Disclaimer:: I own nothing.
Umm…so yeah, this took WAY too long to get out. Sorry bout that one. I'm going to go sit in the corner now. Enjoy! Oh, the language is pretty harsh in this one. Mo swears a lot when she's angry. And thanks to volitaire, who helped out with a problem I had in this.
"GODDAMNIT!" Maureen yelled as she stormed into the apartment she shared with April. April hardly looked up when Maureen screamed, having been extremely used to Maureen's diva entrances. She would have barely noticed when Maureen flung herself on the couch if not for the fact that she crumpled half of April's notes and had landed partly on April's legs. Even with that April would have just looked up to adjust her notes if it had not been for the real tears that were pouring out of Maureen's eyes and the shaking that April could see in her shoulders. That worried April.
"Reen? Are you okay?"
She was answered with more sobs.
"Maureen Elizabeth Johnson, answer me!"
"Theygoncloseownmytheare!" Maureen cried out.
"They're gonna close down your theatre? What? Why?"
"IDONKNO!" Maureen shrieked and buried her head in the couch pillows.
"Okay, Reen, calm down. Nothing can be done with you spazzing."
"Mmph," Maureen mumbled in the pillows.
"Maureen, come on, just explain everything to me. Please?" April's patience was starting to wear thin. Maureen came out from the pillows and April finally got a good look at her face. It wasn't pretty. She was really upset. Her mascara had washed down her face, her foundation was all messed up, and her hair was tousled every which way (which was normal, but this was a scary destruction).
"Okay." Maureen took a deep breath, something her physical trainer had taught her to do when she needed to collect her thoughts, and began.
"So I got up and got ready and walked to the theatre this morning like normal. When I got there, I could tell that something had happened because everyone looked really downcast and upset. Mary, my director, called me over and told me what had happened. Apparently the theatre had been having a lot of financial troubles and the lack of audience turnout hadn't been helping their causes. Well, the fucking bank called the theatre and gave them their two week notice: if they didn't raise 3000 dollars in two weeks, those assholes would be sending bulldozers over to destroy the greatest place in human existence, my theatre. The people who run the theatre are fucktard pricks who didn't think to tell the cast until the day before the bulldozers were due to come. The board came in a couple of hours before I got there and basically told Mary to close everything down and for everybody to get their stuff and kaput. Those fucking bastards!" And with that, Maureen flung herself back into the pillows and folds of the couch.
April was shell-shocked. She knew how much this theatre meant to Maureen, and she knew how much this part meant to her. It had been her first starring role since NYU and April knew that she had missed continuously being in the spotlight. And the work. When it was something Maureen was passionate about, she would work her ass off. Suddenly, something in April's head clicked.
"So…what are you going to do about it?"
"What am I going to do about it? What can I possibly do? It's not like I can change the way things are going."
"Yes, you can."
"No I can't. I'm only one person. It took five bastards in the board to tell one director that she had to pack up her crew. What's one girl from Hicksville going to ch-"
"Everything! Reen, no one wants to hear you bitch about the world if you aren't going to do something about it. They're just empty words. Get off your ass and do something about your theatre!"
Maureen looked at April. Several emotions passed in her face. First anger at being interrupted. Then confusion at April's words. Then her face grew harsh at April's manner, then intense as she thought about how to change the world. Then her face broke and a smile crept onto her lips. She hopped off the couch and started pacing.
"Change the world. Change the world. They're going to bulldoze at six—no, that would never work…with the right tools…nah, too risky. They can't bulldoze if there's---I don't have the body for that plan…where in the world would I get—that's where I'd get chains! Oh, this is perfect…this is perfect!" Maureen rushed to the phone while April looked on.
"Umm…Reen? What are you thinking? What chains? And…what are you doing now?"
"Calling for reinforcements," Maureen said as her fingers pulled the dial to the respective number rapidly.
"Umm…Maureen? As much as I appreciate you calling us to help you, and as much as I love helping a friend in need, could you please explain again why we're at a construction site in the middle of the night?" Mark asked.
"Looking for chains, Marky!" Maureen said in hushed tones.
"Yeah, looking for chains, Marky!" Roger repeated. Mark swiped at Roger's head, but Roger ducked. Maureen and April giggled as Collins continued to sweep the site with his flashlight.
"I get that part. But…"
"Mark, we're here to save Maureen's theatre from complete and total destruction by power-hungry Carnegie and Vanderbilt Wall Street bank officials who would rather suck the juice out of the arts than close one of their environment killing, earth destroying, war-inducing factories." April explained.
"Oh." Mark said, while Roger grinned at April.
"So, you're a writer?" Roger asked.
"How could you tell?" April flirted with inflection and a cock of her head. Maureen rolled her eyes.
"Focus, people! Chains now, flirting later!" April rolled her eyes in turn and went back to talk to Roger. Maureen looked on in worry. She tried to focus on scanning the ground and the surrounding area, but her mind kept going back to April. She was the only one who knew about her addiction, which April dismissed as a "mere mind-focuser for my block", but Maureen knew better. She saw how April would shake at night, how she would leave at random times during the day when her shakes were getting bad, saying she needed to "Clear her mind" and would come back happy and bubbly with her pupils dilated and her sleeves pulled to her wrists. Maureen saw, but was too scared to confront her more, knowing April had too much dirt on her to be able to let Maureen get away with lecturing her about her life. These thoughts were heavy on Maureen's mind when she fell face-first into the ground.
Or at least, she would have fallen face-first into the ground if it hadn't been for Mark's strong arms grabbing her and stopping her fall. He pulled her close and steadied her. Maureen smiled.
"Nice catch."
"Always." Mark grinned and Maureen smiled even wider as she looked into his blue eyes. She swore she could get lost for days in them- She was interrupted by an "A-hem" and a throat clearing from Collins.
"I believe Maureen found what we were looking for." Maureen looked at where he was pointing and saw the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen (next to Mark's eyes). She squealed and held up her prize.
"Chains!"
"I believe those are what you tripped over." Maureen giggled.
"Amazing how you can look so hard for something with your eyes, yet you can always count on your feet to find it." Maureen gathered the chains in her eyes, with Roger, Mark, and Collins stooping to pick up more.
"Jesus, there's like two miles of chain here. How in the world did we miss this?" Roger asked. Maureen shrugged, even though she knew the answer.
"C'mon, guys, I'm freezing my ass off here," April said.
"Here, take some chain, it'll make you all nice and warm." April glared at Maureen, but took some anyway.
"Hey, you came to help, mini-skirt. So help you must." April stuck her tongue out. Maureen repeated the motion, then both girls burst into giggles.
"Okay, okay, okay. Let's get these theatre-saving metal devices to Maureen's apartment." Collins said. Maureen saluted and they began retracing their steps to the entrance of the construction site.
Maureen's eyes scanned parking lot in front of the theatre. It was five in the morning and she had just finished her speech. She had to get there early to finish setting up. It was times like these when she thanked God for April and her new friends. She'd never have been able to do this without them.
As she ran over her lines in her head, Maureen took note of her friends' actions. Collins and Mark were wrapping chain around "her" pole and April and Roger were flirting. Maureen felt that familiar ache in her stomach every time she saw them together. She had no idea why, though. She knew she had to quit it. April was Maureen's best friend. She could trust her. Couldn't she?
"Hey." Maureen jolted out of her thoughts.
"Hey," Maureen smiled at Mark.
"You gonna be able to do this?"
"Yeah," Maureen took a breathe," I think so. I've never done anything like this before. I've always had lines, always knew where to go, always had direction. I feel so…"
"Self-sufficient? Independent?"
"At sea."
"That works, too." Maureen grinned. Count on Mark to cheer me up, she thought.
"Hey, sun's coming up. You'd better get ready." Maureen nodded and walked to her pole. It was more of a column. The theatre was modeled after old Greek and Roman auditoriums, just enclosed and with an actual stage and not as many seats. It was more of a reminder than a model. Maureen leaned against the column. She could feel the cold chain at her back. She took another deep breath.
"You okay?" Collins asked. Maureen nodded.
"Just do it. Before I change my mind." Even as she said the words, Maureen knew that she would never be able to do that. This was too important to her. Even though she knew that her chances of winning were slim to none, she had to do this. She was not going to go down without a fight.
Collins began wrapping the rest of the chain around her. Maureen tensed at the cold, then relaxed. If she was relaxed she would be able to breath better. While projection was not a problem (she'd always had a big mouth), the diaphragm would not be able to function if it was crushed and she ran out of air.
When Collins had finished, Maureen looked over at Roger and April. They walked over to her and they each gave her a huge hug, April's lasting the longest.
"Be careful, hot pants."
"You know I will, mini-skirt." April smiled and got into position in front of the theatre to the left of Maureen. Roger was at April's right and Collins at Maureen's left. Mark stood away, filming. Maureen looked to the sky and said a small prayer. She had never been much for religion, but she prayed when she needed it and today was definitely a praying day. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, there they were.
The bulldozers. She had heard them coming and could almost feel April tense, even though she was a couple of feet down. Maureen kept her eyes closed. The man who, from the megaphone, seemed to be the leader turned on his noisy contraption and asked them what they were doing. Maureen kept her eyes closed, hoping that Mark was still filming. She heard the man on the megaphone again.
"Please step away from the building. It is a hazard." Maureen resisted the urge to snort. She heard the clicking again, but before he could speak, she opened her eyes and flung her head up.
"You." She projected out and stopped the man in his tracks. She finally saw them. Two bulldozers, about five ground workers and two men in the bulldozers. The man with the megaphone was in a suit. He was very mousy looking. Maureen resisted the small smile that was begging to creep onto her lips.
"You, sir, do not scare me. You with your machinery and your megaphone," she said the word megaphone even louder, to accentuate the fact that she needed no megaphone to be loud.
"You surround yourself with these heartless contraptions in order to take down a building with a heart. Do you even know anything about this theatre? It was built in 1942 in memory of a little girl who had died of cancer." Maureen had made that up. But it sounded cool. The man obviously had no idea when it was built. He kept looking around nervously, trying to figure out what to do about this small girl with the big voice and her three friends.
"You wouldn't want to tear down a building for a little cancer patient? Of course you would. Because you, like your machines, have no heart. This theatre has a heart. It may not be alive in the physical sense, but it has a beat, a throb, a hum. That comes from love. And passion. And the blood and sweat that is poured onto those floors and that stage every. Single. Day. The heart comes from the people within. The heart comes from the people who love this theatre. These chains I have wrapped around myself and my colleagues symbolize the chain of love. That chain will NEVER be broken. No matter what. You may tear down this building and you may tear us apart, but the chain will never break. The love is too strong. And you cannot destroy it, no matter what you and your machines do to this soul of the arts. No matter what. The chain will not be broken. The chain will not be broken. The chain will not be broken." Maureen chanted over and over as April, Roger, Collins, and even Mark joined in.
A crowd had started to gather, but Maureen could no longer see them. She was no longer connected to the column, she was soaring over everyone. The adrenaline pumping through her veins was over-powering her. As April, Roger, Collins, and Mark continued to chant, Maureen broke the chant, urging the crowd to join.
"Come on! Join us! Keep the oppression away! The chain will not be broken! The chain will not be broken! Join us! The chain will not be broken! THE CHAIN WILL NOT BE BROKEN!" Maureen could feel the crowd swell around the bulldozers and the workers. She could feel, see, hear, nearly touch the crowd's intense reaction. She knew that some of the theatre patrons were there, along with her fellow actors and crew. She could see Mary and at the same time could not see her. She was above everything. As everything was building up and building up, Maureen released everything. She screamed.
The scream jolted the crowd and her friends. But not so much as the workers and the man with the megaphone. She continued to scream. In the middle of her screaming, she heard shouting. She petered off and opened her eyes from their scream-induced closure. The man with the megaphone was waving her off, shouting. Maureen closed her mouth and looked and understood what he was saying.
"Fine! Just…stop screaming! Please! We will try to negotiate with the board of your theatre again. Just…stop. Please." Maureen looked at him straight in the eye. She scanned him and came to the conclusion that he was telling the truth.
"Alright. Take your bulldozers and go away. Then we will leave." The man nodded and motioned for the crowd to part. They split and after a couple of minutes of sputtering and charging and maneuvering, the bulldozers were making their way down the street. A couple more minutes and they were gone.
Maureen breathed a sigh of relief as the crowd exploded into applause and cheers. Mark undid Collins' chains and Collins began undoing Maureen's while Mark set to work on Roger. When she was finally free, Maureen collapsed into Collins' arms. April ran over to her and hugged her. Maureen muttered something and April bent down to hear. April smiled and giggled a little.
"No, Reen. We didn't do it. You did it."
Okay! Again, SO sorry for the wait. Please review! I'm not sure how much I liked this, but Maureen's protest needed to be done. It isn't as cheesy as I was going to make it, but it will suffice.