Only one word could describe Mark while he was sleeping. Beautiful. His blonde eyelashes were splayed across his face, his sky blue eyes hidden beneath them; his hair unkempt and tousled from the night and he looked peaceful. Not bogged down by worries or problems, just peaceful. No longer forced to witness anything but his dreams.
Sometimes I would wake up at the crack of dawn and instead of going back to sleep, I would just lie next to him and watch him sleep. It was such a great way to start the day by seeing someone usually so worried, sleeping soundly with no cares at all. Then the rest of the day, I would always have the image of his sleeping face in my mind. What a great way to start the day.
Suddenly, his blonde eyelashes fluttered and his blue eyes were revealed. He smiled at me while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Morning Sleeping Beauty." I quipped.
"If I was Sleeping Beauty then why wasn't I awaked with a kiss from my Prince Charming?" He said with a sly smile.
He laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. I leaned over him and kissed his lips softly, savoring the taste. I pulled away and his blue eyes opened again. He smiled and I laid my head on the pillow beside him.
"Now all we need is a pumpkin turned into a carriage to whisk us away and we'll have lived out Sleeping Beauty."
Mark audibly stifled a laugh and I turned to look at him.
"Wrong story Rog." He chuckled, he said getting out of bed and throwing on a shirt.
"What do you mean?"
"The pumpkin carriage was in Cinderella." He said slipping on his jeans.
"And you know this because…?" I asked following him out to the living room where Mimi sat drinking coffee and reading The Voice.
"Know what?" She asked upon our entrance.
"That the pumpkin carriage is in Cinderella, not Sleeping Beauty." Mark responded walking to the cupboard.
"Oh, everyone knows that." She said turned her attention back to the paper.
"Not Roger." He said under his breath.
"I'm sure not everyone knows it!" I tried to defend myself.
Maureen and Joanne walked in, giving me a perfect chance to regain my pride.
"Joanne," I said going for the easy target, "which fairytale is the pumpkin carriage from?"
She gave me a dubious glance, but then said "Cinderella, duh."
"See?" Mark said handing me a cup of coffee.
"Well…that doesn't count! She's a girl." I justified. Mark just rolled his eyes.
Then Collins swung in carrying a stack of papers and a bottle of Stoli.
"What's up bitches?" He greeted us.
"I bet he doesn't know!" I said hopefully.
"Know what?" He asked setting the stack down on our table.
"What fairytale the pumpkin carriage is from?" I asked.
"Cinderella." He answered.
"What? Why does everyone know that?"
"Because we all watched Disney growing up?" Mark asked rhetorically.
"So did I!" I qualified.
"Apparently we watched more." Mark offered.
I crossed my arms across my chest and pouted. A familiar knock sounded through the apartment followed by a chorus of groans from my fellow Bohemians. Benny entered.
"I bet he doesn't know!" I said.
"What?" Benny asked, holding off on his 'rent is due' speech for the moment.
"Which fairytale has the pumpkin carriage?"
"…do I even want to know why-"
"See! He doesn't-" I said triumphantly.
"Cinderella." He said matter-of-factly.
"I give up!" I marched back to my room.
An hour later, Mark walked in hiding something behind his back.
"Hey."
I grunted.
"Sorry about embarrassing you in front of everyone, how about we watch a movie?"
"What movie?" I asked, interested.
He pulled out a case from behind his back and tossed it to me.
"Cinderella."