Ross slung down his briefcase as he slammed the door behind him. What a bitch of a day. It was the first day that he had actually considered leaving his job and just becoming unemployed and sitting in all day watching Oprah repeats. It was actually the first time that he had found his own lecture boring, and he didnt care about anything else but coming home to a bottle of wine and a magazine. The news this morning hadnt made things better for him either, he had thought about it all day and even had visions of them together even though he didnt know this guy at all. He did feel pretty betrayed by her, she hadnt only ran off to another country and left him brokenhearted but now she had ran into the first man she saw and gave him everything on a plate. He couldnt quite believe he was thinking of the woman he loved in this way, she probably didnt just meet him and want to get into his pants, there was probably more to it and that was what hurt him.

He walked over to the sofa and saw the machine flashing. A message. He didnt know who it would be as not many people phoned him these days, maybe it was someone ringing to confirm that yes, his life was now a heap of shit. He pressed the play buttton to listen to the message and to his surprise, it was Rachel.

'Hi Ross, Its Rachel...I umm, I just wanted to ring you to talk about next week, have you booked your tickets? Well...Just call me when you get the time, we need to talk about a few things...Ok, I'll speak to you soon...I wont be home all day tomorow so if you can, ring me later tonight...Bye' .

Sure she wanted to talk. She was probably announcing her engagement to this Joshua guy. He knew that wouldnt be the case but he had a habit of over exaggerating things. He was quite confused by her message as she had sounded different than usual, a bit low. He knew he should ring back but he wasnt sure he could talk to her right now, he wasnt in a rush to be told that she was in a new relationship and had forgotten about him.

'What happened huh?' Ross asked himself. A year ago he atleast had the hope that he could have a future with Rachel as she was always around for him to have the opportunity to talk about things, he really had taken advantage of her being there. Sitting alone now, he actually regretted not telling her sooner as she may have answered differently before Paris. He wasnt quite sure how things would go the following week when he flew over there, but he knew that he would have to ring her back before he went, whatever she did have to tell him, he wanted to know what it was before he went over.

He picked up the phone and had a delayed thought, whatever the reason for her message, she sounded pretty serious about what she had to talk about, but she may well have been putting on an act to hide her new loved up mood from him, unaware that he already knew.

Maybe he was just being ridiculous, she may have just been calling to confirm things for the following week, 'Enough guessing...' He muttered to himself as he started to dial the number, checking his watch to make sure it was a reasonable hour for her to talk, it began to ring, and ring again. Just as he decided to end the call, he heard her answer. 'Hello...'. She answered, sounding a little more cheerful than she did do before. He didnt say anything for a moment, he wasnt sure how to begin the conversation as he was wanting her to just be truthful to him about the new man in her life. '...Rach, Its Ross...'. He finally uttered.

He sat down on the sofa as she answered him, she sounded breezy and quite casual as though nothing had changed, 'So, Rach...why did you call?' He asked, hoping she wouldnt think he minded her calling, but he wanted to get straight to the point.

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Rachel hadnt planned to tell Ross about her change of feelings, she just wanted to let him know she was looking forward to seeing him, maybe he would get the hint and realise where she was coming from. She didnt feel like spelling it out for him. ' I just wanted to let you know that I was looking forward to seeing you next week, its been pretty difficult over here without any of you...'.

Yeah sure, he thought. He just couldnt believe she wouldnt confess to him about her new found love. 'Uh huh...'.

'I mean, I do love it here but I keep thinking about home and I just feel a bit...lonely'. She told him. 'I know you still probably think that I've ran away from things but...'.

'I dont think that..'.

'You dont? Listen, Ross...I...I still do feel bad about the way I left things with us and I dont want you for one minute to think that I have forgotten about our history and what you said to me at the airport...'.

Sure, he thought. She obviously had forgotten what he had said as she didnt take long to find somebody new. ' Rach, whats brought all this on? I mean...for 2 weeks you havent even contemplated the last time we saw eachother, so why are you talking to me about it now?' He asked her.

She hadnt expected him to react this way, she thought he would have been pleased to hear her say these things. 'Ross..I..I thought you wanted to talk about it'.

