Chapter 4

"So Ross, where are you taking me?"

Ross smiled, glancing at her at the passenger's seat. "I'm taking you to Central Perk."

"Central Park? I thought we were having coffee?"

He chuckled, "Central Perk's this coffeehouse near Central Park."

"Oh okay," she laughed at herself. She had yet to get to know more of the city.

"Tell me stuff about you, Ray. You said you live in Long Island?"

"Yeah I do, I live with my parents."

Ross nodded both listening to her and keeping his eyes on the road, "My parents live there too."

"Actually, I'll be transferring to the city soon with my friend, Laura… that girl you saw kissing some guy on the dance floor?"

Ross laughed, "That sounds great... I get to see more of you." He gazed at her, smiling from ear to ear.

"Are you sure you're not a shark?" Rachel asked, breaking their brief 'moment.'

"I may seem like a fish, but I'm definitely not a shark!" he joked.

Coffee at 1 am seemed surreal but nice.

Rachel laughed at gazed at the man in front of her while he impersonated funny characters.

Ross stopped and sighed, "It's been a while since you last sipped from your cup, Ray."

She smiled, "I'm scared to spit it all out on you." He was amusing and it made him very sexy.

"Okay, I'll stop. So what name would you prefer? Rachel or Ray?"

"My college friends just like calling me Ray-ray, it was something they got accustomed to... some sorority thing. So since then, I've been called Ray. It's up to you what you wanna call me!"

"So if I call you Crap Bag," she laughed at him, "that would be fine?" Ross asked.

Rachel shot him a look.

"Okay, I think Ray's cute. I haven't really met a Ray who's a girl y'know." He flirtatiously smirked at her.

Changing the course of the conversation, Rachel asked, "What do you do, Ross?"

"Nah, let's not talk about that… it's just gonna bore you!"

"Try me!" she looked up from her drink.

"I work as a paleontologist in the… museum," Ross yawned and pretended to fall asleep.

Rachel laughed, "Stop joking me, be serious!"

"See?" he retorted, "I am serious!"

Rachel covered her mouth in embarrassment, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

He chuckled, "It's okay! See, I told you so…"

Rachel pouted, "I'm sorry, you just don't–"

"Look it?" he finished.

Rachel nodded and sheepishly smiled. How the heck would she know he was working in some place with things that have been dead millions of years ago... He was hot, handsome, buffed, 'and etcetera,' she thought.

"I know. I get that a lot. Well, if you must know- dinosaurs aren't as boring as they seem! They're just like women!"

Rachel looked at him, raising her eyebrow. "Women are as boring as dinosaurs?"

"No. Just think of it this way… the more you get to know women, the more interesting they seem. It's like a fossil or an artifact – the more you get to know them, the more interesting they seem as well. And all the effort and time you spend getting to know that fossil will change the study of history… or should I say it would serve as a new discovery of the past."

Rachel tried her best to understand his analogy… 'My oh my, he had the brains as well.'

"Am I making sense so far?"

Bobbing her head, "Kinda…" She replied, sounding polite. At the same time, she jolted up, making sure she was still awake.

"Okay," he intently gazed at her, "The only difference is that with women, in the end, the effort and time you spend in getting to know her will change the future."

"Ooh," he did make sense to her. 'Nice package,' she thought particularly of his good looks, smooth moves and intelligent brain.

"So how about you, what do you do?" he asked.

"I'm a bum," she chuckled, slightly ashamed after he shyly bragged about his occupation. "But I'll be job-hunting come Monday. I hadn't realized how important having a job was 'til I saw my mom. She's been a bum all her life."

Rachel paused, thinking if her sense of ease with this man made her say too much.

In return, he simply Ross smiled, unaffected.

Rachel felt like a moth slowly being drawn to his flame… gladly, she smiled back. She smiled… and smiled… and smiled. Until she saw the wall clock behind him indicating that it was past three o'clock in the morning.

"Oh Ross, it's past three!"

Ross glanced at his watch and chuckled, "Time does fly when you're having fun."

"This is me!" Rachel pointed at her friend's apartment building, making Ross stop his car. He parked and opened the door for her.

"Thanks," she smirked, "I had a great time!"

