"Where are you going, Mark?"
Mark nearly dropped his camera, as he hadn't known that Mimi was in the room. It was about eight in the morning, and he was going out to meet Jan at her apartment.
"Me? Nowhere. I was just gonna get some fresh air, you know?"
"Mark, I'm not stupid. Tell me where you're going," Mimi insisted, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.
Mark sighed. "Okay, you know that girl I met at the Life Café yesterday?"
"More like smacked into," Mimi smirked.
"Yeah, well, I got her number, and I called her last night. I'm meeting her at her apartment."
Mimi's face lit up. "Mark, that's great! It's about time you found someone!"
Mark rolled his eyes. "Meems, I don't even know her yet. I can hardly say that I 'found someone.'"
"I think she will be," Mimi declared. And Mark knew that once Mimi decided something, her mind was made up permanently.
"Well, we'll see, won't we?" he said, nervously. "Don't tell Roger where I am, okay?"
"Why not? You tell him everything."
"Just because he was teasing me about it yesterday . . . and now that I'm actually taking his advice I'd rather he say 'I told you so' AFTER I figure out whether this is someone I' be willing to share my life with."
Mimi looked impressed. "How thoughtful of you," she said, teasingly.
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go now." He picked up his camera and started for the door.
"Why are you taking that thing?" Mimi called after him.
"This?" Mark shrugged. "I don't know, I take it everywhere. I feel naked without it." And with that, he left.
Mimi chuckled, and went back into Roger's room to get dressed.
***
"Did Mark tell you where he was going?" Roger asked Mimi. They were on the couch, watching TV. Mimi sat in Roger's lap, staring blankly at the screen.
"Nope," she said. "When I woke up, he'd already gone." She'd never considered herself a good liar, but Roger seemed to buy it.
"Okay," he sighed. "Where's Daisha?"
"I'm here." Daisha walked over to where Mimi and Roger were sitting, and settled onto Mimi's lap.
"Ouch," Roger groaned playfull, under both their weight. "You guys are gonna kill me."
Mimi slapped his arm playfully smiling, and turned to Daisha. "How did you sleep, honey?"
Daisha shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I didn't really sleep though. I'm not used to living in the city. There's so much noise at night."
"Tell me about it," Roger sighed, from underneath them.
"You wanna get some breakfast?" Mimi asked him.
"I'm starved," Daisha declared, before Roger could answer.
"Okay." Mimi slid out from underneath Daisha and sat beside Roger. "Do you want to go to the Life?"
"Nah. If Seb sees us there again, he'll have a heart attack," said Roger.
Mimi shrugged. "Where do you wanna go then?"
"What about the Moondance Diner?" he suggested. "I eat there with the guys all the time." By 'The Guys,' Roger meant his band, The Well Hungarians. They had a gig at CBGB's coming up soon.
"Sounds good to me," Mimi said. "You want me to call the others so we can meet them there?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll do it," Roger told her.
"Not if I get there first," Mimi teased.
Daisha yelped as Roger scrambled from underneath her to race Mimi to the phone. Mimi got there first. Roger ran up behind her and scooped the phone out of her hands and held it above his head.
"Roger!" Mimi complained, as she jumped up in the air, her hand just inches from the phone.
"Say pretty please, Roger."
She said it. Daisha sat on the couch, laughing and shaking her head.
"Here ya go." He handed the phone to Mimi. She tweaked his rear end as he walked away, much to Daisha's delight.
"Are you two always like this?" she asked, laughing.
"Like what?" Roger asked innocently, sitting back down beside her.
When Mimi was done making the calls, the three of them walked down to the Moondance Diner. Mimi had called Maureen and Joanne, and Collins and Frankie. Roger realized that she hadn't bothered to call Isabella, but he kept quiet about it.
"Vamanos, Chicas," he said, as they followed him out the door.
***
"Well, this is a change," Collins said, as he observed the inside of the Moondance Diner.
"Not to me," Frankie said, as she slid into the chair next to him. "I used to come down here with friends all the time."
"I might have been here a couple of years ago," Maureen said thoughtfully, as she arrived with Joanne and Jimmy. "By the way, guys, this is my friend, Jimmy. He's the one who called me the other day on Jo's phone."
They all said hello, and Jimmy made himself right at home, sliding in beside Mimi.
"Why, hello there," he said, winking at her. "What's your name?"
"It's Mimi," she said, slowly, uncomfortable with the manner he was taking towards her. Roger noticed this too, and it bothered him.
"So when did you and Mo first meet?" he asked Jimmy.
"I don't know, maybe two years ago? We first met because she wanted me to help her become an actress."
Maureen's hands clenched into fists as he snickered when he said the word 'Actress.'
"I guess we just became closer after that, and we started dating," Jimmy said, leaning back in his chair. "But things just didn't work out, as you see. She had bigger fish to fry."
"Don't call me 'She,'" Maureen said, annoyed. "I'm sitting right here."
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, how long have you two been together?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat, directing his question toward Mimi and Roger.
"Almost two years now, I think," said Roger. "We met on Christmas Eve."
"Well, that's nice. If you ever decide you don't want her, let me know," he laughed obnoxiously. Both of their faces turned red with anger.
"Jimmy might book me a place to hold an art gallery," Maureen said quickly, sensing Roger and Mimi's discomfort.
"An Art gallery?" Collins said, frowning. "I didn't know you were an artist."
"Neither did I," Maureen said, laughing. "Joanne found some of my stuff in the closet, and then we showed it to Jimmy, and he said he'd try to get me an opening."
"For a suitable price, that is," Jimmy interrupted, chuckling.
Maureen turned to him. "What? You never said anything about wanting something in return before."
"I didn't want anything then," he said, simply.
Maureen rolled her eyes. "Right, and now all of a sudden you decided I had to do something for you? Besides, you said it was a gift from you to me, remember?"
"I remember."
Maureen sighed. "What is it you want, anyway?"
Jimmy, who was staring at Mimi, didn't seem to hear her.
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy suddenly snapped to attention. "What was that?"
"Never mind," Maureen said, shaking her head.
"You used to date this guy?" Joanne said, under her breath.
"What can I say, I was stupid then," Maureen whispered back.
"I've gotta use the Ladies Room," Daisha spoke up suddenly, getting up from the table.
"I'll go with you," Mimi said quickly. She could feel Jimmy's eyes on her as she walked away with Daisha.
"So Roger, where's Mark, anyway?" Frankie asked Roger.
Roger shrugged. "Beats me. Mimi got up before me and said he had already left."
"Where do you think he went?" Maureen asked, her fingers dragging over the rim of her glass.
Roger shrugged. "I have no idea. He never said anything to me."
"Well, men can be sneaky," Frankie said, winking at Collins.
"You accusing me of something?" he said, pretending to be angry.
"No. You know how to behave yourself," she joked, patting him on the arm.
"At least some of them know how to," Maureen said flatly, looking at Jimmy. Suddenly, a trashy, muffled obnoxious version of 'Fur Elise' began to play, loudly.
"Since when does your phone do that?" Maureen asked Joanne, as she rummaged through her bag.
Joanne reached into her bag and got her phone. "It's not mine," she said. "Mine's off."
"It's his," Roger said, pointing to Jimmy, who had already switched his cellular phone on, and was talking to the person on the other line. He realized that they were all glaring at him, reproachfully.
"Oh, erm. Hold on," he pulled the phone away from his ear. "You mind if I take this outside?"
"Go ahead," Roger said, speaking for everyone else as well.
"He's quite a character," Frankie said to Maureen, as soon as he'd left.
"Tell me about it," Maureen sighed.
"How were you able to stand him?" Collins exclaimed. He caught himself from saying, 'Even I wouldn't date a guy like that.'
"I don't know," Maureen sighed. "Somehow during our relationship I stopped seeing him as an agent trying to get work for me, and started to become attracted to him."
Joanne exaggerated a shudder, and Maureen laughed. "I told you, Pookie, I was stupid then. Remember, I also used to date Mark." She paused for a moment, glancing at Roger. "I was joking."
"I know," Roger said. "I'm just wondering where he could be."
"Don't worry about it," Collins said, reassuringly.
Roger shrugged and took a sip from his glass.
***
"You almost done in there?" Mimi said to Daisha, who was still in the stall.
"Yeah, hold your horses!" came her reply.
"You've been in there for an hour," Mimi groaned.
"Have not." Daisha opened the stall door. She smiled at Mimi. "Remember when we used to fight like this when we were kids?"
"Yes" Mimi admitted, a smile coming across her face. "Mom needed to put us in separate rooms to keep us from killing each other."
Daisha laughed. "Were you and Isabella ever like that?"
At the mention of Isabella's name, Mimi's laughter subsided. "No," she said, softly. "We got along pretty well."
"You're still mad at her, aren't you?" Daisha observed.
"What makes you say that?"
"I dunno. You just seemed uncomfortable as soon as I said her name."
"Yeah, well," Mimi sighed. "I'm just pissed about what she said yesterday, you know?"
Daisha nodded. "I would be too," she said. "But she didn't mean anything by it."
Mimi shrugged and rinsed her hands in the sink.
"So, what do you think of Jimmy?" Daisha asked, hopping onto the sink counter.
"You know how many germs are on there?" Mimi asked her, wiping her hands off with a paper towel.
Daisha rolled her eyes and slid off the counter. "Sorry, Mom." She paused, before asking again, "So what did you think of him?"
"Truthfully?"
"Yeah."
"I think he's an asshole."
"Really? I think he's kind of cute," Daisha said, grinning sheepishly.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid. I didn't like how he kept staring at me."
"Mimi, all guys stare at you, you're GORGEOUS," Daisha insisted. "Somehow I got the ugly gene."
"What?" Mimi exclaimed. "Daish, you're beautiful."
"Whatever," Daisha said, rolling her eyes. Mimi sighed.
"You're a tough egg to crack, Daisha," she said.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It depends," Mimi said, laughing. "You ready to go back up there?"
"I've been ready. YOU'RE the one who keeps jabbering away," Daisha joked, jumping out of the way to avoid Mimi's hand.
Smiling, Mimi followed her sister back upstairs.
***
"So, you like to read?" Mark said, casually, laying his arm on the arm of the couch. He was trying desperately not to make a bad first impression with Jan. Well, technically, counting the time when he banged into her on the sidewalk, this was a second impression.
"Guilty," Jan said, smiling shyly. "I'm a book worm."
"Nothing to be ashamed of. So am I," Mark told her.
Jan smiled warmly, and Mark felt butterflies in his stomach. "Do you want to go to Central Park?" he said, suddenly, standing to his feet.
"Now?" Jan asked, surprised.
"Sure, why not?"
"Do you want to walk there?"
"Sure. Why not do something crazy?" he said, hoping that she wasn't thinking he was a moron at that moment.
She laughed. "Alright. Let me get my coat." She left the room for a moment, and then returned wearing a faded jean jacket. "Ready?" she asked him.
"Ready."
"What's the camera for?" she asked him, as they started walking down the sidewalk. "You don't shoot porn for a living, do you?"
"What, um, no- I," he stammered.
Jan threw back her golden blonde hair and laughed. "I was KIDDING, Mark."
"Oh," he breathed, chuckling with relief.
"I had you going there," she said, winking. "So why DO you have a camera, anyway?"
"Well . . . I'm a film geek as well as a book geek," he admitted. "I like to record things, you know, capture moments? Stupid things, really. I film my friends, or just things on the city that I see. Then I just watch them, and it's like I'm reliving the moment. I feel naked without it." He stopped, and looked up at her. "I bet I sound crazy right now, don't I?"
"No, you don't," she assured him, "I understand. I'm sort of like that to, except I prefer cameras." She reached into her pocketbook and retrieved a disposable camera. "I like to capture moments too," she said, shyly.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one," Mark said, a smile coming over his face. To his surprise, she slipped her gloved hand gently into his, and the two continued walking the rest of the way to the park.
Mark nearly dropped his camera, as he hadn't known that Mimi was in the room. It was about eight in the morning, and he was going out to meet Jan at her apartment.
"Me? Nowhere. I was just gonna get some fresh air, you know?"
"Mark, I'm not stupid. Tell me where you're going," Mimi insisted, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.
Mark sighed. "Okay, you know that girl I met at the Life Café yesterday?"
"More like smacked into," Mimi smirked.
"Yeah, well, I got her number, and I called her last night. I'm meeting her at her apartment."
Mimi's face lit up. "Mark, that's great! It's about time you found someone!"
Mark rolled his eyes. "Meems, I don't even know her yet. I can hardly say that I 'found someone.'"
"I think she will be," Mimi declared. And Mark knew that once Mimi decided something, her mind was made up permanently.
"Well, we'll see, won't we?" he said, nervously. "Don't tell Roger where I am, okay?"
"Why not? You tell him everything."
"Just because he was teasing me about it yesterday . . . and now that I'm actually taking his advice I'd rather he say 'I told you so' AFTER I figure out whether this is someone I' be willing to share my life with."
Mimi looked impressed. "How thoughtful of you," she said, teasingly.
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go now." He picked up his camera and started for the door.
"Why are you taking that thing?" Mimi called after him.
"This?" Mark shrugged. "I don't know, I take it everywhere. I feel naked without it." And with that, he left.
Mimi chuckled, and went back into Roger's room to get dressed.
***
"Did Mark tell you where he was going?" Roger asked Mimi. They were on the couch, watching TV. Mimi sat in Roger's lap, staring blankly at the screen.
"Nope," she said. "When I woke up, he'd already gone." She'd never considered herself a good liar, but Roger seemed to buy it.
"Okay," he sighed. "Where's Daisha?"
"I'm here." Daisha walked over to where Mimi and Roger were sitting, and settled onto Mimi's lap.
"Ouch," Roger groaned playfull, under both their weight. "You guys are gonna kill me."
Mimi slapped his arm playfully smiling, and turned to Daisha. "How did you sleep, honey?"
Daisha shrugged. "Fine, I guess. I didn't really sleep though. I'm not used to living in the city. There's so much noise at night."
"Tell me about it," Roger sighed, from underneath them.
"You wanna get some breakfast?" Mimi asked him.
"I'm starved," Daisha declared, before Roger could answer.
"Okay." Mimi slid out from underneath Daisha and sat beside Roger. "Do you want to go to the Life?"
"Nah. If Seb sees us there again, he'll have a heart attack," said Roger.
Mimi shrugged. "Where do you wanna go then?"
"What about the Moondance Diner?" he suggested. "I eat there with the guys all the time." By 'The Guys,' Roger meant his band, The Well Hungarians. They had a gig at CBGB's coming up soon.
"Sounds good to me," Mimi said. "You want me to call the others so we can meet them there?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll do it," Roger told her.
"Not if I get there first," Mimi teased.
Daisha yelped as Roger scrambled from underneath her to race Mimi to the phone. Mimi got there first. Roger ran up behind her and scooped the phone out of her hands and held it above his head.
"Roger!" Mimi complained, as she jumped up in the air, her hand just inches from the phone.
"Say pretty please, Roger."
She said it. Daisha sat on the couch, laughing and shaking her head.
"Here ya go." He handed the phone to Mimi. She tweaked his rear end as he walked away, much to Daisha's delight.
"Are you two always like this?" she asked, laughing.
"Like what?" Roger asked innocently, sitting back down beside her.
When Mimi was done making the calls, the three of them walked down to the Moondance Diner. Mimi had called Maureen and Joanne, and Collins and Frankie. Roger realized that she hadn't bothered to call Isabella, but he kept quiet about it.
"Vamanos, Chicas," he said, as they followed him out the door.
***
"Well, this is a change," Collins said, as he observed the inside of the Moondance Diner.
"Not to me," Frankie said, as she slid into the chair next to him. "I used to come down here with friends all the time."
