A/N:- Sorry for the delay! Got caught up in college exams and stuff... I'll try to update sooner next time as a compensation.
Let's get started! I hope the chapter makes up for it. BTW, a part of it is a little factual and nerdy. I hope it doesn't bore you that much.
10. Two birds, one stone
"Hello?" asked Rachel as she picked up the receiver.
Oh, hey Mon!" she exclaimed, after recognising the voice on the other end.
Speaking about the other end, Monica was surprised by the cheerful tone of Rachel's voice.
It had been almost two weeks since Rachel had taken her leave from New York, and that had been in a rather unceremonious way. For she had left the very next morning, booking her ticket at the last minute, her fare almost thrice of what it should've been. To make matters worse, this time it had been her brother who had not responded to her calls, a thing that surprisingly did not drive her up the wall, having recently endured the same from another party.
Long story short, it seemed like Ross and Rachel had descended into a phase of stalemate, confessing their love yet doing nothing that improved their current scenario.
"Looks like someone's feeling cheery today..." Monica stated, wondering if she was missing something.
"Yeah! I'm actually in a pretty good mood today!" Rachel exclaimed, as she carried the receiver in the crook of her neck, so as to continue working simultaneously.
'Well... That's weird!' thought Monica
"Something good happened?" asked Monica, in the midst of a loud clatter on the other end.
"What? Sorry, I didn't catch that." Rachel said, her voice pierced yet again by a crackle and a hiss.
"What's all that noise?" Monica asked, distracted.
"Oh, I'm sautéing vegetables right now." Rachel clarified as she continued stirring the contents.
'What the hell?!'
"You... are cooking?" Monica asked, struck by the absurdity of the statement.
"Yes. Hey! Don't be so judgemental!" Rachel said, while letting out an awkward chuckle.
"I'm not!" Monica exclaimed. Then, as she realised that she was indeed being one, she came up with a comeback.
"Well, it's only because it's YOU Rach. I mean, come on!" she said. "The last time I've seen you cook you landed up with a dish that was nauseating for anyone except Joey. And he really doesn't count."
Rachel had to laugh before she replied, "What if I were to tell you that I can now cook a perfectly edible pasta and that too without looking in the cookbook?"
"Hmm... Seems like something that I'll have to see by myself before I can believe it." Monica replied, smiling herself.
"Sure! Hey! Why don't you guys come over for Christmas? It's barely two weeks away!" Rachel asked.
Monica seemed to contemplate before she replied, her voice trailing awkwardly towards the end.
"Errmm... I don't know Rach. It would be pretty difficult to manage. And seeing that it's our first Christmas over here, I kinda wanted to spend it at home, you know..."
"Oh. Okay. No problem. A rain check it is then huh?" Rachel asked, the image of the 'Bing' household suddenly flashing in her mind, complete with a snow laden Christmas tree and a house, like an ideal Christmas card.
"Yeah. Sure." Monica replied.
Few seconds passed by, during which neither knew quite what to say, until Monica's burning curiosity finally made her ask the question which had been bothering her since the moment they had started conversing.
"Rach?" she asked.
"Yes?" came the reply.
"Have you guys talked after... you know... I mean... you know who I mean by..." Monica said, not quite able to complete the sentence.
Only a few months prior, their friendship had been so close that they could have talked about any topic in the whole damn world without worrying even the slightest about what the other might think. Now, however, the things had changed. Monica wasn't sure that she really knew Rachel anymore.
"Yes, I know. And no, we haven't talked." Rachel replied.
"So?... What now?" came the question from the other end.
Turning off the stove, Rachel rested herself on the kitchen counter as she replied, her eyes never leaving the pan.
"Honestly... I don't know, Mon. What I do know is that I'm glad we finally put it out in the open. That we are finally on the same page. And I'm having a feeling that things can only get better from here."
* * *
The digital clock on the bedside table began it's daily morning ritual of beeping it's owner awake as it proclaimed '6AM' in it's red LED display. Today however, that hadn't been necessary for he had laid awake since a long time, simply waiting for it to beep.
Ross dismissed the alarm and stretched himself in the bed, almost eager for the day to begin. It was not like that the day promised anything exciting to look forward to, rather, it was just the longing of getting out of the bed and marking the end of yet another restless, sleepless night.
Looking at the window, which had only just begun to show hints of pink and orange near the horizon, Ross reflected on his past two weeks. They had been pretty average, except for the presence of his daughter, who did make him smile more often. Apparently, the two year old was now getting used to the idea that she could be with only one of her parents at any given time. And so she had been asking lesser and lesser for her mother, becoming more and more broody instead. Or maybe she had simply taken a page out of her parents' book and decided to keep mum.
