CHAPTER 34
A/N: Sorry about the lack in updates for this chapter. I haven't been home much lately or had time to write. Enjoy & thanks for the reviews!!
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MAY 12th, 1998
12:15 AM
"Mark? Sweetie?"
Maureen yawned and tied her robe around her waist and placed her feet into her slippers. She sniffed the air and smiled. "Babe, what are you cooking?" There was still no answer. "Mark?"
She checked the alarm clock next to the bed they shared. It was a little after midnight, and Mark had left for the airport over an hour ago to pick up Roger. He had gotten a red eye flight in from Los Angeles and was finally on his way home from rehab. Maureen must have been half asleep then. Mark couldn't be making anything in the kitchen. Then what was that smell?
Jen was still living in her apartment uptown with Abby, and as far as Maureen knew, she was making no arrangements to move back into the loft anytime soon. So for the time being, it had just been her and Mark alone in the loft, with Collins and Logan occasionally visiting from downstairs. But tonight she couldn't help but feel a little lonely. Maureen had gotten so used to having Mark asleep next to her for the past few weeks that it was a little weird to have him gone, even just to pick up Roger.
Maureen pulled open the bedroom door and cringed at the foul smell. Entering the living room, she started coughing automatically. The room was thick with smoke, making it hard for her to breathe or see much of anything.
"Shit!" she cursed. She waved the smoke out of her face and dashed into the kitchen. She didn't see any fire, any source of where the smoke was coming from. But then again, the smoke was so thick she couldn't see anything. Maureen dashed back into her and Mark's bedroom and grabbed his camera—the only thing she could make out in the jumbled pile of laundry that was spread in piles around the floor. Without thinking twice, she then ran into Roger's bedroom and pulled out his notebook of lyrics from the top shelf of his closet as well as a photo album of pictures. She knew it was stupid—after all, you were supposed to get yourself out and not go back for anything at all in a fire, but these were things that mattered the most to them both. Maureen couldn't even comprehend what was really going on. Was the building on fire?
Maureen coughed and opened the loft door, practically sliding down the four flights of metal stairs to the street level. It surprised the hell out of her at the scene she saw right before her eyes. There was mass confusion everywhere, and tenants were gathered on the streets, huddled in their pajamas and bathrobes just like she was. When she had safely reached the bottom and placed the items she had grabbed aside, she looked up and covered her mouth in shock. The whole right side of the building, from the roof to the very beginning of the second floor was engulfed in flames. It was spreading like an inferno to the middle of the building. No wonder why she had started to smell the smoke, even though the loft was located on the fourth floor and very far left of the apartment building.
"God," she muttered. "Hey, Maura!"
Maura Bennett, their neighbor from the third floor, ran over to Maureen and latched onto her arm. "Jesus Maureen, are you okay? I didn't even think you were home tonight! I thought you went to the airport with Mark!"
Maureen shook her head. "No, I was really tired so I fell asleep early. I'm just glad I woke up. What—how did this start?"
Maura shrugged and huddled closer to Maureen in the cool May night. "They haven't told me anything. All I know is that it has something to do with the old elevator shaft at the end of the building. They think it's electrical, but the fire department hasn't gotten here yet. Everyone's just been trying to get out. A lot of people aren't even home tonight."
"Collins!"
Maura glanced over at the professor and Logan as they dashed across the street. Collins immediately embraced the two women and Logan settled his hands on Maureen's shoulders.
"What the hell is going on?" Collins asked, concerned. "Everything was fine when I left at seven tonight. When did this happen?"
"We don't know," Maureen spoke. "Is everyone out of the building?"
"I think so," Maura added. She rested her head on Logan's chest and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "I don't understand—the building inspections just passed last month. Everything was supposed to be okay."
"Are we even covered for insurance?" Collins asked quietly. He then erupted in laughter and covered his mouth with his hand. "Oh, that's really not funny."
"No, it isn't!" Maureen raised her voice and stamped her slippered foot on the pavement. "I can't believe you're joking about something like this!"
"Well, he does have a small point," Maura added in. "I know for sure that Jake and I are covered for insurance, but Benny might just have a great big lawsuit on his hands if he hasn't insured the rest of the apartments…"
"You think Benny's that stupid to leave a major detail like that out?" Logan questioned.
Collins and Maureen started laughing and nodded. "With Benny, you never know," Collins replied.
"Okay, this really isn't funny!"
"No, it's not," Maura said seriously. "I just hope everyone's okay. I mean, I don't know half of the people that live in this building, but still."
Collins wrapped his arm around Maura's shoulder and kissed her forehead. "I know. It'll be okay."
Just as the fire department's trucks rounded the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B, sirens blaring, a cab pulled up alongside the curb and Mark and Roger's forms appeared from it.
"Hey!" Collins hollered over. "You believe this?"
Roger ran over and placed his duffel bag and guitar case onto the ground and started at the building openmouthed. "You've got to be fucking shittin' me. I come home to this?"
"You and me both," Maureen mumbled. "Apparently it just started right after Mark left to get you at the airport."
"Hey pretty boy, how was the Sunshine State?" Maura interjected. She had sat down on the curb next to Logan and was watching the scene unfold.
Roger, still shocked, sat down next to her. "I guess it was okay. Glad to be—home? Wherever that is now."
Maureen huffily sat down next to him and slapped his notebook into his chest. "I saved that for you. Welcome home." She pointed behind her and sighed. "Your camera's over there, pookie."
Mark laughed and sat down next to her, pulling her close into him. "Thanks. I think. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Yeah, me too."
Roger shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Does Jen know about this?"
"No idea," Maureen spoke up. "Where'd Collins go?"
"To get some bubbly," he retorted back. He had returned to the group with a full bottle of champagne and was attempted to pry the cork out of it. "We'll be here for awhile. One of our neighbors offered it to me."
"This is really not supposed to be an amusing situation," Maureen groaned.
"In case you haven't taken a look around, Mo, we're not such ordinary people," Maura shrugged. "Pass me that bottle, Collins. I'll drink to Roger coming home."
"I'll probably give you bad luck for the rest of your life, but whatever works," Roger grinned. "Anyone up to staying at a hotel for the night?"
"Yeah, and who's paying?" Maureen whined. "I need a goddamn drink."
"Then have one!"
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2:05 AM
Jen pulled a gray tee shirt on over her white tank top and black pajama pants and ran her fingers through her shoulder length dark brown hair. Whoever was pounding on her apartment door at this hour was obviously very impatient and frankly, it was starting to piss her off. She had gone to bed about three hours before with the worst case of heartburn and plus, it was stifling hot in the apartment.
There was more pounding on the door and Jen bent down carefully to pick up the pillow she had knocked off her bed when she had first woken up. Groaning, she looked down at her small belly and realized that in another two months maximum, she'd no longer be able to get up and sit back down quickly. She'd be five months pregnant in three days, and she didn't know where the time had gone.
"I'm coming!" she shouted. "God."
She then made her way into the living room and unlatched the door and deadbolt, only to surprisingly find Roger, Mark, and Maureen standing on her doormat. Maureen was still in her pajamas and slippers, Mark was holding his camera and a blanket, and Roger was holding two bags of food. All three looked exhausted.
"I'm home!" Roger said cheerily, leaning over to give her a quick peck on the lips.
"I can see that," she laughed. "But it's two in the morning. I thought you'd come by sometime tomorrow. What's up with all of you?"
Mark groaned and shut the door behind everyone as he set his camera and the blanket on the table. "Long story short, our apartment building burned down."
Jen blinked and stared at him. "What?! Like burned to the ground burned down? Oh my god!"
Maureen rested her head against Mark's shoulders. "Not burned to the ground, but—it doesn't look too good."
"Turn on channel five. It's all over the news," Mark added in. "Reporters were everywhere."
"Like Alexi Darling," Roger snorted. He had gone into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water and was now resting up against the counter.
"Who's Alexi Darling?" Jen yawned.
"Some snobby reporter type that tried to get Mark sucked into a contract a few years back," Maureen giggled. "She was so annoying."
"I bet." Jen flipped through channels on her television and sure enough, once she landed on channel five, there was a live news report broadcasting from the scene. "Oh, wow."
"…reporting live from the scene, we now take you to Mary Ellis, who is located on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B. Mary?"
A blonde reporter in a tracksuit came over the screen, covering her one ear. "Thanks, Ted! As you can see, the scene in front of me has quickly died down over the past twenty minutes, but crews are still working around the clock to put this blaze out. For those that are just tuning in at this hour, a massive fire located in this apartment building to my left broke out sometime before midnight, causing panic amongst the residents. The facts that we have gathered over the past hour pinpoint to the fire as having started in an abandoned elevator shaft from the electrical wiring on the roof. It spread quickly down the entire right side, gradually spreading to the left. As you can see now, there is not much left to the right of this building besides the framework of these once luxurious East Village apartments—"
"Luxurious? The fuck?" Roger said loudly.
"Shh! Don't wake Abby," Jen scolded him. "Wait, I want to hear the rest of it."
"…and the left side is somewhat more intact. However, these buildings are far from becoming livable again any time soon! We're asking everyone at this time to remain calm, and to head downtown to the local homeless shelter where the Red Cross has been set up to provide residents with temporary shelter. Back to you in the studios, Ted."
"They didn't say when they're letting us back in, are they?" Maureen asked.
Jen shook her head. "No. They just said they'd keep us posted. I can't believe this. You guys just crash here for now. Where are Collins and Logan? And Maura?"
"Collins is staying at Logan's apartment, and Maura is staying at the firehouse with Jake until they get something figured out," Roger answered. "I wonder how much of our stuff is gone."
"God Roger, shut up. Just be thankful that everyone's okay!" Maureen yelled at him. "Ugh, I'm going to bed. Night, Jen. Thanks for letting us stay." She stalked off to the guest bedroom at the end of the hall and closed the door behind her.
"I guess—okay, I better go see what's up with her," Mark sighed. "I'll see you in the morning guys."
"Night Marky."
"Night Mark," Roger said.
Jen crossed her arms over her chest and smiled. "You look different."
"Good different or bad different?"
"Good. Your hair's lighter and you're tanner. Did you and Wes go surfing?"
Roger grinned. "Yeah, actually we did. We had a lot of fun in LA. Minus the whole reason I had to be there in the first place, but we had a pretty good time. And I'm clean."
"That's great." Jen walked over to the wall and adjusted the air conditioning, dropping it from seventy-one to sixty-nine. "I'm really proud of you."
"Yeah. I guess I'm kind of proud of myself too. If that makes any sense. I missed you."
"I missed you too." Jen wrapped her arms around his stomach and rested her head against his chest. "We all did. I'm just really glad you're okay now. No more drugs. No more fights. Just us, okay?"
"Just us." He kissed the top of her head and lifted her shirt up. "Wow girl, what the hell's been going on in there since I left?"
"I've gotten…bigger?" Jen giggled.
"You had to take your bellybutton ring out?"
"Yeah. My stomach's stretching. There's not a point in keeping it in. I'll just get it repierced if I have to when the baby's born," she told Roger.
"I missed a lot."
Jen shook her head and laughed. "Not if you count the end of my morning sickness, Abby's tantrums, and lots of heartburn as missing a lot."
"Too much info, thanks," he teased her. "Hey, you're what? Five months by now? Did you find out what we're having yet?"
What we're having. Jen smiled to herself and shook her head. "Not yet. I've gotten some newer sonogram pictures since then, but when they asked me if I wanted to know what I was having two weeks ago I told them no. I sort of thought we'd be able to go together, maybe?"
"Yeah. Yeah!" Roger's face lit up at the thought of this. "We could definitely do that."
"Okay?" she laughed. "You're a little weird today, all things considered."
"Are you trying to say I'm always weird?" he laughed. "Thanks."
Jen rolled her eyes and walked into the kitchen, pulling a few pictures out of one of the counter drawers. She brought them back with her and sat down on the couch next to him. "Here. Take a look at those. They're the newest ones."
Roger glanced at the three black and white photos spread out on his lap and grinned. "I can't really make that much out, but wow. These are great."
"Yeah." Jen glanced over his shoulder and pointed at one of the pictures. "That's one of the baby's arms, and over there is its head and leg. They were taken at seventeen weeks."
Roger handed the pictures back to her and looked up. "You haven't heard from Travis or anyone else, have you?"
"Nope. Haven't even seen or run into one member of the Hungarians since you left. I still don't think many people know I'm pregnant, and those that do either think it's yours or know the situation and are going along with everything."
"Okay, good."
"Hey, but eventually, he's going to find out," she said softly, taking Roger's hand in her own. "And someday I'm going to have to be okay with Travis knowing."
"No, you really don't have to be. I never want him around you or our baby again. You understand that?"
Jen was a little taken aback by Roger's sudden outburst, but nodded all the same. "Yeah. I understand."
"Wanna go to bed then?"
"Sure. I wonder if they put out the fire yet."
Roger shrugged. "I'll find out in the morning. C'mon." He grabbed her hand and started pulling Jen towards the bedroom. She curled up underneath the sheets and watched him undress silently.
"Don't you care, though?"
"Of course I care. There's a ton of our memories lying about in that loft. I care a whole hell of a lot. But I can't do anything about it. Even if I wanted to, they'd never let me in there until they check it out and know it's safe. Plus, I'm way too tired and jetlagged to have it sink in yet," he answered her tiredly. "I bet Mark and Maureen are passed out by now anyway."
"Mark's probably up watching the news in that bedroom," Jen smiled. "That's something he would do."
Roger yawned and crawled in next to her. "I missed you a lot." He wrapped his arm around her and she nuzzled up against him. "Night."
"Night, babe."
A few minutes later, just as Jen started to finally drift off to sleep, a sleepy voice was heard from the doorway.
"Mommy?"
It was Abby, and she spotted Roger and squealed. "Daddy's home!"
"Shh!" Jen yawned. "Yeah, he's home. But he's really tired," she whispered.
"Can I sleep here tonight?"
"Sure." Abby crawled in between Roger and Jen and shut her eyes.
A few minutes after that, Roger spoke.
"Jen?"
"Yeah?"
"My apartment building just burnt down, didn't it?"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
"Shit!" Abby repeated. "Mom, Dad said shit."
Roger laughed and kissed Abby on the cheek. "Night, cutie."
"Abby!"
"Shit!"
"Night."
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I know it's been awhile, but please review!!