Chapter 18
Hey guys, here's a few answers to your reviews:
Kelby asked: Is there going to be some kind of Harvey/Roger thing?
Yes, there definitely is. Eventually in the future there will be some kind of confrontation, so look out for that in the upcoming chapters! I absolutely loved 3EB too. 33
EMI asked: What's going to happen with Lisa and Benny?
All I can say for now is, you'll have to wait and see. Evil, I know. ;) I can tell you that they'll be hanging around each other A LOT more now that Lisa's back in the city…
Seriously, if you guys have any questions you want to know about, direct them my way and I'll probably end up giving you a few teasers. 33 Keep reviewing, it makes my day.
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"That movie sucked."
"Oh come on, Breakfast at Tiffany's is a classic! How can you say it sucked?" Maureen whined as she pressed rewind on the VCR.
"It still sucked." Mark stood up and looked out the loft window and sighed. Jackie was half way to California right now, and he hated every minute they were apart. So far it had only been three hours.
"How much longer do I have to wear this?" Dan asked. He was sitting at the kitchen table with Collins, who was grading a large stack of papers.
"Just long enough until they get here. There's nothing wrong with the top!" Maureen huffed, smoothing down the crease in her sundress.
"At least she didn't make you wear a dress," Mark added, tugging at the collar of his own printed shirt.
"Well, we've put off the surprise for long enough, so hmph."
"She's got a point there Mark. Just wear the shirt to please her," Collins chuckled.
"Thank you." Maureen ran over to the loft window beside Mark. "Okay, they're coming! Banner?"
Collins pointed up to the large banner and sighed. "Check."
"Fake palm tree?"
"Uh, check."
"Pineapples?"
"Yep."
"Coconuts and rum punch?"
"Yes Maureen…"
"Everyone know what they're supposed to do?"
"Unfortunately yes," Dan grumbled. Maureen shot him a look.
"Hey, that's enough from you mister! Okay, places!" Maureen ran over to the stereo and qued the music and took her place by the door.
Hawaii USAWe're flyin', comin' your way
Mark took one listen to the music and started laughing, until Collins elbowed him in the side. "Sorry."
It's great to be in the fifthieth stateThe land of enchanted dreams
What an isle, where it's heaven tropical style
Where love weaves a spell, it seems
"Uh babe? Do you hear that?" Roger asked, as he walked down the hall hand in hand with Mimi.
"Yeah, what the hell is that? That's not coming from the loft is it?" she asked, trying to listen in closely. "I can't really make out the words."
"Neither can I." Roger opened the loft door, but before he could even drag Mimi in along with him, Maureen appeared from behind the door.
"SURPRISE!" she screamed. Collins and Dan automatically started horribly imitating Hawaiian hula dancers, complete with bikini tops and grass skirts. Maureen had thrown fake leis around Roger's and Mimi's necks, and Mark was just surveying the scene, filming and shaking his head back and forth and laughing.
"Aloha…oe…" Dan croaked, trying to keep the words straight and trying not to laugh at the same time. Mimi was doubled over in laughter, and even Roger had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.
"What fun! Just to swim in the surf and the sun, while the trade winds caress the sea. What a sight, those exotic scenes of delight, are waiting for you and meeeeeeee!" Collins and Dan bellowed out, doing a little twirl and ending up on their knees.
"I…wow, I just don't know what to say," Roger laughed. "That was kind of, scary?"
"But creative!" Mimi giggled, dancing with Collins.
"What's going on guys?" Roger asked, taking a seat on the couch next to Mark.
"Ahem, you and Mimi have just won yourselves an all expenses paid trip to Honolulu, Hawaii from March 17th to the 27th!" Maureen squealed.
Roger blankly stared at her. "You're kidding, right? What do you mean, won?"
"Well, what she means is, we all pretty much chipped in and took care of everything for you. Airfare, the hotel, and enough spending money to get by for the week," Collins chimed in, taking off his bikini top and replacing it with a regular tshirt.
"Yeah, we all think that you both need some time away from us—and alone, before the baby gets here," Mark added.
"Wow—this is really great you guys," Roger said. Mimi nodded and sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you," Mimi said cheerily. "You hear that baby? We're going away!" she laughed.
"Thanks you guys. Seriously. We don't know how we're going to repay you," Roger added.
"Don't think about repaying us. Just have a good time and bring us cheap souvenirs," Dan winked.
"And free beer," Mark added.
"And skintight leather pants!" Maureen winked. Roger just stared at her and shook his head.
"I don't think they sell that in Hawaii, Mo," he laughed.
