Chapter 17

"Sunset in Heaven"

"Ahhh.." Rachel said as soon as they entered their hotel. "Finally..." She sighed after she took a deep breath and enjoyed the smell of the tropical island.

Their hotel was located just a few minutes away from the beach and the weather today couldn't be any more perfect. It was sunny and bright, she couldn't wait to put her bikini on and went straight to the beach. She was ready for some tanning and showed it off to her coworkers later. They were going to be jealous of her since it was still early spring in New York.

Ross let out a small chuckle as he looked at her smile. Bringing her and their friends here was definitely a good call.

"I'll go get our keys." Ross said, gaining her attention.

When he was about to go, a woman called his name.

"Dr. Geller?" The woman greeted him with the biggest smile on her face.

"Yes?" Ross answered, he looked at her puzzled, couldn't recall who this woman was.

"I'm such a huge fan. Your paper about the Mesozoic era is remarkable." She said. "It's an honor to finally meet you here."

Ross beamed with pride. Finally, his hard work paid off, he thought.

Before he could even answer her, another man around his age came and gushed over him.

"Dr. Ross Geller? I've followed your works since the beginning of your career. I cannot wait for your speech tomorrow." He said.

For the first time in his career, Ross felt like he truly belonged here with another paleontologist who acknowledged him for his work. He did love his friends, but sometimes they didn't appreciate his choice of career and often made jokes about it. He never took offense, he knew they were harmless jokes, but it didn't hurt to meet people with the same passion as he did, people who understood what he was doing. These people looked up at him. They even admired him.

"Can we get a picture with you?" The woman asked, her eyes beamed in such a strange way – almost like the way Rachel did that one time they accidentally met a famous movie star in a restaurant.

"Sure." Ross smiled.

Rachel who was there beside him the whole time saw the new side of Ross she didn't know before. She smiled, showing how proud she was for him. Though she always made fun of his love for dinosaurs, she secretly admired him for it. He had such a great passion for his work and that was one of the traits that made her fall in love with him. But what she saw today was beyond her imagination. She didn't realize that she dated a man that was so famous in his field.

"Damn. He's famous here." Monica blurted out just like she could read Rachel's mind and Rachel just kept smiling as she stared at her boyfriend in an awe.

"I know right." Rachel said. "It's kinda weird seeing him surrounded by those people that not only recognize him, but actually admire him."

"And now somehow he looks sexier." Phoebe said as she lowered her sunglasses to stare at Ross, earning a playful slap on her shoulder by Rachel.

"Watch it." Rachel playfully warned her, knowing Phoebe was only joking. "He's all mine."

"Aw, man." Joey and Charlie joined them. "Can't you believe none of them recognize me?" He whined. "Ross is apparently more famous than me here."

"Well, he's the keynote speaker. They chose him for a reason." Charlie added. She herself was also familiar with Ross' works in this field even before they met.

Rachel kept her smile as she continued to stare at him. Suddenly she had a huge urge to have him. Maybe it was shallow, but seeing him like this turned her on. Phoebe was right, he was sexier now.

After a few minutes, Ross came back and handed them their keys.

"Here you go." Ross said as he handed the last key to Joey. "We can get some rest and then we'll meet up here again at seven for dinner. I got us a reservation at the restaurant."

"Thank you.."

With that, each of them left for their private time. Phoebe, Charlie, and Joey headed straight to the beach after putting their stuff inside their room, meanwhile Chandler and Monica followed them right after. But Rachel had another plan for her and Ross. Though the sun and the beach were very tempting, that wasn't what she wanted to do at the moment. She had something else in her mind, probably something even better.

Ross and Rachel were inside the elevator when suddenly Rachel said. "Hey, have I ever told you the time when I backpacked to the Eastern Europe?" She asked, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Seeing the look on her face was enough to turn him on. "Damn it." Ross started to push the elevator button impatiently. "Can't this thing move any faster?"

She let out a chuckle seeing him struggle.

"Oh, screw it." He said before catching her off guard by pinning her against the elevator wall and began to kiss her passionately.

It was fortunate that no one was inside the elevator except for the two of them.

The next morning, Ross and Rachel were in their room. Rachel was getting ready to go to the beach with the girls, giving Ross his time alone to prepare his big speech for tomorrow. She knew better not to disturb him during this time, so she was about to leave any minute now.

Someone suddenly knocked on their door. She opened it and the whole gang including Charlie came in.

"Hey, are you ready?" Monica asked.

"Yeah. Just let me grab my sunglasses." Rachel replied.

Chandler came to Ross who was busy typing something on his laptop.

"Can I borrow your laptop for a minute?" Chandler asked. "I need to check my emails."

"Sure." Ross stood up. "Go ahead."

Ross came over to Rachel and gave her a kiss.

"Do you want me to stay?" She asked, suddenly feeling guilty for being able to enjoy herself while he was here, working.

"No." He shook his head. "It's okay."

"Okay then, I'll drop by at lunch."

"Oh, no no no!" Chandler suddenly yelled, catching their attention.

"What happened?" Ross quickly came and checked on his laptop.

"I don't know. I just opened this email and suddenly the screen went blank."

This couldn't be happening, Ross thought. His entire speech was on this laptop.

Ross started trying to turn on the laptop, but it didn't work. His hands started shaking out of panic. Rachel, who noticed it came by his side.

"I'm so sorry, man." Chandler said. It was most likely he opened a virus accidentally.

Ross sighed and buried his head on the palm of his hands.

Rachel stroked his back gently. "It's going to be okay." She said softly. "We're going to figure this out."

