No Day But Today
DISCLAIMER: I do not own RENT or anything affiliated with it.
A/n: Oh Lord, it's official… I'm a RENThead. My reason is – you judge driving time by how far through the CD you can get… For one of my friends, I can get all the way to "Another Day," and then get to the very end on the way home… and usually hear "Seasons of Love" a second time.
"So what's your excuse this time?" Liz asked, walking over to the van Mark was loading equipment into.
"Bronchitis," he said. She smiled.
"Okay, now you definitely remind me of my brother. The two of you catch everything," she said.
"Not really. I normally don't get sick," he replied. She just smiled and got into the van, Mark following behind her. "Okay, so you're a farm girl whose brother catches everything… what are you going to say to try surprise me now?"
"Why should I say anything?" she asked. He smiled.
"We're going to be in this van for a while. Gotta talk about something," he replied.
"Fine. But you go first," she said. Mark shook his head. "Oh all right, you win. I used to be a stripper at this seedy little club on Avenue A."
"The Cat Scratch Club?"
"Yeah… how did you know that?" she asked.
"I live in the old music publishing factory on Avenue B… and one of my roommates is a dancer there," he replied. Liz laughed.
"One of them? How many are there?" she asked.
"Three. Roger, Mimi, Collins and me," Mark replied.
"That sounds kind of crowded," Liz replied.
"Not really… Collins isn't home much, and Roger and Mimi tend to disappear pretty often," Mark said.
"Where's Roger?" Mark asked. The loft was unusually quiet, seeing as Collins was the only one there.
"Apparently, he got a job," Collins replied. "Bartending at the Cat Scratch."
"You're kidding."
"Do I look to you like I'm kidding?" Collins asked, smiling. "Didn't think the boy had it in him."
"Yeah, well, at least he finally decided to help out," Mark said. He took his scarf off and threw it into the open door of his room.
"Good point. Let's do something. I'm sick of grading papers," Collins said, referring to the pile on the coffee table. He'd taken a job at Columbia just after Christmas.
"Life Café with Maureen and Joanne?" Mark asked.
"Sure. Why don't you invite Liz?" Collins suggested. Mark shook his head.
"I don't have her number," Mark lied. She'd given it to him that day so he could call her to go over a mini-documentary she was wanting to make.
"You blush when you lie," Collins told him. "Call the girl! She might as well meet us now."
"Why would she need to meet you?" Mark asked. Collins rolled his eyes.
"Well I assumed that you'd eventually introduce the girl you're about to start dating to your friends," Collins said.
"I'm not about to start dating her."
"She gave you her phone number," Collins said.
"So we could talk about something we're working on… we work together, in case you forgot," Mark reminded him.
"Yeah, right. She likes you," Collins suggested. Mark rolled his eyes.
"We're friends." Collins shook his head.
"That girl's lookin for more than friendship, Cohen. Just call her," Collins said.
"Fine."
"They were seriously mooing?" Liz asked. Maureen and Joanne had just finished the story of Maureen's protest against CyberArts.
"Oh yeah. The cops were sweeping the lot, and all the homeless just sat down and started mooing like cows. I saw the whole thing," Joanne replied. "Mark got it on film, too."
"Oh my God, I have to see that," Liz said, turning to Mark, who just blushed.
"I sort of sold it… that's how I got the job at Buzzline," he replied.
"You should show her your documentary. He got part of the protest for it," Collins said. Mark just shook his head and smiled.
"You don't want to see it, really. It's really rough… I had to edit the whole thing by hand. It's really not that great," he said. Collins just laughed.
"Listen to him, trying to be all modest. You should just see it… it's great."
"Maureen, we should go. I have court in the morning," Joanne said, glancing at her watch.
"I need to work on the script for my new piece anyway. Bye Marky, Collins. It was so nice meeting you, Liz," Maureen said.
"I should get back to grading papers," Collins said, also standing up and following Joanne and Maureen out. Leaving Mark and Liz alone.
"Your friends are great," Liz said, smiling at Mark.
"Yeah. It's too bad Mimi and Roger couldn't be here," Mark replied, smiling back.
"I had fun tonight, Mark. The most fun I've had in a long time."
"Me too," he replied.