What's Love Got To Do With It? – chapter 3

A/N: And, we're back! Yay! I'm (Becca) home now.:-) I miss the city, though - go figure. Well, I'm not gonna make a long a/n about myself and how I've annoyed Yen day in and day out with pictures and quotes of songs from the musical Rent, but it rocks! You should all see it! *notices Yen glaring at her* heh, ok, I'm done. Please read and review, thanks!

Disclaimer: "No, Yen, no matter what you think, we don't own them!" (*smiles sweetly* Yen doesn't know I wrote this. Hehe, Yen, I love u! :p)

A few minutes had passed, and Chandler sat on one of the barcaloungers, staring at the off television in a daze. Despite his terrible headache and the ground that was spinning around him, he attempted to fathom what had just occurred. How could he have allowed himself to have sex with some random woman? It was as if he had completely lost the reasonable side of his brain, leaving him with only uncharacteristic impulses.

But still, as he let his eyes drift shut lightly, he pictured the face of that raven-haired woman and couldn't help but smile. Something about her beauty, accompanied by visible determination within her soft blue eyes kept Chandler longing to see her once again. However, he realized sadly that he didn't even know why this mysterious woman had showed up at his doorstep. More importantly, why had she wanted to sleep with Joey if she didn't even know what he looked like.

His reputation must be enough, Chandler thought bitterly.

Time after time, Chandler found himself jealous of his handsome, successful roommate. And now, he couldn't suppress the envy from building up within him. That Monica woman had wanted to sleep with Joey, not him! Of course, it didn't matter now, anyway. Chandler had ruined any chance of ever seeing that woman again. He had allowed her to be misled so that he could get laid.

I'm gonna rot in hell.

The doorknob turned and a cheerful whistle became audible from outside of the apartment as Joey strolled in, both arms held by a different woman.

"Ladies," he continued in a sultry voice, "The bedroom is right in—Chandler?"

Chandler rose from the leather barkalonger in the middle of their living room and stared at Joey, accusation burning in his eyes.

"What are you doing home now? I thought you worked till midnight on Tuesdays."

"Normally I do," Chandler answered distractedly, eyes still locked on Joey, "But it's kinda hard to keep someone at work when they leave early."

"Oh."

Joey fell silent while he watched Chandler curiously. How much did Chandler know about his whereabouts anyway? Although Chandler rarely mentioned it, Joey figured he had to be at least somewhat curious. One of the women cleared her throat, reminding Joey that they were, in fact, still there.

"Ladies, why don't I meet you in my bedroom?"

Chandler's eyes finally left Joey as he turned to watch the two women retreat into Joey's bedroom. They were both wearing short, black skirts with sequent halter-tops and black, fishnet stockings. Their makeup was thick and both had hair cut to the bottom of their necks, although one was an obviously fake blonde while the other a fake redhead. Chandler idly wondered where those women were from and why they were willing to share one man between the two of them. However, all thoughts of that were lost when he looked up, once again noticing Joey, who, at the moment, was shuffling uncomfortably in his spot.

"Joe," Chandler began confidently, "Were you…expecting company…earlier this evening?"

Joey's eyes widened in shock. Although he wasn't sure whom it was Chandler was referring to, he knew it was someone that had made Chandler suspicious.

"I might've been. Who'd you see?"

"A woman."

"Oh? Did she ask for me?"

"No, she didn't ask for you, that's why I thought you were expecting her." Off Joey's confused look, Chandler clarified, "I was joking."

"Oh, ok. Ha, that was a funny one," Joey lied nervously.

Chandler rolled his eyes. "So, who was the woman?"

"I...don't know."

"How do you not know?!"

"I meet a lot of people in my life. It's hard to keep track. Did she give you a name?"

"Monica…something…"

Joey scrunched his forehead as he racked his brain to remember. Suddenly, his eyes widened once again as he recalled who she was.

"Uh…well…uh…what…did she say?"

"A lot."

"Oh?"

Chandler nodded.

"What kind of stuff did she tell you exactly?"

"I'm not…sure…exactly. But…umm…she was quite the friendly one."

"Friendly?"

"Yeah. Like," Chandler moved in close to Joey, "sex friendly."

Joey swallowed hard. "Really?"

"Yeah," he began to pace the living room, "And she also thought that I was you."

Joey laughed nervously. "That's an easy mistake…"

"Okay, umm…why?"

"Well, I mean we're both men and we both have, uh…short hair, although yours is lighter and—"

"No. Why did she try to seduce me…thinking I was you, of course?"

Joey shrugged. "She's a sex addict."

"Joey!"

"She's a hooker."

Chandler took in a deep, shocked breath. He hadn't quite been expecting that answer, although it did explain her peculiar behavior, somewhat.

"That's illegal!"

"Shhh," Joey hissed and pointed to his bedroom, "Don't let them hear you!"

"Are they hookers, too?!"

"Umm…"

"Oh my God, Joey, what the hell?!"

"I know, it's just—"

"Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you do for a living?"

"Well, I'm an actor."

"That's bullshit."

"I am an actor…by day."

'But by night…?"

"Well, how do I explain this?" Joey pointed to the bedroom once more. "They're mine."

"You're a pimp," Chandler stated monotonously.

Joey shrugged anxiously.

"I can't believe it. You think you know a guy…"

"Well, in my defense, you never came out and asked what it was I did at night."

