Chapter 6: A New Job for Rachel?

Gunther was feeling very happy, for him, and whistled as he began to set up for the day. At last the years of auditions had paid off, and he could quit this job. Not that he wanted to so much now. For one thing, he wouldn't get to see Rachel any more, unless he came in for coffee, and that was truly a loss. But in his heart of hearts he knew that any fantasies he might have about attracting her were just that – fantasies. He needed to meet new people.

Just then, Rachel came in for the morning shift, looking a little sad, but as beautiful as ever. He sighed. It was going to be hard not having her around to feast his eyes upon.

'Hi, Gunther!' she said. 'What's new? You seem very happy about something.'

'Well, I have got good news,' he said, almost unable to contain his glee. 'You remember how I used to be an actor?'

'Sure.'

'Well, I've never given up trying out at auditions, and now I've finally got a part,' he said proudly.

'Oh, Gunther, that's great!' she cried, really pleased for him.

'And guess what the part is,' he went on, grinning from ear to ear.

She shook her head. 'No way I can guess, except it's not James Bond, is it?'

He laughed. 'No, it's a job you could say I have been rehearsing for, all my time here.'

Her mouth fell open. 'Not …' She waved her hand around.

He nodded eagerly. 'Yes!' He burst out laughing, and just managed to get out, 'I'm going to play the manager of a coffee shop in a sitcom,' before he broke down entirely.

Rachel broke into helpless giggles. They leaned on each other, momentarily overcome with laughter. Rachel recovered first.

'But who'll replace you?' she said, her brow wrinkling.

'Well,' said Gunther, smiling at her, 'I've talked to Terry. Would you be interested? It's more hours, but the pay's not bad.'

'Me?' she said in amazement. 'But, but … I've only been here a few months, and I didn't start well, did I? Surely Terry won't want me.'

'That's where you're wrong,' said Gunther. 'You may not have noticed, but he's been dropping by now and then, checking up on you, and he thinks you've been shaping up really well. I told him, I think you've got what it takes.'

'Oh Gunther, thanks for that!' said Rachel, hugging him impulsively. 'But what about the other waitresses? They've been here longer than me.'

Gunther just managed to fight down his urge to kiss her before she let go of him. 'I, I happen to know, they're, they're only interested in part-time work,' he stammered. 'If you want the job, it's yours.'

Rachel looked uncertain. 'How long do I have to think about it?'

'I have to do a week's notice once we've made an appointment,' said Gunther, 'to give me time to show whoever it is the ropes. Can you give a definite yes or no in twenty-four hours?'

'Okay,' said Rachel. 'I'll certainly do that.'

She went about her work in something of a daze, but, knowing the reason, Gunther and the other waitress made allowances. About ten thirty, Monica dropped in for a quick chat before going to work. She was beaming.

'This restaurant thing looks like it might really happen,' she said. 'Oh, I can hardly wait.'

'That's great, honey,' said Rachel. 'It'll be a lot of work, though.'

'But I'll be working for me!' said Monica emphatically. She looked at Rachel affectionately. 'Rach, I wish you'd come in with us. It'd be so great to have you as my head waiter, and it would be a much better position for you.'

Rachel smiled a little ruefully. 'Maybe, if things were different – but I couldn't take being around Chandler that much, right now. I'll have to get over what I was beginning to feel for him. Anyway, I do have the offer of another job. Gunther's leaving, and I can have his job if I want it. I'm trying to decide if I do.'

'That's great!' Monica shrieked, throwing her arms round her. 'You should definitely do it!'

'What should she do?' said Ross as he came in with Phoebe on his arm.

'Run Central Perk!' said Monica, almost jumping up and down in her excitement. 'She's got the offer of Gunther's job.'

'Wow!' said Ross, as amazed as Rachel had been.

'Oh, that would be so cool!' said Phoebe. 'You'd let us have our coffee for free, wouldn't you?'

Rachel gave her a disbelieving look. 'I'd have to charge you, Pheebs,' she said, mildly but firmly. 'They'd fire me otherwise.'

'Well, maybe it's not such a good idea then,' said Phoebe discontentedly. 'Could you at least bring out any muffins and stuff that aren't completely fresh any more and pass them round?'

'I dare say that goes with the job,' said Rachel. 'Gunther will tell me.'

'You don't need handouts, Pheebs,' said Ross in gentle reproof. 'You're making a fair wage now.'

Phoebe looked slightly abashed. 'Sorry. Old habits die hard. So how's the restaurant deal, Mon?'

As Monica began explaining excitedly, Rachel sidled up to Ross. 'What do you think?' she said. 'Should I take the job? I'd value your opinion, Ross.'

He smiled. 'I think you should. Even at Monica's restaurant, you'd only be a waiter. But this would look good on your CV – it would show you can run something. And don't think you can't do it. You used to organise all kinds of things at high school.'

'So I did,' she said. 'I kind of let things go when I grew up, and then, running out on my wedding …' She left the sentence unfinished.

'It made you lose confidence in yourself,' said Ross. 'I understand. I felt the same way when Carol left me. But we have both been able to recover. I say, go for it.' He gazed into her big, trusting eyes. Rachel looked so entrancing that the memories of the crush that he had had on her revived, and for a moment he almost regretted that he had fallen in love with Phoebe. Suddenly aware that he was staring at her, he broke eye contact.

Also seeming slightly embarrassed, she gave one of her little coughs and said, 'Okay, that's two in favour. I think I'll do it. But right now I'd better get to work.' She hurried off to two newly arrived customers who had just entered. Both were young women, one with short reddish-brown hair and rather skimpy clothing that revealed a navel-stud, the other short and dark-haired. Both looked at her as if they knew who she was.

'Hi,' said the dark-haired one. 'You're Rachel, one of Phoebe's friends, aren't you? I'm Jasmine; I worked with her as a masseuse, before she got her new job. I share an apartment with Gunther. We figured we ought to come in here and see what all the fuss was about.'

'Yeah, and I know another of your friends, Ross,' said the other woman. 'He's always coming into the copy place where I work, to get things done. He's a great guy, pushes us to our limits but always polite about it. I'm Chloe, by the way; Jasmine's brother works with me.' She held out a hand.

'Wow,' said Rachel, shaking it. 'Small world, huh? I think you know other friends of mine too, Joey and Chandler. Both Ross and Phoebe are here, in fact, over there.'

'Great,' said Chloe. 'Let's go join them.'

They were greeted enthusiastically by Ross and Phoebe, and introduced to Monica, while Rachel took everyone's orders. She got back to hear Chloe saying, 'No, I only work there part-time, to help support myself while I finish my doctorate.'

'WOW!' said Phoebe, her eyes wide. 'You're doing a doctorate?'

'Yeah, but not on your and Ross's stuff,' said Chloe. 'I deal with what's modern history by comparison.' She turned to Rachel. 'Coming to chat for a while?'

'Yes, do, Rachel,' said Ross, smiling at her. 'We don't get to talk with you nearly enough, now you're so conscientious.'

Rachel was tempted, but she could not help looking around, and there were more new customers. She sighed. 'That would be great, but I've taken time out already to talk about whether to take over running this place from Gunther,' she said. 'I must deal with these customers. I'll try to get back.'

As she scurried around taking and delivering orders, it occurred to her that, if she were the manager like Gunther, she wouldn't even be able to take a few minutes off to chat with her friends, unless things were very slack. Maybe they would be willing to come to the counter to chat with her. The rush of business continued to grow: suddenly, it seemed everyone in the Village wanted coffee. Finally, when it was well past noon, things slowed down, but by then all of the others had gone except Chandler, Janice and Joey; she had been working so hard that she had not even noticed when they had come in.

'Take a break, Rachel,' said Gunther kindly.  'It's way past your lunchtime. Go and talk to your friends.' He evidently had no idea how things might stand between her and Chandler. But she realised that she needed a rest. Getting herself a large coffee and something to eat, she went over to sit with them. They greeted her cheerfully.

'Didn't even see you guys come in,' she said.

'Yeah, I know,' said Joey. 'You were working your ass off. So, are you going to take the job? You wouldn't have to run about so much.'

'There's that,' said Rachel. 'But I was thinking, I won't get to come and chat with you guys any more. When does Gunther ever come out from behind the counter?'

'That's because Gunther's Gunther,' said Chandler. 'If you were manager, I guess you could make your own rules, as long as the customers stayed happy.'

'That's true,' said Rachel thoughtfully. 'That is certainly true. Well, I'm thinking, maybe I'll go for it.'

'So, we can't tempt you to Monica's restaurant?' said Chandler, doing his crinkly-eyed smile at her. 'It really does look like it's going to happen.'

Rachel sighed, feeling irritation rise in her. 'You're not very good at taking no for an answer, are you, Chandler? You know as well as I do why I won't do it.' She looked at him, letting her feelings show. His face twitched and he looked away.

'Why, whatever do you mean?' said Janice. 'What's she getting at, Chandler?' There was a hint of the old Janice in her voice.

'Let it go,' said Chandler. He turned back to Rachel. 'I'm sorry,' he said sincerely. 'I'll drop it.'

She nodded. 'So how's the great actor, Joey?' she said, trying to inject some playfulness into her voice. 'Are you getting any word how you're going down?'

'Sure,' he said. 'They love me. There's someone told off just to handle my fanmail.You know, those fans, they write all kinds of crazy things. Some even seem to think we make up our own lines!' He mimed incredulity. 'The other day, I got some of the writers who give me all these great lines and situations to go out for a drink with me. There's men and women both, and the women can be quite cute.'

'Hey hey hey!' said Chandler. 'Where does Monica fit into this?'

Joey's face showed discontent. 'I hardly see her any more, now she's so wrapped up in this restaurant thing,' he said. 'But I'm not dating any of them – though I could get dates if I wanted. There's all sorts of women connected with the show, and plenty of them come on to me.'

'Oh oh!' said Chandler. 'Are any of them as great as Monica? You'd be a fool to throw that away, Joe, just because you're not seeing her as often as you'd like. Once the restaurant's set up, she should have more time for you.'