Ross, who was mad at the moment, stood up abruptly, catching all of them, especially her out of guard.

"NO!" He yelled at her. "It's NOT okay, alright! All of my work is on that laptop! My speech is on that laptop!" He continued to yell. "It's not okay!" He sighed exasperatedly.

Rachel hated being yelled at, especially in front of their friends, but she knew he was just took a deep breath, trying hard to keep her own emotions in check.

"Yo know guys.. maybe you all should just go. We'll take care of this."

They all nodded and one by one they left the room.

"I'm so sorry, man. I didn't mean it." Chandler, who was the last one to leave the room, said to Ross.

Ross nodded. "It's okay."

Chandler nodded and left the room, leaving the couple behind. The room was in silence for a few minutes. She gave him time to calm down, giving him some space to think.

After calming down, he suddenly felt sorry for venting his anger toward her. He turned around to face her, expecting her to be angry at him, but instead her face was filled with worries. She wasn't angry with him for yelling at her, but she was worried about him - about his speech. She knew how important this was for him and he had been practicing all night for it.

His face softened and he walked closer to her until they were only a few inches apart. He took her hands into his and gave her a hug after.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"It's okay." She broke their hug off and smiled. "Let's figure this out together, okay? I'll help you."

"But all of them are in that laptop, they're gone."

"Hey.." She put her hand on his cheek. "I heard you last night. You memorized every part of it in your head. We can do this. Okay?"

He finally let out a smile and then he nodded. "Okay."

Luckily, Rachel brought her laptop along with her on this trip. She helped him type out as he tried his best to remember his speech. After hours of it, they were finally done.

"And, that's it." He said with a big smile. "We did it!"

"I've told you we can do this." She smiled.

"Come here." He motioned her to come closer and she did. He gave her a hug and a kiss. "Thank you." He said softly. "-and I'm really sorry for ruining your plan."

Though they had already been here for more than 24 hours, both of them hadn't stepped foot outside the hotel since they checked-in and Ross knew how much she wanted to enjoy the beach. She kept going on and on about it for a week now and he was sorry that he ruined that for her.

"None of this is your fault and you know it." She said with a smile. "I'm just glad I could help."

Even though she said it was fine and it wasn't his fault, he felt terrible for it anyway. But then he remembered something from the brochure he had picked up yesterday and suddenly he had this perfect idea to make up for her.

He told her to take a bath and get ready meanwhile he prepared his surprise for her.

About an hour later, Rachel and Ross walked toward the beach. The sun was setting and no one was around.

"Where are we going?" Rachel asked, swinging their interlaced hands back and forth as they walked along the shore.

She didn't know where or for what he was taking her here. She kept asking him but he remained quiet about it.

"You'll see." He smiled as they continued to hold their hands together.

Not long after, Rachel could spot a few lights around the deck. As they came closer to the lights, she gasped. What he had prepared for her was a romantic dinner by the sea. The deck was filled with numerous candles and rose petals around it. In the middle of it was their table filled with a few red roses, a candle, and a bottle of champagne.

She stopped her track, looking him straight in the eyes. Her eyes were getting misty because of this.

"When did you prepare all this?"

She knew he was busy preparing the speech. When did he even have time to arrange this? She wondered.

He shrugged. "It's a secret." He smiled and so did she. "Shall we?"

She nodded and he led them to their table. Suddenly, a man appeared and poured them their glasses of champagne.

"Cheers."

She smiled. "Cheers."

She looked around and she was still amazed by it. The sun was just beginning to set and it was beautiful. She only saw these kinds of romantic gestures from a movie before, so being here with him, it felt like a dream.

She reached his hand and stroked it gently whilst smiling at him. "Thank you." She said softly.

"No, thank you." He said also with a smile. "Thank you for being there for me even when sometimes I don't deserve it." He said. "Thank you for giving me another chance to love you."

She gave his hand a squeeze, feeling touched by his words.

After they finished their dinner, music suddenly played. It was none other than their song, 'With or Without You' from U2.

"May I have this dance?" He stood up and offered her his hand.

She smiled as she took his hand. They swayed to the music with the moonlight shining upon them. It was very romantic, she had to admit. She rested her head against his chest, enjoying the music and the breeze of the ocean as the sun began to set.

"This is perfect." She murmured, earning a smile from him.

"I know." He replied softly. "It's been a while since the last time we did this."

"Do you remember we used to skip work, drive to the beach, and spent our night there?"

"Uh-huh." He nodded. "I almost got fired that one time I didn't show up for an important meeting."

They let out a small chuckle as they remembered those days when they were younger.

"Yeah, I remember." She said softly. "We can't do that again now, can't we?"

"We can't." He paused. "But we can always stay here longer if you want.. for a day or two maybe?"

Honestly, he already had a plan to extend their stay in Barbados for a couple days. He already told their parents about it and since it was still the weekend by the time they were supposed to head home, they didn't have to take another leave for work.

She stopped their movement, looking at him in the eyes with so much happiness.

"Really?"

He let out a small chuckle and brushed a strand of her hair aside. "Uh-hmm. I've talked to my parents about it and they agree to take care of Emma and Ben for a few more days." He explained. "So, what do you think?"

"Yes! Of course!" She said with a loud voice before cupping his face with both of her hands and gave him a kiss. "Thank you. I don't think I can be happier today."

"Well, we'll see about that." He said, making her curious by his statement.

He took a small velvet box out of his pocket and she gasped.

Was that what she thought it was?

To be continued...