The Adjustment Bureau
Chapter Four
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Holy crap, you guys are seriously all kinds of amazing with all of the reviews! I'm in a hurry to post this since I have things to do today, so I don't have time to thank all of you individually, but THANK YOU!
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June 1996
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Chandler let himself get a good block away from Tom before glancing behind him to see if he, or anyone else creepy-looking who was wearing a hat since they always seemed to be wearing a hat, was following him. Thankfully, he found himself alone. Well, as alone as one could be on the streets of New York.
Letting out a sigh of relief as he headed back to his hotel, he thought that had been all too easy.
~.~
Nathaniel looked around the hotel lobby where Chandler was staying, before heading towards a janitorial closet, turning the doorknob counter-clockwise, slipping through it and pulling it shut behind him. Once through the door, he entered a long hallway, heading towards a room that, if anyone not from The Bureau were somehow to enter, looked like a library. He stopped in front of the table in the middle where Tom was seated.
"You wanted to see me, sir?"
Tom nodded, holding up a leather-bound book with the word 'outdated' stamped to the front. "It's not your fault."
"What's not my fault?" Nathaniel asked.
"Chandler running into Monica again," he handed the book to Nathaniel, who flipped it open. "In an earlier version of The Plan-"
"They ended up together," Nathaniel whispered in amazement. "So, how do we keep them apart?"
Tom shook his head, taking the book back, heading back into the stacks for a moment, returning later without it. "Now, we let him see what happens if he stays with Monica."
Nathaniel shook his head. "But-"
Tom turned towards him. "What was that?" Nathaniel stared back at him, closed-lipped. "That's what I thought."
~.~
Chandler glanced down at his watch, which read 9:45, before standing up and heading to his hotel room door. He hadn't dared to step a foot outside all day, unsure of what Adjustment they could possibly try to make if he did. He figured the less time he left himself, the better. Glancing around the lobby, Chandler breathed a sigh of relief, heading to the door. He decided to walk rather than take a taxi since it would probably be quicker.
Every time he passed someone on the street wearing any kind of hat, he held his breath. Yet, he somehow found himself outside of the Chinese restaurant Monica had been referring to a few minutes before ten. He glanced through the window, seeing that Monica was already inside, and headed in with a grin; maybe he had finally gotten rid of The Bureau, after all.
"Hey," Monica smiled when he walked in.
"Hey," Chandler returned her greeting. "How was work?"
"You know, it actually went pretty smoothly after that wrong delivery, considering that our grand opening is tomorrow," she smiled. "I am starving, though. I think I forgot to eat lunch since I was so busy." Monica looked over the menu. "Know what you want?" Chandler nodded, so she ordered. "I'll have a cashew chicken to go," she told the man behind the counter.
"Make that two," Chandler added, moving up to pay.
"You don't have to buy me dinner," Monica protested.
Chandler smiled. "I think I've owed you dinner for about eight years now."
Monica laughed. "Actually, I think I've owed you dinner for that long."
"True. But, if I remember correctly, you were supposed to make me dinner," he smiled. "You can do that some other time."
Monica smiled at that. She had been unsure about agreeing to go to breakfast with him, and then agreeing to dinner tonight, but there was just…something. She thought it may have been the lingering feelings or a young fling and the what ifs that surrounded it after he disappeared and left things between them unfinished, but this feeling every time he was around made her think it might be something more than that.
Hell, if they kept running into each other, it had to have been some sort of sign. Fate, maybe, if she believed in such a thing.
"You live upstairs?" Chandler asked, taking the take-out bag.
"What?" Monica asked, having been thinking.
"You live upstairs?" he repeated, and Monica nodded.
"Yea. I don't think my roommate will be home," she said, heading towards the door. "Which is Rachel, by the way. Do you remember Rachel?"
Chandler laughed, following her outside and around the corner. "How could I not remember Rachel? She was all Ross talked about for over a year."
"This is going to kill you, then," she grinned, entering the code for her building before they walked in. "Ross and Rachel have been dating for almost a year."
"No way!" Chandler exclaimed, shaking his head as they climbed the stairs. "Good for him."
"Oh, he married Carol, too, did you know that?"
"Seriously?"
"Yea, but," Monica paused, stopping at her floor and heading over to unlock her door. "It turned out that she was a lesbian."
Chandler nodded. "Not a completely surprise, if you really think about it."
"Oh, and she was pregnant with his child at the time."
"Because, why not?" Chandler laughed as they walked into her apartment, setting the food on the table. "So, what about you? What have you been up to for the past eight years? Ya know, other than owning a couple of restaurants?"
Monica smiled, grabbing a couple of plates for them. "Do you use chopsticks, or want a fork?"
"Definitely a fork," Chandler nodded, the two of them sitting down at the table.
"What have I been up to?" Monica repeated as she sat down next to Chandler. "Well, I obviously finished culinary school…."
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Chandler sat on the couch with Monica, arm securely around her, her head leaning against her shoulder. It felt weird; a major déjà vu. At the same time, there was something about it that just felt right. They had spent the past couple of hours catching up on the last few years of their lives, and though Monica knew she needed to get some sleep before her grand opening the next day, she didn't want to go to bed quite yet, either, and have this night be over.
"This is going to sound ridiculous," Chandler said quietly, neither of them really watching the movie playing on her TV. "But the only time I can ever remember feeling complete…is when I'm around you."
Monica smiled at that, her heart skipping a beat, mostly because she completely agreed. "Yea?" she looked up at him
"Yea," he replied, leaning down to kiss her. As soon as he did, the phone started ringing. He paused, but she shook her head.
"The restaurant calls me on my cell. The machine will get it," she mumbled as he kissed her again, this time snaking his arm around her waist and she moved so she was sitting on top of him.
You've reached Monica and Rachel's. We're not here right now, but leave a message, and we'll get back to you.
Beep
Hey, Monica, it's me, a man's voice filled the room, and Chandler stopped kissing her, Monica burying her face in his shoulder, Richard. Chandler's heart stopped. Was this an Adjustment? I know it's late, and I don't know why I'm calling, but I just wanted to wish you-I wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow night. Hope everything goes as planned. Call me back. Or don't. Bye, Mon.
Beep
"Ex-boyfriend?" Chandler finally asked quietly, and Monica nodded, pulling back to look at him.
"Yea."
"Was it…serious?" he asked slowly, knowing full well the answer to that. Monica again nodded. "Why did you break up?"
Monica shook her head. "I really don't want to talk about him right now, when I'm here with you." Chandler stared back, obviously not giving up. "He…he was older, and he didn't really want kids, and I did, and he offered to have kids anyway, but I knew he didn't mean it, and I didn't want us both to end up miserable and resenting each other for not really having what we wanted," she said quietly. "And," she paused, "this is going to sound stupid, but it just didn't…feel right." Chandler nodded. "This feels right," she added, touching his cheek softly, before kissing him again.
There was something about kissing him, familiar yet completely new. When his hands moved down her body, it was with more certainty than when they had done this as teenagers (not that she had spent any length of time replaying that night in her head, or anything). He tickled her side slightly, and she let out a small laugh.
"Still ticklish," Chandler mumbled, "just checking."
Monica smiled, pressing her body completely against his, moving with him as he lay down on the couch. She inhaled sharply as his fingers went from playing with the button on her pants to sliding down her pants, both of them shooting up suddenly as the door opened, adjusting their clothes.
"God, Mon, sorry," Rachel immediately said, she and Phoebe walking in.
"It's okay," Monica moved off of Chandler.
"Chandler?" Rachel asked, taking a good look at him.
"Hey, Rachel," he smiled in reply. "Small world."
"I'm Phoebe," Phoebe moved over to shake his hand. "You write books!"
Chandler laughed. "Yea, I do," he nervously ran a hand though his hair.
Monica stood up. "Well, I have a big day tomorrow, so I'm going to bed," she reached for Chandler's hand, pulling him with her. "Sorry," Monica said after they were through her closed bedroom door. "I don't know if that was a bit presumptuous, but-"
Chandler cut her off, shaking his head. "God, no," he replied, kissing her again, pulling back after a moment. "God, you're beautiful, you know that?"
Monica shook her head. "I just worked for thirteen hours. I'm a mess."
Chandler smiled. "Yea, but it works on you."
Monica laughed, kissing him again as they moved back towards her bed.
~.~
Monica woke up to the light shining through her window, having not set an alarm since she wanted to get a good night's sleep before today. She smiled, Chandler's arm around her, him still asleep beside her. She rolled over to face him, snuggling against him, kissing his bare chest.
"Morning," he whispered sleepily.
"Morning," Monica replied, smiling as he opened his eyes. "I don't usually do that on a first date," she grinned, and he laughed.
"I probably would have done that eight years ago if I hadn't been so damn nervous," he replied honestly.
Monica laughed. "I probably would have let you." Chandler smiled, kissing her. "I wish I could stay here all day with you…."
"Me, too," he replied. "Not today, though," he added. "Today is your big day, and you've worked hard for it, so you should enjoy it."
Monica nodded in agreement. "Yea, but first I'm going to enjoy a little more of it here with you," she kissed him again, moving on top of him.
"Not gonna say no to that," Chandler replied, feeling like he had finally outsmarted The Adjustment Bureau, if simply by telling them to take their plan and shove it.
~.~
"I'll see you tonight," Chandler kissed Monica, standing in the hallway outside of her apartment, saying goodbye.
"Yea, see you tonight," Monica replied. "I probably won't see you much-"
"Don't worry about it. It'll be exciting just to be a part of your night," he kissed her again. "Okay, really going this time," he laughed, since they had been standing there for a good fifteen minutes already. "Break a leg," he added.
"Bye," Monica said softly as they pulled away.
Chandler smiled, glancing at her once more. "Bye."
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Chandler jumped when he walked into his hotel room to find Nathaniel already there.
"I thought I got rid of you guys," he sighed, closing the door behind him.
"I just came to warn you," Nathaniel replied.
"Warn me of what? The fact that your little 'Plan' is complete bullshit because Monica and I clearly are meant to be together?" Chandler laughed.
"In an earlier version, yes," Nathaniel replied.
"What?"
"In an earlier version of the plan, yes, you two were meant to be together," Nathaniel explained. "So, what now appears to be the two of you being meant to be together is simply…an afterimage."
"An afterimage?"
"Have you ever stared at a bright light and then closed your eyes, and you can see-"
"I know what an afterimage is," Chandler scoffed. "How the hell does that apply here?"
"Because the two of you are just an afterimage of an old plan, lingering even though it's no longer there," Nathaniel explained. "It kind of happens all the time. You know the feeling of déjà vu? All an afterimage. Anyway," he shook his head, "like I said, I came here to warn you. If you go tonight-"
"If I go tonight, what, exactly, happens?" Chandler asked. "Yea, that's what I thought. You don't know."
Nathaniel shrugged. "That information is above my pay-grade clearance."
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do today," Chandler walked over to his door, opening it for Nathaniel to leave.
~.~
Chandler sat impatiently in the cab, glancing at his watch every few seconds. "Why aren't we moving," he grumbled, more to himself than anyone else.
"Two-alarm fire on Tenth," the cabbie replied, having heard him.
"Tenth and what?" Chandler asked, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Tenth and what? What's the cross-street?" Chandler demanded.
"I don't know, man, that's all I heard."
"Damnit," Chandler pulled his wallet out, paying the driver before getting out of the cab, taking off in a sprint in the direction of Monica's restaurant. He slowed down as he got closer, knowing before he got there that the smoke rising in the sky had to be from her restaurant. Chandler kicked a fire hydrant as he walked by it, nearly out of breath, though still a couple of blocks away.
"He tried to warn you."
Chandler jumped as Tom came up behind him.
"Fuck you," Chandler replied.
"You two aren't supposed to end up together," Tom again tried to explain. "Right now, you're pretty successful, you've done okay for yourself. But your next book, the one you're working on right now," he paused, "that's it. That's the career-launcher. We're talking time on the New York Time's Bestseller List, a screen-play adaptation, everyone knowing your name…."
"I don't care," Chandler shrugged, continuing to walk towards the restaurant.
"Then maybe you do care about Monica," he said, and Chandler stopped, turning towards him. "Right now, she's making a name for herself locally. In the next couple of years, she makes a name for herself throughout the region, the country. She opens up more restaurants, studies under internationally renowned chefs, and makes a name for herself internationally. Right now," he pointed in the direction of the smoke, "the fire is contained in the business upstairs. Her restaurant has suffered mostly smoke damage. Nothing a couple of months and some insurance money won't fix. If it keeps burning-"
"Fuck you," Chandler repeated. "How the hell do you decide our fates? What the hell happened to free will?"
"We tried free will," Tom shrugged. "After the rise of the Roman Empire, and you know what happened? The Dark Ages. We stepped back again at the beginning of the twentieth century, thinking everything was under control again, and do you know what happened?" he paused again. "Two world wars, nuclear conflict-"
"What the hell does this have to do with either of us? Why is it so important that two people stay on track with The Plan?"
"Heard of the Butterfly Effect?" Chandler remained silent. "If you care about her, you will let her go. You will go home and finish your book and let her stay here and live out her dreams. You will allow both of you to live up to your potentials." Chandler still remained silent, chest rising and falling in anger. "Everything is still fixable tonight. By morning-"
"Yea, I think I've got it," Chandler nodded shortly. "I've got it," he replied, quieter, heading away from the restaurant.
Tom smiled, certain he had finally gotten through to Chandler Bing.
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Did he get trough to him? Did he? The suspense is killing me, so I can only imagine what it's doing to you ;)
Again, quick reviews = quick update!