True Love Really Doesn't Run Smoothly
Part 5:Phone Messages
Author's Note: I know this chapter toook a long time coming, but the next one will probably be a week or two, since I'm going away and am still not sure when I'm coming back.
If you read this, please review! I didn't get many on the last chapter.
**********
The lights of apartment twenty flickered into life as Chandler, holding a giggling Monica in his arms, stumbled across the threshold.
Chandler set Monica down immediatly and went to drag their suitcases into the room. Monica had already begun inspecting the apartment, tutting as her finger picked up a layer of dust on the in-table.
"Chandler, I told you they wouldn't clean," she whined, grabbing a duster from a drawer in the kitchen and wiping the table clean.
Chandler laughed as he walked over. "Monica, did you really expect a spiritually minded vegetarian, a food loving tv star, a ditzy fashion executive or your parent's favourite child to come into our apartment and turn into you?" he said, pressing the button on the answering machine that told them how many messages they had.
Monica considered. "Well, no....But would it be so much to ask for them to hoover the floor?" she asked, bending over to examine it.
Chandler's answer was cut short by the machine, which rapped out "You have five new messages."
They listened. The first message was from a work collegue of Monica's; the second from an amateur window cleaning service, offering 50% off; the third from Phoebe, welcoming them back home in advance; the fourth from Wondermop, asking if 'A Miss Monica Geller would be interested in their latest model', which got Monica so excited that Chandler had to kiss her to shut her up; but it was the final message that got Chander's attention.
"Hello? This is Estelle, Joey Tribbiani's agent. His phone isn't working, so I called this number. Anyway, I just wanted to tell him he's got the part in that movie he auditioned for. Tell him to ring me as soon as you hear this message."
Monica smiled. "Oh my God! He's got that movie part!" Her expression changed to a confused one as she realised she had no idea what she was talking about. "What movie was that?" she asked Chandler, who was scrambling excitedly around in a drawer.
He didn't answer straight away, since he was searching for something. After tipping the entire contents of the drawer onto the floor, making Monica gasp in horror, he found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha!" he said triumphantly, tapping a sheet of paper excitedly. He walked over to Monica, who had sunk onto the sofa still staring horrified at the mess. Chandler shoved the paper in front of her face, not noticing her expression.
He started rambling. "Joey was really excited about this, so he asked me to keep a copy of this breif of the movie for him. Anyway, it's this action movie, it's going to have loads of stunts-" He dropped his excited tone as he finally saw Monica's shocked face and frozen body. "Monica? Are you even listening to me?"
"What? Oh, yes," she said, managing to tear her eyes off the pile on the floor.
Chandler looked unconvinced. "Well, I'm gonna go tell Joey," he said, leaping up and running to the door.
"Chandler!" said Monica angrily, pointing to the mess.
Finally realising what was wrong with her, Chandler put his hands up in defeat and walked back over.
***********
Fifteen minutes later Chandler left his apartment and walked over the hall.
He'd tried to stuff the things back in the drawer, but Monica had insisted he put it back properly, while she started cleaning the kitchen.
He walked in. The lights were on, but it was quiet inside. As usual, it was very messy, but that was what you'd expect between a lazy Joey and a ditzy Rachel. He saw the back of Joey's head over the black barcolounger.
He walked around it. "Hey, Joe -"
He stopped dead when he saw that Rachel was sitting on Joey's lap, kissing him passionately.
"Ahh!" yelled Chandler, jumping backward in alarm. They both looked around, shocked but unable to stop smiling.
"Hey, Chandler," said Joey nervously, as Rachel repositioned herself on his lap.
Chandler stared at them warily. "What's going on?" he asked.
They explained together, still smiling broadly. Chandler, though still in a state of shock, noticed the twinkle they both had in their eyes, and he knew them being together had put it there. Joey had never had a long term relationship, never had that sparkle in his eyes, but Chandler, being his best friend, knew he desperately wanted it. Rachel had had it, with Ross, and now she had it back. Like Phoebe, Chandler had always thought that eventually Rachel would get back with Ross, but now he knew any chance of that was dead. She looked so happy sitting on Joey's lap, as did Joey, and Chandler realised that even if he went mad, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to them.
