: I have a good reason for updating today. I was at the Formula 1 racing this afternoon and there was this really united atmosphere; a feeling that we won't let 'people' scare us. 100,000 fans, listening to the special inclusion of our national anthem; it was pretty moving. This chapter is dedicated to everybody who was killed on 07/07/05. I really hope this world gets peace someday.

A couple of months ago, when I started to write this chapter, the first half was going to be about Ross and Rachel's lunch appointment and the second half was going to be about Monica's and Chandler's night with Richard and his girlfriend. However, as I started writing about Ross and Rachel's crazy day, it got so interesting to me that it became twice as long as it was meant to be. Throw in Janice and Joey's lunch date and you have a pretty wild scenario. You can imagine the predicament, it took me a while to decide whether or not to have one chapter about lunch AND the dinner date or have them split into two chapters. At one point I took a break from the whole thing and went and tried my hand at West Wing fanfic, which tested my creativity and did my over-worked brain a world of good. In the end, I felt the two main ships deserved a chapter each. The result being is that most of this chapter is about what happened at lunch-time on Day 3. Don't worry, Monica and Chandler do come into the chapter as well, but that's really just a teaser for what will be coming in chapter 10 which is almost exclusive to them.

TOW the Auction

Chapter Nine

"This place is great," Ross said conversationally. "It's nice some cities still have cafés that set their tables outside." He adjusted the umbrella that was shading their table and glanced sideways at Rachel, who was rubbing her temples continuously. "Rachel, you really need to relax."

"I can't until this is over with." Rachel glanced at her watch. "We've been here ages. They're late."

"No they're not. We're just spectacularly early." Ross pointed out. "In fact, we got here a whole hour earlier than we needed to. Don't you think that was going overboard?"

"Oh stop complaining Ross. I've been paying for the cappuccinos haven't I?"

"Yeah, and my bladder is about to burst…"

"Oh my god, here he is!" Rachel interrupted, immediately standing up and smoothing her suit down.

A tall good looking man with short, slightly greying hair and a friendly smile walked over to Rachel and Ross' table.

"Great to see you Rachel," he greeted her.

"Hello Greg," Rachel said eagerly, shaking his hand. She motioned to Ross. "This is my friend Ross Geller. Ross, this is one of the directors of Bloomingdales, Greg Hyland."

"Hey," Ross said, giving Greg a firm handshake.

Greg grinned at Ross. "Hey Ross, pleasure to meet you."

Ross chuckled nervously. "Same to you," he replied.

"I'm glad you brought someone with you," Greg said, looking at Rachel with relief. "My girlfriend is with me. She insisted on trying out this place, she's got a soft spot for eating outdoors."

"Where is she now?" Rachel questioned as they all sat down.

"In the bathroom," Greg said, rolling his eyes comically. "It's the first thing you women seem to like to do when you arrive at a bar or restaurant."

"Yeah well…" Rachel shrugged and grinned.

"Anyway, she'll be out here in a minute." Greg said airily. He turned to Ross. "So, Ross, how long have you known Rachel?"

"Um…well…" Ross coughed nervously. "A…a number of years."

Greg laughed. "Too long, huh?"

"Oh, well, yeah I guess." Ross said laughing along, ignoring the eye roll coming from Rachel.

"So I assume you two are…" Greg paused and motioned between Ross and Rachel.

Rachel gave a short, polite laugh. "No, we're definitely not a couple."

"Yeah, could you imagine it?" Ross added, laughing uncomfortably.

"Not in a million years." Rachel replied, smiling brightly.

Greg looked between them, an amused expression on his face. "Ah well, it's like that sometimes isn't it? Some men and women just don't click like that."

"Yeah, we don't." Rachel agreed.

"We do sometimes." Ross disagreed.

"Oh Ross," Rachel laughed, waving her hand dismissively. She turned to Greg. "So, how long have you been with your girlfriend, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We just recently celebrated our one-year anniversary." Greg replied, smiling softly.

Rachel glanced awkwardly at Ross. "That's…really great." She replied quietly.

"Rachel broke up with a guy on their one year anniversary," Ross jumped in.

"It was not a break-up." Rachel snapped.

Greg cleared his throat. "Anyway, um, things are going great." He interrupted.

Rachel looked at him, stricken. "I'm sorry Greg. It was a touchy subject that Ross should not have brought up."

"Hey it's ok. We've all been through it." Greg said, smiling at her reassuringly. "My girlfriend and I went through an awkward patch ourselves."

"Really?" Ross asked, interested, "what happened?"

"We'd both been in serious relationships before. They both ended badly. I'd been married, and, well…she had an asshole of a boyfriend." Greg paused and shook his head in disgust. "He seemed all ready to commit, from the sounds of it they were starting to talk about moving in together…then one day he just turns around to her and says 'it's not working out.'"

"Wow, what a tool." Ross said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, even worse, he told her it was because he was in love with somebody else. Apparently, he'd been crazy about some girl he'd known since high school, and they'd recently got close again. Y'know, close." Greg shook his head sadly.

Ross paled and glanced at Rachel, whose face had also taken on a look of nausea. "That's…really awful." She muttered.

"So…um…why the rough patch?" Ross asked quickly, desperate to change the subject. He didn't like where the conversation seemed to be heading.

"I'm ten years older than my girlfriend. I dunno, I guess with my wife leaving me before…I was scared Julie was going to do the same to me."

"Re-really?" Rachel cast Ross a horrified look.

"I'm…I'm sure Julie wouldn't do that to you." Ross said, glancing back at Rachel, wide-eyed.

"Well, I know that now." Greg smiled at Ross and Rachel, unaware to their discomfort. His eyes lit up and focused on something behind Ross' shoulder. "Here she is!"

Ross and Rachel slowly turned around, facing a woman that neither of them had seen in nearly two years. She stood still; her youthful oriental looks that belied her age looked grimly back at them. Her dark eyes flashed at them both incredulously.

"Hey Julie," Ross squeaked, holding out a trembling hand. "I'm Ross."

Rachel let out a tiny, inaudible curse.


"Don't you just love the outdoors?" Janice asked, setting her coffee cup on the table. She adjusted her sunglasses and grinned across at Joey, who was devouring his second bagel.

"Yeah, ifts geatch." He mumbled, sticking a thumb-up.

Janice rolled her eyes. "Was that an 'its great' you were trying to get out there?"

Joey swallowed quickly and nodded. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, "you should know by now that I have a big appetite."

Janice nodded and signalled for a waiter. "Can we get another plate of bagels and muffins please?" she asked.

Joey's eyes widened in delight, "you are the only woman I know who can eat as much as me."

"I think most of that plate will be yours," Janice teased.

"I once got 12 oreos in my mouth," Joey boasted proudly.

Janice wrinkled her nose. "That's impressive, but very gross."

"That's coming from the woman who was prepared to fall in a sewage pipe to save her purse." Joey shot back.

Janice blinked and gave him a strange smile. Joey looked at her in confusion. "What?"

Janice shook her head. "Nothing."

"No, you looked at me really weird just then. I was only kidding about the ankle thing…you know that, right?" Joey rambled worriedly.

Janice giggled and lifted her sunglasses so she could make eye contact with Joey. "I know. It's just crazy…you sounded so much like Chandler just then."

"hey, maybe I'm finally learning something." Joey said, chuckling.

"The art of put-down lines," Janice said thoughtfully. She smiled at Joey. "Don't do it too often, ok? You're fine just as you are."

Joey flushed awkwardly. "Thanks. Not many girls have said that to me before."

"Well, they should." Janice reached over the table and clutched Joey's hand gently.

Joey smiled at her warmly and squeezed her hand. As he withdrew it, he caught something out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, that's interesting…" he murmured, looking over Janice's shoulder for a better view.

"What is?" Janice asked, confused. She turned around to follow Joey's gaze. "What am I looking at?"

Joey pointed to an area about three tables away. "Ross and Rachel are here too." He replied, looking bemused. He squinted at the table for a closer look. "Oh my god…that's Julie."

"Who's Julie?" Janice asked, squinting across the tables.

Joey grinned as he noticed the uncomfortable looks on Ross and Rachel's faces. "Ross' ex-girlfriend. He dumped her for Rachel."

"Owch." Janice turned back around and grimaced. "Why are they having lunch with her?"

"I don't know. There's another guy at the table with them."

"I wonder what's happening."

Joey stood up. "I'm going over."

Janice grabbed his hand. "No way!" she protested, giggling. "They would kill you."

"Aww Janice, we'll miss the fun," Joey moaned, looking at her pleadingly. "You should see the look on Julie's face. She's furious! I doubt Ross and Rachel planned for her to be there."


"So, what shall we order?" Greg asked cheerfully, peering at his menu. "I think I might have the sweet and sour pork sandwich." He appeared oblivious to the evil glares that Ross and Rachel were receiving from Julie.

"Um…I'll just have a salad." Ross mumbled at the waiter.

"Me too," Rachel added quickly.

"That won't last long," Greg pointed out, looking confused. "We have a lot to discuss."

"Really?" Ross squeaked. He shot a terrified look at Julie.

"Are you ok?" Julie asked, smiling sweetly.

"I'm fine," Ross replied shortly.

Greg cleared his throat and turned to Rachel. "So, Rachel, I would love to hear some of your ideas for the new winter catalogue."

"So, Ross, tell me about yourself!" Julie said brightly, eyeing him coolly.

"What?" Ross asked, startled.

"I would love to hear about your life." Julie continued.

"Yes Greg, I was thinking green is going to be the colour of the season…" Rachel rambled quickly.

"What parts of my life do you want to hear about?" Ross asked Julie snappily.

"Oh I don't know…how about, how long have you and Rachel been together?" Julie asked, smiling thinly at him.

Ross narrowed his eyes and smiled triumphantly. "Actually, Rachel and I are not together."

The sardonic smile on Julie's face froze. "Really? But I thought…"

"You thought what honey?" Greg asked, looking confused.

"Nothing, I'm just a little surprised that Ross and Rachel are not a couple!" Julie exclaimed defensively, "after all, they're here at this meeting together."

"Ross is just here for moral support," Rachel told her, flushing.

"Yeah, I bet he is." Julie muttered at her.

"Rachel and I used to date, but we don't anymore." Ross explained quickly. He picked up the desserts menu. "Hmm…is anyone going to order from this later?"

"Not for me. I've been cutting out desserts." Rachel replied, relieved the conversation was turning in a different direction.

"Worried about the calories huh? Are you getting fat?" Julie asked cuttingly, taking a sip of her wine.

Rachel widened her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Julie, I don't think that was the right thing for you to ask," Greg jumped in hurriedly, looking at Rachel apologetically.

"Well maybe that's why Ross and Rachel broke up," Julie suggested, glancing at Ross triumphantly.

"Actually, it wasn't." Rachel replied snappily. "I don't have issues with my weight."

"I'm just saying because Ross seems to be the type of guy who could get fussy about the women he's dating." Julie told the table, her eyes still gleaming angrily.

Ross sighed. "Julie…"

"So Greg, about the fall line, I really think we should be focusing on the suede coats." Rachel interrupted hastily.

Greg nervously glanced from Julie, to Ross and then to Rachel. "Um…yes. We could order in a few extra thousand for the catalogue."

"So come on then Ross," Julie hissed across the table, "what is the reason you two aren't together? I thought she was the love of your life!"

Rachel's mouth froze in mid-sentence as she caught the end of Julie's words.

"Julie, I don't think this is the time or place," Ross hissed back, his cheeks flushing a dark red. "Things don't work out sometimes, that's all."

"Green is definitely the 'in' colour," Greg continued, seemingly not hearing the whispering, "What do you think Rachel? Rachel?"

Rachel's head shot from Julie and Ross back to Greg. "Um…yeah…yeah green is good."

"Oh come on Ross. Give me more than that. I deserve to know why causing my heartbreak seemed to be a waste of time!" Julie exclaimed, slamming her glass down on the table.

Greg stared between Ross and Julie. "Am I missing something here?" he asked quietly, "what the hell is going on?"

Julie squeezed Greg's hand. "Honey, Ross is the guy who broke up with me for another woman."

"He is?" Greg looked darkly at Ross. "I don't know how you dare sit with us."

"I bet you'd love to know who the woman was, wouldn't you sweetie?" Julie glared at Ross and Rachel.

"Oh god," Rachel muttered, closing her eyes. "This cannot be happening."

"Julie, I swear to god if you say anything else…" Ross warned, looking at her furiously.

Julie looked silently at Rachel whose eyes brimmed with tears, her dreams being dashed.

"Who was it honey?" Greg demanded.

"It's not important," Julie said finally. "Ross was the one who broke up with me, not the woman."

Rachel let out a huge sigh and nodded at her gratefully.

"That's right," Ross agreed wholeheartedly. "It wasn't the 'other woman's' fault. Julie, I'm really sorry about what happened. I hurt you badly, and not a week goes by that makes me regret the way I broke up with you. If it makes you feel any better, I screwed things up with the other woman too."

"What happened?" Julie demanded.

"I cheated on her."

"I see." Julie shot a surprised look at Rachel, who was staring at Ross in equal shock.

"You admit you cheated on her," Rachel said slowly.

"Technically, I suppose I did." Ross muttered, gulping his wine down.

"There's no technicality about it Ross. You cheated on m-…her. You just admitted it." Rachel grinned gradually, her eyes dancing in delight.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll just be heading to the bathroom." Julie muttered, sending a shame-faced glance at Rachel.

"I have to say, this is the strangest business meeting I have ever sat in on." Greg said after a lengthy silence. He turned to Rachel and smiled wryly. "I really must apologise. We didn't really get a lot accomplished."

"Oh no, I should be thanking you. I think we did get a lot accomplished," Rachel said, shooting another triumphant grin at Ross. "In more ways than one."

"Um…pleased to hear that," Greg gave her a puzzled grin. "I'll remember to not bring a guest next time though." He paused and cleared his throat uneasily.

"Next time?" Rachel's jaw dropped open. "You want to see me again?"

Greg smiled warmly at her. "Rachel, I'd be crazy not to offer you the winter catalogue. You're enthusiastic about your work and you have a brilliant eye for fashion. Everything that has happened today doesn't change that."

"Oh my god," Rachel clapped her hands in excitement. "I can't believe it! Thank you so much Greg."

"I'm confident you won't let me down Rachel," Greg said, laughing at her enthusiasm. He glanced around. "I think I'd better see where my girlfriend disappeared to." He added hurriedly, getting up and walking inside the café.

"Oh my go-od." Ross uttered, grinning at Rachel. "Is he for real? I destroy his girlfriend's self-esteem and he offers you a job?"

Rachel gripped Ross' shoulders and smiled warmly at him. "I think out of the two of you, Julie came off the worst in the confrontation," she whispered, "and besides, Greg didn't know it was me you dumped Julie for."

"No," Ross admitted, "I guess that may have changed things."

Rachel leaned her head into Ross' shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Thank you for saving my career. I know it was hard for you to apologise to Julie for what you did."

"I wouldn't say that was the hardest part," Ross muttered into her hair.

Rachel giggled and lifted her head to face him. "Thank you for taking the blame for everything. It really calmed things."

"Hey I didn't mean I was to blame for every-"

"Oh Ross," Rachel interrupted, putting her finger on his lips. "Maybe some things are best left unsaid. Why don't we just…try to put it behind us?"

Ross widened his eyes. "You mean…you want to…"

Rachel smiled wryly. "We'll never get it off the table, will we?"

"Rachel, when it comes to us, I don't think I could ever consider it off the table," Ross replied seriously.

"I'm not promising it's going to get me to forgive you just yet, but I think we owe it to each other to give things another go."

"Oh Rach," Ross placed her hands on the table and clasped them gently. "I promise things will be better this time."

"I know you promise Ross, but I can't believe that right now because so many things happened and a lot of hurtful things have been said over the last few months. I just want us to take things slowly. Maybe a few dinner dates, movies…spend some time getting to know each other again."

Ross nodded slowly. "Ok. I can do that. I can be a teenager again; pick you up from your apartment at the beginning of dates, wait by the door…"

Rachel laughed. "Yeah, except there won't be any mom's in the background saying 'don't be late home'."

"Well, mom never bothered me about that because I didn't get dates in high school." Ross pointed out, flushing.

Rachel eyed him with understanding. "I've missed you." She said quietly.

"Me too Rachel," Ross said, drawing her in for a tight hug. "I guess me being a slave for three days wasn't so bad after all."

"Is it going to be bad when it's my turn?" Rachel asked suspiciously.

Ross shook his head and laughed.


"Oh my god that is so sweet," Janice muttered; her eyes agog at the scene.

"It's about time." Joey added, grinning with pleasure. "Those two are made for each other."

Janice grinned at him. "You think we should gatecrash?"

"You wouldn't dare." Joey said in horror.

"I guess that would be too cruel." Janice decided, chuckling. She smiled at Joey warmly. "This has got to be the most entertaining lunch date I have ever been on."

"Janice, this isn't a date." Joey corrected, blushing.

"You've been eyeing me up for the past hour. If this isn't a date to you, then what do you do on the real ones?" Janice asked, laughing.

"Nothing that can be done in public," Joey flirted before he could stop himself.

"Really?" Janice leaned in closer to Joey. "Too bad this isn't real then. I was really beginning to think of…going somewhere private."

Joey swallowed hard, taking in Janice's questioning eyes. His lips were inches from hers. "Didn't you say you needed a bathroom cleaning?" he blurted out.

Ok, what the hell made him say that? Joey blinked several times. He was supposed to be the master of sexual tension!

Janice rolled her eyes and leaned back into her chair. "Yeah, I guess the other thing wouldn't be a good idea anyway." She said airily, reaching for her crutches.

"It wouldn't?" Joey looked at her, startled.

Janice laughed. "My right ankle is in bandages! You and me in bed with one of my legs propped up like I'm some kind of gymnast isn't sexy, is it?"

"No, your legs in-in different positions wouldn't be-be ideal." Joey stuttered, quickly distracting himself by leaving a large tip by their bill.

"Exactly." Janice said briskly, heaving herself up onto her crutches. She grinned down at Joey. "You ok? You're looking a little weird…you're sweating."

"I think it's the heat." Joey fanned his face with a menu.

"Yes." Janice looked at him thoughtfully before giggling again. "Come on, we've got some cleaning to do."

Joey nodded silently and followed Janice back to her apartment.


"Oh my god!" Monica said, hanging up the phone. She stared at Chandler in shock as he struggled with his tie.

"What?" he asked her, amused.

"Ross and Rachel are back together."

"Whoa." Chandler widened his eyes. "Seriously?"

"Yes! Joey just called with the news!"

Chandler flung his arms around Monica in celebration and danced her crazily around the apartment.

"Be careful with my dress!" Monica warned, laughing. "If you tread on it; that will be 60 dollars gone for nothing."

"60?" Chandler stopped in his tracks and stared at Monica in amazement. "On a dress?"

"Tonight is very important Chandler," Monica reminded him.

Chandler rolled his eyes. "Oh yes I forgot that we have to make a good impression on eye doctors these days."

Monica hit his arm playfully. "Please behave tonight. I don't want Richard's girlfriend to think we're complete losers."

"Monica, remember our discussion from this morning." Chandler looked at her meaningfully.

"Yeah yeah, I haven't got anything to prove, I'm wonderful blah-blah." Monica grinned at him, shaking her head.

"I mean every word." Chandler said quietly.

A look fell between them as they seemingly shared the same thoughts. Monica tore her eyes from Chandler's shy smile and checked her watch. "We should get going."

"You know what this reminds me of?" Chandler said softly as Monica locked up the apartment.

"What?" Monica asked, turning her head questioningly.

"That night I took you to Richard's daughter's party. We left almost exactly like this."

"It was exactly like this, not almost." Monica corrected him, starting to walk down the hallway.

"No. I walked away first and you called me back." Chandler called. Monica stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around on her heels. She smiled at him.

"Then you told me to hold your hand." Chandler continued, a teasing smile creeping upon his face.

Monica giggled. "And now you're asking me to hold yours?"

Chandler held out his hand silently and Monica walked over to grab it gently.

"Now it's exactly like that night." Chandler finished, smiling down at her.

End of Chapter 9

:what happens next? Review and you will find out: