April Fools
Maureen flounced into the loft as quietly as possible, and poked the sleeping Mark as gently as she could without waking Roger, who was right next to him. "Marky," she whispered.
"Mmmmffff… Maureen?" Mark sat bolt upright. "Maureen what the fuck are you doing here?"
"Shh, Marky, shh…" she scolded the filmmaker. "Mark, you were really drunk last night, and you tried to fuck your camera."
"WHAT!" whisper-yelled Mark. Maureen shushed him.
"Kidding, kidding. It was me, not the camera." Mark raised his eyebrow. Maureen was being sarcastic, but he wasn't sure if it could possibly…? No…
"April Fools, Marky."
"Oh, right, April first isn't, it?"
"Yes! And you know what that means…"
"Oy vey."
"We're going to have fun!" She was ecstatic. He couldn't be a party pooper and say no, so he agreed.
"But, why me and not Roger? Or Mimi? Or someone that would go along with it easier?"
"Because Mimi is in on this. So grab your camera, and let's go!" She was still whispering, but she was bouncing on her toes as if she was shouting. "C'mon, we're going to Mimi's." She dragged him out of the door to the loft, with only small protests from Mark.
-
When they reached Mimi's, they heard a squeal from within. The pitter-patter of dancer's feet followed that, along with the creak of the loft door.
"In, in, now! I have a really good plan."
"Wait, who are we playing the trick on?"
Mimi looked at Maureen. "You didn't tell him?"
"I thought you could, he's your ex-boyfriend." Mark's face lit up, he was astonished.
"Roger?"
"No, Benny."
"You went out with Benny?" Maureen asked
"I did, but the trick is on Roger. April Fools."
"Ha ha."
"You guys honestly expect me to pull a trick on Roger?"
"Well, you're the only one we could get a reaction from."
"Why?" demanded Mark
"Because you are his boyfriend." Maureen was so upfront about it. Mark blushed.
"Oh, c'mon you two are so cute!" Mimi gushed.
"Aren't you supposed to be mad at me?"
"I was. Now I'm not. Okay, onto the April Fools joke. Mark, gimme your camera."
"WHAT! Fuck no!"
"Hand it over, Marky."
"You know I hate it when you call me that."
"I, Maureen Johnson, swear to stop calling Mark Cohen the adorable name of Marky for a week if he will relinquish his camera to Mimi Marquez."
"Throw in not calling me 'Pookie' either, and sure."
"Damn. Okay, 'Pookie' too."
Mark handed his camera to Mimi.
"Now just go back and pretend like nothing's wrong."
"What? You've still got to tell me-"
"Okay, okay. We are going to have you go around without your camera today, and pretend to be depressed, so Roger will be fluffy." Said Mimi.
"Is he ever fluffy?"
"That one time at New Year's."
"He was smashed, not fluffy"
"Go back to your lover, Marky – I mean Mark."
-
Roger woke up to find Mark sleeping lightly next to him.
"Hey there." Mark's eyes opened. His arms already felt light at the thought of not having his camera with him the whole day. He wrapped them around Roger to help get his mind off of it. Roger responded perfectly – with a kiss.
"Stay on your toes today" the rock star warned.
"What?"
"It's April first, Marky." Mark groaned, not only at the name, but the fact that he would need to pull a prank on his lover.
"Why so sad?"
"Look who's talking! You wouldn't smile for a year, and now you're asking me why I'm not smiling for two minutes?"
"Shut up."
"Make me."
"Gladly." Roger once more kissed Mark. After what Mark wished was forever, the broke apart, and Roger hopped out of bed.
"Get dressed, lazy, and lets go see what tricks are planned for us."
Oh, boy, Mark thought. Are we in for it. He got out of bed.
-
Mimi and Maureen both winked at Mark when he sat down on their creaky sofa next to Roger. Roger put his arm around Mark's waist, which made mark blush.
"So, girls, what have you planned today?"
