A/N: Inspired by Kristin Chenoweth's song "Taylor, the Latte Boy." I've also used Adam Pascal's "Rhyme and Reason." Just a little Roger/Mimi and some Mimi/Angel friendship. There's a poll on my page I need votes for, so if you could drop by, pretty please, and vote, I'd be grateful.
Mimi walked into Starbucks at her usual time- 8:11- with the usual person- Angel- to order her usual drink- a double latte. The usual person stood behind the counter. "Latte Boy," Angel called him. Tall, blonde hair, green eyes, rough voice…. Mmm….
He smiled and said "How are you?"
Mimi could swear her heart had grown wings. It had flown up into her throat. She tried to swallow it down.
"We're great, aren't we, Meems?" Angel answered, nudging her in the ribs.
She smiled stupidly and nodded. She gave Angel their agreed "wimping out" signal. She sighed and nodded "OK."
They ordered their drinks and left. Mimi griped about the price of a latte. $3.55. For God's sake!
The next day Angel called her. She "wasn't feeling so well," so Mimi should just go to Starbucks without her. She took the hint.
At 8:11, she walked in again. Latte Boy smiled and said "How are you?"
"Fine," she smiled. "and my name's Mimi."
He softly answered "Hey."
She tried again.
"My name is Mimi, and thank you for the extra foam."
"My name is Roger. I'm 23, I live on the corner of Avenue B and 11th with my best friend Mark, and I play guitar."
Mimi smiled. Finally, a satisfying answer.
"I'm 19, I'm a dancer, and I live on 11th and Avenue B, too."
He grinned that mischievous grin of his.
Roger. Roger, the Latte Boy. Angell will love that. Roger, Roger, Roger…. I love him, I love him, I love him.
"Yeah, I'm playing in a band down in the basement of Amy's tonight."
"The bar, Amy's?"
"Yeah."
She watched as Roger prepared her double latte. He smoothly flipped a lever that took her venti double latte from only wishing to being a triple latte. The smug smile gave it away that he didn't think she knew. But she did, and she knew that triple latte meant that Roger loved her, too.
"What time are you playing?" Mimi asked.
"Eight. It's an open mic, so if you know any musicians, invite them along."
"I will. Thanks for the extra skim."
He blushed and pushed Mimi's money back across the counter.
"Keep the $3.55. This triple latte's on me."
***
"Roger! His name is Roger!?" Angel asked for the fiftieth time.
"And he lives in the same building as you?"
"Yes, Ang," Mimi said into the receiver as she microwaved last night's Chinese.
"Sooooooo… does this mean that Mimi is gonna get herself a new boyfriend…?" Angel trailed off suggestively.
"You know, if we weren't on the phone right now, I'd smack you right about now."
Angel laughed. "I know."
"Besides, it's just a crush."
"That he has on you, too!"
"Whatever. Hey, Angel?"
"Yeah?"
"Is it possible for you put lyrics to music in one evening?"
"Yes. Why?"
***
At eight, Mimi and Angel sat at a table in the basement Amy's sipping their drinks. The emcee looked down at the cards that had been written out for him by one of the members of the Well Hungarians.
"Weren't they great? And now let me introduce our next act. An East Village band, The Well Hungarians!"
There was a smattering of applause and chuckles at the bad pun. Roger, it turned out, was the front man. He looked out beyond the cheap colored lights (A/N: :D). He saw Mimi and grinned. She smiled and gave him a little grin.
"Um, hi everybody. I'm Roger; this is Adam, Jeff, and Aaron. We're the Well Hungarians. First song we're gonna perform is called Rhyme and Reason. I wrote it for a very special girl who's here tonight. I only just learned her name today, but I've seen her every morning for the past few months. You'll know who you are, love."
Mimi
jumped. He called her "love." She thought her heart would melt.
He was so cute with his cliché little "very special girl"
schpiel. Angel nudged her in the ribs excitedly. Mimi was touched.
He had written her a song! The front man of a real rock band had
written her a song! And he was
performing it!
Roger started strumming a few chords and Jeff pulled out some shakers. Adam used a Native American flute sound on his keyboard. Aaron sat back with his bass. This wasn't his turn to play. Roger bean to sing.
