Thursday
"James is nice." Phoebe and Monica were itching for the details while having lunch at the cafeteria. "He had flowers in his car when I entered… very gentlemanly… and very intellectual."
"Was he a good kisser?" Monica smiled at her.
"We didn't kiss, Mon."
"Why?"
"Why? Should I?"
"Well people usually do."
"Really? I do more on the first date…" Phoebe commented, causing Monica and Rachel to look at her, "or not?"
"Anyway, he's a great guy. We're going out again on tonight." Rachel interrupted Phoebe's remark.
"See, at least when you come face to face with Ross and Sarah, you know stuff about James."
"Rachel, I never asked why you proposed that 'double-date' thing," Phoebe wondered, glaring at her.
"At first I didn't know why… but now, I guess I just want to see Ross move on… as a sign of closure? I wanna see him like how he was before. And since Sarah seems different and more serious from the rest of his dates, I wanna get to know her more."
"Then you'll move on?"
"Fine Phoebes, I'm admitting it. You guys were right all along." Phoebe smiled proud.
"Are you sure you have the courage of facing this thing that you planned? Not that I'm doubting you, Rach… but it's my brother…"
"I don't know if I can," she looked at Monica with all honesty, "but I know I should. I need to be jerked just to get on with my life. Being with Ross was a storybook kinda thing… and it ended a nightmare. I guess he'll always be Ross to me, the man who gave me the best and worst memories. I learned a lot from him, and I believe he'll always be different and incomparable. But now I just have to move on! Judy was right, he changed big time… and I'm responsible for that."
"Do you think Sarah will change him back?"
"You said it yourself Phoebes, she and I are similar… so maybe she will," she sadly smiled. Monica and Phoebe smiled at her too then hugged her really tight.
As they broke, Monica brought the topic back to James, "So how were the flowers?"
Rachel glared at her, "I was surprised that they were white lilies."
"He asked me what kind of flowers you wanted so I told him."
"How does he look anyway?" Phoebe asked.
"Scruffy blonde hair, blue eyes… I'm sure you've seen him around school," Monica answered.
"He's part of the debate society," Rachel added.
"Oh yeah I've seen him. He's the only cute guy there. I had a crush on him once."
"Once?"
"Yah, once! He removed his shirt and when he played basketball and golly gee!"
"That's nice to hear," Rachel sarcastically smiled.
"What are you doing her Joe?" Ross asked as he saw his buddy enter the male's locker room, "I thought you were 'sick?'"
"I'm hiding from Camille. She found out I cheated on her with Lisa… or was it Alex? I dunno. She's searching for me everywhere."
"How did she find out?" he asked, "I thought you had a trail?" 'Ah yes, the infamous trail,' he thought.
"She and Alex are best friends," Joey sheepishly smiled.
"I thought it was Lisa?"
"and Lisa too. They're all from the same group."
"Wow Joe, you still seem to amaze me."
"Hey, they were the ones coming on to me…"
"So?"
"So I was impaired!" Joey whined.
Cheating… a violation, a deadly sin… Ross always believed in that, or so he thought. It only had to take that one night to ruin everything.
The next thing he knew, his head was throbbing… every beat his heart made aggravated the pain. "Ouch," he uttered as he removed the comforter from his face. The rays of the sun seeping through the curtains made his eyes twitch.
"Who the hell are you?" he heard from behind.
He sat up and found himself naked in an unfamiliar room filled with blue and purple flowers. There was a man at the door, staring deathly at him.
Lucy emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "Dad!" she greeted, surprised to see him there.
"Lucy, what the hell?"
"Dad, let me explain… Um, he's my boyfriend and-"
"What?" Ross shrieked, holding his head in pain.
Lucy's father glared at her, "Lucy how many times have I told you not to do this?"
"Lucy!" her mother caught up with her dad, "What are you doing in our room? Who's that man?"
Ross was confused. He barely remembered what happened the night before, and waking up in an unknown place with unknown people was definitely the wrong side of the bed.
"Excuse me, but would you like to get the hell out of my house?" Lucy's father screamed at Ross.
He, in return, stood up, got his clothes and ran out of the house. 'What was that?' he asked himself.
"Chan?" he looked as he entered the room.
"Ross, where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you all morning!"
"I was…" he trailed, trying to remember where he was, "why?"
"Rachel called last night but neither of us was here. Listen," he pressed the button of the answering machine.
"Hey Ross, it's me. I'm so sorry for tonight… God, I don't even know why I proposed a break. I don't want a break… I love you so much, I don't know what I'd do without you. It's late and I have to get up early tomorrow, and I'd really want to see you there. Please go? I know we can work things out … I love you sweetie."
"What time is it?" he stressed.
Chandler checked his watch, "It's noon. The competition starts in an hour." Ross rummaged through his cabinet, looking for clothes to wear. Chandler stood and observed his disturbed friend, "Where were you man? I was calling your mobile phone but it was turned off."
Ross stopped and looked at him, "I don't know."
"You were that drunk?" Chandler chuckled, "did you fall asleep somewhere?"
"I woke up in a girl's house."
"Lucy's?"
"I suppose…" Ross stopped fumbling and intently looked at Chandler.
"Whoa, what happened?"
"I dunno, the next thing I knew her parents were screaming at me, kicking me out of the house!"
"Did you sleep with her?" Chandler joked.
Ross looked at him seriously, "I don't know!"
Surprised, he slowly asked the question, "Were you naked when you woke up?"
Ross sat on his bed, put his head onto his hands sighed, "I was."
Stress is killing me! Heehee, oh well... I hope you enjoyed thisbecause I enjoyed writing it- definitely a break from stress:) I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I can.
Thanks for your generous reviews and don't be shy to leave more :) Your comments/suggestions really help a lot!
