"Chandler," Monica whined. "Look at all these boxes!"
"Yes, I see them," he said, dramatically turning his body around in a circle and sweeping his eyes across what was now "their" living room.
"Well?!"
"They'll still be here Sunday night."
"That's what I'm afraid of," she said, shoving her arms into her jacket sleeves.
"Mon," he said, shrugging on his own jacket and walking over to his new roommate, sliding his arms around her waist. "I'm going to be here a long time. The boxes won't, I promise."
"But…"
"No buts…"
"But…but…" her eyes glanced at the floor and she was looking a little desperate now, her need for form and order being the only thing on her mind. She stroked the nape of his neck, worry in her eyes.
So Chandler leaned in and kissed her, soft and slow, until he felt her relax into the kiss. Then he pulled back a little.
"Come on," he said, gently, his lopsided grin coming over his face. "I don't want us to be late."
"Mmm," she hummed, looking at his cute little grin, knowing her ability to deny him was fading fast. "I wish you'd at least tell me where we're going."
He stooped down and picked up their bags as she grabbed the keys to the front door.
"Atlantic City," he deadpanned.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
"Tell me you're joking," she said, crossing her arms in front of her.
"I thought we could relive the magic of our memorable trip there this time last year," he replied, attempting an innocent smile.
She cocked an eyebrow at him.
He grinned.
"We are headed to Jersey, though," he said, opening the door for her.
She shot him a confused look.
"Really?"
"Yep."
Still skeptical she walked past him into the hall. He walked out, and with one last look at their box-laden living room, she closed and locked the door.
"This better be good, Bing," she mumbled, then softened her words with a peck on his cheek.
"It will be," he said, winking at her as they walked over to the landing and down the steps.
At least he sure hoped so.
###
Chandler pulled the rental car away from where it was parked in front of their building and headed toward I-495 into New Jersey.
"So, how far away is our destination?" Monica asked.
"About a half hour."
She looked at him, incredulous.
"A half hour?" she said. "Why are we packed for an overnight if we're only going a half hour away from home?!"
"Because where we're going I thought you might want to stay late and get up early tomorrow."
Monica looked at the somewhat smug expression in his profile and knew he must be pretty proud of whatever plan he'd cooked up for this fall weekend. She was thinking maybe they were going apple picking or on a fall foliage tour. But a half hour out of New York City, in October? She wracked her brain as to where they could be going and couldn't come up with one scenario that made sense for a romantic getaway.
She almost laughed when he pulled off the exit in Secaucus, New Jersey, and turned toward the Meadowlands Exposition Center at Harmon Meadows. What on Earth could be so interesting in Secaucus…?
Then she froze and turned her head quickly to look at him, finally piecing together just where they might be going in Secaucus, New Jersey.
He turned to her with a grin, his eyes twinkling.
"Figure it out yet?" he asked.
"Chandler!" she said, her excitement evident. She sat up straighter and looked out the window for a sign. Soon enough, she saw it…
Tri-State Food Expo: The Regional Tradeshow for Restaurant, Retail and Food Service Professionals
Much to his amusement, she let out a little squeal and started clapping, bouncing up and down just a little in the passenger seat.
"Oh my God," she said, smile firmly on her face. "This is one of the best culinary fairs in the whole area!"
"So I've been told," he said, rolling down the window to pay the parking fee. It didn't take them long to find a parking spot. He turned off the car and turned to her.
"Surprised?" he said, his face split into a wide smile.
Monica pulled his face to her and kissed him quickly on the lips, smiling right back at him.
She stroked his cheek, wondering how she'd ever gotten so lucky.
"You are the best boyfriend. Ever," she said, kissing him again. "Don't let anyone tell you differently, especially me. I can't believe you remembered."
He chuckled.
"I scored some serious brownie points here, huh?"
"You better believe it," she said, adding seductively as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "and you'll be scoring a whole lot more later."
"Score," he said with a flourish, doing a little Chandler dance with his butt in the seat.
She giggled and shook her head.
"Let's go," he said, giving her another quick kiss and opening the car door. "I think Martha Stewart is one of the keynote speakers and there's some big, culinary some…I don't know…competition, or something…"
She popped out of her side of the car and practically ran over to him, grabbing his hand.
"There's more than one," she said, pulling his hand and dragging him toward the entrance. "This is so exciting!"
He jogged a little and smiled, trying to keep up with her.
###
She'd never seen anything like it. Hundreds upon hundreds of vendors - suppliers, new products, demos. There wasn't one, but three culinary competitions going on at the same time. There were break-out sessions on new techniques - everything from cooking food to cleaning the equipment.
Monica was enthralled with it all and Chandler couldn't help but marvel at her. She was so passionate about everything she saw, anxious to show him a new meat press or the latest, natural cleaning compound. She carried on a lengthy conversation after one of the culinary competitions with the chef who had lost. She relayed a couple tips that he could incorporate the next time and he was very grateful. She'd smiled at Chandler with so much pride, he couldn't help but be proud of her himself.
Honestly, he thought he'd be bored stiff. He'd done this for her. But he ended up enjoying it more than he anticipated. The culinary competition was entertaining and some of the new products were kind of interesting. He was actually looking forward to listening to Martha Stewart speak later in the evening. But most of all, Monica hadn't stopped smiling for the last several hours and that made him happier than anything else.
Ever since she'd mentioned the "culinary fair in Jersey" last year he'd thought of covertly finding out what she was talking about and then making plans to take her there. At the time it seemed like a pipe dream. He wasn't sure they'd last the month back then, let alone a whole year.
He certainly never imagined a year ago that they'd be moving in together.
He couldn't imagine in Atlantic City that he'd be ready to settle down with her and get married - not right now - but someday. Someday in the not too distant future. And the thought struck him that if he could imagine getting married to her now - a year from now he could be shopping for engagement rings, for real this time. He smiled to himself. That thought didn't scare him at all, not anymore.
Lost in his own thoughts he suddenly felt her grab his hand and she leaned into him.
"You're bored, aren't you?"
"No," he said, sincerely. "No, I'm really not. It's actually pretty…cool."
"Really?" she said, squishing up her nose like she did when she didn't believe him, but wanted to.
"Yeah," he said with a grin, holding both her hands in both of his.
She smiled.
"I feel like such a cooking nerd," she said, glancing at the crowd and vendors all around them. "I just love this stuff."
"I can tell," he said, giving her a kiss on her nose. He sighed. "If I feel anything it might be jealousy."
"Why?" she said, blinking in surprise.
"I guess...it just would be cool if I cared about my job as much as you care about yours," he said, with a little shrug. "Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration isn't much of a turn on."
She stepped a little closer to him and grinned.
"You know what is a turn on?" she whispered.
"What's that?" he said.
"How damn smart you are," she said. "You might not love your job, but you're very good at it."
He cocked his head to the side, not expecting that.
"Well, thank you."
"You're welcome," she said, squeezing his hands. "And I'll let you in on a little secret."
He raised his eyebrows in anticipation, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"I'm a chef because of you."
"Whatta mean?" he asked after letting that sink in a moment, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"That first Thanksgiving, when I made you Mac and Cheese, remember?"
"Yeah."
"You said I should become a chef," she said with a giggle. "So I did."
"You're kidding," he said, with a look of disbelief.
Monica shook her head.
"Nope," she said, smoothing back his hair. "I mean, I did love to cook, but I'd never thought of it as a career until then."
"Hump," he said, a little proud of himself.
"So, you see," she said with a little grin. "You've been leading me to my passions for a long time. First cooking and then…you."
She smiled at him with such a happy expression in her eyes that he had to lean in to kiss her, crowd and vendors be damned.
"So…" he said, finally. "How much more time are we gonna spend with your first love here?"
"Well, at least until Martha Stewart speaks," she said.
"Right," he nodded. "Then you're all mine?"
"I'm always all yours," she smiled. "By the way, where are we staying?"
He winced a little. It was no place special.
"The Ramada, about a mile from here," he said, adding hopefully. "I packed Lysol."
She laughed.
"It'll be perfect," she said. "Even if it's not. You'll get a proper 'thank you' then, I promise."
He smiled giddily. "Oh, I love you."
"You must," she said, tapping his nose with her finger. "I love you, too…ohhh!"
"What?" he asked as he saw her spy something out of the corner of her eye.
"Come here," she said, pulling his hand and turning him around. "You gotta see this!"
And he just had to see "this" because he wouldn't want to miss any of "this" with her for the world.
NOTE: Silly little one-shots like this happen when Kel watches too much Netflix! ;) Hope you enjoyed it!