Chapter Three

Kelli sat on the couch in her best friend's apartment, watching her pace back an forth, she looked adorable, her jeans hugged her waist and hips tightly, accenting her curves. She wore a silk blue spaghetti strap shirt under a kaki colored jacket, which was also rather form fitting, her hair was pulled up and back, styled just enough to make it look special.

"Kate, calm down—"

"What if he doesn't like me, what if he suddenly realizes I'm a huge geek and…"

"Uh Kate, babe hate to break it to you, but he's not 'stud of the year' winner either. Try and relax; it's not a big deal."

"If it's not a big deal, then why did I just spend two hours getting ready?"

Kelli chuckled she heard a car parking into the lot, quickly glancing out the window she smiled, "Your prince is here my darling, now remember charming." Kelli said gently cupping both sides of her friend's face.

"Are you sure you can't come?"

"Honey, I have a shift in an hour. I can't come," Kelli replied as she pressed a kiss to her best friend's cheek, "Your going to be fine. Give me a call if you need anything."

"I will, thanks Kel," her last words were covered by a knock at the door, causing her to smile and Kelli to giggle.

Moving over to the entrance, she pulled the door opened and was forced not to gape. He stood there, in a nice striped button down shirt, a dress coat over it, and a pair of nice slacks. He looked very nice; before she could say a word he pulled his mouth shut and stuck out his hand. A single red rose encased in his hands.

She blushed crimson red and gently took the flower, "It's beautiful, thank you Mark."

"You—you look beautiful," Mark managed to finally whisper.

"You don't look too shabby yourself Cohen," she replied. Turning she handed the flower to her friend, "Could you—"

"Say no more girl. You two have fun tonight," Kelli called as she moved into the kitchen.

Mark smirked and held out his arm, "Shall we?"

Giggling softly Kate nodded as she slipped an arm through his, "We shall."

o0o

Most of the night they remained with Frank, his wife Angie, and several other friends and co-workers; Mark realized as the night wore on, he'd had all of a beer and a half—and was having an amazing time. Kate remained by his side the entire time, talking to both her friends and colleagues as well as Angie, who she apparently got along with amazingly well.

"Mark, you'll have to come over sometime for dinner, I always invite Frank's new employees over for dinner, you could even bring Kate," Angie offered.

Both members of the small party blushed furiously, and Mark glanced over at Kate, "I've gone several times, Frank and Angie sort of adopted me. I think you'll like it, sounds like you haven't had a good meal in a long time," Kate said poking his ribs, causing him to laugh.

"All right, I'd love to come to dinner some time," Mark relented.

"Excellent, how about tomorrow night?"

"Uh—" Mark paused, realizing any of his excuses wouldn't work so he simply nodded, "That sounds great."

"Well boys and girls, I think this party is over tonight," Frank finally called several hours later; Mark looked at his watch and realized it was nearly two in the morning.

"Are you good to drive?" Kate asked, she'd shared Mark's half a beer plus one of her own.

"Yeah I'm fine," Mark replied.

He was surprised when she slipped her hand into his and squeezed, "I had an amazing time this evening," she whispered.

"Yeah, me too," Mark was stunned to realize he'd said that, in fact it was true, he'd had a wonderful time, he hadn't gotten drunk, there was no Maureen drama, it had been an great evening.

Without even thinking twice, Mark slipped off his coat as they made their way to the car. He also wasn't sure at what point his arm had slipped around her shoulders, but he suddenly realized he hadn't been happy like this in a long time. Not since the very early days of Maureen and even then he had his doubts.

Mark walked her back up to her apartment on the third floor, and smiled as they stood in her doorway. Without even thinking, again, Mark took her hand and placed a kiss to it, "Sweet dreams," he whispered with a soft grin on his handsome face.

Kate was blushing madly as she nodded, "You too, I'll see you tomorrow night at dinner," she replied lightly.

o0o

The door to his apartment opened before Mark even had time to tell Taylor to get out. It was nearing eleven in the morning as the bright eyed man walked in the door, holding two bags of McDonalds and two hot cups of coffee, "Hey, hey, hey!" greeted the young man as he handed a bag to Mark.

"Are you trying to fatten me up?" Mark questioned as he looked at the fest of pancakes, McMuffins and various other greasy foods.

"Maybe, so what has Marky in such a docile mood today," grinned the cop.

"Just in a good mood I guess."

"How'd last night go?"

Mark got a far away look on his face as he smirked from one side of his face to the other, "It was the best night of my entire life."

"You dog!" howled Taylor.

"Relax Ty, I didn't sleep with her, I walked her back to here apartment, kissed her hand and headed back here for a sleepless night of thinking."

"Wow, chivalry ain't dead after all. So you had a good time?"

"Yeah, I did—Frank, my boss and Angie his wife invited us over for dinner, they apparently do it with all the new employees. So we're going to that this evening."

"That's great! Mark you look so—different!"

"I feel different Ty."

"You're in love!"

"No…me?"

"Oh come on man, out of everyone in the world, you know what love looks like, you've seen six of your friends hook up, now tell me you aren't in love!"

Mark chuckled softly, nodding, "I had the strangest thought as I kissed her hand, that I loved her. I've never felt that way about anyone after a month of knowing them."

"See what did I tell you! Trust your friend Ty."

"So how did your night go?"

"Man you would not believe some of the fools I caught; one guy was so drunk last night he tried to convince me he was speeding because a tree was following him."

Mark just shook his head; when he'd found out Taylor was a cop, he'd felt much safer around the apartments. Not that they were in a bad part of town. But he'd never trusted cops before meeting Taylor.

The phone rang interrupting them from their thoughts, "Wait for it," Mark suggested. After two more rings the answering machine picked up, "You've reached Mark, you know how this works, leave one."

