Alright, I watched Pretty Woman and I thought it would be neat for a cross over type thingy, only what would have happened if something happened to Monica and well, she ended up on the streets. I know that there will be quite a few who will probably flame me, but oh well, such is life. This is just fic, and I am not going to do like NC-17 version of the fic. Although that may change. Maybe…
I am only barrowing the characters from the show, in short I do not own them, and putting them in like the movie idea.. Maybe that will make sense. But I tried to make it totally different in a way than the movie. SO if that offends any of you, you can stop reading now. You have been warned.
This takes place when Monica is 26, Phoebe is 29, Chandler is 28, Joey is 28, Rachel is 25, and Ross is 27. And it takes place back in the year 1997. Monica never met Chandler when he went to Thanksgiving at the Geller's. She left when she was 16 about a year and a half earlier. But that is getting way too ahead.
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Vegas Strip,
Las Vegas, NV
1 am
Monica Geller walked down the street to her usual corner with a cup of coffee. That was meant to keep her awake and keep her warm. The cold desert nights in Las Vegas can bite you to the bone. Of course her outfit didn't help her out any. She wore high heeled black boots that went up to her knees, a very short black mini skirt, a white tube top and a black leather jacket. She had a lot of makeup on and her hair that was went half way down her back and had split ends went down her back and was quickly washed and blow dried without having much done to it.
She sighed…not one customer all night. And here it was already one in the morning. Talk about slow. During this time when she was alone, she tried not to think back of how she ended up a hooker. But when it was this slow, she couldn't help thinking about it. It was inevitable.
Ten years ago, she was fifteen and a sophomore in high school when an old friend of the family raped her. Her mother blamed her and threw her out of the house. So she was on her own without anyone to turn to.
Before she left, her father, who had just arrived home from work and was in the driveway, somehow gave her all he had on him and told her to call if she needed any more help. She tried but her mother had the number changed. Ross, who didn't learn of the incident until it was too late, was away for his first year at college at the age of seventeen. He probably had his own family now. And he would not want to help her. Or so she thought.
For six years after her mother threw her out, she worked in retail or at a fast food shop. Or a waitress. But they were dead end jobs. And she almost couldn't make enough money to cover all the basics and rent. And a few times had to go and eat at a homeless shelter to get her next meal. And she had to be preached at. But that was the only way she could get something to eat.
Then one night when she turned 22, she went to a bar and got drunk. And ended up sleeping with a guy. The guy took her back to a hotel room and they had sex together. She woke up the next morning with a hangover, a paid hotel room, and a hundred dollars on the bedside table. She went to work that day, but getting chewed out, she quit right off and left. Only coming back to get her paycheck. Which she went and invested in some tight and skimpy clothes and makeup.
She then became a street walker after finding out that she could make more money in one night than she could working at a minimum wage job for a week. But one thing she did not do was get a pimp. That was the best thing she did, because no one owned her. And in three months she eventually saved up enough to get her from New York to Las Vegas.
She tried to become a show girl. And did for a while, but decided that she did not want that line of work. After a few incidences of her almost being raped. Then she tried stripping, but while she learned how to be flexible and some new moves, she quit after getting beat up by the owner of the club for her not giving him what he wanted, in short a part of her money she made. So she went back and became a street walker. That took place over period of three years. So she was now 25 going on 26.
Finally she drank down the last of her coffee. After the last drop was down her, a wind with a bite came up and went right through her. She was more than cold. Finally, she could take it no more. She decided to go inside to one of the casinos to warm up. She might get thrown out after a bit. But it still was better than freezing to death.
As soon as she arrived, she went to the bar to get herself a drink to chase away the chill. She ordered a bourbon and sat on the stool and sighed. Well, at least she was out of the cold and now was warm.
"Hi…is this seat taken?" A tall, sandy haired man with light blue eyes asked.
Monica looked at him. He was easy on the eyes. His sandy hair fell haphazardly across his forehead, and his eyes were the bluest blue that she had ever seen. Monica smiled. Maybe she could have one customer. "Help yourself."
He smiled. And Monica decided that his smile was the most gorgeous thing about him. "Thanks, Chandler Bing. I am into software." He held out his hand.
"Monica Geller. I am in public service or relations." Monica smiled. Or that should be hooker talk for turning tricks.
"Nice to meet you Ms. Geller." Chandler then turned his attention to the bar tender, "Uhmm…I'll have a brandy." The bartender gave him his drink.
"Let me guess you are not from around here." Monica asked aloud.
"Is it that obvious?" Chandler asked before he sipped his drink.
"Well…there is a convention here. I was thinking that is why you are here." Monica explained.
"I am here to clear up some business with my father." Chandler sighed aloud. After a bit, they started to talk a bit more. Chandler found Monica to be a very nice very intelligent conversationalist. Monica found Chandler to be a gentleman. And someone that she always wished for in a husband when she was growing up.
After a bit when they where down to their last cup of coffee, Chandler asked to drive Monica home. Monica knowing that her place was in a very bad part of town and that he would know right off who and what she was turned him down. She got up to leave. She wanted to leave him thinking that that was not what she did for a living, in a messed up way.
She looked at Chandler, seeing him looking down. "Look, I really want to thank you for spending this time with me. You are really a sweet gentleman. You almost made me feel like a lady. And I thank you." She then kissed him on the side of the face and smiled.
Chandler looked deeply into her eyes. "Hey, look, it is late, I have an extra room and you can come up and stay with me. I mean there is an extra bed."
Monica sighed and then smiled and shook her head yes. Well she should have known that the guy was too good to be true. Since he was so good looking, it would more than likely be enjoyable for her. He then took her to the elevator and they arrived at the top floor or the penthouse suite. He then opened the door with a key card and showed her into the room.
It consisted of a bar, a living room with a huge comfortable couch and a giant screen TV with a VCR, a dining room, and two other rooms and what looked to be doors to a balcony. Chandler went and turned on the TV and invited Monica to sit down beside him. She sighed a bit and went and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders. And they watched a funny movie together.
"Would you like something to eat?" Chandler asked, looking at Monica.
Monica dragged her attention from the TV and looked at Chandler. "Uh, no thanks." A bit later, Monica fell asleep on Chandler's chest and Chandler picked her up and took her to the extra bedroom and laid her on the bed and took off her boots and tucked her into the covers.
The next morning, Chandler looked in on his 'guest'. She was still asleep. He smiled and went and ordered breakfast. Well he ordered numerous items for breakfast.
When the breakfast items arrived, Monica who was still in bed and just woke up, stretched, looked down and realized that she was still dressed and that nothing happened last night. Yup, that guy was a gentleman. She wished that things could be different and that she could be his girlfriend. She would never take him for granted and would be there for him no matter what. She sighed. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. Or so the old, before cars, saying goes.
Just then the door opened up and he smiled at her. Her heart skipped a beat. "Good you are up. Uhm.. I ordered breakfast."
Monica smiled, "Thanks." She then climbed out of the bed and followed him toward the dining room. On the table was coffee, orange juice, eggs, toast, bacon, cereal, sausage, pancakes, milk and some fruit. "Wow. I can't eat all of this."
Chandler shrugged as he started doing his work. "Just eat what you want."
"Do you mind if we talk a bit?" Monica asked.
"No. Talk away." Chandler replied back. As he read a report.
"I see that you make pretty good. I mean the penthouse suite." Monica started. While eating and looking around. She was not used to hotel rooms this nice.
"I guess I do ok. I mean I do own my own company." Chandler replied and continued to look over some of his records.
"I bet your father is proud of you." Monica committed. Taking a bite out of a sausage.
"My dad can rot in hell as far as I am concerned. He is more into his gay burlesque show and his lover, Bernardo, anyway." Chandler continued to look at his records not even bothering to look up. "To answer your next question, I was here in Vegas because my dad asked to see me about some important matter. You see he left me and my mom for his gay lover when I was 9. And I thought that he wanted to bury the hatchet. Well, what he wanted was a loan because his 'show' is about ready to go under. I told him to take a hike."
Monica blushed, "Oh, sorry." She thought that she heard everything, until now that is. "I see, because of a lack of a ring, that you are not married, and I don't think that you are engaged. Do you have a girlfriend?"
Chandler looked up and studied her through his glasses. "No. I am married to my job. But to answer the question that you are bluntly about ready to ask, I am straight. Don't worry I get asked that question a lot. Thanks to my father. And you?"
"Well, I am straight as an arrow. Although, I have been asked the same question. Probably under different circumstances. But just like you, I am married to my profession." Monica stated as she took a bite of some bacon. Not really willing to tell what it is.
"So which is that again?" Chandler asked looking at her.
"Public relations." Monica skirted the issue. She had no idea why. She then ate some of her waffles with syrup.
Chandler then looked over at Monica carefully. He noted her clothes and her smudged makeup. "Let me tell you a bit about me. I am 26 years old and own a multi million almost billion dollar company which I started three years ago. Or actually, I bought out a struggling almost bankrupt company and turned it around. From making many different products to making software and virtual reality games. That was right after I graduated from college. In short that was eight years ago, when computers were brand new and the name of Bill Gates was not a household name. I saw potential for the company and knew that the company would take off as well as the products. Now, what sort of PR work do you do? With companies or with people?"
Monica looked down at the table and played with her food. "Well…you could say with people."
"Exactly what kind of PR work?" Chandler asked.
"I am a prostitute. Ok? But you already guessed that. I should go." She looked up with a sadness in her eyes that Chandler had never seen before. "Well…for one night, I could pretend that I wasn't one. I mean thanks to you I felt like I was a lady because you treated me like one. You are the only man to ever have done that, besides my father and brother. You see, I have been walking the streets for two years. Been a showgirl for one year and a stripper for one as well. Ever since I was fifteen when my mom threw me out after I told her that an old family friend of mine had raped me, and while rape is bad, this one was worse. I am really embarrassed to talk about it, and it hurts, so I can not tell anymore. But, anyway, out on my own, I worked as a waitress or in retail like a department store or at a burger joint taking orders and flipping burgers, one time I was even a janitor or a custodian. Then on my 22nd birthday I got drunk and well, that was it. I guess my mom was right about me all along." Monica shrugged her shoulders. "You see no one really wanted me. And no one ever will." Monica smiled weakly at Chandler. "Well, I guess my dream time is over, huh? I got to get back to the real world. But it was nice to dream. I have never met a real gentleman before. And I really do wish you the best. Now I guess I had better go." Monica then got up and went to get her boots that were still in the bedroom on and to leave.
"Please stay." Chandler then put his hand on top of hers and pulled her back down. "So tell me a bit about yourself."
"Are you nuts?" Monica asked. "No man has ever wanted anything more from me than my certain services."
"Well, I am never alright. That is the first thing you ought to know about me. So I guess you could say that I am nuts. Or I just like things different." Chandler explained.
"Ok, what do you want to know about me?" Monica asked.
"Any kids?" Chandler asked. "Whoops sorry, too personal."
"Nope, that is alright it is just me. And the rest of me and my family and me are not speaking to one another." Monica explained.
"I understand that. It sounds like it is the same thing with my family. My mom is an erotic romance novelist." Chandler looked at Monica who was trying her hardest not to laugh. "And she also likes bringing home men that are way younger than me. It gets annoying after a while. And I already told you about my dad." Chandler sighed out throwing down his pencil. He then also dug in as well.
