Part 2: Conciliation and Alliance

"Ross," said Monica into the cell phone, "there's something you ought to know. Prepare yourself for a shock … well, Emily's here."

Ross's outraged "What?" could be heard clearly in the room. Monica held the phone away from her ear with a pained expression for a moment.

"Don't yell at me!" she snapped. "I didn't bring her here … No, she didn't marry him, obviously … I know because she came to the door a while back and I wouldn't turn away a dog on a night like this … Ross, that's not nice, whatever your feelings about her!" Suddenly she sounded rather mad. "Look, we've talked with her and she's genuinely sorry, and she didn't intend for you to be thrown out of your apartment, she had a big row with her cousin about it, doesn't that count for anything? … Can't you at least try to forgive her, when even Rachel has brought herself to do so? After all, she didn't say the wrong name …"

Her eye roved to the couch, where Emily was sitting, gazing at Monica with painful intentness. "Yes, she's still here," Monica continued, "but if you just want to come and yell at her, I suggest you stay away until you've calmed down a bit … Yes, I am letting her stay, tonight anyway. She's not got much money and no place to stay, now she's blown it with her cousin … So, can I at least hope that you will try to be civil at breakfast time? Okay, see you then."

She closed the connection and looked at Emily sympathetically. "You've got a really tough job ahead of you," she said. "Are you sure it's worth sticking around?"

Emily's face set. "I'm determined to give it a try. Anyway, I can't afford to get a ticket home yet. I'll need what money I have left to support me until I can find a job."

"You bought a single?" said Phoebe. "How did that go down with Immigration? Can you take a job, even?"

"Oh, I told them the truth, that I was hoping to get back together with my ex-husband, and they were quite nice about it. I have a visa allowing me to try for some kinds of employment, left over from arrangements we made at, at the time of the marriage. It's still valid." She sighed. "You're probably right, Monica, but I have to try. I … it's so hard to think you've made a mistake that you can n-never put right." Her voice wavered, and she looked for her bag and pulled out a tissue, to blow her nose loudly.

Rachel suddenly experienced a pang of fellow-feeling. "I know what you mean, Emily," she said quietly.

They all looked at her in surprise. She looked steadily back at them. "I have come to realise, that letter I wrote to Ross might be my mistake like that," she said.

"Oh yes," said Emily, almost smiling. "I hope this won't offend you, Rachel, but I heard all about that, and about being on a break."

Chandler groaned audibly, but Rachel felt interested. "So, what do you think? Were we?"

Emily looked amazed. "You want my opinion?"

Rachel cocked her head, as if examining the idea. "Yeah. You're the only one who wasn't there, you weren't heavily involved in the whole affair. You might have a different angle."

Emily pursed her lips and sat in thought for a moment while everyone watched her, all interested to hear what she might have to say.

"Okay," she said quietly. "Here's what I think. Assuming what was said has been reported correctly, maybe you were on a break, BUT – " she held up a hand to forestall any interruption from Rachel, "Ross was stupid to take that as meaning you wanted it to be over for ever, and even more stupid, hurtfully so, in fact, to show so little trust in you" – she sounded rather emphatic suddenly – "as to suppose that you either were carrying on with Mark already or immediately decided to do so, when he should have remembered in any case that Mark had a girlfriend!" She threw her hands in the air. "But it's impossible to reason him out of his pathological jealousy of Mark, or anything else. God knows, I tried, but eventually I gave up and just tried to shut it out when he started ranting."

"You, you tried to argue with him? About our break-up, about me?" said Rachel, stunned.

Emily produced a rueful little smile. "I hate to hear men slagging off women, even when it's a boyfriend on his ex-girlfriend. Men can be so blind to the faults in their own behaviour, which are often much bigger. It really gets my goat sometimes."

Rachel stood up, and walked over to sit next to Emily on the couch. "Gimme five, Emily," she said, smiling as she held up her hand. "You're talking my language."

Looking delighted, Emily smacked palms with her. Then her face sobered. "Rachel, you do realise that I'm going to try to get him back?"

"Good luck," said Rachel. "Frankly, I think you'll need every bit of it. I won't help you – but I won't hinder you, either. I'll let you into a secret that only Monica knows: I told Ross, when I got back from Athens, that I still loved him." Not only Emily, but several others gasped. "But I realised at once how ridiculous I was being and asked him to forget it. When his attempts to get back together with you failed, he made absolutely no move to get back together with me. Naturally, I kind of … went off the boil."

"Well, you were showing an interest in Danny then," Monica put in.

