Mona
Rachel was out shopping, trying to take her mind off her worries when she bumped into a woman who was also looking at shoes. She looked, and then looked again. Mona! She was sure it was Mona, the one who had broken up with Ross because she didn't like the fact that Rachel was living with him.
Mona had recognised her too, giving her an up down look. It didn't look as though Mona would say anything though, so Rachel said,
Hi Mona.'
Hi.' Mona's glance took in the engagement ring on her left hand. Oh let me guess, Ross?'
Er yeah,' Rachel said. Mona's voice had sounded unpleasant.
Well at least he's stopped pretending,' Mona said.
He wasn't,' Rachel said.
Oh come on,' Mona said contemptuously. Just how stupid did you guys think I was?'
No-one was trying to trick you Mona,' Rachel said. We were just friends then, that's all. Anything else came later.'
Yeah, I've heard that line was tried on someone else before and she wasn't stupid enough to believe it either.'
What?' Rachel asked. What the hell was she talking about?
The sooner you two are married the better,' Mona said, And if you were both dumped on a remote desert island afterwards, I'm sure a lot of people would be very happy.' What an awful thing to say. Rachel's heart raced. It was alarming to be on the receiving end of something so nasty.
Well let me tell you something,' Rachel said angrily, but Mona had turned her back on her and was walking away. Just because you're jealous,' Rachel called out after her, but the sound of her voice disappeared in the crowd.
Feeling uncomfortable in the store, Rachel walked out and tried to settle herself. Mona. Now there was someone who had resented her relationship with Ross. Of course she was glad that it turned out that there was more between Rachel and Ross than they'd thought at the time, but Mona should have given him the benefit of the doubt. She should have trusted him. Just because things looked a bit strange didn't meant there was something wrong with the situation. She had acted just like Emily.
Rachel had been walking along quite briskly until she thought of Emily. She halted, and then stood to one side to let other pedestrians get past. What would she do if she saw Emily? Oh come on, she chided herself, that was years and years ago. Emily would have moved on. But Julie was from even longer ago, and she seemed to be involved. If anyone was likely to hate her, it would be Emily. But Emily would not be hanging around New York.
The meeting in Central Park took place at the usual time and Rachel, and then Monica gave their reports.
I don't believe it!' Ross exploded, You must have made a mistake.'
I didn't,' Monica said. Do you think I would make up something so horrible?'
Maybe Susan was cracking on to you,' Chandler joked. Monica didn't find it at all funny and scowled.
Oh my God,' Ross said, She's just the type to bust up marriages, she's always doing it.'
Really?' Mike asked.
Not really,' Phoebe said, It was just one marriage.'
My marriage!' Ross exclaimed.
Well you don't care about that now do you,' Phoebe said, Because you're going to marry Rachel. If Susan hadn't come along, none of this would have happened.'
So many things have happened since then. So many people have come into our lives — who else could be involved in all this?' Rachel asked. I mean I even had the thought that Emily might fly over from London, just to get involved.'
Calm down,' Monica said.
But how do you know that's not going to happen?'
Because that would be just crazy.'
But this isn't? Bugging us? What's a transatlantic airfare in the middle of all this. And she had unfinished business — remember that call she made?'
Years ago,' Monica said.
Look guys,' Chandler said, Let's stop thinking about who's involved. We've got no way of knowing and at the moment, we're accusing everybody. I mean if we pass someone on the street, we think they're involved.'
Some of them are,' Rachel said.
Sure,' Chandler said, But how does knowing that help? We haven't got anything on anyone that would help us.'
We could get something on Julie,' Ross glowered.
Maybe. But there seems to be more involved that just her, so getting her isn't going to get everyone else. She's told some pretty bare faced lies, she's just not going to own up to what she's doing and split on everyone else. We should be thinking about making sure the wedding is safe. That seems to be the main thing that whoever they are are interested in.'
He's right,' Monica said, proud of Chandler's thinking.
We get security to make sure everything is okay, and to keep away unwanted guests. I've already done a bit of research,' Chandler said. He pulled out some brochures and they spent the rest of the meeting discussing security.
