Capitulo Tres

"…and so I'm here," Joanne finished. Collins sat staring at her, and sighed.

"Do you really think you're straight, r did you say it as an excuse to get out?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I do love Maureen. I don't know what's wrong with me! Its like, I love her, but not the things she does. What do you think I should do?" she asked sadly.

"I honestly don't know. Why don't you talk to Mark?"

"Mark? Why?"

"Well, basically he was in the same boat you are 2 years ago."

"All right," she said skeptically as she stood. "We'll see what happens. Thanks, Collins."

"No problem. My door's always open." Joanne smiled and nodded at him, and set off on her way.

When she reached the loft, she heard something very unexpected. It was muffled, sounding like a recording.

"Charlie Guiteau, never said never or heard the word no…" she tentatively knocked on the door.

"COME IN!" Mimi shouted. Joanne opened the door and walked in to see Roger saying something to Mimi, who obviously wasn't listening, but was reading something and humming along with the recording.

"…Mimi, show tunes?" She ignored him and waved at Joanne, still reading.

"Mimi, you're not listening to Assassins are you?"

"Yes," Roger moaned. "When Maureen left, Mimi said she was bored, and was going to do some stuff for school. She came back an hour later with a CD player, this crap," he said vehemently, "and a library card. A LIBRARY CARD, I ask you. I liked her better before she went to school," he muttered.

"Shut up, Roger," Mimi said, forgetting to ignore him. "I was in history, and we were talking about some dude named John Wilkes Booth, and I didn't have a clue who he was."

"That was like, a week ago," Mark called from his closet.

"Yeah, it's been bugging me. So I went to the library," she said proudly.

"Um, okay," Joanne said.

"Are you here to accuse me of being a Jimi Hendrix wannabe too, in all of your PMS glory?" Roger asked her.

"Would you let that go?" Mark said.

"No!" Roger was stubborn.

"No, I want to talk to Mark, actually." Roger snorted.

"You too?"

"Maureen was here?" Mark stepped out of the make-shift darkroom.

"Yeah, and took some of my best work with her."

"Sorry about that. I've just been to Collins'. What did Maureen say?"

"Something about this being THE FIGHT and you going straight," Mimi replied.

"Yeah, what's with that?" Mark inquired, falling on the couch, crushing Mimi's feet.

"I don't know. Collins wonders if I just said that to get out. But I think I might be. He also said I should talk to you, Mark."

"Why?" he and Roger asked in unison.

"Because ever since I walked out I've been feeling like a maggot crushed under one of her big old shoes, and ground into the dirt."

"That bad, huh? Well, Meems, I have a feeling this is going to get sappy. Wanna go to the Life Café?" Roger asked.

"Sure," she said, switching off the CD. Get rid of it! Roger mouthed to Mark, pointing to the disk as he walked out the door.

"So, the mighty Maureen has been dumped. I never thought I'd live to see the day," Mark mused.

"I know. I'd been on edge for a while, knowing it would happen sooner or later."

"I hate to say I told you so."

"Please don't, Mark. I feel bad enough!" Fresh tears stung her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away so Mark wouldn't see, but he did. He bit his lower lip, unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry, Jo. Uh, why don't you sit down?" she nodded and sat next to him on the couch, tears falling on her dry-clean only suit.

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this. Its just terrible," she sniffed. "I'm supposed to be the strong one while Maureen openly shows her emotions. I'm supposed to be the balancing factor."

"Its ok. This isn't fun, I know." He reached over and hugged her. Joanne stayed in his arms, feeling safe. While she had that safe feeling burning in her chest, another one pulsed through her. A warm, tingly feeling raced up and down. She felt like she never wanted to leave the comfort and safety of his arms. She smiled and sighed in contentment.

"Were you serious about going straight?" Mark asked; half playfully, half serious. Little did Joanne know the warm feeling was running through Mark too. Suddenly, without warning, the only thing he wanted was Joanne's happiness. He felt like he would run to China and back. Joanne smiled.

"We'll see," she murmured, settling deeper against Mark. Suddenly the door swung open.

"Marky, I think I grew a conscience, and I wanted to say sorry for --- WHAT IS THIS?"