A/N: I'm not so sure about how well this chapter fits in. Let me know.

I didn't get cast in the show. The director said that I was 'to open for the role'. I think he was calling me a slut, but I didn't want to cause a scent in the theater, so I just walked away, tossing my hair and swaying my hips.

Collins was leaving for MIT soon. The man's a genius, really. I could never understand it.

A week after my audition I was working at this coffee shop, diner called "The Bean", in the village.

Mark and I were seeing even less of each other, so whenever I got the chance to see him, I was all over him.

He didn't seem to mind that the only time we saw each other was to have sex, and hell, I was getting the attention that I wanted.

And April was trying to quit.

Everything seemed to be going great. Man, life likes to fuck you over just when you get comfortable.

One day at work, around noon, I accidentally dumped a cup of coffee on one of the customers.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry. I'm such a friggin' spaz." I apologized, handing her a stack of napkins.

"Don't worry about it, really. If you hadn't spilled it on me, I probably would have spilled it on myself. Inside this calm, well put together lawyer is an accident waiting to happen."

She picked up her briefcase and walked off to the bathroom in the back. I couldn't help but watch her. She was gorgeous. Deep, milk chocolate skin, big, soulful eyes.

I love eyes. I think I feel for Mark when I first looked into his perfect blue eyes.

When she returned to her table she was wearing a clean shirt and a fresh cup of coffee was waiting for her.

I didn't know why, but I liked her. But, I had Mark.

When I brought her the check, I apologized once again.

"I really am sorry about the coffee." I said with a small smile. She made me nervous. I didn't like it.

"Don't worry about it, really. Like I said, I do it all the time. Why else would I carry a clean shirt with me in my briefcase?"

She smiled up at me, that adorable smile that I would one day do anything to see, and I ran a hand over my ponytail. I had to keep my hair back out of my face for work.

"Still, I've been working here for like...a week, and that was the first time I dropped anything."

I knew I shouldn't have been striking up a conversation with her. The manager hated it when we would "waste time" talking to customers.

But I didn't want her to leave. I liked just talking to her. It was strange, really. I felt like I could tell this woman, who's name I didn't even know yet, but I couldn't tell my boyfriend that I missed him. God, I am so messed up.

I had the weirdest feeling that she and I were going to be good friends.

"Lucky me, I guess." She said with a laugh.

"I'm Maureen." I sounded like an idiot. She just laughed again.

"Joanne Jefferson."

She intrigued me.

I had never been interested in women. Ever. I know Mark likes to think that I was bisexual, that I had always been bisexual, but I wasn't.

I grew up liking boys. The thought of being with a woman never crossed my mind.

But there was something about Joanne. Something in her laugh, the way she bit her lower lip while she was working on a case in the coffee shop that made me want to know her. I couldn't help but want to be her friend.

A month never seemed to pass as quickly as the next month did.

Working every day made life so dull, so mundane. I always thought that I was better than the mundane, that I would be something more. I hate when I'm wrong.

Joanne came to the coffee shop for lunch every chance she got. We became good friends, always talking and laughing together.

She seemed to be the only good thing in my life at the time.

Collins had gone to MIT, being all smart.

Mark seemed to be out filming more than ever. I was asleep before he would come home, and he would be gone before I got up.

I was getting desperate. I needed him to pay attention to me, damn it. I just wanted him to look at me and realize that I needed him.

April and Roger were getting worse. She tried to quit, really tried hard, but Roger kept pulling her back into the drugs. They were always either to high to move, or screaming at each other.

And Benny. Benny was engaged. To Allyson. That slut that he had the one night stand with a month ago.

It turns out, her father owns the building that we're living in. I guess she really did own the place. Stupid bastard sold out.

I was working almost 12 hour days in an attempt to keep paying the rent. Now I understood the pressure that Collins had to deal with before he went to MIT. He kept sending money in hopes to help. I didn't like taking hand outs.

I was determined that we would make it. Looking back, I can't believe how naive I was.