Jackie woke up suddenly, remembering that she fell asleep in her brother's apartment. She looked around and saw Roger sleeping on the big armchair just next to her. Jackie smiled. She felt so free now that she had cleared everything with her brother. She decided to leave everything in the past and start off new. She got up off the couch and walked out of the apartment. She jumped down the little flight of stairs that led to Mimi's apartment. She opened it to see everyone awake sitting at the table.
" Jackie! Where were you?" Mimi asked as Jackie walked into her apartment. Jackie walked over to the little table and sat on one of the red chairs.
" Keeping my promise." Jackie said grinning slightly. The room seemed to lighten at what Jackie said. Mark smiled and Collins laughed. Mimi told them what happened on the roof.
" Well, at least that's all done with." Collins said leaning in his chair. Mark nodded.
" Is Roger awake?" Mark asked Jackie. Jackie laughed sarcastically.
" Mark, you've lived with him 4 years, you know he never wakes up before 10 at the least." Jackie replied raising her eyebrow. Collins laughed loudly. Then he got up and grabbed his black jacket.
" Yo, I'm going down to the Life for something to drink before I go to work." Collins said. Jackie looked up at Collins.
" Can I come?" she asked him.
" Where the Life? Or my work?" Collins asked Jackie.
" The Life. I'm bored and I want to see what's around here besides the apartments." Jackie replied. Collins looked at Mimi. Mimi smiled.
" Go ahead, I'll tell Roger when he wakes up." Mimi said. " Why don't you go Mark? Get out and do something fun for once."
Mark, picking up his camera, shrugged his shoulder and said " Sure I'll go, besides I need to talk to the owner about the lighting for Roger's tonight's gig."
" Wait, let me go get cleaned up first. I wont take long, I promise." Jackie said running out of the door. About 5 minutes later Jackie came running in. She was wearing an old dark green softball jersey. Her brown hair was pulled up in a ponytail and she was wearing another pair of old jeans. Over her jersey, she wore her heavy jean jacket. She smiled at Mark, Mimi and Collins. " I'm ready."
Collins and Mark walked into the Life Café followed by Jackie. It was pretty much empty except for a few people sitting down drinking coffee. Mark went off to talk to Mr. Homes, the owner of the Life Café while Collins and Jackie sat at a table.
" So, you want anything to eat or drink?" Collins asked Jackie.
"No, I'm not hungry." Jackie said taking off her jacket. Collins nodded his head and went up to the counter. A few minutes later he came back, holding a coffee. Jackie looked around the Life Café. It was a warm, cozy place with about 8 large tables and 15 little tables. In the back, there was a small stage. Near the stage, Mark was talking to a tall man with a beard. He had dark bags under his eyes and seemed to have an annoyed expression on his face. Collins noticed Jackie staring at Mark and Mr. Homes.
" He always get annoyed when Mark talks to him." Collins said sipping his coffee.
"But he's an ok guy. Lets all the homeless come here and doesn't complain." Jackie nodded her head.
" So, this is where Roger plays?" Jackie asked Collins.
" Yup, he's a real hit down here." Collins said. " Got a new band together not too long ago and they've been great." Jackie nodded her head again. She got up and started to walk around the Café. There were many pictures. There was one of a baseball team with 10 little boys who looked about 9 years old. Another picture had autograph picture of some guy Jackie never heard of. Shrugging her shoulders, she walked over to the big window. Collins just started to read the paper when Mark sat down in a chair next to him.
" Ok, I got Homes to get the lighting ready for Roger's gig tonight." Mark said. Collins merely nodded his head and contued to read the paper. Mark looked over Collins shoulders and saw Jackie staring out the window. " What is she doing?" Mark asked said, taking out his camera. Collins turned around to see what Mark was talking about.
" Looking out the window." Collins said returning to the paper. Mark shook his head and got up. He walked over next to Jackie.
" Hey." Mark said. Jackie smiled at him.
" Hey Mark, how'd it go with the scary looking guy." She asked him, pointing behind her. Mark laughed.
" Fine. Just getting Roger's performing space ready for tonight." Mark responded. He took out his Camera and started to film some of the people passing by, outside the window. He then turned to his right where Jackie was standing. "So Jackie, how do you like New York so far?" Jackie slowly turned her head towards the camera.
" If you don't stop filming me in 5 seconds, you'll never hear the answer to that question." Jackie said in an annoyed tone. Mark quickly lowered his camera and put it back into his bag.
"Well, I got to go. I've got work to do for Buzzline and they hate when I'm late." Mark said grabbing his jacket and scarf. " C ya." Mark called to Collins as he headed out the door. Collins waved at him and put his paper down. Jackie came back to the table and sat down in a chair.
" You know, Mark is a great guy." Jackie said. " But he really needs a girlfriend." Collins and Jackie both laughed.
" I have to get going too. My class can't teach itself." Collins said grabbing his jacket.
" Make sure you go right to the loft and no where else" Collins told Jackie, pointing his finger at her." Roger will kill me if anything happened to you." Jackie waved off his finger.
" Aw, now where do you think I would go?" Jackie said grinning. Collins rolled his eyes and headed towards the door. He waved at Jackie and walked out of the Café. Jackie grabbed her jacket and walked to the back of the café where the stage was. She slowly waked around the stage. Then, she saw a guitar. She smiled and picked up the guitar. She knew she wasn't as good as Roger, but playing the guitar was always something that she loved to do. She found the pick and played a song. It had a low, sad sound that filled the Café. Jackie didn't even notice that the people in the Cafe were staring at her. She kept on playing, and let the music fill her heart.
Back at the loft, Roger woke up to the sound of Mimi making coffee. Roger yawned and sat up. He looked around the couch, looking for his sister.
" Where's Jackie?" He asked Mimi. Mimi sat down next to Roger, handing him his coffee.
" Collins and Mark took her down to the Life. She was bored and she wanted to get out for awhile." Mimi said sipping her coffee. Roger stretched his arms and slowly took them down, onto Mimi's shoulders. Roger was surprised that she didn't back away since he thought she was mad at him. She cuddled down into his strong arms, taking in the heat of his body.
" So, you forgive me?" Roger asked with his eyebrow raised. Mimi smiled and looked up at Roger.
" Yea, since everything is ok with you and your sister, I figured that I should forgive you." She said. " Even though you're a prick sometimes." Roger looked at Mimi.
" Well if you're going to call me a prick, then I guess I don't have to kiss you." Roger said smiling. Mimi sat up and gave Roger a sly look.
" On the contrary, you do Mr. Davis." She said leaning in for a kiss. Roger, gratefully accepted Mimi's kiss. The kiss began to become more passionate, both of them deeply taking in each other's warm lips. The door then slid open as Jackie came walking in.
" Hey, stop eating each others face while I'm in the room." Jackie said raising her eyebrow. Roger and Mimi broke apart quickly. Roger's checks flushed red in embarrassment. Mimi laughed and fixed her hair. Jackie shook her head and walked over to the big armchair.
" Have fun at the Life?" Roger said casually. Jackie shrugged her shoulders.
" Eh, it was ok. It was something to do." Jackie said. Roger ran his fingers through his hair and nodded.
" Roger, Joanne and Maureen are coming over. They said they had something for us. Even though I know its just food and AZT." Mimi said. Jackie winced slightly at the word AZT. Roger's eyes softened as he looked at his sister.
" Are they coming to the shot tonight?" Jackie asked in her normal voice.
" Yup. Besides, it wouldn't be a party without Maureen." Mimi said looking at Roger. Roger smiled slightly.
" Oh yea, it wouldn't be the same without Maureen getting drunk and raving on about protesting against Benny." Roger said smiling. Jackie smiled mischievously.
" You guys going to drink?" Jackie said grinning. Mimi laughed and looked at Roger.
" It not like anyone ever plans to get drunk. Sometimes we just have one too many drinks." Mimi said.
" And you're not going to drink anything but soda." Roger said pointing his finger at Jackie. " You smoking is already bad enough. Drinking is off limits to you" Jackie let out a deep breath, and crossed her arms. She had an annoyed expression on her face. Just then, Joanne and Maureen came barging in the loft.
" Hey guys." Maureen said smiling. She was wearing a white shirt with fake jewels on it. She had a black jacket and matching pants that went over it. Her hair was down in loose curls. " We wanted to bring you guys some stuff for the party tonight." Maureen said.
" Maureen, for the last time, its not a party. Its Roger playing at the Life." Joanne said walking in the loft with a handful of bags. She was wearing a brown jacket with a pair of jeans. Her hair was in loose curls as well.
"Calm down Pookie. It's a night for you to relax with your friends. Besides, Roger's gigs never stay calm." Maureen said. Joanne shook her head. She walked over to the small medal table a placed the bags on it. Roger and Mimi got up and walked over to the table. Maureen pulled out napkins, cups, plates and a variety of junk food including Pretzels, Cheetos, and Doritos.
" Guys, you didn't have to buy us all of this." Mimi said, staring in amazement.
" Its nothing guys. Besides, you need to eat more." Joanne said looking at how thin Mimi, Roger and Jackie looked.
" An what's a party without some alcohol!" Maureen said pulling out some expensive looking wine bottles.
" You know they sell drinks there," Roger said.
" I know Rog, but I absolutely love this wine! Its my favorite." Maureen said as she placed the bottle back in the bag.
" Hey Jackie, they even brought Oreos." Roger said, holding up the Oreos. Jackie's head was leaning back on the armchair as she gave Roger a thumbs up.
" We also brought you guys some medicine, not just your AZT." Joanne said taking out a bag from her purse. Inside it, included all sorts of medicines.
" You guys have Motrin in there? My head feels like it's going to crack." Jackie said rubbing her temples. Joanne pulled out the Motrin and gave it to Roger.
" If you'd stop smoking so much then you wouldn't have so many headaches." Roger said to Jackie, whose head was still leaning back. She didn't say anything but instead, gave Roger the middle finger. Roger rolled his eyes and threw the bottle onto Jackie's lap.
" Well we got to get going hunny-bear. We need to get ready before the party." Maureen said walking towards the door.
" For the last time, its not a party." Joanne said in an annoyed voice. They continued to argue all the way out the door and out of the building. Jackie, Mimi, and Roger all laughed.
" I can't wait for tonight." Jackie said grinning. Mimi laughed and looked at Roger who was shaking his head.
A/N: wow long chapter! I hope you guys liked it. The next chapter will have a lot more in it and something big happens…. but is it good or bad? Please R&R!
They help a lot!