As they were eating, there was a knock at the door. He got up and answered it. "Joey, Phoebe you both made it just in time for breakfast!" He then led them in. "Oh, Monica, this is Phoebe Buffay and Joey Tribianni. Phoebe is my secretary and masseuse and Joey is my driver and he also stakes out what is going on before I arrive in a city not to mention my best friend." Phoebe and Joey both shook her hand.
"So where did you two meet each other?" Joey asked looking at Monica and the way she was dressed. He had a sneaking suspicion.
"We met in the bar downstairs." Chandler explained. As he went and sat back down. He really did not want to tell them anymore about her and thought it was none of their businesses. Phoebe and Joey joined them for breakfast.
"So what do you do, Monica?" Phoebe asked.
"You are going to have to excuse my friends. They are a little protective of me since my last girlfriend." Chandler explained to Monica. Then to Phoebe and Joey. "She is in public relations."
Phoebe and Joey looked at each other. Joey looked down hard at Monica. "I just bet you are." Joey was not going to let anything bad happen to Chandler again. He was the one who was there g=for him when they went to strip bars and to regular bars and he was the one who took Chandler home when he was too drunk to move that it hurt. He was the one who dried him out and listened to him whine.
"What is your problem, Joe?" Chandler demanded.
"Public relations her style means that she is a hooker. Are we right." Phoebe directed at Monica. And she was also there when he got hurt as well. And she was also going to fight to keep him from getting hurt.
Monica played with her food, not looking up. She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Chandler sat back in his chair, "Alright guys, that is enough and she is my guest. She is nice, smart and a complete opposite to be around than Janice and Kathy. SO please be on your best behaviors."
"No, that is alright. Thanks anyway. I mean for treating me like a lady. You are a really sweet guy and a gentleman, something that I haven't had much of a chance to meet. Forget that, I haven't met a gentleman since I left home. And that gentleman I am talking about is my father. I hope that you get everything that you want out of this life. I had better go." Monica then got up from the table and ran to the bedroom to get her boots. Hoping that hey wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. This was a first for her, someone actually fighting FOR her, instead of OVER her.
Chandler's gaze followed her to the bedroom, while Phoebe and Joey looked guiltily at each other. They both felt awful for the poor girl. "Phoebe, I want you to take Monica shopping and to get her a make over and the whole deal. Can you do that for me?" Chandler asked as he looked over at Phoebe.
Phoebe looked quickly at Joey both of them knowing that he was up to something. "Sure. You want me to make appointments for her to get her hair fixed, pedicures, manicures, makeovers, new clothes, everything? May I ask why?"
"I am not going to leave her like this. There is something else about her that I can not put my finger on, but I have this feeling…" Chandler left off with. He took his glasses off and bit his thumbnail when he was busy thinking.
Joey and Phoebe looked at each other and groaned. They knew that when Chandler would get a feeling, it would be either expensive or he would end up getting hurt or both. They hoped that it would be none of thee above. But if it had to be one, then hopefully it would be expensive.
Chandler then got up and stopped Monica at the door. "Don't go." Chandler then smiled, he knew a way to get her to stay. " I am going to go to my class reunion in a few weeks and I will hire you to say that you are my fiancé. Any price that you want. And that also includes other benefits, food, like plays, concerts and trips to different areas. And new clothes. So you might say I have a business proposition for you. I mean how about it?"
Monica stood there looking at him like he lost his mind. She then directed her next question at Joey and Phoebe. "Does he do this a lot?"
"Well…yes." Joey informed her.
"How much?" Chandler asked once again. He started to reach for his checkbook.
"Uh, what would I have to do?" Monica asked.
"Say that you are my fiancé and be at my beck and call as such. You know say that we have just met, when we were in Vegas. You on vacation and me to see my father. You can choose out any profession that you want. I mean Public Relations might be the best way to go. And we met in the bar. And well, we hit it off. And then ended up engaged. What do you think. I believe the closer we stay to the truth the better. And then I would want you to accompany me to shows, the Knicks, plays, dinner and of course the reunion." Chandler explained as easily as he would a new computer game.
"For how long would it be?" Monica was floored.
Chandler thought a bit and then grinned. "A whole month. Maybe more."
Joey and Phoebe looked at each other and moaned. This was a recipe for disaster and they both knew it. But Chandler was too stubborn to see it.
"A whole month? Uh…night and day? Beck and call? Let's say an even $800 a day and for 30 days. That will be $24,000 for an entire month." Monica thought that he would never be able to swing that. Oh and if we kiss each other $400 extra a day." Monica explained. "It is too personal otherwise. In short it is an occupational hazard. SO it will be $25,250 a month total."
"Ok, done." Chandler agreed. Monica hesitated a moment and then shook his extended hand.
Joey turned toward Phoebe and said. "It is going to be a long month."
"Well, Phoebes…what are you doing standing around for? Make those appointments. You have to hurry. I want her with a new wardrobe and make over before the end of the day. Joey, I want you to get the jaguar ready to go to take Phoebe and Monica to those shops they will need to go to. I also need it all done by three o' clock today. Do not worry about me, I have to get some more research on that deal done." Phoebe went to the phone and called the hotel operator and explained her what she wanted and where to go. In short to make over a young lady. The hotel operator volunteered to make the calls herself and get them into the places they needed to go, even though they did not have appointments. Joey went to get the car. Chandler turned toward Monica, " I want you to go with Phoebe and to do what they tell you to. To all of you, be back here by four o'clock. And Phoebe, be sure and swing an extra ticket to the concert tonight and the restaurant."
"Anymore of the impossible you want me to accomplish?" Phoebe asked Chandler.
"Take the rest of the weekend off and rest assured that raise I have been promising you will be in your next paycheck." Chandler informed Phoebe.
"That makes it a lot easier." Phoebe then called the box office to get another sold out U2 concert ticket and added another person to the dinner reservations. But she knew that Chandler would end up needing her before the end of the weekend. He always would. And then give her a raise. Because of Chandler she had a very good little nest egg set back. Since she did not have to spend a lot of money, the benefits with the job included clothes, food and lodging not to mention a great health insurance plan. Chandler knew how to treat his employees really well. And that included her and Joey. Well, for her it was ok, she did not have any family to speak of, so it was ok. But Joey did. And Chandler always insisted on him going to see his family when he could. Joey's job also had allowances for clothes and food and lodging and also benefits for not only himself but his family which included medical benefits and college if they wanted to so go. That helped him and his father and mother out he had a lot of sisters. And Joey always sent money home to the family so they could have enough.
Thirty minutes later, they were in the car and driving toward the first appointment, which was at a designer clothes store. She had numerous designs paraded in front of her and Phoebe choose out designs which she thought that she would look good in and which ones that she saw that she liked. And ones which the color would also look good on her.
Finally, after a bit, when Monica had been measured, they left and went and got her a whole body makeover and massage. Which included a hair cut, an herbal wrap, electrolysis, and a mud bath and then a mineral bath. That took about three hours. They then bought her some make up that made her face look natural and did not cover it up. Just accentuate it. They took her to a doctor so she could have a doctor's appointment or a check up. Which went well. They then went back to the clothes shop and tried some outfits on her and choose out what they wanted her to have. Which included different clothes and shoes and other garments. And left with plenty of parcels, packages, and bags.
On their way back in the car, Joey stopped the car and turned to Monica. "I really do not care what you do as your profession, just do not hurt Chandler in any way shape or form. Got that? He has taken enough crap from his parents to his former girlfriends. And Phoebe and I do not want him hurt anymore than what he has already been hurt." Joey then turned the car back on and they arrived at the hotel.
They then arrived at the hotel room. Chandler was just finishing a phone call. And looked up. "Alright, now go and get dressed into something nice, yet comfortable enough to wear to the concert."
And hour and a half later, Monica walked back in the room wearing a nice top and blue jeans and comfortable shoes. Her hair was cut two inches below her shoulders and she had a light amount of make up on. And she looked anything but a hooker.
Chandler who was talking to Joey and Phoebe looked up and gasped. She certainly looked different. Joey and Phoebe couldn't believe it either. She looked totally different. It was amazing just what a change of clothes could do to change an outlook on a person. They then left.
All four of them enjoyed the concert and dinner that night. And talked for a good long while. Chandler and a bit of Phoebe would talk to Monica, Joey would hardly ever give her the time of day. Soon, with her insight on events and jokes, Chandler felt he could open up to her in a way that he never did with some of his former girlfriends. Phoebe was even starting to change her opinion about her, not all the way, just enough. But Joey still thought of her as the enemy.
The next day, before they left, Chandler took her down to a jeweler's store and asked her which ring that she thought was the most beautiful and which she would want to be presented with if someone asked her to marry her. She looked over the many different rings and saw gorgeous ostentatious diamond engagement rings. But to her diamonds were just diamonds. While they were pretty, they were too common and too plain and everyday. And well, if she got married she wanted something a little different, something out of the ordinary.
While she was looking a saleslady approached her and asked if she could help her. "Do you have anything else in the way of an engagement ring. I mean the selection you have is nice, but, just diamonds. That is too ordinary." Monica explained not wanting to give her any trouble.
"Of course we have different styles and different stones. Here let me get them out." The lady then turned around to get another case.
"I am sorry if I am being too much trouble." Monica offered. She remembered how hard it was to work in retail.
The lady smiled. "Oh, you are not. Actually, Miss I just wish more customers could be more like you." She then presented a case of rings to Monica. There were pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and many others.
"Oh they are beautiful!" Monica breathed and then looked them over. They were all so beautiful. Finally, after trying them on, she narrowed it down to two. She found she was having a hard time trying to decide between a ruby with diamonds around it or a diamond with two sapphires around it.
Seeing that Monica was trying her best to decide on which to buy, the lady decided to help her out. "Rubies mean deep passion and lust, while sapphires mean loyalty and trust."
That seemed to seal the deal and Monica tried on the sapphire one again and smiled. It was really not as gaudy as the ruby one, but it was perfect, to her anyway. Monica sighed longingly, in her wildest dreams the perfect man would get down on his knee and propose to her and they would have a house and live in the suburbs then would have plenty of kids.
Chandler seeing her expression on her face and seeing how elegant and beautiful it was, "We'll take this one." He then gave his credit card to the lady and she rang up the sale.
As they were walking out, Monica turned too Chandler. "Why did you do that?"
"I wanted you to get a ring that you would have wanted to have as an engagement ring." Chandler replied.
"Where were you when I was just turning fifteen?" Monica mumbled.
"Going to an all boy's boarding school." Chandler replied. "It is a long story, I will tell you later."
Later on that day. Chandler, Joey, Phoebe and Monica all boarded a private plane to NY. Chandler and Joey both flew it there. While Phoebe and Monica talked in the back. Monica found Phoebe to be a fun conservationist and just plain nice to be around. Phoebe was changing her opinion of Monica.
She could see that Monica was a really a nice person that already thought the world of Chandler. And she could tell that would never hurt him. While Chandler had a fun and happy go lucky streak , Monica had a realistic and sobering view on life. In short hey would be great for one another. It would take a while for them to see it. And she did not know if it all would turn out. But, they were perfect for one another.
A month was all it should take at the most. If not even that. The only problem she saw was Joey. Chandler was not only his employer but also his best friend and closest thing to a brother that he had. And he would fight Monica to keep her from hurting him. Well, they were going to New York City. Hopefully, he would be visiting his relatives. And she could start to nudge Monica and Chandler together.
She did not come to that conclusion all at one, it took the whole flight before she saw what needed to be done. And that was five hours. When they landed the wheels were in motion to get them together, subtly.
I am only barrowing the characters from the show, in short I do not own them, and putting them in like the movie idea.. Maybe that will make sense. But I tried to make it totally different in a way than the movie. SO if that offends any of you, you can stop reading now. You have been warned.
This takes place when Monica is 26, Phoebe is 29, Chandler is 28, Joey is 28, Rachel is 25, and Ross is 27. And it takes place back in the year 1997. Monica never met Chandler when he went to Thanksgiving at the Geller's. She left when she was 16 about a year and a half earlier. But that is getting way too ahead.
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Vegas Strip,
Las Vegas, NV
1 am
Monica Geller walked down the street to her usual corner with a cup of coffee. That was meant to keep her awake and keep her warm. The cold desert nights in Las Vegas can bite you to the bone. Of course her outfit didn't help her out any. She wore high heeled black boots that went up to her knees, a very short black mini skirt, a white tube top and a black leather jacket. She had a lot of makeup on and her hair that was went half way down her back and had split ends went down her back and was quickly washed and blow dried without having much done to it.
She sighed…not one customer all night. And here it was already one in the morning. Talk about slow. During this time when she was alone, she tried not to think back of how she ended up a hooker. But when it was this slow, she couldn't help thinking about it. It was inevitable.
Ten years ago, she was fifteen and a sophomore in high school when an old friend of the family raped her. Her mother blamed her and threw her out of the house. So she was on her own without anyone to turn to.
Before she left, her father, who had just arrived home from work and was in the driveway, somehow gave her all he had on him and told her to call if she needed any more help. She tried but her mother had the number changed. Ross, who didn't learn of the incident until it was too late, was away for his first year at college at the age of seventeen. He probably had his own family now. And he would not want to help her. Or so she thought.
For six years after her mother threw her out, she worked in retail or at a fast food shop. Or a waitress. But they were dead end jobs. And she almost couldn't make enough money to cover all the basics and rent. And a few times had to go and eat at a homeless shelter to get her next meal. And she had to be preached at. But that was the only way she could get something to eat.
Then one night when she turned 22, she went to a bar and got drunk. And ended up sleeping with a guy. The guy took her back to a hotel room and they had sex together. She woke up the next morning with a hangover, a paid hotel room, and a hundred dollars on the bedside table. She went to work that day, but getting chewed out, she quit right off and left. Only coming back to get her paycheck. Which she went and invested in some tight and skimpy clothes and makeup.
She then became a street walker after finding out that she could make more money in one night than she could working at a minimum wage job for a week. But one thing she did not do was get a pimp. That was the best thing she did, because no one owned her. And in three months she eventually saved up enough to get her from New York to Las Vegas.
She tried to become a show girl. And did for a while, but decided that she did not want that line of work. After a few incidences of her almost being raped. Then she tried stripping, but while she learned how to be flexible and some new moves, she quit after getting beat up by the owner of the club for her not giving him what he wanted, in short a part of her money she made. So she went back and became a street walker. That took place over period of three years. So she was now 25 going on 26.
Finally she drank down the last of her coffee. After the last drop was down her, a wind with a bite came up and went right through her. She was more than cold. Finally, she could take it no more. She decided to go inside to one of the casinos to warm up. She might get thrown out after a bit. But it still was better than freezing to death.
As soon as she arrived, she went to the bar to get herself a drink to chase away the chill. She ordered a bourbon and sat on the stool and sighed. Well, at least she was out of the cold and now was warm.
"Hi…is this seat taken?" A tall, sandy haired man with light blue eyes asked.
Monica looked at him. He was easy on the eyes. His sandy hair fell haphazardly across his forehead, and his eyes were the bluest blue that she had ever seen. Monica smiled. Maybe she could have one customer. "Help yourself."
He smiled. And Monica decided that his smile was the most gorgeous thing about him. "Thanks, Chandler Bing. I am into software." He held out his hand.
"Monica Geller. I am in public service or relations." Monica smiled. Or that should be hooker talk for turning tricks.
"Nice to meet you Ms. Geller." Chandler then turned his attention to the bar tender, "Uhmm…I'll have a brandy." The bartender gave him his drink.
"Let me guess you are not from around here." Monica asked aloud.
"Is it that obvious?" Chandler asked before he sipped his drink.
"Well…there is a convention here. I was thinking that is why you are here." Monica explained.
"I am here to clear up some business with my father." Chandler sighed aloud. After a bit, they started to talk a bit more. Chandler found Monica to be a very nice very intelligent conversationalist. Monica found Chandler to be a gentleman. And someone that she always wished for in a husband when she was growing up.
After a bit when they where down to their last cup of coffee, Chandler asked to drive Monica home. Monica knowing that her place was in a very bad part of town and that he would know right off who and what she was turned him down. She got up to leave. She wanted to leave him thinking that that was not what she did for a living, in a messed up way.
She looked at Chandler, seeing him looking down. "Look, I really want to thank you for spending this time with me. You are really a sweet gentleman. You almost made me feel like a lady. And I thank you." She then kissed him on the side of the face and smiled.
Chandler looked deeply into her eyes. "Hey, look, it is late, I have an extra room and you can come up and stay with me. I mean there is an extra bed."
Monica sighed and then smiled and shook her head yes. Well she should have known that the guy was too good to be true. Since he was so good looking, it would more than likely be enjoyable for her. He then took her to the elevator and they arrived at the top floor or the penthouse suite. He then opened the door with a key card and showed her into the room.
It consisted of a bar, a living room with a huge comfortable couch and a giant screen TV with a VCR, a dining room, and two other rooms and what looked to be doors to a balcony. Chandler went and turned on the TV and invited Monica to sit down beside him. She sighed a bit and went and sat down beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders. And they watched a funny movie together.
"Would you like something to eat?" Chandler asked, looking at Monica.
Monica dragged her attention from the TV and looked at Chandler. "Uh, no thanks." A bit later, Monica fell asleep on Chandler's chest and Chandler picked her up and took her to the extra bedroom and laid her on the bed and took off her boots and tucked her into the covers.
The next morning, Chandler looked in on his 'guest'. She was still asleep. He smiled and went and ordered breakfast. Well he ordered numerous items for breakfast.
When the breakfast items arrived, Monica who was still in bed and just woke up, stretched, looked down and realized that she was still dressed and that nothing happened last night. Yup, that guy was a gentleman. She wished that things could be different and that she could be his girlfriend. She would never take him for granted and would be there for him no matter what. She sighed. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride. Or so the old, before cars, saying goes.
Just then the door opened up and he smiled at her. Her heart skipped a beat. "Good you are up. Uhm.. I ordered breakfast."
Monica smiled, "Thanks." She then climbed out of the bed and followed him toward the dining room. On the table was coffee, orange juice, eggs, toast, bacon, cereal, sausage, pancakes, milk and some fruit. "Wow. I can't eat all of this."
Chandler shrugged as he started doing his work. "Just eat what you want."
"Do you mind if we talk a bit?" Monica asked.
"No. Talk away." Chandler replied back. As he read a report.
"I see that you make pretty good. I mean the penthouse suite." Monica started. While eating and looking around. She was not used to hotel rooms this nice.
"I guess I do ok. I mean I do own my own company." Chandler replied and continued to look over some of his records.
"I bet your father is proud of you." Monica committed. Taking a bite out of a sausage.
"My dad can rot in hell as far as I am concerned. He is more into his gay burlesque show and his lover, Bernardo, anyway." Chandler continued to look at his records not even bothering to look up. "To answer your next question, I was here in Vegas because my dad asked to see me about some important matter. You see he left me and my mom for his gay lover when I was 9. And I thought that he wanted to bury the hatchet. Well, what he wanted was a loan because his 'show' is about ready to go under. I told him to take a hike."
Monica blushed, "Oh, sorry." She thought that she heard everything, until now that is. "I see, because of a lack of a ring, that you are not married, and I don't think that you are engaged. Do you have a girlfriend?"
Chandler looked up and studied her through his glasses. "No. I am married to my job. But to answer the question that you are bluntly about ready to ask, I am straight. Don't worry I get asked that question a lot. Thanks to my father. And you?"
"Well, I am straight as an arrow. Although, I have been asked the same question. Probably under different circumstances. But just like you, I am married to my profession." Monica stated as she took a bite of some bacon. Not really willing to tell what it is.
"So which is that again?" Chandler asked looking at her.
"Public relations." Monica skirted the issue. She had no idea why. She then ate some of her waffles with syrup.
Chandler then looked over at Monica carefully. He noted her clothes and her smudged makeup. "Let me tell you a bit about me. I am 26 years old and own a multi million almost billion dollar company which I started three years ago. Or actually, I bought out a struggling almost bankrupt company and turned it around. From making many different products to making software and virtual reality games. That was right after I graduated from college. In short that was eight years ago, when computers were brand new and the name of Bill Gates was not a household name. I saw potential for the company and knew that the company would take off as well as the products. Now, what sort of PR work do you do? With companies or with people?"
Monica looked down at the table and played with her food. "Well…you could say with people."
"Exactly what kind of PR work?" Chandler asked.
"I am a prostitute. Ok? But you already guessed that. I should go." She looked up with a sadness in her eyes that Chandler had never seen before. "Well…for one night, I could pretend that I wasn't one. I mean thanks to you I felt like I was a lady because you treated me like one. You are the only man to ever have done that, besides my father and brother. You see, I have been walking the streets for two years. Been a showgirl for one year and a stripper for one as well. Ever since I was fifteen when my mom threw me out after I told her that an old family friend of mine had raped me, and while rape is bad, this one was worse. I am really embarrassed to talk about it, and it hurts, so I can not tell anymore. But, anyway, out on my own, I worked as a waitress or in retail like a department store or at a burger joint taking orders and flipping burgers, one time I was even a janitor or a custodian. Then on my 22nd birthday I got drunk and well, that was it. I guess my mom was right about me all along." Monica shrugged her shoulders. "You see no one really wanted me. And no one ever will." Monica smiled weakly at Chandler. "Well, I guess my dream time is over, huh? I got to get back to the real world. But it was nice to dream. I have never met a real gentleman before. And I really do wish you the best. Now I guess I had better go." Monica then got up and went to get her boots that were still in the bedroom on and to leave.
"Please stay." Chandler then put his hand on top of hers and pulled her back down. "So tell me a bit about yourself."
"Are you nuts?" Monica asked. "No man has ever wanted anything more from me than my certain services."
"Well, I am never alright. That is the first thing you ought to know about me. So I guess you could say that I am nuts. Or I just like things different." Chandler explained.
"Ok, what do you want to know about me?" Monica asked.
"Any kids?" Chandler asked. "Whoops sorry, too personal."
"Nope, that is alright it is just me. And the rest of me and my family and me are not speaking to one another." Monica explained.
"I understand that. It sounds like it is the same thing with my family. My mom is an erotic romance novelist." Chandler looked at Monica who was trying her hardest not to laugh. "And she also likes bringing home men that are way younger than me. It gets annoying after a while. And I already told you about my dad." Chandler sighed out throwing down his pencil. He then also dug in as well.
As they were eating, there was a knock at the door. He got up and answered it. "Joey, Phoebe you both made it just in time for breakfast!" He then led them in. "Oh, Monica, this is Phoebe Buffay and Joey Tribianni. Phoebe is my secretary and masseuse and Joey is my driver and he also stakes out what is going on before I arrive in a city not to mention my best friend." Phoebe and Joey both shook her hand.
"So where did you two meet each other?" Joey asked looking at Monica and the way she was dressed. He had a sneaking suspicion.
"We met in the bar downstairs." Chandler explained. As he went and sat back down. He really did not want to tell them anymore about her and thought it was none of their businesses. Phoebe and Joey joined them for breakfast.
"So what do you do, Monica?" Phoebe asked.
"You are going to have to excuse my friends. They are a little protective of me since my last girlfriend." Chandler explained to Monica. Then to Phoebe and Joey. "She is in public relations."
Phoebe and Joey looked at each other. Joey looked down hard at Monica. "I just bet you are." Joey was not going to let anything bad happen to Chandler again. He was the one who was there g=for him when they went to strip bars and to regular bars and he was the one who took Chandler home when he was too drunk to move that it hurt. He was the one who dried him out and listened to him whine.
"What is your problem, Joe?" Chandler demanded.
"Public relations her style means that she is a hooker. Are we right." Phoebe directed at Monica. And she was also there when he got hurt as well. And she was also going to fight to keep him from getting hurt.
Monica played with her food, not looking up. She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. Chandler sat back in his chair, "Alright guys, that is enough and she is my guest. She is nice, smart and a complete opposite to be around than Janice and Kathy. SO please be on your best behaviors."
"No, that is alright. Thanks anyway. I mean for treating me like a lady. You are a really sweet guy and a gentleman, something that I haven't had much of a chance to meet. Forget that, I haven't met a gentleman since I left home. And that gentleman I am talking about is my father. I hope that you get everything that you want out of this life. I had better go." Monica then got up from the table and ran to the bedroom to get her boots. Hoping that hey wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. This was a first for her, someone actually fighting FOR her, instead of OVER her.
Chandler's gaze followed her to the bedroom, while Phoebe and Joey looked guiltily at each other. They both felt awful for the poor girl. "Phoebe, I want you to take Monica shopping and to get her a make over and the whole deal. Can you do that for me?" Chandler asked as he looked over at Phoebe.
Phoebe looked quickly at Joey both of them knowing that he was up to something. "Sure. You want me to make appointments for her to get her hair fixed, pedicures, manicures, makeovers, new clothes, everything? May I ask why?"
"I am not going to leave her like this. There is something else about her that I can not put my finger on, but I have this feeling…" Chandler left off with. He took his glasses off and bit his thumbnail when he was busy thinking.
Joey and Phoebe looked at each other and groaned. They knew that when Chandler would get a feeling, it would be either expensive or he would end up getting hurt or both. They hoped that it would be none of thee above. But if it had to be one, then hopefully it would be expensive.
Chandler then got up and stopped Monica at the door. "Don't go." Chandler then smiled, he knew a way to get her to stay. " I am going to go to my class reunion in a few weeks and I will hire you to say that you are my fiancé. Any price that you want. And that also includes other benefits, food, like plays, concerts and trips to different areas. And new clothes. So you might say I have a business proposition for you. I mean how about it?"
Monica stood there looking at him like he lost his mind. She then directed her next question at Joey and Phoebe. "Does he do this a lot?"
"Well…yes." Joey informed her.
"How much?" Chandler asked once again. He started to reach for his checkbook.
"Uh, what would I have to do?" Monica asked.
"Say that you are my fiancé and be at my beck and call as such. You know say that we have just met, when we were in Vegas. You on vacation and me to see my father. You can choose out any profession that you want. I mean Public Relations might be the best way to go. And we met in the bar. And well, we hit it off. And then ended up engaged. What do you think. I believe the closer we stay to the truth the better. And then I would want you to accompany me to shows, the Knicks, plays, dinner and of course the reunion." Chandler explained as easily as he would a new computer game.
"For how long would it be?" Monica was floored.
Chandler thought a bit and then grinned. "A whole month. Maybe more."
Joey and Phoebe looked at each other and moaned. This was a recipe for disaster and they both knew it. But Chandler was too stubborn to see it.
"A whole month? Uh…night and day? Beck and call? Let's say an even $800 a day and for 30 days. That will be $24,000 for an entire month." Monica thought that he would never be able to swing that. Oh and if we kiss each other $400 extra a day." Monica explained. "It is too personal otherwise. In short it is an occupational hazard. SO it will be $25,250 a month total."
"Ok, done." Chandler agreed. Monica hesitated a moment and then shook his extended hand.
Joey turned toward Phoebe and said. "It is going to be a long month."
"Well, Phoebes…what are you doing standing around for? Make those appointments. You have to hurry. I want her with a new wardrobe and make over before the end of the day. Joey, I want you to get the jaguar ready to go to take Phoebe and Monica to those shops they will need to go to. I also need it all done by three o' clock today. Do not worry about me, I have to get some more research on that deal done." Phoebe went to the phone and called the hotel operator and explained her what she wanted and where to go. In short to make over a young lady. The hotel operator volunteered to make the calls herself and get them into the places they needed to go, even though they did not have appointments. Joey went to get the car. Chandler turned toward Monica, " I want you to go with Phoebe and to do what they tell you to. To all of you, be back here by four o'clock. And Phoebe, be sure and swing an extra ticket to the concert tonight and the restaurant."
"Anymore of the impossible you want me to accomplish?" Phoebe asked Chandler.
"Take the rest of the weekend off and rest assured that raise I have been promising you will be in your next paycheck." Chandler informed Phoebe.
