:I'm really beginning to have fun with this. I hope you are too, and I greatly appreciate the large number of reviews! Keep it up!:

Second Chance

Chapter Seven – Wild Love

September 8th

"Have you ever tasted coca-cola ice-cream?"

Chandler grinned at the voice greeting him on the phone as soon as he had picked it up.

"No Cynthia, I don't think I have," he told her, settling himself down in his barker lounger.

"Well, you're about to."

"Ok," Chandler's brow furrowed in amusement, "how exactly?"

"There was a sale of fizzy drinks down Moore's and I kind of got carried away and bought them by the dozen."

"So, you want to turn a perfectly nice drink into something horrible?" he asked, laughing hard.

"Oh my god I can't believe you've never tasted coca-cola flavoured ice-cream!" the voice shrieked down his phone, "Come round my house today and I'll show you how to make it! It's delicious."

Chandler checked his watch. The idea of spending the day round Cynthia's appealed to him, especially as Joey was going to be at his new job all day. "Are you sure it tastes ok?" he asked dubiously. Coke and vanilla ice-cream mixed together seemed a strange concoction to him.

"It is to die for," Cynthia told him sincerely, "trust me."

"Ok, I'll be round in an hour." Chandler told her, smiling enthusiastically.

****

"Oh…my…god," Chandler muttered, taking sips of his now favourite refreshment in Cynthia's backyard. He lay back in the garden recliner and sighed happily. He closed his eyes and sighed again.

"I told you, didn't I?" Cynthia murmured, laying back on her own recliner. "Just add a bit of ice-cream in a glass, pour the coke in, mix it up, put a straw in and you've got the best summer drink in the world."

Chandler opened his eyes and looked at her. "How much ice-cream and coke you got left?" he asked.

"Ice-cream? Gallons. Coke? Gallons," Cynthia replied, grinning. "Enough to keep us going for ages."

Chandler looked around the spacious garden which backed out from a one-floor Spanish-style villa in Long Island. "How can you afford a place like this?" he asked in awe.

Cynthia smiled at him. "This isn't mine," she said, laughing, "It's my parents'. They've been away on vacation for the last three months, so I'm looking after the house for them."

"Ahhh," Chandler nodded, "so where do you usually live?"

"The Village, uptown…do you know it?"

"Yeah, that's near where I live," Chandler replied, chuckling, "Just round the block from Central Perk, and five minute's walk away from Central Park."

"That's amazing, I would love to live nearer the park," Cynthia said wistfully.

"What? When you can come here?" Chandler joked, gesturing around the patio and garden.

"Not much fun when you don't have any company," Cynthia said quietly, looking away from him. "My friends live miles away, so I don't see them much."

Chandler stared at her. For the first time since meeting Cynthia, he realised that she must be very lonely. It made him feel glad he had the day free to spend time with her.

"Hey, you ever had a water balloon fight?" he said suddenly, sitting up.

Cynthia sat up as well and stared curiously at him. "Not since I was a kid," she replied, grinning, "don't tell me you still do it?"

"Why not?" Chandler asked, shrugging, "you've got to have a little fun around here." He added, looking meaningfully at her.

"I don't know about balloons, but I think my parents have some water guns in storage somewhere," Cynthia said, smiling wickedly.

"Guns!" Chandler's eyes popped out with delight, "That's even better!"

****

He couldn't remember the last time he'd has so much fun. Using two water guns each, Chandler and Cynthia had successfully soaked each other head to toe. It had took hours for them both to dry off, and now they were spending the rest of the afternoon sitting in front of the fire in the living room as the weather outside turned from glorious sun to dark, threatening clouds.

Cynthia passed him another glass of coca-cola ice-cream and they both took sips, smiling contentedly.

"God, I needed a day like this," Chandler mumbled, leaning against a chair on the floor.

"Why, have you been stressed lately?" Cynthia asked, looking at him with concern.

"Kind of," Chandler replied, smiling wryly, "You wouldn't believe how screwed up my life is."

