It's a Long Fall From Heaven – Part III
A/N: I'm doing two at once! Woot for me! ...ahem...
-----
Monica hadn't felt so good in years. She had just done the one thing she had wanted to do to all of Rick's girlfriends, and made a new friend in the process. It was a real shame she hadn't done it earlier. Chandler called minutes later, and she explained everything to him. He was laughing so hard, she couldn't get him to say anything for five minutes.
"Did you really do that?" He asked, between deep breaths.
"Yup. I feel so alive. I need to go out, and…do something."
"Like…?"
"I dunno. I just want to leave the house and go out and party or something. But it's way too late for that. I guess I should just go to bed, and celebrate tomorrow."
"That sounds good."
"Allright, I guess I'll talk to you later. Noon tomorrow, right?"
"Yup."
"Goodnight."
"Sweet dreams, Mon."
--
Routines were so much a part of Monica's life, she hadn't any idea when one ended and the next began. Today, however, she decided to do something different. She had Erica staying in during lunch hour, and, of course, Alice tagged along. Those girls didn't go anywhere without the other. Monica waited impatiently until noon came, and she saw Chandler pull up in his black Acura. He was fairly wealthy, unlike she was, but she had been saving for a car for years since high school. She drove a Mazda Miata, which was pretty expensive. She loved that car. He got out, and she practically ran out to see him. She grabbed his arm, and attempted to drag him to her car.
"Come on, Chandler! Let's go!" She said, pulling on him. Her feet looked as if they were moving, but she wasn't going anywhere.
"What's going on?" He said, looking at her strangely.
"We need to go and celebrate my victory!"
"What victory?"
"Last night!"
"Ohhh! Right! Well, where do you want to go?"
"Um…I was hoping you'd know a good place to go. I'm not used to celebrating."
"You think I am?" She shrugged.
"Fine, then. Let's just cruise around, and look at stuff, and talk."
"Sounds good to me." They hopped into Monica's car, and started to drive around the city. It was a fairly long drive to get to any place where they had decent food, and so they had plenty of time to talk.
"So…" he said, when they were silent for a minute. "Okay, I have to ask. Why, exactly, did your husband have another woman in your room, especially while he knew you were home?"
"Because he's a lunatic."
"Well, I figured that out when I realized you're his wife, but aren't the one he's sleeping with."
She grinned. "I guess, I just stopped getting angry with him. He was like this from the start. We got married because he got me pregnant, and I didn't want to have a child out of wedlock. He probably hated me from the start. He was always a jerk. You know, he was really upset during our entire honeymoon, because I was really big from carrying Jonas, and so, we couldn't…y'know…And I guess, after he was born, he started cheating on me. I would never want to sleep with him, because, I was now raising a young child. And you know how everything changes when taking care of an infant, especially for the mother. My body was different, and my body cycles were different, too. I had to get up early to feed him, and so I was tired a lot. Well, it all pretty much went downhill from there. He tried hiding everything from me, but that didn't work for long, he's a poor liar, but he can convince a lot of women to sleep with him. How he can, I'll probably never know. I don't get why I slept with him in the first place. Anyway, now you know, but I don't really like talking about it, so, uh, can we talk about you, now?"
"What about?"
"Um, why haven't I met your girlfriend?"
"I don't have one."
"Wife?"
"Nope."
"Oh, sorry. Boyfriend?"
He laughed. "Definitely not."
"Well, who, then?"
"I don't have anyone right now."
"You interested?"
"A little, I guess. It all depends, though."
"On what?"
"Who it is. I don't want a fling, or a one night stand. I want someone who wants to commit to something. It's just that, I'm a little afraid of committing myself."
"Well, that complicates things a bit."
"I know."
"I guess, if I find that one woman, who's not afraid to love me, then I don't think I'll be afraid to love her back, ya know?"
"I feel the same way. It's just, I'm already caught in this damn mess, and I can't really leave Rick."
"Why not?"
"Well, I don't want Jonas to be caught in a divorce. I know those can be really hard."
"Tell me about it."
"Did your parents divorce?"
"Yeah. When I was nine. My dad was gay."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. But the worst part was, he was sleeping with the house boy."
"Ew!" Her face scrunched up.
"Hey, a disgusting image, and just in time for lunch!" She finally paid attention to where she was going. They were near a small café, and pulled into the parking lot.
"Ready?"
"Yup." He came around to her side of the car, and opened the door for her. She grinned and took his hand to help her out. They walked into the café, hand-in-hand. Both had intended for it to be friendly, but then again, the both of them felt something else there, but wouldn't admit to it. They sat, and after ordering, waited for their food to be served.
"Well, here we are again." Monica said, propping her head up by her elbows on the table, and looked in his eyes. She couldn't figure out how something so small could contain so much. Enough within one centimeter, that you could find yourself lost in them. Forever, if time allowed it. What she didn't know, was that Chandler was on the other side of the table, doing the same thing. He shifted his weight, and her leg brushed up against his. They shivered simultaneously. Monica tried to concentrate on something else, to keep from falling more, but it was impossible. He never left her thoughts. She groaned inwardly, angry at herself for feeling this way, when she was already married. But then again…Rick was doing it, why couldn't she? She cursed herself. She couldn't…because she wasn't like Rick. She didn't give up when it got hard. She wasn't going to quit. Chandler was her friend, and nothing more, and she intended for it to stay that way.
They sat in silence for several more minutes, lost in their own thoughts, when the waiter came out with their food. Setting it down on the table, Monica took her napkin and placed it neatly in her lap.
"So, um…" She said, trying to break the silence that had now become awkward.
"So…Hey! How come your father doesn't come to the store?"
"I'm not quite sure, actually. He only comes up every couple of months, to check inventory. And that's about the only time I see him anyway."
"Why doesn't he visit you?"
"I don't think he really approved of my marriage with Rick."
"I see."
"Well, I'd have to agree with him. You know, I didn't really approve of the marriage, either. I guess, it was all for Jonas. I didn't want him to grow up with only one parent."
"It didn't have to be that way."
"I was so scared when I was giving birth. They thought he was going to die. He had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, and he was upside down inside my uterus."
"Oh my gosh," He whispered.
"Yeah, but when they saved him, it was like a miracle. That's why I named him Jonas. It means 'Gift from God'."
"Wow. That's really lucky."
"So, I want him to have a good life, since he almost didn't have one in the first place."
"You could still give him a good life, even without your husband. Divorce isn't always horrible."
"But I don't want him to grow up without a father."
"He wouldn't have to. There are plenty of men out there who would give anything to be your husband and his father. And come on, would you rather have Jonas grow up with two unhappy parents who are fighting to stay together, or one happy parent who's just trying to find the right guy?"
She had to admit, he was right. She sat up all night, for the next few days, thinking about it. Tons of questions kept flying through her mind…Where will I go? What will I do? Where will I stay? Who will I see? When will I leave? It was complicated.
--
One evening that week, Monica was sleeping in her bed for the first time in forever. She had laid down, comfortably, and was drifting off to sleep, finally, when the door opened. Rick was standing in the doorway, and smiling at her.
"What are you looking at?" she asked, a little irritably.
"Nothing." He said, still smiling. He came over and laid next to her. She turned her back to him. How could he act like nothing was wrong? A few minutes later, he leaned over and started to kiss her neck, hungrily.
"What're you doing?" She inquired, turning over, and pushing his arms away, looking in his eyes.
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Something you should ask permission for first."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really."
"Well, then, do you wanna?" She stared at him.
"What do you think?"
"Yeah?" He said, hopefully.
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because you have sex with other women! I'm just your wife. Or should I say, your 'fat lesbian roommate'!"
"That bothers you?" Monica was getting angry.
"How could you even ask that? Of course it bothers me! If I took home a different man every week and had sex in your bedroom, would you ever be able to forgive me? Oh, wait. You wouldn't care, because you're heartless enough to think that married people are allowed to commit adultery. You've been doing this for the past three and a half years, Rick! It's always going to bother me!"
"Well, that's just a shame, now, isn't it!" He sat up. "Maybe if you'd wanted to have sex more often, it wouldn't have been a problem!"
"I was carrying a child!"
"So what?"
"My children come first, Rick. It doesn't matter what you think."
"Whatever."
"Just, go to sleep, allright? Leave me alone."
"Fine!" He grabbed his head in frustration, and rolled over, groaning.
--
Monica lay awake for the next couple of hours, silently crying, as she usually did. She then got up and went into the kitchen. Picking up the phone, she dialed the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" someone said, groggily, on the other line.
"Chandler? It's Monica."
"What's up?"
"I'm going to do it. But it has to be tonight."
-----
Hehehehehehehehehehehehe... I WIN! Review!
