The alarm clock buzzes and reads 7:00.
Damn it! Every morning I have to wake up and go to the same job that I've had for 6 years. It was only supposed to be a temp. But I've lasted this long. My life is sooo sad. I hate my job, don't get along with my family, and may lose the one person who actually cares about me. Gale. We've been dating for a couple months now and she knows about my whole fear of commitment and is cool with it. She's seems perfect but there is just something missing. I don't know what exactly but I can tell its missing.
I see a note on the kitchen table from my roommate Joey. It says he had to go early to the set of his new show. Great. Another lonely morning. Well maybe I'll skip breakfast today. I'm already late for work.
*******
Ring Ring. I pick up the phone.
"Hello."
"Hi. Is Chandler Bing there?" an un-familiar voice replies.
"uh …yeah, this is him."
" Hey Man! It's Ross. Ross Geller, from college."
"Hey! Wassup?" My face lit up. We haven't talked in ages!
"Uh look. I know we haven't talked in a while but I'm having a birthday party this Saturday and I want you to come and we could catch up on old times. You could bring some people with you too."
" Sure I'll come. Where is it?"
" Oh it's at my sister's apartment. Here's the address…"
******
"Hey Ross. Long time no see. You haven't changed a bit"
"You too, I'm glad you came. And you brought guests"
"Yes, this is my girlfriend Gale, my roommate Joey and his date Phoebe."
" Welcome. Help your self to some drinks."
"Thanks" At that moment my head turned and I instantly noticed this beautiful woman. She had black hair that was cut just a below her shoulders and piercing blue eyes that could take your breath away. She wore these tight black pants and a black halter-top. I was staring at her so much that I didn't even notice that Gale and Phoebe went to go get a drink and that Joey was standing right next to me.
" Damn she's hot. Oh! And the girl over there is hot too. Oh and that one. I'm gonna get lucky tonight." He said with a huge grin. That's Joey for you. If he could, he would sleep with every woman in the room, regardless if they were married or seeing someone.
"Joey! You came here with a date."
"What like there's a rule?" At that moment Ross comes by with his arm around a woman with blondish hair.
"Hey guys. I want you to meet my girlfriend Rachel."
"Hi" Rachel said while extending her hand.
"Hey, how u doin' ?" Joey shakes her hand and smiles mischievously.
"Hi. I'm Chandler and that's Joey. You'll have to excuse him. Once he sees a pretty lady, he goes straight into flirtation mode." Rachel giggles. At that moment Gale and Phoebe come back and introduce themselves.
"Come one Joey, let's go mingle" whined Phoebe.
"Sure thing babe." Joey winks at me and I smile back. With that, Joey and Phoebe left.
"Oh, lemme introduce you to my sister. Hey Mon come her for a minute." The raven-haired beauty made her way towards us. Then it hits me. Aw crap, she's Ross's SISTER! Just my luck.
"This is my sister Monica."
"Hi" she smiled.
"Hi. My name is…hold on I know this… Chandler. Chandler Bing." I say with a sly smile.
"Nice to meet you Chandler." She says with a small laugh.
"The pleasure is all mine. And this is umm…umm" OMG! How can I forget her name! It's something with a G….
"I'm Gale Weathers, I'm his girlfriend." she said slightly annoyed. (This is in no way related to scream, I just felt like using this name.)
"Oh, I see." She looks a little disappointed.
"Yeah. well, Chandler lets go catch up with Joey and Phoebe." I could tell she was sensing something and was a bit jealous.
"Well Monica, I'll catch you later. "I manage to say right before Gale pulls me into a near by room. She slams the door.
"What the hell was that!"
"What?" I say nervously. I don't feel like dealing with another one of Gale's temper tantrums.
"Oh please, you were drooling all over her. You couldn't even remember my name!"
"I just had a minor memory lapse." I joke uneasily.
"Damn it Chandler! Is that suppose to be FUNNY? Cuz I'm NOT laughing!"
"Okay, Okay, bad choice of words. I'm sorry. Can we just go and enjoy the rest of the party?" I pull her into a tight embrace and try to give her a sweet kiss but all I can think about is Monica.
" Okay, lets go."
"Thank you"
********
Over a few weeks we all started to hang out more. The whole Joey and Phoebe thing didn't work out so they're friends now. I've gotten closer to everyone, especially Monica. Gale really gave me a hard time about that. She liked everyone else but she didn't like that I was becoming best friends with Monica. I was flattered by Gale's jealousy because it shows that she cares enough about me to be jealous. You know what I mean? Anyway, but now it is just getting ridiculous. I tell her that nothing's going on but she just thinks I'm hiding something. I mean of coarse I think Monica's sexy but I know not to cross that line. I'm not gonna tell Gale that though…
" Hey Mon," I walk into her apartment and see her turning off the lights.
"Hey. I'm about to watch House on Haunted Hill. Wanna join me?" she asks. (For anyone who hasn't seen it, its kinda scary but its really freaky.)
"Sure. Where is everyone else?" I ask as I take my seat on the couch.
"Well, you know Joey's on a date, Ross and Rachel went to dinner and Phoebe's talking to her dead Grandmother, Don't ask."
" I wasn't going to. But why are you here? Your are alone on a Saturday night…that's pretty pathetic." I love to tease her.
"Hey! Well… you're here too. So that means Gale dropped your sorry ass and is off with another guy." She grins.
"Actually, Gale is out of town on a business trip. So ha!"
"Or so she'll have you think…"
During the movie we sat close and jumped at the scary parts. At the end, after the guy and girl hug and kiss, Monica turns off the TV. We sit silent for a minute or two. Then Monica speaks again.
"Chandler, why don't I have a boyfriend. Am I that hard to deal with. I mean is there something wrong with me?" She had this curious look on her face. Where did that question come from?
"Ummm…no" I didn't know what to say. I usually always knew how to comfort her. But I didn't know what to tell her.
"Oh gee, that helps me a whole lot." She says sarcastically.
" I mean I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend. You should have a boyfriend."(Okay, I know that is a line from the show. But work with me here.)
" Well I think so. I try so hard but I will never find a great guy who loves me. Instead I'll find a jerk."
"Mon, you're trying too hard. You are beautiful, intelligent, sexy, sweet, compassionate, caring and the list goes on and on. Any guy will be lucky to have you. You don't have to look so hard; love will naturally come to you."
"That was sweet Chandler but it is easy for you to say that. First of all, you have a girlfriend, second, you have to say all those things because you're my friend and friends comfort each other." She said with a small grin.
" No Mon. I got a girlfriend by sheer luck. I'm more pathetic then you think. Like I have this like great woman who cares for me so much yet I can't commit to her! I'll probably blame the whole situation on her in the end. I just can't figure out what's missing! Is there something wrong with me? Could I be more pathetic! I don't even know why she went out with me in the first place. God! No woman would ever give me a second look. I'm a horrible, pathetic person." Okay maybe I overacted a bit. But it was all true. I found myself in Monica's arms. We were in a deep hug. It felt so good.
We stayed like that for like a few minutes then came apart. She looked directly in my eyes and I could feel some type of connection to her. It's like she wasn't just clean- freak Monica who was one of my best friends, but now, she was Monica who I had the hots for ever-since I laid eyes on her.
Then she whispered, "You are not a horrible person Chandler. You're just confused. You're the greatest guy in the world and I actually had a crush on you when I met you. You were…correction you are charming. If things don't work out with Gale, then you'll go on to another girl who will love you even more and you'll love her back."
"Thanks. Wait, you liked me, Wow! I didn't know. Well, since you confessed something, I will too. When I met you, I thought you were really hot!" She laughs a little and looks down. Then she looks up and our eyes were locked together. It was like if I stared long enough into them you could see into her soul. I realized then how close we were. Then she slowly moved in to kiss me. Right when our lips were close but not touching, Gale entered into my mind. Oh My God. I'm about to cheat on my girlfriend with my best friend. I know that if I kiss Monica then I won't want to stop. We'll end up sleeping together. Should I go for it or be faithful to my girl friend?
What will Chandler do? Will Chandler kiss Monica or will he back away and work on his relationship with Gale?
Like I said, this was my first fic. I need your feedback. If you say it was good then I'll make another chapter. If not then I'll leave it alone. I could really use constructive criticism.