A/N: So um, hi! I'm Becca! =) Does anyone remember me? I've been on hiatus for like ever and a day. Yeah, you know how life can get for some people… (shhh Yen! The don't know that I'm not some people!) Between SAT's, Physics, driving, SAT's, Physics, my website, SAT's, Physics, being lazy, SAT's, Physics (wait, did I say that before? Well, THEY ARE EVIL! =-o) Okay, so I don't think there's much to explain. Chandler doesn't know anyone at the beginning, Monica only knows Ross… yeah. The fanfic title and chapter titles comes from the song Easy Lover by Phil Collins. My mom loves him, so I grew up on him, and it was only a matter of time before he leaked into one of my fics. (wow that made me sound young, didn't it?) If it sucks, then that's okay, cuz I can just as easily stop posting again. So review if you don't want that to happen. Thanks. ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. In fact, I don't even own myself. Yen owns me. (psst, If you haven't read The Valentine already, then go read it. It kicks major ass.)
Sitting on a brown couch in a small waiting room, he looked around nervously. Some people were reading over lines from various booklets, while others were sitting casually, sipping coffee and chatting on their cell phones. Chandler, however, was sitting there stiffly. Everyone else looked like they were so much more prepared and experienced than he. Well, he looked over to the man sitting a few seats away from him, who was trying to stuff too many cookies into his mouth, almost everyone looks more experienced than me.
The man who was stuffing his mouth looked over to Chandler and smiled, food falling from his mouth. Chandler tried his hardest to smile back, but it mostly looked like a grimace. He turned away, disgusted.
He hadn't been to many callbacks. This was something fairly new to him. Especially, since he had never been to a callback for such a popular role. After all, his best gigs included having various miniscule roles on movies, such as waiters, doormen, and the ever-so-popular taxi driver, all of which included lines that were either around two words or inexistent. However, this time, he was trying for the role of one of the main characters! It had been on a whim, really. His agent called and said there was this role opened that was perfect for him. He had to go try out that day. So, Chandler decided to just do it. There was nothing for him to could lose (aside from his self esteem).
And he had gotten a callback! He was ecstatic just to have gotten that far. Still, with his happiness was anxiety. He had never had a role of this magnitude before. He looked around the room and saw some familiar faces from various movies and television shows. How could he compete with that? Long ago, he decided he obviously wasn't a very good actor. After all, he had been trying for almost ten years to land that "perfect role" that would bring him to stardom and was still searching. Yet, he stuck around. Something was calling him to acting. It was a feeling he never possessed while working in his old, dead ended job. He didn't have the willpower to leave it.
Suddenly, Chandler was jolted out of his thoughts when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned to his right and saw that same man who had been stuffing cookies into his mouth. There were bits of chocolate on the man's face now.
"Hey," the man began, "I'm Joey. Joey Tribianni."
Chandler nodded courteously and shook his hand, "I'm Ch-andler…Chandler Bing."
"Wow, that's an odd name."
Chandler, who was busy wiping off the chocolate that had transferred onto his hand, looked up and nodded distractedly.
"So, what part you up for?"
"Uh, the part for Alan."
Joey laughed. "I can see it! You are so an Alan!"
Chandler cleared his throat. Normally, such a statement would have probably offended him, but he figured it was supposed to be a compliment. "Yeah, thanks. Are you up for the role of John?"
Joey proudly rolled up his sleeves. "You know it."
"Well, uh, good – I mean, break a leg."
"Thanks, man. You too."
Chandler nodded, about to pick up some lines to practice, when Joey tapped his shoulder again.
"Yeah?"
"Dude," Joey pointed to their right, "Look over there!"
Chandler sighed and looked over. However, his he was not prepared for what he was about to see. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating when he saw her. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen! He continued to stare, wide-eyed, until she left the room and Joey nudged him again.
"Yeah?!"
He chuckled. "You a fan of hers?"
Chandler blushed and shrugged. "It's just…wow…she's…so much more…beautiful in real life. I mean she was already beautiful, but…"
Joey shrugged. "I dunno…"
"Wha – what?"
"I mean, sure she's hot and all that, but I think I've seen hotter."