He smiled as Joey finished off the story. "....Oh, and the baby's mine," said Joey, forgetting Chandler didn't know.
Chandler's smile evaporated and he gasped, his eyebrows almost jumping off his head. "Baby? What baby?" He looked at Rachel, who smiled. "You're having a baby?"
She nodded and laughed. "Well, not right now...." she giggled, smiling at Joey.
Chandler stood there for a minute, trying to take it in.
"Anyway, what did you want, Chandler?" asked Joey. "Oh, did you have a good honeymoon?"
Chandler jerked himself out of a daze. "Oh, it was great.... Anyway, Estelle left a message on our machine. She said your's is broken?"
"Yeah," said Joey sadly. "So, what did she say?"
Chandler could barely stop himself from yelling it at the top of his voice. "You got that movie part!"
Joey and Rachel gasped. "Oh my God!" yelled Joey.
"That's fantastic, honey!" exclaimed Rachel, kissing him softly on the cheek, but he turned her head gently and kissed her deeply on the mouth, forgetting Chandler was still there.
Chandler groaned. "Aww, I don't wanna see that!"
**********
Monica stopped scrubbing the kitchen counter when she saw something out of the window. She walked over and looked over the street.
It was a bright May day, and the sunlight reflected off the windows of the buliding opposite. She could still see inside the apartments though, and she stared into Ross' apartment, where he stood looking out of the window, a drink in his hand. He looked rather melancholy, as though someone had hurt him. Seeing Monica, he gave a rather weak wave, which she returned, smiling.
She turned around. What was wrong with Ross? The only other time she'd seen him like this before was after the infamous 'list' which had caused Rachel to turn her back on him.
Opening the fridge, she saw, in surprise, that it looked exactly the same as it had before they'd left. She'd expected to see most of the food gone, since Joey still had his key. But it wasn't. Was something up with him too?
Moinca frowned. Why did everything happen when she was away?
*********
Rachel squeezed Joey's hand tightly as they waited for the doctor to arrive.
Rachel lay on a table in the middle of a clinically white examination room, and Joey stood next to her, their fingers interlinked.
Joey looked down at her. "What do you think it is? A boy or a girl?" he asked, stroking her hair affectionately.
Rachel frowned. "Oooh, I don't know. We should ask Phoebe," she laughed, making Joey smile.
He stared at her face with admiration, his eyes sparkling.
"What?" she said, giggling nervously.
Joey smiled even wider, and he knelt down so their eyes were level, still holding her hand. He looked into her eyes. "I just - can't believe how beautiful you are," he said simply, his voice filled with honesty.
She smiled. "You're not so bad yourself," she said, her face leaning closer to his.
His breathing quicked in anticipation, still staring into her eyes. Their lips touched, letting Joey feel the softness of Rachel's tongue.
"Am I interrupting?" asked a voice.
Both Joey and Rachel's faces jolted backwards, and Joey got back to his feet, twitching in embarassment.
"Oh no, Dr. Long, please come in," said Rachel, her cheeks a little flushed, gesturing for the red haired woman to enter.
"Right then, lets do your sonogram," said the doctor, picking up the equipment and beginning.
A picture appeared on the screen. to both Joey and Rachel it just looked like a load of blurs.
"Where's the baby?" they said in unison.
The doctor laughed. "We get that a lot," she said, and pointed to the screen. "It's right there," she said, gesturing to a very small thing on the screen.
Joey laughed. "No, that's a peanut!"
Rachel giggled, and looked up at him. "Sweetie, that's it," she said softly. Joey looked surprised, then his face softened.
"Wow," he said, staring at it.
The doctor stepped back. "I'll give you two a minute," she said, opening the door.
