A/N:I promised someone an Ivana/Mark moment. This be for you :)
Chapter Seven
The group of nine sat noisily at a long table, talking about everything and nothing. Amazing Grace and Rusty were the only ones absent from the table. They had been deemed the designated seat savers.
"Talk to her," Roger whispered to Mark, nudging him with an elbow. He nodded at Ivana, sitting across the table, laughing with Cha-Cha.
"I will," Mark hissed back. He looked at Ivana. His excuse was that he didn't want to interrupt her, but now she was taking a sip of her drink and Cha-Cha had turned to Angel. Mark grabbed his glass.
Roger rolled his eyes and nudged Collins. He looked to Mark, to Ivana, then back, and Collins grinned in understanding. He downed his drink in one gulp.
"Angel baby, come with me to get a refill."
"But you just got one a minute ago," she said, confused.
"I know, but it's hot in here." He nodded toward Ivana.
"What are you talking abo-oooh! I agree! Cha-Cha?"
"Definitely!" Cha-Cha giggled, catching on. "Refill. Let's go."
Marks eye widened as he realized what they were doing. He started to stand up to-
"Nah man, I'll get it for you," Roger smirked, grabbing Marks empty glass and jumping up.
"Joanne, come with me to the bathroom." Maureen stood up.
"Oh come on, you don't both need to go."
"Yes we do," Maureen smiled. "It's an unwritten law. Girls have to go in groups. Have you ever seen a girl go into a bathroom by herself?"
Mark opened his mouth to argue, but found he couldn't. "No," he admitted.
"Then we're done here. Pookie?" She held her arm out for Joanne, who took it and together they strolled off in search of the restrooms. Roger pinched Mimi as he walked behind her chair to catch up with the group in search of drinks.
"Oww-wait! I'll go with you!" She started after Joanne and Maureen.
"I thought you went in pairs?" Ivana smirked.
"Two or more. You should know, girl," Mimi laughed over her shoulder,running to her friends.
Now it was just Mark and Ivana.
"Well," laughed Ivana, taking a sip of her drink, "that wasn't obvious at all."
"Not in the least," he grumbled.
She was smiling at him, and he had to beat down the butterflies in his stomach with a heavy object.There was an awkward silence as Mark tried to work out what he wanted to say.
"It's crazy here, isn't it?" she said, breaking the silence. "I don't think I've ever seen it so crowded."
"Are you here a lot?" asked Mark.
"Yeah, all the time," she smiled. "You should come more often with us," Mark half smiled nervously, "there's always something going on. The Flawless Contest is by far the most popular event. Cha-Cha loves it. She won the last three years."
"Yeah, she told me…quite a few times," he laughed.
Ivana giggled. "She's excited. And very proud. I hope she gets it again. Any one of us, as long as Stormy doesn't get it. Angel could do it too, she's a cutie. Don't you think?"
"Uh…yeah." Wow. Awkward. This wasn't going where he wanted it to. Change subject. "But you were great, Ivana, really." She glanced away for a moment, willing the red in her cheeks away. "I mean it," he urged. "You were. You are."
Her eyes sparkled and she looked back at him with a smile. Butterflies were flying like crazy once again inside Mark. He swallowed.
"Um, Ivana? I was wondering…that is, if you're free…if you'd like to, um-"
"Yes!" she blurted out.
He laughed, relieved and amused. "You don't even know what I was going to ask you."
"I don't care, the answer is yes!"
"Great. Well, what do you want to do? Dinner? Movie? Both?"
"Both," she grinned.
Mark sighed. That was a lot easier than he thought. No different than asking out a girl. Well…whatever. She was a girl to them now. He was about to ask when and where, when Ivana dove at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Shocked, but then realizing he should have seen this coming from her, he slowly got his arms around her waist. She pressed a quick kiss to the side of his cheek, then went back to hugging him. Mark smiled happily.
In a corner of the gym, the makeshift cafeteria, a group of friends cheered.
"Next up is Kitten, with a short comedy act."
The group hardly heard the announcer over the noise in the gym.
"Should we bother?" Roger asked.
"Yes-"
"No-"
They began arguing, half wanting to see the competition and the others not wanting anything to do with Kitten. They finally decided to head in to catch the last bit of a joke, which was followed by tremendous applause. Our group sat down grudgingly.
"A year or so ago," Kitten began. "A large dog walks into a butcher shop, carrying a purse in its mouth. He puts the purse down and sits in front of the meat case.
'What is it, boy?' I ask. 'Do you want to buy some meat?' He barked, and I thought it was funny. Almost like an answer. Just for laughs, I ask him, 'What kind? Liver, bacon, steak…' And he barks again. Now I'm thinking, 'no way can this be happening.'" Kitten threw her hands up in a I-can't-believe-it fashion.
The crowd chuckled, and Amazing Grace looked at Cha-Cha with a raised eyebrow.
"'And how much steak?' I ask him," Kitten continued. "'Half a pound, one pound…'
"'Woof!' signals the dog. I wrap up the meat and find the money in the dog's purse. As the dog leaves, I decide to follow. It was amazing. The dog enters an apartment building, climbs to the top floor, and begins scratching at a door. The door swings open and an angry man starts shouting at him.
"'Stop!' I yell. 'He's the most intelligent animal I've ever seen!'
"'Intelligent?' he counters." Kitten placed her hands on her hips. "'This is the third time this week he's forgotten his key!'"
Rusty's eyes widened. She gripped Cha-Cha's arm tightly as she gaped at Kitten.
-
Mimi leaned close to Maureen. "Damn, this is good. Hell, it's great. Look at the crowd, they're loving it."
-
"What is it?" Cha-Cha asked Rusty, putting a hand on hers.
"…That…bitch…" Rusty mumbled.
Kitten started her next story.
"Stormy and I went on a camping trip last summer. After a good meal and a bottle of wine we were down for the night, and went to sleep. A few hours later, I woke up and nudged her until she was up too.
"'Stormy,' I said, 'look up at the sky and tell me what you see.'
"She replied, 'I see millions and millions of stars.'
"'And what does that tell you?' I asked.
"She pondered for a minute." Kitten paused and playfully tapped her chin, imitating a thinking Stormy.
"'Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets,' she said. 'Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three."
-
Rusty gripped Cha-Cha tighter, and the young drag queen was glancing from her to Kitten and back again, confused. Sure, the brat was good, but why was it getting her this riled up?
-
"'Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant," Kitten was still giving Stormy's answer. There was no doubt in any of there minds this was a fabrication. Stormy would choke on half the words. "'Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.' She stopped and looked at me thoughtfully. 'What does it tell you?' she asked me.
'Stormy, you idiot...' I say. 'Some fucker has stolen our tent.'
The audience erupted into even louder laughter than the last.
-
"We have a problem," Collins whispered to Roger. He made sure Angel sitting beside him didn't overhear. "Kitten is a lot better than we thought. I was sure she and Stormy would be tough, but look at this reaction…" he motioned to the audience.
-
"Rusty, what is it?" Cha-Cha demanded again.
Rusty swallowed. "That's the script for Friday's show. How the hell did she get it?"
It was Cha-Cha's turn to gape. "Are you serious?"
"Would I kid about something like this?"
"Well, yeah."
"Cha-Cha!" Rusty hissed.
"Ok, ok," she said, shushing her friend. "After she's done we can corner-eep!" Cha-Cha froze mid-imaginary strangle. "I'm after her!" She jumped up. "I gotta go!" she said quickly, apologizing for not being able to help more. She maneuvered her way down the aisle.
Angel unlinked her arm from Collins and hopped over into Cha-Chas empty seat.
"You okay, honey? You look upset." Angel shifted closer and waited for the fuming Rusty to answer.
"That act is mine," she snarled. "I don't know how she got it, but that's what's planned for Friday night at the club."
Angel hadn't expected that. "Well, um, do you think it could have fallen out of your bag when we were out shopping, or something?" she tried weakly.
"It's never left the office. Damn it, I finished it two weeks ago, because I knew I wouldn't have time with the contest this week. I filed it right after we…" Her eyes widened. Angel started to ask what she was thinking. Then it hit her.
"After we put my dress in the costume room so it wouldn't get dirty in the loft." Angel's pulse began to race. "That sneak. That dirty little-"
Applause cut her off as Kitten was given a wild response. She waved and curtsied with a smile that looked out of place compared to her usual smirk.
Collins automatic reaction was to clap along with the rest. Angel lunged over from two seats away to snatch his hands and hold them still.
"Don't you dare."
Cha-Cha took a deep breath, then stepped out onto the stage. As the first few seconds of music played, she located her friends in the crowd and flashed a smile in their direction.
"When I believed in nothing, I called her name," she sang. "Trapped in a high-dollar joint in some place, I called her name. And though my days are slipping by," her hand weakly floated in front of her. "And nights so cruel, I thought I'd die." She clenched her fingers into a fist. "She danced her little dance 'till it made me cry." She flexed her fingers again, and shook her empty hand in time with each syllable. "She was shakin' like this, honey doing that."
She stepped across the stage lightly, singing confidently all the while. Her body moved with the emotion in her voice. The pace of the song. Loose and slow.
"When I needed soul revival, I called your name. When I was falling to pieces, I screamed in pain."
Her free hand played in front of her. She leisurely twirled her fingers in the air. "Your soothing hand, that turned me round. A love so real," her hands slid down her side, "swept over me. You danced your little dance," Cha-Cha swayed her hips in a seductive manner, "'till it made me cry. You were shakin' like this, honey doing that. Never let me down.
"Never let me down. She never let me down." Cha-Cha winked at her friends before starting the next verse.
"When all your faith is failing, call my name. When you've nothing coming, call my name." She placed a hand over her heart. "I'll be strong for all it takes. I'll cover your head till the bad stuff breaks. I'll dance my little dance," her hip wiggle was back, "till it makes you smile. Shaking like this honey doing that-never let you down….I'll never let you down." She repeated the last two lines, voice slowly fading away into the applause.
"Cha-Cha you were fantastic! That's the perfect Bowie song for you!" Ivana gushed.
"Really? I always thought 'Rebel Rebel' was more me," Cha-Cha teased.
"'Queen Bitch' is more like it," Stormy said sourly as he passed, Pixie on his arm.
Cha-Cha and Ivana watched them saunter away.
"Don't pay any attention to her, Cha-Cha. She's just feeling threatened."
A/N2:EXAMS ARE THIS WEEK! DONT EXPECT ANYTHING ON FRIDAY
:) Ok, um, yeah I know I was supposed to finish up the contest in this chapter, but I thought Id post this cuz I wont be able to write much this week, and why make you wait when I have at least alittle done? Bonus points if you can tell me the order they're sitting in when they watch the contest. I dont think I put everybody in there...lol...maybe your pyschic. I dunno. Try. Lol.
OnetoughRentalicousdiva814: The cufflink! Omg I SO will put that in here somewhere!
lesley: lol cant promise Angel will win but, like I said, its mainly RENT ppl reading this so thers a good chance she will.
Karan:D
TieDieGlitterWhore: lol review as much as you want, Pookie
BohemianAngel716: two Wilsons is twice as much fun!
Queen of the Paperclips: Yes yes Mr Bowie :) Sorry I lied (hides) contest results arent in this one. But but...at least you dont have to wait as long for more story? Taye Diggs was on Will and Grace? Why did no one tell me? (cries) Reruns!
Sir Gawain of Camelot: yay! glad you liked the Mark/Ivana bit. And yes, you do get to vote, but not yet. Ive put the voting off for awhile (hides from reveiwers)
Bohemiancane: lol, I know. All in good fun :)
Godmother: Ivana and Mark will, eventualy, have more cute moments.
Alice Midnight:no no no no! No Mark/Cha-Cha lol. Markie, trust me, you'll like Cha-Cha. Angel is taken, she is not yours,and any form of Angel is not yours. Nyah. :P Lol...Hi Alice. ...you heard nothing...by the way, the very small hint of Mark/Angel at the top was just for you ;) but dont read to much into, love. Mark/Ivana all the way :)
ILOVEANGEL:vote for her later and see :)
Operatic: (grins) glad you could follow everything.
Today4Angel: Lol I couldnt do that, not even to Stormy and Kitten. Lol. Spineless I tell ya.
CanaceErinn: he will, he will
philfan05: (waves hello)
Anglina:) good idea, they'll go before Angel
To No Absolutes: sorry it took so long lol
TigerLily: Im gonna stick more random lines in just cuz its fun (smiles) and cuz Im cool like that...? yeah uh huh. exactly. I love the cufflink part! I shall squeeze that in somehow
A/N3:I dont own Never Let Me Down. It was written by David Bowie and Carlos Alomar.
The jokes were based off ones found on BowieWonderWorld. I changed them up a bit, but I have to give credit were credit is due :) they were my inspirations.
In the previous chapter-I don't own Bang Bang, sung by Cher. Words and music by Sony Bono.