The Date
"Hey man, are you ready to go?" Joey called Chandler from the living room. He straightened his jacket a smoothed his hair, then stood, waiting impatiently for his best friend to come out. He had met a girl named Becky a few nights before and he was looking forward to seeing her again. He just hoped that the girl she said she was bringing with her would be enough to keep Chandler occupied for the evening. Joey didn't plan on letting Becky go home alone that night.
Chandler stepped out of his room, dressed casually in a blue and black ensemble. Joey looked at his friend and gave him an approving grin.
"Man, if I were a chick, I'd be all over you."
Chandler looked at Joey, a strange expression on his face. "Don't look at me for another week."
The two friends walked out of their apartment and went down. They walked into Central Perk and saw Monica and Phoebe sitting on the couch.
"Have you been here the whole afternoon?" Chandler asked. Monica looked up and smiled, "No. Phoebe and I were curious to see who you and Joey are going out with." Chandler gave them a weird look, "Which is not at all nosy in any way."
Joey punched Chandler in the arm and gestured to the door. "They're here!" Chandler, Monica, and Phoebe looked over their shoulders and watched as two girls walked in.
"Hey, Joey!" the first girl said, walking over to give Joey a hug. She was a tall redhead with a sort of smug air about her. She wore "barely there" clothing, just enough to be decently dressed.
Joey returned her hug and turned to his friends. "Everyone this is Becky. Becky, this is Monica and Phoebe. And this man here is Chandler." Becky turned to Chandler and grabbed his hand, shaking it with vigor.
"Oh great. From the way Joey described you, I was almost afraid to bring my friend. The last thing I wanted to do was to get her hopes up and then disappoint her, you know? But wow, you're just a doll! If I didn't have Joey here, I'd ask you out myself," Becky said, her voice growing steadily louder as her speech became longer.
"Thank you," Chandler said uncomfortably, looking at Monica and Phoebe with a strange expression. They shrugged.
The second girl that walked in cleared her throat and stepped forward. Becky laughed, "I'm sorry. I'm so rude. This is Joanna."
Joanna gave Chandler a shy smile. He took a liking to her immediately. She had a wide, friendly smile on an open, trusting face which was framed by stylishly layered black hair. She offered a hand for him to shake which he accepted with a smile. Unlike her friend, Joanna's clothes were modest.
Joanna looked at the two girls sitting on the couch. She gave Monica a friendly smile, but froze when she saw Phoebe. Phoebe looked up from her spot and stared at Joanna, a slightly shocked, but obviously cold expression on her face. Joanna turned away from Phoebe's gaze, obviously uncomfortable.
Joey offered Becky his elbow, "Shall we go?" he said. Chandler and Joanna nodded and the quartet made their way out the door, calling out their good-byes to Monica and Phoebe.
The bar was noisy, the smell of smoke and alcohol hung heavily in the air. Chandler sat on one of the stools, watching Joey and Becky as they played pool a few feet away. Joanna sat beside him, also watching the other couple. She snuck a glance at Chandler who seemed as uncomfortable as she was.
"So, do you come here a lot?" she asked. Chandler shook his head and placed his empty bottle of beer on the counter. The bartender replaced it with another one.
"Not really. Joey does," Chandler replied. Joanna nodded, and the two of them resumed their silence.
Chandler felt horrible. Here was a perfectly wonderful girl, and he was blowing the date. Both of them had made futile efforts to start conversations, but neither of them seemed to have much in common.
"So..." Chandler started, trying once again to bring up another topic they might be able to discuss for more than a minute. He paused, trying to think of something to finish the trailing statement. Joanna looked at him expectantly, but nothing came to his mind.
"What do you do?" he finished lamely, inwardly cringing. Here he was, the Prince of Sarcasm, the King of Wit, and he had absolutely nothing else to say.
"I'm a real estate agent," Joanna replied. Chandler nodded, trying to look interested. "That's great. That sounds really cool."
Joanna looked at him and chuckled, "No it's not. You don't have to pretend. It's really boring, actually. My last client was a nightmare. My ex-boyfriend recommended her to me, and she would call me a the strangest hours of the day. She once called me at three o'clock in the morning, and that was just for a chat, nothing to do about her buying a house."
Chandler didn't know how to reply, then he caught the one phrase in her speech he could comment on. "Ex-boyfriend?"
Joanna nodded, "Yeah. It ended about a month ago. Victor and I weren't going anywhere, and there was never a connection, you know?" Chandler nodded. He knew all too well. She gave him a wistful smile, a smile that he was beginning to take a hold of his heart.
"What about you? Did you have a girlfriend?" she asked, trying unsuccessfully not to look too interested. Chandler laughed, "No. I'm a woman repeller." Joanna laughed, "Omigod, where did you get that idea?"
Joanna shook her head in amazement, "I don't want to sound too forward, but you are amazing, Chandler. We've been carrying on a conversation for like, three minutes, and already I feel like..." She stopped. Chandler blushed, again at a loss for words.
"You're wonderful, Chandler. I'm really glad I got to meet you," Joanna finished. She put a hand on his knee. He looked at the small hand there, and put his hand on top.
"Hey, you guys having a good time?" Joey asked, leaning on his pool stick. Becky took a seat next to Joanne and ordered a drink.
Chandler smiled at Joanna, "Yeah. Yeah, Joe, we're having a great time." Joey grinned, "Alright you guys! Becky and I are going to leave now... so you two kids take care."
Joey and Becky linked arms and walked out of the bar leaving Chandler and Joanna sitting alone.
"I have to work tomorrow. Maybe I should go home too," Joanna said. Chandler nodded.
"Would you like me to walk you home?" he asked. As soon as the question was out, he cringed. She never said she liked you, he thought to himself. But the question was out, and he could only hear her answer.
"I'd like that," she replied.
He held a hand out for her and the two walked out of the bar.
"I had a good time tonight, despite what the earlier part of the evening was like," Joanna said. Chandler continued walking, not knowing exactly what to say.
It was weird. He'd never been comfortable around women, but he always had something to say. Around Joanna, he wasn't exactly comfortable, but he was at a loss for his usual sarcastic remarks. The two walked in silence, but the longer they walked, the more comfortable they were. Finally, they reached a building and Joanna stopped.
"This is where I live," Joanna said. Chandler turned to her and nodded. "Alright. Well, it was great meeting you."
"You too, Chandler."
Chandler looked up at the windows of the building, wondering which one was hers.
"Do you... Would you like to go out again? This weekend, maybe?" Chandler asked. Joanna nodded, "That would be great."
She turned to go inside, but Chandler reached for her arm. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek, then walked away, feeling like the happiest man on earth.
___________________________________
C/M shippers probably hate this story right now... More coming soon. I have a lot of ideas, but please review and let me know what you think!!