Chapter 28
"Mark, somebody's at the door." Cass called to him from the couch. "Mark, the door."
"I hear it. You know you can open the door Cass. You do sort of live here."
"Whatever."
He watched her give him a forced smile as he went to open the door. Why did she seem so uncomfortable all of a sudden? Mark was getting lost in his thoughts when he all of a sudden got brought back to reality by the banging on the door again. Mark opened the door to find Andrew and two girls in the hall holding Andrew's various drum parts in their cases.
"Hey Mark how you doing?" He started hauling in the drum kit. "You guys would have to live on the fourth floor wouldn't you?"
"Wouldn't be the penthouse if it wasn't on the top floor." Roger joked with him as he came out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel around his waist.
"If this was an actual penthouse, I could have rode up in the elevator. Instead of hauling my drums up three flights of stairs." Andrew told them as he walked into the living room followed by the two girls who were each holding a drum case with a six pack of beer stacked on top.
"Andrew, I'm your girlfriend, not your roadie, do something with this crap."
"Hey, watch how you talk in front of them. They are very sensitive!" He grinned.
"I swear sometimes I think you love those dumb things more than me." She told him before turning to the rest of the room. "I'm Jolene by the way."
"Oh, sorry. She flustered me when she insulted my babies. Roger Davis, Mark Cohen this is my girlfriend Jolene and her sister Joellen."
"Hey." Mark smiled at them. "This is my friend Cass."
"We've met before." Joellen explained to Andrew. "At Life Café. Except usually when I see them," she giggled, "Roger's wearing pants."
"Um, yeah, maybe I'll go get dressed." He said with that incredible Roger grin.
"Might be a plan." Mark told him. "Well come on in and sit down."
Their arrival was soon followed by Joanne and Maureen. "Hey Andrew! Long time no see!" Maureen said as she threw her arms around his neck in a sloppy hug. Mark had a feeling she had already had a few drinks before she left home. Especially when he saw the perturbed look run across Joanne's face.
"Hey Mo." He said as he peeled her off of him. "Have you met my girlfriend Jolene? And her sister Joellen?"
"Oh we know Joellen. I mean we eat almost every meal with her!" She laughed at her own joke. "Ain't it a small world?"
"Hey Mo. How you doing?" Mark cautiously asked her.
"Great Marky. How 'bout you?" She said, throwing her arms around his neck this time.
Joanne's annoyance was still evident as she moved to the other side of the room near where Roger was helping Andrew set up his drums. Cass walked over to check on her. "You okay Joanne?"
"Oh, yeah. But I do need to talk to you. Can you give me a few minutes? To, ah, talk business." Joanne steered her into Roger's room.
Cass had just given the door a small shove to close it some when it flew back open. Roger bounded into the room and grabbed Cass by the waist, spinning her sideways. "What's going on girls? You telling secrets?" He asked handing them each a beer. "So what's up with Maureen? You guys fighting again?"
"Yes. No. Oh I don't know. She's just mad about me having to go back to Washington tomorrow. What does she want me to do? It's my job. They're one of our biggest clients." She shrugged as she twisted the cap off her beer.
"You know Mo." He said resting his chin on Cass' shoulder as he took the beer she was struggling to open with her only two non-injured fingers. "Drama queen to the bitter end." Roger said, handing Cass back her beer.
"It's the bitter part of end that worries me sometimes." Joanne shrugged. "Oh well, nothing I can do about that now. But back to business. I spoke to your father this morning."
"I don't want to know." Cass told her flatly.
"What do you mean?" Joanne was confused.
"Look, I'll deal with him, well them, for business. Other than that, forget it. This isn't business. I don't want to know. I don't care."
Roger was still standing behind her hugging her around the waist looking over her shoulder. He could feel her tense up and lean into him some. "Well, I care. You're my lawyer, pro bono of course."
"Of course." Joanne smirked.
"Well as me and Mark's lawyer you called to find out about us not getting harassed, so tell me what he said."
Joanne's eyes flicked to Cass first before settling on Roger to answer. "He thanked me for making him aware of the situation, said he would prefer to handle this himself, not have to involve any more lawyers, and will be speaking with both parties. He hopes we can come to an amicable solution. I should hear back from him later this week. He also wanted me to express his sincerest apologies to both Mr. Davis and Mr. Cohen for any inconvenience."
"And he damn well should." Roger grinned. "Because Mr. Davis would be just as happy kicking his ass as suing it."
"As you lawyer Mr. Davis, I'm not advising either action at this current moment. Especially the first one. God you are insane Roger!" She laughed as she walked out the door.
**********
"Oh god it's back!" Jen exclaimed as she walked in the door with Collins and Jason.
"Like you thought it was out of our faces for good." Jason laughed at her.
"I'm surprised it was out of sight for as long as it was." Collins pointed out, with a grin breaking through in the end. "And the fact that Mark didn't go through withdrawal and was able to function all week without playing with it was somewhat amazing."
"Yeah Mark how did you manage to handle it all week?" Jason joked. "Were you getting laid on the side and no one knew it?"
