Chapter 8 – Waiting For That Day
The next morning, Monica and Rachel ate breakfast in silence. Monica was still thinking about the events from the previous day and she knew Rachel was too worried about Ross to talk much.
The phone rang loudly, breaking the silence. "If it's another reporter calling, I'm going to scream." Monica said, sighing.
It was only 10am and already the apartment had calls from three different tabloids asking for her reactions on the results of Round 1. They continued to ask if she was angry that Chandler had beat her on judging points, but she refused to comment. It was beginning to get irritating.
"Hello?" Monica asked wearily, answering the phone.
"Hey Mon," Ross' voice greeted.
"Ross?" Monica asked in surprise, glancing at Rachel. "How…how are you?"
"Fine," Ross answered hesitantly, "I just wanted to apologise for not being there yesterday. I had to…to…"
"It's ok Ross," Monica said gently, "I know."
"You…you know?" Ross whispered in shock, "How could you possibly know? I told Rachel not to tell you yet."
"I overheard her telling mom and dad," Monica said quietly. Rachel's head shot up and her eyes widened.
"I see, god, I didn't want you to find out that way." Ross moaned. "I'm sorry."
Monica sensed the pain in Ross' voice and her eyes watered with tears. "It's not your fault," she told him, "I just wish you had told me there was something wrong. I could've helped you."
"No you couldn't," Ross told her, "It's my problem, I need to deal with it. The museum was making job cuts and I thought I was going to lose my job. The pressure was just too much and…well…you know the rest." He sighed over the phone.
"I'm dropping out of the competition." Monica said immediately.
"No you're not!" Ross interrupted, "You're going on to the second round. You could win! You've worked really hard for this. Please don't drop out…continue for me."
"I don't know Ross…I should be helping you."
"Monica, seeing you make a success out of your career is helping me. If you drop out, you'll be miserable. That'll make me miserable."
"Ok, I won't drop out." Monica told him, admitting defeat, "But I'm only doing it for you."
"And if anything, for Chandler." Ross added, "He'll be disappointed to lose his rival." He laughed a little.
Hearing Ross speak of Chandler in a friendly way made Monica smile. It obviously meant her brother was beginning to like him.
****
It had been two days since that talk with Ross and there was only four days to go until the second round. When Monica went to work every morning, she avoided walking past Something For Everyone. Seeing Chandler again would only bring up more emotions than she could handle at the moment. She longed to see him again, even if it was just to look at his beautiful eyes.
Now, as Monica left for work, she stopped at a newspaper stand and her eyes caught the headlines on the front pages.
Bing's Long Island business for sale.
"Oh my god," she muttered in shock.
****
Chandler left Long Island and stared at the 'Closing Down' sign on Italian Treats for the last time. He smiled sadly, knowing he was losing an old friend in a way. Italian Treats had given him so much over the last two years but Chandler knew he couldn't do it anymore. Working another fourteen hour day yesterday finally made him take the step to sell one of his businesses. As Italian Treats was out of town, he knew it made sense that this should be the one to sell. Something For Everyone was doing so well and he just wanted to concentrate on that living only a few blocks away from it.
Arriving outside Central Perk, he paid his taxi driver and walked inside. He saw Phoebe and Joey on the couch and walked over. They smiled sympathetically at him, knowing it was hurting him to give up a business he loved so much.
"Hi." A familiar voice said behind him. He turned around and saw Monica looking at him with a mixture of shock and understanding.
"I guess this has been coming." She added softly.
Chandler sighed, "I couldn't do it anymore." He admitted, "It was just too much. It was…"
"Insane?" Monica finished, smiling wryly at him.
"That's one way of saying it." Chandler said, laughing.
Joey and Phoebe exchanged glances and tried to concentrate on drinking their coffees.
"Have the reporters been bothering you?" Monica asked.
"Not yet, but they will." Chandler replied, grimacing. "Oh, wow, what a mess huh?" he added, shaking his head.