Chandler looked at him incredulously. "How can anyone be more beautiful than that?!"
"Obviously, you haven't been out much."
"Uh, what?"
"Come on, there are better fish in the sea."
Chandler swallowed his incredible urge to punch Joey in the stomach. How could he keep saying that?! There was no one more beautiful than her. There couldn't be!
"Wow," Chandler whispered, "Do you think she'll get the part?"
"Uh, yeah. You're obviously not up on Hollywood news. She already did!"
"Wha – how?"
"Think about it. Her name's Monica Geller, right?"
"Umm, yeah."
"The director is Ross Geller. See the connection?"
"Really? I must not have been paying attention to the name."
"I heard she's gonna be in the room when we audition."
"Uh," Chandler began to feel dizzy, "Really?"
"Yup. Anyways, I heard the other female role is filled, too."
"Really? By who?"
"Uh, this woman…Rachel something…"
Chandler shrugged.
Joey smiled. "I heard she got it from sleepin' with the director."
"Really?! Huh. I wonder if there are any women I could sleep with to get this part…"
"Nope. I already tried. Got some good sex, though."
A few hours passed, and it was finally Chandler's turn to audition. Before he walked out on stage, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could do this. He just had to be confident and try his hardest not to make any jokes. He let out the breath shakily. That would be harder than he thought. I could really go for a cigarette now, he thought wishfully. However, he knew he couldn't leave them waiting any longer, so he walked out on stage.
There were five people sitting in the first row. The dark-haired man on the left, Chandler figured, must be the director. However, as he continued to look around the room, he didn't see Monica Geller. Joey must not have known what he was talking about.
"State your name please," one of the people on the right directed.
"Chandler Bing."
"Okay, read your lines."
Chandler cleared his throat and opened his script to the first page. Then, he began to read, looking up at the audience when needed. "I'm sorry, Alexas! I didn't know John would be there. Otherwise, I would have kicked his ass for you. Well, I would have tried to, anyway…"
Chandler looked up for emphasis, but that was when he saw her enter the auditorium and take a seat behind her brother. Suddenly, he felt his chest contort and the words would no longer come out.
"Mr. Bing?" the casting director prodded, "Is everything all right?"
A blonde-haired woman, sitting next to Ross whispered, "He looks really pale."
"Sir, if you can't finish, would you please leave?"
Suddenly, Chandler realized that if he didn't finish, he would never get the chance to see Monica Geller again! This was his one chance to be in a movie with her! He couldn't blow this. She was too beautiful. He looked at her again. Gorgeous, dark curls, reaching her shoulders, framed her pale face. She was wearing jeans and a red blouse, but, to Chandler, it didn't matter. To him, she was so breathtaking that it was like she was wearing a beautiful, eloquent gown. Finally, he tore his eyes from her and tried to concentrate on the lines and not her face.
"No, no, sorry, I'm fine, I'm fine."
Then, with confidence that he had never seen in himself before, he continued his lines.
A few days later, Chandler was sitting in his one-roomed apartment, watching television in his pajamas (one of the only perks, he found, of being unemployed) when his phone rang. He rose lazily, cleared his throat, and lifted it from its cradle.
"Hello, Chandler Bing speaking."
"Bing, you are not going to believe what I have to tell you!" his agent began.
"Bob, we've been here before. If I didn't get the part, just tell me. No fake outs!"
"No, Bing, I swear you got the job!"
Chandler shook his head. "Yeah, right."
"Bing, I promise you, you got the job."
"Really? You're not pulling my leg."
"Swear on my mother's grave."
"You hate your mother. That doesn't help."
"Okay, okay, I swear to God you got the part!"
"You hate God. That doesn't help either."
"Oh, come on, Chandler! I swear on my own life you got the job!"
Chandler paused. "I got the job?"
"You got it."
"Oh my God," Chandler whispered. He sat down on the couch, completely numb. He had convinced himself he wouldn't get the part, yet he had.
"And Alan Miller, my friend," his agent said, "Is finally alive…"
Um, yeah. So should I continue? Probably not. =( Oh well. I shouldn't still be self conscious about my writing after a year, should I? (yes, it's been a year now since I posted my first fic! I can't believe it.) Oh well. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! =D