"You guys are assholes, you know that right?" Mark told them form behind his camera. "And for your information, I worked all week, so I was shooting things and getting paid for it as opposed to filming all you idiots for free!" He laughed.
"Okay, party can officially begin, we're here and we brought beer and pizza!" The voice roared as it and a small group of people came through the door.
"Hey Izzy." Mark said as he lowered the camera. "How you doing?"
"Okay. Actually baffled I guess." He set the case of beer down on the counter and opened it. "What the hell is up with your little girlfriend? He shows up at practice early and starts bitching and moaning about how we suck and we only do covers and never want to try anything new. New? Is he kidding?"
Mark just grinned at him.
"And when we start playing, it's like a whole different Davis. I mean yeah, we do suck in comparison to him. When he actually wants to play that is, not just go through he motions. Which by the way is all that he's done in that band for months, or ever I guess. So of course we suck next to him. Duh!
"And now he wants to start changing stuff and having more rehearsals and things. And get this, he was actually nice to my customers the other night when he worked. And what the hell are you grinning at Cohen?"
"Well Izzy, let me ask you this. How long has this been going on?"
"All of a sudden. He calls me Wednesday, says we need to talk about the direction of the band. Gives me a real hard time on Thursday at practice and at work. Not to mention the three or four phone calls between yesterday and today. What is up with him anyway?"
"Did he say anything to you about us having company?" Mark asked still grinning. He was loving this. It wasn't just him and Collins that were seeing all this in Roger. It was other people too. People outside their little circle.
"Yeah, some friend of yours came to visit. Some guy you knew in high school or something."
Mark looked at him. "Did he say that? Some guy?"
"Maybe. I don't know. I guess not. I think I just assumed it was a guy." Izzy started to grin. "So I'm assuming now that it wasn't some guy, but some girl. That would explain a lot!" He laughed loud. "God that boy does fall in love fast. And hard. So where is he? And who's the girl?"
Mark looked around for Roger. Suddenly he realized there were a lot of people here, but he didn't see Roger. Or Cass. Just then Roger's bedroom door opened and Joanne walked out. He saw Cass through the door about to follow her. "Here they come now." He told Izzy as he watched Cass start to step through the doorway. But before she got all the way out Mark saw Roger's arm grab her around her waist and yank her back into the room. Even with all the people in the room Mark heard that great laugh of Cass' as the bedroom door closed again. Mark started laughing. "Or maybe not."
*****
"Hey." Cass giggled as Roger pulled her back into the room and spun her around to face him.
"Hey." He grinned at her. "You okay babe?"
"Yes. I just know he' full of shit though. He won't do anything. Not really."
"I know." He told her as he hugged her close. "But don't worry about it. Okay? It's not even worth getting mad over."
Cass hugged him back tight. He always made her feel better. He made her feel good. Actually, she thought, he always just felt good. Real good. And he smelled good too. Real good. "Uh huh." She said into his neck. Hold up there Cass. After this morning this may not be good. Slow. We said real slow. We agreed on that. Remember?
God she smelled good Roger thought. Girl shampoo and all. Jen had washed her hair and braided it again. It looked so good pulled back off her face and all. Slow your brain down Davis. As well as everything else on you. We said real slow. Right? But how slow is real slow? And how fast is too fast? "Um, okay. You want to go back out there with everyone or do you just want to hang out in here?" He asked her as he started running his fingers up and down her back, over her shirt.
Cass leaned her head back some and looked up at him. Their faces were only inches apart now. As she tilted her head up their eyes met. God he was gorgeous. With those incredible green eyes. "Um, well, you did kind of invite all these people over."
"Uh huh."
"To play and all."
"Uh huh." Roger whispered as their lips got closer.
"And you can't really play in here. The guitar. Play the guitar from in here." She whispered to him.
"Uh huh." He grinned at her just before their lips met. Met and locked. God he wanted her was all Roger could think. He kissed her and held her tightly against him. Roger couldn't think of anything else at that moment, but that exact moment. All the problems they had were fading away at that one moment. His hand went down her back and slid under her shirt. His fingers touched her lower back. He felt the shiver that ran up it.
He kissed her and she kissed him back, hard. Cass felt like she was melting into him. She held him tight, as if for dear life. His hand caressed her back, which sent more shivers up her spine. She could feel one of them shaking but she couldn't tell which one. Please God she thought don't ever let him let me go.
Suddenly there was a loud banging on the wall. "Yo Davis, we gonna play or what?"
They broke apart and Roger grinned at her. "That would be Izzy. Sorry."
Cass had a feeling she had a grin on her face that was as big and stupid as his. "That's okay." She giggled. "That went better than this morning."
Roger laughed. "That's for sure. So far you haven't slammed any doors at me." Their lips had parted, but the rest of them stayed the same. Roger still had his hand on her back. He was holding her so tight he was almost lifting her up.
"Yeah let's go." Andrew yelled as he played a drum roll. "I didn't haul my drums up three flights of stairs for nothing." He crashed the cymbals.
"I guess you better go out there." She told him.
"Uh huh." Roger whispered through his grin. "I guess." Roger started to let her go, but before he did, he pulled her back into him and kissed her again. "Okay. Let's go." He grinned at her as he opened the door.
"Bout frigging time." Izzy grinned at him as he started plucking at his bass. "That must be the infamous Cass." He said so only Roger could hear as he jerked his head toward Cass as she came out of the bedroom. "Explains a lot. An awful lot. Very nice." He kept nodding his head with a cheesy grin on his face as he checked out Cass.
"Just chill. I was taking care of something."
"Right." Izzy told him shaking his head.
"Hey Cass."
"Hi."
"Cass this is Izzy." Roger said to her.
"So."
"Okay enough." Roger almost begged. Both Cass and Izzy were laughing at him. She walked over and sat on the couch next to Jen.
"What do you want to play first?" Izzy asked Roger.
"I don't care." He told him as he picked up his guitar. "Just play something. Anything." Roger could feel his neck getting red.
"Okay." Mark said from behind his camera. "Roger's jam session." He panned around the room stopping and zooming in on Roger.
"Oh joy!" Roger said as he plugged in his guitar. "Marky's camera has returned. Gee I've missed that so!" He said sarcastically.
"Haven't we all." Jason laughed.
"Oh you are all soooo funny." Mark said dryly.
"Okay lets go." Roger said as he flipped on the amp. He didn't notice the kitchen light start to dim.
Andrew picked up his drumsticks and hit them together to start off the beat. "One, two, three, four!"
As the sound of the first notes Roger and Izzy played came through each of the amps, there was a popping sound and then nothing as the power blew.
"Well that was fun!" Andrew laughed along with many other people in the room.
"Shit!" Roger yelled. "Flip off the amps. Mark!"
"Ah, just like the good old days." Collins voiced joked in the darkness.
"I know, I know I'll go find a fuse. Here hold this." He handed his camera to Cass.
"Well, it's nice to know something's never change." Maureen called from the kitchen. "Who wants another beer?"
Calls for beer came from around the room. "Hey where's your flashlight?" Someone asked.
"Yeah, like they have one of those." Someone else laughed.
"Ha ha. Use a lighter." Roger scoffed. "Mark?"
"I'm working on it." Mark called back. "As soon as I find the fuses."
"Somebody complain to the building manager." Jen joked in the dark.
Just then the front door opened showing how dark it was in the hallway. "Davis I know this is your fault!" The first voice called.
"Yeah Roger!" The second voice laughed. The whole building is out too, just so you know."
"Oh goody, my night is now complete. The Super Bitch sisters have arrived." Roger called out sarcastically.
"Ginny is it really the whole building?" Mark asked the girls at the door.
"Yep."
"Okay, everybody sit tight. We gotta go to the basement then. Come on let's go." Mark said to Roger.
"We who?" Roger asked flicking his lighter on.
"Don't give me a hard time, just come help me."
"How did you two manage to blow the whole building?" Andrew asked.
"Because the building we live in is crap." Roger said as he tripped over someone's foot. "We gotta unplug some stuff first. What else was turned on other than the amps?"
"The A/C," Cass started, "plus the two fans, all three phone chargers, my batter pack was charging and my laptop. Just to name a few things. Sorry."
"It's okay. Just get some of it unplugged. Come on Roger. We'll be back." He walked out the door leaving it open. "God I hate the basement. Roger, come on!"
"Fine, fine, owe, sorry. Where's my beer?" Roger stepped into the hall behind Mark, flicking on his lighter. "What the hell am I supposed to be doing? Protecting you from rats?"
"Just shut up and help me." Mark's voice trailed off as they went down the stairs.
"Does anybody else think maybe those two have lived together too long?" Someone asked to rounds of laughter.
As Jason turned off the phone charges, fan and A/C everyone else was sitting in the dark talking. Cass got her laptop and turned it on.
"Okay, give it a second to boot up, and we'll have some light. We have got to get an electrician in here. There is in way I can plug in like three computer systems. Okay, we have light." She started hitting buttons with her one free finger. "God I'll be happy when I can type again. Okay, now we have music." She said as the CD she had in the laptop disk drive started to play.
After about ten minutes the power kicked back on. Mark and Roger appeared a few minutes later. The jam session proceeded. Music played. Beer was drank. Junk food and pizza were eaten. More beer was drunk.
Mark had yet another beer. He had forgotten to pick his camera back up about two beers ago. Tonight was going too good. Everyone was having a great time. He hadn't seen Roger play like that in what seemed like forever. He hadn't seen Roger smile that much in forever either.
Even with Mimi he realized. Yeah sure Roger was happy with Mimi. Very happy. But there was always something. Something behind Roger's happiness. Like he knew it wouldn't always be there for him. Because with Mimi, Roger knew it wouldn't. But now was different. Mark could see it. Collins could see it. So could Maureen. Even Izzy saw it. And Mark was really happy about that. Drunk, but happy none the less. He knew he would regret the beer tomorrow, but he didn't care. With the exception of Joanne and Maureen, tonight was perfect.
About the same time Mark was thinking that, Maureen came over and plopped herself down on the couch next to him and Cass. "Who needs another beer?" She asked him as she handed Cass another beer.
Roger finished up the song they were on and came over and sat down on the floor in front of them. "You want another beer Rogie?" Maureen asked him.
"Rogie?" He laughed at her as he took the beer, opened it and traded it for the one Cass was struggling to open. "Oh man, you're plastered Maureen. Where's the cigarettes?" He asked Cass.
"I am not!" Maureen argued.
"Trust me Mo, you're toasted." Mark slurred at her.
"You're not to far behind there buddy." Roger laughed as he handed Cass a cigarette.
"Roge," Maureen pouted at him as she did one of her best lean forward so you can look down my top moves. "I wanna sing. Can I sing next? Please Rogie?"
"Yeah Izzy," his girlfriend Krystal started. "I wanna sing too. And so does Carrie. And you said we could tonight."
"What is this, Open Mic night at the loft?" Roger joked. "I don't care Maureen. If you can stand, you can sing I guess." He laughed at her.
"Hey," Mark kicked a foot at Roger. "You should get Cass to sing too."
"You wanna?" He asked her.
"Me? Mark are you nuts? Or just drunk?" Cass looked at him shocked.
"Yeah, you can sing. I've heard you."
"Yeah, I heard you in the kitchen the other day. You sound great Cass. You want to sing?" Roger looked up at her.
"Um," Cass looked at him, "I don't think so. Not tonight."
"Whatever you want Cass." Roger told her.
After Maureen sang she and Joanne left. After a few more hours and a lot more beer people started thinning out. Roger flopped on one end of the couch. Mark was passed out at the other end with Cass using him as a pillow. Izzy dropped in the chair as Andrew, Jolene and Joellen said their good-byes. "Guys, it was awesome! We sounded awesome! Roger you were awesome!"
"That's it, I'm driving." Jolene said, taking the keys after listening to him speak.
"Are you sure you don't mind me leaving my drums a few days?"
"No problem."
"Okay, we're out of here."
"To say the very least." Jolene laughed at Andrew. "It was nice to meet you guys. I'm sure we'll be doing this again. He gets so grumpy when he can't play with his toys."
"Yeah," Joellen yawed. "Great party. I'm sure I'll see you guys soon at the Café."
"Yeah, bye guys." Roger told them as they walked out. He looked at Cass still leaning against Mark. "Come're you." He said to her as her pulled her to his end of the couch.
"Know what?" Cass said to him as she moved over.
"What?" Roger laughed at her, he knew she was trashed.
"Mark's totally wasted." Cass laughed.
"Know what?" Roger grinned at her. "I think you are too."
"Not me! Well maybe a little." She chuckled.
Roger picked Mark's camera up off the floor. He switched it on and looked through the eyepiece. "Close up on Mark. Totally smashed and passed out on the couch. A moment to be documented for posterity, as it happens so seldom." Roger laughed as he paned around the room at the few remaining people and stopping on Cass. Even drunk and tired she was gorgeous. Roger switched off the camera and set it back down on the floor. "Give him a little laugh when he watches that one." He grinned.
"God I'm tired." Collins proclaimed. "Jason you want to take a cab home? I'm too tired to walk."
"If you guys want to stay here you can." Roger told them. "You can crash in my room. All three of us have been sleeping in Mark's room with the A/C."
"Let's just do that." Jason told him. "I'm beat."
"Okay, night."
"I gotta go to sleep." Cass told him as she stood up.
"Okay. Looks like Izzy's crashing too." Roger motioned toward him in the chair starting to fall asleep. "Iz," Roger kicked his foot. "You staying here? You can have the couch if you want."
Izzy mumbled something incoherent as he got up to move to the couch. Roger grabbed Mark by his shirt and hoisted him up. "Let's go Marky." Mark mumbled something back to him as Roger took off his glasses and handed them to Cass. "Boy are you gonna feel this tomorrow." Roger laughed at him as he took him in and dropped him on the bed. "Night Marky." Roger watched as Mark raised a hand and moved his lips like he was saying something but no sound came out. "Man are you gonna hurt tomorrow."
Cass came out of the bathroom and walked towards Roger who was listening to Izzy babble something. "I'm going to bed." She told him.
"Okay. I'm right behind you." He told her. Roger stacked up some of the empty pizza boxes and took some of the beer bottles to the kitchen. He had started thinking about how cool tonight had been. All of it. Playing, the girls singing, just plain hanging out. But especially kissing Cass. After the way this morning started, this evening sure turned out awesome.
He turned out the lights and stepped into Mark's room. Cass must have taken off Mark's shoes and pants. He was laying there, snoring in his boxers. Cass had laid down on the edge of the Mark's bed, almost on the twin mattress. She was already asleep.
Roger took off his shoes and pants and laid down next to her. He just lay there and watched her sleeping. God she was gorgeous. Her eye was almost heeled. If he hadn't known she had had a black eye, he never would have noticed it now. He watched her eyes twitch as she dreamed. Roger scooted over closer to her. He reached out and brushed a few hairs off her face. She stirred slightly in her sleep and rolled onto her side, right next to he. Roger dropped his arm around her. When she felt the warmth of his body, she leaned more into him. Roger wrapped his arms around her tightly. He kissed her on her neck a few times. A slight sound escaped her lips, but she didn't wake up. Roger fell asleep holding her.
