NOTE: Thanks for all the reviews guys! This chapter's pretty calm. And we meet two of the other Bohos in this chapter.

The divorce was quick. Maureen filed the paperwork and Roger did nothing to stop it from finalizing. They rented their home so only their possessions had to be divided up. As Roger packed his things, there was a knock at the door.

"Maureen," he said when he opened the door.

"We have to…I just…I want some of his things."

Roger nodded and stepped aside. He followed her down the hall. Maureen stopped in the doorway to Aaron's room. Roger hadn't touched anything. She looked at him, uncertain of where to begin.

"Take whatever you want. Anything, everything. All I'd like to have is, um, is his blanket."

Maureen nodded and tried to smile. "Thank you."

Roger disappeared for a minute and returned with a cardboard box. "Here. Just, uh, let me know if you need more boxes."

Maureen nodded again. Roger excused himself and left her alone in the room. She wasn't sure where to begin, what to take. Her eyes fell on his books. Aaron loved books. Maureen grabbed the handful of books on his little shelf and dropped them into the box. His teddy bear. She took that too. Maureen added a few more toys and knickknacks to the box, leaving the blanket and some other things for Roger.

When she was finished, Maureen went to the living room and saw Roger drinking.

"I'm done. Thank you."

He set his beer down and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "It was more than once."

"What was?"

"The cheating. It, um…the night that Mike…that was the first time. But it wasn't the last."

"Why are you telling me that now?"

"I just thought you should know."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Right."

"I mean it. I'm just…I'm tired of lying to people…of hurting you…"

"So was this a mistress or a string of groupies?"

"Maureen…"

"No, Roger, you want to stop lying, fine. Did you have a mistress or was this a bunch of random groupies who wanted to say they'd fucked a rock star?"

Roger winced. "The second."

"Fine."

Maureen nearly reached the door when he called out.

"Maureen?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I know…I know you don't believe me and it doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…We-we weren't supposed to end up like this."

"Are you still using?"

Roger looked away. "What does that have to do with it?"

Maureen shook her head. "Goodbye, Roger."

Four months later…

Maureen sat in the Life Café scouring apartment ads.

"Hi," a deep voice said.

Maureen looked up and saw a young African American man smiling down at her, memo pad in hand.

"My name's Benny and I'll be your waiter. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Tea."

"Okay, and did you need some more time with the menu or—"

"Side order of fries."

"Be right up."

She returned her attention to the ads. These apartments were all so damned expensive. Maureen's brother-in-law had helped her get a job as a secretary in the office where he worked, but the salary wasn't nearly enough for an apartment.

"Tough luck?" Benny asked, setting her tea down.

"Thanks. And yeah, you could say that."

"You'll find something, I'm sure," he said, giving her a small wink.

Maureen smiled. At least somebody thought so.

Over the next few weeks, Maureen found herself visiting the café more frequently. It wasn't far from Jen's apartment and the food was cheap. Benny was sweet and became more of a friend. One day, as she sat at the bar waiting for her sandwich, a man approached.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked with a smile.

Maureen looked up uneasily.

"Collins, stop harassing my customers," Benny laughed.

"You're a friend of Benny's?"

"Yeah, could say that. Roommate."

"I'm Maureen Da—Johnson."

"Da Johnson?"

"Johnson."

"What was the 'da'?"

Maureen tried to think quickly. She'd learned over the past couple of months that telling people she was divorced only led to questions she didn't want to answer. "My middle name. Full name's Maureen Daisy Johnson."

"Daisy?"

She shrugged. "Parents were into the whole hippie-culture early."

Collins smiled. "Well it's nice to meet you, Maureen. I'm Collins. Tom Collins."

"Like the drink?" she chuckled.

"You'd be amazed how many people don't catch that one. Guess you could say my parents had a bit of a problem," he laughed.

Benny came over with her tea. "This jerk buggin' you?"

"No, actually. Seems nicer than you," she teased.

"Oh! She told you!" Collins laughed.

His gaze fell on the newspaper in front of her. "Apartment hunting?"

Maureen groaned. "For two months. City's so damned expensive that everything's out of my price range."

"How do you feel about Alphabet City?"

Maureen shrugged. "Doesn't scare me, if that's what you're asking."

"Well, you know, we live in this loft," Benny said. "It's over on Avenue B. Huge and an abandoned building so there's no rent."

"Must be nice."

"You mind regular power outages and a shitty excuse for a heating system?" Collins asked.

Maureen shook her head. "At this point, I just want the hell out of my sister's place."

"Why don't you come live with us? I mean, if nothing else, at least until you find something better."

"Are you serious?" she asked, looking from Collins to Benny and back.

"Yeah," Benny said. "It'd be great to have another female around."

"Another?"

"April. She's been bitching about wanting another girl around anyway," Collins said.

"So you three live together?"

"Four. It's actually me, Benny, April, Mark, and then April's boyfriend sometimes stays over."

"Wouldn't Mark and April get pissed if you guys just bring home some stranger?"

"Nah. Mark's a pretty easygoin' guy and, like I said, April wants another girl there."

"That would be awesome," she said slowly.

"Then it's settled. Soon as we finish lunch, I'll show you to our lovely home," Collins said.

Maureen smiled. "Sounds great."

She and Collins chatted through their lunches. She learned he was a philosophy professor who'd just been let go from Penn State University. The details of her own life she kept vague, but truthful: single, secretary, living with her sister.

"So can I ask you something?" Collins asked.

"Sure."

"How come you live with your sister?"

Shit. She hadn't thought of that question. "My, um, my old apartment caught fire."

"Damn. That musta been rough."

"Yeah...yeah it was."