Mason Park - Chapter Thirteen
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One year later...
Monica, Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross step off the plane and out into the warm California sun. "Oh, I like this, I really like this." Rachel says and spins around as the sun bounces off her skin and lights her eyes.
"Yes Rach, that's fantastic, but we've got places to go and people to see." Ross says and grabs her elbow to usher her inside, abruptly stopping her spinning. Monica and Phoebe give a light chuckle at Ross's "professional" airport attitude, but stop when he turns around to glare at them.
They travel through the airport to baggage claim and then over to the car rental to get a car.
After 15 minutes of Ross arguing with the innocent woman behind the counter, they settle for a small SUV and head off to Chandler's house, when he has no idea.
Come on Chandler, just ten more minutes.
I've been running on this treadmill for nearly an hour already, trying to burn off my latest headache. Over the past year, I haven't remembered much, maybe ten memories, but a new development has been made in my brain, I get the same headaches for no reason, and these ones stay much longer.
I've talked to several doctors and they all say that nothing is wrong with me, that it's totally normal to get horrifically painful migraines. Well, I've got half a mind to take a hammer and go to town on their heads and see what they say then.
I got Ashley to put a gym in our house, even though I only use about two of the machines, the treadmill and the water cooler.
One wall is all mirrors and the opposite one is all windows that also look out into the backyard like the ones in the living room do. The other two walls are painted white and have several pictures on them, not of anybody we know, but of places we've been. Italy, France, London, Australia, Japan, Hawaii, Mexico, China, and of course, New York.
After Ashley's album came out, it went platinum and she let me come along for the world tour, which ended up being a great big vacation for both of us. She had a concert every other night and we always got to the city she was performing in the day before so we could explore.
We're not married, but still going steady, much to my delight. I'm still afraid of commitment which for some reason, I find very odd. Weather it was a dream or some twisted reality, I was married to Monica, so how can I go back to being commitment phobic? All in all, I'm having a great time just dating, you don't have any of the responsibility of marriage, like kids, and vows, and it's ok to not be around each other every day, but we are anyway though.
I've only been back to New York three times. The first time was just a summer visit, I stayed for a week, the second was Thanksgiving, Joey came with and brought his family, that nobody had met, and Ashley came along too, but she spent the holiday with her own family, and the third was Christmas, Joey, the family, and Ashley also came then. I haven't seen any of them in about three months and we don't talk much. I can't lie and say that it doesn't hurt, that we are slowly drifting, and it's my fault. If I had never left, I'd still be across the hall and I'd see them everyday, but I wouldn't have any of what I have now. I just can't have it all, but I also can't seem to find a medium.
Doug never got me a transfer, so I quit my job. I decided that I no longer wanted to work under anybody or have to sit in an office or cubicle all day, so, with Ashley's help, we opened a club in west Los Angeles, which is doing fantastic. I hardly do any work with it though, my assistant takes care of most of my work and only gives the really important stuff to me. I work my own hours, which is about one a day if I'm in the mood, I can fire people whenever I get mad, and I don't have to worry about small paychecks.
I'm actually doing just fine.
They shuffle up to the door, Monica in the front, and ring the doorbell. Phoebe and Ross are bouncing in anticipation and Monica and Rachel have giant smiles on their faces.
A few seconds later, Ashley opens the door and screams as she jumps up and down in excitement, which only sets off the others as they all join in a group hug. They've all grown quite close over the past three years, the two that Chandler doesn't fully remember included. She hasn't seen them anymore than Chandler, but she talks to them on the phone at least three times a month, with Chandler right by her side.
"What are you guys doing here?!" She screams and continues to jump up and down.
"Well we came to surprise you guys! We haven't seen each other in a while and we wanted to come out here for a change. Very nice house by the way!" Rachel laughs and throws her arm around Ashley's shoulders.
"Oh, that's right! You guys haven't seen it! Come on, I'll give you a tour!" Ashley and Rachel walk a few steps ahead of everybody else as they lead the way through the house.
Enthusiastic 'oh my god's' were heard from Rachel all the way through, and before they got through the first floor, Monica, Phoebe, and Ross fell behind and went off to find Chandler by themselves.
They stuck together for fear of getting lost and checked door after door, none revealing Chandler.
"Wait! I hear something." Phoebe whispers and throws her hands in the air to silence Monica and Ross. "It's coming from down there." She points down the hallway and they take off for the only door down there. Monica flings the door open and screams with joy when she sees Chandler jogging and listening to his headphones.
I only have two minutes to go when the door is thrown open and Monica, Ross, and Phoebe appear on the other side. I'm so shocked to see them that my feet get tangled and I tumble off the side of the treadmill. I whip my headphones off and throw them across the room in a desperate attempt to get off the floor and to my friends.
"What are you doing here?!" I yell, running over to them and jumping in the middle of a group hug. They all jump back as soon as their skin comes into contact with mine.
"Ewe! Chandler! You're all sweaty!" Phoebe screams and wipes her arms on Ross's shirt, which causes him to squeal and copy Phoebe's actions. We all laugh for a few quick seconds before the focus is turned back to the more important situation.
"We came to surprise you!" They all scream.
"Well I'm surprised!" I lean over to grab a towel off a nearby table and begin to dry myself off. "Where's Rachel? And how'd you guys get in here?"
"Ashley let us in and she's currently giving Rachel a tour. We ditched them because we thought you were more important than your house." Ross explained, a smile still lingering on his face.
"Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how awesome this house is?" I joke and they all laugh as we head back down the hallway to find the girls.
"So you guys just dropped everything to come out here and see me?"
"Well we've actually been planning this for quite a while. It was so hard not to tell you about it." Ross nods and smiles even bigger when I pat him on the back.