'You believe that?' said Joey, his voice rising in apparent anger. 'She'll be shopping, and cooking, and planning, and figuring, just like now … I tell you, guys, sometimes I wonder if it's worth it.' He got up. 'I'd better be going. Got a rehearsal soon.'

Chandler and Rachel looked at each other. 'If you think that's going to last, a dollar will win you a trip around the world,' said Chandler.

Rachel nodded unhappily. 'I'm afraid you're right. I hope Mon doesn't take it too badly. Well, better get back to work. See you, Janice.'

When she had gone, Janice nudged Chandler. 'Now tell me what that was about.'

'What was what about?' said Chandler, trying to seem innocent, but knowing perfectly well what Janice was referring to.

'That thing Rachel said,' said Janice insistently. 'Why should you know why she won't do it? Was there something between you?' With every sentence, her voice was beginning to sound more like the old Janice.

He decided to be honest. 'It looked like there might be going to be,' he said, 'but then you and I met again.'

'She seems rather unhappy,' Janice commented, looking at him reproachfully.

He swallowed. 'Well, I may have led her on a bit. But we never got close to dating.'

'Ah, unlike all the others,' said Janice, now sounding rather scornful. 'I've been hearing about them, here and there.'

'Janice, you can't be jealous of what I did when we weren't together,' Chandler protested.

'Maybe not,' said Janice. 'But how about you trying to run me at the same time as other women? That was what you were originally going to do, wasn't it? And maybe you were angling for hot Rachel as well?'

Chandler looked at her in alarm. She seemed to be genuinely angry. 'What's gotten into you, Janice?' he said.

'Oh, I ran into someone called Aurora,' said Janice. 'Or rather, she got talking to me. She had seen us about together. You dropped her rather suddenly, didn't you – though she didn't seem to mind too much, so I suppose it was like your dates with people in your office, nothing serious. But what with all that I've heard, and now this about Rachel too – it makes me wonder whether I can trust you.' She looked at him with smouldering eyes.

'Janice, please …' he stammered. 'After all we've said – after all we've been to each other – how can you believe that?'

'I don't know,' she wailed, suddenly switching emotions. 'But I can't help being afraid I'm going to lose you.' She got up. 'I'm sorry, I'm upsetting us both; I'll go now. I'll be in touch, sweetie, I promise.' She bent down and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then hurried out, leaving him staring after her, stunned. How had their relationship fallen apart in only a minute or two?

'What's the problem, Chandler?' came Rachel's voice. 'You look so sad.'

He turned to see her standing behind him, a concerned look on her face.

'Janice and I fought,' he said disspiritedly, 'or rather, she got very upset with me.'

She sat down and regarded him sympathetically. 'What was it about? Surely you two are in love enough to work this out.'

Chandler sighed. 'I'm not sure I should tell you.'

'Was it over what I said?' she gasped. 'Oh Chandler, I'm so sorry. But you must have told her there was nothing between us.'

'I did,' he said, 'but she added it to what she knew about my dates, and had heard from Aurora – she ran into her – and she's getting to where she's not sure she can trust me.' He put his head in his hands. 'I wish now I hadn't gotten all confident with women,' he said miserably, 'though if I hadn't, we'd never have got back together.'

Rachel sat down beside him and pulled his head onto her shoulder. 'There, there, Chandler, I'm sure this will pass. You just have to show her you truly love her. If she's got any sense, she'll realise how silly she's being. Just don't go off on a date with anyone else to show her you don't care, or something silly like that. Be patient.'

Chandler found himself smiling. 'That's good advice.'

'Maybe you can give me some in return,' she said. 'What do you really think about this offer of Gunther's job? You said more sensible things than anyone else, a few minutes ago.'

Chandler looked thoughtful and studied his shoes. When he looked up and caught her eyes again, she was looking at him so eagerly that he had to laugh.

'The description "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" might have been coined for you,' he said.

'Oh, you!' she giggled, giving him the softest of slaps on his arm. 'Well, what do you think?'

'Seriously,' he said, 'I think you should only agree to do it if you can work out some kind of shift system. I mean, you'd have no life at all if you were here all the time that Gunther spends here, and only took time off very occasionally, and I know you: you like your social life. Maybe you should be senior manager and have general responsibility and all that, but either someone else takes over in the evenings, or you do some days and not others, or you do shifts like the waitresses. I know you could do the job, but you don't want to give up your whole life to it.'

'That's great advice!' she cried. 'Oh Chandler, thank you so, so much.'

She threw her arms around him and gave him a grateful kiss. It was meant to be on the cheek, but it came very near to his mouth, and he found it all too easy to turn his face a little and steal a kiss from her inviting lips. For a moment he thought she responded; then she started away.

'You … you spoiled it,' she said, looking as if she felt betrayed. He was shocked to see tears welling up in her eyes. 'Why did you have to do that?' Wiping a hand across her eyes, she got up and marched away. He rose too, looking after her and holding out a hand as if he could stop her that way, but she did not look back, even when he called her name.

Ignoring Gunther's dark look at him, he sat down again, his mind in turmoil. Why, indeed, had he done it? Was he developing feelings for her that he should not have, when he was committed to Janice? Or was he on a rebound from Janice already? How had things become so complicated?