"It's so
cold
Let's take flight
Well, we won't need a net
Hold on
tight
A new ride
Is unveiled
And we don't need to try
So
there's no way to fail."
Roger's eyes met hers. He turned them
back down to his guitar strings. Hers
were filled with tears.
"A desperate look in our eyes
Holding on to one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just letting go to discover
Oh-h yeah
Oh-h ooh
"It's okay
To realize
Being born into nothing, no one and nowhere
It's all a
surprise
"A desperate look in our eyes
Holding on to
one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just letting go to
discover
"That love don't need a reason
And love don't
need a rhyme
I'm standing here pleading
While you just cover
your eyes
Yeah-ah-ah
"A desperate look in our eyes
Holding on to one another
Holding on for all our lives
Just
letting go to discover
"That love don't need a reason
And
love don't need a rhyme
Said love don't need a reason
And
love don't need a rhyme
I'm standing here pleading
While you
just cover your eyes
Yeah-ah-ah
Ooh-ooh-ohh
"It's
so cold
Let's take flight
It's so cold
Hold on tight"
Mimi held Angel's hand as the tears streamed down her cheeks. He had written her this beautiful ballad and what had she written him? A musical poem. And not even a poetic poem.
Roger sent her a dazzling smile. The Hungarians set to work on a few more songs, like Fade Out, Pause the Clock, A Letter (A/N: Radames' Letter from Aida), and I Can't Go On Without You.
"Next," the emcee read, "is Miss Mimi Marquez with a musical poem."
She shook her head. She couldn't go up there, not after that, and how she looked. Angel wiped away her tears and shoved her up onto the stage.
"Hi," she stammered. "I'm Mimi, uh, I just have one thing, and it's rather pathetic after what the Well Hungarians just did. Um, I only wrote the words. My best friend, Angel, amazingly set them to music this afternoon for me, so, if I mess up, it's because I didn't practice enough.
"This is also for a very special person, but I've changed his name to save him some embarrassment. I also changed my name, just because I can, because, obviously, my name is not Kristin. So, uh, here it is, my feeble attempt at songwriting, Taylor, the Latte Boy."
The piano cued her with a high note.
"There's a
boy who works at Starbucks
Who is very inspirational.
He is
very inspirational because of many things.
"I come in at
8:11, and he smiles and says, "How are you?"
When he
smiles and says, "How are you?"
I could swear my heart
grows wings!
"So today at 8:11
I decided I should meet
him
I decided I should meet him
In a proper formal way.
"So today at 8:11 when he smiled and said "How are you?"
I said "Fine, and my name's Kristin"
And he softly
answered, "Hey."
And I said "My name is Kristen,
and thank you for the extra foam…"
"And he said his
name was Taylor,
Which provides the inspiration for this poem:
"Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Oh
Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him…
"So I'd like to get my nerve up
To recite my poem
musical.
He would like the fact it's musical
Because he
plays guitar.
So today at 8:11, Taylor told me he was playing
In
a band down in the village in the basement of a bar.
"And
he smoothly flipped the lever to prepare my double latte,
But for
me he made it triple! And he didn't think I knew
But I saw him
flip the lever, and for me he made it triple,
And I knew that
triple latte meant that Taylor loved me too!
I said, "What
time are you playing? And thank you for the extra skim…"
He
said, "Keep the $3.55," because this triple latte was on
him.
"Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me
joy!
Oh Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love
him…
"I used to be the kind of girl who'd run when love
rushed toward her.
But finally a voice whispered "Love can be
yours, if you step up to the
counter, and order."
"Taylor, the latte boy
Bring me java, bring me joy
Oh
Taylor the latte boy
I love him, I love him, I love him.
"So
many years my heart has waited,
Who'd have thought that love
could be so caffeinated?
Taylor, the latte boy,
I love him, I
love him, I love him.
I love him, I love him, I love him."
She sighed.
Mimi exited the stage. Cheers and applause followed her. Angel caught her and hugged her.
"They loved it!" She cried.
"They did?"
"They did!"
"I did, too," a voice behind her said. "Almost as much as I love you."
"Roger…"
"Mimi."
He scooped her up into his arms and kissed her. As she watched them, Angel knew that this was the start of something new for her best friend. This wasn't going to be a short one week stint. This was going to last at least a year. All three knew it would be more.
A/N: Hope you liked it! Reviews= 3