Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover

Chandler leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Kathy's cheek. "Okay babe, I gotta go to work."

Kathy smiled at him and blushed as he stroked her knee before he stood up. He turned to Monica and Rachel, who were seated on the orange couch next to each other and gave them both a nod as a goodbye and quickly made his way to the door. He looked back one more time and shared one last smile with Kathy before he walked out of Central Perk.

Kathy followed him with her eyes as he walked past the large picture window in the front of the building, and once he was out of sight, she looked down and smiled to herself.

"Wow, someone has got it bad."

Kathy looked up at Rachel and laughed as she tilted her head bashfully. "Is it that obvious?"

Monica leaned forward to grab her coffee mug and smirked. "Are you kidding me? I've always heard the term 'making goo-goo eyes', but I don't think I ever actually saw it."

Kathy shook her head and smiled. "What can I say? I'm smitten."

Rachel gestured with her thumb towards the door of the coffee shop. "With Chandler?"

Monica rolled her eyes and glanced over at Rachel. "Don't mind her."

Kathy nodded and laughed.

Monica bit her lower lip and then slid over closer to Kathy, who was still sitting on one of the chairs by a high-top table. "But, really? Chandler?"

Kathy smiled and shook her head. "Yes. He's amazing."

Rachel scooted up and sat on the edge of the couch. "Really? That guy?"

"Really."

The three women sat in silence for a few moments and sipped at their coffee. Rachel glanced at Monica and then looked back at Kathy.

"We have to know. How?"

Kathy looked at both women incredulously. "What?"

Monica pat Rachel's knee as she sat up. "Look, we all love Chandler. He's sweet and kind, but, well, we never really get to see him do the whole boyfriend thing that often. Or that well."

Rachel nodded along. "Yeah. What's that like?"

Kathy laughed and sat back. "Oh, well, uh, like you said, he's very sweet. He's really smart, but in a way that doesn't seem like he is showing off. And he does all these little things that let you know he's listening to you, and he is very charming. I mean, you guys know."

Monica and Rachel slowly nodded as they listened. Rachel then shook her head. "No. We don't. To us, Chandler is the guy who makes weird noises."

Kathy chuckled again. "Well, he is charming. And he's fun. He makes it so easy to feel comfortable, and we laugh. I don't know if I've ever laughed this much with someone that I was going out with."

Rachel tilted her head and twisted up her face into a confused expression. "Wait, so you picked Chandler over Joey because he tells funny jokes?"

Monica shoved Rachel and glared at her. "Rachel!"

Kathy looked over at them and the three women fell into an awkward silence.

Monica rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry. I know it is probably uncomfortable to talk about this with us."

"No. I mean, yes, it is; but I knew eventually something might come up. It is weird. To date two different guys who are friends is hard enough. But roommates too? And to have all you guys know, and you all hang out with each other all the time. I get it. There's no way you guys aren't all thinking about it."

Rachel turned sharply towards Monica. "See, it was bound to come up!" She then turned back to Kathy. "So, uh, like I said, Chandler?"

Kathy couldn't help but laugh again. "Yes."

"But we always assumed that Joey would always…" Rachel stopped for a moment and took pause to think about what she was going to say next. "Joey is just better with women."

Monica shook her head once more and rolled her eyes back in embarrassment. "Rach!"

"No, no. It's fine." Kathy put her mug down on the table and leaned forward. "Joey was great, and he was fun, but we didn't have that extra thing. You know what I mean? That spark."

"But, it's Joey."

Kathy sat back again and gestured towards Rachel. "Hey, you can date him if you want."

Monica chuckled and shifted even closer to the end of the couch. "You and Chandler have that spark?"

"I think so. I feel it. I think he does too."

"I love that feeling. You're nervous and excited and happy all at the same time."

Kathy smiled and looked down. "Me too. Although, I think I'm just excited and happy. He makes me feel so comfortable. Like, there isn't anything I can't tell him."

"Chandler?" Rachel looked over at Monica. "The guy who used to be able to come up with any reason not to go out with someone? He once dumped a girl because she had really skinny fingers."

