TOW the Auction
Chapter 4
"And when you've finished bringing me my coffee, I'd like you to start filing away these papers please," Rachel said briskly, piling up some files in Ross' arms.
Ross scowled and stood rooted in the middle of the office, glaring at her.
Rachel arched an eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
"I'll tell you what the 'problem' is," Ross mimicked, dumping the files on the floor. "It's 3pm and I've been working non-stop since 9am! I deserve a break!"
Rachel laughed. "You think this is a problem?" she asked incredulously.
"Yes!" Ross exclaimed, wide-eyed, "I've been your dogsbody all day Rach! I've made you coffee, I've been to the bakery three times with everybody's orders and I've sorted through that shocking filing system of yours. I mean 'colour-coded'… what the hell is that all about?"
"Let me tell you this Ross. What you've done isn't too difficult." Rachel pointed out, frowning, "you haven't even began to do what I do all day!"
"Ok, let's get started then!" Ross cried; "because I've had it with the other stuff!"
Rachel smirked. "Ok. If that's what you want." She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a large folder. She handed it to Ross.
"In this is what I've got to finish by the end of the day." Rachel explained. "Inside there are a lot of outstanding orders for the menswear department downstairs. In one order there was a huge screw-up at the warehouse last week and now the department doesn't have enough winter coats for the sale this weekend. It's your job to ring up the warehouse to find out what is going on and tell them to pull their finger out. We need those coats."
"Is that it?" Ross asked, smirking, "I've just got to ask 'some guy' at a warehouse to deliver a batch of coats to Bloomingdales?"
"Yes, 'that's it'." Rachel smiled sweetly at him. "Be sure to ask for Jack Wilner."
"Ok…"
"Just whatever you do…don't rile him up, ok?"
A while later Ross was banging his head in utter frustration. "Look, Mr Wilner, you've gotta give me a break here. All I want is a further 1000 coats delivered here by the weekend…yes I realise it isn't your fault the manufacturers had a problem with the batch…uh-huh…yeah…"
Rachel smiled to herself as she typed up a memo for Joanna.
"So the delivery guy is on holiday this week?" Ross continued, groaning, "Well, yeah, that is a problem actually! Don't you have a replacement? What do you mean 'Brad' is off sick?!"
"Oh dear god he's shouting…he's shouting," Rachel muttered, pausing to listen closely to the conversation.
"The organisation is a disgrace!" Ross exclaimed, "what?! You don't like my 'attitude'?"
"Oh no…" Rachel rolled her eyes to the ceiling.
"What do you mean, 'don't you realise whom you're talking to?'" Ross demanded, "as far as I'm concerned I'm talking to an incompetent fool who can't run his warehouse properly!"
"Ross…Ross…" Rachel warned, widening her eyes.
"Oh you want to speak to my supervisor do you?" Ross mocked, "She is too busy right now, so you'll have to make do with me. Hello? Hello?!" Ross stared at the phone in disgust. "He's hung up on me!"
"Ross, what did you just do?" Rachel demanded angrily, "I told you not to rile him up!"
"Ahh I've never spoken to such an idiot in my entire life," Ross snapped, "he doesn't have a delivery guy until Thursday, can you believe that?"
"Yes, I can actually. Instead of reacting the way you did, you could have accepted the situation and dealt with it. You don't insult a warehouse manager who has to deal with thousands of orders for different companies every week!"
"Well, what else was I supposed to say?" Ross exclaimed; "he wasn't willing to compromise! He couldn't even promise that the coats would be ready to be delivered on Thursday! Not even if we picked them up ourselves."
Rachel threw her arms up in the air. "Now do you see what I had to deal with when we were dating?!" she shouted. "Can you see why I was never home? I have to deal with people like Jack Wilner everyday!"
Ross looked at Rachel in astonishment as she let rip.
"I would come home tired and emotional Ross. Where was the support? Where was the 'oh everything will be ok Rach?"
Ross swallowed hard. "I…I don't know what to say." He muttered.
"I really needed your support at a time when I was scared and didn't know what I was doing," Rachel said emotionally, "it was a new job. I just wanted to come home to a boyfriend who understood that. I wanted the hugs and reassurances that you would always be on my side. But I didn't get that. What I got instead was jealousy, hostility towards my work colleagues and your hints that I should quit."
"I'm sorry," Ross said quietly, "I really am. I had no idea about the pressure you were under."