"Well, I thought we'd pick up Joanne and Collins and just hang around NYC for a bit." Maureen suggested. Roger raised his eyebrows.
"Alright, just let me and Mark shower and get dressed." Mimi giggled. "What?"
"You make it sound like you are going to do both together."
"And why wouldn't they?" asked Maureen.
Mark looked at Roger. "Lets go." He said.
Once the roommates were showered and dressed, they started to head out the door.
"Wait, Mark, where's your camera?"
"I- I- uhmm.." he looked nervously at Mimi and Maureen.
"Mark doesn't feel like filming today." Mimi said in a rush.
"Okay…" Roger smiled. "Whatever, Marky." Maureen squealed, "Mark! How come he's allowed to call you that?"
"Because he's not you, Maureen" Mark stuck his tongue out like a child. They walked out the door.
-
"Collins!" Maureen shouted, and she ran into one of his signature bear hugs. "Pookie!" she kissed Joanne, and wrapped her arm around the lawyer's waist. Everyone else was treated to a bear hug from Collins as soon as they caught up.
"Where are we going?" asked Joanne once hellos had been said.
"To the Life!" shouted Maureen, pumping her fist in the air.
"As usual," Murmured Collins.
-
They sat down, and at once Kevin, their usual waiter, came along and said "Miso soup," he pointed at Mark, "seaweed salad," Joanne, "a soy burger," Roger, "a tofu dog platter," Maureen, "a pasta with meatless balls," Collins, "and what about you?" he asked Mimi.
"I'll have a seaweed salad, too."
"Alrighty then!" he walked away.
Mimi looked uneasy. "Uhmm… Mark?"
"Yea, Mimi?"
"Mark, we may have lost your camera." Mark stood up. Fast.
"WHAT!"
"Mark, settle down, we wanted to bring it here for you, but we couldn't find it in the time frame of two minutes, okay? I'm sure it's somewhere in my loft…"
"Well, we better go look, then." Said Roger.
"Food, man, food." Collins reminded him.
"Oh, right." He sat back down. They all ate in silence practically, Mimi and Maureen having to suppress laughter every now and then. Once they were done, they all had to chip in to pay. They scrounged for change, and eventually got it all covered. The bohemians all walked out the door, and Mark began to walk with purpose towards Mimi's loft.
-
"I told, you, its not anywhere!" Maureen said for what felt like the thousandth time.
"Maureen, you had it last, you should know where it is!"
"Mark? I think I found it." It was shattered. Mark was shattered. Roger was laughing.
"Roger!" Mark cried. "How can you be laughing! The camera was my life!" Roger half-glared at him. "Well, besides you." He turned to Collins, who was doubled over with laughter.
"Collins!" He soon saw that everyone was laughing. "Happy April Fools day, Mark!" Maureen jeered at him. "Mimi?" she called. Mimi came out of the corner holding Mark's camera – perfectly intact. Mark looked up, confused.
"Allow me to explain." Joanne leaned on Mimi's windowsill. "Maureen and I found a smashed camera exactly like Mark's in the street one day. We showed it to Roger one day while you were editing, and Roger said to keep it – it could be useful."
"So, we did," continued Maureen, "until today, when -"
"I brought it up again." Interrupted Mimi.
"I thought it would be a funny April Fools joke to play, just for a little bit, so I came up with the idea." Roger admitted.
"Not funny, you guys." Mark hugged his unharmed camera.
"Ohh, I'm hurt. Now you love the camera more than me?"
"After that stunt, yes!"
"Oh."
"I'll see you back at the loft." He said to Roger, "And the rest of you tomorrow," he said coldly to the rest of them.
-
"Marky?" Roger called when he opened the door to the loft. He found hi sitting, back to the door, on the bed they usually shared.
"Marky, are you mad?"
"What made you think that?"
"So that means no cudding or sex or... anything tonight?"
"Right." Roger sadly started walking away.
"Roger?"
"Yea?"
"April Fools." It didn't take long for Roger to get back to the bed again.
-
Wow, this turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it would…
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