A/N: MORE REVIEWS! -dies-
Happy Easter.
Mimi Marquez was not convinced.
And when Mimi Marquez was not convinced about something, it usually meant that the matter at hand was extremely—well—unconvincing. At first, she had been absolutely giddy when Mark had revealed his relationship to the rest of the group a few days ago. Alas, she was having second thoughts.
These second thoughts only prompted her to boldly walk up the steps to Roger and Mark's loft and slide open the unlocked door. Roger had left it open, as he expected her to come up to see him after her shift at work was over.
Determination was one characteristic that Mimi displayed with pride. She was going to find out about Mark's supposed "girlfriend" if it was the last thing she ever did.
Mark, meanwhile, was sitting cross-legged on his bed, tweaking with some film. Roger was standing in the doorway, staring at him. "You do realize Mimi's coming over in a minute or so, right?"
"Shit, Rog, she's gonna question me. You know she is." Mark adjusted his glasses and looked up from the film to give Roger a worried glance.
An amused smirk graced Roger's lips. "Yeah, I know, won't it be great?" he exclaimed.
"You're supposed to help me!" Mark hissed, "Don't tell her anything! Cover for me! Do what you have to!"
"Okay, man, whatever..." Roger threw his hands up in the air defensively. "But I don't think it would be so bad if Mimi found out, right? She can keep a secret."
Mark shook his head. "Dear God, Roger, what have you learned during the past twenty-three years of your life? Girls can never keep secrets! Ever!" He sighed. "If Mimi found out, she'd tell Maureen in some form or another, maybe even unintentionally. And I can't afford that."
"If you had just told everyone you were joking at the Life Café that day, then you wouldn't have to be hiding any of this—"
They both heard the sliding door open with a loud creak. The person who entered was none other than Mimi, who literally hop-skipped over to Roger and flung her arms around him, kissing him passionately.
Mark coughed awkwardly, prompting the two of them to break away from each other.
"Oh, hi, Mark!" she said perkily, "I thought Stephanie would be here. She busy today?"
Gulping, Mark replied, "Uh, yeah...she works at...um..."
"She works at one of those drug stores that are open for 24-hours," Roger finished for Mark, "Trust Pharmaceuticals or something, right? Workin' the night shift, I guess."
Mark had never been so thankful for his best friend in his life. "Yeah, that's it."
"Oh, well why don't you call her, huh? I'm sure she'd wanna hear from you, right, Roger baby?" Mimi pushed.
Roger nodded. "Sure! I'd think so." He smiled wickedly. Okay, maybe Mark wasn't as thankful as he thought he was.
"Call Stephanie, man. Don't be nervous." He shoved the phone into Mark's hands.
Oh, no...What am I supposed to do now?! He turned away from his friends and dialed the first number that came to mind.
Which happened to be Collins and Angel's.
Collins opened his eyes and let out a heavy sigh as the phone began to ring. Angel was snuggled up against him asleep, and he didn't want to wake her up by getting the phone. But, afraid it might be one of his friends with something important, he quietly slid away from her into the kitchen to grab the phone.
"Huhwhat?" he muttered into the phone, still only half awake.
"Yes, can I speak to Stephanie Morris please?"
Collins blinked a couple of times in confusion. "Huh?"
"Thank you." There was a long pause, and Collins realized that the voice on the other line was Mark's. What is he up to now? Collins thought.
He was almost going to hang up when he heard Mark's voice again: "Hey, baby."
"Holy shit!" Collins cried, almost dropping the phone. "What the hell, Mark?!"
Mark said, "Yup, it's me. How you doing? I miss you."
"Okay, Ima hang up in a second unless you tell me what's going on." Collins was beginning to get aggravated.
"I...uh...know you have to go soon, but I just wanted to hear your voice."
Collins felt as if he was going to vomit. "Cohen, I swear, if you don't—"
"You'll be going home soon? That's good. You should get some rest."
"Cohen." Collins gritted his teeth.
Mark laughed nervously on the other line. "Yeah, I know. Maybe we'll hang out tomorrow."
"Do you know that I hate you with every fiber in my being, Mark?"
"I love you too."
"Oh, my God. That's it. I'm hanging up. You are one sick, insane, twisted soul." And with that, Collins hung up the phone with a slam and wandered back into the bedroom.
Angel was sitting up in bed, squinting. "Who was that on the phone, honey?" she asked.
"No one, baby," Collins mumbled, flopping down onto the bed and covering his face with a pillow. "Prank call."
"Bye," Mark said with a fake smile on his face. He hung up the phone and turned to face Roger and Mimi. Mimi was clapping her hands. "Aww, that was the cutest phone conversation ever!"
Roger said nothing. He just shook his head.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a shower." Both Mark and Roger could tell that Mimi was quite satisfied with the results of her interrogation. She headed toward the bathroom.
"So," Roger said when she was out of earshot, "Who'd you call? I heard a voice on the other line."
"...Collins."
Roger's eyes widened, and soon he was rolling on the couch in fits of laughter. "You professed your love to Collins! This is the best day of my life!"