8. Cordon Bleu

The gang were amazed when they arrived at Ross and Emily's the next evening. By agreement, although this was not explicitly discussed, they all arrived at the same time. Emily was the one who opened the door, greeting all of them warmly, so warmly that apart from Phoebe and Monica, they did not know how to react. Rachel had mentally rehearsed her reactions at seeing Emily again but at the sight of her, forgot them all. If Emily was nervous at seeing Rachel she was doing a good job of hiding it.

Phoebe was given special treatment, and it was only afterwards that they realised that it was probably because of her recent delivery. But Emily had something special for everyone, including Rachel, who could only stare back at her when Emily complimented her dress.

They were seated around a table with candles, cleverly folded napkins and beautifully arranged flowers. The napkins were folded differently for each guest each more intricate than the last.

'This is wonderful Emily,' Monica said, since the others were too stunned to say anything.

'Oh Ross did the interior design. He did that before I got here,' Emily said. 'He has done a wonderful job. I was so happy when I got here.'

'I meant the table layout,' Monica said. 'Ross definitely didn't do that.'

'That's to distract you from my cooking,' Emily said, 'I'm embarrassed to cook for you especially Monica, but I'm hoping you think that the thought counts.'

'I'm sure it will be great,' Monica reassured.

'English cooking isn't that bad,' Chandler said. 'And if it is, there's a hospital not far from here.' Monica nudged Chandler, not sure how much of a sense of humour Emily had. Ross's sense of humour seemed to have vanished and he said firmly,

'She's wonderful.'

'I didn't mean — ' Chandler said.

'Of course not,' Emily smiled. 'We English do have a terrible reputation for cooking but I do hope that you will enjoy this meal. Ross does seem to like my cooking although I can't help thinking he's being a bit partisan.' Rachel hid a scowl at the shy smile Emily made at the end of this sentence.

'No-one's got anything to worry about,' Ross said and stood up as if to follow Emily to the kitchen.

'Ross, no really, I can manage,' Emily said in a low voice. Ross sat back down.

Joey had been worried at the talk of bad cooking and hospitals, but when Emily served the first course he couldn't help saying,

'Oh wow!' He hoped there would be seconds.

Monica was also impressed. It was good for an amateur. Monica did not normally bother to judge amateurs, just grateful that whatever she was expected to eat was edible. People often tried to impress her by doing something elaborate and often failing dismally. She would much rather people did something they found easy and just did it well.

Emily had not done anything that required special skill but it had all required a lot of work. She had produced four courses, each involving a time consuming recipe, using fresh ingredients Monica could tell must have been bought that day, and something which lifted the meal above the ordinary. Emily must have been cooking all day, Monica thought, yet she looked so fresh.

A peek in the kitchen revealed that it was spotless, just like the rest of the apartment. Monica's kitchen would be spotless too, but she knew that most people couldn't manage that when they'd just done a huge meal, so she was really surprised.

Emily was trying really hard — too hard. She didn't need to do all that. Monica would have a private word with Ross. But first she would ask Emily how she had folded those table napkins.

'I told her she was trying too hard,' Ross said the next day at Central Perk, 'But she just said she enjoyed doing it.' He had been anxious to get some reaction from them all about the dinner so hadn't gone straight home from work. Monica said,

'She was never like that before. I'm not saying she hadn't ever cooked a meal but it was more relaxed. Ordinary. There was nothing ordinary about last night.' She had taken a serviette and was now refolding it to look like one of the ones she'd seen last night.

'No,' Ross said. 'That's how I feel,' he said slowly. Phoebe and Rachel arrived.

'But thank her for doing that for us, she put in a lot of work,' Monica said, thinking about returning the favour. She had put on a dinner recently, the dinner that had gotten Ross into trouble, but this one would be special. The last dinner had been the last before Emily got there, this would be the first, marking a new beginning. She'd be sure to make it special. She wondered if she could get better designs for folding napkins.

'I will,' Ross said. He looked at the others.

'Yeah, it was great, I was really surprised,' Phoebe said.

'I think you all could have been a lot nicer to her. Except for Monica and Chandler, you guys hardly said a word to her,' Ross complained. There had been too much silence from the rest of them.

'I'm sorry,' Phoebe said, 'I would have spoken more but I was trying to read her aura.'

'I noticed you were staring,' Monica said. 'What did you see?'

'Oh,' Phoebe said, not really having rehearsed this.

Emily's aura reflected someone suffering from an illness, which was at odds with the radiant and healthy appearance she presented. It was true that a secret illness unknown to the person concerned might not show itself in physical signs but the illness suggested by Emily's aura signified something quite major. And incongruously the aura reflected a deep happiness, although she picked up a hint that this was flawed in some way. None of it made any sense to Phoebe, and the fact that she made this rarely reached conclusion had made Phoebe wonder if her skills had gone off after having given birth.

'The aura?' Monica prompted.

'Oh,' Phoebe said. Should she tell Ross that against appearances, his wife was seriously ill? She decided she would leave it until she had a chance to look at Emily again. 'It was fine, really pretty. I've never seen it look so good. Married life must suit her,' Phoebe said. Rachel rolled her eyes.

'It suits me,' Ross said.

'I bet it does,' Chandler said. 'That dinner last night really took us all by surprise. We didn't expect a four course meal. And three different kinds of coffee. And I'd love to know where she got those pastries from.'

'They were good,' Phoebe said, 'Thank her for us.'

'Yeah,' Joey said. 'I'll go over to your place for dinner any time if that's the kind of food she cooks for you.'

'Joey, beans on toast would get you over there,' Chandler said.

'Where did she get those pastries?' Joey asked.

'I don't know,' Ross said, 'But if she keeps buying them I'm going to get really fat.'

'Oh you'll find a way to work them off,' Joey said with a grin. Rachel averted her face. To her annoyance she could see Phoebe folding a serviette.

'How did that one go again?' Phoebe asked Monica, who pleased to be appealed to for advice.

'Like this — you fold it to the left, not to the right, then you bring that bit down…'