A.N - Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I think I replied to them. If not, I'm sorry. And promise to from now on.

Hope you enjoy this.

Chapter 3

Telling Roger that Mimi was missing had been one of the hardest things Mark had ever had to do. It was obvious that, even though the couple had broken up, they still loved each other.

They were both just too stubborn.

And it was after the conversation that Mark had had with his best friend - as well as the search, which proved to be unsuccessful, down the park - that triggered Mark's urge to search Mimi's apartment again. For something he could have missed.

"Hey, Marky?"

Mark rolled his eyes at Maureen's ridiculous nickname for him.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"What are we doing here?"

He could hear the crunch of Cheetos as Maureen munched on a bag full of them.

"Trying to find something that would help to explain Mimi's disappearance."

"Oh." Said Maureen. "Okay."

With a sigh, Mark stopped his perusal of the room and turned to face his ex-girlfriend.

"You could help, you know."

Maureen rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh." She replied. "But I don't know what we're looking for!"

She leaned against a wall, staring at Mark and making him feel uncomfortable. Collins was away at MIU and Joanne had to work. Seeing as Mark didn't want to look through the apartment on his own, Maureen had been his only option.

"I told you." Mark cried. "Anything! The place has been emptied, Maureen. That means that if you find anything, it could help us. Give us a clue as to why Mimi left."

Maureen froze with her hand in the bag of cheetos as she thought about what Mark had said.

"Oh." She said after a few minutes. "Why didn't you say so earlier? We could have left ages ago."

"What do you mean?"

She pointed her cheese-covered finger in the direction of Mimi's mattress.

"There's a letter under there." She stated.

Mark looked at Maureen like he didn't believe her, but walked over to where she'd gestured anyway. His search had come up with nothing. It wouldn't hurt to look.

Sure enough, under the mattress, there lay a crinkled envelope with the name Roger scrawled on in Mimi's handwriting.

"How long have you known that this was here?" Asked Mark.

The girl shrugged.

"Since we walked in." She explained. "When you live with a control freak like Joanne, you start to notice little out-of-the-place things like that."

That was another change that had taken place after Angel had … Joanne and Maureen had gotten back together and tried to make it work again. They were doing alright, so far.

Mark turned the sealed envelope over in his hand, studying Roger's name.

Roger.

He'd want to know about this.

Leaving Maureen behind to follow, Mark left Mimi's place and went back up to the loft.

His footsteps sounded eerily loud in the otherwise silent staircase - Maureen hadn't immediately followed him, instead choosing to bask in some of the girl's night's she'd had with Mimi.

He had a call to make.

----------

Roger walked into the appointed café a little later than the time they had arranged. Feeling out of place, he frantically looked around for Mr Turner.

"Can I help you, sir?" A pretty blonde woman wearing a café uniform asked him, twirling a strand of hair around her finger flirtatiously.

"Oh," Roger barely spared her a second glance. She held nothing to Mimi. "No, I'm alright. I'm just looking for someone."

The girl was obviously put out.

"Hey," she said, trying again. "Don't I know you?"

His mind just went back to Mimi, and the night they first met.

"I don't think so." Roger replied darting glances all around the shop, desperate to find Mr Turner.

"Hmmm." She just wouldn't get the hint. "Oh, I know! Do you perform at the bar on the other side of town, sometimes?"

Roger nodded, finally having spotted the man he was looking for.

"Aha." She cried. "I knew it. You're really good."

"Thanks." Roger said monotonously, making it clear that he didn't want to talk to her. "I've found who I was looking for now. Excuse me."

Then he walked away without another word, dodging his way through tables and chairs to reach the man he really needed to talk to quicker.

"Hey." Roger greeted shaking the other man's offered hand. "Thanks for meeting me."

"That's alright," came Mike's reply as he offered Roger the seat opposite him.

"And I'm sorry I'm late," Roger apologised as he sat down. "I lost track of the time. And then I kind of got held up over there."

"It's alright," Mike repeated taking a sip of his coffee. "But other's might not be so understanding. Time is very important in this business."

"Yeah, I know." Roger replied running a hand through his hair nervously. "Actually, that's something that I wanted to talk to you about."

Mike's eyebrow went up.

"Oh?" He asked. "And what's that?"

"Time."

Mike gestured for Roger to continue.

"I was just wondering if you could tell me how long this whole recording a demo business would take."

Mike thought about it for a moment before he answered Roger's question.

"Well, you have to choose a song and then there's studio time as well as editing. I'd say about Christmas to New Year. And that would be for just the one song."

Roger's face paled.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"It's just," Roger paused, wondering how much he should tell the other man. "I received some news from New York yesterday and I'm thinking about what I should do about it. About whether I should go back or not. I think Christmas might be too late."

Roger swallowed.

'God, I hope not.'

"I see." Mike thought over his possible-client's situation.

"Well," he said finally. "It looks like you have a decision to make."

"Yeah," Roger agreed standing up and shaking Mike's hand in thanks before leaving the café and dodging the girl from earlier.

The meeting had been short, but long enough to tell Roger that, if he stayed, there was a chance that he wouldn't be home in time to ensure Mimi's survival. And he didn't want to think about that possibility.

He did have things to think about, though. And he needed to make a decision soon.