One Week
Part Five
A/N: I think this is probably going to turn out to be a bit of filler. Sorry about that. =) I love my reviewers! You guys are awesome.
*//
Mark didn't decide to venture out of his room until after 5, just in case any leftover remnants of Roger and Mimi's fight remained behind. He found Lisa sitting on the couch, a tin full of brownies sitting in front of her. Mark noticed Roger practically drooling at them as he watched her contently eating them, while Mimi looked a little green.
"Hey—Lisa, do you think I could maybe have one of those?" Roger politely asked. Mark knew he must have not wanted to get on Lisa's bad side because Roger was rarely polite about anything. Lisa looked up and frowned.
"Well okay, just—maybe one?" she answered. Roger greedily grabbed three brownies and ran into the kitchen before Lisa could stop him.
"Hey, where did you get them from?" Mark asked. It was highly unlikely that the girls ventured out of the loft, and there wasn't anything in the house besides bread, milk, and water.
"Someone named Maureen came by and introduced herself. She seemed nice. She asks way too many questions. A little dramatic too. She mentioned she was going to stop by later, I think?," Lisa replied. Mark smiled awkwardly while Roger beamed.
"I think I've found my new best friend," he smiled, plopping down on the couch next to Lisa and wrapping his arm around her. Lisa uncomfortably shifted away from him and moved her brownie tin away. It didn't matter; Roger scored about two more brownies in the process.
"Bastard—" she muttered. Mimi snorted slightly.
"I'm going to go and see Maureen about…something," Mimi said rather quickly.
"Mimi we have to go to the—" Mimi had slammed the door in Roger's face.
"…doctor's later," he finished to himself.
"I'm going to sleep. Wake me if you need me," Lisa grumbled, sarcastically exiting the room.
Mark shrugged and followed Roger into the kitchen. Roger was in the process of taking his pills and Mark was eyeing the grocery list that hadn't been touched since the day before.
"So how was the doctor's appointment?" Mark asked. Roger choked slightly on the water.
"Oh, it was normal, I guess," Roger lied. He knew he could never lie to Mark. Mark had that best friend psychic thing going on that knew everything no matter if you told him or not.
"Roger…"
"Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay? Just let it be," Roger replied.
"I'm not going through this bullshit with you, Roger."
"No one said you had to! I'm not a child—
"YOU'RE ACTING LIKE ONE!" Roger rolled his eyes at Mark and threw on his leather jacket, making a hasty exit towards the door.
"Go ahead Roger. Run away from you fucking problems. They'll only come back to kick you in your ass in the end! You know, you need to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about Mimi—"
"YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH!" Roger shouted. Mark took a few steps back, stunned.
"How can you say that? Who was there for you after April, after drugs, during withdrawal?" Roger said nothing. "I was. Yeah, what do you need me for?" Mark added. Roger sighed loudly and turned from the doorway.
"Mimi's pregnant. She stopped taking her AZT," Roger said softly.
"Wow—how long?"
"Five weeks. I need to take her to the clinic to get her checked out."
"Roger…I'm sorry—"
"You're not, Mark. Don't worry about it. It's not your problem," Roger turned back and opened the loft door.
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?"
"Out."
With that, Roger was gone.
*//
January slowly turned into February. Lisa had finally settled into a routine that consisted most of sleeping, eating, and frequent trips to the bathroom to satisfy her overactive bladder. With each day she worried that her parents would show up on Mark's doorstep and drag her back to Scarsdale, but she soon realized that her mother would have at least called by now. Even Mark had found the lack of phone calls from his mother odd. One good thing had come out of this whole mess. Lisa and Mimi were bonding over the mutual fact that they were pregnant together, which Lisa had found out from Mark after Roger's breakdown. Good old Benny had granted them an extension for the 5th of February on the rent, which Mark was gratefully taking advantage of. Collins had been extremely busy with his students and grading exam papers. Maureen had been all over the ritzy side of town with Chad lately, leaving her absent from the loft lately, much to everyone's enjoyment.
"I'm still $170 short!" Mark shouted, scattering numerous bills as he slammed his fist down in frustration. Lisa shuffled into the living room shortly after. She was wearing a pair of Mark's sweatpants and an NYU sweatshirt that probably had come from Collins back in the day.
"I know you still have until tonight to collect the rent money, but I'm getting incredibly bored of you bitching about the it, so here," she added, handing him what looked like a mixed amount of dollar bills.
"Lisa, no…"
"Take it. I don't want to hear anything else about it. Just do me a favor and tell Roger to get his fat ass off the couch and get a job because I'm tired of his pretty boy mug looking back at me all the time," she grinned.
"MY ASS IS NOT FAT!" Roger screamed from the couch. Mimi shrugged and snuggled into him some more. Out of pure boredom, they had decided on watching One Life to Live. Roger was half dozing, while Mimi kept sniffling every few seconds, tissues in her lap.
"Why are you crying again?" Roger made a point of asking her after the commercials appeared.
"You are so insensitive! Does the fact that I'm pregnant and you don't care have anything to do with it?" she emotionally sobbed. Roger rolled his eyes and tried to comfort her, but she pulled away. "Don't touch me!"
"I do care!" he growled back, that being the only response he could muster.
"You don't!
"Yes, I do—"
"No, you don't!" She screamed back. She stormed off to the bathroom and grabbed her tissues with her.
"I really feel for you. She's only on her sixth week. Just think of how much more of that you have to put up with," Lisa added, trying to rub it in. Roger glared and ran off to his bedroom. He had been retreating there lately, surprisingly to play his guitar, the sound of which hadn't be heard for weeks.
"He really needs to cut that out. He's such a miserable bastard lately," Lisa said.
"Just cut him some slack. I don't think it's really sunk in yet—" Mark was cut off by the shrill ringing of the phone. He usually made a habit of screening and ignoring it, but this time he had a feeling he already he knew who was on the other end of the line.
"Stop staring at and pick it up. I know who it is anyway," Lisa stated, pulling her hair up into a messy bun.
"I don't think—"
"It's either that or she realizes that I'm hiding here and comes to physically drag me back to Scarsdale, which would result in me permanently running away—"
"I'm not getting it!"
"FINE!"
"SPEAK!"
"Mark, it's your mother again. Not picking up the phone again, I see? Please, if you're there, pick up. It's about Lisa. She ran away a few days ago, and your father and I are extremely worried about her. If you hear anything, or see anything, tell her that we forgive her and come home. We love you Mark. When are you coming home?"
"What bullshit," Lisa muttered, pouting at the phone. She was now tugging absentmindedly at the sweatshirt, lost in thought. Mark chose not to reply and erased the message.
"We really need to get you some clothes. I'm tired of seeing you in mine lately," he said. Mark walked over to the coffee table and started sorting through the mail.
"Heating…electric…gas? I don't think we've ever used the stove this month…Lisa this one's for you?" he added, throwing what looked to be a professional envelope to her. Lisa frowned and ripped it open, noting her name scribbled on the front. She scanned it quickly before groaning at Mark.
"Listen to this—Dear Lisa…I know our last meeting wasn't a pleasant one, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive my family's judgments about the situation we find ourselves in. I hope both you and the baby are well. I'll be in the city next week for a medical conference from the 8th to the 12th, and I was hoping that I could meet you somewhere to catch up on things. I know I can't justify my actions in one meeting, but I'd like to at least explain myself to you before you shut me out of our baby's life forever. If you're feeling up to it, meet me at Monero's on the 9th at noon. Looking forward to seeing you soon, David."
"So are you going to see him?" Mark questioned. Lisa glared at him and shrugged. She knew Mark never approved of David, especially of his age. David was going on 23; Lisa was just shy of 18.
"I don't know. I haven't decided if I want to look that selfish prick in the face yet," she argued.
"How did he track you down?"
"I gave him the address. I figured that even if I wasn't staying here, your place would be my safest bet on receiving his checks, you know?" she replied. Mark nodded. He didn't really care much about anything anymore, now with Roger constantly pissed off, Mimi extremely emotional, and Lisa bitchy.
"I mean—god can you believe how he wrote this? All he thinks about is himself and his image. Pathetic," she moaned, letting the letter flutter back on the table.
"You never told me the whole story of what exactly happened between you guys and why mom and dad kicked you out," Mark said. He had to admit he wanted to know the full truth of why Lisa had come to him—even if it would be something he didn't like to hear so much.
"Well maybe I don't want to—"
"Well maybe I have a right to hear it, seeing as I am putting you up here in my very crowded, emotionally draining loft at the moment…" he trailed off.
"You are such a pain in the ass," she muttered under her breath.
"Lisa—seriously I won't get mad or anything…" Mark sighed. It looked like everyone had been keeping something from him lately.
"Just forget it Mark. Maybe I should have had that abortion when I had the chance," she sighed. Mark just glared at her and tossed the bills back on the coffee table.
"Just---ah, whatever," Mark replied in frustration. He didn't know what to say to her to make anything better for her, and he certainly wasn't ready to perform a speech about what she should do when he didn't even know all the facts.
"Yeah—well I'm gonna go take a walk. Maybe get some coffee. Clear my head and all," she responded, pulling the sweatshirt hood over her head.
"You don't know your way around—"
Slam.
*//
Mark rested his head in his hands and sat in silence, tears of frustration forming in his eyes. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but the next thing he heard was Maureen's voice calling to him from the doorway.
"Marky?"
"Yep?" Maureen rushed over and practically flung herself on the couch next to him, her red heels sliding across the floor. She was clearly dressed to go out, even if a little provocatively. She was currently sporting red flared pants and a black tube top with a black mesh tank over it. A black pea coat had been thrown on top. Her curly hair was piled on top of her head, and she was clutching a matching red purse.
"You okay, pookie? You look sick," she added, placing her hand on his head. "You do feel a little warm. Maybe you should lie down for awhile?"
"Oh, believe me I wish," Mark grumbled. He had now slid down on the couch and was resting his feet in Maureen's lap. "Where are you going dressed like that? It's forty degrees outside, in case you haven't noticed?"
"That's what the coat's for, silly. I'm going out to lunch with Chad to celebrate his being named 'Most Successful Man of the Year' by The Village Voice. But this time, I'm going to meet all the wives and fiancées and girlfriends of his colleagues as well…so I think that Chad might actually be getting serious about us and—"
"That's great, Maureen. Really great," Mark replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I'm sorry, Mark. How have you been?" she said, noting his evident unhappiness.
"Well, considering I have an asshole for a roommate and two emotional pregnant women, I guess I'm heading for a nervous breakdown," he smiled.
"Well, if there's anything I can do…"
"I doubt it but—do you maybe think you can take Lisa and Mimi out one day? I know Lisa needs clothes and they both need stuff for the babies—and I figured you would know something about that because of your nieces," Mark said. Maureen crossed her arms around her chest and chewed on her lip for a second.
"Wait a minute—Mimi's pregnant? When did this happen?"
"Six weeks ago. She's going through with it, as far as I know, although she won't really talk to anyone and keeps yelling at Roger all the time—but it's not like he doesn't deserve it lately," Mark added. He was getting so tired of telling the story that he wished he could just throw up posters everywhere with the headlines: Ex-Junkie Gets Girlfriend Pregnant; Cohen's Kid Sister Knocked Up By Rich Med Student.
"Won't she have to stop taking her AZT?" Maureen questioned.
"That's the general idea. Roger's not too happy about it and keeps fighting with her over it."
"I wouldn't be too happy about it either, but yeah, I'll definitely take them both out. It'll give me a chance to get to know your sister better and maybe cheer Mimi up a bit. Poor you," She ruffled Mark's hair a bit and kissed his cheek.
"Well, I'm going to be late, but how does Friday sound?" Maureen had buttoned up her pea coat and slung her bag over her shoulder.
"It sound good, as far I know. Tomorrow I have to take Lisa back to the obstetrician, and Roger needs to drag Mimi to the clinic sometime this week. Friday night Lisa has someone to meet, so if you're going to do Friday make it an early day? I know how tired she gets sometimes," Mark thought.
"Okay—come to think of it, we'll make it Thursday the 8th then. See you later, Marky!" she waved.
*//
Tuesday morning came sooner than Mark would have liked, and around 8 AM he was frantically trying to wake Lisa up for her doctor's appointment for 9.
"Lisa! UP! NOW! We still need to catch the train!" he shouted. He peeked his head in her door and noticed that her bed was empty and neatly made. "FUCK! LISA MARIE—" Mark slid into the living room, one leg in his pants and the other clutching his shirt. He gaped open mouthed, dropping his shirt to the floor.
"I see the city's had an interesting effect on your vocabulary, Mark."
"Mom?" He quickly fixed his pants and threw on his shirt and paused, adjusting his glasses. "What are you doing here?"
*//
Next up on One Week: Mark's parents make a surprise visit, Mimi reveals a secret about her past, and Roger refuses to cope with the present. Part Six will be up so much sooner than this part took me to post.