His inaction in the past two weeks hadn't been intentional. He had just been unable to say or do anything, dismissing everything that came to mind. And he suspected that Rachel was going through the same. Unable to figure out what exactly to do. Or say.
Sighing, he got up and headed to the kitchen to make some coffee for himself. In the process, he switched on his laptop, to check his morning mail, as had been his routine ever since he became HOD.
Five minutes later, as Ross bent over the laptop, sure enough there were many waiting for his attention. Fortunately, only two of those were marked as 'Important'.
The first mail came from the agency which had granted Ross a research grant a year ago. A grant for which he had had to sacrifice his girlfriend, Charlie. As Ross continued to read the mail, his frown grew more and more pronounced. For his grant amount, which was a whopping six figure, was threatened to get lapsed if he didn't put it to use within the next three months.
Great. That was exactly what he had wanted. More fuel in the fire which was already rampant.
Disturbed, he moved on to the next mail which was a newsletter from the Paleontology Society, informing about the latest excavation undertaken by the CNRS and the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in the Audoin quarries. The site promised great potential of possibly uncovering one of the largest fossils ever.
Ross blinked at the screen before he began reading the mail again, this time with a fresh vigour. The mail was basically meant for recruiting expert Paleontologists across the world, albeit it was supposed to be at their own costs.
He stared hard at the computer screen, the gears of his brain finally groaning into action as the caffeine kicked in.
Could he possibly kill two birds with a single stone?
* * *
Rachel idly gazed at the magazine which she had grabbed along with her 'groceries' from the nearest supermarket. Two containers of take away food littered the table, waiting to be dispatched into the bin.
As much as she had bragged to Monica about cooking her own meal, it was something which had proved rather difficult to master. So far, she had barely managed to cook a few varieties of pasta and salads and that too rarely went well. Apart from that, however, she had become pretty self-sufficient, a skill which you do learn when you are on your own for so long. Especially when there's a person dependent on you.
Rachel flipped the page of the magazine, which now displayed a fabulous, polished wooden interior. She imagined having it in her own home, the varnish glistening even better in the dimmed lights studded within the false ceiling, creating a rich, soothing ambience. Yet, she knew that it could never quite sooth her. For she knew exactly what was the element that would be missing.
The Christmas card flashed again in front of her eyes, as it had been flashing almost every other minute since her conversation with Monica earlier in the morning. Monica and Chandler engaged in a furious snow fight, supported by their kids Jack and Erica, who were a couple of over-energetic five year olds in her mind.
Sam had been right to say that a house gave a sense of freedom and a sense of a new beginning. But, she had evidently missed out on something much more important.
It didn't make that place home.
Rachel gently folded the magazine and laid it aside, her eyes now focusing on the landline. Truth be told, the reason why she hadn't contacted Ross had been because she was afraid that he wouldn't want to talk to her. So she thought it was better if they got some space. She didn't want their emotions to get better of themselves as they always had.
Today, however, seemed like a good time to try. And hence, crossing her fingers Rachel began dialing Ross's number, tapping her feet in apprehension.
* * *
Ross had only just finished filing an application, when he heard the phone ring . Getting up from the table, he headed to receive it. Eyebrows raised, he smiled amusingly at the ID.
Impeccable timing he thought as he picked up the call. He didn't know why, but he wanted Rachel to speak first. Apparently, so did she and hence the silence stretched for a few long seconds. Finally, Rachel caved.
"Hello?" she asked, a bit anxiously.
"Hey." he replied, in reassurance.
The notorious pause resumed it's realm yet again as they both found themselves lacking the words necessarily to express their thoughts.
"So how's things?" Rachel asked, trying yet again.
Ross let out a chuckle at her attempt to make normal conversation. Nevertheless, he replied.
"Pretty great, actually. Emma does liven up the space here. It's been comforting to have her around."
"Yeah. She does." Rachel replied, smiling at the memory of her daughter. "Is she awake?"
"I'm afraid not. It's just past seven here after all." said Ross, absently gazing towards the bedroom where she lay peacefully.
"Oh. Right." Rachel replied, disappointment obvious in her voice. "Well, give her my love."
"Sure. Will do." Ross said, nodding in acceptance. After another awkward silence, Ross continued
"By the way, speaking about things, you remember that grant I received last year?"
"Yeah. Vividly." Rachel replied, smirking, as she recollected the drama behind it. But how was that related to anything?
Answering her doubts, Ross continued.
"Well, guess what? I just filed in an application for the grant to be used on a six month field research in Audoin quarries."
Now Rachel grew even more confused.
"Oh... Good for you!" was all that she could come up with.
Ross smiled at her response.
Typical Rachel, he thought. If only she had known where the Audoin quarries were located, her reaction would've been very different.
"The CNRS and FNHM are organising it and it promises to uncover one of the greatest dinosaur fossils ever known to mankind!" he said, sounding excited at the prospect.
"That's great news." Rachel replied, although her voice lacked the excitement, sounding more on the lines of clueless.
"Errm... so that's me. How have you been?" Ross asked.
"I've been... pretty good too." she replied, her voice faltering a bit. "In fact, I had just been glancing through various interior designs, thinking which would suit the new house."
"Oh yeah! That must've kept you busy, right?" Ross asked.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Rachel replied, shrugging.
As both the parties seemed at a loss of what to say, Ross finally decided to face the elephant in the room.
"Are we just going to pretend as though nothing happened? Because if we do that, then it'll be.." he began.
But before he could continue, Rachel chimed in, taking him by surprise.
"It'll be just like us?"
"Yes." Ross replied, gratefully.
"I'm sorry, Ross. I really am. I really shouldn't have left like that. And I am not simply refering to me leaving two weeks ago, you know. I mean like 'leaving' leaving." Rachel said, the words streaming faster with every syllable she spoke.
"It's okay." Ross replied. "I'm sorry, too."
"No, it's not okay, Ross! It's so goddamn NOT!" Rachel said heatedly, springing up to her feet.
"We've lost the chance of becoming a family, Ross! Doesn't that bother you?" she asked, tears springing to her eyes.
"In about six months time, I'll be having a house. But I won't be having a home." she said, letting out a sob as the realisation became much more real.
Hearing Rachel say those words resolved whatever doubts that Ross had about his latest actions.
"We may not have lost the chance totally, Rach." he said.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked, surprised.
"Do you know exactly where the Audoin quarries are located?" he asked.
"No." she replied, not quite getting how it was related.
"They are close to the town of Angeac in Charente."
Charente... why did the name sound so familiar to her?
Sensing that Rachel was still nonplussed, Ross continued.
"Charente comes in Southwestern France, about a five hour drive from Paris."
That was why! She remembered seeing the name vaguely on the map of France, something which she had enthusiastically buyed in her first week in Paris, yet had hardly ever spared the time to actually study it.
"Does that mean..." Rachel asked, only beginning to realise the implications.
"It'll only be for six months. And I'll hardly ever get to be in Paris. But still..." Ross said.
"It's a start." said Rachel, finishing the sentence for him.
"Yeah. It's a start." Ross replied, nodding in agreement.
"So when will you be coming?" Rachel asked, suddenly looking forward to it.
"Errmm... I don't know. Could take a month I suppose. The application has to go through various departments and many different formalities before it's approved and I actually start packing." he said.
"Oh." Rachel replied, her shoulders slumping in disappointment.
"What happened?" Ross asked, sensing her off-beat tone.
"Seems like I'll be spending Christmas alone after all." she said, sounding bitter.
Only now did she realise that it was going to be the first Christmas which she would be spending alone. She had never been alone at this time of the year. It had always been either friends or family. This time neither her New York friends nor her Paris ones would be with her as all would be engaged in enjoying the festivities with their families.
Guess I have to pay the price after all, she thought, believing that she indeed deserved it.
"Maybe not." came Ross's voice from the other end as she wallowed in self pity.
"Really?!" Rachel asked, beaming as a child would.
"Hey! It's a maybe. For I'll have a lot of on my hands now, what with appointing an ad-hoc HOD and stuff. So don't get carried away." he chided, smiling as he did so.
"I won't." Rachel promised, although she knew it was one which she wouldn't be able to keep.
Just then, Ross's doorbell rang, ending their moment and the blissful peace that had finally settled on both sides.
"Guess I gotta go. See you soon." Ross replied, only half mocking as he did so.
"Alright. Love you." Rachel said, smirking as she did so.
"Love you too." Ross replied.
And for the first time in a really long time they meant it in the exact same sense.
As Rachel kept down the receiver, the Christmas card flashed yet again. Only this time it was she and Ross snowfighting, while Emma threw snow randomly in turns, laughing as they hit their target.
She knew she was taking it too far. She knew that they had a lot to talk through and a lot to go through before any of that could become a reality.
But... It was a start.
Fact file:- Audoin quarries in Angeac, Charente is a very real excavation site in Southwest France from where the coordinated efforts of CNRS and French National History Museum unearthed one of the richest collections of dinosaur fossils in France. The only glitch here is that the excavation began in 2010, and I don't know whether any Americans were involved. So yeah, that part is just me.
Plus I don't know how the grants are actually used. So excuse me if there are any obvious flaws over there.
So that's it! Stay tuned! :)