"Thank you," said Rachel, and the door clicked shut.
Joey turned his head to look at Rachel.
They didn't need words to tell each other how wonderful this moment was. They just smiled at each other happily, and once again their faces leaned in towards each other.
**********
Phoebe sat on a park bench, ignoring the gusting wind and the pouring rain.
She wanted to forget it, to erase the memory of it forever. But it wouldn't go away. It was like a bad smell. Except it smelled wonderful. It was always there, occupying her thoughts.
She couldn't even talk to anyone about it. Monica was his siter, Rachel was his ex-girlfriend, and Chandler and Joey were his best friends.
She'd tried to go to her happy place, but she'd found that it was full of a thousand Ross'.
She hadn't talked to him since it had happened, or even looked directly at him. She knew if she did, she wouldn't be able to look away again.
She sat there, the rain soaking her hair.
**********
Rachel sat up as the phone's shrill tones rung through her head.
A few days had gone by without incident. Monica had taken the news of Joey and Rachel similar to Chandler, and Ross hadn't been seen much, although no one but Phoebe had any idea what the problem was.
It was almost pitch black in the bedroom, so Rachel clicked on the bedside lamp. Beside her, Joey grunted and rolled over.
The clock on the bedside table read 11:30. They had gone to bed early, but Joey had dropped off to sleep very quickly.
Rachel picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said sleepily.
A rather hoarse woman's voice answered. "Hello. Is Joey there?" It was Estelle.
Rachel looked over at Joey, who was breathing heavily, obviously deeply asleep.
"Well, he's asleep right now," she answered. "Can I take a message?"
"Yes, I suppose so. I was just ringing to say I've found out who he's playing opposite. A very talented young actress."
Racehl lifted her eyebrows, a mixture of jealousy and interest on her face. "Really? Who?"
"Kate Miller."
**********
Endnote: For anyone who may not know, Kate Miller is the young actress that Joey fell in love with while in a play with her in season 3.
Please, your opinions and support are very important to me, so if you are reading this, please review!
Part 5:Phone Messages
Author's Note: I know this chapter toook a long time coming, but the next one will probably be a week or two, since I'm going away and am still not sure when I'm coming back.
If you read this, please review! I didn't get many on the last chapter.
**********
The lights of apartment twenty flickered into life as Chandler, holding a giggling Monica in his arms, stumbled across the threshold.
Chandler set Monica down immediatly and went to drag their suitcases into the room. Monica had already begun inspecting the apartment, tutting as her finger picked up a layer of dust on the in-table.
"Chandler, I told you they wouldn't clean," she whined, grabbing a duster from a drawer in the kitchen and wiping the table clean.
Chandler laughed as he walked over. "Monica, did you really expect a spiritually minded vegetarian, a food loving tv star, a ditzy fashion executive or your parent's favourite child to come into our apartment and turn into you?" he said, pressing the button on the answering machine that told them how many messages they had.
Monica considered. "Well, no....But would it be so much to ask for them to hoover the floor?" she asked, bending over to examine it.
Chandler's answer was cut short by the machine, which rapped out "You have five new messages."
They listened. The first message was from a work collegue of Monica's; the second from an amateur window cleaning service, offering 50% off; the third from Phoebe, welcoming them back home in advance; the fourth from Wondermop, asking if 'A Miss Monica Geller would be interested in their latest model', which got Monica so excited that Chandler had to kiss her to shut her up; but it was the final message that got Chander's attention.
"Hello? This is Estelle, Joey Tribbiani's agent. His phone isn't working, so I called this number. Anyway, I just wanted to tell him he's got the part in that movie he auditioned for. Tell him to ring me as soon as you hear this message."
Monica smiled. "Oh my God! He's got that movie part!" Her expression changed to a confused one as she realised she had no idea what she was talking about. "What movie was that?" she asked Chandler, who was scrambling excitedly around in a drawer.
