Note: Erm…well, not much to say. Thanks for all the reviews! Oh, and yeah, this bit is MarkMaureen…not sure if it will continue or what. Anyway, happy reading.

On Borrowed Time

Chapter 3: Never Going to Have a Quiet Life

Maureen stormed in at exactly 10:02, brushing loose snow off her coat and hair, followed by an equally peeved Joanne who slammed the door so hard Mark cringed. The poor door was not going to last much longer with those two around. Of course, if Mimi was up now Roger was going to kill him, so he slowly closed the door to their room and turned to face the fuming women who were standing in his living room.

"So, um, what's wrong?"

"They turned our heat off, again. And Miss Drama Queen went down and started YELLING at him, and he threatened to evict us! Evict us!"

Joanne shot Maureen a dirty look as she sputtered angrily. "Oh? Miss Drama Queen, is it? Well who was shouting that she was going to sue his ass from here to China? Come on, Pookie. I was trying to help. You're the one who was complaining. I've spent the better part of my life without heat."

"Maureen, you beg me to live with you. So I do. I'm paying all the bills. I told you to pay the rent, but what did you do with the money? Tell him. Tell Mark what you did!"

Mark sighed, and Maureen turned bright red. "It wasn't that bad…I didn't mean to…it was an accident. I forgot that that was the rent money."

"Forgot? Forgot? How can you forget? You went and spent it all. All of it. On dinner and wine and a bunch of romantic crap. What possessed you to go have dinner, by yourself, at the Plaza Hotel restaurant? If you even were by yourself!"

Joanne stormed out, and Mark gazed at his ex-girlfriend with mingled pity and annoyance. "The Plaza Hotel? Maureen, I know you have moments when you think you're rich, but you're not. You have to understand that, now that you're living with Joanne."

He didn't quite understand what he said, but it started the girl blubbering. "It wasn't for me!" she yelled, her eyes filling with tears. "It was our anniversary…our 13 month anniversary…I wanted to do something special…but she didn't show up…"

"What? Why?"

"Work. It's always work now. I never see her. I've tried to be loyal, tried to be home at a certain time, to make dinner, to be there. You know me, Mark, I'm not cut out to be domesticated. But I wanted to make her happy. I found some extra money around, thought she'd like a night out, so she could relax. But stupid work…I'm losing her, Marky. What have I done wrong?"

She ended this speech with a wail that could have shattered glass. Shaking, she collapsed on the couch and curled up into a ball, crying and moaning and wailing. Mark wanted to tell her to be quiet, not to wake Mimi, but that would be awfully inconsiderate, wouldn't it? Although…Roger would be back soon, and if Mimi was up Mark would be fried for dinner. God, he wanted a quiet life.

"Marky? Marky! Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course, Maureen. Listen, you can stay here for a while. Wait until she calms down. How much do you need for rent?"

"I…I don't know. Joanne handles that sort of thing. Hopefully she can get a loan or something to cover it. Oh Marky, I don't know what I'm going to do. I want to help, really I do, but I don't know…nothing I do seems to be right."

"Well…you could always get a job. Try out for a few plays. See what happens."

She gave him a look he couldn't interpret. He knew the idea of working never had appealed to Maureen, but what could he say? They needed money. If Joanne got a job it might definitely help. And Joanne wouldn't say no to that.

"Do you really think so? You think I could get a part in a play?"

Oh, so now she was fishing for compliments. He understood, her self esteem, which normally was ballooning out the window, had shrunk considerably since she had walked in here. But he didn't want to get into anything…Maureen had a bad habit of taking things a bit too seriously. Not that he didn't want a relationship with Maureen; he had never really gotten over her, but he didn't think that she could handle that right now, much less Joanne.

"I think you'd be good. Besides, it's what you've always wanted. And you could get some cash. That's always a good thing, right?"

"I can just see it now. My name in lights. Starring: Maureen Johnson. Oh god, Marky. I could be the next…well, not even the next. I will break new boundaries. I will be…famous!"

She stood up and started pantomiming waving to adoring fans, accepting invisible roses, writing invisible autographs. He could tell she was all ready writing her Oscar speech in her head.

Mark smiled, glad she was happy again, and went to sit down on the couch. "So, I could talk to some friends of mine for you, maybe line up a couple of auditions."

She smiled, and gave him a sidelong glance. "That's a great idea. You're always so helpful…so loving…always looking out for me."

He didn't like that look. He knew Maureen too well…what was she going to try now?

Slowly she slinked over to him, shooting him seductive looks all the while, wrapped one arm around his shoulders, and pulled him towards her, all the while kissing him passionately. "Marky, Marky, Marky. It's been too long, Baby."

His muscles seized up. No. This wasn't happening. She and Joanne were together, living together. A year after they had broken up, and he had finally gotten over her. She wasn't going to do this to him. Not now.

"Maureen…I can't. You're with Joanne. She loves you. You love her. There's no room for me in that."

"There's always room for my pookie. Besides, it's just a bit of fun. And I know you've wanted this. You've missed me, you wanted me back. Admit it."

"I…I did. Please, Maureen, don't ruin our friendship. Don't ruin it with Joanne."

"Marky, this is what you want." She smiled and ran a hand up the inside of his thigh. He moaned and sat back, watching as she undid his belt buckle. "Please, Marky? Let's play. I want you. It was a mistake for us to break up…we're so perfect together. Come on, Pookie. I need you."

A thousand thoughts were running through his head a mile a minute, and he couldn't focus on all of them. Yeah, he wanted to protect Joanne, but hell with Joanne. This was his life. Enough sitting on the sidelines. Enough watching and cheering. He was going to take control, live life the way he wanted. Hey, no day but today, right?

This is what he wanted. To hell with Joanne, to hell with Roger, to hell with everyone. Today Mark Cohen took back his reality. He leaned forward and kissed Maureen hard on the mouth.

"Excuse me, am I interrupting something?"