'Okay then,' Chandler said. 'What's her number?'

'What you mean? You want me to call her right now?' Ross asked surprised. 'I don't want to call her now.' He just wasn't ready for the idea that he'd be speaking to her.

'Of course you have to call her now,' Joey said, 'She's got to agree to come in the next two weeks, so if you've got to persuade her, you'll need all the time you can get.'

'That's right,' Chandler said. Ross sighed, took out his notebook and gave Chandler the number.

'She mightn't even be there. You know Emily, she could be anywhere, especially not the place you happen to be looking for her,' Ross said. He hoped so. He needed time to prepare himself. Chandler ignored him and handed him the receiver. An English voice said,

'Hello?'

'Emily, it's me, Ross.' For a moment he wondered if she was going to hang up on him.

'Oh Ross,' Emily said, sounding surprised. 'I was going to ring you.'

'You - you were?' Ross asked surprised in his turn. 'Well, er, that's great. You were going to call me at the same time I was going to call you, and I'm the one to call first.'

'Yes, you were,' Emily said. There was a silence and then she asked. 'Why?'

'Why what?' Chandler and Joey, who were as close to the phone as possible, listening in, were nudging him.

'Why did you call?' she asked.

'I-I just wanted to hear your voice.' The sound of her voice was doing funny things to him. If only it was possible to make things work out. He realised, yet again, how much he missed her.

'Ross, it's over - isn't it?' She was sounding uncertain at her end. Ross couldn't help feeling a surge of wild unreasonable hope. He turned his back on Chandler and Joey who were making faces at him.

'It doesn't have to be,' he said. How, he didn't have a clue, but he was saying it anyway. He was homeless, he was broke, he needed his friends more than ever but he'd figure something out. If only there was a way.

'We've had this conversation before,' Emily said, sounding upset, 'Don't do this to me. It's not going to work if you insist on seeing that woman.' That brought him back to reality. There they were again and however much he missed her, he had not changed his mind. She wouldn't trust him. He was about to launch into a diatribe about her lack of trust when another jab from Joey reminded him of what he was supposed to be talking about.

'Emily we can make it work,' Ross said. 'I'll do everything you want if you'll just come.' Joey and Chandler had made it around to the front of him and were nodding enthusiastically. 'I can't stand the thought that I'll never see you again.' Joey gave him a big thumbs up sign.

'You do - Everything?' Emily asked.

'You mean more to me than anyone. I'll stop seeing my friends -'

'You don't have to do that, I only wanted you to stop seeing just one person. Your other friends are fine.'

'I will, so I don't get tempted, I just want you. Just you and me in our own home.'

'You'd do that for me?'

'Yes.' He felt so self conscious at the lie that he turned away from Chandler and Joey again.

'But, we've got nowhere to live. My cousin threw you out and he's let the apartment to someone else,' Emily said.

'That's okay sweetie because guess what, I've just found one,' Ross said.

'That was quick. I thought it was hard to find a place to live in New York.' So she had picked up a few things while she'd been there. He'd have to lie more carefully.

'Well you've got to get lucky sometime,' Ross stumbled. 'So you'll come? Please?'

'I - I don't know.'

'Emily just come to me. We'll make a fresh start,' Ross said.

'Yes,' she said.

'You said yes! You said yes didn't you?' Ross confirmed. Joey and Chandler had again made it around to the fron of Ross and he could see then give each other the thumbs up sign. This was working out much better than they'd hoped.

'Yes,' Emily said.

'I can't believe you said yes, you don't know how much I love you but I'm going to show you -' He had turned away from them again, unable to say these things with them looking at him.

'Ross, I love you too but -'

'But nothing! You love me, I love you.'

'Ross, I can't afford the air fare.'

'What?'

'I can't afford a ticket. I've had to pay my parents back for the wedding. For their share anyway.'

'But they didn't have to pay,' Ross said, 'My father ended up paying for it all.' After Ross had made such a spectacular mess of it all his father had felt obliged to pay for the lot. One day, in the distant future, his father might just forget about it.

'Your father wouldn't pay for everything so I had to pay for the rest,' Emily said.

'How could they ask you that?' Ross asked, shocked. She had very little money of her own, her job didn't pay very much. He knew her parents had grabbed as much from his father as they could, but he was surprised they'd treated their own daughter that way.

'Very easily,' Emily said dryly.

'Oh sweetie,' Ross said.

'So I'm stuck,' Emily said. 'And - and Dad wouldn't lend me any money to come out and see you. He thinks I shouldn't see you again.' The whole point of this was for her to fly out and Ross said, without hesitation.

'I'll pay for your ticket.' Joey and Chandler stared at each other and then shrugged. 'I'll book the ticket from this side and I'll call you back with the details and where you can pick it up.' He turned back to look at the telephone book and now completely entangled in telephone cord fell over.

'Ross? Ross, what's happened?' Emily asked as he crashed to the ground. At least he hadn't been cut off.

'I'm all right sweetie,' he said. 'I just fell over.'

'Fell over? How did you do that?' Emily asked, 'Are you really all right?'

'I'm fine, just falling for you again,' he joked.

'I hope you're not ill,' Emily said.

'No, no, I'm fine really it's just an accident. I'll get your ticket and call you back, don't go away from the phone.'

Joey and Chandler waited for him to finish off the conversation before exploding.

'Wow,' Joey said, 'And I thought I was an actor. You were great man. Maybe you should leave the dinosaurs and get into showbiz.' Ross shook his head. Very little of that had been acting. It had all been a lot harder on him than he'd thought.

'Really convincing,' Chandler said. Ross said,

'I'm just feeling bad that I lied to her.'

'Think of the long term,' Chandler said. 'A share in one million dollars. Like I said before, everyone's going to be happy in the end.'

'The only thing is, he's got to buy her a ticket,' Joey said. The three of them looked at each other. Ross said,

'I'm nearly maxed out but I think I've got enough for this.' The airfare would take him to his limit.

'Great,' Joey said. 'As soon as you get the flight details I'll let my friend know.'