He didn't answer straight away, since he was searching for something. After tipping the entire contents of the drawer onto the floor, making Monica gasp in horror, he found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha!" he said triumphantly, tapping a sheet of paper excitedly. He walked over to Monica, who had sunk onto the sofa still staring horrified at the mess. Chandler shoved the paper in front of her face, not noticing her expression.
He started rambling. "Joey was really excited about this, so he asked me to keep a copy of this breif of the movie for him. Anyway, it's this action movie, it's going to have loads of stunts-" He dropped his excited tone as he finally saw Monica's shocked face and frozen body. "Monica? Are you even listening to me?"
"What? Oh, yes," she said, managing to tear her eyes off the pile on the floor.
Chandler looked unconvinced. "Well, I'm gonna go tell Joey," he said, leaping up and running to the door.
"Chandler!" said Monica angrily, pointing to the mess.
Finally realising what was wrong with her, Chandler put his hands up in defeat and walked back over.
***********
Fifteen minutes later Chandler left his apartment and walked over the hall.
He'd tried to stuff the things back in the drawer, but Monica had insisted he put it back properly, while she started cleaning the kitchen.
He walked in. The lights were on, but it was quiet inside. As usual, it was very messy, but that was what you'd expect between a lazy Joey and a ditzy Rachel. He saw the back of Joey's head over the black barcolounger.
He walked around it. "Hey, Joe -"
He stopped dead when he saw that Rachel was sitting on Joey's lap, kissing him passionately.
"Ahh!" yelled Chandler, jumping backward in alarm. They both looked around, shocked but unable to stop smiling.
"Hey, Chandler," said Joey nervously, as Rachel repositioned herself on his lap.
Chandler stared at them warily. "What's going on?" he asked.
They explained together, still smiling broadly. Chandler, though still in a state of shock, noticed the twinkle they both had in their eyes, and he knew them being together had put it there. Joey had never had a long term relationship, never had that sparkle in his eyes, but Chandler, being his best friend, knew he desperately wanted it. Rachel had had it, with Ross, and now she had it back. Like Phoebe, Chandler had always thought that eventually Rachel would get back with Ross, but now he knew any chance of that was dead. She looked so happy sitting on Joey's lap, as did Joey, and Chandler realised that even if he went mad, it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to them.
He smiled as Joey finished off the story. "....Oh, and the baby's mine," said Joey, forgetting Chandler didn't know.
Chandler's smile evaporated and he gasped, his eyebrows almost jumping off his head. "Baby? What baby?" He looked at Rachel, who smiled. "You're having a baby?"
She nodded and laughed. "Well, not right now...." she giggled, smiling at Joey.
Chandler stood there for a minute, trying to take it in.
"Anyway, what did you want, Chandler?" asked Joey. "Oh, did you have a good honeymoon?"
Chandler jerked himself out of a daze. "Oh, it was great.... Anyway, Estelle left a message on our machine. She said your's is broken?"
"Yeah," said Joey sadly. "So, what did she say?"
Chandler could barely stop himself from yelling it at the top of his voice. "You got that movie part!"
Joey and Rachel gasped. "Oh my God!" yelled Joey.
"That's fantastic, honey!" exclaimed Rachel, kissing him softly on the cheek, but he turned her head gently and kissed her deeply on the mouth, forgetting Chandler was still there.
Chandler groaned. "Aww, I don't wanna see that!"
**********
Monica stopped scrubbing the kitchen counter when she saw something out of the window. She walked over and looked over the street.
It was a bright May day, and the sunlight reflected off the windows of the buliding opposite. She could still see inside the apartments though, and she stared into Ross' apartment, where he stood looking out of the window, a drink in his hand. He looked rather melancholy, as though someone had hurt him. Seeing Monica, he gave a rather weak wave, which she returned, smiling.
She turned around. What was wrong with Ross? The only other time she'd seen him like this before was after the infamous 'list' which had caused Rachel to turn her back on him.