"Mark, somebody's at the door." Cass called to him from the couch. "Mark, the door."
"I hear it. You know you can open the door Cass. You do sort of live here."
"Whatever."
He watched her give him a forced smile as he went to open the door. Why did she seem so uncomfortable all of a sudden? Mark was getting lost in his thoughts when he all of a sudden got brought back to reality by the banging on the door again. Mark opened the door to find Andrew and two girls in the hall holding Andrew's various drum parts in their cases.
"Hey Mark how you doing?" He started hauling in the drum kit. "You guys would have to live on the fourth floor wouldn't you?"
"Wouldn't be the penthouse if it wasn't on the top floor." Roger joked with him as he came out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel around his waist.
"If this was an actual penthouse, I could have rode up in the elevator. Instead of hauling my drums up three flights of stairs." Andrew told them as he walked into the living room followed by the two girls who were each holding a drum case with a six pack of beer stacked on top.
"Andrew, I'm your girlfriend, not your roadie, do something with this crap."
"Hey, watch how you talk in front of them. They are very sensitive!" He grinned.
"I swear sometimes I think you love those dumb things more than me." She told him before turning to the rest of the room. "I'm Jolene by the way."
"Oh, sorry. She flustered me when she insulted my babies. Roger Davis, Mark Cohen this is my girlfriend Jolene and her sister Joellen."
"Hey." Mark smiled at them. "This is my friend Cass."
"We've met before." Joellen explained to Andrew. "At Life Café. Except usually when I see them," she giggled, "Roger's wearing pants."
"Um, yeah, maybe I'll go get dressed." He said with that incredible Roger grin.
"Might be a plan." Mark told him. "Well come on in and sit down."
Their arrival was soon followed by Joanne and Maureen. "Hey Andrew! Long time no see!" Maureen said as she threw her arms around his neck in a sloppy hug. Mark had a feeling she had already had a few drinks before she left home. Especially when he saw the perturbed look run across Joanne's face.
"Hey Mo." He said as he peeled her off of him. "Have you met my girlfriend Jolene? And her sister Joellen?"
"Oh we know Joellen. I mean we eat almost every meal with her!" She laughed at her own joke. "Ain't it a small world?"
"Hey Mo. How you doing?" Mark cautiously asked her.
"Great Marky. How 'bout you?" She said, throwing her arms around his neck this time.
Joanne's annoyance was still evident as she moved to the other side of the room near where Roger was helping Andrew set up his drums. Cass walked over to check on her. "You okay Joanne?"
"Oh, yeah. But I do need to talk to you. Can you give me a few minutes? To, ah, talk business." Joanne steered her into Roger's room.
Cass had just given the door a small shove to close it some when it flew back open. Roger bounded into the room and grabbed Cass by the waist, spinning her sideways. "What's going on girls? You telling secrets?" He asked handing them each a beer. "So what's up with Maureen? You guys fighting again?"
"Yes. No. Oh I don't know. She's just mad about me having to go back to Washington tomorrow. What does she want me to do? It's my job. They're one of our biggest clients." She shrugged as she twisted the cap off her beer.
"You know Mo." He said resting his chin on Cass' shoulder as he took the beer she was struggling to open with her only two non-injured fingers. "Drama queen to the bitter end." Roger said, handing Cass back her beer.
"It's the bitter part of end that worries me sometimes." Joanne shrugged. "Oh well, nothing I can do about that now. But back to business. I spoke to your father this morning."
"I don't want to know." Cass told her flatly.
"What do you mean?" Joanne was confused.
"Look, I'll deal with him, well them, for business. Other than that, forget it. This isn't business. I don't want to know. I don't care."
Roger was still standing behind her hugging her around the waist looking over her shoulder. He could feel her tense up and lean into him some. "Well, I care. You're my lawyer, pro bono of course."
"Of course." Joanne smirked.
"Well as me and Mark's lawyer you called to find out about us not getting harassed, so tell me what he said."
Joanne's eyes flicked to Cass first before settling on Roger to answer. "He thanked me for making him aware of the situation, said he would prefer to handle this himself, not have to involve any more lawyers, and will be speaking with both parties. He hopes we can come to an amicable solution. I should hear back from him later this week. He also wanted me to express his sincerest apologies to both Mr. Davis and Mr. Cohen for any inconvenience."
"And he damn well should." Roger grinned. "Because Mr. Davis would be just as happy kicking his ass as suing it."
"As you lawyer Mr. Davis, I'm not advising either action at this current moment. Especially the first one. God you are insane Roger!" She laughed as she walked out the door.
**********
"Oh god it's back!" Jen exclaimed as she walked in the door with Collins and Jason.
"Like you thought it was out of our faces for good." Jason laughed at her.
"I'm surprised it was out of sight for as long as it was." Collins pointed out, with a grin breaking through in the end. "And the fact that Mark didn't go through withdrawal and was able to function all week without playing with it was somewhat amazing."
"Yeah Mark how did you manage to handle it all week?" Jason joked. "Were you getting laid on the side and no one knew it?"
"You guys are assholes, you know that right?" Mark told them form behind his camera. "And for your information, I worked all week, so I was shooting things and getting paid for it as opposed to filming all you idiots for free!" He laughed.