"Roger baby, you gonna tell them your news?" Mimi asked, kissing the top of his head. Roger grinned and nodded, heading into the kitchen.
"What news?" Mark shouted after him. Roger pulled out a six pack of beer and brought it back with him to the living room and placed it on the table.
"Wes' uncle got us a gig next Friday night," he said, handing beers to Mark and Maureen.
"Wow sweetie, that's great!" Maureen said, taking a swig of her beer. "What time?"
"Around 11. We're playing some covers, but then we're playing our own material too. We even have an opening band. I don't know much about it, but it's some girl named Lauren," he added.
"Sounds fun. Count us in," Mark said. His sarcasm went undetected, and so did his disappearance into his room. Roger finally noticed about five minutes later.
"Uh, where'd Mark go?"
"I think he went to lie down. He's really bummed out about Jackie leaving," Maureen replied sympathetically.
"Wouldn't you be?" he asked, coming back out from his room to resume his position on the couch. "I just went to put my camera away."
"Oh. Okay." Roger stood up and dug around in his pocket for something. "It looks like next weekend is turning into a Scarsdale weekend for me. I have to help Lindsey move into her new apartment, and somewhere in there I'll probably get conned into having dinner with the family."
"Tell me about it. Lisa needs to go back to move more of her stuff here and return her books and…get this, cheerleading uniform," Mark grinned. "Maybe you should tell your girlfriend how much of a pimp you were in high school."
Roger laughed and Mimi just gave him a look. "Yeah, maybe you should tell me."
"He was a typical jock—football of course, and he was on the cheerleaders like—" Maureen clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Okay honey, we don't need any perverted exclamations coming out of your mouth. Thinking about Roger as a football player does enough damage," she laughed.
"Yeah, Roger and football definitely do not belong in the same sentence," Collins chuckled.
"I wasn't that bad," Roger said, defending himself. "Oh come on, they were pretty hot. I wonder what your sister looked like in her uniform."
Mark glared at him and laughed. "Hey, don't you even go thinking about my sister in a uniform!"
"I'll think about your sister anytime I want," he winked.
"Okay children, that's enough," Maureen yawned.
"But anyway, Roger used to date this really hot cheerleader named Jennifer Campana. Dude, you don't even want to ask," Mark laughed. "That was probably some of the best sex of his life right there."
Roger, Collins, and Dan were cracking up at this point. "Oh yeah, and he'd constantly try to look up her skirt everytime she bent over doing one of her cheers. It was classic."
"Yeah, like you didn't," Roger laughed, shoving him in the shoulder playfully. "Face it Mark, you wanted her as much as I did."
Mimi stood up and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. The water was turned on seconds later, as Maureen placed her hands on her hips and glared at them all.
"Good job dumb fucks," she whispered loudly. "You just upset her."
"What? Oh shit…" Roger trailed off.
"Yeah, exactly. Don't you know the rules? Don't talk about how "hot" other girls are in front of your girlfriend, especially your pregnant, emotionally charged, girlfriend. Don't tell your girlfriend about how "hot" your sex life was with that ex girlfriend. Don't you guys know anything? You better go talk to her Roger, or you won't be getting much of anything until you do so."
"Yeah, I guess I better," he said, putting his beer down on the table and walking towards the bathroom door.
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Mimi ran her fingers through her hair, trying to get the remains of the strawberry shampoo out. Her eyes started watering, and she wiped at them furiously with the back of her hand. She hated crying, especially crying over stupid, inane comments that her boyfriend made about other girls. She knew Roger would never leave her…right?
Running the loofah over her body almost mechanically, she heard the bathroom door open and shut.
"So much for knocking, Roger," she called out, shutting off the water.
"Mimi? I'm sorry."
She sighed and pulled back the shower curtain, poking her head out. "Hand me that towel please?" He did, and she wrapped it around her body before stepping completely out.
"You could've just gotten it yourself," he joked. "It's not like I haven't seen you naked before."
"Yeah, well I'm fat anyway." She walked over to the sink and ran her brush through her hair, before wrapping it up in another towel. Roger stood up and sighed, kissing her neck.
"You're not fat. You're beautiful."
"Don't piss me off more than I already am," she argued, taking her robe off the back of the door and putting it on before pulling out her towel from underneath it.
"I'm not apologizing for saying you're beautiful, because you are. You're not fat, you're pregnant. There's a difference," he pointed out.
"I'm going to go and lay down. Tell everyone good night for me, and thank you about the trip."
"Are you mad at me babe?"
"No Roger, if it calms your enormous ego, I'm not mad at you. Night," she added, kissing him before walking out of the bathroom.
Roger sighed and walked back out into the living room. He knew she was mad at him, just by the way she kissed him goodnight.