Opening the fridge, she saw, in surprise, that it looked exactly the same as it had before they'd left. She'd expected to see most of the food gone, since Joey still had his key. But it wasn't. Was something up with him too?
Moinca frowned. Why did everything happen when she was away?
*********
Rachel squeezed Joey's hand tightly as they waited for the doctor to arrive.
Rachel lay on a table in the middle of a clinically white examination room, and Joey stood next to her, their fingers interlinked.
Joey looked down at her. "What do you think it is? A boy or a girl?" he asked, stroking her hair affectionately.
Rachel frowned. "Oooh, I don't know. We should ask Phoebe," she laughed, making Joey smile.
He stared at her face with admiration, his eyes sparkling.
"What?" she said, giggling nervously.
Joey smiled even wider, and he knelt down so their eyes were level, still holding her hand. He looked into her eyes. "I just - can't believe how beautiful you are," he said simply, his voice filled with honesty.
She smiled. "You're not so bad yourself," she said, her face leaning closer to his.
His breathing quicked in anticipation, still staring into her eyes. Their lips touched, letting Joey feel the softness of Rachel's tongue.
"Am I interrupting?" asked a voice.
Both Joey and Rachel's faces jolted backwards, and Joey got back to his feet, twitching in embarassment.
"Oh no, Dr. Long, please come in," said Rachel, her cheeks a little flushed, gesturing for the red haired woman to enter.
"Right then, lets do your sonogram," said the doctor, picking up the equipment and beginning.
A picture appeared on the screen. to both Joey and Rachel it just looked like a load of blurs.
"Where's the baby?" they said in unison.
The doctor laughed. "We get that a lot," she said, and pointed to the screen. "It's right there," she said, gesturing to a very small thing on the screen.
Joey laughed. "No, that's a peanut!"
Rachel giggled, and looked up at him. "Sweetie, that's it," she said softly. Joey looked surprised, then his face softened.
"Wow," he said, staring at it.
The doctor stepped back. "I'll give you two a minute," she said, opening the door.
"Thank you," said Rachel, and the door clicked shut.
Joey turned his head to look at Rachel.
They didn't need words to tell each other how wonderful this moment was. They just smiled at each other happily, and once again their faces leaned in towards each other.
**********
Phoebe sat on a park bench, ignoring the gusting wind and the pouring rain.
She wanted to forget it, to erase the memory of it forever. But it wouldn't go away. It was like a bad smell. Except it smelled wonderful. It was always there, occupying her thoughts.
She couldn't even talk to anyone about it. Monica was his siter, Rachel was his ex-girlfriend, and Chandler and Joey were his best friends.
She'd tried to go to her happy place, but she'd found that it was full of a thousand Ross'.
She hadn't talked to him since it had happened, or even looked directly at him. She knew if she did, she wouldn't be able to look away again.
She sat there, the rain soaking her hair.
**********
Rachel sat up as the phone's shrill tones rung through her head.
A few days had gone by without incident. Monica had taken the news of Joey and Rachel similar to Chandler, and Ross hadn't been seen much, although no one but Phoebe had any idea what the problem was.
It was almost pitch black in the bedroom, so Rachel clicked on the bedside lamp. Beside her, Joey grunted and rolled over.
The clock on the bedside table read 11:30. They had gone to bed early, but Joey had dropped off to sleep very quickly.
Rachel picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said sleepily.
A rather hoarse woman's voice answered. "Hello. Is Joey there?" It was Estelle.
Rachel looked over at Joey, who was breathing heavily, obviously deeply asleep.
"Well, he's asleep right now," she answered. "Can I take a message?"
"Yes, I suppose so. I was just ringing to say I've found out who he's playing opposite. A very talented young actress."
Racehl lifted her eyebrows, a mixture of jealousy and interest on her face. "Really? Who?"
"Kate Miller."
**********
Endnote: For anyone who may not know, Kate Miller is the young actress that Joey fell in love with while in a play with her in season 3.
Please, your opinions and support are very important to me, so if you are reading this, please review!