Chapter 34

Early December

"This thing is huge!" Mimi called over the loud chattering of the people filling the large, festively decorated hall. Collins, Maureen, and Mark followed her through the crowd as they looked for their table. They lost Benny several feet back when he found yet another co-worker of his and got lost in conversation. They were presently at the gala that they had been roped into buying tickets for a month ago.

Mark nudged Maureen through the crowds following Collins and Mimi, and placed his hands on her waist from behind.

"You look great tonight," he told her. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"So do you pookie." She peered through the mass of people and saw Mimi and Collins sitting down at a table.

"I think they found the table," she let him know. He shrugged and shook his head, oblivious to what she just said. Maureen laughed and led him over to the table, plopping down in a chair next to Collins. She glanced around the hall and leaned into Mark.

"What is this for again?"

Mark shrugged. "No idea. Something about lawyers and fundraising, I think."

"Maybe," she giggled as she leaned back into her chair. Suddenly, her heart stopped as she noticed something horrible familiar at the next table.

"You okay?" Mark asked as she sunk down in her seat. "You look so scared all of the sudden," he laughed.

She turned her head to Mark and shook her head slowly, forcing a smile. "No, I'm okay."

She turned quickly and tugged on Collins' sleeve, pulling him out of conversation with Mimi.

"Patience is a virtue, little lady," Collins chided her.

"Can you come with me to the bar?" she asked quickly.

He laughed. "Can't wait to get drunk, eh?"

"Yeah," she replied. "We'll get you guys drinks, too, if you want," she told Mimi and Mark as she pulled Collins up with her. They gave her their orders and Collins and Maureen battled their way through the crowds again.

Maureen slid her hand into Collins' and clutched onto his arm with her other hand.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, noticing her sudden fright.

She nodded, but made sure she was a far enough distance away from the table before spilling everything to Collins.

"Collins…" she started meekly. "I'm an idiot."

"No you're not," he reassured her, confused.

"Yes I am! Do you remember when I cheated on Mark?" she asked, pained at the memory.

Collins nodded. "Yeah."

"Well I was dating this woman, Joanne – oh, don't look so surprised. You would've really liked her. She was so great, and she was a lawyer! And I really liked her but she broke up with me and Mark did, and it was all a big mess. But the thing is she was so… amazing. She was one of the only people who've ever really seemed to like me and I even managed to screw that up too, and now she hates me."

"Okay…" he replied slowly as they reached the bar and stood in line. "Why's this coming out all of the sudden?"

She leaned against him and whined. "Because she's here."

"Here? Like, now?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she replied meekly. "What do I do?"

"Well," he started, pausing a moment to think. "You don't have to do anything. It will be awkward if you do."

She shrugged. "But what if she starts talking to me?"

"Then talk back. Just don't make a big deal out of this, babe. It'll all turn out fine."

She shrugged again and frowned. "How much longer do we have to stay? I want to go home."

Collins wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her tightly.

"After dinner will boot it out of here, okay? Though I can't promise the same for Benny," he laughed, pointing at Benny who was schmoozing with somebody new.

Later that evening, everybody was done eating and was currently finishing off their deserts and coffee. Maureen had managed to make it most of the night without seeing Joanne again, and so far everything was going fine. Benny had joined the gang for dinner, but later sped back off to continue talking with co-workers and others he was introduced to that night.

"So you guys find any places you like?" Collins asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

Mark nodded and draped his arm over Maureen's shoulders. "A few."

"Yeah," Maureen agreed. "There are like, three we like. Right?"

"Yup, and one's a townhouse. We've got a couple decisions to make, eh?" he asked, glancing over at Maureen. She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder and shut her eyes.

"We do."

"Where are they?" Collins asked.

"Um, Manhattan," Mark nodded. "It's not like we're moving to Jersey or anything."

"Eeew," Maureen laughed. "Hey!" she whined, sitting up quickly and brushing off the crumbs of the small piece of cake that Collins threw at her.

"Jersey rules," he grinned. "Take that."