"Okay, party can officially begin, we're here and we brought beer and pizza!" The voice roared as it and a small group of people came through the door.
"Hey Izzy." Mark said as he lowered the camera. "How you doing?"
"Okay. Actually baffled I guess." He set the case of beer down on the counter and opened it. "What the hell is up with your little girlfriend? He shows up at practice early and starts bitching and moaning about how we suck and we only do covers and never want to try anything new. New? Is he kidding?"
Mark just grinned at him.
"And when we start playing, it's like a whole different Davis. I mean yeah, we do suck in comparison to him. When he actually wants to play that is, not just go through he motions. Which by the way is all that he's done in that band for months, or ever I guess. So of course we suck next to him. Duh!
"And now he wants to start changing stuff and having more rehearsals and things. And get this, he was actually nice to my customers the other night when he worked. And what the hell are you grinning at Cohen?"
"Well Izzy, let me ask you this. How long has this been going on?"
"All of a sudden. He calls me Wednesday, says we need to talk about the direction of the band. Gives me a real hard time on Thursday at practice and at work. Not to mention the three or four phone calls between yesterday and today. What is up with him anyway?"
"Did he say anything to you about us having company?" Mark asked still grinning. He was loving this. It wasn't just him and Collins that were seeing all this in Roger. It was other people too. People outside their little circle.
"Yeah, some friend of yours came to visit. Some guy you knew in high school or something."
Mark looked at him. "Did he say that? Some guy?"
"Maybe. I don't know. I guess not. I think I just assumed it was a guy." Izzy started to grin. "So I'm assuming now that it wasn't some guy, but some girl. That would explain a lot!" He laughed loud. "God that boy does fall in love fast. And hard. So where is he? And who's the girl?"
Mark looked around for Roger. Suddenly he realized there were a lot of people here, but he didn't see Roger. Or Cass. Just then Roger's bedroom door opened and Joanne walked out. He saw Cass through the door about to follow her. "Here they come now." He told Izzy as he watched Cass start to step through the doorway. But before she got all the way out Mark saw Roger's arm grab her around her waist and yank her back into the room. Even with all the people in the room Mark heard that great laugh of Cass' as the bedroom door closed again. Mark started laughing. "Or maybe not."
*****
"Hey." Cass giggled as Roger pulled her back into the room and spun her around to face him.
"Hey." He grinned at her. "You okay babe?"
"Yes. I just know he' full of shit though. He won't do anything. Not really."
"I know." He told her as he hugged her close. "But don't worry about it. Okay? It's not even worth getting mad over."
Cass hugged him back tight. He always made her feel better. He made her feel good. Actually, she thought, he always just felt good. Real good. And he smelled good too. Real good. "Uh huh." She said into his neck. Hold up there Cass. After this morning this may not be good. Slow. We said real slow. We agreed on that. Remember?
God she smelled good Roger thought. Girl shampoo and all. Jen had washed her hair and braided it again. It looked so good pulled back off her face and all. Slow your brain down Davis. As well as everything else on you. We said real slow. Right? But how slow is real slow? And how fast is too fast? "Um, okay. You want to go back out there with everyone or do you just want to hang out in here?" He asked her as he started running his fingers up and down her back, over her shirt.
Cass leaned her head back some and looked up at him. Their faces were only inches apart now. As she tilted her head up their eyes met. God he was gorgeous. With those incredible green eyes. "Um, well, you did kind of invite all these people over."
"Uh huh."
"To play and all."
"Uh huh." Roger whispered as their lips got closer.
"And you can't really play in here. The guitar. Play the guitar from in here." She whispered to him.
"Uh huh." He grinned at her just before their lips met. Met and locked. God he wanted her was all Roger could think. He kissed her and held her tightly against him. Roger couldn't think of anything else at that moment, but that exact moment. All the problems they had were fading away at that one moment. His hand went down her back and slid under her shirt. His fingers touched her lower back. He felt the shiver that ran up it.
He kissed her and she kissed him back, hard. Cass felt like she was melting into him. She held him tight, as if for dear life. His hand caressed her back, which sent more shivers up her spine. She could feel one of them shaking but she couldn't tell which one. Please God she thought don't ever let him let me go.
Suddenly there was a loud banging on the wall. "Yo Davis, we gonna play or what?"
They broke apart and Roger grinned at her. "That would be Izzy. Sorry."
Cass had a feeling she had a grin on her face that was as big and stupid as his. "That's okay." She giggled. "That went better than this morning."
Roger laughed. "That's for sure. So far you haven't slammed any doors at me." Their lips had parted, but the rest of them stayed the same. Roger still had his hand on her back. He was holding her so tight he was almost lifting her up.
"Yeah let's go." Andrew yelled as he played a drum roll. "I didn't haul my drums up three flights of stairs for nothing." He crashed the cymbals.
"I guess you better go out there." She told him.
"Uh huh." Roger whispered through his grin. "I guess." Roger started to let her go, but before he did, he pulled her back into him and kissed her again. "Okay. Let's go." He grinned at her as he opened the door.
