Anne

The sound of a guitar being played woke me. It was quiet, probably an acoustic guitar, but loud enough that I could hear it through the walls. I folded the flannel blanket I had used and placed it on the foot of Mark's bed then looked around. I had been too tired when I first came in to give it more than a passing glance. It wasn't spectacular, nothing particularly stood out to me. It had the typical grey walls that were the standard in most apartments, except one of the walls had been plastered with posters from obscure films I hadn't heard of.

The corner by the fire escape was literally covered in film equipment and reels of film, both unused and labeled. I laughed to myself. There was no separating Mark from his cameras. From what I had heard last night from his (drunken) friends, the camera will be present even at their not-so-finest moments. Good thing I didn't drink a lot last night…

"Anne, right?" Mark's roommate was peering at me through the open door. "Come into the kitchen, we'll talk."

I must have looked skeptical because he laughed out loud. "I don't bite, I jut want to get to know you. Mark never divulges much information about his lady friends."

I followed him into the kitchen and he set a mug in front of me. "So what did you want to know? Anything in particular?"

"Well, I did learn that you're a CPA. And I'll tell you the truth, I laughed my ass off."

"Excuse me?" I glared at him and gripped the mug tighter.

"I never thought that Mark would find someone with a geekier job. I mean, filmmaking isn't awful, but being an accountant pretty much takes the cake. Coffee or tea?" He had a cheeky smile plastered on his face so I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking.

"Coffee, please. And I thought you didn't know how to make anything? At least that's what Mark has told me."

"Touché." Roger laughed. "But I do know how to make coffee. Canned soup is my specialty, can I tempt you with some of that?"

Even if he was an asshole, he was charismatic and witty. But not my type in the least. "Thanks, but I'm not really hungry right now."

"Suit yourself." He shrugged and hit a few buttons on the coffee machine. He looked as if he was about to say something else but we were interrupted by the loft door opening.

"Hey, you're awake?" Mark hung his coat up and jammed his hands into his jeans. "I was just ran out and I forgot to tell you and I felt bad because if you woke up I figured it would be extremely awkward for you, especially with Roger here and how he has the tendency to grill my girlfriends. Not that you're my girlfriend or anything! You're just a friend who happens to be a girl and I don't have many of those, at least straight ones, so I just assumed Roger would… oh... shit." Mark's face turned a brilliant shade of red and he became very interested with his shoes.

"No, Anne and I were just talking." Roger poured hot water into a mug and tossed a tea bag Mark's way.

"Talking… sure, Roger." Mark turned his back to Roger and whispered "Do you want to go out? Just take a walk, you know?"

I nodded. "That'd be nice. Thanks for the coffee, Roger. And the talk was nice too."

He gave me a knowing smile and winked.

Mark and I bundled up on our way down the stairs. The air outside wasn't much warmer than the stairwell, much to my obvious disdain. "I hate this weather. I don't mind the cold, but it's the slush and snow that bothers me."

He laughed and offered me his arm. "Snow is great to film though. Even if you have the best tech crew in the history of film, fake snow never cuts it."

A not-so-awkward silence followed for a few minutes.

"I'm really sorry about Roger." He turned to me "He does that to all of my girlfriends. Or friends of the opposite sex, which are few and far between. It's a sport to him, really. A source of never ending entertainment."

"You know, you always look so damn apologetic. You could kill somebody and they wouldn't be able to send you to jail because you actually look sorry!" He blushed. That's something Mark does a lot. "But if it wasn't for your awkward and geeky tendencies, I wouldn't find you half as alluring or charismatic as I do."

"I'm less than charismatic, but thanks anyway. I'll give you credit for a good delivery and sincerity."

"You know I value honesty," I sighed "So would I ever lie to you, even if it was to spare your masculinity? Or your pride?"

There he goes, blushing again as another silence followed. We ended up walking for quite a while, into the depths of Central Park. It was oddly tranquil and comfortable, just walking arm in arm with Mark through the city. I didn't feel pressured to make conversation or even do anything. And I liked that. But Mark decided it had gone long enough.

"I really wish I had brought my camera," he mumbled "Central Park is great for people watching. There's always the best people here and I get the obscure characters I need for my films. And with the snow, it makes all these special effects that I could never re-create on my computer, no matter how hard I tried and how advanced my software was." He glanced at me and caught my blank face. "I'm sorry, I always end up going off onto some tangent and speaking in strange tongues."

"Yes, I don't completely understand what you're saying. But I can appreciate your love of film. Just the way you talk about it, the look you get. I can tell you're really passionate about it." I laced my fingers though his and gave his hand a little squeeze.

"I can't believe how far away we are from the loft." He replied, pointing towards the street. "We're all the way down by the Museum of Natural History."

I nodded in agreement. "I think we should do this every week. Just walk to Central Park, talk, and get coffee from street vendors. It just feels right."

"Now about that coffee, would you rather go to Starbucks? Because I know there's one around here somewhere and I've been wanting coffee with caramel for a while and there's no way in hell Roger would ever let me even enter the loft with one."

"Starbucks it is. I'm sure I can find something with enough whipped cream and chocolate to satisfy my sudden craving for something sweet. Screw coffee, I'm looking for hot cocoa." I laughed and tugged him towards an exit.

"We could save ourselves twenty dollars and go make coffee and hot chocolate back home." Mark said, turning in the direction of the loft.

"But that wouldn't be half as fun. And you know as well as I do that we'd end up stopping at the Life because of the temperature and I can only stand so many seedy cups of coffee a week."

Mark smiled and pulled me across the street to find the nearest coffee shop.

Mark and Anne are basically two love birds in one hell of an awkward nest. And that's exactly the way I like it. I was worried that my Roger seemed a little out-of-character, so tell me what you think of his portrayal. I've been writing a specific way far in the future chapter from his point of view so I'm hoping to improve where he and Mimi are concerned. Just a note, this story focuses mainly on Mark and Anne's relationship, but I will try to integrate some Roger and Mimi in there as well, only because they life with Mark. Maureen and Joanne will make their appearences... eventually.

I'm sorry that it's taking so long for me to get these posted. I really have no excuse other than the AP work that's has taken over my life and will remain for the next two or so weeks. I'll try my best to keep the chapters coming as constant as I can, because consistency is important. Otherwise, what's the point? Don't forget to review and tell me what you liked, disliked, and want to see more of!

-Ella

JacksTortugaLass: Lovely review. And yes, Anne did get to sleep in his bed but there was no hanky-panky going on. At least not now ;o)

Harper's Pixie: Thanks for being a constant reviewer! It means a lot that you're interested enough to keep coming back for more.

L.M. Ward: I've always, always wanted to write crazy party scenes with a drunken Roger, but I thought it'd be best to save the crazy, sometimes even mean and rude, drunk Roger for later on when I need some drama. Or when my Maureen the Drama Queen scenes don't come out as planned.

Marky'sLilPixie: I wanted to stray away from the typical RENTfiction mold and throw poor Mark a bone. He's always alone. Or with Roger. And I like Mimi enough to keep her in the picture.

countrybutterfly: I'm glad you liked the comparison. You have to admit, Roger does live quite the soap opera life.