"Chandler!" I hear Rachel's astonishingly loud voice yell and brace myself as she runs towards me and practically jumps on top of me. "Ewe! You're all wet!" She screams and shoves me back against the wall with a strength I didn't know she had. "This is a very nice shirt, and you're getting it all...smelly!"
"I'm sorry." Really, I am, but I can't help the laugh that escapes from my mouth at her reaction.
Ashley is standing a few feet away from all of us with the biggest smile of all on her face. It seems that whenever I'm around my friends and find a happy that only exists with them, she gets ten times as happy.
"So how long are you guys here for?" I turn away from her and face anybody that can answer first.
"Just a few days, we've all pretty much used up our sick days and vacation days and personal days, so it's really wearing down. We can't stay away for forever." Monica says with slight disappointment in her voice.
Somewhere deep inside me, I know I still love her. A part of my heart will always belong to her, but she'll never know it...unless she already does of course.
By the time all the giddy happiness is over, we're all sitting around the pool in our swimsuits. I called Joey and told him that the guys were back, he was here within minutes, his family in tow.
The girls are all face up, soaking in the sun and tanning their already perfect skin. The red headed twins are humorously trying to swim around the pool in their water wings and Joey, Ross, and I all have our feet dangling over the side of the pool, watching the kids and sipping on assorted drinks.
I look to Joey, who looks to Ross, and we all stand up and quietly head over to where the girls are. Each of us positions ourselves over one of them, except Katie, and Joey holds his hand over his head, counting to three on his fingers. We all execute at the same time and pick up a girl and run over to the pool to throw them in before we head back to attack a now fully alert Katie.
By the time we get her in the pool, the kids are attacking the girls by viscously splashing them, and we join in by all jumping in at once, creating a massive wave that covers everybody near by.
The girls have forgotten their ruined hair and warmth and are now, with the kids help, determined to drown Joey, Ross and I.
Despite the acts of hostile anger coming from the girls, nobody can stop laughing.
Now if everybody could just stay here, life couldn't get any better.
Four hours later and we're all sitting around a giant table at one of the fanciest restaurants in all of Southern California, further continuing with sharing what we've been up to in the past few months.
From what I've heard so far, all's well in New York. Ross and Rachel aren't together anymore after another harsh breakup, but each are dating other people and getting on pretty well. Phoebe is still married to Mike and their plans for having kids are looking pretty good. (Emma and Phoebe's baby, that she had last October, were both left with the grandparents.) Monica, on the other hand, has yet to tell her story.
While we were all back at my house, sitting around the pool, I noticed a rather nice ring on her left ring finger, but decided not to say anything about it because people wear rings on that finger all the time, married or not. But with a mind like mine, I can only assume the worst...she's engaged.
Joey finishes telling everybody about his latest movie shoot in some desert in Nevada, a story I've heard several times already and getting quite sick of it.
"So, Monica, what's been up with you lately?" He asks and I involuntarily shake my head. He had to ask that question, now she's going to say what I've been dreading all night and I'll cry myself to sleep because this officially means that I can't have her.
"Well," She starts and some evil spirit inside me wishes that she would choke on her meager garden salad and not be able to finish what she's started. "I got a new job at a restaurant closer to our apartment." Oh yea, over my little Christmas vacation I had to sit through her telling me that she and Tom were moving in together, which pretty much dampened one of my favorite holidays.
"Tom and I have been doing very well, and I actually have some pretty big news." Oh no, please no. If an asteroid crashed into this very building at this very minute, I could be the happiest dead man on the planet. "Tom and I are getting married!" Why does she have to scream that as if I couldn't hear her across the table?
I put on my best fake smile and squeak out the best congratulation I can before trying to hide myself behind my napkin. "And, there's another thing that I haven't even told you guys yet." She motions towards Phoebe, Rachel, and Ross and her smile grows twice as big. "I'm pregnant!" The girls all scream in delight and I think my heart has actually stopped. Her getting married was hard enough, now they have, or are going to have, a baby.
This just isn't right, this isn't fair, this isn't nice. Now Tom is going to get everything I had. I think I actually might cry. I whisper another congratulation and excuse myself from the table. Ashley watches me and hangs back for a few seconds before walking out of the building after me.
"What's wrong, honey?" She asks in her oh so sweet voice and put one hand around my shoulders and the other on my arm.
I shake my head and run my hand through my hair. "It's nothing, I'm just a little hot." I try to pass off that I'm hot by shaking my shirt collar and wiping my forehead.
"So you came outside? Chandler, It's 80 degrees out here. What's going on?"
"I can't..." How do I tell the woman that I'm madly in love with that the other woman I love is subconsiously destroying my life? "It's nothing, I just have a headache." Yea, that should work, it's always worked before, and it's not something that she can really tell me I'm lying about.
"Oh, honey, do you want your pills? I've got them in my purse, I can just run and get you one--"
"No, no, I'm fine, it's ok." I honestly don't know what would happen if I took one for no reason, and I'm not too keen on finding out.
"Are you sure? I mean, you've cried when you got a headache and didn't have any pills before." She's seriously concerned, and that's enough affection to assure me that I love her more than Monica.
"Yea, babe, I'm fine." I smile and lean in to kiss her sweetly on the lips and wrap my arms around her. "I just want to go to bed with you by my side."
She raises and eyebrow and smiles at me.
"Hey, sex is more of a workout that running, and we've proved it, it works better than running or pills." She laughs and grabs my hand to drag me inside.
There, you got your long chapter, but enjoy it, because the next one is the last one! I'm so sad that this is going to be over, I've had so much fun writing it! Oh well, all good things must come to an end, right? Why is that, by the way?
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Again, what should I do after this is over? Should I start a new story, or should I continue one of my unfinished ones? If I should continue one, which one?
Thanks for reading, please review! (I'm only 2 away!)