~One For The Road~
Chapter Four: Devil In Disguise
"He's drunk, okay? There is no way you look old enough to be Ross' mother!" Chandler said, trying to ease the pain that the drunken stranger had caused his friend. They were seated at a small table, not far from Monica's parents. The week had gone by quickly, and Chandler had spent the entire week coming up with reasons why he didn't want to see London with them. He'd even gone so far as to pick a fight with Joey, just to get out of sightseeing. When he wasn't trying to avoid public places, he was busy keeping Penelope away from the group. So far, he'd been successful, but he knew that if Yuri or any of his thugs showed up, everything would change.
"Whatever," Monica sniffed.
"Mon, look at me," Chandler squared Monica's shoulders, and looked into her eyes, "You are beautiful, wonderful and sexy, and you have nothing to worry about!"
Monica said nothing; she simply sniffled loudly.
"C'mon," Chandler sighed, "let's get the hell out of here, huh?"
Monica nodded, and the two left the rehearsal dinner unnoticed.
"I'm lonely, Chandler. I hate that I can't seem to find the right guy," tears were flowing freely down Monica's face, and it took all of Chandler's will power not to take her in his arms and swear to love her forever.
"You are so great, Mon. You'll find someone—"
"You keep saying that! But who knows! Maybe I'm just un-loveable!" Monica sobbed hysterically.
"Monica, stop it! You are, like, my dream girl, okay? I mean, if these other guys can't see what I see, then they aren't good enough to love you!" The words came out before he could stop them. That the hell was he doing?
Monica just stared at Chandler, her jaw slightly dropped, and her eyes still shining from her unshed tears.
"Wha-what?"
Chandler bit his lip and stared at the floor, his cheeks flushing all kinds of red. He backed away from Monica, and found himself leaning up against the hotel room door.
"Chandler," Monica whispered, as she slowly approached, "Am I really your dream girl?" A small, incredulous smile played on her lips.
Chandler swallowed hard, and closed his eyes. Tell her no! Don't be a fool! You aren't even Chandler Bing! He looked up into her eyes, and saw that they were filled with a hopefulness that had been missing for a very long time. If he told her no, she would sink back into the depression that had gripped her earlier in the evening.
But if you say yes, you would be risking everything.
His mouth was dry, and his head was spinning. He dropped his head, and stared at his shoes. He felt her approach, and could smell her perfume. He was in trouble, and he knew it.
"I meant it," he whispered, almost inaudibly.
Before he knew what was happening, Monica was kissing him. He willed himself to pull away, but his body refused to listen. She had him pinned to the door, and he was putting up very little resistance. She pressed her body into his, and his arms, as though on pure instinct, wrapped around her. There was no going back. His body had staged a coup d'etat over his mind. And for the next twelve hours, Nicholas Caulfield ceased to exist.
~*~
There was a faint, seemingly distant ringing. It took him a moment to realize that it was his cell phone. He fumbled around for his jacket, and pulled it out of the pocket.
"Hello," he mumbled.
"Nicholas, you need to get out of London."
Nicholas' head popped up, and he was immediately alert.
"What is it?"
"They're on to you. They tracked down your cover identity—you weren't in your flat last night, thank God. Where are you?"
"At the hotel. Where are they?"
"I'm not sure. Just get out of there!"
Nicholas hung up the phone, stumbles out of bed, and began frantically dressing. He looked over at the bed, and saw that Monica was awake, and was looking at him nervously.
"Monica, I have to go," he said apologetically.
"Okay. Uh, why?"
"I can't explain. I'll be in contact as soon as I can, though, okay?"
Monica's expression melted from hurt, to angry, in an instant.
"What are you talking about? Ross is getting married in less than six hours!"
"Monica—"
"If you are freaked out by what we did, then just say so."
"It's not you, Monica it—"
"Are you kidding? You are not going to tell me this! After everything that's happened I can't—"
"Monica, please, I really have to go! I will call you!"
"No, you know what, if you can't be an adult about this, then just go! I never want to see you again!" Monica jumped out of bed, pulling the bed sheet with her.
"You don't mean that," Chandler said sadly.
Monica fumed. How dare he be so full of himself! She approached him, as he slid on his shoe and headed for the door.
"I meant it," she whispered, echoing his words from the previous night. She slapped him across the face and stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door.
What had he done? He needed to fix this. But he had no time—he had to go.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and headed out the door.
~****~
"Chandler! Have you seen Joey and Phoebe?" Rachel caught up with Chandler in the lobby of the hotel.
"What? Uh, no. They probably went to get breakfast," Chandler tried to rush away from Rachel.
"I dunno, I think something's wrong," Rachel muttered, and Chandler stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly.
"What makes you say that?" he asked as calmly as possible.
Before Rachel could answer, Penelope came running into the lobby.
"What is she doing here?" Rachel arched her eyebrow at Chandler.
Penelope approached, and looked nervously from Nicholas to Rachel.
"What's wrong?" Nicholas asked, his eyes telling Penelope that it was too late to make up a story.
"I need to talk to you alone for a minute," Penelope said softly.
*
Monica walked into the lobby, hoping to catch up to Chandler before he left the hotel. She felt bad that she didn't really listen to him. Maybe he was telling the truth. She scanned the lobby, and spotted Rachel and Chandler and…Janice? Head spinning, Monica approached the trio.
"Is this why you took off this morning, Chandler?" Monica hissed, shoving Chandler backwards.
"Monica, this is not what you think, okay?"
"Really? What do I think this is?"
Nicholas looked at Penelope, and made a decision. He had to deal with Nicholas' problems, before he could tackle Chandler's mounting problems.
"Tell me what's going on, Penny."
Rachel and Monica looked at each other, then back at Janice.
"Yuri has two of your friends," Penelope said slowly, "We have to go."
Nicholas swallowed hard, and looked at Rachel, who looked utterly confused.
"Rach, when was the last time you saw Joey and Phoebe?"
~****~
The room seemed to be spinning, and his head was throbbing. Where was he? Did he get drunk last night? He groaned loudly, and struggled to sit up. It was then that he realized that his hands were tied behind his back. He blinked several times, trying to clear his vision. And that's when he remembered. He and Emily had been at the church, trying to keep their parents away from each other. They had stepped out onto the sidewalk, to get away from the chaos that was slowly brewing inside the church, when a strange man approached them.
Then everything went black.
"Well, look who is awake," another man paced the floor in front of him.
"What do you want?" Ross asked.
"We want to know what your connection is with Nicholas," the man replied.
"I don't know anyone named Nicholas," Ross spat.
"We saw you with him! Tell me what you know!"
Was he having a bad dream? Ross shook his head. He felt like he was in a really bad James Bond movie.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and another man appeared, holding Emily by her arms. She cried out when she saw Ross.
"You son of a bitch!" Ross yelled, only to be met with a slap to the face.
"Tell us," the man whispered menacingly, while the other man pulled out a handgun, and put it to Emily's temple.