The One With The President
Chapter 13
By: Jana~
*****~*****
--"Damnit!" Chandler barked, slamming the phone down.
"Still won't pick up?" Ross asked, extending Chandler's suit jacket so he could slip into it.
"No!" he grumbled. "I'm the president! I should be able to make her answer the phone!"
Ross suppressed a chuckle, "It doesn't work that way, sir."
"I just don't get what happened!" Chandler exclaimed, wincing as he pushed his sore arm through the jacket sleeve. He gave Joey an up-nod as he entered, then continued. "Everything was great! Now, she won't talk to me! She's having Rachel tell me she's not there, when I know she is!" He turned to Joey, "Yes, Joe?"
"I have the final draft of the speech," Joey informed as he handed the paper over.
Chandler took it, read two sentences, then revisited the subject he had been ranting on about seconds before. "What could I have done? Do you think it's because she's freaked out about the assassination attempt?"
"Maybe," Ross offered. "What exactly did she say?"
"That she had to go back home, but wouldn't give a reason." He sighed, "Before she went on her little walk, she was fine! The Drs came in, said they needed to examine me… fine! She kissed me goodbye, asked if she could take a quick walk around the grounds, I said sure. She left, came back about 45 minutes later, and she was acting weird and distant and she just bolted from the room!"
"Sir?" Joey spoke up, involving himself in the conversation.
Chandler looked at him for a brief second, then waved the pages of the speech. "I'm sure it's great, Joey. Thanks."
Joey shook his head, "No, not that, sir. I mean," he added, "I hope you like the speech, but that's not why I'm interrupting."
"Oh." Chandler scowled. "What is it, Joe?" The expression on his friend's face denoted concern.
"Monica stormed out after her walk Tuesday?"
Chandler's scowl deepened. "Yeah?"
"I saw her while she was out on her walk," he informed, almost hesitantly.
"Did you talk to her? Did she seem upset?"
"Not at first," he replied. "We were talking, and-- and everything was fine, but when I went to leave," he looked at and gestured to Ross, "Cause you sent Susan after me," he turned back to Chandler, "She seemed upset."
"Did she say why?" Chandler asked. "What did you talk about?"
"She said she was fine," he assured him, "And we just talked about… stuff. You, me, Ross, Phoebe. How I got this job. How long we've known each other." He shrugged, "Stuff."
"Joey, try to remember," Chandler spoke to him sternly, almost fatherly, "What was said right before she seemed upset?"
He gave it thought, then frowned. "I'm not sure, I think maybe it was after I had mentioned that you and Phoebe dated for a while."
Chandler seemed shocked. "You know about that? Did Phoebe tell you that?"
Joey fidgeted, then glanced at Ross.
"Ross told you?" Chandler asked, looking between the two men.
"I didn't mean to," Ross defended himself. "It just, slipped out!"
"Same here," Joey added, wincing as Chandler sighed exasperatedly and threw his good arm in the air.
"That's just great," Chandler mumbled, upset, tapping on his desk before dropping into his chair.
"No, wait," Joey suddenly remembered. "No, she seemed shocked by that, but she didn't seem all that upset at that point."
Chandler moved to sit at the edge of his seat. "Think, Joe, when did she seem upset?"
Joey seemed flustered as he tried to remember. Suddenly, his face lit up. "I had said something about Ross freaking on the polls. That he was your guys' strongest supporter cause your numbers went up after you started dating…"
"Oh my God!" Ross exclaimed. "Do you even listen to what comes out of your mouth?!"
"What?!" Joey snapped back defensively.
"Joe," Chandler sighed sharply, "She probably took that to mean that I am only dating her to gain popularity!"
Joey's eyes widened, finally understanding. "Oh, God!"
"Add to that the revelation about Phoebe," he added, then grabbed for the phone.
After dialing the number, he waited, then rolled his eyes as the machine picked up. "Mon, it's Chandler. Look, I'm not sure if this is why you're avoiding me, but Joey told me he spoke to you. Hun, I'm not dating you because of the polls. I don't care about the polls at all! Ross does, but I don't. I care about you! And I'm sorry I didn't mention the thing with Phoebe, but it was a long time ago, and we're really just friends. Please," he sighed, "Please, call me and talk to me. We can work this out, I'm sure of it. Love you."
He hung up the phone sadly, looking at Ross and Joey before clearing his throat. "When is the speech?"
"Thirty minutes, sir," Ross replied.
Chandler nodded, then buzzed Phoebe on the intercom. "If Monica calls, patch her straight through, please?"
"Yes, sir," she replied, a happy lilt to her voice that hadn't been heard since the shooting. "And sir?" she added. "Welcome back."
Chandler smiled. "Thanks, Pheebs."
*****
--"I think you should call him," Rachel said as they both sat on the couch, the answering machine clicking off.
"I can't, Rache. I can't be his trophy girlfriend. I can't stand the thought of him and Phoebe…"
Rachel sighed as Monica trailed off. "He sounded pretty sincere to me. You should at least talk to him."
She shook her head, tears spilling freely. "I can't. If I get in the same room with him, I'll believe anything he says."
"You really love him, don't you?"
"Yes, damnit!" she growled, upset with herself for falling for him. "I knew this was a mistake from the beginning," she added sorrowfully.
"Isn't it possible, possible," she reiterated for emphasis, "That you're blowing this out of proportion, not giving him a chance to explain his side of this, because you're afraid?"
She scoffed, "Of what?"
"Love," Rachel replied.
"You have any idea how lame that sounds?" Monica criticized, rolling her eyes before closing them tight.
Rachel smirked at her friend's insult. "Is it?" she asked rhetorically. "I'm not so sure. I think, it's starting to get really real. Really serious, and then throw in the shooting, and the fact that Kathy was behind it. The fact that she was so jealous of you that she felt the need to rob you of your joy by plotting Chandler's death. I think all of that was building to this point. Then, you throw in the little conversation you had with Joey," she paused, and the silence caused Monica to open her eyes and look at her. "You were looking for an excuse to bail, and he gave it to you."
"That's not true," Monica countered. "He was using me! He lied to me--!"
"No," Rachel stopped her, "Ross was drooling over popularity polls, and Chandler blew him off, cause the numbers don't matter to him. And he never actually lied to you," she added. "Did he ever deny dating Phoebe?"
Monica scowled, pulling her knees to her chest and pressing her forehead against them. "No."
"At least give him the chance to tell his side, Mon. You owe him that much. He's been nothing but wonderful to you, don't bail cause it's hard. He's the best thing that has ever happened to you, and you know it."
Monica looked over at her, and Rachel smiled and nodded, driving the point home. She knew Monica knew it.
*****
--Ross nervously checked his watch again, reluctant to re-remind Chandler of the time. "Sir," he said softly. "We really should--"
"I know," Chandler interrupted, glancing at his watch.
"Just give her time, Chandler," Ross instructed. "One thing at a time, ok? First, you'll give the speech, then we'll focus on Monica."
Chandler nodded in agreement, though not assuredly, then pushed off his chair, standing and straightening his suit jacket. "Fine."
***
-- "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the press, my fellow Americans: welcome. Firstly, I would like to say a few words to those watching and listening tonight. I want to thank you, on behalf of my friends, family, and myself, for your messages and flowers, and most of all, for your prayers. Prayers not only for me, but for the others who fell beside me. The warmth of your words, the expression of friendship and love, meant more to us than you can ever know."
"Some have said that this attempt on my life is the result of a sick society. That this is evidence that ours is a sick society. I disagree. The society I heard from in the form of letters, cards, flowers, prayers, is a society made up of millions of compassionate Americans and their children, from kindergarten to college-age. And in fact, I brought along one such letter to share with all of you."
"This letter comes from a young man who attends second grade at Raney Elementary. He said, 'Mr. President, I sure hope you get better soon, cause if you don't, you might have to give a speech in your pajamas, which would be really embarrassing'. He added postscript, 'P.S., if you do have to make a speech in your PJs, don't wear ones with pictures of horses or cowboys, cause then all your friends might laugh at you'."
"Sick societies don't produce the outpouring of well wishes I have received over the past few weeks. Sick societies don't produce young men like Secret Service agent Carl Thompson, who selflessly threw himself in front of me when the bullets rang out, giving up his life for another, simply because he felt that's what his duty called for him to do. Sick societies don't produce proud Americans, so very proud of its fellow citizens."
Chandler paused, staring at the teleprompter which contained the next lines of his speech, then he sighed and looked away.
"I'm gonna head off on my own here for a moment," he informed, glancing at a worried Ross and Joey. "As most of you know, for the past six months I have been dating a Ms. Monica Geller, but as of today, I have not seen or spoken to her for nearly a week. She has been avoiding me, nursing a broken heart because well-meaning yet misguided friends led her to believe that the only reason I was dating her, was to win the approval of the American people."
"I know that I'm not the beloved president that Andrew Douglas was, but please believe me when I say that I am doing the best I can, to do the job I was elected and sworn in to do. I loved Andy like a brother, and I would never do anything to disgrace his memory or this office, like date someone just to win popularity votes. Your confidence in me is important, but I'm not willing to hurt others to gain it, and whatever else you might think of me, I would hope that you would at least give me that."
"This press conference was called to show that I am well, and healing from the injuries caused by Kathy Brewster, when she attempted to take my life earlier this month. I think I have shown that, and I hope that my deep appreciation for all the well wishes I have received by so many has been conveyed, but for now, I must leave."
"I need to go to Monica, to assure her, and hopefully convince her that I was dating her not for popularity's sake, but because I truly and deeply care for her. Hopefully, she will believe me and take me back." He collected his papers and gave a quick up-nod, "Thank you."
He left the podium, heading for the exit as Ross and Joey quickly followed, to be joined by Phoebe as they entered the hall, all the while, the press shouted out questions as their president disappeared from sight.
TBC
Ok, one more chapter, and we're done.
Just to give credit where credit is due, some of Chandler's speech was taken from President Reagan's speech, given April 28, 1981, a few weeks after the attempt on his life.
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