In this chapter we move on to the date and her state the next morning.

Chapter 1: The Date

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Rachel stepped out of the shower. She was in her final stages of getting ready. To emotionally move on from Ross and his new girlfriend, Rachel had agreed to go out with Michael, a date setup by Monica. Rachel wrapped the robe around her and finished applying her makeup.

"Rachel, you have another hour to get ready", Monica reminded her from the living room.

Rachel passed through the apartment to her bedroom. Monica was setting on the couch reading a cooking magazine. Rachel sat down on the couch and inquired, "So, tell me more about my date?"

Monica tucking her legs under her pulled the blanket tighter about her, finally looked up from her magazine and replied, "He is somewhat attractive, with a rather quiet nature. He is newly divorced which means he may be somewhat nervous."

"Oh", Rachel replied. She so wished she could muster up some excitement with her oncoming date. She knew part of her excitement was partially repressed by the recent situation with Ross. She was still emotionally tied to them becoming a couple.

The waiter escorted Rachel and Michael to their table. After their orders were taken and the formalities were over, Michael began the conversation, "I don't know if Monica told you or not, but I am newly divorced. This is my first date since then."

Rachel somewhat distracted finishing her glass of champagne, poured herself another one, "How long do cats live?"

"Uh, what?"

"How long do cats live?"

"Maybe 15 or 16 years."

"Great."

Michael held up his glass for a toast, "Cheers."

"Oh right, clink", Rachel puts down her glass.

Michael feeling a bit insecure at her distraction, replied, "I guess Monica told you I was cuter than I am."

"Oh, it's not you, it's that a friend of mine got a cat with his girlfriend."

"Oh."

"They just started dating, you know?"

"Is he an old boyfriend?"

Rachel continuing to down the champagne chuckled, "He wishes he had been. So lets talk about you."

"Alright."

"Have you ever gotten a pet with any of your old girlfriends?"

After their dinner was completed Rachel poured the last bit of the champagne bottle into her glass.

"It's a cat you know. Why couldn't they get fruit flies? They only live a day or so."

The waiter came to the table, "Would you like some desert?"

Michael wishing the date had been over with long ago replied, "No, check please."

"Oh my you aren't having a good time, are you?"

"I have been playing the movie Diner over several times in my head."

Rachel very inebriated looked intently at her date for the past hour, "Oh my, I have been on a date with a really great guy and all I have been able to talk about is Ross and his Julie. How can I get over this?"

"Listen, I have been through a divorce and you are going to be fine. All you need is closure", Michael replied while looking at the check.

"Closure, that's it."

Rachel looked around the restaurant for someone with a cell phone, "Excuse me, hello, whoo…excuse me", Rachel almost falls off her chair. "Can I borrow your phone for a minute?"

The man replied, "Hey, can't you see I am talking?"

"I can see that, just one phone call, I'll be very quick."

With his wife encouraging him, he reluctantly handed her the phone.

Rachel dials Ross, "Hi Ross; it's Rachel. I just wanted to call you to say I am fine and happy for you and your…cat. I think you should name your cat Michael, which means I am over you, which further means I am over you." Rachel finishing the call tossed the phone into the champagne bucket.

Rachel awoke the next morning. The street lamps rays shone through her bedroom window. She smelled fresh coffee brewing. Monica was already up. What day was this? Rachel sat up in bed and looked over at her nightstand. The room started spinning around. She quickly laid her head back down on the pillow. What had happened?

"Rachel, I am leaving for work. I left some coffee for you. If you leave, don't forget to turn off the coffee maker?" Monica replied while walking out of the door.

Shortly after Monica left, Rachel decided it was time to get out of bed. She sat up in bed. She still felt somewhat woozy, however; the room had discontinued to spin around as it had before. She stood up. With her equilibrium still not fully intact, she quickly sat back down on the bed. A few minutes later, she stood back up and slowly made her way into the bathroom. After taking a cold shower and dressing, she next discovered she had a pounding headache. She acquired a bottle of aspirin from the bathroom filled a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table.

The door suddenly opened and in walked Ross, "Hey Rach."

"Oh, how was your date?"

"Well there was a restaurant, and I know there was wine", Rachel confusingly looked at Ross trying to remember something or a conversation she had recently had with him.

"Well…uh…Julie is downstairs getting a cab. Did Monica say where the cat toy was? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Did we speak last night? I felt as though we spoke."

"Oh", Ross replies as he goes over to pick up the cat toy.

"Did we speak on the phone last evening?"

"No, I spent the night at Julie's."

"What?"

"Oh, by the way, do you care if I check my messages?"

"No, go ahead", Rachel replies as she heads for the bedroom to lie down.

Ross dials the phone, "Hey, Rach…I got a message from you. Who is Michael?"

The question suddenly brought back last evening, the date with Michael, the restaurant, the champagne and the phone call to Ross telling him she was over him. She frantically ran into the kitchen and jumped on his back, "Oh my God no, Ross no, give me the phone, give me the phone." She finally grabs the phone and throws it into the sink.

Ross looking somewhat confused by the her message replied, "Your over me?"

Rachel climbed down off his back and headed over to the couch. "Well, ok…uh…uh…lately I have sort of had feelings for you."

Ross still confused replied, "You have feelings for me?"

"Well so what…you had feelings for me first."

Ross somewhat embarrassingly replied, "What? How did you…how did you know about that?"

"Chandler told me, before you went to China", Rachel somewhat pausing…"before Julie."

"Julie…Oh my Julie…Oh my, I need to lie down. No I am going to stand…I'm walking…so are you over me now?"

Rachel somewhat shyly looks up and replies, "Are you over me?"

They both stood there silent not know what to do or what to say. The situation was too big for both of them to handle, especially with the complication of Julie.

The doorbell buzzer suddenly rings. Ross walks over and pushed the button, "That's probably Julie. Hi Julie."

"Hey Honey, I have a cab waiting."

Ross sounding upbeat answers, "I will be down shortly."

Rachel standing by somewhat silent, inquires, "Wait, you're leaving?"

"I can't deal with this right now. I have a cab waiting…Julie…cat."

"Ok", Rachel replied as she closed the door. She had never felt lower.

Ross walked down the stairs still in shock over Rachel's revealing her feelings for him. Two months ago he would have been ecstatic, but now feelings of confusion swept over him. He had a girlfriend.

Ross entered the lobby of the apartment building appearing somewhat pale and distracted. "Ross are you ok?"

"Yeah, I guess. Julie, would you mind putting off getting the cat today? I am not feeling very well. You can take the cab home and I will call you later."

"Ok", Julie left and got into the cab. On the way back to her apartment she reflected back on their last conversation. She felt something was brewing. Ross had not looked directly at her when he spoke, which meant he was definitely hiding something.

Ross sat down on the couch in his apartment. He had a decision to make and it was not a pleasant one. He liked Julie and wanted their relationship to continue, however, he had known and loved Rachel for years. If only he had known of her feelings previous to meeting Julie…it would make the decision so much easier. Ross went over to the window and looked out over the village. Lights, one by one were lighting up the village. The day was beginning to wind down.

Thoughts of Carol suddenly entered his mind. She was his intellectual counterpart and she ended up leaving him for another woman. Julie was also his intellectual counterpart. Perhaps she could fill that emptiness left over from Carol.

Ross had made his decision. He grabbed his coat and headed for the coffee house.

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To be Continued