CHAPTER 4

"Hey Ross, what was the name that very cool pub you took me to in London?" Joey asks me as I return inside after a few minutes.

"Camel?"

"That's the one! I was telling them about that time you got so hammered on our way home you stripped down to your underwear while singing I Will Survive at the top of your lungs." he recalls in between chuckles. Everybody breaks into laughter and I instantly flush, having no recollection whatsoever of that night, apart from the worst hangover I've ever experienced and the subsequent cold I had for days.

"Yeah, thanks for sharing that."

"ROSS did that? Man! I would've sold a kidney to see that." Chandler says. I smile uncomfortably.

"It wasn't my proudest moment..."

"So Ross, How long have you been living in London for?" Marco asks through the persistent laughter.

"It will be four years next month."

"Wow," he turns to Rachel "Honey, we've been to London twice, how come you didn't tell me you had a friend living there? We could've stopped by." She clears her throat, shifting in her seat.

"Well, you know…our trips were kind of short and…Ross is always very busy, we would've only bothered him." She says motioning her hands aimlessly, this time, not even glancing at me once.

"I'm sure that's not true, right Ross?" I smile politely.

"It would've been my pleasure to have you over." She looks at me with a forced smile.

"Maybe next time," She says and I can tell my words have annoyed her "by the way, Joey? Didn't you have something to share with us?" she quickly changes the topic, turning her head to Joey who is seating next to her. He puckers his lips and shakes his head.

"No…"

"Yeah…it was something about a party…I think?" She insists, widening her eyes at him. He shoots her a look.

"Yeah, okay." He wipes his hands on the napkin and puts it down next to his plate. "Here's the thing, I'm throwing a party for my colleagues to celebrate that I'm back in Days of our Lives… and I was wondering if you would like to come too."

"That's a genuine invitation." Chandler comments with his usual sarcastic tone.

"Alright, Rachel caught me listening to a message from one of my colleagues and I couldn't get out of it!" he says annoyed.

"A Soap Opera party with all your actor friends? I'm there!" Monica exclaims with excitement.

"I really like you right now, Joey." Chandler added sarcastically.

"When is it?" asks Phoebe.

"Next Friday."

"I'm in, too."

"So am I, obviously." Rachel adds with a chuckle.

"Marco?"

"I'm afraid I can't, I will be in Milan all weekend for business."

"Oh my god, that's right! I forgot we were going to Milan…Do you mind if I stay this time? You know how much I like that show…" he smiles, passing an arm over her shoulders and stroking her left arm reassuringly.

"Of course, don't worry."

"Thank you." She whispers through a grin and cups his face to place a kiss on his lips. I look away, somehow ashamed.

"I'm going too. I want to make sure my wedding is still happening after that party." Chandler adds. Monica smiles, grabbing his hand.

"Sweetie, NOTHING will jeopardize our wedding." Pleased with her answer Chandler leans forward and plants a peck on her lips.

"What about you, Ross?" Joey asks me. For some reason I look at her before answering, wanting to make sure it will be okay with her. However, she is wearing an impassive look.

"Sure."

(…)

Phoebe and her boyfriend leave right after dessert and the rest of us move to the coffee table to have a few drinks.

"Shall we play some game?" Chandler suggests, taking the armchair. Monica, Rachel and her fiancé take seat on the big couch while Joey offers me the ottoman and then sits on the floor.

"Yeah! Let's play strip poker!" Joey exclaims rather excited. Monica and Rachel, who are across from us, send him a stare.

"Every time, Joey?" Monica points out.

"What? It's a fun game!"

"No it's not."

"How do you know if we never play?" She rolls her eyes.

"C'mon, let the guy play the game for once. It could be fun." Marco says. Rachel gives him a funny look.

"Since when are you interested in strip poker?"

"I don't know, I think it could be fun…something new to try." He whispers, nuzzling her neck. Rachel giggles and pushed him back playfully.

