:Thank you for the reviews! It's great to get so many. Although I swear I've lost six of them on the main page because there are extra of them in my stats! Hmm…oh well one of life's little mysteries I guess! Keep them coming! And JenniGellerBing, I totally agree with you about the egg slime! Lol:
Rivals At First Sight
Chapter 6 – It's Just Business
After the food fight in the kitchens, things were a lot better between Monica and Chandler. They still disagreed and fought over the food, but the bitterness that was there was gone. Now, in between their little 'fights', they were able to laugh and talk about anything and everything.
"Hey, do you think we could finish earlier than planned today?" Chandler asked Monica two weeks later. "Sure, but why?" Monica asked, looking up from her soup to face him. She looked at him with concern. "There's nothing wrong is there? Are you ill?"
"Oh no, no!" Chandler said hurriedly, "It's nothing like that," he paused and blushed a little.
Monica saw the redness in Chandler's cheeks and smiled a little. "What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously.
"Ok, ok. You see, the thing is, there's a movie on the television that I want to watch. It's starts at 1pm."
"Oh…is that all?" Monica asked, laughing. "What movie is it?"
"It's…it's the movie version of one of my favourite books. To Kill A Mockingbird." Chandler confessed, looking embarrassed.
"Oh my god! I love that book!" Monica exclaimed, "The bit at the end when the kids found out about Boo Radley…aww."
Chandler widened his eyes in surprise. "Oh my god, I can't believe I've met someone who likes it too!"
"Are you kidding me? I've read it so many times that I know it off by heart." Monica revealed, laughing. Her brow furrowed. "I don't remember the movie version of it."
"It's quite old. They don't show it all that often," Chandler explained, "That's why I wanted to see it today."
"Hey why don't I…no never mind." Monica shook her head and turned back to her soup.
"What?" Chandler prompted, confused.
"Well…would you like any company watching it?" Monica asked hesitantly, looking up at him hopefully.
Chandler broke into a grin. "Sure! We could go back to my apartment in a while and watch it."
"Great. It'll be fun." Monica added, smiling at him.
******
Chandler was seeing a whole new side to Monica's personality lately. From being a competitive wacko she had, in his eyes, all of a sudden turned into a beautiful, smart, funny woman that he could talk for hours to. Maybe deep down he had known that all along…he just hadn't realised it until now.
As they walked through the neighbourhood to his apartment, Chandler noticed Monica staring through the window of a jewellery shop. He stopped behind her. "What are you looking at?" he asked.
"That bracelet," Monica replied softly, pointing to the diamond-encrusted piece of jewellery in the display.
"You like that huh?" Chandler commented, grinning.
"My grandmother used to have one of those," Monica explained, "I remember when Ross and I were kids and we used to visit her. I would always beg her to let me wear her bracelet for a few hours but she always said no. I was too young she'd say." Monica paused and smiled sadly. "Then, on my twelfth birthday she said I could wear it. Just for that day. I felt so happy walking around the house with it on my wrist. When nana died I never saw the bracelet again, but seeing this one in here always reminds me of her."
"Wow," Chandler murmured, "I guess it means a lot to you then."
"Kinda," Monica replied, smiling. "Anyway, I shouldn't keep staring at it. I can't afford to buy it. I'm just living in a dream world."
"People can dream Monica," Chandler told her softly, "You never know, it may just come true one day."
"Yeah right!" Monica scoffed, laughing. "Geller's Cuisine maybe a nice money earner, but it still doesn't mean I can afford to buy $20,000 bracelets whenever I feel like it."
"Twenty thousand?!" Chandler exclaimed.
"Exactly." Monica said wryly. She grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the display. "Come on Bing!" she ordered, "Do you want to watch this movie or not?"
*****
"Why do the kids never call their father 'dad'?" Chandler asked as the closing credits rolled a couple of hours later. "It's either Atticus or Sir all the time."
Monica shrugged, "One of life's little mysteries." She said.
"I guess so." Chandler got up from his barker lounger and glanced at Monica who was sitting on the other lounger. He smiled a little as he watched her methodically take out one piece of popcorn from the bag each time. "Why don't you just grab a handful?" he asked, grinning.
Monica blushed. "Am I that bad?" she asked. "Does it bother you?"
"Not at all," Chandler replied, "It's the person you are."
"Hey, I can be careless sometimes!" Monica protested.
"I doubt that," Chandler muttered, smiling playfully at her. Monica threw a pillow at him and shook her head. The apartment door opened and in walked Joey and Phoebe.
"Well," Joey commented, grinning. "This is cosy." He winked.
Chandler and Monica rolled their eyes. "We were watching To Kill A Mockingbird," Chandler explained.
"Wow, fun." Phoebe deadpanned. She turned to Monica. "I'm glad you're here, I need to talk to you."
"What about?" Monica looked at the blonde hippy in surprise. They hadn't talked to each other a lot since they met. Most of Monica's time was spent in the kitchens.
"Hey Chandler, wanna go down to get some coffee?" Joey suggested, grabbing Chandler's arm and pulling him out of the apartment.
When the door closed, Phoebe smiled at Monica. "It's Chandler's 28th birthday tomorrow and we're organising a surprise party for him." she explained, "Want to come?"
"Um…er…I don't know," Monica replied doubtfully, "Chandler and I are just working together. Its just business, I don't know anything about his life."
"Monica, wait a sec," Phoebe interrupted, "It's a beautiful afternoon and you're sitting in the apartment with Chandler watching a old movie." She smiled knowingly, "I think it's turned into a little more than 'just business' don't you think?"
Monica blushed. "We're just friends." She told her firmly.
"All the more reason why you should come to the party," Phoebe encouraged, "It would be great to have you there."
"Ok…um…when does it start?" Monica asked.
"7.30. Just come along for a while…please? Phoebe looked at Monica with pleading eyes.
"Ok, ok." Monica sighed, admitting defeat. "I'll come."
"Great!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly, "Rachel and that weird brother of yours are welcome to come too!"
"Ross isn't weird!" Monica protested, laughing, "He can be a little high maintenance sometimes but he's a great guy underneath all that."
"Ok, whatever you say," Phoebe said, smiling.
*****
"Joey, what is this all about?" Chandler asked the next evening. "You've invited me out to dinner and now we're leaving even before we've ordered! That's not like you. Are you ok?"
"Actually…um…I think I ate something bad earlier." Joey told him, clutching his stomach.
"Please tell me you didn't eat the duck food again." Chandler moaned.
"Maybe…I don't know." Joey said, shrugging. He dragged Chandler down the street. "Come on. Let's just get home."
"Some birthday this is turning out to be." Chandler muttered. "I worked all day and now my roommate has ate the duck food." They walked to their building in silence and arrived outside their apartment. "The first thing I'm doing when we get inside is hiding the duck food from you." Chandler told Joey, opening the door.
"Surprise!" A mass of voices yelled at once. Chandler stared at the crowd of familiar faces and he broke into a grin.
"You…you did all this for me?" Chandler whispered, walking around the room.
"Happy Birthday Chandler!" Phoebe said, smiling. Music started playing and the party guests started dancing.
"Happy Birthday Chandler," a familiar voice greeted from behind him. He turned around and saw Monica smiling warmly at him. He pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you for coming," he whispered. He felt a hand slap him on the back and he turned around to see Ross smiling widely at him.
"Great party dude!" he slurred, "Happy Birthday!" he wandered off.
"Don't mind Ross!" Rachel said from a few feet away, "He's a little high. He's not even supposed to be drinking with those pills but he won't listen." She sighed.
"Pills?" Chandler asked in confusion.
"It's a long story," Monica whispered in his ear.
"Hmm…I'll take your word for it." Chandler said dryly. He smiled at Monica and gestured to the partying guests. "Care for a dance?" he asked shyly.
"Of course!" Monica said immediately, "Lead the way."
****
"Well they are getting along, don't you think?" Rachel asked Phoebe and Joey a couple of hours later.
"Very well." Phoebe commented, watching Chandler and Monica dance and talk at the same time. "They haven't separated from each other all night."
"I remember the last time we were all talking like this." Rachel reminisced. "It was Chandler's opening day over a month ago. Who would have thought that the same pair who were arguing at that bar would be dancing together weeks later."
Joey laughed, "Weird huh?"
"I told you that was just the beginning didn't I?" Phoebe said, grinning.
"There's just one thing I'm worried about." Rachel said, looking concerned.
"What's that?" Joey asked.
"We're forgetting that in just one week's time these two will be fighting it out to win $40,000. How will they manage to stay so close after?"
"I'll think they'll be just fine." Phoebe told her, smiling as she watched Monica and Chandler laugh over an apparent inside joke.
"I think we should be keeping watch over other people at this party," Joey drawled, pointing across the room.
Following Joey's gaze, Rachel groaned in disgust. Ross was crumpled up in a heap on the floor only semi-conscious. She walked over to him and put her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be drinking with those pills." She told him, pulling him to his feet.
"Oh hey Rach," Ross acknowledged vaguely, "How are ya?" His eyes roamed over to the dance floor and he watched his sister and Chandler dancing to a slow, romantic song. "Aww…what a sweet couple!" he squealed.
Rachel looked at Ross in concern. "My god…" she muttered, "I think it's time you slept this off!" She gave a wave to Phoebe and Joey and dragged Ross out of the apartment to take him home.
"Oh sweet lord!" Phoebe exclaimed.
"I know…how much did he drink?" Joey asked in amazement.
"No, not that." Phoebe said impatiently, shaking her head. She pointed to the dance floor, "Look at that."
Joey widened his eyes in shock at the scene before him. Chandler and Monica were caught up in a passionate kiss oblivious to anyone else staring at them.
"Just business huh?" Phoebe said dryly.
"A little more than that." Joey replied in awed tones.
*****
When Monica felt Chandler's lips on hers it felt so right. One look between them as they danced made them realise what they wanted. As the kiss became more passionate and intense, something went off in the back of Monica's mind. She pulled back and, trying not to look at Chandler's confused face, she walked away. Ignoring the bewildered looks coming from Phoebe and Joey's direction, she left the apartment. In the hallway, she leaned against the wall and breathed deeply. She couldn't believe that she had got so close with Chandler like that and she knew it couldn't happen again. They were in competition with one another; romance could complicate things and people could end up getting hurt.
The door opened and Chandler came out, shutting it behind him. "I'm sorry." He said softly.
Monica looked as his worried face and sighed. "There's nothing to apologise for." She told him, "We just shouldn't have done that."
"I know." Chandler moaned. He leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. "We both agreed that this was just going to be business." He said, "But god when I look back at our time together lately…" he stared into her eyes and she gazed back, almost hypnotised by the blueness of his eyes.
She looked down on the floor, tearing herself away from them. "To the world, we are rivals." She said, "In seven days' time, the media will have all this pressure on us." She sighed heavily. "When it comes right down to it, it's going to be like this until that day comes."
"Then…then maybe it's best we don't see each other again until the day of the competition." Chandler suggested, looking sadly at her.
"I think that's a good idea." Monica said quietly. "I'll see you next week." With one last glance at him, she walked away.
END OF CHAPTER SIX:more coming soon and please review!: