No Day But Today
DISCLAIMER: I do not own RENT or anything affiliated with it.
A/n: Just a warning for my readers… beyond this point I make no guarantees about how often you'll get updates. I'll write as much as I can over the next few days, but as of June 6th I won't be updating for a while. I doubt I will finish before that date, so it might take a while for me to finish this. And after that date I make no guarantees that any updates will make sense at all, because I'm probably going to be high on pain meds for a while… don't ask, it's too complicated.
Mark sat on the ratty old couch between Mimi and Collins, with Roger sitting in the chair. "So that's the whole story," he said, looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry, guys. I should have told you before… I was… there was just too much going on. That was the last thing any of you needed to hear." Mimi gently put her hand on his shoulder.
"No, don't apologize. I should apologize to you for being such a pain in the ass for the past few years," Roger said. "I never really thought about anyone but myself, I guess."
"We all have problems, Rog. Yours were just the first that had to be dealt with," Mark said. He stood up. "I'm gonna go get some sleep. I've got to go back to work tomorrow."
"Who all knows? I mean, besides us," Collins said.
"Maureen… which means that if they're still on speaking terms, so does Joanne," Mark replied, smiling just a little. This was one time when he highly doubted he'd mind Maureen's big mouth.
"You can always talk to us, man. That's what family's for," Roger said. Mark nodded.
"I know."
"I forgot how heavy this shit was," Mark muttered, talking more to himself than the pretty female reporter. She was new, and Mark was having trouble remembering her name.
"Let me help with that," she said, smiling at him. He returned the smile as she took some of the camera equipment from him.
"Thanks. I'm Mark."
"Elizabeth. But call me Liz," the reporter replied. They stowed the equipment in the back of a van and climbed in to ride out to their location. "I haven't seen you around before… are you new?"
"No, I've been her for about eight months… I've just been sick," he replied. "Pneumonia. I thought I'd be okay walking 20 blocks in the snow two days after Christmas." She smiled.
"My brother tried that once… almost managed to get frostbite," she said. Mark smiled and shook his head.
"It's not exactly one of my proudest moments."
"I didn't think it was. So what would you consider a 'proud moment'?" she asked, attempting to make conversation.
"The day my documentary was shown in a theater for the first time," he said. He sighed. "It made it through three showings before they pulled it."
"What was it about?"
"People living with AIDS. My friends, mainly." She just nodded.
"Are you…" she started.
"No. Out of the seven of us, I'm one of just 3 who aren't. I guess I should say six, not seven," Mark said. "Angel died while I was still making it… she kind of ended up being the star."
"I'm sorry," Liz replied. She gently put her hand on his knee.
"It was a while ago," he said, shaking his head. "Okay, so now you have to tell me something about yourself, since you know so much about me."
"Okay," she said, thinking for a moment. "This is totally stupid, and it never leaves this van." Mark nodded in agreement. "When I was sixteen, I tipped a cow."
"All by yourself?" he asked.
"Yeah. My dad's a farmer, so I grew up lifting bales of hay, between ballet and gymnastics lessons," she said. He laughed. "It's true!"
"I didn't accuse you of lying!"
"Someone had a good day," Roger said, as he and Mimi watched Mark walk in and into his room, grin plastered on his face, without even acknowledging their presence. "Hey Mark, you're not high are you?"
"What do you think?" Mark replied.
"Either that's a yes, or he met a woman," Roger translated. Mimi giggled. "What's her name?"
"Liz." Roger sat up and turned towards Mark's bedroom door. "I was working with her today."
"Liz? As in Liz Gordon?" Roger asked.
"Yeah," Mark replied. He walked out of his room. "Why?"
"Nothing… I didn't say a word," Roger said, leaning back into the couch and smiling at Mimi.
"Oh no, you are not getting away that easily. Spill," Mimi said, poking him in the ribs.
"She's hot," Roger replied. Mark started laughing, as did Mimi. Roger just looked around the room, somewhat embarrassed.
"I'll be sure to tell her you think so highly of her," Mark said, when he finally stopped laughing. Just as he finished, he started into another coughing fit.
"You should really get that cough checked out, man. It still sounds really bad," Roger said.
"Yeah, well when we have the money to afford a doctor and your AZT, we'll talk about that."
A/n: Yay! One of my famous middle-of-the-night updates! It's 11:50 P.M. here!