Monica gestured towards Kathy. "Well Rach, obviously, with Kathy, he doesn't think like that anymore. Maybe he's maturing."

Rachel twisted her face up and shot Monica a skeptical look. "Chandler?"

Kathy laughed again and stood up. "As fun as this has been, I do have to get going. I'm auditioning for a play this afternoon."

Rachel, still puzzled, gestured with her hand towards Kathy. "What I don't get is, you picked Chandler, over Joey."

Monica nudged Rachel again with her elbow and glowered at her. "Rach!"

Kathy sat back down and twisted her lips into a smile. "Are you asking me about the sex?"

"Oh no. Noooo. No." Rachel mocked a laugh and slapped her knee, she then turned back to Kathy and let her smile fade. "Yes. Yes. It's about the sex. Joey has always seemed like he's…" Rachel lifted her hands in front of her and squeezed them tightly into little fists as she flexed her arms. "You know? And Chandler, well, he was always like…" She relaxed her arms and started to let them flail about weakly.

Kathy shook her head. "Well, maybe that's the problem with Joey."

"What?"

"With Joe, everything was a little harder."

Rachel smiled lasciviously. "Oh, I'll bet."

Kathy shook her head and rolled her eyes. "No. Not like that. Look, Joey is a sweet guy, and he is very attractive, but he knows it, and, he gets lazy because of that. He doesn't pay attention, and you are kind of left there picking up the slack in the relationship. And it always feels like he is looking over your shoulder for the next best thing."

Monica nodded. "What about Chandler."

"Chandler, he…he doesn't know how great he is. So, while Joey is impressed with himself, Chandler is busy trying to impress you. He remembers something you said in passing, and then, he acts on it. Like the book he got me for my birthday."

Monica smiled and looked down. "Like we said, he's sweet."

"It's more than that. With Joey, he makes you feel like, him just being there is enough. So he never had to try and change things up. Everything he did with me when we were dating, it felt like he had done it a thousand times before. Like a part he rehearsed. Chandler, it's as if he can't believe this is happening to him, and he just wants to celebrate being together all the time. It's intoxicating to get that kind of positive attention."

Monica sat back again. "Wow. That sounds really great."

Rachel nodded, and then looked back over at Kathy. "Yeah, but the sex…"

"Okay, fine. You win." Kathy gestured with her hands that she had finally surrendered to Rachel and her attempts to press her for more salacious details. "You win. In the beginning, Joey was really amazing in bed, but over time, that sort of fell off. Like, drinking an espresso. You get this jolt of energy, but it fades."

Rachel and Monica glanced at each other. Monica shook her head at Rachel, but she dismissed her with her eyes and turned back to Kathy. "And Chandler?"

"It was a little awkward at first, I think he was too much in his head." Kathy looked at Monica. "But you." She raised her hands up and clasped them together as she swung them in Monica's direction. "You turned him into a living legend."

"Really?"

"It's something new every night. I think he is going to go one way, and he changes it up. I think he is going to zig and he zags. He hits all my spots. Even spots I didn't know needed to be hit. This thing he did with my toes the other night…"

Rachel raised her hands high in the air in triumph. "Ooo! That was me!" She quickly dropped her hands back down and shrunk into her shoulders as she slumped into the couch. Her face turned red with embarrassment.

Kathy laughed one more time and stood up. "Okay ladies. Now I really have to go."

Monica and Rachel smiled and nodded as Kathy pulled her coat on. They shared a quick "Goodbye" and Kathy walked quickly out the door and onto the street.

Monica and Rachel both looked at each other and smirked.

Rachel shook her head as she lifted up her mug. "Wow. Can you believe it?"

Monica nodded. "I know. I'm so jealous."

"What? Of Kathy?"

"Yeah, a little. I wish I was in that place, the beginning. Getting my socks knocked off in and out of bed. Instead, I'm sitting here with you!"

"Hey!"

"You know what I mean."

Rachel nodded. "Well, let's hope we find guys that make us feel like Chandler makes Kathy feel. Did you ever think you'd live to see that? Crazy!"

Monica smiled and looked out towards the window as she watched a few passersby walk past the coffee shop. "You know, maybe it isn't that crazy."