Chapter 5: Last Night

Mark walked into the loft early Sunday morning, dressed slightly as he was the night before. He was wearing a bright smile.

"Oh, good," Roger grinned, looking up from his guitar, "you got laid."

Mark laughed his eyes wide with wonder. "More like, I spent the night in Heaven."

Roger shook his head. "Man, you really did need some!"

His roommate just took a seat on the couch. Roger took his camera from the kitchen table.

"Here we see little Marky Cohen, whose a real boy now!" he narrated. Mark just rolled his eyes. "C'mon," Roger provoked, "tell us what happened."

The strawberry blonde smiled boyishly. "I had the night of my life," he said.

--Flashback--

"C'mon," Nannette said, pulling him by the arm. She led outside and onto the street. After waving down a taxi, they climbed inside, and told the driver her apartment's address.

"Your place?" Mark asked, and Nannette grinned. Mark smiled back, "Alright."

The arrived at a small complex, and paid the driver. They ran up the three flights of stairs, hand-in-hand. He felt like a high-school boy again.

Nannette unlocked her apartment, and pushed him inside.

"I want to paint you!" she told him, very excited.

"You want to what?" he asked, confused.

"Paint you," she repeated. "I want to paint a picture of you. Can I?"

"Sure," he agreed. Ten minutes later, he didn't know why.

Mark stood on Nannette's kitchen table, clutching a camera that hung around his neck. He was stark naked.

The young girl sat perched on a barstool, giggling widely. Her body was hidden behind an easel.

"What am I doing?" he asked, shivering.

She laughed again. "Freezing," she told him.

"I don't want you to paint me anymore," he told her, childishly.

"What do you presume that we do?" she asked him.

Mark thought for a moment, and answered her matter-of-factly, "Tango."

"OK," Nannette answered.

He stepped off of the table, and took her hand, not bothering to put on his pants.

They began to tango as they had so many years ago. He led her, watching her eyes constantly. When he dipped her down, he leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. He tried to keep her in his arms, but lost balance, and they both fell onto her floor, laughing.

Mark leaned up on his elbow, and looked down at her on the floor. He chewed on his lip, not knowing what to do. But Nannette was already reaching up, taking his face in her hands and kissing passionately.

--End Flashback--

"That's it?" Roger asked.

Mark laughed. "That's all I'm telling you," he said.

"C'mon," his roommate pleaded, "just tell me how it was."

"Amazing," he said, before playfully punching Roger in the arm. Mark turned and looked his best friend in the eye. "Rog," he said, "I think I'm in love."