"I might have been here a couple of years ago," Maureen said thoughtfully, as she arrived with Joanne and Jimmy. "By the way, guys, this is my friend, Jimmy. He's the one who called me the other day on Jo's phone."
They all said hello, and Jimmy made himself right at home, sliding in beside Mimi.
"Why, hello there," he said, winking at her. "What's your name?"
"It's Mimi," she said, slowly, uncomfortable with the manner he was taking towards her. Roger noticed this too, and it bothered him.
"So when did you and Mo first meet?" he asked Jimmy.
"I don't know, maybe two years ago? We first met because she wanted me to help her become an actress."
Maureen's hands clenched into fists as he snickered when he said the word 'Actress.'
"I guess we just became closer after that, and we started dating," Jimmy said, leaning back in his chair. "But things just didn't work out, as you see. She had bigger fish to fry."
"Don't call me 'She,'" Maureen said, annoyed. "I'm sitting right here."
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, how long have you two been together?" he asked, leaning forward in his seat, directing his question toward Mimi and Roger.
"Almost two years now, I think," said Roger. "We met on Christmas Eve."
"Well, that's nice. If you ever decide you don't want her, let me know," he laughed obnoxiously. Both of their faces turned red with anger.
"Jimmy might book me a place to hold an art gallery," Maureen said quickly, sensing Roger and Mimi's discomfort.
"An Art gallery?" Collins said, frowning. "I didn't know you were an artist."
"Neither did I," Maureen said, laughing. "Joanne found some of my stuff in the closet, and then we showed it to Jimmy, and he said he'd try to get me an opening."
"For a suitable price, that is," Jimmy interrupted, chuckling.
Maureen turned to him. "What? You never said anything about wanting something in return before."
"I didn't want anything then," he said, simply.
Maureen rolled her eyes. "Right, and now all of a sudden you decided I had to do something for you? Besides, you said it was a gift from you to me, remember?"
"I remember."
Maureen sighed. "What is it you want, anyway?"
Jimmy, who was staring at Mimi, didn't seem to hear her.
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy suddenly snapped to attention. "What was that?"
"Never mind," Maureen said, shaking her head.
"You used to date this guy?" Joanne said, under her breath.
"What can I say, I was stupid then," Maureen whispered back.
"I've gotta use the Ladies Room," Daisha spoke up suddenly, getting up from the table.
"I'll go with you," Mimi said quickly. She could feel Jimmy's eyes on her as she walked away with Daisha.
"So Roger, where's Mark, anyway?" Frankie asked Roger.
Roger shrugged. "Beats me. Mimi got up before me and said he had already left."
"Where do you think he went?" Maureen asked, her fingers dragging over the rim of her glass.
Roger shrugged. "I have no idea. He never said anything to me."
"Well, men can be sneaky," Frankie said, winking at Collins.
"You accusing me of something?" he said, pretending to be angry.
"No. You know how to behave yourself," she joked, patting him on the arm.
"At least some of them know how to," Maureen said flatly, looking at Jimmy. Suddenly, a trashy, muffled obnoxious version of 'Fur Elise' began to play, loudly.
"Since when does your phone do that?" Maureen asked Joanne, as she rummaged through her bag.
Joanne reached into her bag and got her phone. "It's not mine," she said. "Mine's off."
"It's his," Roger said, pointing to Jimmy, who had already switched his cellular phone on, and was talking to the person on the other line. He realized that they were all glaring at him, reproachfully.
"Oh, erm. Hold on," he pulled the phone away from his ear. "You mind if I take this outside?"
"Go ahead," Roger said, speaking for everyone else as well.
"He's quite a character," Frankie said to Maureen, as soon as he'd left.
"Tell me about it," Maureen sighed.
"How were you able to stand him?" Collins exclaimed. He caught himself from saying, 'Even I wouldn't date a guy like that.'
"I don't know," Maureen sighed. "Somehow during our relationship I stopped seeing him as an agent trying to get work for me, and started to become attracted to him."
Joanne exaggerated a shudder, and Maureen laughed. "I told you, Pookie, I was stupid then. Remember, I also used to date Mark." She paused for a moment, glancing at Roger. "I was joking."