"Yeah! C'mon! let's play!" Joey insists, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Forget it Joey, we're not playing." Monica puts an end to the discussion. Joey folds his arms in disappointment.

"We need new girlfriends around here." He hisses in my direction.

"Let's just talk." Rachel says, taking a sip of her wine.

"Let's talk about my wedding! I mean, our wedding." Monica grins.

"Yeah…I think I'm gonna take off." Joey says, pretending to stand up.

"Alright, alright, we'll talk about something else…"

"Let's talk about Ross." Marco says out of the blue. I flush, taken aback by this stranger's sudden interest in me. I look at my friends, who exchange uncomfortable looks. I clear my throat.

"What about me?"

"I don't know, up until yesterday I had no idea you existed. How did you meet these guys, for example?" I look at Rachel before proceeding, but again, there is no emotion or expression in her eyes.

"Well, as you already know Monica is my sister. Chandler and I became friends in college…I met Phoebe when she started living with Monica right here and I met you Joey around the same time when he became Chandler's roommate."

"And Rachel?" our eyes meet. She brings one of her hands to her hair and begins to twist one strand of her hair in between her fingers, clearly nervous about what I could possibly reveal.

"Uh… you know, Rachel has been Monica's best friend since they were two little girls…so I've basically known her all my life."

"Interesting..." I arch an eyebrow, but he doesn't continue.

"And how did you two meet?" I find myself asking.

"Do you want tell him yourself?" she shakes her head no.

"You do it; I like your version better." He arches an eyebrow.

"MY version? I thought we had the same version." She chuckles amused.

I only hear bits and pieces of their story since I can only pay attention to the way they interact with each other, how she gently rubs his leg without taking her eyes off him and how he kisses the side of her head every so often.

10.30 pm.

"We should probably go, right baby?" Rachel tells him, patting his knee.

"Yup, it's getting late." They both stand up simultaneously.

"Monica, thanks again for having us. Everything was delicious."

"My pleasure and thank you for coming."

"And Ross," he begins, turning to me and stretching out his arm. "It was nice meeting you." I shake his hand.

"Likewise,"

By 11pm everybody has left. Chandler is fast asleep on the couch while Monica is cleaning the coffee table. Despite feeling exhausted from the lack of sleep I prefer to stay in the living room. I stare at the TV while my mind keeps wandering back to her and her fiancé.

"Ross?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?" my sister asks.

"Don't you think it's a little weird the way Rachel treated me today?" she frowns, having expected me to say something else.

"No…she was nice to you, wasn't she?"

"That's the thing. I thought she'll try to avoid me or be mad at me but…it's like she is a different Rachel or I am a different person for her, I don't know."

"She's grown up…I guess she figured that after so long it is useless to hold a grudge against you." I shrug unconvinced. "Well…the girls are coming with me to my last dress fitting tomorrow afternoon. We'll probably stop by the coffee house afterwards, why don't you meet us there and talk to her?"

….

The next day I arrive at Central Perk around 3pm. I sit on the couch and open the newspaper I bought across the street. I give up after a few paragraphs since the irrepressible shaking of my legs keeps distracting me.

I glance at my watch for the hundredth time in the past hour. Almost when I'm about to give up and leave, the door opens and the three girls walk in.

"Monica for the hundredth time, you look absolutely breathtaking." Rachel says with a roll of eyes. She spots me and smiles "Oh, hi Ross." She says, surprisingly cheerful. She puts the bags on the floor and walks toward the counter. "Coffee?"

"Yes please" Monica answers.

"A tea for me." Says Phoebe. "Hey Ross! How are you?" I fold the newspaper and leave it on the table.

"Fine, thanks. How did the dress fitting go?"

"Ugh, it was painful." I laugh at her expression.

"Excuse me?" Monica reprimands.

"You stood in there for two hours looking at yourself! It felt like an entire day."

"Do you also think we spent too much time in the store?" Monica asks Rachel as she returns to the table with the orders.