Rachel sighed. "It doesn't matter anymore. We can't turn back the clock. I just wanted to bring you here so you could understand what I go through, that's all."
She checked her watch and smiled up at him. "Go on, take a break. I'll sort out the mess with Jack and explain you were new to this."
"Thanks Rach." Ross didn't bring himself to meet her eyes and walked out of the room.
"I'm not sure if sleeping with you was part of the deal," Mike smiled wryly at Phoebe as they both got dressed.
Phoebe giggled. "Or spending the whole morning in bed," she added.
"I don't know a thing about you," Mike said in realisation. "All I know is you bought me for 300 dollars at a crazy auction, brought me back to your apartment and…well…" he stopped and blushed.
"And had wild, passionate sex with you," Phoebe finished, grinning.
"You thought it was passionate, huh?" Mike asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah," Phoebe walked over to him and kissed his lips.
"I could get used to this." Mike said in-between kisses.
"Don't get carried away," Phoebe gently scolded him, backing off. "I want to know a few things first."
"Ok…" Mike said uncertainly, "what do you want to know?"
"I want to know how a nice, hotshot lawyer like you got involved in a charity auction," Phoebe replied, sitting down on the bed. She motioned for him to sit with her.
"Well let's get one thing clear," Mike cleared his throat and blushed again. "I'm not a hotshot lawyer."
"Oh, really?" Phoebe asked, frowning slightly.
"I own a jazz club in the city. I play piano and people can buy drinks at the bar…you know." Mike looked away in embarrassment. "…and I entered the auction on a dare by someone at the club."
"That's…that's great!" Phoebe exclaimed, pulling Mike's head towards her.
"It is?" Mike asked, wide-eyed.
"Yeah, who wants to be a lawyer anyway?" Phoebe waved her hand dismissively.
"Well, I used to be…" Mike corrected her, "but I got bored with it."
"I can't believe I've slept with a musician!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly, "there's my life-long dream accomplished."
Mike grinned at her in amusement. "Your life long dream has been to have a fling with a musician?" he asked slowly.
"Hell yeah! And to meet James Brolin…but that's a totally different thing."
Mike laughed at her. "Ok. What is it you do?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her.
"I'm a freelance masseuse. And I play guitar." Phoebe shrugged. "That's about it."
"That's really great Phoebe," Mike smiled softly, "I was afraid you were going to be some top classy business woman."
"And I'm not classy?" Phoebe asked, wide-eyed.
Mike's mouth dropped open, realising what he had just did. "Oh no, no!" He exclaimed, "I didn't mean it like that! You're still way out of my league…"
Phoebe giggled. "Shut up." She told him.
Mike kissed her softly on the lips. "So…um…I guess you're going to give me some tasks to do?"
Phoebe tilted her head thoughtfully. "Ok…will you play one of your songs for me?" she asked finally.
"Is that it?" Mike smiled. "I would be honoured to play for you Phoebe Buffay."
"And this…" Phoebe motioned between them, "all this touchy-feely stuff must stop. We have to be professional about this."
Mike lifted his hands up. "Ok, you're the boss." He said mischievously.
"I mean it." Phoebe looked at him apologetically. "Last night was really good…but I'm not really looking for a long term relationship right now."
Mike's face dropped a fraction of a second then he smiled at her. "Oh, yeah…sure. Neither am I."
"Ok, that's settled then." Phoebe said briskly, standing up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Maybe you can make me some breakfast?"
Mike nodded. "Sure."
"I could get used to being pampered like this." Phoebe said, walking out of the room.
"I could get used to pampering you too." Mike said quietly to himself, walking into the kitchen.
"My god Janice, these seats are great." Joey marvelled, "how the hell did you manage to get these tickets?"
The thunderous roars from the crowds behind them as half-time was announced made Joey have to shout at Janice, but she was still able to hear him.
"My ex-husband knows a friend of a friend of one of the players." Janice shouted.
"Wow!"
"It's nothing special."
"So… you still in contact with Gary?" Joey questioned.
"Well, through our daughter really," Janice shrugged, "we have equal access to her."
"The divorce must've been tough," Joey said sympathetically. Then he berated himself. What was he doing asking Janice personal questions? He hated her!
"He cheated on me. I wasn't going to stay with him after that."
"I bet you wanted to scratch the girl's eyes out!"
"Actually… the guy's eyes out." Janice corrected, smiling slightly.
Joey choked on his popcorn. "He…he's…"
"Gay? Yes." Janice rolled her eyes.
"Holy god." Joey laughed then quickly sobered up, "sorry, it's just…"
"I know. I laugh too sometimes." Janice smiled sadly, "I can't believe I never saw it before."
"Hey, it wasn't your fault," Joey consoled, "how were you supposed to know? The guy had a child with you!"
"That was his idea as well," Janice grinned, "I guess he was kinda in denial."
Joey whistled softly. "Yeah. I suppose he was."
The two sat in silence for a while, listening to the chants from the crowds.
"Don't feel so bad," Joey turned to her, "I've got a friend who got into exactly the same situation four years ago!"
"Really? Who?" Janice asked, wide-eyed.
Joey smiled at her shocked face. "Ross."
Janice threw her head back and laughed. "Ross Geller is gay?!"
"No, no!" Joey exclaimed, "I didn't mean that." He chuckled. "That would be funny though. And freaky. It was his wife."
"Don't they have a son?" Janice questioned thoughtfully, "I think I remember Chandler saying something about Ross being a father."
"Yeah, that's Ben. He lives with Ross' ex-wife and her 'live-in lover'." Joey grinned. "It works though."
"Wow." Janice giggled. "Your friends have very dysfunctional relationships."
"Oh yeah. You should have been around during the whole 'we were on a break' situation between Ross and Rachel."
"No? They're not together anymore?! Tell me more!" Janice sat up and fixed her animated gaze on Joey.
Suddenly, for one brief moment, Joey realised what Chandler had seen in Janice.
He had never met anyone who paid him such rapt attention before. Janice's resolute face, her appreciation of his jokes… they almost seemed…endearing.
Her laughter still cut through him, but that didn't seem to matter so much. It suited her somehow. Everything came together – it was the whole package.
And Joey found himself being drawn to it.
Chandler checked his watch. 7.30pm. it was time to walk across the hall to take Monica to Richard's party.
He looked at the mirror and smoothed his hair through with a comb. The fading blonde highlights shone through from the roots and he smiled proudly. His white shirt and blue tie matched perfectly with the black jacket and trousers. In his mind's eye, he thought he looked decent enough to pass himself off as Monica's boyfriend for a few hours.
He straightened his tie and went to meet her out in the hallway.
As soon as Monica walked out of her apartment door, Chandler sucked in his breath. She looked devastatingly beautiful with a black sleeveless dress that trailed all the way down to her ankles. Her black sandals just peeked out underneath. Her short hair was pinned back into a wavy bun.
"Hey," she greeted, smiling. She indicated between them. "We match!"
"Um…hey…Monica," Chandler stuttered.
Monica giggled and blushed. "You're sweet. I'm sure I don't look that great."
"Oh you do," Chandler said, shaking his head in amazement.
Monica held out a short, dark blue coat. "Could you help me get this on?" she asked, "it's a little awkward…"
"Um…sure." Chandler hesitantly took the coat and Monica turned around. He slipped the coat into her arms, smelling the scent of her perfume from her neck.
"Oh no, wait, I forgot Michelle's present," Monica said hurriedly, walking back into her apartment.
When the door shut, Chandler let out a huge sigh and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Get it together man!" he chastised himself, "stop with the doe-eyes!"
Monica came back out and smiled at him. "Are you ready?"
"Yes!" Chandler said, grinning. "Let's go shock Richard!"
He began to walk down the hallway.
"Ahem…" he heard Monica mutter. He turned around and faced her.
"What?"
"If we're going to be convincing about this, we need to act like we're a couple straight away." Monica pointed out. "What if we see any guests on the way?"
Chandler rolled his eyes. "You want me to hold your hand?"
"It's only for a while," Monica reminded him, linking her right hand with his left.
"Hey…this isn't bad," Chandler mused as they began to walk down the hallway.
"It's weird." Monica added, smiling up at him.
"Thanks a lot." Chandler gave out a short laugh
"I mean…good weird." Monica corrected, looking straight ahead and not meeting his eyes.
Chandler looked down at her strangely before deciding to let the comment go. Somehow though, he knew exactly what she was getting at.
End of Chapter 4
:keep the reviews coming if you want to find out what happens next! Conflicts and maybe romance galore! Hehe:
