Chapter Six
"Hello? Maureen?"Mark called as he wandered into the studio. There was no sign of her around...or anyone for that matter. Mark frowned.
"Maureen! It's Mark!"he continued to call, looking all around. Still, nothing. He sighed. He didn't know what she was trying to pull...BAM! All the lights suddenly went out. Mark jumped, stopping himself from letting out a shriek. Giant flashing letters suddenly appeared on the wall across from him: DOWN WITH PLASTIC! Mark laughed, as Christmas lights all over the place began lighting up slowly.
"Very nice Maureen!"he commented. Suddenly he felt hands grab him from behind. He whirled around, and came face to face with a smiling Maureen.
"Hey Marky! How's your nose?"she asked, walking over to the switch for the lights.
"Better,"Mark assured her, pulling out his camera to get some footage of the crazy display. Maureen switched on the lights.
"I didn't think you'd actually show up this early,"Maureen commented. Mark frowned, slowly moving the camera around the studio.
"Why?"he asked. Maureen shrugged, walking back over to him.
"Well, Joanne always showed up at least an hour later than what I told her. She said I started things too early, and so she refused to come at the exact time I told her. She was insane," she explained, smiling sadly. Mark put down his camera, turning to her.
"You miss her, huh?"he asked. Maureen shrugged, shaking her head.
"Hardly. I have much more fun with you!"she replied, laughing a little. Mark stared at her.
"Really?"he asked, not quite sure if she was kidding or not.
"Yeah, really! Like I said before, I feel more comfortable around you. When I was with Joanne I was always trying to be something I'm not. It's nice to finally just be able to relax and be ME for once, without someone constantly criticizing me."Maureen stopped suddenly, looking surprised with herself that she had let all of that out. Mark found himself smiling slightly...
"Uh, so...I'll be up working on some of the lighting stuff. If you could start on sound that would be great!"Maureen said quickly, turning and walking over to the ladder in the middle of the room. Mark's smile widened.
"Okay. Sure Maureen..."
A couple of hours later, Maureen came walking over to Mark, who was working intently on the sound equipment.
"Hey, come on,"she said suddenly. Mark didn't even look up as he replied.
"Huh?"
"I wanna go somewhere!"Maureen said excitedly. Mark, who had been kneeling, head stuck in a box of wires, stood up, brushing himself off. That's when he noticed Maureen's outfit for the first time...
She had changed into a very tight leather skirt, and an even tighter(if that was possible)cheetah print tank top. She had tall black boots on and her wavy dark hair was down around her shoulders. Mark froze, jaw dropping as he stared at her.
"...wow!"was all he could get out. Maureen smiled.
"You like it?"she asked.
"Yeah!"Mark blurted out, before thinking. He blushed a little as she laughed. "Er, I mean...what's the occasion?"
"We're going out somewhere!"Maureen announced happily.
"I didn't finish yet..."Mark began, motioning to the pile of wires beside him.
"Who cares? We can finish later! Let's go out now!"Maureen persisted.
"Where did you want to go?"Mark asked, picking up his backpack and pushing aside some of the cords and wires.
"Let's work on your movie more!"Maureen said.
"Okay...where will you be taking me today then?"Mark asked, laughing a little as he pulled out his camera. Maureen grinned.
"Let's find out!"
Maureen took Mark back to the park again, where she danced around the fountain and the benches, played fetch with a couple of dogs, bought an ice cream for herself and proceeded to drop it all over the sidewalk. Then she took the camera and filmed Mark, against his protests. She filmed him interviewing some older people around the city, giving some tourists directions, talking to some street performers. They spent the whole day goofing off with each other, then returned to the loft to work more on the scrapbook.
They were working, when suddenly the door opened and Roger came in.
"Oh. Hey,"he greeted awkwardly.
"Hey Roger,"Mark replied, in a tone that hinted that nothing was going on. Maureen finished the page of pictures she had been working on.
"Ha! Okay, well it's getting late, I should probably be heading over to the studio now," she said, standing up.
"Oh yeah, I should probably head back over to finish wiring the sound systems, huh?" Mark said.
"Sure. Thank you so much for helping me out today Mark, on such short notice and everything! I owe you one!"She kissed his cheek and ran to the door. "Meet you over at the studio!"Roger watched the expression on his roommate's face as Maureen skipped out the door.
"Did you guys spend the whole day together?"he asked, sitting down next to Mark on the couch.
"Yeah, it was great! We worked on my movie some more, and we went all over the town. Man, she just has so much energy! And she says she thinks I'm fun,"Mark said, laughing a little.
"I guess you guys have really been hitting it off lately, huh?"Roger commented.
"We've just been hanging out more lately. It never really occurred to me, but we haven't really hung out, just the two of us, since-"
"Since you were dating,"Roger finished.
"Yeah,"Mark said, nodding. Roger shook his head.
"Mark..."He stopped, then sighed, as if about to say something, but deciding against it. "Just be careful, okay?" Mark frowned.
"Careful of what?"he asked. Roger just grinned.
"I just don't want to see my best friend get his heart broken again,"Roger assured him. Mark smiled.
"Don't worry about me, Roger. I'm fine,"he replied. Roger nodded.
"Okay. But if she gets back with Joanne...don't be too upset. Technically she's still a lesbian, you know!"Roger joked. Mark grinned.
"Yeah, I know, thanks!"And Roger and Mark both laughed together.
Meanwhile, as Maureen was walking down the street to the studio, she ran into a very unexpected someone.
"Whoa!"
"Oh, sorry-"Maureen and Joanne both looked up, coming face to face with each other. They both froze, unsure of what to say.
"Oh. Hi,"Maureen greeted coldly.
"Hello,"Joanne replied, just as cold. "What are you doing out this late?"
"I'm on my way to my newest protest,"Maureen replied. Joanne just shook her head.
"Are you ever going to give up? Or are you just going to keep trying to protest and fight against everything you can think of?"she asked mockingly.
"I'm going to fight for what I believe in. Unlike some people,"Maureen replied with a scowl.
"Maureen, I fought for your heart harder than you'll ever know! You just refused to give it to me!"Joanne snapped.
"I gave you my heart, Joanne. You just kept trying to change it!"Maureen replied.
"Oh really? And I suppose Mark is more accepting then, huh?"Joanne snapped.
"As a matter of fact, he is! He takes me for who I am. He doesn't have to change me to be able to like me!" Maureen shouted. Joanne stopped, about to fight back...but she shook her head.
"Fine. Mark can have you then,"she grumbled.
"You see! This is exactly what I mean! You don't fight for me Joanne! You'll never have what you want if you can't fight for it!"Maureen called as Joanne turned, walking away.
"I'm tired of fighting, Maureen,"Joanne replied. And she walked off. Maureen watched her go...but strangely enough, she didn't feel sad this time. And she found a surprising thought crossing her mind:
Mark would fight for her.