Ross walked slowly over to Central perk, the place he hadnt been for over a week and the place he couldnt quite stand to look at, it contained all of his memories in there, and now the only person he knew in there was Gunther. The guy who hadnt taken much of a liking to him since he started to date Rachel, but now he would probably be happy to know Rachel had left him with a broken heart. 'Can I have a cup of coffee please?' Ross asked Gunther as he reached into his pocket for some change, he looked behind him on the sofa where people were sitting, chatting and having a laugh. 'To take out please..'. He added, realising that sitting in the coffeeshop would be too much agony, 'Sure..' Gunther replied, handing him the cup of coffee, 'Thanks...' Ross said, handing him over the money.

Gunther never had hated Ross, but he had always felt jealousy whenever he looked at him, because he was the guy who Rachel obviously was made for, and Gunther had barely had a look in, but the look on Ross's face told him everything, he should be a man and ignore his stupid crush on Rachel and see if he was ok, he certainly didnt look it. 'Ross...'. He called as Ross had already walked over to the door. 'Yeah?' Ross asked, turning back round. Gunther had never attempted to speak to him, he walked over to Gunther. 'You ok man?' He asked him. Ross either had the decision of lying and telling him everything was ok, the love of his life hadnt left him and he was just about to go back and sit on the cloud in the sky, or he could tell him the truth. 'Ummm, I dont wanna bore you with my problems Gunther, Im ok...'. Ross insisted. Gunther put down the cloth he had been cleaning the counter with, 'I know we havent seen eye to eye in the past, but I've always envied and respected you, you had everything that I would have wanted Ross...and you seem a bit...down, so whats happened? I'm on my break now, the least I can do is try and help...' He revealed a small smile, inviting Ross to open up his heart to him. He had no choice now, it wasnt as though there was anybody else around to talk to, Gunther seemed pretty concerned, so he owed him an explanation to his visible misery. 'Ok...you win' Ross agreed, placing down his coffee and pulling up a chair, 'It may take a while...'. He warned him, Gunther laughed, 'I have all the time in the world, now...spill' He ordered him. Pulling up a chair next to him to listen to his problem which he already assumed was something to do with Rachel, the woman he had loved all those years, who was in Paris now without Ross. The story told itself.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

She bent down to pick up the bread stick she had just dropped, shopping alone was something she had never really done, apart from shopping for clothes, but she had always shopped for food with either Monica or Ross, or even Joey sometimes when he decided to bring in some new food that wasnt green with fungus growing out of it. She wasnt completely alone though, she had Emma who was happily sat in the trolley, watching her mother pick up this week's food.

Rachel noticed a shadow standing over her as she bent down to pick the bread up, it looked like the shadow of a man, but she wasnt too sure. 'Hey let me get that for you...' She heard, it was definately a man, his voice was deep and also kind of sexy. She saw his hand grab the bread and stand up, she was a bit embarrassed about the situation, she was always so clumsy. She stood up now, ready to meet this person who was obviously very kind, picking up her bread and all.

He stood there, with one of those smiles which seemed infectious, he looked a little older than her, and he didnt sound french when he had spoken to her, he sounded American. 'Thanks..' She smiled, 'If you knew me, you would know I was the clumsiest person around..' She joked.

He put the bread in her trolley, noticing Emma who was now staring up at him. 'And whos this little angel?'. He asked.

Rachel smiled, 'My daughter...Emma' She told him, 'We've just moved over here, its quite different shopping here, do you not think?' She asked him, assuming that he was atleast born in America or maybe he had made a move over here too, just like her. He nodded, 'I thought the same when I first came here, 3 years I've been here now so I kinda got used to it, I had to come over here for a transfer with my job, what brings you here...' He paused, he was obviously wanting to know her name, 'Umm'. Rachel smiled, 'Its Rachel...And you?' She asked him.

'Ahh Rachel, its lovely to meet you, my name is Joshua' He told her, taking her hand and giving her a gentle handshake, gosh he was a gentleman she thought.

The name Joshua brought back a few memories of the guy she had dated those years back, she had loved the name and this guy standing before her definately pulled off the name, she couldnt help noticing his gorgeous looks and sexy charm. 'Great name...' She commented, 'Do you like to be called Josh or Joshua?' She asked, realising that she had probably made him think that she was quite keen in getting to know him.

'I dont mind either way, but my wife calls me Joshua...you can call me whatever you want Rachel...' He smiled. So he had a wife, good job Rachel she thought to herself. 'Your wife?' She asked, hoping he would say he meant an ex wife. 'Oh yes...I mean my ex wife, we divorced last year, things werent working out between us, she didnt like it here you see, and I wasnt prepared to give up everything just for her...she was very demanding' he laughed.

Rachel was relieved. He wasnt married afterall, and he seemed to be a similar situation to her, single and quite new to the city. 'So you've been here three years, where do you live?' She asked him.

'About 2 miles from here, I live in quite a tiny house, you might aswell call it a bungalow really...' He laughed. 'Just me and my roommate who occasionally stays, but he is always either out partying or working through the night, so I never really see him...' He told her, 'So when did you get here?' he asked her.

'I've been here just over a week, Im adjusting to everything slowly, but I do love it here...'

'And where do you live?' He asked.

'Im just in an apartment at the moment, but the building is quite nice...and we have some friendly neighbours which is what we need really...'.

He smiled. 'So do you live with just your daughter? Or do you have a husband...boyfriend..'.

Rachel felt suddenly awkward. 'Umm, Well...'. She stammered. Something in her mind was telling her to mention Ross and just get away quickly, she wouldnt be fair to Ross if she didnt mention him whatsoever, but she really liked this guy, and realisticly, she was single.

'Not sure?' He asked, laughing. 'A girl like you must have someone to share the bed with at night..' He joked.

'Well, No...I'm not with anybody at the moment, but Emma...her father and I are very close, and we've made arrangements to see eachother as he still lives over in New York you see...' She told him.

He nodded. 'Ah right, so basically...you are single' He asked her to confirm.

'Well, I guess so...yes'

'I dont mean to come across strongly Rachel, but would you...would you like to grab a cup of coffee?' He asked her. That smile creeping over his face, making Rachel's stomach flutter, she hadnt felt this way in a long time. He was the perfect guy, and she had only just met him. 'That would be...nice' She smiled.

'Would be very nice...' He smiled. 'Would you like to go after this? Or another day?...Your call' He laughed.

'Today would be Ok, I have work tomorow and all week so today is perfect...Joshua' She smiled. For a moment they had a bit of eye contact, he was definately a charmer, and she was definately happy to have met him. She owed it to herself. She hadnt been on a date since, well...she couldnt quite remember.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO