In honor of the FRIENDS "reunion" that took place yesterday, I've decided to come out of the shadows and post a short but hopefully enjoyable? new chapter. I just wrote it in a couple of days so excuse any possible typos. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 21
"Look who's here!" Monica exclaims with a bit of irritation in her voice. "Did you forget it was Christmas Eve?"
"I'm so sorry, it was kind of an eventful day." I hang my coat and join them around the table.
"Sorry we didn't wait for you, Joey had started to nibble on the cushions so we had to start without you." Phoebe explains and Joey sends her a stare.
"I hadn't had a bite since 1pm, what did you expect?!"
"That's alright." I serve myself some turkey and mashed potatoes. The conversation they had going before I arrived seems to be over and everyone's attention is on me.
"Well? What kept you so busy today?" My sister asks.
"I got a job at NYU." I say nonchalantly but I can't hide my excitement.
"Oh my god! Are you serious? That's great! Congratulations!" Monica says and everybody echoes her.
"Thanks. I can hardly believe it myself. And that's not all; I might also have an apartment soon." I grin.
"What!?"
"Yeah, an old colleague's cousin is taking a sabbatical to travel and he is looking to rent his apartment temporarily. I'm meeting him for an interview next week."
"That IS a Christmas miracle!" Chandler exclaims.
"Yeah…you won't need to bear with me much longer." I pat his back.
"What are you talking about?" Monica says while nudging Chandler.
"C'mon, I know you guys can't wait for me to move out."
"That's not true." I lift my brows at my sister. "Alright, you could take shorter showers and share the remote a little more, but other than that we love having you here." I pass an arm over her shoulders and bring her to me to kiss the top of her head.
"Thanks Mon. But I think I should move before we start driving each other crazy." she tilts her head. "Anyway…how was everybody else's day?"
(…)
As we are finishing desert, a knock on the door interrupts our conversation.
"May I come in?" my muscles stiffen at the sound of her voice.
"Rachel! you're back!" Everybody stands up at once to greet her except me; I remain frozen on my seat. I haven't seen or talked to her since that argument we had the day before her wedding and I'm not sure what to expect. Thankfully there's no sight of Marco so I gather some courage and stand up to join them by the door.
"How was the honeymoon? When did you return?" I hear Phoebe ask.
"A couple of hours ago, I just couldn't wait to see you all so I took a cab here." Her eyes fall on me as she is hugging Joey and to my surprise she smiles.
"You're so tan! Ugh." Monica's comment breaks the moment. "Where's Marco?"
"I know, I love it! Marco is resting." Rachel then turns to me. "Hey."
"Hey, how…have you been?" I ask her while the rest disperse back to the table.
"Good, good." She lowers her gaze and lifts her loose black pullover to reveal a small, tan baby bump. She looks up at me beaming a smile. "It's getting big." My lips inevitably curl up into a goofy smile and I yearn to touch her stomach but I hold back.
"Wow…4 months already, huh?" she nods.
"Almost."
"Everything ok?"
"Yup, all good."
"Morning sickness?"
"Completely gone. Thank goodness!" Silence. What am I supposed to say now? I'm sorry that I didn't attend your wedding? But I'm not, I still think your husband is an asshole who doesn't deserve you. Sensing my struggle to keep the conversation going, Rachel turns to the table.
"Rach, do you want some pie?" Monica asks setting an extra plate on the table.
"Sure, why not."
"C'mon and sit down. You have to tell us about your dreamy honeymoon!" My sister encourages.
"Did you bring us anything?" Joey eagerly asks.
"Yes, Joey, but you'll have to wait another day. I left everything at home." He pouts.
"So how was it?" Monica insists.
"It was great! Bora Bora was breathtakingly beautiful. Weather was perfect 24 hours a day…the water clear as glass…"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Now to the good stuff, how was IT?" Phoebe asks. Rachel laughs but before she has a chance to answer and make me sick with undesired details I clear my throat and stand up.
"Sorry to interrupt, I just remembered I gotta go pick up Ben, he's spending the night and Christmas with us so I'll see you all later."
Friday, December 28th
"Joey…" I hesitantly look at security guy standing a few feet away from us.
"C´mon man, are you going to chicken out now?"
"No…no…I just don't think anybody is gonna buy that we belong in this…atmosphere."
"Who cares. This could be my big break, I need to be as prepared as possible and I only have two more days."
"Can't you just do some research in a library or something?"
"Dude, you know I don't step in a library unless there's sex involved." I roll my eyes.
"Alright, alright…only ONE beer, okay?"
"Okay. Thanks man."
"Just promise you won't pull out your camera."
"But how am I supposed to learn then?"
"Use your memory, a notebook, whatever as long as it doesn't put us in the spotlight." He rolls his eyes and walks ahead of me into the gay bar. I breathe in deeply and follow suit. The bar is fairly crowded but still comfortable enough to walk around. We take seat on two free stools by the bar and order our beers. Joey begins to scan the room to look for inspiration for his upcoming role while I sip on my beer and keep my eyes fixed on the alcohol bottles neatly placed on the wall behind the counter. A hand on my shoulder distracts me and I turn around thinking it's Joey but instead I find a muscular man, twice my size, staring down at me with a look I have never seen before in a man.
"Can I treat you to anything, handsome?" I smile awkwardly.
"Ehm…sorry, I don't mean to be rude but…I'm not gay." I shift on my stool when his hand slides down my back.
"How do you know that?"
"Ohh, I know. Trust me." I gently take his hand and put it away. "But thanks for your interest. Really appreciate it."
"Well, if you change your mind I will be right over there." He points at a corner. I smile politely and silently thank that he hasn't insisted.
"You'd better nail this character." I tell Joey but he's busy observing the couple behind me. I decide to scan the room myself, until my eyes halt at a couple making out about ten feet away from us. My jaw suddenly drops and my eyes are on the verge of jumping out of their sockets.
"Ross?" Joey asks but I can't take my eyes away from the scene.
"Oh. ." I mumble.
"What? What is it?" finally the pieces fall into place and I understand the puzzle.
"Turn around, but be nonchalant." He follows my instructions and gasps loudly a few seconds later.
"OH MY GOD!"
"SHHHH! he will hear you!"
"But that's MARCO! Making out with a guy!"
"I Know! And not any guy, isn't that his friend who we ran into when we went out to celebrate your new movie?"
"Oh my god! Yes!"
"Don't stare! They may notice."
"But this is huge! Oh man, I feel so bad for Rachel…I'm sooo gonna beat the crap out of that guy." I grab his arm before he can go any farther.
"Don't! that's not the way to do it."
"It is MY way of do-"
"Hurry, hand me your camera!" I cut him off.
"Oh, now you care about the camera?"
"If we want Rachel to believe us, we are gonna need proof."
"Right! Here!" he hands it to me. "Should we be doing this? What if we are wrong? Maybe Marco has a gay twin! Or he's researching for some kind of clothing campaign…"
"Quit it Joey, Marco is an asshole. I've known for a long time what a fucking liar he really is and this is my chance to prove it to Rachel. Relax and go do your thing, I will take care of this."
I snap a few pictures and record a couple of videos before securing the SD card in the inside pocket of my jacket. I smile proudly, enjoying the moment. I walk towards Marco and his partner and stand next to him but he's too busy to notice.
"Having fun, Huh?" Marco's eyes fly open and he pushes his friend away when he realizes it's me.
"Ross!
"What an unexpected surprise!" I smile.
"I was, we wer- I mean he's-" I cannot help my grin, which he notices and realizes there's no excuse I will buy. "FUCK, fuck fuck fuck FUCK!" he puts his hands together and gives me a desperate look. "PLEASE, don't say anything to Rachel. I can explain." he begs.
"No need for explanation. I saw everything pretty clearly." This feels SO good.
"Please don't tell her. You'll ruin my life!"
"No, don't worry, I won't. YOU will tell her yourself, if you still have any dignity left, that is." He suddenly starts laughing, as if an idea had occurred to him.
"I won't tell her anything. You can go ahead, it will be your word against HER husband's and she's still pissed at you for not showing up at the wedding. So who do you think she'll believe?"
"Me, because not only I saw everything…I also have evidence." I smile as I pull the camera out of my pocket. His face turns red almost instantly.
"GIVE ME THE FUCKING PICTURES RIGHT NOW!" he yells, grabbing on the collar of my jacket and pushing me against the wall. "YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME THOSE PICTURES!" his sudden reaction leaves me shocked, unable to move or speak. Thankfully, the security guy comes and pulls him away before the situation gets uglier. "THIS ISN'T OVER, ROSS GELLER!" I manage to recover my breath and stare at him with all the hatred I feel.
"I give you 24 hours to tell her, or I will." I tell him as security takes him out of the bar. I breathe deeply to calm my nerves. This will be over soon, I tell myself.
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Hope you liked it! PS: I created a twitter account, if anyone is interested in following me, here it is: /ParoleMina