Bohemian's Best Friend
Chapter One
"January 28th, 3:14 P.M., Eastern Standard time...it's been three months without Angel, one month since Mimi got off her drugs, and...three weeks of having absolutely nothing to film."Mark Cohen sighed, putting his camera back into his bag. He was standing at the cemetery, where his friend Angel Dumott-Schunard was buried. He walked over to the drag queen's tombstone, placing a small bottle of nail polish down on it. He grinned. "I saw that at the store the other day, and...it was your color,"he explained to his friend. He then turned, and began walking out of the cemetery. But as he walked, he thought he could hear pattering behind him. He stopped, turning around...
There sat a little brown lab. It was obviously a puppy, and very small. The dog looked up at Mark happily, it's little tongue hanging out dumbly. Mark sighed.
"Shoo dog! Go away!"he commanded. But the dog just tilted its head curiously. Mark picked up a stick and threw it across the cemetery. "Fetch!"The dog went running off, and Mark continued walking...
Not ten seconds later, he felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down to see the puppy, holding the stick he had thrown and looking up at him hopefully. Mark frowned.
"No! I'm not going to play with you!"he yelled at the dog. Some people walking by on the sidewalk stared at Mark as he argued with the puppy.
"I have to get home! So leave me alone!"Mark said to the dog. The dog dropped the stick, sitting down. And Mark continued walking.
Mark got onto his bike, riding back towards the loft that he and his best friend Roger shared. As he was riding, he thought he could see something behind him...
He rode across the street, just dodging a car. Suddenly he heard skids and shouts from behind him. He stopped, whirling around...
"Hey you! Keep your damn dog out of the street!"the man in the car yelled at Mark. Sure enough, Mark looked down to see the little dog, looking up at him happily. He sighed, turning around, and continuing to ride. The dog leapt up, and ran after him.
When Mark got to the door of his apartment, the dog ran after him.
"No! You're NOT coming inside! Shoo!"he yelled at the dog. The dog just stared at him curiously. He seemed to enjoy it when Mark talked to him. Mark sighed, about to open the door when it suddenly came flying open.
"Oh, hey Mark."Mark stopped as Benny Coffin exited the building, which he currently owned, even though his wife Alison Grey had pulled him out of the East Village about a month earlier.
"Hey Benny. What're you doing back?"Mark asked his ex-roommate and ex-friend.
"Just coming by to check up on my building,"Benny said.
"Just the building?"Mark asked skeptically. He knew Benny still had feelings for Roger's girlfriend Mimi Marquez, and he had a bad feeling that had something to do with why Benny was suddenly interested in his building again. Benny grinned a little.
"Yeah. Just the building,"he replied. Mark was never sure when to take this guy seriously. "I see you've got a little friend there."Mark frowned...then remembered the dog, which was still sitting right next to him.
"Oh yeah...it followed me home,"he sighed.
"Well there's no animals allowed here,"Benny reminded him.
"Yeah, I know. I'm not keeping it, I just can't get it to leave..."Mark replied. Benny laughed a little.
"Well good luck with that, Mark. I'll be back later,"he called, walking down the stairs.
"Oh, to check on the building again?"Mark called after him. Benny grinned back.
"Yeah,"he replied simply. And he walked off down the street. Mark sighed, looking down at the dog.
"Please go away!"he pleaded. The dog just tilted its head again. Mark turned, and walked into the apartment, slamming the door behind him. No barks. Now howls. Mark smiled. That was easy.
"Hey Roger, I'm back,"Mark called to his best friend and roommate, Roger Davis. Roger was sitting on the couch, scribbling down lyrics for songs.
"Hey. Get any footage today?"Roger asked. Mark sighed.
"No. Some stupid dog followed me home though,"he explained. Roger looked up.
"Really? Was it lost?"he asked.
"I dunno. It was a puppy, I think. Probably ran away or something. Why people even bother to have dogs around here is beyond me..."Mark said, going over to the fridge. He opened it to find half a jug of water, an old half eaten banana and a bottle of ketchup. He frowned. "Hey Roger, why do we have ketchup? We never have anything that we can use ketchup for."Roger shrugged.
"No idea."There was a pause. "You wanna put it in the microwave and blow it up?"
"Yeah!"
That evening, there was a knock on the door. Well, actually, the door just flew open, and Tom Collins(called Collins), Roger and Mark's best friend and former roommate, now a teacher at NYU, entered the loft.
"Hey, hey, hey!"he greeted happily, tossing a bag of groceries over to Mark. "That should hold you guys for a week."
"Are you kidding? More like two hours!"Mark joked. Collins laughed.
"Hey guys, look what I found outside your door..."Collins whistled into the hallway...and the little brown lab came dashing into the room and over to Mark. He groaned.
"Collins! Why did you bring it in!"he moaned.
"He was out there all alone! I figured he needs a place to stay too,"Collins protested.
"This thing followed me home today, it wouldn't leave me alone!"Mark whined as the dog looked up at him, tongue hanging out.
"He likes you!"Collins commented. "He's pretty cute, y'know."
"Dogs are awful. I used to have one when I was a kid..."Mark moaned. "It used to tear up all my screenplays!"
"The dog was just trying to do us all a favor,"Roger teased. Collins laughed and Mark frowned.
"Dogs pee all over the furniture,"he grumbled, tossing the bag of groceries onto the small counter that represented their kitchen table. The dog rushed over and jumped onto a chair. Collins went over and picked it up.
"Hmm...no collar, no tags..."he said, examining the puppy.
"Collins! Put it down!"Mark ordered.
"Him, Mark,"Collins said, as he checked for the dog's gender.
"Collins!"Mark cried. Roger just laughed. He walked over to Collins, who was holding the dog, and began petting its head.
"I never had a dog growing up. My neighbor did though, and I always wanted one,"he said, rubbing the dog's chin.
"What should we call him?"Collins asked.
"We're not naming it,"Mark declared.
"Why not?"Collins asked.
"Because once you name something you start getting all attached to it, and we can't keep it!"Mark explained.
"Why can't we keep it?"Roger asked.
"Because its against the code for the apartment,"Mark replied. Roger and Collins exchanged glances.
"Oh no...can it be? Mark is turning into a Benny!"Collins gasped.
"Come on Mark, don't go all yuppy on us!"Roger cried disgustedly.
"I'm not going yuppy! I just don't think we should keep the dog. It's a lot of work having a dog! You have to walk it and feed it and clean up after it and play with it..."Mark listed.
"Maureen will love it!"Collins cried. "I always thought she needed something other than a girlfriend to pick on..."
"Yeah, and you can take it for walks when you go out filming,"Roger added.
"And I'll buy the food!"Collins assured him.
"And Maureen and Mimi will play with it..."
"Why do you guys want this dog so much?"Mark asked.
"It will give us something to be focused on, Mark. You know, take our minds off of...well, everything that's going on now,"Collins replied. Mark understood. He meant Angel. Mimi's sickness as she came off drugs. Benny coming back into their lives. He sighed, finding himself having to give in...
"Okay. We'll keep the dog. But only temporarily!"he insisted. Collins and Roger grinned, as Collins held the dog up in the air.
"So what should we call him?"Mark asked.
"Angel?"Roger offered. Collins shook his head.
"No, no. That name should remain honored only by the real one for now,"he said. "How about Jesse?"
"Why Jesse?"Mark asked. Collins shrugged.
"I don't know. There's something about that name I like..."
I wonder how many of you caught on to that... :-) We'll have to see! So anyways, this is my third RENT story already, and I'm REALLY excited to be back again! This story is also going to be more comical and cute, like my others, but with hints of sadness. I hope you enjoy!