'Come on Ross, it's a beautiful day outside,' Rachel urged. The hotel window opened out onto a view of the sea and the salty air flowed in, freshening up the room. It needed fresh air. She turned back to the gloomy room to see Ross slumped in a chair. 'We'll go out, you'll feel better.'
'You go. You don't want me, I'll just drag you down,' Ross said.
'I'm here to cheer you up,' Rachel said.
'You don't have to do that,' Ross said. 'You go out and do some sightseeing, have some fun. This is a holiday.' He sounded like it was a funeral.
'I can't have fun knowing that you're feeling like this,' Rachel said.
He'd been this way since he had got on the plane. He had questioned his decision to leave at length, once it was too late to do anything about it. Maybe he should have waited. Maybe he should have called, one more time. Had Emily even got his message? Her father was pretty hostile after all.
'Relax,' Rachel had urged. 'You need a break.' Not that word again - although come to think of it, if break a break between Ross and Emily meant the same thing as a break between Ross and Rachel... But Ross hadn't reacted. He must have been feeling really bad. 'It wasn't your fault,' Rachel had said.
'It was,' Ross had said, 'It was all my fault. I've turned this whole thing into a nightmare. I've hurt the woman I love, and nothing's going to be right ever again.' Rachel hadn't known what to say next. At this moment, she would have liked to have blamed Emily, but that didn't seem likely to be a popular move.
Sure, it wasn't Emily's fault he'd said the wrong thing, but she'd failed to turn up at the airport. Just because she was feeling bad didn't mean she should be making Ross feel bad, even if it was his fault that she was feeling bad. But Rachel knew that shedidn't really want Emily to act any differently. If she had, Rachel would not be in with a chance. She just hated it that Ross was thinking about Emily when he should be thinking about...
They had transferred from the plane to the ship to the island with very few words. They had entered the honeymoon suite having been given the full 'Mr and Mrs Geller welcome.' Ross had taken one look at the room, worked out that there was only one bed and had then started asking about another room.
Full up, he was told. A look of pity was directed at Rachel. What was wrong with the happy couple that the husband didn't want to spend the night with his wife? This was so embarrassing. Why couldn't Ross go with it? But while the hotel staff plied Rachel with food, flowers and sympathetic comments, Ross had gone to every hotel on the island in search of another room. Every single one was full.
'Ross, we can fix things tomorrow,' Rachel said when he returned.
'We can't sleep in the same room,' he said.
'Why not? We're friends, nothing's going to happen.' Well nothing bad would happen. He hadn't responded to her sympathy but it was possible that in the same bed, he might respond to comfort. Then she could tell him that everything was going to work out for the best, because she loved him and he loved her. The name meant something.
At the moment he was overcome with the embarrassment and sense of failure. It was only natural that he would feel bad. And sure, he was nice, he didn't want to hurt Emily - she hadn't done anything to deserve being hurt really. She was just in the way. Ross wouldn't be such a nice guy if he didn't feel a little bad about that, Rachel supposed.
Ideally, Emily would ring up, tell Ross that he was wonderful but it had all been a mistake, and that she could see that she wasn't the one for him so she would let him go...
'I'll sleep in the bathroom,' Ross announced, shaking her out of her fantasy.
'What?'
'The bathroom. I'll grab a pillow,' Ross said, suiting action to word.
'Oh no, I'll sleep in the bathroom,' Rachel said, snatching the pillow from him. But instead of tussling for the pillow he took another one and insisted.
Alone in bed, Rachel had felt awful, but she had been so tired that she fell asleep almost at once.
Today was a new day.
'I'll ring Monica, I'll see if she's heard anything,' Ross said. Well Rachel couldn't argue with that.
'Good idea,' she said, hoping that Monica had no news at all, or better, that Emily had chucked a huge hissy fit and offended everyone. Or even better, gone off with some other man, not that that seemed at all likely. 'And then we can go out.'