AN: I'm not exactly happy with how this chapter turned out. It just seemed odd to me. But I couldn't figure out how to make seem better, so I'm just posting it as is and crossing my fingers that it's not too awful, and that Mimi's not too OOC.
Collins entered the loft sometime around mid-morning with the intention of picking up Mimi. It was just the other day that they got the wedding invitations back from the printers. Apart from their parents and the other Bohemians, Roger and Mimi had decided to keep it small and just invite the members from Life Support, Roger's band mates, and a few of Mimi's friends from the Cat Scratch. Seeing how Mimi had never exchanged addresses with her old coworkers, she was going down to deliver them in person. Roger had voiced his reluctance many times about Mimi heading back there. Not because he was worried she'd be tempted back to heroin, but in case some of the clientele remembered her and tried to take advantage of the fact that she was no longer protected by the club's rule of not touching the dancers. In the end, Mimi had called up Collins who agreed to go with her, which managed to settle Roger's fears.
"Hello, Love Birds," Collins greeted as he slid the door open. Mimi was in the process of pulling on her boots on the couch, while Roger was at the table, sealing the envelopes that contained the invitations. "Ready to go, Mimi?"
"Just let me get the invites," Mimi announced, moving to the table and picking up a few envelopes with the names Kim, Roxane, Gail, Mariana, and Ruby. As Mimi stored the invites in her large bag, Roger, who was in the middle of sealing one envelope, stopped in mid-lick.
"You do promise to be careful over there, right, Mimi?" Roger spoke slowly, trying to keep his voice casual. "And if things even start looking bad, you'll leave?"
"Yes, Roger, for the hundredth time," Mimi shook her head. "Please stop worrying. Collins is being my personal bodyguard, remember? I'll be fine."
"Hey, I just don't want anything happening to my baby," Roger pointed out, reaching out to lightly squeeze her hand.
"Be cool, man," Collins chuckled. "I'll guard her with my life. You just worry about getting the rest of the invitations in the mail."
"And be sure to mail them before the postman comes by," Mimi reminded. "He always goes to the mailbox on the corner at half past noon, so get them in there before then."
"Yes, Mommy," Roger quipped, going back to licking the envelopes. After Mimi placed a gentle kiss on Roger's cheek, she left with Collins. As they made their way to the Cat Scratch, Collins passed Mimi a cigarette, which she gratefully started smoking.
"So, how's it going on selecting people for the wedding party?" Collins asked.
"Oh, that's an easy choice for Roger," Mimi grinned. "Mark was definitely going to be picked as best man, so there was no question there. And he's planning on you and his band friend, Robbie, being ushers."
"And how about you?"
"Well, I want Maureen, Joanne,and Emily to be a part of it. They're all part of this family."
"And which one's going to be maid of honor?" The instant Collins asked this question, Mimi's cheerful expression quickly shifted to an unhappy one.
"That's where I'm stumped," she confessed. "I always planned on Angel being my maid of honor if I ever got married." Collins wrapped an arm around the Latina and gave her a comforting, understanding squeeze. Of all the Bohemians, they had been the closest to Angel; her lover and her best friend.
"She would have been very happy for you," Collins consoled.
"I know she would. But it's still hard. I know it sounds dumb, but it feels like if I choose someone else as maid of honor, it's like I'm replacing her."
"Aw, Mimi. Angel knows you would never do that. You two were best friends, and there's nothing that can change that. She knows that no matter how many new friends you make, there's nothing that can make you forget or replace your best friend. And if you ask me, it's okay to have more then one best friend." A slow smile began to stretch across Mimi's face as she hugged Collins.
"Thanks, Collins. Angel was so lucky to have had you."
Mark walked down the city streets, pointing his Bolex camera every which way, determined to film anything he could. As he passed a random fire hydrant, a pair of familiar legs came into view. Mark quickly looked up from his filming to find he had nearly literally walked into Maureen and Joanne.
"Oh, hey guys," Mark greeted. "What are you doing out here?"
"This and that," Maureen replied vaguely. "Not much."
"We're just discussing some things," Joanne explained. "Nothing really important. What about you, Mark?"
"Well, I was heading down to meet up with Emily. She's having her lunch break with some of her coworkers from the Village Voice and asked if I'd care to join them."
"Sounds like a date," Maureen pointed out, grinning widely.