Monica laughed, "It's been a crazy few months hasn't it?" she commented.
"Crazy few years." Chandler corrected.
They both fell silent, thinking of the memories.
"Anyway, I just wanted to see if you were ok." Monica said softly, trying to break the tension.
"Thanks, but I'm fine." Chandler assured her, smiling. They caught each other's eyes and they fell silent again.
Joey cleared his throat. "Um…do you two want coffee?" he asked, "I'll get it."
"That's ok Joey," Monica assured him, tearing her eyes away from Chandler, "I'm going now."
"Uh oh…" Phoebe murmured, nodding her head towards a table near the door. They all turned to see what she was looking at and they groaned. Rick Morrison had just arrived and was taking notes on the group.
"Don't psychologists ever take a break?" Monica snipped.
"Ignore him," Chandler instructed, "There's nothing unusual about two people talking together in a coffee house."
"Obviously to him, there is." Monica commented, shaking her head.
"Wait…I've got an idea." Chandler smiled mischievously.
"What?" Monica looked at him in confusion.
"Just listen to me and play along." Chandler whispered. He cleared his throat. "Hey! If I want the last scone, I'm going to have it!" he yelled at her.
"What the…?" Joey said, open-mouthed.
Monica widened her eyes, realising what Chandler was doing. "Hey, I want the last scone!" she protested, looking at him with mock anger.
"Must you two always fight?" Phoebe added, joining in.
"But they're not always…ow!" Joey yelped in mid-sentence as Phoebe kicked his ankle.
Chandler sneaked a look at the psychologist who was now frantically writing in his notebook. When he finished writing, he left the coffee house.
"That'll get them going!" Chandler commented, laughing.
*****
" 'Rivals in coffee house fight.'" Monica read in her newspaper the next day. She giggled.
" 'There was another incident between the two rivals at the popular coffee house, Central Perk, yesterday afternoon.'" Rachel continued, " 'The argument, which was over a scone our sources say, got so heated that Miss Geller threw her cup of coffee at Mr Bing and left the usually civilised building in anger.'" Rachel widened her eyes and looked at her friend in shock. "You didn't." she murmured.
"Of course I didn't!" Monica said, laughing, "That bit was obviously made up."
"So, what is true?" Ross asked cautiously.
"Chandler and I wasn't really fighting," Monica explained casually, "We saw Rick there and we staged a little fight for his benefit."
Ross rolled his eyes and smiled a little. "I suppose that's better than a real fight." He said.
Monica smiled to herself and read the article again. There was a time when a story like this could have actually happened but now she could never see it happening. It was like reading about other people. It had only been twenty-four hours since the last time she saw Chandler, but she was already thinking about him again. She checked her watch. Chandler would be at Something For Everyone right now. Maybe she could go pay him a little visit. No, she told herself, you can't. No emotional involvement again. It hurt to keep telling herself that all the time. It was taking all of her willpower not to see him again deliberately before the next part of the competition.
"Only two more days Mon." Rachel said, breaking into Monica's thoughts.
Monica snapped her head up. "What?"
Rachel said nothing. She just smiled and shook her head.
****
"You're really waiting for that day, huh?" Joey asked Chandler in their apartment.
"Sure. It's an important day." Chandler said, snapping out of his daydream. Once again, he had been thinking about Monica. As always, she had the ability to mess with his mind. He couldn't concentrate on anything anymore without thinking about her. "It's $40,000."
"It's not just that though," Joey commented, smiling. "You just can't wait to see that special someone." He teased.
Chandler rolled his eyes. "Ok, Joey, I get your point." He said.
"But I don't think you do!" Joey protested, "I don't think you see my point at all. You walk around all day with that soppy smile on your face and you just don't see it!"
"See what?!" Chandler exclaimed.
"Oh my god!" Joey groaned, burying his head into his hands.
END OF CHAPTER EIGHT:Have I teased you all enough? Lol chapter 9 coming very soon!: