Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

Dr. Richard Burke hurries through the streets of Greenwich Village; politely sidestepping past the other pedestrians who are clogging up the sidewalk. He glances at his watch, noting he only has ten more minutes to get to the coffee house to meet up with his girlfriend before he is late. He smirks and shakes his head at the word that flashes across his thoughts. Girlfriend. He still feels a bit silly using that term at his age, but he hasn't been able to come up with something he thinks is more appropriate. He is a man of almost fifty dating a woman in her twenties, and he feels like a teenager. Whether it is worrying about being late to a date, the overwhelming desire to impress her and to win over her friends, or how nervous he can get about his sexual performance. He chuckles and thinks to himself, "No wonder I feel like a teenager, I'm acting like I am in high school all over again."

He knows that he should be much more confident about himself and this relationship then he has been so far. For any other man his age, this would be considered living out a cliché fantasy; dating a beautiful and vibrant young woman like Monica. A normal man in his situation would probably be at the bar, enjoying back slaps and high fives from his friends while they buy him beer, asking for every intimate detail. Maybe, if it was any other woman, he would be doing just that. This is not some other woman though; this is Monica Geller. One of his best friend's daughter. A girl he had known since she was a child. There are red flags popping up at every turn of this burgeoning relationship, causing him to feel less than comfortable bragging about it to his friends. If anything, Richard believes he should probably be thinking about turning around and running the other way; yet, he can't help himself. She is not only the most beautiful and sexiest woman he has ever known, but also one of the most amazing people he had ever met.

Monica may be in her twenties, but she has the maturity of a much older woman. She isn't interested in parties or the nightlife, she doesn't spend time talking about shallow gossip or pop culture. She has goals, she has purpose, she has focus. She listens and engages with him in what he talks about. She shows interest in the things he likes. They even took time to discuss the ramifications of their odd coupling and came to an agreement on how to deal with it and all the possible fallout together, like adults. It also doesn't hurt that, much to Richard's liking, she makes a damn good ossobuco.

He turns the corner and sees the familiar sign for Central Perk. He lets out a relieved sigh as he briskly walks towards the door. He is genuinely excited to see her. He knows Monica will most likely be surrounded by her friends, sitting on the couch that they always seem to get. He still doesn't fully understand why she spends so much time here, or why her and all of her friends practically do everything together. Richard likes them well enough, and they are all fairly nice people, once you get to know them. But, being around this group all the time doesn't help him forget the more troublesome aspects of dating a twenty-seven-year-old woman. And if he were being honest, they could become very tiresome. Maybe though, that's a side-effect of getting married so young. He had children and was already an ophthalmologist by the time he was their age. His experiences throughout his twenties was very different than Monica's.

Richard does like her friends, or at least, he is making an effort to like them. There was Joey, who from what he can tell, doesn't have a great work ethic. He sleeps late, never seems to have any money on him, and hits on every woman he sees. He's nice enough, but he isn't the brightest guy Richard has ever met, and he still talks about women as if he were in high school. He is practically an overgrown child.

Phoebe seems sort of sweet and childlike herself. She is definitely a free spirit, but he had enough of hippies back in the 1960s when he first encountered them. He found those kinds of people a little upsetting. They tend to take things less seriously and don't like to have their world view challenged. Richard finds that he has to bite his tongue around her, because he is not interested in having a conversation where he bursts her bubble. That will make him look like the bad guy.

Ross he already knew, but Monica's brother was still sort of cold to him. Richard is pretty sure Ross isn't as happy about their relationship as he had let on. He is also keenly aware that Jack could be using Ross to keep tabs on them, so he is making an effort to win him over. Another juvenile aspect of being with someone so young.

Then you have Ross' girlfriend and Monica's roommate, Rachel. Richard has had a hard time getting a handle on exactly what kind of person she was. She could go from hot-to-cold with Ross, showcasing a bit of immaturity herself. She seemed okay. Maybe a little shallow and materialistic. Yet, he understood how important she was to Monica, so he was motivated to make her like him as well.

Lastly, there was Chandler. He was an odd one. He would go from talkative and jovial to quiet and introspective at the drop of a hat. He looked like a nervous kid, which was ironic to Richard, because he seemed to have the most going for him out of everyone in the group. Chandler appeared to have a solid, high paying job, and since he wore a suit all the time, Richard assumed he must have an important position at his company.

Chandler also appears to be very generous. Over these last few weeks, Richard had observed that Chandler has paid for a lot of Central Perk checks and take-out orders for the group without showing off about it. If it wasn't for the constant jokes he would spew, Chandler wouldn't seem as needy as the others. Yet, for all that outward success, Richard could tell Chandler was also a bundle of nerves, riddled with self-doubt.

In a way, he reminded Richard of himself at a much younger age; when he was an insecure teenager, awkward and self-conscious about his height. No one believes him now, but he didn't have a lot of luck with girls when he was in high school. It's hard to get a date when you're more than a foot taller than the tallest girl in school. He played sports to compensate, and that seemed to help, but it still took Richard until his senior year to get his first date. That was when he met his ex-wife Barbara. They fell in love, and once that happened. All that awkwardness and self-conscious behavior faded away. He wonders to himself, if maybe that's all Chandler needs, find the right woman to love, and he would learn to let go of all those insecurities, leaving a confident and mature man in his place. Like it did for Richard.

As he entered the coffee house, he could already hear the off-key tune playing from the stage. Was he really doing this now, at his age? Sitting in a coffee house all night, listening to some half-talented musician, as if he were a beatnik who dropped out of college. Was this his life now? Preparing to hang out with a bunch of kids that he had nothing in common with.

He thought about walking up to announce his arrival immediately, but he decided to get a cup of coffee first, and just observe for a moment while waiting until the song was over before joining them. He approached the counter, ordered his drink and looked back at the area around the stage. He wanted to do a quick head count of everyone who was there, to prepare for which Richard he needed to be tonight. Phoebe was on stage playing the guitar. He saw Ross and Rachel sharing a chair. Then he scanned over to the couch. Joey was perched on one end, Monica, looking radiant, in the middle and Chandler on the other end.

He smiled for a moment, content to watch them as they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Phoebe was singing some nonsensical song about cats and they were all bopping their heads along to the tune. As he watched them his smile quickly turned to a look of concern as he noticed something that bothered him. Monica and Chandler were huddled together, very close, holding hands. Worse than that, Chandler's hand was on her leg and she seemed to be extremely comfortable with that.

Richard knew they were all very close. He never had a group of friends that were together this often, so he understood some things were different about them than your average clique. Still, he is from a generation where you don't hold hands with someone else's girlfriend, and you certainly don't touch her leg with a familiarity that illustrates intimacy. Times may have changed, but he is sure they haven't changed that much.

He contemplates going over and breaking them up. He thought to himself that he could just walk around the couch and innocently ask to sit next to Monica, marking his territory as subtlety as he could. He wanted to make sure whatever he did end up doing, he didn't come across as "that guy" who is obnoxious and jealous. The guy who embarrasses his girlfriend in public. He had enough self-control to stop himself from doing anything. Thanks to the experience that comes with age, he realized that he should take pause and think rationally for a moment. "What do I have to be jealous of anyway? It's just that guy Chandler." At times, Richard wasn't even sure if Chandler was straight. He decided to be the more mature man, do nothing, and wait for his coffee.

As he stood there in the back of the room, he noticed Phoebe signaling for them to join her and they all sang that dreadful song he heard the last time he was here. As he watched then he considered that maybe the hand holding was innocent enough and he was reading too much into it. Monica sang a verse first, she was smiling and obviously just having fun, but then he saw her face light up as she coaxed Chandler to take a turn and sing. She squeezed his hand and bounced it on her leg rhythmically. Her eyes sparkled and her smile widened as Chandler reluctantly complied with her wishes.

Upon seeing this, Richard couldn't help but wonder, "Is there something going on between them? Are they exes?" He wasn't sure what to think. He told himself, once again, that he wasn't jealous, but, at the very least, he could admit, that he wasn't comfortable with this situation either.

His coffee finally arrived as they were finishing up the second chorus. Once the song was over everyone stood up and started chatting and Richard decided that was the best time to join them. He walked over and, thankfully, Monica and Chandler had already separated a bit; Chandler started talking to Ross while Monica made her way over to Phoebe.

Richard put on his best face and spoke in an upbeat tone. "Hey guys."

Monica turned first, "Oh, great! You made it!" She hurried over to him and placed a small kiss on his lips, he looked over briefly to see if Chandler was watching, and hated himself for doing that. "This isn't high school and I am not a kid." He shook his head again and decided to ignore his lingering discomfort and act casual. He shook hands with Joey. Ross only offered him a nod, and Rachel flashed a smile. Chandler turned his head to grumble out a quick "Oh, hey Richard." Which drew even more suspicion. "Is he intentionally being stand offish? Maybe he is upset about me being with Monica? Maybe they aren't exes, maybe he has a crush?" Before Richard could think more of it, Phoebe started talking about adding more verses to the song so everyone could sing something next time and asked anyone knew a word that rhymed with scratch.

Richard and Monica sat back down on the couch and he made sure to wrap his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his body. Even though he hated to admit it, he was being that guy, marking his territory. He looked up again, but Chandler wasn't paying attention. "Is he so jealous that he can't even look at us?" Richard wasn't sure, but he did think the mood in the room changed quickly.

The gang started to break up for the night. Ross and Rachel left first, making their way out the door while holding hands. Joey was next, muttering something about an early table read for "Days of Our Lives". Phoebe finished packing up her guitar and took off shortly after that leaving only Chandler, who stood around for a few minutes, looked over at Richard and Monica on the couch, and said goodnight. Richard assumed he must have felt like a third wheel.

Monica turned to Richard and planted another small kiss on his lips. "I'm so glad you were able to make it. I was originally thinking we could go out to dinner, but now, maybe we go to your place, order some take-out and get naked for a few hours."

Richard smiled. One of the benefits of being with a younger woman in the nineties, she was very comfortable with her sexuality. It suited him, he liked that he didn't have to be the aggressive partner when it came to sex. Richard was ready to agree with her change of plans and leave. He was excited to get their evening started, but he had to say something to her about Chandler or he would be distracted all night. "That sounds great. I do some of my best eating naked. I'm sorry I missed the last song."

Monica huffed out a quick laugh. "Oh, I wouldn't be. But if you want, we can come here tomorrow night, she is doing another show then."

"Sure." Richard wasn't thrilled about agreeing to come here again so quickly. He had an early appointment the next day, and he really did not like Phoebe's music. "So, you guys are all really close, huh?"

Monica nods and smiles as she takes his hand. "Yeah. Well, you know that I've known Rachel all my life, and Phoebe and I used to live together."

Richard nods. "I didn't know that about you and Phoebe. What about the guys?"

"Well, Joey, I've known for a few years now, ever since he started living across the hall."

Richard clears his throat. "And Chandler?"

Monica looks off to the side and smiles. "I've known his for a really long time. Now that I think of it. I think, yes, it'll be nine years this Thanksgiving."

Richard, trying to sound nonchalant, finally broaches the topic he was really interested in. "Well, you both seem close."

Monica turns to face him. "For a while, we were each other's only friend in the city. With Ross getting married and neither of us having a roommate, we just sort of did everything together. He's probably my closest friend. At least he was until Rachel came back into the picture."

Richard nods. "You guys ever, ah, date or anything?"

Monica gives off a hearty laugh. "Me and Chandler? No."

Richard unintentionally flashes a relieved smile. Although satisfied with her answer, he still has this need to push the topic. "Did you guys ever fool around?"

Monica's smile fades and she looks confused and slightly offended. "No. What is this about?"

Richard starts to feel guilty; he pats her hand and his tone softens. "Nothing. You guys just seem really comfortable together. Really close. It just made me wonder."

Monica smiles and starts to cackle. "Oh my goodness. Is Dr. Richard Burke jealous of Chandler Bing?"

Richard, gets defensive and shakes his head while smiling. "What? Noooo? I wouldn't say jealous. Maybe just mildly curious."

Monica pats him on his thigh. "Well, there is nothing to be curious about. We are just good friends. Men and women can be friends without it ever getting physical."

Richard suddenly realizes how much he had overreacted and a sheepish expression falls over his face. "No, I know. I didn't mean anything by it. Just, seeing you guys interact tonight. I guess I got a little carried away."

Monica smiles. "I think that's sweet. But, seriously, you have nothing to worry about with me and any of the guys. I was actually just trying to cheer Chandler up. Joey moved out and he got this new roommate that is giving him some bad vibes. It's kind of what we do. We look out for each other." Monica pauses and chuckles lightly. "It's funny though."

Richard, looking perplexed, tilts his head. "What?"

"Well, most men I date ask me about Joey. No one has ever asked me about Chandler."

"Joey seems nice, but he doesn't strike me as your type."

"And Chandler does?"

"No, he just seems, a little more complicated than Joey. He has a few more layers to him."

Monica smirks. "Maybe. I mean, for the most part he is a big man-child. He is just, well, he's like having another brother around." Monica decides to hold off getting into exactly how close they have been through the years. She realizes that trying to explain the nature of their platonic relationship might only make Richard feel worse.

Richard nods, finally able to move on. "Maybe we need to set him up with someone."

Monica shakes her head slowly in response. "He isn't ready for that. He doesn't do commitment."

Richard takes Monica's hand. "Really? That's too bad. Maybe he just needs to find the right woman to help him get over all that. I know it doesn't seem like it, after this conversation, but out of all your friends, I think I like him the most. I'm kind of rooting for him."

Monica smiles. "So am I."