The One With The Digital Fairytale
Chapter two
By: Jana~
*****~*****
--Monica looked up at the tall building after smoothing out and straightening her dress for the umpteenth time. She was pleased with herself that she thought ahead to bring a change of clothes to the restaurant, knowing her 'chefing' duds would most likely not make a very good first impression.
After peeking into her purse one last time to make sure she didn't forget the phone, she took a deep breath and headed for the front door of Becker Enterprises.
The office was busy, but surprisingly quiet, and it made her feel the need to whisper when addressed.
"May I help you?" the sharply dressed woman behind a large mahogany desk inquired.
Monica took a step closer. "I'm here to see Mr. Becker."
The woman's plastic smile faltered slightly. "And do you have an appointment?"
"Yes," she replied. "I do."
Monica thought the woman seemed skeptical of that fact, but she gave her directions on how to get to Peter Becker's office anyway.
--She got off the elevator on the 15th floor, the uppermost floor in the building, then turned right, muttering to herself the directions the downstairs receptionist had given her.
"Off the elevator, turn right, down the hall, on the left…"
She walked tentatively towards her destination, the size and silence of the hallway intimidating, the only sound to be heard being that of her shoes clicking on the marble-like floor.
At the end of the hall, she turned left, and was met by another large desk with another sharply-dressed receptionist sitting behind it.
"Good afternoon," she greeted Monica in a very business-like manner. "May I help you?"
Monica swallowed the overflow of saliva that filled her mouth out of nervousness. "I'm here to see Mr. Becker."
"Name?"
"Monica Geller."
The secretary smiled her best fake smile and nodded. "Yes, Ms. Geller, he's been expecting you. Please, have a seat one moment while I let him know you're here."
Monica did as instructed, her mind abuzz with amusing thoughts of how much the situation reminded her of the movie The Wizard of Oz. All she lacked was a little dog, a talking scarecrow, and a cowardly lion. She half expected the woman behind the insanely large desk to exclaim 'Mr. Becker?! Nobody can see the great Mr. Becker!'
"Ms. Geller?" the secretary called to her, "Mr. Becker will see you now."
She stood and walked overly cautiously towards the door. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so nervous… maybe it was because he was rich, or because he was handsome. She knew he was because after she gloated to Rachel, her jealous friend pulled out a magazine and showed her the latest picture of him.
She didn't know why she was, but she was, and she took a deep breath before opening the large door to his even larger office.
--"Right," Peter Becker said into the phone, "But make it fit on the head of a pin. I love it when we make things fit on the head of a pin." He gestured for Monica to enter when she poked her head in, then turned his attention back to his phone call. "Ok, great. You do that, then get back to me."
He hung up the phone, facing Monica. "Ms. Geller?"
She nodded, speechless. Not only was he cute, but he had a take-charge kind of attitude she found to be a bit intimidating. He would almost have to, she thought, to be so successful.
"Peter Becker," he introduced himself, extending his hand.
She shook it, hoping he wouldn't notice her sweaty palms. If he noticed, he didn't say anything.
"Thank you so much for returning the phone."
That was her cue, and she reached into her purse and retrieved the reason for her being there, holding it out for him to take.
He took it from her outstretched hand with a smile, then set it on his desk. "Excuse me one moment," he asked of her, then hit an intercom button.
"Yes, Mr. Becker?" the disembodied voice inquired.
"I need you in my office," Peter stated, not unkindly, but firmly.
Monica turned when mere seconds later the door behind her opened and a man stepped in.
"Yes, sir?"
Peter pointed at the cell phone on his desk, "I believe this is yours."
Instantly uncomfortable, Monica watched as the man took several steps towards the desk and removed the phone from atop it.
"Yes, sir."
"See about getting the clip replaced," Peter suggested, "So you don't lose it again."
"Yes, sir."
Peter gestured towards the door. "That'll be all."
The man took the hint and promptly left, offering Monica a small polite smile before closing the door behind him.
As he jotted something down on a post-it note, Monica cleared her throat, "He's not in trouble, is he? I mean, I wouldn't want-- Because of me--"
Peter smiled. "No, he's not in trouble. He's a great assistant, and accidents happen."
He finished whatever he was writing, then stood and approached Monica.
"So, where would you like to go eat?"
He was nice enough, but there was just something about him. He was all business, and seemed to have a harsh quality.
"Oh, um, I don't really have a preference," she replied. "Wherever is fine with me."
He smiled, then walked back to his desk and hit another intercom button.
"Yes, sir?" the female voice inquired, and Monica knew it was the receptionist right outside the huge 'Wizard of Oz' size doors.
"I need a table for two at Petries in 30 minutes."
"Yes, sir," she said dutifully, "And you have a call on line one."
"Who is it?"
"The Vice-President, sir."
Monica gasped, but shook her head as if to say she didn't when he looked her way.
"Patch him through," he told his secretary, then smiled at Monica, "I'll only be a minute."
She nodded, then took a seat in the chair he gestured to.
He spoke quietly, and she could only hear his side of the conversation, but from what she could gather, it sounded important.
"I'm sorry," he apologized to her as he hung up the phone, "But I can't make lunch today. Something has come up."
"Oh," she stood, preparing to leave. "Ok."
"My assistant will be happy to take you, though."
"Oh, no, that's ok," she assured him. "I'll just grab a bite on the way back to work."
"No, no," he stated, "I insist."
Before she could argue further, he was back on the intercom. "I need you in my office, please."
"Yes, sir," the assistant's voice acknowledged.
Peter hit a different intercom button, "Alice? I will be working through lunch."
"Yes, sir," she replied. "Would you like me to cancel the reservations at Petries?"
"No, Mr. Bing will be accompanying Ms. Geller to lunch."
He clicked off the intercom as his assistant walked through the door.
"Chandler," Peter approached him, "I need you to accompany Ms. Monica Geller here to Petries for lunch."
"Really, sir," Monica interjected, "It's really not necessary."
"Of course it is!" Peter exclaimed. "You were nice enough to return our lost phone, it's the least we can do!"
Monica smiled awkwardly, feeling like she just stepped out of reality and into a large game of 'look how rich and powerful I am', in which she was a pawn of some kind.
"I do need to speak with my assistant for one moment, however. So, if you wouldn't mind just waiting outside--"
"Oh, sure," she quickly headed for the door. "No problem."
--She shut the door as quietly as possible, then smiled at the secretary when she turned to find her smiling at her.
"He asked me to wait out here."
"Yes, ma'am," the woman replied, then went back to her business.
Briefly, the idea of just leaving crossed her mind, but she didn't want to appear rude, so, she took a seat and waited.
--"She seems nice. A little timid, maybe," Peter confided in his assistant, "But she is lovely and well-mannered. I would like to know more about her."
"Yes, sir," Chandler nodded once.
"Talk to her at lunch. Ask her questions. Find out what you can about her," the tycoon demanded. "You know the drill."
"Yes, sir."
"That'll be all, Chandler." Peter dismissed him with a hand gesture, and Chandler immediately left his boss' office.
*****
--Chandler's demeanor changed once out of the office, Monica noticed. While in Peter's office, and even while still in the building, he seemed almost rigid, and somewhat unapproachable. But once out of the building, he seemed more relaxed, and easy going.
--They arrived at the restaurant, and it amazed Monica how different the manager and waiters acted once they realized the Peter Becker wouldn't be gracing their establishment.
The manager had recognized Chandler right away as being Mr. Becker's personal assistant, and an entourage greeted them straight away. But when he asked Chandler about Peter, and was informed that Mr. Becker had an important meeting he couldn't leave, the manager and all the kiss-ass employees groaned and walked away. All except their waiter, who showed them to their table, but then he walked away as soon as they were seated, while Chandler was in the middle of a question.
--"How rude!" Monica whispered to Chandler, in reference to the way he was ignored.
Chandler shrugged, "They know I'm not as generous a tipper," he quipped.
Monica chuckled at his little comment, and for the first time in about an hour, she was starting to feel at ease.
--"So," Chandler asked over their perspective meals, "What do you do for a living?"
"I'm a chef," she replied, "At Alesandros."
His face lit up. "Really? I love that place!"
"Yeah?" she asked, surprised.
"You sound surprised."
"Well, it's just," she stammered, "It's not very… high-brow."
He laughed, "You think I eat like this all the time?" He gestured to his plate with his fork, "When it's not on the Becker dime, I am a pizza and beer kinda guy."
"Me too," she chuckled. "I told Mr. Becker this wasn't necessary, but he pretty much wouldn't take 'no' for an answer."
"Yeah," Chandler shook his head as he smiled, "That's Peter for you."
There was a brief pause in the conversation. "Ya'know," Monica spoke up, "You're nothing like I thought you would be."
He smirked. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"
"No," she clarified with a smile, "I just really expected you to be more straight-laced. More business-like." She shrugged, "More like your boss."
"Actually, we're quite different." He chewed and swallowed before continuing. "But, he expects a certain kind of decorum from his employees. So, we 'act' like he wants us to."
"Seems a bit degrading."
"Maybe a little. In a way. But, it's a good job. With great benefits. Who am I to complain?"
"Well, I could never do it. I mean, I could make nice with the boss, but, after a while, wearing that plastic smile all the time would just give me a migraine headache!"
"Yeah," he joked, "Most of us hold stock in Bayer Aspirin and Tylenol!"
***
--The lunch went well, and the conversation just seemed to flow between Chandler and Monica.
Initially, Monica dreaded the idea of having lunch with Chandler, seeing him as a 'stiff, kiss-ass assistant', but her first impression of him had been wrong. In actuality, she found him to be funny, and a good conversationalist, and when the lunch finally came to an end, she found herself feeling disappointed.
--"I really want to thank you for lunch," Monica said as they pulled up outside of Alesandros.
"Oh, well, thank you for finding my cell phone."
"How did you lose it anyway?" she asked curiously as they both exited the Becker limo.
"I was out jogging, and I guess the clip broke. I didn't even realize it till I was back at home and went to change out of my sweats."
"I found it in the bushes," Monica informed, somewhat confused. "Were you jogging in the bushes?"
He shifted as he looked at the ground. "Maybe I kicked it on accident as it fell," he offered. "Or maybe someone else who came along after did. I don't know."
To Monica, he seemed uncomfortable with the inquiry, so she dropped it and moved on. "Well, I should probably get back to work. Before my boss gets his panties in a wad."
He smiled, "Same here."
"So, thanks again," she said, stalling for time, hoping he would ask for her number. Or give her his number.
"You're welcome," he replied, his demeanor becoming business-like again, like when they were back at Becker Enterprises. "Goodbye."
Monica watched as he entered the limo and drove away.
***
--"She lives in the Village with a female roommate, Rachel," Chandler informed Peter. "She has one sibling, a brother, Ross. She's a chef at Alesandros restaurant. She is currently single--"
"Fine, Chandler, Fine," Peter cut him off. "That will be all."
"Yes, sir," Chandler replied, then headed for the door, but he stopped short of leaving.
"Was there something else, Chandler?"
"Yes, sir." Without turning to face his boss, he asked, "Do you think you will be asking Ms. Geller out?"
"I don't know yet," Peter answered, busily shuffling through the papers in front of him. "Is it your business?"
Chandler winced. "No, sir."
"That will be all."
--Chandler left the office immediately, knowing better than to linger once dismissed.
He knew he was taking a risk in asking such a personal question, but he had to know. He had to know if his boss had any interest in her, because, if he didn't…
***
--"Hey, Mon," Rachel chirped excitedly as she walked into their apartment, "How was your date with the richest man in the world?"
"He actually couldn't take me to lunch, cause he was busy," Monica replied as she took a break from cleaning the windows. "So, he had his assistant take me."
"Oh, man! That sucks!"
Monica shrugged, "Not really. He was really nice. And funny."
"Was he cute?"
"Yeah, actually. He has the most amazing blue eyes."
"His assistant?" Rachel inquired.
"Yeah, why?"
Rachel went to her room without responding, then returned with a magazine in her hand. She flipped through the pages till she found the page she was looking for, then extended it towards Monica.
"The guy on Peter's right?"
Monica took the magazine and looked at the picture. "Yes! That's him! Chandler Bing."
Rachel smirked, "He is cute!" She left Monica to stare at the magazine picture while she went to retrieve a bottled water from the fridge.
"If one didn't know better," Rachel teased, "One might think you have a crush on Mr. Assistant."
"After one lunch?" Monica scoffed, tossing the magazine back at Rachel. "Don't be ridiculous!"
TO BE CONTINUED…