"I know," Roger said. "I'm just wondering where he could be."
"Don't worry about it," Collins said, reassuringly.
Roger shrugged and took a sip from his glass.
***
"You almost done in there?" Mimi said to Daisha, who was still in the stall.
"Yeah, hold your horses!" came her reply.
"You've been in there for an hour," Mimi groaned.
"Have not." Daisha opened the stall door. She smiled at Mimi. "Remember when we used to fight like this when we were kids?"
"Yes" Mimi admitted, a smile coming across her face. "Mom needed to put us in separate rooms to keep us from killing each other."
Daisha laughed. "Were you and Isabella ever like that?"
At the mention of Isabella's name, Mimi's laughter subsided. "No," she said, softly. "We got along pretty well."
"You're still mad at her, aren't you?" Daisha observed.
"What makes you say that?"
"I dunno. You just seemed uncomfortable as soon as I said her name."
"Yeah, well," Mimi sighed. "I'm just pissed about what she said yesterday, you know?"
Daisha nodded. "I would be too," she said. "But she didn't mean anything by it."
Mimi shrugged and rinsed her hands in the sink.
"So, what do you think of Jimmy?" Daisha asked, hopping onto the sink counter.
"You know how many germs are on there?" Mimi asked her, wiping her hands off with a paper towel.
Daisha rolled her eyes and slid off the counter. "Sorry, Mom." She paused, before asking again, "So what did you think of him?"
"Truthfully?"
"Yeah."
"I think he's an asshole."
"Really? I think he's kind of cute," Daisha said, grinning sheepishly.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid. I didn't like how he kept staring at me."
"Mimi, all guys stare at you, you're GORGEOUS," Daisha insisted. "Somehow I got the ugly gene."
"What?" Mimi exclaimed. "Daish, you're beautiful."
"Whatever," Daisha said, rolling her eyes. Mimi sighed.
"You're a tough egg to crack, Daisha," she said.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"It depends," Mimi said, laughing. "You ready to go back up there?"
"I've been ready. YOU'RE the one who keeps jabbering away," Daisha joked, jumping out of the way to avoid Mimi's hand.
Smiling, Mimi followed her sister back upstairs.
***
"So, you like to read?" Mark said, casually, laying his arm on the arm of the couch. He was trying desperately not to make a bad first impression with Jan. Well, technically, counting the time when he banged into her on the sidewalk, this was a second impression.
"Guilty," Jan said, smiling shyly. "I'm a book worm."
"Nothing to be ashamed of. So am I," Mark told her.
Jan smiled warmly, and Mark felt butterflies in his stomach. "Do you want to go to Central Park?" he said, suddenly, standing to his feet.
"Now?" Jan asked, surprised.
"Sure, why not?"
"Do you want to walk there?"
"Sure. Why not do something crazy?" he said, hoping that she wasn't thinking he was a moron at that moment.
She laughed. "Alright. Let me get my coat." She left the room for a moment, and then returned wearing a faded jean jacket. "Ready?" she asked him.
"Ready."
"What's the camera for?" she asked him, as they started walking down the sidewalk. "You don't shoot porn for a living, do you?"
"What, um, no- I," he stammered.
Jan threw back her golden blonde hair and laughed. "I was KIDDING, Mark."
"Oh," he breathed, chuckling with relief.
"I had you going there," she said, winking. "So why DO you have a camera, anyway?"
"Well . . . I'm a film geek as well as a book geek," he admitted. "I like to record things, you know, capture moments? Stupid things, really. I film my friends, or just things on the city that I see. Then I just watch them, and it's like I'm reliving the moment. I feel naked without it." He stopped, and looked up at her. "I bet I sound crazy right now, don't I?"
"No, you don't," she assured him, "I understand. I'm sort of like that to, except I prefer cameras." She reached into her pocketbook and retrieved a disposable camera. "I like to capture moments too," she said, shyly.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one," Mark said, a smile coming over his face. To his surprise, she slipped her gloved hand gently into his, and the two continued walking the rest of the way to the park.