"That makes it a lot easier." Phoebe then called the box office to get another sold out U2 concert ticket and added another person to the dinner reservations. But she knew that Chandler would end up needing her before the end of the weekend. He always would. And then give her a raise. Because of Chandler she had a very good little nest egg set back. Since she did not have to spend a lot of money, the benefits with the job included clothes, food and lodging not to mention a great health insurance plan. Chandler knew how to treat his employees really well. And that included her and Joey. Well, for her it was ok, she did not have any family to speak of, so it was ok. But Joey did. And Chandler always insisted on him going to see his family when he could. Joey's job also had allowances for clothes and food and lodging and also benefits for not only himself but his family which included medical benefits and college if they wanted to so go. That helped him and his father and mother out he had a lot of sisters. And Joey always sent money home to the family so they could have enough.
Thirty minutes later, they were in the car and driving toward the first appointment, which was at a designer clothes store. She had numerous designs paraded in front of her and Phoebe choose out designs which she thought that she would look good in and which ones that she saw that she liked. And ones which the color would also look good on her.
Finally, after a bit, when Monica had been measured, they left and went and got her a whole body makeover and massage. Which included a hair cut, an herbal wrap, electrolysis, and a mud bath and then a mineral bath. That took about three hours. They then bought her some make up that made her face look natural and did not cover it up. Just accentuate it. They took her to a doctor so she could have a doctor's appointment or a check up. Which went well. They then went back to the clothes shop and tried some outfits on her and choose out what they wanted her to have. Which included different clothes and shoes and other garments. And left with plenty of parcels, packages, and bags.
On their way back in the car, Joey stopped the car and turned to Monica. "I really do not care what you do as your profession, just do not hurt Chandler in any way shape or form. Got that? He has taken enough crap from his parents to his former girlfriends. And Phoebe and I do not want him hurt anymore than what he has already been hurt." Joey then turned the car back on and they arrived at the hotel.
They then arrived at the hotel room. Chandler was just finishing a phone call. And looked up. "Alright, now go and get dressed into something nice, yet comfortable enough to wear to the concert."
And hour and a half later, Monica walked back in the room wearing a nice top and blue jeans and comfortable shoes. Her hair was cut two inches below her shoulders and she had a light amount of make up on. And she looked anything but a hooker.
Chandler who was talking to Joey and Phoebe looked up and gasped. She certainly looked different. Joey and Phoebe couldn't believe it either. She looked totally different. It was amazing just what a change of clothes could do to change an outlook on a person. They then left.
All four of them enjoyed the concert and dinner that night. And talked for a good long while. Chandler and a bit of Phoebe would talk to Monica, Joey would hardly ever give her the time of day. Soon, with her insight on events and jokes, Chandler felt he could open up to her in a way that he never did with some of his former girlfriends. Phoebe was even starting to change her opinion about her, not all the way, just enough. But Joey still thought of her as the enemy.
The next day, before they left, Chandler took her down to a jeweler's store and asked her which ring that she thought was the most beautiful and which she would want to be presented with if someone asked her to marry her. She looked over the many different rings and saw gorgeous ostentatious diamond engagement rings. But to her diamonds were just diamonds. While they were pretty, they were too common and too plain and everyday. And well, if she got married she wanted something a little different, something out of the ordinary.
While she was looking a saleslady approached her and asked if she could help her. "Do you have anything else in the way of an engagement ring. I mean the selection you have is nice, but, just diamonds. That is too ordinary." Monica explained not wanting to give her any trouble.
"Of course we have different styles and different stones. Here let me get them out." The lady then turned around to get another case.
"I am sorry if I am being too much trouble." Monica offered. She remembered how hard it was to work in retail.
The lady smiled. "Oh, you are not. Actually, Miss I just wish more customers could be more like you." She then presented a case of rings to Monica. There were pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and many others.
"Oh they are beautiful!" Monica breathed and then looked them over. They were all so beautiful. Finally, after trying them on, she narrowed it down to two. She found she was having a hard time trying to decide between a ruby with diamonds around it or a diamond with two sapphires around it.
Seeing that Monica was trying her best to decide on which to buy, the lady decided to help her out. "Rubies mean deep passion and lust, while sapphires mean loyalty and trust."
That seemed to seal the deal and Monica tried on the sapphire one again and smiled. It was really not as gaudy as the ruby one, but it was perfect, to her anyway. Monica sighed longingly, in her wildest dreams the perfect man would get down on his knee and propose to her and they would have a house and live in the suburbs then would have plenty of kids.
Chandler seeing her expression on her face and seeing how elegant and beautiful it was, "We'll take this one." He then gave his credit card to the lady and she rang up the sale.
As they were walking out, Monica turned too Chandler. "Why did you do that?"
"I wanted you to get a ring that you would have wanted to have as an engagement ring." Chandler replied.
"Where were you when I was just turning fifteen?" Monica mumbled.
"Going to an all boy's boarding school." Chandler replied. "It is a long story, I will tell you later."
Later on that day. Chandler, Joey, Phoebe and Monica all boarded a private plane to NY. Chandler and Joey both flew it there. While Phoebe and Monica talked in the back. Monica found Phoebe to be a fun conservationist and just plain nice to be around. Phoebe was changing her opinion of Monica.
She could see that Monica was a really a nice person that already thought the world of Chandler. And she could tell that would never hurt him. While Chandler had a fun and happy go lucky streak , Monica had a realistic and sobering view on life. In short hey would be great for one another. It would take a while for them to see it. And she did not know if it all would turn out. But, they were perfect for one another.
A month was all it should take at the most. If not even that. The only problem she saw was Joey. Chandler was not only his employer but also his best friend and closest thing to a brother that he had. And he would fight Monica to keep her from hurting him. Well, they were going to New York City. Hopefully, he would be visiting his relatives. And she could start to nudge Monica and Chandler together.
She did not come to that conclusion all at one, it took the whole flight before she saw what needed to be done. And that was five hours. When they landed the wheels were in motion to get them together, subtly.