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FRIDAY MORNING
"Did you make up with Mimi yet?"
"Kind of. Not really," Roger sighed. "She's really upset with me."
"I think she'll get over it. I mean, she can't stay mad at you over something like that forever," he joked.
They were in the elevator heading up to the maternity ward. Lisa was being discharged today, and Roger had volunteered to go with him, considering for some reason he had a lot of energy today. He had just about pressed every button in the elevator, and unfortunately for Mark, the ride was taking forever. The two finally stepped off the elevator and made their way down the ward, walking a little more slowly past the regular nursery and the NICU nursery.
"You'll be a great dad. You know that, right?"
"I try to, but I just don't ever want my kid to think I'm some kind of fuck up," he shrugged, staring in at all the newborns.
"Well, you have a ways to go to get yourself off that path," Mark joked. Mark started walking away, but Roger grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
"Uh buddy? Who's that guy standing over Lisa's shoulder?" Roger asked. Mark squinted into the room. He smiled when he saw Lisa holding Noah. He had about a million wires hooked up to him, but he looked healthy, and Mark knew that was all that mattered. He'd heard nothing but good reports since Lisa delivered, and knew that she was pretty lucky to have a son through everything that had happened to her—and most of it he still had no idea about.
"Is that Benny?" Mark asked. "What in the hell…?"
"That's fuckin' weird," Roger muttered. He raised his fist to bang on the glass, when Mark pointed at the sign.
"You're not supposed to bang. Let's just go and wait in her room. I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation as to why our favorite bastard is standing in the NICU with my underage sister."
"Yeah. Let's do that."
Ten minutes and two recaps of Ricki Lake later, Benny entered the room, wheeling Lisa in with him. Mark and Roger were sprawled out on her hospital bed, discussing the show.
"Hey guys!" Lisa smiled cheerfully. "Noah gained three ounces already."
"That's great," Mark smiled, giving her a hug, then nudging Roger in the ribs.
"Oh yeah. That's really good news. So uh, Benny, what are you doing here?" Roger asked calmly. It didn't take a moron to figure out what was going on between him and Lisa, and he had a pretty good idea. Poor Mark on the other hand, was clueless.
"I called him before," Lisa said testily, noting the tension in the room.
"Yeah, I just came by to bring her flowers and see how she was feeling," Benny defended himself.
"Uh huh. Sure," Roger said under his breath. "Anyway, ready to go?"
"Yeah," Lisa pulled her sweatshirt jacket on, while Roger took the opportunity to talk some sense into Mark.
"You're telling me you don't see it? Benny's trying to get with your sister," Roger whispered.
Mark shook his head. "I don't think so. I would have known about it."
"No, you wouldn't have. Has she told you where she was for the month that she was gone?"
"Not exactly, but I'm not pushing her. She'll tell me when she's ready," he added.
"Either she tells you or I accidentally let something slip. You sit her down tonight and you talk to her," Roger said angrily.
"What to you mean let something slip? You knew something and you didn't tell me?"
"So I'll see you later tonight then?" Lisa asked, standing up to hug Benny.
"Yeah. Around 8? We could just hang out at my place, since you're probably not up to going out," he laughed.
Lisa nodded. "Thank you for the flowers."
"Anytime." Benny left quickly, Roger glaring at him the whole time.
"Okay! And we're leaving now," Mark shouted out, trying to clear some of the tension in the room.
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Mark furiously scribbled at the paper lying in front of him, his eyes edging towards the phone every few minutes. Jackie hadn't called, and although he knew he was as capable of calling as she was, he didn't feel like it was his place to intrude. A light knock sounded at the door, and sighing, he stood up to answer it. Lisa had been at Benny's for the last few hours, Mimi sleeping, and Roger "out". He yawned and opened it, expecting it to be Lisa without her key as usual.
"I'm sorry—I'm sorry Mark. I figured if I went, it would make everything go away, but it didn't! I couldn't leave you. I understand if you hate me, but I…I didn't know what else to do," Jackie whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. She was crying, her mascara running down her cheeks.
"I don't hate you," Mark said softly. Jackie nodded and walked toward him, resting her forehead on his chest. Mark instinctively wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder, rubbing her back gently. "I understand. I'm glad you came back."
"I'm sorry I lied to you," she whispered, clutching onto the front of his shirt. "I fucking lied to you about needing to go. I hurt you, Mark—"
"No, you didn't," he replied firmly.
"Yes I did. I saw it in your eyes when I left. I'm always doing that, I'm always hurting the people I care about the most. And, oh god, Natalie's really gone. I don't want to dance anymore, not without her. She's not coming back Mark…she's not." Jackie pushed away from him and crumpled to the floor, sobbing and rocking back and forth. Mark slid down with her and pulled her close, and they huddled together, until finally, Mark realized there was nothing left to do but let her cry.
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SATURDAY MORNING
2:30 AM
The single heater in Mark's room kicked on, the coils trying to weakly heat the small bedroom. Jackie sat up and wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to keep herself warm. Swinging her legs over the side, she realized that she never changed out of her jeans. Mark was sound asleep, his breathing even and steady. His hand was draped protectively on her side of the bed, and when she had stood up, he sitirred and mumbled a few incoherent phrases before falling back asleep. Jackie tiptoed over to the mirror and pulled her hair back into a loose twist at the back of her neck. She turned from side to side, noting how different she looked in the past few days that Natalie had been gone. Her collarbones were more prominent, her face pale, her lips chapped a little. The bags under her eyes were larger than ever.
What was she doing here? She was relying on Mark too much—Mark, who she knew close to nothing about, yet he knew mostly everything about her.
"But you don't know everything," she whispered out, leaving his bedroom and closing the door behind her. The living room was dark, only illuminated in a few places where the street lights shined in. She heard Mimi's light snores, and Roger's light breathing as she tiptoed by, their door cracked a tiny bit. She knew Roger never slept well, and she often wondered why. Then there was Lisa, Mark's sister, who she didn't know at all, except for the fact that she went into preterm labor and that her story was still untold.
Sighing once again, Jackie made her way onto the rusty balcony, shutting the sliding door behind her. She realized that they probably rarely came out here, considering that there was only a few old beer bottles scattered to the side of an equally dead flowerpot. She glanced down over the railing and noticed how quiet the city was at this time of night, a few horns blaring in the background. There was a part of her that wished she could just float over it all, without having to think, or feel, or hurt anymore. She lifted herself up effortlessly and perched herself on the side of the brick wall, her legs swinging over the edge. Maybe if she could just…?
"What are you doing?" Roger's voice was cold, yet concerned. She jumped—startled, and he reflexively grabbed her arm. "Sorry, I thought you were—I didn't mean to scare you."
Jackie jumped down from the wall and landing back on the patio, brushing herself off. "It's fine. Just needed to clear my head. What are you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep. Then I heard you walk by, and I wanted to know what you were up to, so I kind of followed you," he shrugged.
"Yeah…well I guess I better be getting back inside then," she smiled.
"You wanna take a walk?" Roger asked, handing her his leather jacket.
"Sure, but don't you need this? I don't want you getting sick on me," she joked, pulling her arms through the jacket. He shrugged again, and together they walked through the loft and out the door, silently descending the stairs. They walked a good five blocks before either one of them spoke again.
"What made you come back?" he questioned, digging his hand into his jeans. Jackie tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and sighed. She seemed to be doing an awful lot of sighing lately.
"I don't know. I don't think a part of me was ready to go all the way back yet. My parents weren't exactly too thrilled with me coming here. They wanted me to stay and take the scholarship with the Australian Ballet, but Natalie told me about the auditions here, and I felt like I owed it to myself to go."
"Ah, the infamous controlling parents. I used to have a pair of those. Still do, I think, except they've learned that they don't control shit when it comes to me anymore," he grinned.
"How so?" she asked.
"You want to know the full or shortened version?"
"Well how much time do we have?" Jackie laughed, walking a little closer to him to avoid the snow drifts that were still piled up on the sidewalks.
"I want to take you somewhere, but we have enough time," he answered, playfully pushing her towards the snowdrift.
"Hey!" she shouted, grabbing a handful of snow and flinging it at the back of his head. Roger turned around in mock horror and tried to fix his hair.
"Like, oh my god, my hair's messed up!"
"I don't sound like that," she protested. "I don't think I know anyone that does. Okay, pretty boy, continue."
"Anyway, Mark and I grew up together—best friends since middle school and all. Once we got up to Scarsdale High, things changed a little. Mark was completely into the artsy aspect of high school—photography, fiming, you know. I started off the typical jock, but that only lasted up until junior year, and by senior year I was starting to get into drugs—pot and coke, mostly. My mom found a bag of coke in my sock drawer the day before graduation and she flipped. Actually my dad flipped more than she did. They kicked me out the day after, and for the rest of the summer I crashed at Mark's place—his mom practically viewed me as 'the son she never had'," he laughed, trying to mimic Mrs. Cohen. "Mark was headed to Brown University in the fall, and I followed. We ended up buying that shit hole dump back there and we've been here ever since."