Rachel glared at her. "Emily didn't need to know that!"

"Plus, Ross was flipping all over the place," said Phoebe. "Why, he even got together with Janice for a short time."

"With Janice?" cried Emily, hugely entertained. She had heard all about Janice in the past. "This I have to hear. Tell me more!"

As Rachel and Phoebe competed to tell Emily the gory details, with frequent pauses as they all collapsed into laughter, Monica watched smiling. Improbable as it might seem, it looked as if Rachel and Emily were bonding through the one important thing they had in common – Ross.

-----

The next day, when Monica appeared at breakfast time, Emily was already up. She looked much better than she had the previous night. She had tidied away her possessions, neatly folded the makeshift bedding, and was getting things ready. Monica was very impressed at this, as well as by her remembering where some items were to be found and having got coffee going. When Rachel came in yawning, she was presented with a fresh cup of coffee by Emily and asked what else she would like. She looked surprised, and Emily giggled.

"I'm practising for waiting," she explained. "If I can't get a job in Central Perk, I can always try elsewhere."

Rachel grinned. "You'll have plenty of chances soon," she said. "The guys would love to be waited on hand and foot."

Emily began to look a little nervous. "Do you think Ross will blow a gasket when he sees me?"

Rachel giggled at the expression. The British did have funny ways of putting things.

"He better not," said Monica sternly. "I told him to try to be civil. Don't you worry, Emily: we'll see that he behaves himself."

"You're being very kind to me," said Emily rather humbly. "I'm sure I don't deserve it."

"You didn't deserve to have Ross say the wrong name, either," said Monica, "and ruin what was supposed to be the best day of your life."

"Yeah," said Rachel slowly. "I was so into trying to work out what it meant, I didn't see it from your point of view. Yeah, you had a hard deal, Emily. I don't really blame you for flipping; I would have done the same."

"Oh, me too!" said Monica. "I would probably have torn Ross limb from limb!"

Emily seemed very moved by this show of support. "Thanks," she stammered. "I really appreciate that."

Then the door opened and the men came in, Ross last of all with a very brooding expression on his face. Emily gulped, so loud that Rachel could hear her.

"H-hello, Ross," she quavered.

Ross turned to her. His face did not change, and he said nothing, just gave a short nod and sat down.

"C-can I get you a cup of coffee?" Emily pursued. "Or anyone else?"

"Thanks, Emily, that would be great," said Joey blithely.

"Yeah, I'll take you up on that," said Chandler, smiling at her.

But Ross's face did not alter. "You know what?" he said, addressing himself to Monica. "I don't think I fancy coffee this morning. Maybe I should have some tea," he added in heavily ironical tones.

"I could make you some tea," said Emily, trying to sound bright. "I've got some tea bags with me."

But Ross gave no sign that he'd heard. Emily brought the other two their coffees and sat down, looking very downcast. Then Phoebe showed up, and Rachel leaned over to Ross.

"Ross, you're behaving like a jerk!" she hissed at him.

"You're taking her side?" said Ross in amazement.

"Well, I'm certainly not taking yours," said Rachel spiritedly, "not while you're in this mood."

"What am I supposed to do?" Ross retorted angrily, his voice rising. "Shrug my shoulders, say yeah, okay, those are the breaks, forgive and forget, just like that?"

"Ross!" said Monica warningly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered, and applied himself to his cereal, glowering.

Emily was looking very dismayed. "I don't want you to quarrel over me," she whispered to Rachel.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel replied. "Ross can be an asshole sometimes, and it does no harm to tell him. It never permanently affects the way he behaves."

"But how can I show I'm sorry if he won't even talk to me?" said Emily sadly, forgetting to keep her voice low.

Ross looked at her, then away again, with an elaborate air of unconcern.

Emily was silent for a while, seeming thoughtful. Then she looked at Ross again.

"All right," she said. "You have an absolute right to be angry. I did put you through it, and I'm very sorry, for that and for making so many difficulties, especially over Rachel, who has been more forgiving than I deserve. Although it was not my doing, I am very sorry you were thrown out of my cousin's apartment, and I have broken with him over it. But" – she drew a breath that was half a sob – "I have found that I couldn't just walk away from what we had. You may be annoyed to see me here, but I had to try – just as you kept on trying to find me, and promised all kinds of things, even when I was being unreasonable. I can't forget that. I want to, to make it up to you."

By now Ross was looking at her, while everyone else was looking at him. He heaved a great sigh. "Okay, Emily," he said. "I appreciate that you've made this effort, and I accept that you're sorry. But there's nothing left. You could have saved yourself the trouble."