Mimi punched him lightly in the shoulder and giggled.

"Will you take me to see them?" she asked, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

"For sure! One of them has the biggest closets!" Maureen squealed.

Mark rolled his eyes. "As if she doesn't have enough clothes as it is."

Maureen patted him on the cheek and covered her mouth as she yawned with her other hand. "What time is it?"

"About midnight," answered Collins.

"Should we grab our coats and head out?" Mark suggested, pushing himself away from the table.

Collins nodded. "Sounds good."

They all stood up, but Mimi plopped back down in her seat.

"Wait," she sighed. "I've lost Benny again."

"So honestly, is he ever around?" Maureen laughed.

"Nope," Mimi shook her head, looking around the slowly emptying hall. "Always working, I tell you."

"I'll wait with you until you find him," Collins suggested.

"Oh, don't worry about me. He'll be back."

"No, it's okay. He's driving me back to the loft anyway," he laughed, sitting back down with Mimi.

"Well, we should probably get going anyway," Mark shrugged, looking over at Maureen who nodded.

"Work and then rehearsal tomorrow," she frowned, sticking out her tongue.

"Have fun," Mimi smirked sarcastically. "Night, guys."

"Bye you two," Collins added. "Careful on the way home."

"Thanks, dad," Maureen laughed, patting him on the head as she passed.

Mark waved as they walked away from the table. "Bye!"

He wrapped an arm around Maureen's waist as they pushed their way through the crowds again.

"You didn't eat very much tonight," he noted.

Maureen sighed. She'd heard this too many times before. "I wasn't that hungry."

"You have to eat, you know."

"I do know," she whined. "And I did. But even the doctor said I have to ease myself back into eating enough. If I eat too much too soon I'll just throw it back up anyway."

"It's been almost two months," he reminded her. "Haven't you eased enough?"

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring his comment.

"You won't throw up," Mark informed her as they walked through the doorway out into the equally as crowded lobby.

"Okay," she sighed, irritated.

Mark realized he struck a bad chord with his girlfriend as they stopped walking, happy that they both had an excuse to cool off while she waited for him.

"Wait here, I'll go grab our coats from coat check."

He sped off and Maureen kicked at the ground, leaning against the wall. Sure, it was kind of cute when he was worried about her in the beginning, but now it was just getting annoying. Maureen could take care of herself, and she didn't need Mark breathing down her neck all the time.

She whimpered loudly and bumped the back of her head against the wall when somebody pushed into her by accident.

"Watch it," she growled, stepping back.

"Sorry," the man replied meekly, turning back to his group who was staring back at her. They all turned back to their conversation except for one, who continued to look at Maureen awkwardly.

"Oh my God," she murmured, tearing her eyes away from Joanne and looking down at the ground.

"Maureen?" she asked carefully.

"Hey…" Maureen replied, refusing to meet her eyes.

Joanne turned abruptly back to her friends, then awkwardly back on her heel, walking away.

"Great!" Maureen whined. "Great…"

Before long, Mark showed up with her coat and was already wearing his. He helped her into it and they left the banquet hall for the sidewalk.

"Should we take a cab home?" he asked.

Maureen shrugged and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I guess so."

He nodded as they walked down the sidewalk, trying to hail a cab. Maureen recognized Joanne close by and made a loud noise of disgust.

"What are the fucking odds?" she asked to no one in particular.

Mark looked back at her and frowned. "What?"

She sighed melodramatically, directing her next comment at Joanne. "Nothing, but don't you just hate it when people are big babies and let one stupid thing ruin their whole night?"

He stared back at her, confused, and turned back around to find a cab.

"I'm not one to intrude," Joanne replied as she tried to hail her own cab. "But did you ever stop to think that maybe the person has other places to be?"

"Like flossing their teeth, I suppose," she shot back snootily, "Because some people are really anal retentive that way."

"Or just thorough. Maybe the other person is just a slob."

"Or a free spirit," she corrected Joanne loudly. "Maybe the other person just doesn't appreciate the other person's love for life."

"And maybe the other other person doesn't appreciate a smart person when they see one," she yelled back, stomping off down the sidewalk.

Maureen crossed her arms in a huff and stamped her foot on the ground, hoping Joanne heard it.

"Do you know her?" Mark asked obliviously as a taxi slowed to a halt in front of them.

She shook her head violently and flopped into the cab.

"Never seen the bitch before in my life."

April bit the top of her pen and examined the freshly written sentence on her paper.

"No," she mumbled. "'Education is the root of…' Rog? How do I finish this sentence? 'Education is the root of…'?" she called to Roger in the kitchen.

"All things good and holy? You're asking the wrong person," he laughed. "Quit working. Dinner's ready."

April groaned and reluctantly dropped her binder onto the coffee table. She stood up and slid into a chair at the old table they used as a dining room table.

"What'd you make?"

"Mac and cheese," he grinned. "It's all I know how to cook."

She laughed. "You're adorable."

"I know," he replied, setting her plate down in front of her. He placed his down across from her and sat down, too.

"Guess what?" he asked, smiling.

April popped a forkful of pasta into her mouth and shrugged. "What?"

"We got a gig on Thursday!"

"Oh, that's great babe!" she squealed.

"Will you come?" he asked.

She nodded. "Sure, if I don't have too much work."

"You're gonna wear yourself out," he told her as-a-matter-of-factly.

"No I won't," she shrugged. "Just think, in less than a year I'll be a teacher… or at least a supply."

"It's true!" Roger smiled. "I'm so proud of you," he pretended to sob. "My little girl grew up so fast!"

"Shut up," she laughed. "Oh hey, did I tell you? My cousin Monique is pregnant."

"Who's that?"

"The one my parents love," she rolled her eyes. "But it's hilarious because she's not even engaged yet. I bet everyone's really pissed."

"I bet."

April nodded and stared out the window, absentmindedly playing with the food on her plate.

"You there?" Roger asked, swallowing some of his dinner.

She nodded again and smiled back at him. They both turned back to their food and sat in silence for a few minutes until April spoke up again.

"Would you ever want kids?" she asked, studying his face.

"What?" he laughed. "Where'd that come from?"

April shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just curious, I guess."

She let out a quiet chuckle and turned back to his dinner.

"Well, would you?" she prodded.

He made a face and shook his head. "I dunno. Not right now… not for a long time. Kids are overrated."

"They are?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"All they do is barf and crap, and I mean, that's still all I do and I can barely take care of myself."

"You take good care of me," she frowned.

"But it's not like your only dependant on me. Babies are."

She turned back to her food, pushing it around her plate. "So you'd never want one?"

"Well, I don't know about never," he replied. "Just not now. Maybe when I'm like, forty."

April paused. "Well I guess that's okay…"

"You want kids, don't you?"

"Yeah… Eventually, like you said," she added quickly. "And plus, it might be hard since we're both…"

"Yeah," he agreed, understanding. "That might pose a problem. Would we ever want to risk it?"

"I don't know," April sighed, "Maybe not. I wouldn't want to mess up another person's life, too."

"You haven't messed up any lives," he rationalized with her.

"I messed up yours."

He let out a small laugh and took her hand from across the table. "You did not. You made it better."

She rolled her eyes. "I messed it up and you know it. I got you sick."

"April," he said. "You still don't think that, do you?" He stood up from his chair and wandered to her side of the table. "It's not your fault."

"Sure."

He repeated himself. "April. It's not your fault. I'm the one who got you involved in drugs and I'm the one who… got you sick. Don't blame yourself. Isn't that what your therapist keeps telling you?"

"Yeah," she trailed off. "Sorry."

"Stop that!" he laughed. "It's not your fault. Repeat after me: It's not my fault."

"It's not my fault," April laughed.

"Again."

"It's not my fault."

"Louder!"

"It's not my fault!" she yelled, jumping up from her chair and laughing.

Roger smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"Finish your dinner."

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