Hi! So finally the newest chapter of this story is here. I know that it took really long, probably longer than I expected, but it's here. The reason that it took so long is that I've been really busy with university and clearly I didn't have much time to sit down and write. Add to that the lack of imagination and not having a clear idea of I wanted to tell. Anyway, about a week ago I felt bad for you guys and decided to start writing again. I'm not very happy with the chapter, but I think that that's a feeling every writer has. The only thing I hope is that you like it and you're interested on reading it. Now enjoy and feel free to express your feelings on this one :) Also I don't know if you realized that the chapter is quite long. I don't know about you guys, but I LOVE long chapters. I hope you do too.
Now, enjoy! :)
Making My Way To Your Heart – Chapter 4
"Hey Mon!" Ross greeted his sister when he entered her apartment.
"Good morning Ross" she said as she looked up from the kitchen, where she was cooking something.
"Is Chandler at home?" he asked her as he took a seat at the table.
"No, he had an early meeting and he left a while ago. Why?" Monica wanted to know.
"Nothing, I just wanted to ask him something." Ross said as he filled a cup with coffee. "And where is everyone else?"
"Joey had an audition and he left early too. You should see him, he was really nervous. He was so nervous that he even considered not having breakfast. Although, you know him, the minute he saw the pancakes he gave up to that idea." Monica said smiling.
"What about Phoebe?"
"I think that she spent the night at Mike's place, so I thought that maybe she would go to work straight from there."
"Oh. That's nice."
But as he finished his sentence Phoebe entered in the apartment.
"Hey!" she said cheerfully.
"Hi Pheebs." Monica said to her. "You're in a good mood today." she said noticing her friend's big smile.
"It's just that I had the greatest night ever." Phoebe started "You remember how I told you that Mike prepared a special night?" Monica nodded. "Well, I must say that it turned to be very special." She said, smiling even more. "He told me that he loves me!" she finished almost shouting.
"Wow! That's great honey." Monica went to hug her friend. "I'm very happy for you."
"So am I" Phoebe said as she broke the hug.
"So did you tell him that you love him back?" Monica wanted to know.
"Of course. I've been thinking about this lately. You know how much I liked him and I think that it took him a little bit longer because of his divorce. And also I wanted for him to be the first one to say that he loved me. Other way I knew that he would freak out and run as fast as he could and believe me, I can't lose Mike like that."
"Well, I'm very happy for you." Ross said.
"Thank you so much Ross."
"You're welcome." He said with a big smile on his face.
And that smile didn't go unnoticed by Phoebe. She knew that there was something different in that smile. She knew Ross. They had been friends for some time now and she had seen him smiling, crying, chuckling and sobbing. But that smile, there was something in that smile. Something that she didn't know. Because if Ross was smiling there had to be a reason and Phoebe hated not to know the reason of that smile. She had to know.
"And what about you Ross?" she asked as she took a seat next to him at the table.
"What about me?" he was confused now.
"Don't you have something to tell us?"
"Hmm, I don't think so."
"Are you sure?" Phoebe insisted.
"Yes." Ross was still confused, but he was grinning like an idiot.
"Are you really sure that there's nothing you have to share with us?" Phoebe insisted even more.
"Phoebe are you trying to tell me something?"
"Only if you have something to tell me."
"What?"
"What?"
"Phoebe what are you doing?" Ross didn't understand a thing about what was going on.
"I just want you to talk."
"About what?"
"About that." She said pointing his smile.
"You want me to talk to you about my mouth?"
"Ugh Ross. Sometimes I forget that you have a PhD. How can you be so dumb?" she said almost giving up with her idea. "Just tell me why you're smiling like an idiot."
Ross blushed when she said that. Phoebe saw everything.
"Ha! So I wasn't wrong. Something is going on with you." Phoebe said, now clearly interested on what Ross had to tell her.
Monica, who during their weird conversation had been cooking, now turned around to see what was happening between her brother and her friend. Ross, seeing the interest that his smile got, blushed even more. Not that he was shy in front of them, he just wanted to keep it as a secret for a while, but it seemed like his plan wasn't going to work. He would have to tell them everything and soon. If not it would be worse for him and he knew that.
"I…" he started carefully "I…"
"What? You what?" Monica was starting to get impatient.
"I… met somebody" he said very quietly.
"You met somebody?" Phoebe wanted to know if she heard it well.
Ross nodded shyly.
"And does this person have a name?"
Ross nodded again and silence followed. Phoebe and Monica were waiting for Ross to say the name of the mysterious person.
"Do we have to guess the name of that person or you're going to tell us?" Phoebe asked.
Ross looked at her.
"Rachel. Her name is Rachel." Ross gave up.
"And how did you meet her?"
"I met her accidentally. I was walking and suddenly crashed into her." he said with a big smile, although it disappeared while he continued talking "But because of that she fell down to the floor and twisted her ankle." He looked at Monica and Phoebe and he saw that they were still waiting for him to continue with the story. "Anyway, so I helped her to the hospital so that someone would see her and after she was released…" Ross didn't want to finish his sentence.
"What? What happened after that?" Monica was really curious now.
"Oh my god!" Phoebe suddenly said.
"What!" now Monica was the one who didn't understand a thing.
"I bet you proposed to her!" Phoebe said jokingly.
"Ha ha, very funny." Ross clearly didn't like the joke "I just gave her my number."
"So you're waiting for her to call you?"
"Actually, she called me the other day" Ross smiled at the memory.
"So you're going on a date with her today?"
At this point Phoebe and Monica were tired of making questions, not that they weren't happy for Ross, but man, he could say it everything all at once!
"Actually I had a date with her yesterday." Ross was grinning like an idiot by now.
"Oh, so that is what this is about?" Phoebe said. "The smiling like an idiot, the blushing… you are acting like an idiot because of this girl."
"Well Phoebe, that's because I really like her. And yes, I've might only been on one date with her, but I can see the difference. She's different." He said with confidence.
"But what about Emily?" Monica wanted to know.
"What about her?"
"You said the same thing when you met her, that she was different. You married her and then divorced her. And everything in less than 6 months." Monica said a little bit worried "Ross we love you and we want what's best for you, but please, don't make the same mistake again. We know how much Emily hurt you."
Ross got up from the chair and went to where Monica was. "Mon, I really appreciate what you're saying and yes Emily did hurt me, a lot. But that's in the past now. I can't live with the memory of Emily my whole life. She found someone else and so did I. And I have to live the present. Now things appear in my life and Rachel is one of them. I understand that you're scared because of what happened with Emily, but I'm telling you now and do not forget it. Rachel is different. I really like her and I think that she likes me too and I want to give this a chance. I promise that I'll take things slowly. I learned that rushing into things is only for the worse." He finished hugging his sister.
"Ugh!" Monica said breaking the hug. "I hate when you have everything figured out and no one can change your mind."
Ross kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you."
"So how did the date go?" Phoebe did the question everybody was waiting for.
"It went well."
"Well? That's it?" Phoebe said surprised.
"What do you want me to say?"
"You give us that speech about this new girl being different, you have the creepiest smile on your face and all you say is that the date went well?" Phoebe said "I'm clearly disappointed Ross." She said while she crossed her arms.
"It went perfectly. It was the best date I had in years. No. It was the best date I've had in my life." Ross said looking at Phoebe. "Satisfied now?"
Phoebe took a while to think.
"Mmm… yeah!" she said finally.
Ross and Monica chuckled.
"And what now?" Monica asked. "Are you going to call her?"
Now Ross was the one who took a while to think.
"Yeah. Like I said, I want to give this a try." Ross said taking a seat again in the chair.
Monica and Phoebe gave him a look.
"What?" Ross asked when he saw the weird look they were giving to him.
Phoebe pointed the phone.
"Now?"
"Well, yeah!" Monica said.
"C'mon, you know that you want to do it." Phoebe tried to convince him.
"Look, I said that I want to give this a try, but I also said that I'm going to take things slowly, so just give me time." Ross tried to explain "Besides, I was thinking about giving her a little surprise."
"Oh, I love surprises." Phoebe commented.
"But, what kind of surprise?" Monica wanted to know.
"I don't know. Do I have to decide that now?" Ross was now a little bit unsure.
"Okay, you're right. Take things slowly. Take your time or whatever you need."
Ross sighed in relief.
"Look guys. I really appreciate that you're worried about me or you want what's best for me. But please, let me do this my way. I really think that this might be a good thing for me. And yes, I still need to know more things about her, but the few things that I know about her are enough for me. The only feeling that I've got is that the more I get to know her, the more I'll like her." Ross said, trying to convince them and partly also trying to convince himself.
"It's okay Ross. Take your time." Monica said.
"Thank you."
And now what?
Rachel was on cloud nine, to say the least. It's not that her life was perfect, but who knows? Maybe it was about to become perfect.
Yes, she only had been on one date with Ross, but it had been a great first date and she was hopeful he would call her to go out somewhere soon. As soon as possible.
She had been on many first dates. She still could remember all the boys who wanted to date her back in high school. She was the head-cheerleader, admired by girls, desired by boys. She had the perfect body, the perfect clothes, the perfect looks. Every girl wanted to be like her and she knew it. She knew that at one point of her life she could have everything she would want. But everything wasn't as perfect as everybody thought.
She never had a real friend, a friend she could talk to, about anything she wanted to. And her sisters didn't help either. They were much centered succeeding in high school, succeeding with boys. But they never bothered to talk to her when she was sad or to hug her when she needed one.
As for her parents it was the same thing. Her father was always busy with work. Being the head heart surgeon of the most important hospital of the city would keep him out of their house most of the time of the day and her mother was always with her girlfriends, which made Rachel to feel very lonely.
But when she started college her situation started to change a little bit. She got to know new people and she even got very close to a girl named Natalie. She could consider her a very dear friend. But they started to lose contact when Natalie had to move to London because of a famous scholarship. Apart from Natalie, she couldn't take to her friends about anything and she missed that.
She dated some guys during college too, she even had two serious relationships. But she never felt anything big.
Nothing like what she felt for Ross.
Is not that she was already madly in love with him. She liked him and that was a good start. In fact, the date she had with him it was the best first date she had in her life.
But for now she had to let those memories go away, since she had to focus on the meeting. Yes, it was being a boring day at work, but this was what she did for living and even if she didn't like it at some points, it was her dream. Finally she was in a big fashion company and not only that, she was succeeding at her work!
With a last memory of her date with Ross she paid attention to her boss, who was speaking about the new winter collection…
"And with the extinction of the Argentinosaurus we discovered that they weren't the only carnivorous in the Cretaceous Period." Ross concluded "We'll continue with the characteristics of the Thecodontosaurus tomorrow."
After he took all the papers in his desk, he thought about what he was going to do. It wasn't that he did this kind of things every day, but he felt like he could do it now. He never thought of him as a spontaneous person, he liked to have things planned, especially if he wasn't sure about it. And it's not like this wasn't planned. It sort of was. He had been thinking about it all day. The only thing was that he still didn't know how he was going to do everything and that kind of excited him.
He knew that he was risking. It was very risky to do what he was about to do. But life is full of risky moments, right?
And besides, he had nothing to lose. Or that's what he thought. Because he could lose everything.
He took his things and called for a taxi so that he could go home and change. If he really was going to do this he had to have nice clothes. And he was going somewhere where they paid attention how you were dressed.
In a matter of 30 minutes he took a short shower and changed to new clothes and hailed another cab. He thought about walking, but it was getting late and his plans could change.
After telling the cab driver the direction, he looked out of the window.
New York was a big city, full of people. Everybody was running, not even caring if they got hit by another person or if their belongings hit the floor. Stress was a feeling that every person in New York had in their veins. And even if Ross tried to stay as calm as he could, he couldn't help but start feeling nervous.
What if she didn't like it? What if…?
No. he couldn't think of that. In moments like this you have to think positively.
'Everything is going to be fine. She's going to love it.' He told himself.
Sooner than he expected the cab stopped and he found himself in front of the tall building. It seemed like the building was taller now, it seemed bigger to him. He had to let his fears to go away. Thinking this way wasn't going to help him. With much confident he took his first steps to the front door.
When he entered he needed to guidance. It was a big hall and he knew that if he didn't get any help, he would get lost over there. He found the reception desk and asked for a little help to the woman that was there.
"Good morning. I would like to know where I can find the Ralph Lauren offices." Ross said.
"Floor 18. The elevators are that way." She said pointing to her left.
Ross, following the direction the receptionist was pointing, took his way into the elevators. Once that he got inside, there was no going back. This was it. He was going to do it.
He even felt weird about feeling this way. It's not that he had plans of proposing or anything. What he was about to do was very simple. But he only had been in one date with Rachel and every little step, just like this one, seemed like the biggest step someone could take in a relationship.
Relationship.
He liked that word. He didn't want to have false hopes about that, mostly because a relationship is formed with two people. He was only one of them.
Was this the start of a relationship with Rachel?
It was unbelievable how Rachel could make him think that way. He was really considering having a relationship with her. And he didn't even have her opinion on that subject. What if she wasn't looking for a relationship? Maybe she wasn't, but also he could make her think differently.
Absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice that he was reaching her floor and he still didn't decide what he was going to tell her. Being this a spontaneous action he thought that maybe he could also be spontaneous at the talking. But he knew very well that being spontaneous in a conversation wasn't his thing and even less if he was having that conversation with the woman he'd been thinking non-stop for the last few days.
'Ding.'
The sound of the elevator reaching the floor made Ross think of the moment. He didn't have time for this, no more thinking. All he wanted to do was to surprise her and that's it. All he prayed now was that everything would turn out fine…
Rachel was at her office, taking a last glance to the pile of papers in her desk. It was a huge pile and they needed to be ready for her boss by the end of the week, which meant that she had only two more days to finish that work. 'It's impossible', she thought.
Ugh! She would give anything to be out of her office right now.
Right after she gave up the idea of being out of her office she heard a soft knock on her office door.
"Come in" she said.
Ross opened the door slowly.
"Good morning" he said with a smile.
Rachel was clearly surprised.
"G-good morning" she said, almost babbling.
"Is this a bad moment?" he said pointing the pile.
"Well…" she didn't know what to say.
"Hey, don't worry. If it's not okay I can come back in some other time."
"No, no!" she almost shouted and sounded a little bit desperate "It's just that I have to send all of that to my boss before the end of the week," she explained "but most of it it's done, so it's okay." She lied.
"Oh. Well then… umm…" he started.
"Yes Ross?"
"I just came here to ask you something" he was starting to get nervous, much more than he was already.
She wore a bigger smile, which encouraged Ross to continue.
"I just wanted to ask you if you would like to have lunch with me" he finished, a little bit shy and looking to the floor.
Rachel was clearly surprised. Here was this guy, who she'd been thinking about all the time since she met him, asking her to have lunch with her. Yes, she had a lot of work and she also knew that it was impossible for her to finish that in time. Unless she asked for a little help… she would have to bribe some of her co-workers in the afternoon.
"I would love to have lunch with you" she said.
And those were the words Ross wanted to hear.
They didn't go to a fancy restaurant, neither he had a basket full of food prepared specially for this. Having a nice weather, they decided to buy some sandwiches and eat them while taking a short walk in Central Park.
They didn't speak a lot while they were walking and it's not that it was awkward. They liked each other, even if it was secretly, but there were feelings involved. Sometimes you don't have to talk to the person you like all the time.
Ross couldn't help but watch at her all the time. From the moment he saw her for the first time that day at her office, he was mesmerized. He thought that he could spend the rest of his life watching her and that would be more than okay. I mean, who wouldn't like that? She was incredibly gorgeous and really funny too, that last feature only based on the unique date they had. But Ross well knew that that one date had been more than enough for Rachel to be different. Hell, their first encounter was already enough.
As for Rachel, she never thought she would be this shy around a person. Back in high school she was really good with people and never had a problem when it came to make new friends, most of the times she was the one who would take the first step. So what had changed since high school? Why wasn't she able to speak a word in front of Ross? She was sure that liking him had to do something with that.
He looked very handsome that particular day. It's not that she didn't think that already, she was sure that he was probably the most handsome man she had ever met. But today was different.
And she liked it.
"Do you mind if we take a seat?" his voice startled her.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that barely heard his voice.
"Sure."
They took a seat in a near bench.
Ross took his sandwich and gave it a big bite. As he did so, Rachel's mind continued working, but there were some questions that needed to be answered by him.
Even if it took her a while to start talking, she thought that she would have to do it, sooner or later.
"So…" she started "why did you come to my office today?" she wanted to know.