"Bout frigging time." Izzy grinned at him as he started plucking at his bass. "That must be the infamous Cass." He said so only Roger could hear as he jerked his head toward Cass as she came out of the bedroom. "Explains a lot. An awful lot. Very nice." He kept nodding his head with a cheesy grin on his face as he checked out Cass.
"Just chill. I was taking care of something."
"Right." Izzy told him shaking his head.
"Hey Cass."
"Hi."
"Cass this is Izzy." Roger said to her.
"So."
"Okay enough." Roger almost begged. Both Cass and Izzy were laughing at him. She walked over and sat on the couch next to Jen.
"What do you want to play first?" Izzy asked Roger.
"I don't care." He told him as he picked up his guitar. "Just play something. Anything." Roger could feel his neck getting red.
"Okay." Mark said from behind his camera. "Roger's jam session." He panned around the room stopping and zooming in on Roger.
"Oh joy!" Roger said as he plugged in his guitar. "Marky's camera has returned. Gee I've missed that so!" He said sarcastically.
"Haven't we all." Jason laughed.
"Oh you are all soooo funny." Mark said dryly.
"Okay lets go." Roger said as he flipped on the amp. He didn't notice the kitchen light start to dim.
Andrew picked up his drumsticks and hit them together to start off the beat. "One, two, three, four!"
As the sound of the first notes Roger and Izzy played came through each of the amps, there was a popping sound and then nothing as the power blew.
"Well that was fun!" Andrew laughed along with many other people in the room.
"Shit!" Roger yelled. "Flip off the amps. Mark!"
"Ah, just like the good old days." Collins voiced joked in the darkness.
"I know, I know I'll go find a fuse. Here hold this." He handed his camera to Cass.
"Well, it's nice to know something's never change." Maureen called from the kitchen. "Who wants another beer?"
Calls for beer came from around the room. "Hey where's your flashlight?" Someone asked.
"Yeah, like they have one of those." Someone else laughed.
"Ha ha. Use a lighter." Roger scoffed. "Mark?"
"I'm working on it." Mark called back. "As soon as I find the fuses."
"Somebody complain to the building manager." Jen joked in the dark.
Just then the front door opened showing how dark it was in the hallway. "Davis I know this is your fault!" The first voice called.
"Yeah Roger!" The second voice laughed. The whole building is out too, just so you know."
"Oh goody, my night is now complete. The Super Bitch sisters have arrived." Roger called out sarcastically.
"Ginny is it really the whole building?" Mark asked the girls at the door.
"Yep."
"Okay, everybody sit tight. We gotta go to the basement then. Come on let's go." Mark said to Roger.
"We who?" Roger asked flicking his lighter on.
"Don't give me a hard time, just come help me."
"How did you two manage to blow the whole building?" Andrew asked.
"Because the building we live in is crap." Roger said as he tripped over someone's foot. "We gotta unplug some stuff first. What else was turned on other than the amps?"
"The A/C," Cass started, "plus the two fans, all three phone chargers, my batter pack was charging and my laptop. Just to name a few things. Sorry."
"It's okay. Just get some of it unplugged. Come on Roger. We'll be back." He walked out the door leaving it open. "God I hate the basement. Roger, come on!"
"Fine, fine, owe, sorry. Where's my beer?" Roger stepped into the hall behind Mark, flicking on his lighter. "What the hell am I supposed to be doing? Protecting you from rats?"
"Just shut up and help me." Mark's voice trailed off as they went down the stairs.
"Does anybody else think maybe those two have lived together too long?" Someone asked to rounds of laughter.
As Jason turned off the phone charges, fan and A/C everyone else was sitting in the dark talking. Cass got her laptop and turned it on.
"Okay, give it a second to boot up, and we'll have some light. We have got to get an electrician in here. There is in way I can plug in like three computer systems. Okay, we have light." She started hitting buttons with her one free finger. "God I'll be happy when I can type again. Okay, now we have music." She said as the CD she had in the laptop disk drive started to play.
After about ten minutes the power kicked back on. Mark and Roger appeared a few minutes later. The jam session proceeded. Music played. Beer was drank. Junk food and pizza were eaten. More beer was drunk.
Mark had yet another beer. He had forgotten to pick his camera back up about two beers ago. Tonight was going too good. Everyone was having a great time. He hadn't seen Roger play like that in what seemed like forever. He hadn't seen Roger smile that much in forever either.
Even with Mimi he realized. Yeah sure Roger was happy with Mimi. Very happy. But there was always something. Something behind Roger's happiness. Like he knew it wouldn't always be there for him. Because with Mimi, Roger knew it wouldn't. But now was different. Mark could see it. Collins could see it. So could Maureen. Even Izzy saw it. And Mark was really happy about that. Drunk, but happy none the less. He knew he would regret the beer tomorrow, but he didn't care. With the exception of Joanne and Maureen, tonight was perfect.
About the same time Mark was thinking that, Maureen came over and plopped herself down on the couch next to him and Cass. "Who needs another beer?" She asked him as she handed Cass another beer.
Roger finished up the song they were on and came over and sat down on the floor in front of them. "You want another beer Rogie?" Maureen asked him.