"It's not a date," Mark denied. "It's just that her coworkers are all with someone, and she didn't want to feel like a fifth wheel, so she asked if I'd like to join up with them if I was free. You can even come along, if you want."
"Well, I guess we should be thinking about lunch about now," Joanne decided. "So are we going to the Life?"
"Actually," Mark shook his head as the three friends continued down the street. "It's somewhere Emily's coworkers introduced her to. Some sort of coffeehouse that Emily said was quite nice."
Down at the Cat Scratch, Collins waited outside the dressing rooms while Mimi hugged and spoke a mile-a-minute with her old friends.
"You're looking a lot better, Mimi," Mariana pointed out. "Last time I saw you here, you were walking around like a zombie." Mimi glanced away for a moment, knowing what Mariana was talking about. The last time she'd been here, she was still crushed over Roger leaving for Santa Fe. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. After all, he was back for good now, and he'd promised he'd never leave again.
"So, then, what brought you back here?" Gail asked.
"I wanted to give you these," Mimi handed out the invitations to her friends who opened them promptly. "It would be great if you could be there." Each girl gave their word they would ask the Cat Scratch's manager for the day off so they could attend.
"Oh!" Ruby suddenly gaped at her invitation. "Mimi, I thought your mother's name was Tierra."
"It is," Mimi confirmed.
"Well, that's not what the invitation says. See?" Mimi glanced down at Ruby's invitation, carefully reading the words. When she reached her mother's name, her eyes widened.
"Sh-t!" Mimi hissed, seconds before she quickly ran out the door.
"Mimi, slow down!" Collins called after her as he tried to keep up with his friend. "What's the hurry?"
"I have to stop Roger from mailing the invitations!" Mimi called back.
Mark, Maureen and Joanne walked up to a small brick building with a green awnings hanging over the entrance. On the wooden hanging sign that was set up by the establishment's door and the large window that gave passersby the view of the coffeehouses' patrons seated at the tables was the name 'Kelly Koffeehouse' in vibrant yellow paint. Inside, it was a rather cozy atmosphere, with a few booths and about twenty small round tables designed for two to three people. Behind the counter, two black-haired, amber-eyed men, who looked as if they were brothers, were working alongside an auburn-haired woman with grey eyes. In one corner of the coffeehouse was a stage, where a banjo, a guitar, and a violin had been left out.
As the three Bohemians looked around the coffeehouse, they caught sight of Emily at one of the booths at almost the same time she noticed them.
"Hey, Mark," Emily greeted as she walked up to meet them. "Oh, and nice to see you, too, Maureen, Joanne. Guess Mark invited you to join us."
"Hope it's no trouble," Joanne replied.
"Yeah, 'cause if you'd rather it to be just you and Mark…" Maureen began, still on her stance that the invite was meant to be a date.
"Oh, no trouble at all," Emily shook her head. "I was planning on bringing the rest of you sometime here soon, anyway. And it's not like this was supposed to be a date. Mark and I are just friends."
Once the four of them joined Emily's coworkers at the booth, the photographer began to explain about the coffeehouse.
"This place is family-run," she began. "The woman making the latte over there is Eleanor. She's married to David, the guy taking the orders. The other man is Justin, David's brother. If you come here at night, you also get to hear them play. You see, it's not just the coffeehouse they maintain. They're also a family band, playing bluegrass and country, with Eleanor and Daniel's two sons, both a few years older then Penny, on harmonicas."
"Oh, if it's bluegrass, you'd never get Roger here," Maureen laughed. "You know rock's his only musical penchant."
"But what about those stories you told us about him playing at CBGBs?" Joanne challenged. "Doesn't the 'BG' in the name stand for bluegrass?"
"And since he is a musician," Emily added, "he should be able to appreciate all forms of music."
"Okay, but I still can't see him as liking that genre of music. I've always heard him playing rock."
"No you haven't," Mark pointed out. "Maureen, you lived with us at one point, remember? You were there all those times he started playing Musetta's Waltz. That was not rock."
"Fine," Maureen leaned back in her chair in full pout. "Gang up on me." Mark was about to speak up when Joanne beat him to the punch.
"Maureen, honey, we're not ganging up on you," she insisted. "It's called debating." As the two started up in what sounded like the beginning of a squabble, Mark quickly excused himself to get some drinks and sandwiches from the front counter. The woman Emily had named Eleanor was the one who passed him the food-filled tray. As she did so, Mark couldn't help but notice the pink ribbon pinned to her shirt above her heart. He paused for a moment to think about how quickly the colored ribbon symbols were catching on lately, and how he was quickly loosing track of which color meant what, especially since many of them were starting to have multiple meanings. Perhaps he should ask Dr. Jordan about it next time he saw him.