"Try me," Cynthia encouraged.

"Ok, after ten years of nothing happening, I started to have an affair with my best friend." Chandler confessed, relieved he could finally talk to someone about it.

"Is it Monica, by any chance?"

"Yeah, how did you guess?" Chandler asked. He saw the look on Cynthia's face and shook his head. "I suppose it was easy to see there was something there." He conceded.

"Yes, Monica thinks I'm poison," Cynthia said, smiling grimly, "and now I know why."

"She's getting married to this awful, rich freak and she won't admit she loves me." Chandler said sadly.

"Do you love her?" Cynthia asked softly.

"I thought I did," Chandler told her, "but now I don't know what I feel. We're drifting apart Cynth…we don't talk anymore."

Cynthia looked at him sympathetically, "I'm sure it will work out in the end," she said quietly.

"I don't know, but I was thinking earlier as we were at war with the water…I've never had that much fun with Monica. She would probably be too concerned about the patio furniture." He laughed quietly. He looked up at Cynthia and smiled awkwardly.

"Maybe…maybe that's a good thing you two don't have…have lots in common," Cynthia stammered, staring at him.

"How do you mean?" Chandler asked, confused.

"Haven't you heard of the phrase 'opposites attract'?" Cynthia asked quietly.

"Yeah, and haven't you heard of the words 'soul mate'?" Chandler asked back.

"Don't you think Monica is your soul mate?" Cynthia whispered.

"I used to," Chandler said to her, meeting her eyes. He tried not to think of the words, 'before I met you,' Bob flashed through his mind and he groaned inwardly. He shifted his eyes away from Cynthia's and stood up.

"Maybe I should go," he muttered.

"Yes, I think that would be best." Cynthia said, looking down at her glass.

****

"Do you think Cynthia is just the woman that Chandler needs to get over Monica?" Joey asked Phoebe in the coffee house that night.

"I doubt he'll ever get over Monica," Phoebe replied, frowning worriedly. "It's going to be awful when she marries Pete."

"Love is complicated isn't it?" Joey said, meeting Phoebe's eyes.

Phoebe nodded in agreement. "Yes, unknown feelings, misunderstandings…"

"You just have to look at Ross and Rachel as an example," Joey said grimly.

"Yes, can you believe those two?" Phoebe said in disbelief, "this morning I caught them arguing over a scone…I mean a scone I tell you!"

"Do you think they'll ever get back to the way they was?" Joey asked sadly, "I mean, before they dated?"

"Eventually but not now…not until all that stuff with the letter gets sorted."

"And the break,"

"Ugh the break!" Phoebe shook her head in disgust, "when will they let that lie?"

"Probably never," Joey told her, smiling. He stood up, "time for the commercial!"

"Ohh, you're officially shooting it for today?" Phoebe asked excitedly.

"Yeah baby! You want to come watch me in action?"

"You bet I do!" Phoebe leaped up enthusiastically and grinned at her friend.

"Really?" Joey asked in surprise, "I didn't think you would be interested in anything like that."

"Joey," Phoebe rolled her eyes and smiled almost tenderly at him, "I'm interested in anything you do."

"Um…right!" he stuttered, meeting her eyes for a moment. "Um…shall…shall we get going then?"

****

September 9th

"Chandler, what's the matter?" Monica asked quietly, after the group had finished dinner and left the apartment one by one. Chandler had maintained a stony silence throughout, thinking of Cynthia, Monica and the whole stupid deal with Bob. He wished he had never been given that second chance…it was becoming one huge mess.

Chandler turned to face her. "Don't ask me that, you of all people, don't ask me that." He said to her bitterly.

"Chandler, please don't be like this," Monica begged. She ran her fingers down his cheek, and attempted to kiss him, but Chandler pulled away looking at her in disgust.

"What do you expect me to be like?" he demanded, "You've messed with my head Mon! I don't know what to feel anymore."

"I…I'm sorry Chandler, but I thought our thing wasn't going to mean anything." Monica looked angrily at him, "And I thought you felt the same way…until recently."

