Sound guilty. Always a good plan. Especially with Collins. You could tell him. Collins would understand. Won't he? No, maybe not. Not after everything he's said in the past. Probably not in the least. "Yeah just, nothing."
"Oh." Collins looked at him, trying to figure out what he was acting so strange about. "So you want to watch TV?" He picked up the remote.
"Um, no, I'm tired." He faked a yawn. "I'm going to go take a nap before we go out later." And everybody else gets here. Roger got up, scooping up his jacket and the paper bag, almost running to his room. As he did, the bag crinkled making what seemed like an awful lot of noise in the unusually quiet loft. He looked at Collins quickly to see if he heard it before slamming the door behind him.
Roger flopped onto his bed tossing his jacket and the bag next to him. He pulled over Mimi's pillow, trying to get comfortable. After getting back up and picking the sheets and comforter off the floor where they had landed during the night he started to make the bed somewhat. Not exactly make it, more like just sort of fix it some. What was the point in making it he thought. He and Mimi where just going to sleep in it again that night. So it would get messed up. And if he was lucky, it would get really messed up again and end up looking like this all over again tomorrow. The little grin came over his face again, this time at the thought of Mimi last night. Wait, you're wasting time Davis. You got to do this while no one else is around. And even with just Collins here, times like this are few and far between. He got back to the mission at hand, climbing back onto the bed and again pulling Mimi's pillow over to lean on. He pulled the bag out from under his jacket. Finally.
"Hey Sexy!" Mimi yelled as the door flew open and she jumped on him on the bed.
Roger let out a small groan as she landed on his stomach. "Hey Baby." He kissed her quick.
"Whatcha doing?" Mimi asked all syrupy sweet.
"Nothing." He lied pushing the bag back under his jacket as he shifted her weight some.
"Oh…" She played with his hair. "Collins said you were taking a nap. You want any company?" She looked down at him with that sexy grin of hers.
Oh yeah, "company" would be, wait Davis, I thought you were going to do this? You've been waiting all this time to do this. Okay, so Mimi's home now too. But Mimi looks good… no Mimi always looks good. She'll look just as good later. "Um, that's okay Meems, I kinda want to take a nap." He faked another yawn. "I'm real tired." Great, now you're lying to your girlfriend too. "But I'll take you up on your offer later." He grinned. "Promise."
"Um, okay Rog." Roger Davis turn down sex? What is going on with him? She eyed him suspiciously.
"Yeah, just a quick nap. Then I'll be good to go." Get out of the room. Go out and sit with Collins. All I want is an hour of peace and quiet and to be alone. I love you but please.
"Okay Baby." She climbed off him slowly, sliding along his body, making sure he really knew what he was giving up.
"Yeah thanks Meems." He smiled as she stood up.
"Okay. Take a nap. I'm just gonna change. And fix my makeup and my hair. Eww, and my nails. What a mess." She looked at her fingers. "I'll be quiet as a mouse. You won't even know I'm here."
"Oh…" Crap. Why is this so difficult? "Um you know what? I'm gonna go lay down in Mark's room. You do all you need and I'll see you in a little bit." He grabbed his jacket, trying to scoop the paper bag up as well. He did, but then it slid some and he had to make a somewhat obvious move to grab it. Mimi was still looking at him like he was out of his mind for turning her down and on top of it he's dropping things and trying to cover it all up with his jacket. He gave her a pathetic little grin and quickly exited the room still looking back at Mimi.
"I thought you were taking a 'nap'?" Collins laughed, knowing perfectly well what Mimi went into the bedroom for.
"Yeah well I'm not." Roger snapped back at him. All he wanted was to do this and everyone was starting to give him crap. This shouldn't be so hard! He told him walking into Mark's room and slamming the door behind him. Finally alone. He threw his jacket and the bag down onto Mark's bed, walked around the side and flopped down himself. He let out an annoyed sigh wondering what could possibly happen next. Roger rolled onto his side and grabbed the bag. Just then the door slammed open and Mark ran in, tossing his jacket on the floor.
Before Mark could even say anything Roger yelled at him. "Jesus Christ doesn't anybody in this damn place ever knock!" He realized he was referring to Mark walking into his own room, but he didn't care at that point. "Why can't you guys leave me alone for a little bit." He grabbed his coat and threw it on while Mark stood there with his mouth hanging open, not sure what to say. The paper bag was still on the bed. Roger reached down and snatched it up, shoving it into his jacket as he stormed out of Mark's room.
"Baby what's the matter?" Mimi called to him.
"Nothing." He snapped at her, shoving the bag into his jacket and heading towards the apartment door.
"God Roger what's your problem?" Mark finally asked him.
"Nothing. I just wanted a few minutes by myself. Is that too damn much to ask? Without everybody being all up in my business?" He yelled as he flung the front door open.
"Hi!" Maureen grinned as Roger opened the door for her and she walked him.
"I gotta get out of here." He groaned, pushing past her.
"Baby where are you going?"
"Out." He called back as he headed down the stairs.
"God what crawled up his butt?" Maureen asked as she dropped her bags on to the table. "So what's the plan for dinner?" She smiled at everyone.
************
"What was all that about?" Collins asked dumbfounded.
"I, I don't know." Mimi said shakily as she looked to Mark for answers. "He's just acting really weird."
"I'll say. I haven't seen him act that weird since back when he was," Mark cut himself off. "Since a long time."
"You mean since back when he was using." Mimi completed his sentence with a devastated look on her face.
"No, that's not it." That couldn't be it. Could it? No, Roger wouldn't do that. He went through too much. And then he watched Mimi go through it. He couldn't be. Could he? "Well maybe he's just in a bad mood. What happened today?"
"Nothing. We were here all morning. He didn't have to work. Neither did I. Everything was fine. We ran some errand and then had lunch. After lunch I went to the club to pick up my check. I ended up going shopping for some new outfits with one of the girls from work, but he knew I might be doing that. He was going to just come back here."
"Well that was a little out of character for him lately." Collins pointed out. "But maybe Mark's right. Maybe something just happened that put him into a bad mood while he was out. I mean I was here by myself for almost two hours before he came home. However we he did get home and I did get the distinct impression he was not overly thrilled to see me here." He told them moving to the couch and sitting. "Then he gave me some lame story about wanting to take a nap."
"That's what he told me." Mimi told them, realizing that was probably the first time she can remember Roger turning down an opportunity for sex, however she didn't feel like sharing that information with the group just yet.
Mimi sat down on the couch next to Collins and Mark followed her over and sat in the chair. Maureen realized they were going to spend the next period of time concentrating on Roger. Again. Knowing nothing at the moment would change that, she reluctantly walked over and sat on the floor by Mark. "Well did he say anything to you Marky?"
"No." He shook his head. "I just opened my bedroom door to toss my stuff in there and he about bit my head off. That was it. He just stormed out after that."
"Well something must have happened." Collins said, more to Mimi than the rest. He could tell she was thinking the worst. If she was thinking it, Mark would soon too. Then both of them would be upset.
"I don't know what." Mark shook his head again. "What was in the bag?"
"What bag?" Mimi asked looking up at him.
"The bag. The brown paper bag. It was on my bed and he grabbed, shoved it into his coat, almost like he didn't want me to see it."
"Come to think of it, you're right." Collins agreed with him. "He did have something that it looked like he was trying to hid when I was talking to him. And it did sound like a paper bag crinkling. I didn't think anything of it at the time."
"Oh great." Mimi said in a defeated tone. "When I walked into the bedroom, he sort of jumped and he hid something under his jacket. Then when he got up to go take a supposed nap in Mark's room, he tried to keep it in his jacket. I know, because he almost dropped it."
They all stopped talking and turned as the apartment door opened. Smiling, Joanne walked through. "Hey! So what's for dinner, I'm starving. I'm even willing to eat at the Life Café for the umpteenth time this week!" She laughed before realizing no one else seemed to be laughing. "What's going on?"
Briefly Maureen filled her in. Then Mark filled in all the details Maureen had either left out or screwed up.
"Wow." She said hesitantly. " God I hope it's not true, but I have to tell you, I just saw Roger. On my way here. He was walking into the park. And he didn't look too happy. I honked the horn and yelled to him, but he just ignored me."
"Oh great." Mimi said again, this time on the verge of tears. Mark, who had moved to the arm of the couch right next to her, reached over and just put an arm around her. He knew at this point there was nothing they could do but wait.
************
Nobody talked much while they ate their Chinese food. Finally, after it had started getting dark they heard Roger unlocking the door. Mark was on his feet and headed towards it when Roger walked in. He just looked at Roger for a second.
"What?" Roger asked him, a little meaner than he meant. He kinda felt bad about earlier, about yelling at everyone. But sometimes, there are things you just have to be alone to do.
"Where were you?" Mark asked him, still watching him.
"I went out."
"Obviously. Where?"
"Just out." He told them, trying to casually hold the bag inside his jacket. "I needed some air."
"Roger what's going on?" Mimi asked softly, walking up behind Mark.
"Nothing. What's the big deal? Can't a person just go out for some air without the third degree?" He motioned at the crowd on the couch staring at them.
Something was off. Roger didn't have that vacant look he used to get from shooting up. He wasn't dazed. He wasn't either overly happy or overly pissed. He was just kinda annoyed. Mark was beginning to thing maybe they had all jumped to conclusions.
"Then what's in the bag?" Mimi demanded now. She was tired of messing around.
"What bag?" Roger asked, trying to play stupid.
Okay, maybe they weren't jumping to conclusions Mark realized. He could tell by the way Roger was holding his hand on his jacket that he was trying to hide something in it. "The one in your jacket."
"Nothing."
"Roger…"
"It's nothing." He told her.
"Come on Rog… Just let us see what's in the bag."
Finally Roger pulled it out of his jacket as Joanne, Maureen and Collins walked over to the entry where he stood with Mimi and Mark. "It's nothing."
"Then why are you being such an ass?" Maureen asked, trying to be helpful but failing miserably.
"It's nothing and it's none of anybody's business!" He tried to move past them. That was the one shot Mark knew he had and he took it. Mark grabbed for the bag. Roger saw him coming and tried to pull away, but not in time. The bag ripped, sending it to the floor. "Damn it Mark!" Roger scooped up the bag and what was left in it. "Fine you want to know, fine I'll tell you. But I don't want any shit for this!" He reached into the bag, pulling out its contents.
"It's a book?" Maureen said, obviously confused looking at the book Roger held in his hand.
"Don't be so damn surprised Maureen, I do know how to read! You have seen me read before!" He snapped at her.
"Oh yeah. Playboy, Penthouse, Hustler…" She started counting off on her fingers.
"You mean all that was over a book?" Mark asked, very confused.
"Take out menus, Guitar magazines, Rolling Stone…" Maureen continued.
Mark and Roger looked at her and spoke at the same time. "Shut up Maureen!"
"You threw a fit and stormed out over a book?" Collins asked.
"You turned down sex for a book?" Mimi asked, stunned.
Roger looked at her. "Well I didn't turn it down, just sort of postponed it for awhile." He gave her a shy grin.
"Hmph!"
"Okay you two fight that out later, back to the book." Mark told them. "You threw a fit over a book? Why?"
"Because all I wanted was to sit and read it. And I knew I couldn't do that with everybody around! I'd never hear the end of it! You'd give me grief if you all knew. It took me forever to read the other ones when no one was around, which so you know is like never around here. But I just got this one today, and I've been waiting so long to read it. I just wanted a few minutes by myself. That was all I wanted."
"Other ones? You've read other books?" Maureen asked still confused.
"Shut up Maureen!" Roger and Mark told her again.
Roger had protectively pulled his book back up against his jacket, the cover facing him, his hand covering most of the back. "Yes. Other ones. Fine I said it. I've read them all! And now I want to read this one. And damn it I'm going to do it! And the first one of you that gives me any grief…" He shook his head back and forth as if to warn them.
Joanne had a small smile on her face. She couldn't see the title, and Roger's hand covered most of the paperback up, but the part of the cover she could see looked very familiar. Like the book she kept hidden at work to read on lunch, the train and while she was working out. "Roger what's the book?" She asked softly. Roger sighed and turned it over. "I knew it! I can't believe you're reading those too!"
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?" Mark read the title, very surprised.
"Yes! Harry Potter. I read Harry Potter books. I like them! They're fun! I've read them all!
"You're kidding?" Collins started to laugh but stopped himself. "I mean that's nice Roger." He couldn't help it, he started laughing again.
"I read them all too!" Joanne exclaimed.
"You have? When?" Maureen asked, amazed.
"At times when you weren't around." She told Maureen curtly. "And I can completely understand Roger's situation. Sometimes, you just don't want to be critiqued about what you read."
"Yeah, what she said!"
"All that over a book." Mimi shook her head.
"Yeah, over my book. Which you guys should read, cause it's really good."
"Oh he's right." Joanne said.
"Yeah, I've got the others you guys can read them if you want." Roger told them.
"You do? Where?" Mimi asked.
"In a box. Inside another box in the back of my closet." Roger said almost ashamed, shaking his head and looking at his feet.
"Rog, you're too much." Mark laughed, walking into the kitchen to get Roger the Chines food they had ordered him. "All that over a book. Porn you got no problem leaving lying around, but a book you hide! I'll never completely understand you."
"Yup, I'm just a mystery!" Roger grinned.
Before the night was over he got to read his book. He even got out his copies of the first four books and Mimi started reading the first one. And Joanne promised her hidden copy to Collins to read. Mark had even promised to rent the movies after they all got the chance to read the first two books. And eventually Roger and Mimi even had sex that night. (Oh like we didn't all know that was going to happen! He said postponed, not turned down!)
A/N Okay, I'm not really sure where this came from. For some reason I just got this visual of Roger being picked on for reading a book, as if it was some amazing thing. So of course I had to give him a book that would be so not Roger. And what better than Harry Potter?
I had hoped it would be funnier that how it turned out, but as many of you know, I'm more into angst than humor. I'll have to work on that!