CHAPTER 24

SUNDAY

Mark, Maureen, and Benny stood huddled on the street corner with Collins' luggage at their feet. Collins was currently a few feet away from them, trying to hail a cab. It was raining out, and with the absence of an umbrella the friends were also quite wet. It was Sunday and they were all headed for the train station where Collins was going to catch his train to MIT. Roger didn't want to come, scared to leave the comfort and security of the loft though he wouldn't admit it.

Collins made his way back over to the three when he had finally found a free cab, and each of them started loading his belongings into the trunk silently. They all shoved their way into the taxi, Collins, Mark, and Benny sitting in the back, and Maureen getting exiled to the front.

"Can you open up that windowy thing?" Maureen asked the driver before pulling out onto the street. He raised an eyebrow at her and opened the window in the plexi-glass separating the front and back seats.

"Sure can hot stuff."

Maureen made sure he saw her roll her eyes, then turned around in her seat and peeked through the window at the three silent men.

"He's creepy," she mouthed to them, jerking her head towards the driver. They looked over at him, stifling laughs and shaking their heads. The driver cleared loudly to signal to her that he knew what she had said.

"Don't go," she told Collins. He winced and forced a smile.

"I'll call as soon as I get there and I'll come and visit as much as I can. It won't be so bad."

Mark looked out the rain-splattered window at the stop-and-go traffic outside, and Benny stared down at his hands. Maureen turned back so she could look out the windshield at the rain pounding down. It had started raining harder since they left. She hoped that they could take a cab home, too. She wasn't in the mood to ride the subway today.

Maureen wanted so badly to cry. She felt like she desperately needed to, but she just couldn't. These feelings had been dominating her for the last several days, as if she needed a mental breakdown to start all over again. Many times she had tried not to blink in hopes that some tears would form, but with to no avail. She noticed that she and Mark had been quickly drifting apart, and she couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Maureen sighed and ran her fingers through her slightly damp hair and retreated back into the lumpy taxi seats.

"Here we are, gorgeous," the cab driver drawled, slowing to a halt. Maureen scoffed and slid out of the car, moving to the trunk to help with the luggage. Collins went to pay the driver, and Maureen, Mark, and Benny unloaded the trunk.

"Guys, hurry up. The train leaves soon." Collins came back and picked up a suitcase from the wet ground. He pushed through the doors of the station and disappeared inside. He had been strangely moody and despondent that morning, but everyone just chalked it up to his leaving New York.

Maureen carefully tried to lift Collins' large duffel bag out of the trunk, struggling with its weight. It must have weighed as much as she did. She felt somebody lift from the bottom, and looked up to see that it was Mark.

"I can take it if you want," he suggested shyly. He had taken off his glasses and put them in his coat pocket to shield them from the rain, so everything was blurry.

"You sure? It's heavy."

"Yeah," he nodded. Maureen caught herself staring into Mark's eyes and jerked away quickly, picking up the suitcase on the sidewalk instead. The cab driver, thoroughly frustrated with the length of time he had been stopped there, was glad when Benny finally shut the trunk, then zoomed off quickly.

"He's probably wondering where we are," he told the other two solemnly. They nodded and trudged into the train station, glancing around quickly. When the saw Collins, they made his way towards him. He was sitting on the end of a bench, his head hung low and his suitcase at his feet. They placed the others with it, and Maureen took a seat next to him.

"You get your ticket?" Mark asked. Collins shook his head slowly and sighed, looking up at Mark.

"I missed the train."

The three others tried to hide their sighs of relief and put on sympathetic faces.

"Can you catch the next one?" Benny asked, kneeling down a bit so that he was closer to eye-level with Collins.

Collins shrugged. "Probably."

"You should buy your ticket now then," he told him. "Just to be safe this time."

Collins frowned and looked down at the ground again.

"I don't know," he stated simply.

"What do you mean?" Maureen asked, sliding her hand into his and resting her chin on his shoulder. He rubbed his temples with his other hand and sighed again.

"I don't know," he repeated. "I don't know if I should go."

"But you were so gung-ho about it before," Benny told him.

"I know, but maybe this is a sign. I wasn't really sure about this in the beginning, so maybe there's some like, higher power or something that's trying to tell me not to go, you know?"

"Can you do that? Just not go?" asked Maureen.

"Probably. I can just un-accept the job, right? They can't make me take it or anything."

"Tom, are you sure?" Mark finally spoke up. His hands were shoved into the pockets of his pants and he was leaning forward slightly. Collins looked up at him at the use of his first name.

"I think so. I don't think I can do it. I don't want to leave here."

"Then don't," Maureen told him. Collins wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer to him, and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm gonna stay here," he decided, nodding. "I want to stay here."

"Really?" Benny asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah…" he nodded. He paused and stood up slowly. "Yeah." Collins looked around the train station, then at his friends and their confused expressions.

"Sorry," he told them. They shook their heads.

"Don't be. It's okay," Benny assured him. Collins sighed and picked up a suitcase.

"We should find another cab."

* * *

The four friends got back to the loft about two hours later, after unsuccessfully trying to find a cab. They ended up struggling onto the subway with their luggage and returned home, tired and wet. Collins was actually quite happy with his decision, and the stress and sadness that he had been feeling for the past week had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew that he made the right decision.

They were currently sitting around the living room eating a pizza that they had ordered about an hour and a half ago. Roger was being unsurprisingly antisocial and despondent, so they left him alone in his room at his request.

"…so the priest is like, looking at the leprechauns and he's all, 'No, no, I don't think we've got any mute midget nuns around here, sorry.' And the one leprechaun laughs to himself, turns to the other, and he's like 'I told you, Shamus! You fucked a penguin!'"

The friends erupted with laughter at the end of Mark's joke (complete with Irish accents) and dove back into their food. Maureen grimaced and looked at her half-eaten slice and tossed at back onto the plate.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Benny asked. Maureen shook her head and pushed her plate over to him across the ground, shifting on the cold floor to get more comfortable.

"Of course she's not," Mark sighed. He took a bite from his pizza and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Shut up, Mark," she retorted, leaning back onto the couch and crossing her arms.

"Hey, guys, chill out," Collins persuaded. He nudged Mark in the shoulder and glared at him.

"I would if he wasn't biting my head off about everything."

"Excuse me? You usually start these things."

"I do not!"

"You so do! I can't say anything anymore without you getting pissed off!" Mark yelled, jumping up from his seat on the couch. Maureen followed suit and stood up from the ground, staring up at him. Benny and Collins sunk into their seats, trying to act like nothing was going on. This was becoming a regular occurrence around here.

"It's because you say such stupid things all the time! God, I don't even know why I put up with you."

"Why you put up with me?!" Mark asked in disbelief. "You're the one who ditches me to go out God knows where and comes home pretending everything's fine! You don't even tell me where you're going!"

"Maybe I don't tell you because it's none of your business!" she shouted back at him. She tore her coat out of the closet and threw it on, slipping into her shoes quickly. "Here's another time you can add to the list." She swung open the door and stormed out, leaving the door standing open on it's own.

"I wish I never met her," Mark said, shaking his head.

"Don't say that," Collins tried. Mark left for his bedroom and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Maureen pressed Joanne's apartment number on the intercom in the apartment lobby and hoped she was home.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jo? It's me."

"Oh, hi, honeybear."

A loud buzzing sound echoed through the room and the lobby door unlocked. Maureen entered it and pressed the call button for the elevator, waiting impatiently. It opened and Maureen got on, glad that there was nobody else in there. She pressed the floor number and jumped up and down to vent her frustrations. Any normal girl would be crying right now. She had heard Mark say that he wished he never met her after she left and immediately felt horrible for what she had said to him.

The elevator doors slid open and Maureen stepped out. She walked briskly down the short hallway and knocked sharply on Joanne's door. She appeared quickly and smiled when she saw Maureen.

"Hey," she greeted, hugging her.

"Hi. How are you? Busy?"

"Oh, no. Come on in." Joanne opened the door some more and let Maureen in. She took her coat and hung it up in the closet as Maureen took off her shoes.

"Are you okay?" Joanne asked, noticing Maureen's sullen expression.

"Yeah," Maureen replied, sitting down on Joanne's couch, tucking her feet under her.

"Do you want anything to eat or to drink?" Joanne shuffled around some papers on the kitchen table into a neat pile and placed them aside.

"No."

Joanne sat next to Maureen on the couch and studied her face.

"You're not okay. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I told you."

"Maureen, talk."

Maureen crossed her arms and sat in silence, staring straight ahead. Joanne rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Honeybear, what is it?"

"Fine. God, Mark is being a total jerk!"

"Okay…"

"No, like he's saying all these stupid things and accusing me of things, and he's just such an asshole! Like, I can't even say anything without him being all, 'oh well it's all your fault,' and it's not fair! I-I can't stand him."

Joanne stiffened at this.

"Maybe it's time you end the relationship, then," she suggested carefully. Maureen stared at her as if she just said the dumbest thing she had ever heard.

"I… can't," she stammered.

"Maureen, you can't keep doing this."

"I'm not 'doing' anything," she sulked.

"That's exactly it. You're lying to either Mark or myself, and you need to stop. You need to make a decision."

Maureen shrugged and stood up. She wandered over to the sliding doors leading out to the balcony, staring out into the rain.

"You know I choose you," she shrugged half-heartedly.

"Then why are you still with Mark? You're obviously not as over him as you're telling me."

"Says who?"

"You're stressed out over this guy and what he's doing to you. If you really were over him, you wouldn't care."

"I don't."

"Maureen." She raised her voice. "I'm sick of this. I want to know if this relationship is going to go somewhere or if I should get out of it now."

"What?" Maureen asked quietly, turning back to Joanne slowly. "No, Joanne, I do want to be with you. It's just… it's hard, because I don't want to hurt him."

"A minute ago you were complaining about him and not being able to stand him." Joanne didn't look convinced.

"No, it's not like that! Just listen to me—"

"I have been listening to you, and it sounds like you'd rather be with Mark. If you're going to keep doing this to me, we need to break up. You're putting me in an awkward position here and I can't do this for much longer."

"No," Maureen whined slightly. She moved over to Joanne who was now standing by the couch and wrapped her arms around her back. "No, don't say that. I love you. I'm going to be with you."

"Then you know what you have to do," Joanne replied, detaching herself from Maureen.

"I know, and I will. Soon. I promise."

"Okay." Joanne still looked skeptical. "Maybe you should leave. I've got some work to do and some calls to make for tomorrow." She walked over to the door and opened it for her.

Maureen gaped at Joanne and sighed loudly.

"Sure."

She took her coat out of the closet and put her shoes back on, leaving the apartment quickly.

"See you later," Joanne said. Maureen ignored her and brushed past her into the hallway. She hurried down the hall and pressed the elevator call button several times, tapping her foot impatiently. The doors opened and she stepped on, noticing that the 'ground floor' button was already lit up. She glanced around the elevator. There were two teenage boys on one side of her, and a handsome man that she recognized on the other. She knew she had met him before, but couldn't remember his name.

"Hey, Maureen right?"

She looked up quickly at him and smiled.

"Yeah."

"Max," he told her, noticing the slight confusion in her eyes.

"I know," she giggled, staring up into his bright blue eyes.

"We have to stop meeting this way."

"Yes, we do," Maureen smiled, shifting closer to him so that she wasn't so close that it was uncomfortable, but close enough to make him want more. The doors opened and they walked out into the lobby.

"Hey, do you want to maybe go get a coffee of something, Maureen?" he asked.

"Sure," she grinned, casually sliding her hand into his. Max led her through the parking garage to his BMW and they sped off. She knew exactly how this night was going to end.

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