Friends and the City
by Tina
I realize this is a very-very bad title. And considering what's it about, it gets even worse. lol. But don't start, I'm just glad I'm gathering up the courage to do this, OK? So it's a crossover! Between 'Friends' and 'Sex and the City', tah-dah! My two favorite tv shows, both based in NYC. So... why not? Sure, they're very different and I guess that's what I wanna try to explore here. They sure see things in very different ways, which is weird because they kind of live in the same world. But just kind of. Well, anyway, bear with me...
I'm gonna tend to explode the 'Friends' side more. So it's more like the 'Sex and the city' girls coming into the world of 'Friends' than the other way around. Although I really wanna do the opposite sometimes because I think there's a lot of that lacking in 'Friends'. And besides, I wanna lean on my six dear ones because I know them better, while the four fabulous girls are still very recent in my life ;)
OK, here's what you need to know: you don't have to know much about 'Sex and the city' to read this! Although some 'Friends' knowledge would be helpful. Here's the basic you should know about the girls: Carrie's a shoppaholic who spends more she can afford on clothes. She can be quite annoying, but we love her ;) Oh, of course she has her column on a newspaper about sex and stuff. Charlotte is a hopeless romantic, refers to herself a lot as a WASP, the kind of girl who wears pearls a lot. You get the picture. Miranda is a cynic when it comes to love and hey, we love her ;) Samantha is powerful. Career-wise, socially-wise and sex-wise :) We wanna be her! lol
It's based in a made up time, because those things are not happening simultaneously. In 'Friends', it's right after Rachel and Joey broke up. However, Ross and Charlie have already broken up too. In 'Sex and the city', Carrie is single, Samantha is with Smith, Charlotte is single and Miranda is with Steve. Brady's a year and a half old, whilst Emma is about to have her 1st birthday.
Alright, after this long, long note, I think I must shut up before you fall asleep! Hope you approve this :) Oh, and this is the first time I write "Sex and the City", so you might wanna consider that before writing a review. Please.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from 'Friends'. Nor the ones from 'Sex and the city'. Damn.
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Monica scanned through an old newspaper, trying to mentally muffle down Joey's nonstop talking about a date he had had the night before. Since the recent breakup with Rachel, his behavior surprised all the members of the tight group of friends. It seemed as if nothing had happened, he bounced back into his usual dating routine without the slightest hint of experience gained, one widely known by both parts of a failed relationship.
A little curious by the thought that crept into her mind, Monica tore her eyes away from the paper. Rachel too didn't seem to have changed at all over the circunstaces. There she was by the counter. No sadness in her eyes, no look of distraught. Maybe a some sort of a lomeson quality, but that somehow wasn't new for Rachel. Not from a careful and knowing eye, like Monica's, anyway.
"Joey, would you pass me the 'Sweet'n'low', please?"
Her voice was so natural, unlike one you would address to such a recent ex-boyfriend.
But his babbling didn't stop and, a little annoyed, Monica looked back down at the newspaper. The three were alone at Central Perk that late saturday morning, with the exception of little Emma, who silently watched the scene unfolding before her tiny self. Rachel stirred her now sweetened coffee to go and checked for her belongings.
'Diapers, check. Bottle, check. Emma, check'
Rachel smiled at her mental note. She leaned closer to her daughter's stroller to get a better look at her. Emma looked back with big blue eyes, so powerfully that Rachel's smile grew.
"You ready to go to the park, Emma girl?"
Emma screeched, causing her mother to chuckle.
"I'll take that as a yes"
Monica, too, chuckled. Rachel looked at her and realized, however, that the reason must have been something she was reading. She was so engrossed at ignoring Joey's remarks about his date's looks - or, marking his own words, her "huge knockers" - that her nose was practically touching the surface of the paper.
"What?" Rachel inquired.
"Oh, it's just..." she put the paper down to her lap and smiled. "You know that 'Sex and the City' column?" Rachel looked lost. "Well, there's this column on the newspaper and it's just hilarious. Look, she just slept with this guy and" Monica straightened up the paper again to quote "I will not be the first one to speak. And if he never calls me again, I'll always think of him fondly. As an asshole."
Monica laughed again, this time being joined by Rachel and Joey.
"Well, good luck, Miss"
Joey's remark owed him dirty looks from the girls.
"Anyway... Emma and I are off now. I'll see you guys later"
"See ya, Rach"
"See ya"
And off she was, after a quick stop at a book stand to buy the latest Vogue, down the street to the nearest park with Emma strolling ahead of her. It was a pleasant fall morning, the temperature was nice and the sun was out for the first time that week. As they approached the sandbox, Rachel thoughtfully removed Emma's jacket and set her to play in there next to the other kids. It was only one of the very first times Rachel was letting her baby play in there, so a close and careful watch was still needed, though Rachel knew it was more for her sake than for Emma's.