"Didn't you like the surprise?" Ross suddenly feared.
"No, no, no. Don't think that." She tried to calm him "It's just that I didn't expect that."
"I just felt like surprising you." He shyly answered.
"Oh." She said "Well, I must say that it was a nice surprise." She finished with a smile.
"Yeah?"
"Yes" she said sweetly.
"I just want you to know that I don't do this every day or with everybody."
"I see."
"Since that date we had I couldn't stop thinking about you and I even thought calling, but I preferred the idea of seeing you personally."
"That-that's really sweet." She said having a hard time thinking of the right words.
"I never thought that I could like someone as much as I like you, even after one date, but it's the truth."
"Oh."
"And I don't want to scare you or anything. I've learnt from the past that rushing into things isn't a good thing." He said.
She was clearly surprised by his words. It's not that she didn't feel that way, it's just that she never thought he could feel that way. And it excited her.
"Wow. This, this is very interesting" she started "I didn't know you felt that way." She said looking into his eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen.
"How could I not?" he said "You're one of the most amazing people I've met in a long time."
She smiled at his answer. But also at the same time she didn't know what to say. She wasn't afraid of him but she was afraid of her feelings. She knew that her feelings for him were growing every second she spent with him, and they grew even more when she wasn't with him. It had been a long time since she had been on a serious relationship. Yet, it never involved so strong feelings. What if it didn't work out? What if at the end of their relationship they couldn't stand each other?
What if their relationship was destined to have an end?
She couldn't think of that.
"I really appreciate you for telling me those things" she started confessing "and I also want you to know how I feel for you." she looked into his eyes again "Look, I haven't had a serious relationship in a long time, which might me unbelievable for you but it's my reality. That doesn't make me feel like I can't trust someone easily. I can. I just don't feel like it most of the times. Correction, I just don't feel like it all the time. But life has taught me that there are some exceptions. And those exceptions happen because they have to. You don't look for them, but they happen." she looked away from him for a moment, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She took his hand and started talking with a small voice. "Lately I discovered that you are my exception. I didn't look for you, but you came into my life, suddenly and even if at first I doubted about you, after that date we had, I just knew that I had to give you a try. I saw that you're worth a try. I can see that you're different, I saw that the moment you helped me to the hospital. You did something that most people wouldn't do. And you waited until they released me. You waited at the waiting room and you'll never know how much I appreciated that. Then you called me and asked me for a date and I was the happiest person in the world." At this point she wasn't afraid of anything. If he was able to open his heart, then she was too "And I finally discovered that I like you." She finished.
"Wow" he said after he took a moment to absorb her words.
"I know" she said with a smile.
Now he was the one who looked into her blue eyes.
"So you like me?" he said those words, not even believing that he was saying them.
She nodded.
"And I like you." He stated.
She nodded again.
"As you said earlier, that's interesting."
She laughed.
It's not that he never thought what it would be like kissing her, but now finally he considered on doing so. It felt like the perfect moment. They just opened their hearts and he well knew that it would be a great thing to discover what he lips tasted like. And he also wanted to give her another surprise and see how she would react to this one.
Slowly he started to get closer to her. She still had his hand on hers, so they were a little bit close. Ross felt like she started getting closer to him too and not being able to wait anymore to feel those lips, he closed his eyes and moved closer to her.
Just when their lips were almost touching and he was about to discover how her kisses tasted, his phone started ringing.
Not expecting for his phone to ring at such important moment, he jumped on the bench, which made Rachel smile. She also wanted for him to kiss her, she wanted to feel those lips too, he wasn't the only one. But it was clear that the call killed their special moment.
"Hello?" Ross answered his phone and listened to the voice on the other line "Okay, I'll try to be there as soon as I can." He said and with that he ended the call. He then looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry about that."
"Don't worry" she said with a smile.
"It was from work. I have to go back to there."
Just then Rachel realized that she had a job too.
"Yeah, and I should go back to mine too" she said looking at her watch and realizing that her lunch break was almost over.
The stood up from the bench.
"So… I'll see you soon?" Ross wanted to know.
"Definitely." She said.
And with a final kiss on his cheek, which took him by surprise, she left.
Again, Ross couldn't help but watch her how she left.