"Monica, the woman nearly called the police to get you down of there." Monica pulls a face of annoyance.

"Why do you complain? You two drank all the champagne they had in the store, for free!"

"And thank goodness there was champagne! Otherwise I wouldn't have survived." Phoebe adds.

"Okay, enough." I can't help but laugh

"Anyway, what about your day?" Phoebe asks.

"Great! I spent the morning with Ben."

"Aww, how is little Ben?"

"Not little anymore." I smile with a bit of sadness "He's great, getting taller and smarter every day." They all smile.

"How old is he again?" Phoebe asks.

"Excuse me; I need to use the bathroom." Rachel whispers, not wanting to interrupt the conversation. She sets her mug on the table and stands up.

"Almost 8." I mumble, following her with my eyes as she makes her way to the back of the café where the bathrooms are. When she has disappeared I glance at Monica.

"What?" I ask, confused by her intense gaze. I take the hint when she persistently points in the bathroom's direction with her eyes. I nod and stand up.

I lean on the wall next to the bathroom door and wait. My whole body is tense and my mind has gone completely blank. I silently damn myself for not having prepared something to say ahead of time. I took a deep breath and slide my hand inside my pocket, clutching the small box tightly.

My breath catches in my throat when the door finally opens a minute later. She stops briefly, surprised to see me there but soon enough she resumes her way and passes me by.

"Rachel wait." She stops at my words but a few seconds go by before she turns around.

"Yeah?" she asks, looking straight into my eyes, making my mouth dry out. I pull out my hand.

"I..I wanted to…give you this." She looks down at my hand and then back at me.

"What's this?"

"A little birthday present…I know I am a few weeks late…but better late than never, right?" I add a nervous chuckle. She exhales through her nose, looking down at the box shaking her head.

"What are you trying to do, Ross?" she asks serious.

"It's just a little present…"

"Well, you can keep it, I didn't open any of those other presents you had the nerve to send me and I certainly won't accept this one either." She turns around to leave but I grab her wrist before that can happen. I remain silent for a moment, realizing this is the first time I've touched her in all these years. I let go as she slowly turns around, when I find her eyes again, they're burning with rage.

"Do NOT touch again." She mutters through clenched teeth. I sigh.

"You're mad at me…" I state. She lets out a sarcastic chuckle.

"What did you expect?" the mask finally falls down and I find the Rachel I was expecting all along.

"Then why do you pretend everything is okay?" I ask helplessly.

"I'm doing it for Monica's sake, this is a very important moment in her life and I do not want to ruin it. But if you want me to be completely honest, I wish you had never appeared back." She throws the words at me with heartfelt hate. I look down, feeling defeated. "And by the way, how dare you make me look like an asshole in front of my fiancé?"

"I'm so sorry…I didn't know what to say…you hadn't told him anything about me, what was I supposed to tell him?"

"I don't know Ross!" she snaps "Perhaps that you have a busy schedule or that you travel a lot, anything! But no, you had to be 'nice Ross' and make me look like a bitch who doesn't care about her friends." I close my eyes tightly, unable to handle the pain that this situation triggers inside me.

"Please, calm down…Can we go some place and talk things through? I need to talk to you." I almost plead but her eyes remain unaffected.

"There's nothing to talk about. Until the wedding, If the guys are around I'll talk and be friendly to you but don't expect anything else from me. Just because now you're allowed to see me it doesn't mean I'm gonna let you return to my life just like that. No buddy, I have my life now, a wonderful one in fact, and I've made my peace with you not being in it." I hear her inhale, since I have my eyes fixed on the floor, unable to look at her. "So don't come now wanting to make this right because the door was closed long ago."

And just like that she walks away.

…..

Sorry for the delay with this chapter, as it turns out writing a story from a male's point of view is more difficult than I actually thought, especially with so many characters involved.

Special thanks to chamucos, Debbie and pineapple for the detailed reviews. I love reading your opinions ;) and I'm glad you like my story so far. Any THOUGHTS on this one?