She took a seat on the nearest bench after standing there for good five minutes, making sure the little girl was ok.
"Oh, look at her. She's fine" Rachel thought to herself, a little saddened by the realization her baby was growing more and more independent from her.
She folded her magazine and just watched as Emma felt the sand running through her fingers, a curious expression enlightening her beautiful face. Rachel smiled and thought back a few years into the past. Then, the simple thought of a baby needing her so much for mere survival scared her more than anything. She never thought she had what it takes to be a mom. And yet, there she was...
Emma was just such a great baby. She'd won her mom over since before birth. So many nights had Rachel lost sleep thinking about the pregnancy, a mix of fear and excitement taking over her. And when she was finally born and Rachel got to see her little face, it was the cherry on the top. It was magical. Rachel never knew it would be that powerful, that she'd love it so much.
And yet, there she was...
Saturday morning on a small park near Central Perk, 32 years old, completely single. And yet so much happy. Rachel fought the urge to embrace Emma into a rib breaking hug and finally opened her magazine.
Two friends and a red haired baby unnoticedly walked by Rachel.
"I just don't understand why we have to come all the way here" the blonde curly haired woman whined.
"I told you, Brady was being bullied at that other park. Now stop complaining, will you?"
"Alright, alright, fine"
"OK, come here, Brady" Miranda picked her son up from his stroller and set him in the sandbox. "Now, remember what we talked about. If someone bullies you again, you pinch!"
Carrie was too busy checking out the cover of a woman's Vogue to frown upon Miranda's advice to the infant. Miranda stood up and watched all the kids playing and running around, having to contain herself not to shudder.
"God, I hate these places"
Carrie finally shot Miranda a look.
"What?"
"Look at all these children."
"Will I have to remind you you brought your little contribution over there?" Carrie pointed to Brady.
"Yeah, so? Just because I have one doesn't mean I like all of them!"
Carrie rolled her eyes.
"Alright, let's sit down."
Miranda stopped on her tracks.
"Wait" she told Carrie, before turning to Rachel. "Hey!"
Rachel looked up.
"Oh, hey Miranda!"
"Hi, how are you?"
"I'm OK, just the same. You?"
"Ah, you know, trying to ignore the environment for Brady's sake."
Rachel looked at the sandbox, where Brady was now trying to bury Emma's legs. It took a lot of inner strength to stop herself from going there and undoing his actions and weakly smile at Miranda, her new acquaintance.
"Right"
"Oh, Rachel, this is Carrie, a friend of mine. Carrie, this is Rachel, we met last week when I brought Brady here for the first time"
"Hey"
"Nice shoes" Rachel commented to Carrie, though she thought maybe they were a little too much for the occasion.
"Thanks"
"Gucci?"
Carrie smiled proudly.
"Yes"
"Rachel works with fashion"
"Oh" Carrie looked more interested. "Disgustingly married?" she discretely asked Miranda.
"No"
"Nice meeting you!" Carrie practically pushed past Miranda to sit next to Rachel.
"You too"
"So what do you do in fashion?"
"I'm junior executive at Ralph Lauren"
"Does that get you a big discount?"
"Carrie!" Miranda reproved.
Rachel laughed.
"That's OK, I get that a lot"
"Yeah, Miranda. Because any friend of yours is a friend of mine. And that's what friends do." Carrie said in an almost melody, adoringly.
Miranda shot her a look and started folding up Brady's stroller.
"So, anyway..." Rachel began. "What about you, hm, Carrie?" Carrie nodded. "What do you do?"
"I'm a writer"
"Like a novel writer?"
"Something like that" Miranda said, earning a dirty look from Carrie.
"That's nice. In fact, a close friend of mine happens to be Nora Bing's son. You know, the big writer?"
"If I know her? Samantha's actually-"
"Oh, no, no, no" Miranda cut Carrie's sentence. "We're not telling that story right now"
"But she-"
"It's her friend's mom, Carrie!"
Carrie thought through, looking at Rachel's confused expression.
"Alright"
"What? Now I'm curious"
"One day, maybe. Or maybe you'll just meet Samantha and we won't have to say the words"
"Hm, OK"
"Yeah, but, no, actually... I do write about sex and relationships and stuff, but in a newspaper. I have a column"
"Oh, that's nice"
"Yeah, and I do get to use a lot of my girls as subjects, so if you happen to have any great stories..." Carrie joked.
"Hah" Rachel chuckled. "How much time do you have?"
The girls laughed and all three turned to watch the sandbox at the same time as a quick silence followed.
"So, which one is yours?" Carrie asked.
"The blonde brushing sand away from her legs. That's my Emma"
"Aw, she's beautiful"
"Thank you"
"What about the father?"
"Unbelievable!" Miranda nagged. "You've only known her for 5 minutes, Carrie."
"So?"
"That's OK, Miranda, really" Rachel assured her. Miranda crossed her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes, keeping them fixed on the sandbox. "Well, where to begin...? He would actually take up 90 of the time I could spend talking about all my past relationships, if you know what I mean"
"Oh, I know what you mean" Carrie sympathized.
"But, actually, there isn't much to say on the overall picture. On and off relationship for quite a while and a few years after we broke up for good we had a bonus night and I got pregnant. He's a close friend, we see each other every day, his sister is my best friend... But that's all."
"Huh, that could actually be written. You know, with all the on and off thing. Or with you guys still being friends. Hey, here's an idea, we could go shopping someday, at, I don't know, Ralph Lauren, and talk this through"
Rachel laughed.
"Sure, that sounds nice. Hm, here's my number," Rachel wrote it in a tiny card "call me if you wanna go through with this"
Carrie took it and looked at it.
"Oh, I will. Last time I was there there was the cutest dress begging me to take it home"
And the three girls talked for quite a long time, though Rachel noticed a certain discomfort from Miranda's part. Since they didn't know each other well yet, she decided not to ask anything about it. It was when a five years old boy dropped his ice cream on Miranda's shoes that they decided to leave, the little boy fleeting away to dear life.
"I'm heading back to a coffee shop right now, so if you guys wanna come..." Rachel said as she knelt down to get Emma. "I guarantee it's the best coffee of New York and it has a clean bathroom, if you wanna clean those shoes, Miranda"
"That sounds good, I could use a nice cup of coffee right now" Miranda said through grinned teeth, still looking after the little "delinquent".
They only had to walk three blocks untill they reached the cozy coffee house, which was very unlike the trendy and hot places Carrie and Miranda used to go to with her other two close friends, Samantha and Charlotte.
"It's cute"
Rachel could see Carrie forcing a smile, but again decided not to say anything back.
"Oh, there they are, those are my friends." she told the girls as they approached the glass walls. "Look, Emma, daddy's here"
"Hey, Rachel, why don't you go in first with Emma? I just gotta talk to Carrie, it'll only be a minute."
Rachel and Carrie both looked confused, but agreed and soon Rachel was inside, pushing Emma's stroller ahead.
"What, what is it?" Carrie asked, curious to know what was causing her such a weird behavior.
"What is it? How about you throwing yourself at my friend, getting her phone number even before I had it myself! Asking her personal questions and-" Miranda trailed off.
"Wow, calm down, Miranda. I didn't know it was bothering you, I'm sorry."
"Well, it did!"
"But... why?"
Miranda looked at Carrie and sighed. Carrie felt bad, she saw genuine concern in her friends' face. But she couldn't see what the big deal was. At the same time, Miranda knew she was being unfair, rough if you will. But she couldn't help it. A little ashamed, she began.
"I just... You know, God, you know how much I love you and the other girls, right?"
"Of course, sweetie"
"But... It's just different now, a little. You know, with Brady and all..." Miranda looked down at her son and sighed. "It just feels like I finally have a friend who has a baby and isn't one of the disgusting married women we know. She's just like one of us, but with a baby. And it's nice to have her and I don't wanna jeopardize that, OK?"
"But I'm not gonna jeopardize this for you, Miranda. I was just being nice"
"I know"
"Anyway... I understand what you mean. And that's good you found someone to talk to about these things..."
"Yeah." She kept looking at Carrie. "Do I have to feel bad that a little part of me is kinda glad it's not one of you girls?"
"No, not at all. Rachel's a good girl." Miranda nodded and Carrie got her hand. "Now let's go or she'll start suspecting something, OK?
Miranda nodded again and entered the coffee shop with her best friend and son. Central Perk. Could there be a more appropriate name?
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It's not great, but...
Hm, I've just decided to end the Prologue here because it's just when the two series will really merge as one. Even though Samantha and Charlotte are not there. Just wanna try and make it as believable as I can! Also, sorry Ross hasn't shown up yet either. I have to say his appearances probably won't be constant. I don't know, I'm not quite sure yet. But anyway...! Tell me if you wanna read more of this, if you think it's worth continuing or if you think I should just move on to something else :) Wanna know what you liked, what you didn't like and etc. :) So review because I haven't mastered the art of reading minds yet! But I'm getting there, probably soon I'll do it!
PS- I know there are some mistakes there. They are intentional and will be "fixed" soon ;)