Chapter 6

When Mark and Reggie got back to the loft, Roger and Maureen were gone. Mark showed her the film he had made two Christmases ago and then Reg went back to her own place. About an hour later Roger came back in.

"Hey Mark." he greeted. "How was your hot date?"

Mark just rolled his eyes and went into his room. A few minutes later he called out, "Hey Roger?"

"Yes Mark."

"How exactly do you go about asking a girl on a second date?" he asked sheepishly.

Roger came and stood in Mark's doorway. "Surely you've asked some girl on a second date before." he said. "What about Maureen?"

Mark blushed a little. "Actually she told me to ask her out again so I just did what she said. It wasn't hard. But now, I'm not sure what to do."

"Well did you two have fun today?" Roger asked.

"Yeah we did. She's a lot like me. Her parents wanted her to go to college and she just wants to be free. That's how I felt when I first came here."

"So that's good. You can help her along with this transition, you already showed her around, so why don't you help her get a job or something." Roger suggested.

"I would, but that seems like I'm so much older and more experienced than her and I don't want it to be that way. Plus there's an age difference." Mark protested. "I mean she's only eighteen."

"That's true, but you're only twenty-three. It's just five years, and you've got that whole boyish charm thing going on that makes you seem younger." Roger told him. "Look don't worry about it, I'm sure Reggie likes you and that she'd love to go out again. Just suck it up and ask her."

"I'll try." Mark said.

Roger walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. There was a carton of something that looked like cottage cheese in the back. "Hey Mark?" he called.

"Yes Roger."

"Did you bring home cottage cheese from work?" he wanted to know.

"No, but there's a carton of milk that's been in the fridge since back when Maureen lived here." Mark called back.

"Why hasn't anyone thrown it away?"

"Because Maureen and I have a bet going on how long it will take you to either throw it out or eat it." Mark explained.

Roger rolled his eyes and closed the refrigerator door. He opened up a cabinet and found some crackers. He was sitting on the couch eating them and watching TV when Mark called him again.

"Hey Roger?"

"Yes Mark."

"I just realized that you left the house again today. Where did you go?" Mark asked.

"Out to the Life with Maureen. She was getting on my last nerve talking about me washing dishes with a sock, so I decided to get her out of here. And the only way to do that was to go with her." Roger replied.

Mark came out of his room. "Hey Roger?"

"What?"

"I'm really proud of you." Mark told him. "You're handling this so much better than you were with the April thing."

Roger smiled. "And you are handling dating Regina better than you did with Maureen, because no offence, but Maureen walked all over you man. So I'm proud of you too."

Mark grinned at that and then turned to go back into his room. Then he stopped and said, "Hey Roger?"

"What Mark."

"We have almost perfectly good dish towels. Stop washing dishes with a sock! That's so nasty because you know you don't wash your socks." Mark said sternly.

"Fine, I'll wash them the normal way." Roger said. Then he muttered under his breath. "It was your sock anyway."

"I heard that Davis." Mark called back.

The next morning, when Mark went to work Roger was still sleeping. On his way out the door, he bumped into Reggie who was getting ready to come into the loft carrying her guitar.

"Hi." she said shyly. "Is Roger in there?"

"Yeah, but he's sleep so you might have to wait if you want guitar lessons." Mark said back. "By the way I had a really good time yesterday."

"Me too." Reg said. "We should get together again."

Mark nodded. "Yeah, well I've got to get to work or Roger won't eat. Oh and a word of caution. Do not go into Roger's room. He has a tendency to sleep with nothing on and that's not a pretty sight in the morning."

Reggie laughed. "So I'll see you later?" she asked eagerly.

Mark blushed. "Um yeah. You sure will." he said and then hurried off. She wants to see me again, he thought. That's a good sign.

Reggie went into the loft. Sure enough there was a loud snoring sound coming from one of the bedrooms. She sat on the couch and was watching TV when the snoring stopped. There were loud sobs coming from Roger's room and then he cried out, "No Mimi! Don't leave me!"

Reggie jumped up and opened the door to the bedroom. "Rog you okay?" she asked softly. The sobbing continued, so she went farther into the room. "Roger?"

Roger was sitting up in the bed with his head in his hands. When he heard Reggie say his name he looked up. "Oh um Reggie." he said between sobs. "I'm okay it's just I." he broke off.

Reggie came and sat down on the bed beside him. "Oh Roger." she said and pulled him towards her. He laid his head on her shoulder. "It's about Mimi dying isn't it?" she asked.

He nodded. "How'd you know about that?" he asked then.

"Well for one thing you were calling out her name. Plus Mark told me that she was your girlfriend and she died." When there was no response from Roger she added. "I'm sorry for busting in here like this, I just wanted to be sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. It's just I have these dreams about when she died. She was so special to me and I just lost her. I miss her so much Reg." He said once the sobs had subsided.

Reggie nodded. "I understand. I had one of those special boyfriends too. He died last year from a drug overdose. Sometimes I dream about him too. Only I don't have anyone to come and comfort me."

Roger lifted his head. "That was Adam wasn't it?" he asked. Reggie nodded. Then Roger had an idea. "Mark told you about Life Support right?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe we should make our own version of it. You know, comfort each other. Mark says sometimes talking helps." Roger offered.

"We could do that." Reg agreed. "I have an idea too. When I first lost Adam I turned to my writing to help me express my feelings. Maybe you could write something about Mimi, to help you memorialize her."

Roger nodded, and they were silent for a while. Then, "Thanks Regina." he said. "Usually Mark comes in here to help me, but I know he's at work. I really didn't want to have to deal with this alone."

"No problem. You're my friend now and that's what friends do." Roger smiled at her and then he stretched. Reggie got up and headed toward the door. Then she turned around. "Oh and Roger? For the love of God, please put on some pants before you come out here."

Roger chuckled as she closed the door behind her. He felt good about the idea to memorialize Mimi. It seemed like the right thing to do. He got dressed and went out into the main room.

"Okay I want to write something." he said. "Keep in mind that writing isn't my strong point. I mean it took me a year to write a two minute song."

Reggie smiled. "It's not about how good it is, it's about getting your feelings out." she advised him.

So Roger sat down and began to write. At first it was hard for him to get what he wanted to say out, but after a while the words, and some tears, began to flow. Reggie didn't interrupt him, and after about half an hour Roger announced that he was done.

"So how do you feel?" Reg wanted to know.

"I feel a lot better now. It's like a weight off my shoulders now that I got the words out. It was stuff I couldn't say out loud." he replied. Then he handed her the paper. "I want you to read it, and then give it to Mark."

"You sure?" Reg asked startled. Roger nodded. She unfolded the paper and began to read what Roger had written.

Mimi Marquez was my girlfriend for nearly a year. But in the time I knew her she was so much more than that. She was a light that came into my life when it was at it's darkest and made me see that I had to live on. She saved me from losing my way and giving in to my fears and sadness. But Mimi wasn't perfection. She had AIDS and it was killing her slowly from the inside. I almost lost her once and I was determined never to lose her again.

But man cannot halt the course of life, and soon it was Mimi's time to go. Her last words to me were that I should be strong. I tried so hard to do that, but I broke under the weight and gave in to the darkness once again. Only this time, I thought there was no Mimi to bring me out of it. I was wrong. Mimi's spirit and loving heart, still lives on in me and my wonderfully helpful friends, Mark, Maureen, Collins, Joanne, and even Benny. And also in my new friend Reggie who never even knew her. With them around, I know Mimi will never really leave me.