"Mark—Man I know you're there, pick up the phone," Collins voice came over the phone. "Listen, just wanted to talk to you I guess you're not home. Uh—you need to call your mom, she's been tryin' to get a hold of you for awhile now…"

Mark grabbed the phone from it's cradle, "What's wrong?" he questioned.

"I don't know Mark, Roger picked up the phone at one point, hoping it would be you—somethin' about your dad."

"I'll call them, how's Roger?"

"Well—he officially knows you aren't with your folks, found that out a couple days ago. After he went completely spastic, he proceeded to calm down and hound all of us where you where—which of course led to Maureen finding out you weren't with your parents. Needless to say they don't know where you are, but they're kind of angry. I think Roger's feeling more—left out than anything, abandoned."

"I'm sorry I put you guys in this position—but you have to understand."

"Don't worry boy, I understand and I explained the situation to Roger. He understands on some level, after all he's the king of leaving. Don't worry 'bout it just yet. Besides Roger's still fairly occupied with the band. Listen I have to go, but I thought you deserved to know, give us a call sometime, and maybe Roger too, okay?"

"Yeah I will—tell Roger to take his AZT."

"Damn boy, you're a couple thousand smiles away and you're still watching that boy's ass. Don't worry he hasn't missed a day yet. Take care of yourself Mark."

"You too Collins, and thanks." Hanging up the phone was one of the hardest things Mark had ever done. He looked back at Taylor who forced a weak smile.

"You okay?"

"My mom's been trying to get a hold of me, something's wrong with my father."

"What're you gonna do?"

Mark shrugged, "Honestly, I have no clue, I haven't seen my father since I became a Boho boy nearly five years ago, he told me never to come back—"

"Up to you man, but take it from a guy who hated his father—it hurts more if you don't talk to them before they die."

"Yeah, I know," Mark whispered.

"I'll call them later today or tomorrow—So what are you doin' today?"

"Hanging out with you today slim," grinned Taylor as he flung his arm around his friend's shoulder, causing Mark to just chuckle.

o0o

Mark picked Kate up around five; she was in a jeans skirt that went to her knees and another cute flowery top, ready to go by the time he got there. As soon as Kate got into the car she could tell something was wrong.

"Mark?"

"Hmm?" he asked, completely lost in his thoughts.

"What's wrong Marky?"

He forced a soft smile, "I got a call this morning from a friend of mine telling me to call my mom."

"Did you?"

He nodded slowly, "My father's dying—My mom wants me to come home, dad apparently had a massive stroke. His heart is failing…"

"Mark, I'm so sorry," Kate whispered as she gently squeezed his arm.

"It's okay—we were never close. It's just I haven't seen my dad since I quite brown when I was eighteen. I'm not sure I'm ready to face him again."

"You're braver than you give yourself credit for Mark," Kate managed.

"Am I? Because every time I think about seeing his face one more time, I feel shivers go down my spine. I've been mugged at least six times while living in New York, and I'm still more afraid of my own father than I am of people who are more than to leave me dead on some street."

"Are you going?"

"I have to; I don't think my mother would forgive me if I didn't…"

"Would you like me to come with you?" she offered quietly.

Mark's eyes met her's. They were at a stop light, he felt his heart flutter at the idea of bringing a girl home—even more brining home one he was in love with. Where the hell did that come from? Popped into his mind as he offered a light smile, "I couldn't take you away from work…"

"Nonsense Mark, I haven't taken a day off since getting here, and you sound like you could use some back up. I want to help you."

Mark gently grasped the hand she was holding onto, "I'd like you're help."

o0o

Dinner was a pleasant event, helping Mark get his mind off his father, and the fact that Tuesday morning he'd be flying out to Scarsdale. Kate kept an eye on her Mark the entire night, Her Mark, when had she started seeing him like that. She smiled softly as he looked at Frank, seemingly trying to muster all his strength up.

"Frank—I need some time off," Mark whispered.

Kate smiled, fairly sure he'd meant to sound a little less young, "Sure, what for?" Frank replied.

"My father's dying, and my mom seems to think I have to be home for it."

"She's right," Angie replied instantly, she gave Mark a soft smile and gripped his hand.

"It'll only be a couple days Frank, I…"

"Say no more Marcus, take as much time as you need. You've more than proven yourself to me over the past six weeks. Both you and Kate—in fact I'm sensing Kate wanting to ask for a similar amount of time off," Frank said grinning.

"Yes Frank," Kate said grinning.

"Katie Mae, you are more than welcome to take as much time as you both need. We've got people who need to work a little harder anyway around the station or they'll be losing their jobs."

"Really?" was surprised, he hadn't expected it to be quite so easy to get away for a few days, in fact part of him had been hoping for an argument, so that he could relent and tell his mother that Frank wouldn't let him come.

"Marcus, you're going," Angie said gently.

"You'll call if you two need anything at all, I'm sure the station can even splurge and find you guys a nice hotel and a rental car."

"You don't have—"

"Mark, what's wrong son?" Frank finally questioned.

"That's just it," mumbled Mark, "I hate my father sir—and I mean that in the most respecting way. But my father and I never got along, we'll never get along. I haven't seen him since I was eighteen. In fact I'd say it's safe to say you treat me more like your son than my own father does. He thinks I'm a failure."

"Mark," Frank paused, glancing over at Angie who smiled softly, "I try and treat all of my employees like family, but I won't lie there are some I see more like children than others, and you are two of them. I've never had anyone work as hard as you two do. Go home, help your mother, make amends with your father, or at least with the past, then come back here."

Mark smiled lightly, realizing that like New York, he'd found himself another family, "Thanks Frank."

TBC