Head Over Heels
Six: Can't Fight This Feeling
Two Weeks Later
"Isabelle Phoebe Bing, get in here, right now!"
There was a short silence, followed by a soft sniffle, and moments later Isabelle appeared from behind her bedroom door.
"Hi Daddy," the little girl smiled sweetly.
"Don't you 'hi daddy' me. I want you to come over here and tell me why you won't listen to Monica," Chandler instructed sternly, his hands planted firmly on his hips. A fleeting thought danced through his mind as he watched his daughter shuffle toward him: he was turning into his mother. He slowly took his hands off of his hips and crouched down as Isabelle approached.
"Iz, Monica asked you to clean up your toys. Why did you ignore her?"
Isabelle shrugged silently, and stared at her shoes. Chandler sighed, and placed his index finger under his daughter's chin, tipping her head up toward him.
"Izzy," he warned softly.
"You let them stay on the floor," Isabelle pointed out stubbornly, before shooting Monica a cross look.
"Honey," Chandler shot Monica a sympathetic look then placed his hands on Isabelle's shoulders, "Monica got you all these little bins and boxes, so that you can put your toys in them!"
Isabelle pouted, and Chandler chuckled.
"Clean up your toys, I'm gonna talk to Monica for a minute, okay?"
Isabelle did not reply, but set about picking up her mess. Chandler walked into the kitchen and silently asked Monica to follow.
"I'm really sorry, Monica. She's been acting up ever since Phoebe and Joey went back to Boston. I think I may need to talk them into moving out here," Chandler laughed.
"It's okay," Monica smiled sadly, "Maybe she just doesn't like me."
"Trust me, it isn't you," Chandler smiled, and Monica flushed slightly, "Look, why don't you stay for dinner?"
Monica smiled, and nodded silently.
"Great," Chandler grinned, and turned to check on Isabelle's progress. The little girl had become distracted, and was now playing with a set of blocks she was supposed to be putting away.
"I'm afraid she's a little too much like her father," Chandler sighed.
"I don't think that's a bad thing," Monica smiled. It was Chandler's turn to flush.
Feeling that she may have overstepped the line, Monica backed away from Chandler and toward the door. "Anyway, I'm gonna go check my messages…I'll be back in a bit."
Chandler nodded absently and Monica left in a rush, before crashing into her own apartment noisily.
Rachel looked up from the magazine she'd been reading.
"Mon, what's wrong?"
"Nothing! Just…checking my messages. Anyone call? Because I really need a new job," Monica rambled, as she collapsed onto the sofa.
Rachel sat up straight and put her magazine on the coffee table in front of her. She cocked her head to the side.
"What happened? I thought things were going well with the Nanny thing?"
"It…I'm starting to think Isabelle doesn't like me…I mean, when Chandler's friends were here, we got along fine, but since they left, she's been acting…weird."
"Weird? Monica, she's five. She's probably acting like a five year old."
"Maybe. But…I just…I don't know if I should—"
"I don't think this has as much to do with Isabelle as it does her father," Rachel smiled knowingly.
"What am I gonna do, Rach? He has made it abundantly clear that he is not ready to move on."
"Well then you either need to get over it and move on, or…"
"What?" Monica cried desperately, her eyes wide.
"Wait for him," Rachel smirked and stood up. As she did, Ross walked into the apartment. Rachel's smile faded, and tension immediately filled the room.
"Mon, mom wants you to call her," Ross said quietly.
"Oh," Monica looked between Ross and Rachel, "I'll call her from my room," she announced, and walked quickly into her bedroom.
The living room was silent for a long minute. Ross looked at Rachel longingly, while Rachel looked at the floor. When she finally did look up at him, he masked his longing with a look of indifference.
"H-how are you?" he finally ventured quietly.
"Okay," Rachel said shortly, then looked down at the floor again.
"Um, I know that you…you don't want to talk to me, but…but I saw this, um ad on the Internet…Ralph Lauren is hiring, and I thought…I thought you'd be perfect," Ross stammered nervously. He placed the sheet of paper on the kitchen table, and turned to leave.
"Thank you, Ross," Rachel said quietly, and he nodded, before walking out the door.
Rachel stayed rooted to her spot for a moment, half of her glad that Ross was gone, and half of her wishing that he'd come flying back through the door, swoop her into his arms, and kiss her passionately. Not sure which half to listen to, she slowly crossed the room and picked up the paper Ross had left.
She read the ad slowly, and a small, wistful smile dusted her lips.
"Can I come out?" Monica's voice broke her reverie, and Rachel turned to see her roommate poking her head out of her bedroom door.
"Yes, he's gone," Rachel sighed. Monica emerged from her bedroom wearing a form fitting, deep blue dress, her hair down and cascading over her bare shoulders.
"Mon, where are you going?"
"Dinner at Chandler's," Monica replied, a wicked smile lining her lips.
"In that?" Rachel grinned.
"I'm willing to wait," Monica said, "but I figure I can cut my 'probation time' down to a minimum."
Rachel laughed and shook her head.
"What did Ross want?"
Rachel sobered, and looked down at the paper in her hands.
"Nothing, its no big deal. Go have fun with your man," Rachel smiled encouragingly.
Monica flushed, shook her head, and walked out of the apartment.
Rachel sighed, and folded the paper in her hands reverently, before walking into her bedroom and collapsing on her bed.
Meanwhile, across the hall…
Chandler left Isabelle to her blocks, and walked into his bedroom to change. He opened his closet, and pulled out a clean, light blue tee shirt and a clean pair of jeans. He changed quickly, then inspected himself in his closet door mirror. He fussed with his hair for a moment, a small smile creeping onto his face.
He moved to close the closet door, and in the reflection, he caught a glimpse of Caitlin's face. He started slightly, then turned suddenly, his heart racing. His eyes scanned the room, finally falling on a framed photo that he kept on his nightstand.
He walked toward the photo, and picked it up slowly, as he sat down on the bed. He gingerly ran his fingers over Caitlin's image, and sighed deeply.
"What am I doing?" he asked the picture softly.
He heard a knock on the door, and stood up, before placing the photo back on the nightstand and wiping the tears that were lining his eyes.
He spared one last glance at Caitlin's photo, before walking out of his bedroom and to the front door.
He opened the door quickly, a smile pasted on his face. The smile faded, when he saw her standing on the other side.
She looked stunning, in her blue dress that made her azure eyes glow. Her hair, normally up in a practical ponytail, was down, framing her face beautifully.
"H-hey," Chandler finally stammered, and let Monica into the apartment. His head was spinning.
Why was this happening? Why was he acting like this? Why hadn't he ever noticed how gorgeous she was?
In truth, he knew that he was attracted to her—which was why he was so reluctant to hire her in the first place. Somehow Joey had talked him into it, and he had not regretted the decision—until tonight. He swallowed hard, and followed her into the living room slowly.
"Would you like some wine?" he asked stiffly.
"Yeah," Monica replied quickly, as she looked around the room, "Where's Isabelle?"
"Probably in her room," Chandler replied, as he walked into the kitchen to get the wine. Monica walked toward the room, and hesitantly poked her head through the doorway.
Chandler approached with two glasses of red wine, as Monica turned toward him and smiled shyly.
"She's asleep," she whispered.
"Wow, really?" Chandler replied, and peeked into the room.
"She didn't really get a nap today," Monica said.
"Ah, that would explain the tantrums," Chandler nodded knowingly.
"Chandler, thank you, for…hiring me," Monica smiled, "I know you didn't want to—"
"No, it wasn't that I just—"
"It's okay, really," Monica smiled.
"Monica, I think I should explain," Chandler said more forcefully.
Monica looked up at him, and waited for him to continue.
At a loss for words, and unsure what to do next, he leaned forward, and kissed her.
AN: Sorry it's so short…I'm trying to work out some severe writers block…this chapter could change if I read it in the morning and cringe.