"You've never gone back?" Jackie asked, her breath making clouds in the air.
"Just a few times. Sometimes I'd drive halfway and turn back, other times I'd end up making it there and drive by. It's hard, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
Roger stopped in front of Wes' uncle's club and dug around in his pocket for the key. "Don't tell him I was here. I could get my ass kicked for this," he laughed.
"Really?"
"I don't know. Probably," he grinned, holding the door open for her. He flicked the dim lights on and made his way over to the stage, where a spare Fender guitar sat hooked up to an amp, a piano and drum set in the background.
"It's nice," she voiced, following him onto the stage. He picked up the Fender and started tuning it, while Jackie grabbed a bunch of lyrics and sat down at the edge of the stage a few feet away from him.
"Yeah, it is. We don't use the piano at all, except for when people have gigs that need it, but pretty much everything else is property of The Well Hungarians.
Jackie flipped through a bunch of lyrics, many crossed out furiously, many not finished and barely pieced together. She landed on a few at the bottom, and the one that looked of a decent length she handed to him. "I didn't know you write songs."
"I didn't think I could, until I met Mimi. I wrote this one for her. It's a long story, but she was pretty sick and she almost died and I sang it to her and everything. I know she's pretty upset with me right now, because I'm not around as much as I used to, so I was thinking of maybe doing something really special for her soon," he finished, strumming out the first few chords of the song.
"I think she'd like that," Jackie smiled, stealing the paper away from him and walking over to the piano. "You don't need them, do you?"
"No, I know it by heart, why?" he asked curiously, watching her as she took a seat at the piano. "What are you, multitalented?"
"Something like that," she joked, running her fingers along the piano keys. "Well start."
"Start what?"
"Playing. Isn't that what musicians do?" she teased.
Roger nodded and started playing, but without the words. Jackie knew something must have been holding him back from singing it, so in turn, she started.
Your eyesAs we said our goodbyes
Roger looked over, watching her fingers run over the keyes effortlessly.
"You turn," she laughed.
Roger shrugged and started playing, Jackie accompaniying him on the piano.
Can't get them out of my mindAnd I find
I can't hide
"From your eyes, the ones that took me by surprise…" Jackie sang softly, her hair falling in front of her face
"The night you came into my life, where there's moolight I see your eyes…"
Roger took over then, his voice covering Jackie's own. She still continued playing on the piano, but had stopped singing.
How'd I let you slip away?When I'm longing so, to hold you
Now I'd die for one more day
Because there's something
I should have told you
Jackie tucked her hair behind her ears again and continued, half humming, half singing along with him.
"Yes there's something I should have told you…" she whispered. She noticed how Roger was so into the song that he had his eyes closed, and a smile had formed on his face.
When I looked into your eyesWhy does distance make us wise?
You were the song all along
And before this song dies
Roger strummed out a few more chords. "I should tell you, I should tell you…"
I have always loved youYou can see it in my eyes…
Jackie smiled as Roger sat there, playing with his guitar strings. She hadn't played in such a long time that she figured she might as well have some fun with it.
Saturday night and you're hangin' around
Tired of livin' in your one horse town
Like to find a little hole in the ground
"For awhile…"Roger chimed in, walking over and sitting next to her.
"You know this one?" she laughed. Roger nodded.
"Billy Joel, Captain Jack. My mom loves him," he added.
Captain Jack will get you high tonightAnd take you to that special island
Captain Jack will get you by tonight
Just a little push and you'll be smilin'
Jackie shoved him playfully and continued playing. "Your sister's gone out, she's on a date…"
"You just sit at home and masturbate…" Roger laughed.
"Yeah, you know you do," Jackie added in.
"That's what I have Mimi for," Roger teased, trying to make the words he just said to the tune of the song like Jackie had.
They continued playing, skipping from random tune to tune, and when they had reached Madonna's "Like a Virgin", they were dancing around like five year olds.
"Like a virgin! Feels so good inside," Roger cracked up, girlishly.
"I'm sure it does," Jackie laughed, squinting at her watch. "Whoa, it's almost 5 AM!"
"Jesus, we've been out here forever! My ass is so dead tomorrow night," he said, running around to pick up the lyrics he had left there the night before. He shoved the spare copy of "Your Eyes" into his pocket. "Feel better?"
"Much," she said, handing him his jacket.
"Good. That was kind of the idea. If Mark asks, tell him we were having hot sex on the corner."
"You've got a large ego, Davis," Jackie laughed, stepping out onto the street while he locked up.
"But seriously, he really cares about you. From what I hear, the sex is great," Roger teased, shutting the door behind him.
"What? Who told you that?"
"Thin walls, for one."
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