Author: Jen
Author's Note: Joey never moved in with Chandler meaning he never met the gang. Rachel never ran out on her wedding to Barry, meaning she does know Monica, Ross and Chandler, but hasn't seen or spoken with them in years. This is how Joey and Rachel could have met if their lives took different turns. Not sure if the other characters will be in this story yet.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything or any of the characters
A/N: Rachel never ran out of her wedding and Joey never moved in with Chandler. Instead, the two meet through their very opposite lifestyles.
I'm out in the bustling city of New York with my three best girlfriends: Leslie, Joanne, and Kiki. We're eating at our favorite restaurant PhilloSophie. It's an eloquent and insanely expensive restaurant and that's why we love it. We're equipped with our rich husbands' credit cards and a reason for celebration.
"So, shall we order a bottle of wine?" Kiki suggests with excitement the moment we sit down.
"No, I'm pregnant you buffoon!" Joanne reminds her sharply.
"Oh, right I already forgot - sorry!" Kiki blushes embarrassed.
"But we are celebrating, so how about a glass of champagne for the non-pregnant ladies," Leslie offers.
"I will drink to not being pregnant," I jest and my friends all laugh at this.
"Where is our waiter?" Joanne breathes in an annoyed tone.
She's already easily aggravated even though she has only been pregnant for a month.
She throws her hands down on the table and looks around abruptly. We grow concerned she may cause a scene, but luckily our waiter appears at our table a moment later.
"Hello, ladies. Welcome to PhilloSophie. I'll be your waiter this evening," he begins.
"It's about time. These ladies need a glass each of your most expensive champagne and a bread basket stat," Joanne impatiently demands.
"You got it," our waiter quickly jots down in his notepad and then hurries off.
"Bread? Joanne, you're eating carbs now?" Leslie questions her.
"I have to, this baby is ravenous! Don't worry, the weight will fly off once this thing gets out of me," she protests.
Everyone nods, nervous to disagree with anything Joanne says.
We all sit in silence for a moment.
"So, um Rachel you've been quiet tonight. What's new with you, how's Barry?" Kiki inquires, trying to kill the awkwardness.
"Oh you know, same as always - rich and handsome," I force a laugh as my friends cackle at my response.
"And is he returning that cheap one carat diamond ring?" Leslie asks.
Barry recently bought me a diamond ring after we had a big fight. We've been fighting so much lately. I avoid mentioning this to my friends though, I told them that Barry surprised me with the ring and a home cooked dinner. In reality, my husband would never cook me dinner or even care to surprise me. When I showed my friends the ring, they were disgusted at how small the diamond was.
"Uh, yes he's going back this weekend," I tell them.
They all breathe huge sighs of relief as if this was a life or death matter. The funny thing is, a few months ago this situation would have been that crucial for me. Money and material things were all that mattered to me, after finding a rich husband. Lately, things like recieving a one carat diamond doesn't even phase me. I no longer care that Barry spent thousands less, I care more that he bought me the ring because we had another countless fight.
Barry and I have been married for almost a year now and recently I've been having a lot of second thoughts. The truth is, I'm scared to really face these feelings or do anything about them because I'm too comfortable in my life. I went from growing up on my father's money to living off Barry's money. I wouldn't know how to live on my own. What would that even entail...getting a job? I could never be seen working. I shake away these thoughts as the waiter returns with our champagne, bread and a water for Joanne.
"You ladies ready to order?" he asks.
We always order the same salad every time. We order our usual and our waiter jots it down before proceeding to take our menus from us.
When he walks around to table to retrieve my menu, he flashes a cheeky smile and winks at me suddenly. It catches me off guard and my heart flutters for a moment.
"Your food will be right out," he announces and then walks away.
"Oh my god, our waiter just winked at you Rachel," Kiki points out in a disgusted tone.
"Yeah so?" I reply, secretly happy about the attention.
"Can't he see you're married? You're wearing a huge ring!" Kiki presses, astonished by this breif moment of flirtation.
"Ugh, men!" Leslie joins in Kiki's disapproval of the situation.
"Girls, it's fine. I'm sure it was innocent," I try.
"It's never innocent with men," Joanne claims sternly.
"Girls, I didn't mind. Men are still allowed to notice me - at least he's cute," I say without thinking.
"Cute? Rachel, what's going on, is there something wrong between you and Barry?" Leslie immediately draws conclusions.
The reality of my troubled marriage plunges me into a panicked state.
"What? No, of course not! When I said cute, I meant cute for a poor person - oh my god - like I would ever fall for a broke waiter!" I spit out anything to get them to believe me.
They all take relief from my insensitive comments.
"Still, it's affecting his tip," Joanne decides bitterly.
Leslie and Kiki nod with approval.
I'm instantly ridden with guilt that our waiter is about to get gypped for a measly wink - a wink I sort of enjoyed.
The rest of the night, I can't help myself from stealing glances at our waiter. I can't help, but wonder how unhappy I really am in my marriage. I mean this stranger's smile affected me more than my husband has in months. His wink gave me butterflies. The fact that this random guy noticed me, made me feel better about myself. And worst of all, I'm definitely attracted to him.
I realize as the night goes on, that maybe I can't be satisfied with simply money. Maybe a rich husband isn't being set for life? Maybe I need real love and passion and romance? I thought I loved Barry, but if these last few months have taught me anything, it's that money is blind - or it blinded me from realizing that maybe I never truly cared for Barry.
I don't share any of these revelations with my friends because I'm terrified. I don't know what to do. I can't divorce Barry - can I? I sit in deep thought as the check comes and my friends decide on a pitiful tip for our waiter. I feel horrible - who am I? A few months ago I wouldn't have even thought twice about this waiter. A few months ago, I was confident my life was perfect with my rich husband and I would have readily agreed that this waiter deserves less than ten percent tip because he showed the tiniest interest in me.
We get up from the table and head outside to catch a cab home.
A cab pulls up and my friends pile into the back of the cab. They look up at me.
"Oh my god," I exclaim suddenly, covering my ear with my hand. "I lost one of my earrings, I better go look for it."
"We'll help you!" Leslie says. They start to unbuckle their seat belts to get out of the car, but I stop them.
"Oh, don't be silly - it's not even one carat! I can look myself, I'll catch another cab home," I tell them.
"Are you sure?" Leslie asks.
"Positive," I state and then turn to head back into the restaurant.
Luckily, they don't follow me back in. They would be shocked to see what I'm actually about to do.