However, Mark pushed his musings aside for the time being to bring the tray back to his friends. By the time he got there, Maureen and Joanne had clearly stopped fighting, and were in the middle of a full-on lip lock.
"Have they always been like that?" Emily asked in a tone of amusement.
"Yeah," Mark answered after a slight hesitation. "Pretty much."
Back in the Loft, Roger was in the middle of a phone call when Mimi hurried in, with Collins appearing behind her moments later. Crossing the room in an instant, Mimi snatched the phone from Roger's hand.
"He'll call you back," she quickly told the person on the other end before hanging up.
"Meems, you just hung up on the priest who was available on…."
"Never mind! Roger, please tell me you didn't mail the invitations yet!" Mimi interrupted.
"I didn't mail the invitations yet," Roger echoed.
"Oh, thank God!" Mimi sighed.
"Why? What's wrong?" Mimi grabbed an extra invitation from the box on the table and held it up to Roger.
"What does this say?" she asked. The bemused Roger began to read the invitation.
"It says, 'Roger Davis, son of Kyle and Hannah Davis, and Maria Marquez, daughter of Carlos and Tierra Marquez, invite you to'…."
"What does this say?" Mimi repeated. Roger looked over at Collins, who was standing in the doorway, looking equally as confused. But once again, Roger decided to humor Mimi and reread the invitation.
"'Roger Davis, son of Kyle and Hannah Davis, and Maria Marquez, daughter of Carlos and Tierra Marquez, invite'…."
"What. Does. This. Say?" Mimi was stressing each word this time. Roger gaped at her for a moment, and read the invitation a third time, this time speaking slowly.
"'Roger...Davis,…son…of...Kyle…and...Hannah...Davis,…and...Maria… Marquez,…daughter…of...Carlos…and…Tiara…Mar…' OH!" Roger grabbed the invitation in horror, finally noticing the typo. "Aw, SH-T! I already mailed them!"
"You said you didn't mail them!" Mimi cried.
"Because you told me to say that!" Roger pointed out.
"That's the most fu-ked up…. Roger, what are my parents going to do when they get the invitation and see my mother's name is misspelled?"
"I'm sorry! I didn't notice it!"
"Why didn't you look over them after they came back from the printers?"
"I did! I just missed one thing! And you missed it, too!"
"Guys, hang on!" Collins interrupted. "There's no time for this now. The postman comes at half past noon. We still have time to beat him down to the box and get them back." Groaning in frustration, Mimi took a vice-like hold on Roger's wrist and began practically pulling him after her.
Mark, Joanne and Maureen turned the corner on their way to the Loft. After Emily's lunch break, she had to head back to work, so she wouldn't be coming back home until later. As they turned onto the street, they found Mimi, Roger and Collins apparently auguring with the postman.
"You can't steal the mail," the postman was saying.
"But it's our mail," Mimi pointed out. "We mailed them, so it's not exactly stealing."
"Come on, just help us out," Roger begged. "We need them back, or we're both in trouble."
"What's going on?" Mark spoke up.
"Roger put the invitations in the mail," Collins explained. "But after he did, Mimi found a typo in her mother's name. Now they're trying to get them back to fix the typo."
"If they're in the mailbox, they're the post office's property," the postman threw in.
"But they weren't supposed to be mailed like that," Mimi augured.
"Okay, this is getting us nowhere," Joanne sighed. "Let me try." Joanne took the postman aside to discus the legalities of the situation
In the end, Joanne had convinced the postman to return the invitations so the typo could be fixed. But Mimi had also extended an invitation to the postman as well, saying it was the least they could do for hassle he had to go through. Roger, on the other hand, had remained quiet the rest of the day because he was slightly worried Mimi would continue to carp on how he'd sent out the invites with the typo. However, all this changed right before dinner, when she came into their room and wrapped her arms around him from behind, tracing the tattoo on his arm which could be seen poking out from behind the sleeve of his black t-shirt.
"Am I forgiven?" Roger asked.
"I suppose you're human," Mimi shrugged. "Besides, I didn't notice until Ruby pointed it out, either. So, yeah. You're off the hook."
"Good to know," Roger smiled, bending down to kiss her.