"Rogie?" He laughed at her as he took the beer, opened it and traded it for the one Cass was struggling to open. "Oh man, you're plastered Maureen. Where's the cigarettes?" He asked Cass.
"I am not!" Maureen argued.
"Trust me Mo, you're toasted." Mark slurred at her.
"You're not to far behind there buddy." Roger laughed as he handed Cass a cigarette.
"Roge," Maureen pouted at him as she did one of her best lean forward so you can look down my top moves. "I wanna sing. Can I sing next? Please Rogie?"
"Yeah Izzy," his girlfriend Krystal started. "I wanna sing too. And so does Carrie. And you said we could tonight."
"What is this, Open Mic night at the loft?" Roger joked. "I don't care Maureen. If you can stand, you can sing I guess." He laughed at her.
"Hey," Mark kicked a foot at Roger. "You should get Cass to sing too."
"You wanna?" He asked her.
"Me? Mark are you nuts? Or just drunk?" Cass looked at him shocked.
"Yeah, you can sing. I've heard you."
"Yeah, I heard you in the kitchen the other day. You sound great Cass. You want to sing?" Roger looked up at her.
"Um," Cass looked at him, "I don't think so. Not tonight."
"Whatever you want Cass." Roger told her.
After Maureen sang she and Joanne left. After a few more hours and a lot more beer people started thinning out. Roger flopped on one end of the couch. Mark was passed out at the other end with Cass using him as a pillow. Izzy dropped in the chair as Andrew, Jolene and Joellen said their good-byes. "Guys, it was awesome! We sounded awesome! Roger you were awesome!"
"That's it, I'm driving." Jolene said, taking the keys after listening to him speak.
"Are you sure you don't mind me leaving my drums a few days?"
"No problem."
"Okay, we're out of here."
"To say the very least." Jolene laughed at Andrew. "It was nice to meet you guys. I'm sure we'll be doing this again. He gets so grumpy when he can't play with his toys."
"Yeah," Joellen yawed. "Great party. I'm sure I'll see you guys soon at the Café."
"Yeah, bye guys." Roger told them as they walked out. He looked at Cass still leaning against Mark. "Come're you." He said to her as her pulled her to his end of the couch.
"Know what?" Cass said to him as she moved over.
"What?" Roger laughed at her, he knew she was trashed.
"Mark's totally wasted." Cass laughed.
"Know what?" Roger grinned at her. "I think you are too."
"Not me! Well maybe a little." She chuckled.
Roger picked Mark's camera up off the floor. He switched it on and looked through the eyepiece. "Close up on Mark. Totally smashed and passed out on the couch. A moment to be documented for posterity, as it happens so seldom." Roger laughed as he paned around the room at the few remaining people and stopping on Cass. Even drunk and tired she was gorgeous. Roger switched off the camera and set it back down on the floor. "Give him a little laugh when he watches that one." He grinned.
"God I'm tired." Collins proclaimed. "Jason you want to take a cab home? I'm too tired to walk."
"If you guys want to stay here you can." Roger told them. "You can crash in my room. All three of us have been sleeping in Mark's room with the A/C."
"Let's just do that." Jason told him. "I'm beat."
"Okay, night."
"I gotta go to sleep." Cass told him as she stood up.
"Okay. Looks like Izzy's crashing too." Roger motioned toward him in the chair starting to fall asleep. "Iz," Roger kicked his foot. "You staying here? You can have the couch if you want."
Izzy mumbled something incoherent as he got up to move to the couch. Roger grabbed Mark by his shirt and hoisted him up. "Let's go Marky." Mark mumbled something back to him as Roger took off his glasses and handed them to Cass. "Boy are you gonna feel this tomorrow." Roger laughed at him as he took him in and dropped him on the bed. "Night Marky." Roger watched as Mark raised a hand and moved his lips like he was saying something but no sound came out. "Man are you gonna hurt tomorrow."
Cass came out of the bathroom and walked towards Roger who was listening to Izzy babble something. "I'm going to bed." She told him.
"Okay. I'm right behind you." He told her. Roger stacked up some of the empty pizza boxes and took some of the beer bottles to the kitchen. He had started thinking about how cool tonight had been. All of it. Playing, the girls singing, just plain hanging out. But especially kissing Cass. After the way this morning started, this evening sure turned out awesome.
He turned out the lights and stepped into Mark's room. Cass must have taken off Mark's shoes and pants. He was laying there, snoring in his boxers. Cass had laid down on the edge of the Mark's bed, almost on the twin mattress. She was already asleep.
Roger took off his shoes and pants and laid down next to her. He just lay there and watched her sleeping. God she was gorgeous. Her eye was almost heeled. If he hadn't known she had had a black eye, he never would have noticed it now. He watched her eyes twitch as she dreamed. Roger scooted over closer to her. He reached out and brushed a few hairs off her face. She stirred slightly in her sleep and rolled onto her side, right next to he. Roger dropped his arm around her. When she felt the warmth of his body, she leaned more into him. Roger wrapped his arms around her tightly. He kissed her on her neck a few times. A slight sound escaped her lips, but she didn't wake up. Roger fell asleep holding her.