"Monica, I am not a male prostitute who you can just sleep with any time you feel like it!" Chandler shot at her. The hurt look that passed over Monica's face made him instantly regret what he had just said. It was too late though, the damage had been done.

"Get out," Monica said stonily.

"Mon…I'm sorry," Chandler said desperately, "I didn't mean it to come out like that."

"Maybe you should look at your own actions before accusing me of using you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Chandler asked. He stood up and paced around the room, running his hands through his hair.

"Cynthia." Monica stated simply, her arms crossed.

"What about her?" he asked sullenly.

"I know you like her," Monica said gently.

"Nothing has happened between us," Chandler said to her firmly.

"You want it to though, right?" Monica walked over closer to him and touched his cheek. "Or is it that you're just trying to get me out of you head?" She reached up to kiss him gently on the lips.

Chandler swallowed hard. Why did she keep doing this? One minute she was all cold and distant…then she was hinting she wanted him whenever she felt lonely. He couldn't resist her…she knew that. He returned her kiss and wrapped her arms around her.

"Chandler I need you," Monica murmured as they kissed, "Pete can't give me what you have."

Chandler pulled back and shook his head. "Then why is it when I want you, you push me away?" he asked. "Why won't you break it off with Pete?" He stared into her eyes, knowing he wasn't going to get a proper answer…apart from the one he already knew. That Pete could provide other things for Monica…like security, commitment…the things that Chandler himself was scared of.

 He sighed, admitted defeat and pulled her in for another embrace.

"One more time…please," Monica pleaded, and Chandler pushed her gently down on the couch. He climbed on top of her and nodded.

"We're going to go wild for a while, then that's it," he told her, leaning down to kiss her passionately.

****

"Forget about Cynthia," Bob advised Chandler that night, "you know it won't go anywhere…she isn't the woman you are meant to be with. She can't save you."

"Monica isn't going to break it off with Pete," Chandler tried to tell him, "So I might as well try forget about her and just concentrate on the time I have left with Cynthia."

"How do you know Cynthia feels the same way though?" Bob pressed.

"I know she does," Chandler insisted.

"…but you're in love with Monica," Bob pointed out.

"That isn't proper love…" Chandler said, shaking his head, "it's just a crazy, wild kind of obsession love…and one that Monica controls…and she knows I can't resist it. She only wants me when Pete is too busy or if she feels down and lonely."

"She loves you Chandler," Bob told him, "she just doesn't know how to tell you."

"So instead, she's messing me about," Chandler said bitterly, "she's using me…surely you can see that?"

"Yes," Bob conceded, "but she'll come round. Right now, Monica is very confused. She's desperate to please her family and marry the 'right man' who she thinks she loves or she thinks she will grow to love. You need to convince her that isn't the right way to think."

"No, I need to convince her that this fling has got to stop," Chandler insisted, "And then there is Cynthia…that's the kind of love I need…"

"Are your feelings for Cynthia getting as strong as they were once for Monica?" Bob asked quietly, "Is she worth sacrificing the rest of your second life for?"

Chandler looked at him silently. Apart from that one drunken night the previous month, his relationship with Cynthia had been nonsexual. They had been like a couple of kids really…until yesterday afternoon. That afternoon, Chandler had fallen for Cynthia. Her laughter had been contagious in that hot sun as they sipped coca-cola ice-cream together and threw water at each other. Her shoulder length natural blonde hair had fallen into his face one point as she squirted water down his t-shirt. Now, as Chandler thought about it in the assessment room, that faint smell of conditioner and scented shampoo had turned him on more than weeks of passionate, wild love making to Monica.

"I think she could be," he admitted, "but I'm not sure yet."

"God, why did I accept this job?" Bob moaned, "I could have been haunting buildings in Philadelphia right now!"

End of Chapter Seven

:I'm not hinting yet whom Chandler will end up with, and I'm going to keep you all guessing for a couple of chapters yet!: