Rachael began pacing around Chandler and Monica's kitchen uncertainly, frantic thoughts skittering through her mind. Of course she was worried about what would happen when Carol arrived – it's not like Ross had never cheated on her before.

Everybody had redressed themselves for when Carol came over and was continuing their poker game in a more civilized fashion now. Everyone except Rachael, that is, who was continuing to pace the kitchen in a state of slight panic.

Chandler began shuffling the cards again. "Rachael, don't you want to play?" he asked.

Rachael simply sighed in response and continued making scuff marks in Monica's kitchen. Noticing that Monica's watchful eyes were darting toward the scuff marks every few seconds, Rachael stood still for a minute and reported that she was going to make cookies for them.

As she searched for a baking tin and a tube of cookie dough, Rachael attempted to organize what was going on in her mind. Carol, Ross' lesbian ex-wife, had just cheated on her 'partner' Susan with a man. She then called Ross because she 'wanted to talk.' Rachael narrowed her eyes suspiciously at this as she slopped large globs of cookie dough onto the pan unconcernedly. Ross had then invited her over to chat and play poker.

Rachael realized that she forgot to preheat the oven, and did so quickly. Of course, Ross was extremely romantic and was swooning over women all the time. Carol was his first love, the first person that he 'did it' with, and his first wife. Rachael, on the other hand, was his third.

No, this is silly. Ross and I love each other much more than he and Carol ever loved each other, she realized as she put her cookies in the oven and set the timer. She should be able to trust her own husband not to cheat on her with his first wife.

She let out another exasperated sigh, and shifted her eyes to look at her friends again. Surprisingly, Phoebe was actually asleep in her chair, and the other four were playing poker around her, talking quietly so as not to wake her.

"Ross?" Rachael said in a voice that was a bit whinier than she had hoped. "Can we talk? Alone?"

Ross looked worried and abandoned the game. "What is it?" he asked, taking her hands in his.

Rachael opened her mouth, but no words came out. She wanted to talk to him about her concerns, but would he think that she didn't trust him? She changed her mind at the last second, and instead put her arms around his neck and began kissing him passionately. You see, Rachael had a plan: she would keep doing this until Carol had seen them. That way, Carol would know that Ross already belonged to her, Rachael, and was not up for grabs. However, after a minute, Rachael found the flaw to her plan: she had no idea when Carol would show up.

Fortunately, there was a knock on the door another minute later. Ross attempted to answer the door, but Rachael seized his shirt and pulled him back so that she would be kissing him when Chandler or Monica opened the door.

The plan was executed perfectly; Monica saw that Ross wasn't answering the door, and making a disgusted face as she passed the two, opened it to reveal a grief-stricken Carol. Ross made a few noises of protest, but Rachael held on for a few more seconds to be certain that Carol saw them, and when she finally let go of him, he stumbled and almost fell while gasping for air. Carol raised her eyebrows at the two of them: Ross' face was pink with embarrassment, and Rachael was grinning broadly at her own brilliance – she couldn't help it.

"Um… Ross? Is this a bad time?" Carol asked.

"No!" Ross said, his voice squeaking a bit. He cleared his throat dramatically. "Please! Come in!" He shot Rachael a curious look.

"Oh, hi Carol! I didn't see you there!" Rachael lied, pretending to be embarrassed, but continuing to revel in her own genius.

Joey and Chandler couldn't take it any longer. They shot each other a quick glance and began sniggering uncontrollably. Chandler stuck his fist in his mouth to shut himself up. Joey turned away, pretending to be examining the fabric of the armchair with a broad grin.

Unfortunately, Carol didn't seem to take the hint, and began crying on Ross' shoulder. He put his arms around her comfortingly.

Annoyed, Rachael took a seat next to Monica on the couch. "Look at her!" she exclaimed quietly and gesturing toward Carol. "Blubbering all over him like she never divorced him! It makes me sick!" She huffed.

"He's not going to do anything with her," Monica reassured her. She turned around and rolled her eyes with Chandler at Rachael's behavior. "You don't have anything to worry about."

"Oh? You don't know him! He likes to cheat sometimes," Rachael protested.

"I don't know him? Rachael, he's my brother!"

But Ross, sensing something confrontational, walked over and sat down on the couch next to Rachael before Carol could hear whatever they were talking about. Rachael and Monica shut up at once as they both sat down – Carol took the seat on Ross' other side.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Ross asked kindly.

"Oh, not really," Carol said with a sigh.

"Okay, well, do you want to play poker with us?"

"Sure," Carol said. She hugged Ross, to Rachael's extreme displeasure. "Thanks for just, you know… being here for me and everything."

Once Carol was finished, Rachael snaked her arm around Ross protectively to prevent any further breaches of her husband's privacy, and physically pulled him closer to her. She felt rather like a cat marking its territory.