"I never thought it was this! This is insane!"

"Chandler, it pays the bills…"

"And it's illegal!"

Joey looked down at his feet shamefully.

"You have to stop. Now!"

"No! This is the greatest job I've ever had! I'm actually doing something with my life!"

"Helping men get laid?!"

"Well, yeah," he smiled and winked at Chandler, "I could hook you up."

"No," he answered hastily, "I got plenty of that before."

This time it was Joey's turn to be suspicious.

"What?"

"I…uhh…"

"Did you sleep with Monica?"

"I…might have," Joey was about to speak, when Chandler cut him off, "But I was really drunk! I still am! I didn't know what I was doing!"

"You didn't know what you were doing?!" Joey screamed, "Then how'd you get it in there?!"

Chandler moved over to the kitchen counter and bent over it shamefully.

"She's new, ya know? I never actually hired her yet."

"Oh God."

Chandler slammed his hands on the counter woefully a few times. Suddenly, the guilt he had been experiencing tripled. She was young, inexperienced, and now had been used. How could he have done that to an obviously already troubled woman?

"Chandler?"

"What?" he mumbled from his place at the counter.

"You owe me $500."

Chandler lifted his head and shot Joey a deathly angry glare.

"But we can deal with that later…"

Monica pulled her long, black coat closer to her body as she moved hastily through the painfully plain white hallway. She passed a few scattered nurses in white and pink scrubs, but, otherwise, it was vacant. Most of the people there were asleep by now.

"Miss," a high-pitched voice called from behind, "Visiting hours are over."

However, Monica ignored the warning. She was too lost within stronger feelings of anger and betrayal to even attempt to follow their rules. Instead, she picked up the pace as she studied the increasing room numbers on the wall to her left. Once she arrived at room #354, she stared at the light wooden door for a moment, as her hand grazed the cold, steel knob nervously. She then shut her eyes tightly and leaned her head against the door, attempting to fight off the wave of nausea that had overtaken her body.

Monica had sold herself out to the highest bidder. She had agreed to use her body in the most intimate of ways as a means to gain money. She felt incredibly tainted.  Monica had done more shameful actions in just a few hours than she had in her entire lifetime prior to that day.

Monica, the goody-two-shoes, the teachers' pet, had prostituted herself. That thought caused Monica to shudder in disgust. Then, of course, the first man who had the chance had taken advantage of her. Even though she had just barely begun her 'career', she had already been used!

From that point on, she would be considered nothing but a body. A piece of clay to be molded by others in any way they desired. And, in turn, she would have to shut herself off from everybody. She was intelligent enough to know that in the world she was entering, nobody was your friend. You either looked out for yourself or you were robbed of everything you owned, both physically and emotionally.

No, that one last shred of dignity that she held onto would not be relinquished. It didn't matter how sly and wicked their plot was to remove it - Monica would hold onto what she had left with all of her inner strength. Just like the reasons that led her to prostitution, she had something in her life to work for.

However, she couldn't dwell on what that Joey-imposter had done to her. She should've been on the lookout for men like him. That world which she had entered was crawling with people just like him.

After breaking free of her train of thought, she peaked through the narrow window in the door. She saw a lumpy form laying flat on the bed and heard the muffled sound of a television from inside. She took in a shaky breath and turned the doorknob slowly. Upon entering, the patient in the bed rustled around, turning off the television and offering Monica a weak smile. He was happy to see her. He was always happy to see her. Usually, his excitement upon seeing her made Monica feel good. However, today, it just served to feed guilt to her already aching heart. Monica straightened her coat, making sure it covered her outfit completely before she smiled back at the man in front of her.

"I was beginning to think you weren't gonna come today."

"I never miss a day. I just got held back a few hours 'cause of work."

The dark-haired man nodded, and Monica watched him nervously. What she had said, it was the truth. Just, not in the way he thought.

"What kept you so busy?"

"Oh, there was an emergency at the restaurant. I had to stay late and make sure everything was okay."

"That's my sister," he joked, "Always the one to take hold of the situation."

"Yeah," Monica agreed absently.

He stared at her for a few moments before speaking once again. "I'm sorry that you have to work so hard for me."

Monica moved in and stroked his arm gently. "Don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

"I know. But I still wish you didn't have to."

Monica smiled. "But that's life."

"I know."

After a moment, Monica began, "I wish you weren't stuck in here."

"Me too."

"There are a lot of things we wish for, Ross. They just…don't always come true."

"So I've noticed."

"But sometimes, you just have to work hard for them. Do whatever it takes. Am I right?"

"Yeah, of course."

Monica nodded. That was exactly what she was doing. There was no way that she would be able to keep Ross alive with only a small diner busgirl's paycheck and a rapidly depreciating inheritance from their deceased parents. As she stared into her brother's dark eyes, she saw a look of fear staring back at her. Even if he had too much pride to admit it, he was terrified of dying. She was terrified of him dying, too. She didn't think she would be able to handle losing the only loved one she had left.

No matter how shameful my job is, she reminded herself, I have to do it for my brother and for myself.

A/N: Okay, that was the third chapter, heh, like u didn't know that, huh? To be continued soon. Please leave us a review.:) Maybe it'll be continued sooner then…is that a good enough bribe? You all want cars?! Ok, Yen'll buy 'em for u all. *runs away*