Ross held her hand, taking her to the doorstep of the building. "Listen," he began, "I'm not being some fish or anything but," he cleared his throat; "I'd really like to go out with you again sometime."

"That would be great. I do need some fisherman to save me anyway," she flirted.

Ross chuckled, gazing into her eyes.

She felt it… she felt that immediate spark between them, and at that moment, he Ross didn't deny felling it either. His brown eyes dawned unto hers… his scent was the aroma that hypnotized her… She found herself wanting more than just a stare or a conversation. She wanted a physical accord from him... in other words, she wanted to kiss him.

He took a step nearer, not taking his eyes off hers. She quivered, feeling his body closing in.

"You know what," he softly spoke with his face a few inches away from his, "you smell good."

She laughed, "Thanks!"

She closed her eyes as his face leaned into hers. Yet to her surprise, Ross cupped her face instead and kissed her forehead.

Rachel, appalled by his gesture, opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hey," he whispered to her ear,"I know what you're thinking. As much as I'd want to kiss you tonight, I don't want you to get the wrong impression of me," he smiled.

Ross kissed her forehead once more and said, "So will I see you soon?"

She nodded half-heartedly, both upset and in delight, "I believe so."

He smiled at her and walked to his car, leaving her in a daze.

Rachel entered Kristin's apartment with a huge smile on her face, thinking of Ross' sweet words and gestures. Maybe his intentions were real, maybe not. But whatever it was, she still couldn't stop smiling… even though she saw Amy and Laura passed out on the floor.

If it wasn't for Ross, she might have been one of the deadweight bodies too.

"Hey," Kristin greeted emerging from her bedroom, "So? What's with the smile?"

Rachel grinned even more, knowing that she would be able to tell her friend just how great he was. "He is so adorable!"

"I know, he's hot Rach!" Kristin winked.

Rachel rolled her eyes and sat on the couch.

"So? Where did you two end up going?" Kristin smiled mischievously, implicating a double meaning.

She shot her a look in return, "We went to a coffeehouse… we talked and laughed and talked and… " She trailed off, feeling like she was imagining everything. It seemed so fictional.

"Give me the dirt Rayray," Kristin impatiently cut her off.

"Kris, we didn't even kiss!" She heard herself say that and felt a little bit of adversity on her part. She definitely wanted to kiss him but…

"Really?" she plopped down next to Rachel on the couch.

"It's not that he wasn't showing any sign of affection... I mean it seemed like he was supposed to kiss me already, like his face was really, really close to mine. But then he looked up and kissed my forehead, saying that he didn't want me to get the wrong impression of him." Rachel took a deep breath and sadly looked at her friend since college, "What did that mean?"

"Aaaaaw, Ray!" Kristin cooed, "That meant he didn't want you to think he was disrespecting you by kissing you on the semi-first date!"

Rachel's anxiety found an end. He was a keeper.

"And I thought guys like him were hard to find!" Kristin teased, "Having some sense of seriousness even on the first meeting?"

"What about you?" Rachel asked, "How were you able to drag all of these dead people inside?"

"A friend helped me!"

"Oh really, a friend?" Rachel became interested.

Kristin smiled, "Yeah, and he's still inside my room so I'll see you in the morning!"

"You crazy thing," Rachel glared at her laughing.

"Shhh!" Kristin motioned her to quiet down and left.

As soon as Kristin went back inside her room, Rachel laid down on the couch-luckily she had a soft place to sleep on thanks to the two who passed out on the floor.

Ross wasn't like any of the guys she met in bars that's why he gave her such thought of consideration. Ever since she found Mindy on Barry's bed, her concept of dating completely changed. Basically, she didn't believe in it anymore.

True enough, she hadn't dated since they parted. She repeatedly said to herself whenever the possibility would arise that she wasn't ready… that he was just another man hungry for lust… that it wasn't time for her to settle down.

But Ross… he made a difference. Not once did she think of any of those reasons, or make up other reasons even. He left her hanging... And as much as she hated herself for admitting it, she was ready to date him.

Updated... finally! For those who have stayed faithful to this fiction although it hadn't been updated for a century, thank you. I edited the whole fan fiction by the way- Icorrected my mistakes and improved the flow of the story.

Please review -- they really do help me work, work, work:)