The sun rises over the east village earlier that usual. This is a good sign that the weather is actually going to get better, instead of stuck permanently in Arctic-mode. We open on the Loft. Angel and Collins are both passed out on the couch, they were out until late at the Life Cafe the night before. Roger strums lazily at his guitar. He came upstairs at six this morning when Mimi came home, having obviously forgotten her New Years resolution. I sit in a chair near the couch, sipping some of that disgusting instant coffee.
Mark could just about hear Roger whispering profanities under his breath. Although he tried to hide it, it was painfully obvious that Roger wasn't getting anywhere with his song, or Mimi. He had made her promise to go without drugs, and she had made him promise that he would try and forget about April, and other unfortunate things that had happened in the past. But he couldn't do it. He would see one thing that would make him think, and then he wouldn't be able to stop thinking. He realised suddenly, that he had stopped playing the guitar and had slipped into his thoughts for a few minutes, tuning out the sound of Mark talking to him.
"So what do you think?" Mark asked, putting his coffee cup down on the window sill. Roger frowned in confusion and set his guitar to one side.
"What?" he asked ignorantly, combing his hair with his fingers. Mark rolled his eyes, realising that his friend had not been paying attention to a single word he had said.
"I said, Maureen invited me to go to the Life Cafe with her and Joanne tonight. I said, I don't think my sanity could withstand a night of those two fighting. I asked, would you like to come with me? I added, maybe Collins and Angel would like to come too."
Roger returned the eye roll at Mark's sarcasm, but gave a short laugh afterwards.
"I'll reply, I'm sure it'll be fun. I'll add, I'm sure Angel and Collins would love to come. I'll remark, those two don't look like they're quite ready to join the world of the living yet." They both laughed at Roger's reply and cast a glance to the couch. Both Angel and Collins were fast asleep, although both fully dressed, still wearing clothes from the night before. Mark raised his eyebrows and wondered whether to wake them or not, they may be annoyed that they had slept the day through. Roger made the decision for him. He crumpled up a week old newspaper and threw it square at the side of Collin's head. There was a groan from the torn couch. Roger grinned and pinned the blame on Mark with an accusing point.
"Shit man..." said a gruff voice, visibly belonging to Collins as he pulled himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, wincing at the strong light from the windows. "You know, you could just say 'Man, wake up' Instead of throwing stuff."
"Mark's idea," Roger lied simply, folding his arms. Mark scowled and elbowed him. Collins raised an eyebrow in question, but then just shook his head. It had been a fun night several hours earlier, and Collins was now suffering the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption. A killer hangover. He pulled his black skull cap low over his head, almost covering his eyes. Sunlight was not his friend. Angel however, stayed fast asleep. Mark handed Collins a cup of hot coffee, in the hope of waking him up a little more.
"She gonna get up?" He asked, gesturing to the couch. Collins nudged Angel gently with his knee. She showed no sign of gaining consciousness, just gave a groan and rolled over, making the most of having the whole of the couch. "I guess not," Mark answered his own question, putting on his scarf and picking up his camera. "Well I gotta go to the store and stuff, so I'll catch you guys later. Roger, fill Collins in on the Life Cafe plan." Roger nodded to Mark as he rushed out of the apartment.
"Life Cafe plan?" Collins questioned, setting his coffee down on the kitchen counter and searching for the latest newspaper. Roger handed him it and began to clear away the older ones, and other general junk.
"Yeah...Maureen asked Mark to meet her and Joanne there. Understandably, Mark doesn't really want to suffer through an evening with both of them, so he's inviting the rest of us along." Collins nodded in understanding.
"I'm sure me and Ang will come."
Almost on cue, there was the sound of high heels being kicked off feet and hitting the hard wood floor. Collins turned around in time to see a flash of color and ripped tights zip across the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind it.
"Morning dear!" Collins called out, in a false cheery voice, knowing that Angel would probably be feeling as happy as someone who had just been hit by a car. She was not a morning person,
"Morning dear yourself!" Came an irritated reply. Collins and Roger grinned at each other knowingly.
"Where's Mimi?" Collins asked curiously, unaware that it was a delicate subject. Roger looked at the floor and sighed. He had just happened to be awake when Mimi had got back from work. He had been woken up by Angel and Collins getting in a few hours before and hadn't been able to get back to sleep. Then Mimi had stumbled in with a smile on her face. He knew immediately that she was high, and what were the chances of Roger catching her at six am? The smile had slipped from her face the moment she spotted Roger, confirming his suspicions. He could have shouted at her, but it wasn't worth waking everyone else up, so he had just picked his guitar up and gone upstairs. Roger didn't really feel like reliving it while explaining it to Collins, so he just shrugged,
"Sleeping, I guess," he muttered touchily. Collins took the hint and didn't ask anymore questions, just lit a cigarette and took a long drag. A nice excuse for the awkward silence that appeared between the two men. "What did you and Angel get up to yesterday then?" Roger asked, initiated conversation again, due to the guilt he felt for being so touchy with Collins.
"Hmmm...the usual," said Collins, giving a happy grin. The usual was perfect for him. If that was normal, then what would a good day be like? "We hung around the park until it got dark...changed...got some food...drank in the Life Cafe until the early hours." Roger raised his eyebrows at Collins.
"How do you afford all of that? Neither of you work..."
"God only knows," Collins grinned and shrugged, stubbing his cigarette out on the kitchen counter. "It's all Ang. I might just mention that I could really go for a hotdog, and she'll just whip out a few dollars from nowhere. The eighth wonder of the world, that girl." Roger gave a laugh. It was alright for some. Whenever he had money, it seemed to disappear before he had time to think. At least he was the kind of person to be able to manage without it.
"Is Angel eating her breakfast in the bathroom or something?" Roger asked. The door had been locked for a worrying long amount of time. Collins shrugged again, but walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it. When there was no reply, he gave a louder knock and pressed his ear to the door. There was the sound of a very masculine coughing fit coming from the bathroom.
"You okay in there baby?" Collins asked, his ear still pressed to the door.
"I'm fine.." Angel slipped in a comment between coughs. Collins, unconvinced, moved away from the door to wait for the coughing to end. Roger gave him a questioning look.
"I think she's sick," Collins said quietly, in the hope that he wouldn't be heard.
"I am not!" Came a muffled and reluctant reply. "I am..." more coughing, "just," cough, "fine!" Collins shook his head and rolled his eyes, walking away from the bathroom door so he could talk to Roger without being overhead.
"She's probably just sick after drinking too much last night, or maybe she has a cold. It was freezing outside, and we were out all day." Roger was just about to nod in agreement when the bathroom door clicked open and Angel strode out, putting a lot of effort into look perfectly co-ordinated and steady. Both Collins and Roger turned immediately to check her well being. Angel raised a plucked eyebrow at them both.
"I didn't drink too much last night," She told them, showing she had heard Collins's remarks. "And I don't have a cold. I am fine. Ain't a girl allowed to cough?" Collins didn't answer her rhetorical question, but just sat there and looked her over. She looked well enough. Although there were dark circles under her eyes, but that was understandable, they had only had a couple of hours sleep. He reached over to hold her hand and tried to hide his alarm at how it felt. Her hand was cold and clamy, wet with sweat. Collins had to keep his grasp firm, to control the way that Angel's hand was shaking. He glanced up at her face for an explanation, but she made eye contact for only a second before fixing her gaze on the floor. Angel spoke as solidly as she could manage.
"I'm fine."