Chapter 1:
Mark was sitting on the couch doing absolutely nothing at all when someone knocked on the door. He answered the door, only to find a very upset Joanne standing there.
"Jo, what's wrong?" he asked. Joanne rushed forward into Mark's arms and began to cry. Mark froze for a second before rubbing Joanne's back. "Its okay, it's okay." Joanne shook her head.
"No it's not. Maureen's gone. She left for London with some guy. All I came home to was a note." Joanne broke free from Mark and wiped her eyes. "God, I must look like a wreak." Mark put his hands on Joanne's shoulders.
"You look fine. Why don't you come in and calm down?" Joanne followed Mark inside.
Joanne sat on the couch while Mark dug two cold beers out of the refrigerator. He sat down next to her and handed her a bottle.
"Okay, what happened?" Joanne took a drink of her beer and collected her thoughts.
"I cam home and found a not from Maureen saying that she was leaving for London with her boyfriend, Carl. I still can't believe her!" Mark wrapped his arms around Joanne in hopes of calming her down. "I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you. You were right though, it's all a fucking tango."
"She's Maureen.
You can't blame a person for being we they are." Joanne
shrugged. "You doin' better?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Joanne looked deep into Mark's crystal blue eyes. He actually
looked very concerned about her. Joanne found herself
blushing ever so slightly.
"Say we watch a movie?"
"You actually have a working TV and VCR?" Mark smirked.
"Believe it or not, we do. You want to watch something?" Joanne shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" Mark got up off the couch and picked out a movie.
Joanne was curled up on the far end of the couch. She could feel her eyes growing more and heavier with each passing second. Finally, they slipped closed.
The next thing Joanne knew, Mark was gently shaking her to get up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she began to stretch.
"What time is it?" she asked sleepily. Mark looked at his watch.
"A little after two," he replied. "Do you want to stay here for the night? You can have, uh, Roger's old room." Joanne got up off the couch.
"It's probably safer than trying to get through Alphabet City at this hour. Thanks Mark." Even in the dark, Joanne could tell that Mark was blushing.
"Sure. There are umm blankets and everything already in there." Joanne nodded. "Well, goodnight."
"Night Mark." Joanne gave Mark a small smile, and the two retreated to their separate rooms for the night.
Joanne slowly opened her eyes. Sunlight streamed through the uncovered window. It took Joanne a second to remember where she was. Everything came rushing back to her suddenly; the good and the bad. Joanne willed herself not to cry but found that she didn't want to cry. She was actually almost happy that Maureen was gone. Now, Joanne could breathe a little.
After lying in bed for a while, Joanne finally got up. She found Mark sitting at the table, fiddling with his camera. He looked up and smiled when he heard Joanne enter the room.
"How'd you sleep?" he asked. Joanne shrugged.
"Okay, I guess," she replied as she went over and got herself a cup of coffee. Already, it was getting warm in the loft. "Thanks for letting me stay for the night."
"Anytime, it gets pretty quiet around here now that Roger lives with Mimi." Joanne sat down next to Mark. "You feeling better?"
"Yeah, I'm actually not upset about the whole thing." Mark raised his eyebrows. "Yesterday, I was surprised. I thought that she was different with me." Joanne's voice cracked. Mark pulled her into a comforting hug.
"Maybe she was for a while, but we don't know what goes on in Maureen's mind. Quite frankly, I'm afraid to know." Joanne laughed. Mark realized that she had a gorgeous laugh. Joanne stood up.
"Well, I better get going. Sorry to just run off, but I have to get to the firm." Mark stood up too. Joanne gave him a hug and kissed his cheek softly. "Thanks Mark." Mark turned a light shade of pink.
"You're welcome." Joanne started to walk away, but Mark grabbed her arm. "You're always welcome here." Joanne smiled weakly. She gave Mark another quick hug and left to go home to her empty apartment.