The opening dynamic

As the door shut behind Emily, she stood there alone, looking at them fearfully, as though she would, at the slightest excuse, bolt. Each of them were contemplating what had happened and had not at first remembered to speak, but suddenly Monica was aware that the silence was growing markedly.

'Hey, er Emily.' Phoebe, who had been sceptical of any change in Emily, suddenly felt sorry for her and said more brightly,

'Come over here, sit by me.' She patted the couch beside her, and Emily came over, exchange awkward greetings with everyone, stumbling over Rachel's and blushing. Rachel was composed but quiet – they all were.

'Where's Ross?' Monica asked, to cover up the silence that settled.

'He said he was coming later. He said for me to come by myself.' Suddenly Monica thought how mean it was of her brother to send Emily along by herself like that, at their first meeting, when he knew it was going to be difficult. Not mean, she amended, but certainly thoughtless. It would never occur to him that it might be hard for her – and let's face it, for them too. He should be there, to help bridge the gaps.

'Well, er, do you want a coffee? Something to eat?' Chandler asked, seeking an opportunity to get away – hopefully the others would have broken the ice by the time he came back.

'Just a coffee thankyou,' Emily said, reaching in her purse for some money. Embarrassed, Chandler waved it away.

'I don't need that.' He took an order for coffee from Monica too, and left the four of them together. There was another silence as Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe wondered what to say. Rachel was sitting on the other side of Phoebe. She exchanged glances with Monica, as if to say she was doing her best.

'How are you?' Emily asked Phoebe, surprising them all by being the one to speak. 'The last time I saw you…'

'Oh yeah,' Phoebe said, 'I know, I was the size of a house. Yeah, I'm fine now.'

'It was very good of you do to do what you did for your brother,' Emily said.

'I was happy to do it,' she said.

'To go through all of that discomfort and pain,' Emily said.

'There wasn't that much pain,' Phoebe said, 'It was nothing, really.'

'Nothing?' Rachel and Monica said together. Monica added, 'That's not how I remember it.'

'Not at all,' Rachel said.

'It was all worth it,' Phoebe concluded. 'And I'm getting back to normal now. Hey cut the wise crackin',' she told Rachel and Monica.

'I never said anything,' Rachel said.

'You were thinking it,' Phoebe said.

'Who was thinking?' Chandler said, returning with a mild coffee for Emily and a strong one for himself. 'I've got some tylenol somewhere…' Monica aimed a slap at him, and he gave her a surreptitious nudge back. There was some adjusting. 'Now that reminds me of a funny story I heard,' he said when they'd settled again. This earned him a smile from Monica, the reason he'd thought so hard to come up with something. 'There was this woman who owned a dog, a sausage dog –'

'A dackle!' Rachel exclaimed, 'They're so funny.'

'I feel sorry for the poor things,' Phoebe said. 'with their short little legs and those long backs, you know, how do they get downstairs without falling over?'

'You'd have to carry them,' Rachel said. 'They wouldn't be very heavy.'

'They can be,' Emily said suddenly, and then hesitated when everyone looked at her. 'They can overeat, if you let them,' she said haltingly, 'Our next door neighbour had one, and it got terribly overweight and it looked terrible, except for its face. It - it had such sweet little ears.'

'They do, don't they?' Rachel said, 'So cute. And the way they sort of turn their heads at an angle…'

'Thanks,' Chandler said, getting back in control, 'So there was a woman with a sausage dog and – '

'What kind?' Rachel asked.

'What do you mean, what kind?'

'Well, long hair or short haired, brown or black?' Rachel said.

'What's that got to do with anything?' Chandler asks.

'It helps to build up the picture,' Rachel explained.

'I don't know what kind it was,' Chandler said, 'I'm not an eyewitness to this story, I'm just telling you what I heard.'

'Let Chandler finish,' Monica said, but just then Ross came in and everyone greeted him. Monica had enough presence of mind to keep an eye on Emily. When Ross came in, her eyes lit up, just as they should, and she stood up to receive his kiss hello. There was no room for him to sit next to Emily and he sat near Rachel without waiting for anyone to offer to rearrange themselves. At this, Emily looked alarmed, but sat back down again. She cast a quick anxious glance at Ross, who was obliviously chatting about how he'd gotten there from work, and then looked at the floor, biting her lip. Monica could no longer see the expression in her eyes, but she could see one of Emily's hands as she gripped the edge of the couch, her knuckles white. Phoebe couldn't see any other this, without making a point of the fact that she was observing Emily, but she couldn't help noticing the tension and the effort she was making to control her breathing. Rachel wasn't in a position to see anything, and Chandler only noticed that Emily was looking at the floor, but since that had not been much different to the way she'd been before that evening, he didn't think anything of it.

'So what's up,' Ross said, casually, when he'd finished. He had noticed nothing, of course.

'I've been trying to tell them a funny story,' Chandler said, 'But Rachel keeps interrupting and asking me for details.'

'I do not keep interrupting,' Rachel said, 'I just asked one or two questions.'

'One or two!"

'That's taking an interest in your story,' she said. 'It shows I was listening. You should be grateful. Now, continue with it.'

'All right. Now there was this woman, and she had a sausage dog and – '

'A sausage dog?' Ross interrupted, 'You mean those little german dogs, daschunds?'

'I thought they were dackles.' Rachel said.

'Some people call them that,' Ross said, 'But they're really daschunds. Emily, those people next to your father's house, they had one of those didn't they.'

'Yes.'

'I don't think they're supposed to be that fat though,' he said.

'No,' Emily said. 'They're not. They're rather silly people, and just give him whatever he wants to eat.'

'Thankyou,' Chandler said meaningfully. Emily flinched, but only Phoebe noticed, as Chandler continued with the story. She really is uptight, Phoebe thought, and she's been drinking coffee, which can only make it worse. Just then, Emily picked up her mug, and out of the corner of her eye, Phoebe noticed a slight tremble in her hand. Emily used her other hand to steady the mug, and it seemed to Phoebe just then that if she didn't hold tight of the mug, she'd run right out of Central Perk. Laughter made her realise that Chandler had reached the punchline, which she had missed. Because Emily had managed to laugh on time, even though Phoebe didn't think she'd registered the punchline either, it was Phoebe who came in for teasing, for being in another world.

'I thought you were only supposed be vague,' during pregnancy, not after,' Chandler laughed.

'Where's Joey?' Ross asked, interrupting them.

'He had to go and see his agent,' Monica said.

' – meet a girl,' Chandler said at the same time.

'Meet his agent then see a girl,' Rachel said.

'Wow,' Ross said, 'He's busy.' Emily was looking at the floor again. 'Tell you what,' he said, 'I've been busy, let me tell you what happened to me – ' At this, Emily looked at him instead of at the floor, and listened with undivided attention as he told the story of his day. She didn't contribute very much more to the evening, but Phoebe felt some of the tension disappear while Ross spoke, every time he looked over at her. He looked over at her a lot, more than he looked at Rachel or anyone else, and when it was time for them to go, and for them to say goodbye together, it seemed to her that while Emily wasn't exactly relaxed, she was not so wound up, and not desperate to leave Central Perk.