Emily sat frozen. She made an inarticulate noise and Monica, sitting next to her, saw her eyes fill with tears. Then she wiped a hand across them, almost angrily, and swallowed hard. "Very well," she said quietly, "but you'll have to put up with seeing me around for a while. I don't have the money to fly home without cleaning out what savings I have left. Those will have to be used to support me here and pay my credit card bill."

"Couldn't your parents help?" said Chandler.

"They don't even know I'm here," said Emily, "and I wouldn't go to them, anyway. You've no idea how much flak I took, just because Ross was an American. And when they hear I've broken my engagement to Colin they'll probably wash their hands of me. Besides, if you were in my position, would you want to go running straight back home with your tail between your legs? I have some pride."

Most of them nodded understandingly.

"You really did commit yourself to this, didn't you?" said Phoebe. "Well, I'll tell you what, Emily: you can move in with me for now. But you'll have to come up with some money for food."

"Oh Phoebe, you're so kind," Emily wailed, breaking down finally. The women gathered round to console her, including Rachel, while Chandler and Joey looked uncomfortable, and Ross looked obstinately unsympathetic.

"C'mon, man, go easy on her," Joey urged.

"I can't pretend to feel what I don't," Ross said loudly.

"Okay, but you could be nicer about it," said Monica, turning round and looking at him reproachfully.

"Yeah, what is it, you feel you've said sorry often enough already?" said Phoebe, sounding rather mad.

"Try to see it from her point of view," Monica said. "All her hopes for the future were destroyed. It's not surprising if she was off balance after that."

"She wouldn't trust me," said Ross angrily.

"I've already said to Rachel, I bitterly regret that," said Emily, standing up and putting a little bit of edge into her voice. "Can't you try to forgive me for it, as I tried to forgive you for saying the wrong name and for inviting Rachel to go to Greece with you – which was not a good way to deal with any suspicions I might have, I have to say."

Ross was silent for a moment. "Okay, I will try," he said heavily. "But I don't see why you should expect me to be any faster about it than you were."

Emily made a choking noise and turned her face away, while Phoebe and Monica glared at him. Rachel felt a sudden intense irritation with Ross and the way anything that happened to him was, in his view, always worse than what had happened to anyone else, just as whatever he did was always more justifiable than when someone else did something similar. She jumped to her feet.

"Ooh Ross, I could strangle you sometimes," she raged. "She wouldn't trust you, eh? Well, isn't that just so ironical? You wouldn't trust me in all that business over Mark, and it destroyed our relationship! Now you know how it feels!" She turned to Emily. "Come on, let's go down to Central Perk and see if we can't get you a job. They should be open by now." Grabbing a surprised Emily by the arm, she marched firmly for the door, remembered her bag, wheeled and collected it, and marched off again.

"Wait, wait!" cried Phoebe. "I'm coming too! I've got to take Emily to my apartment, so I'd better stick with her." She clattered out after them.

They went down the first flight of steps in silence, but on the second Phoebe said to Rachel, "Wow! You really gave it to him. Did you see his face? He was, like, stunned."

"He deserved it," said Rachel rather viciously. "He just will not accept that sometimes he's wrong."

"Rachel," said Emily in a shaky voice. They both turned, to see her eyes full of tears. She dashed them aside. "Mustn't be such a cry-baby," she said, "but … I want to thank you for sticking up for me back there. It was a very generous thing to do."

"Emily," said Rachel seriously, "if Ross had showed half as much obvious remorse as you have done, I'd have been back with him in a week. When I saw him giving you the same sort of treatment that I remembered, I just couldn't stand it. What hurts most is, he's not always like that."

"No," said Emily, "that's the problem, isn't it? A lot of the time he's sweet, and kind, and loving, just the sort of man you would want to go out with."

They smiled at each other rather sadly.

"This is just great," said Phoebe enthusiastically. "You getting on so well," she explained when they looked at her. "Your auras really are looking so much better."

"I'd like to be friends," said Emily a bit shyly. "I know it must seem weird, with our history, but I never hated you, Rachel. I had this totally distorted picture of you in my mind; that was what I hated. I was convinced you'd be back with Ross by now, for instance."

"Well, Emily," said Rachel, "when I think about it, maybe you had a right to hate me. If I hadn't decided Ross had to know what I felt for him – though I didn't tell him, then – likely you'd be happily married now."

"We'll never know," said Emily. "Myself, I suspect he hadn't got over you, and that's why he said your name. It would have come up sooner or later. So don't worry about it. What's done is done. Let's agree that we've each done the other wrong" – she said it very melodramatically – "but that we want to put it all behind us."

"I can certainly agree to that," said Rachel. She stopped as they left the building, aiming to hug Emily, but Emily stuck out a hand, so Rachel rearranged her arms and shook it firmly.

"Did you want a hug?" said Emily, looking a little amused. "You're a very touchy-feely bunch, aren't you? Here." She held her arms wide and, somewhat gingerly, they embraced, while Phoebe applauded.

"Right!" said Rachel, feeling charged for some reason. "Central Perk, here we come."

She marched in ahead of them determinedly. Gunther was behind the counter as usual; he beamed when he saw her.

"Gunther, you remember Emily?" she asked. Gunther nodded. "Well, she's come over here trying to get back with Ross, but that may take a while, and she hasn't got much money. Could you give her a job? She's got a visa and everything."

"She's also got London experience," said Phoebe, "if you think that counts." Rachel rolled her eyes at this continuing evidence of Phoebe's unreasonable prejudice against London.

Gunther looked rather taken aback. "But, but weren't you … and she – "

"We've had our problems," Rachel interrupted rather impatiently, "but we've resolved them. Oh yes, something else." She shot Emily a mischievous look, unable to resist a little dig. "She's something of a singer, aren't you, Emily? So she could be a singing waitress."

Emily just laughed. "I love to sing," she said. "Folk stuff, old ballads, some of the moderns like Johnny Cash – you name it."

"It would make a … contrast with Phoebe," said Gunther thoughtfully. "But you want to wait too … Tell me what you used to do in London."

Emily reeled off an impressive list of tasks she had learned to perform. "But obviously I'm rusty," she said. "I haven't done most of them for ages."

"Okay," said Gunther. "Well, how are you about handling early shifts? Most people don't like them, so I can't open to catch the early shifts off to their jobs."

"I'll do anything, if you'll give me a job," said Emily eagerly.

"Come by at seven thirty tomorrow," said Gunther, "or earlier if you can make it. I'll give you a trial."

"Oh thank you!" cried Emily ecstatically. She leaned over the counter, grabbed him, and gave him a smacking kiss. Gunther looked dazed, but not displeased.

Emily then turned to Rachel and Phoebe and gave them the same treatment. "Thanks so much for your support," she said, beaming at them. "It's made all the difference."

Rachel was pleased to have her efforts so readily acknowledged. She was not as easy about the whole situation as she pretended. Apart from anything else, those feelings for Ross were peering out of their hiding place and sniffing around again. It was why she had been so mad at him: he could be so much better than the way he was behaving right now. She sighed as they walked back to the apartment, so that Emily could pick up her bags and move to Phoebe's.

Emily turned a sympathetic look on her. "He's hard to get out of your head, isn't he?" she said quietly. "And it must have been worse for you, when you're in each other's company all the time."

"I don't know what I want to do about him," said Rachel, "and that's the plain truth – though why I'm telling you I don't know!" she added semi-humorously.

Emily's mouth twitched. "Maybe it's good to tell an outsider. You all live in each others' pockets so."

"I told someone on the plane about Ross and me," Rachel confessed. "I poured it all out. God, I must have looked dumb! And this guy sitting next to me, he said nothing good would come of it, and he was so right, wasn't he? He also said, he thought we were on a break," she added moodily.

"Rachel, I hope you're not obsessed with that the way Ross is," said Emily rather tartly. "The point is not so much whether you were on a break or not, as what Ross did about it, which as I've said does not show him in a flattering light."

"You could be good for me," said Rachel seriously. "It does help to talk to someone who knows Ross well as a lover, not as his sister. Maybe I should have talked to Carol long ago."

They said no more, but walked on in harmonious silence.

When they returned to the apartment, Ross had gone. The others expressed pleasure that Emily had a job. Well before the end of the morning she was installed in Phoebe's apartment and had gone off to look for a bank or cashpoint she could use, to get some money for immediate purposes. She also planned to do some telephoning, to see if contacts she had had in New York were still there. Monica was pleased to see that, while the Ross situation was still totally unresolved, Emily was not going to mope about it, and thoroughly approved. She was also relieved to get her out of the apartment, for her presence had inhibited any contact with Chandler, and even after one night she missed him. Now there was every hope that the Ross-Emily situation, as well as being interesting in itself, would take the others' attention away from them, when they had come close to being discovered. Things were looking up.