'Why would I want to talk about the day you stamped on my heart huh Rach? To make myself feel a little bit worse than I feel right now huh?' He asked her, raising his voice.

'Ross...Of course I know how you felt that day, I didnt mean to hurt you...why would I want to hurt you huh? To get a kick out of it?'.

'I dont know Rach, you seem to be hurting me a lot lately...'.

'Im on the other side of the world Ross, I havent done anything to hurt you...'.

'And you dont think not being able to see you everyday doesnt hurt me?'. He asked her.

She paused.

'Rach...Im not sure that I can come next week if we are going to be like this, I need to know where I stand with you...'.

'You know where you stand Ross...'.

'I do?' He asked. 'Because if I did, do you think we would be having this conversation Rach?'.

'Well...'.

'Your right, and thats why I rang you earlier because I was thinking about everything and I needed to talk to you...not argue'.

'We're not arguing Rach, this isnt an argument compared to the ones we've had in the past...' He joked. He couldnt help but laugh, probably the first laugh he had had in weeks.

She let out a little laugh, 'Your right, I'm just so confused Ross and it doesnt help being this far from you...'.

'Well your the one who moved remember?' he reminded her.

'I thought I would be ok moving, I thought it would help me realise things on my own...'.

'And what have you realised?' He asked her.

'Im not sure yet...'.

He knew she wanted to tell him about Joshua, he felt like just asking her to make it easier for her.

'We'll talk next week, anythings better than having to express your feelings over the phone...'. Rachel told him.

'Sure, Ok...well, how is Emma anyway?' he asked her, quickly changing the subject.

'Shes fine...everyday I look at her I see a change in her face and I cant wait for you to see her Ross...she keeps asking me in her own language where you are actually, I dont want her thinking when she grows up that her father ran out on her, because I should take the blame...I'm the one who moved'.

'I'm not sure she is aware of things just yet, but I want to see her as much as possible...'.

And you can once I see you next week, She thought. You'll find out what I want to talk about then. She wished she could tell him right this minute instead of leaving him to wonder, but she wanted to see him first before she made an informed decision. 'You can see her as much as you want Ross...'.

He smiled. You may say that now, he thought. Joshua would soon take over. 'I just want her to know her father you know...'.

'She does know you Ross...'.

'She did before you left but now..I'm not sure she will even remember me'.

She sighed. She was finally making sense of everything, for a moment she didnt understand what made her turn him down at the airport, then they wouldnt be in this mess. 'Do you think I'm a bitch?' She blurted out.

'Huh?'.

'Answer me...'. She told him.

'Well...'.

'You have to think? Well I take that as a Yes then...'. She sighed.

'No...I...well, you arent a complete bitch but you have done a lot of bitchy things to me in the past but that hasnt stopped me---'. He paused.

'Stopped what?' She asked.

'It didnt stop me loving you...'. He told her.

She didnt know what to say, what could she say to that. The second time in weeks he had told her that and the second time she had let it pass without returning anything to him. 'I know I can be a bitch, but everyone has their flaws...'.

'Including me...' he added.

She couldnt argue with that. He had done a lot of stupid things in the past too, they were both as bad as eachother when it came to love. 'Listen, I gotta go now but ring me when you arrive in Paris and I will meet you, ok?' She said.

'Sure, I'll see you on Saturday...'. When I will be shot down once more, when you flaunt your new boyfriend in my face, he thought.

'Yeah...See you then' She said. And hopefully this time I wont break your heart again when we meet at the airport, she thought. 'Bye...'.

'Yeah, bye..' Go back to your boyfriend. He thought.

The phone went down. He sighed, she was making a fool out of him again without even realising it, he would get to Paris and she would introduce him to her new boyfriend and soon enough, he would be out of the picture.

She smiled to herself. She had done the right thing by finishing things with Joshua and now Ross would come and she could tell him what she really felt, why it had took her an extra 2 weeks to realise this, she didnt know. But everything would be fine, there was nothing to stop them now as they were both going to be truthful about their feelings. No Joshua in the way, no nothing.

If only she knew what was going around in Ross' mind in New York.

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