Beautiful Release
by Tina
Rachel and Barry got home around one in the morning. For some reason, she couldn't cast away the memory of her encounter with Ross, earlier that evening. Silly, they'd barely even talked. The gazes lingered on till the end of the evening though. Even as he left with his wife, around eleven or so, they'd said their goodbyes with their eyes.
She dropped her purse on her dresser just as Barry hugged her from behind, planting inpersonal kisses on her neck. Well, she knew what that meant. They took it to the bed. She didn't bother taking off her dress, she simply pulled it up enough for him to do his thing. And she stared at the ceiling. So white. So blank.
---
The next morning, still in her pijamas, Rachel scanned the phone book looking for Monica's number. Her well manicured finger slided down the G column, quickly locating the Gellers.
"Geller, Monica, there" she whispered to herself.
She took her cellphone and saved the number in its memory. And then she stopped herself for a second. Her finger ran down over a few names untill she found what she was looking for. Ross Geller.
She saved his number too. Just... Just in case.
---
Ross walked down the street towards the coffee shop where he daily met his friends after work. Just a half an hour thing, to chill out a little before finally going home. Lately, though, it had become a more and more necessary habit. And that's when his half an hour begun to become a whole hour or even two.
He needed it.
That particular day, however, Ross knew he was just going there for the sake of it. He wasn't as frustrated or emotionally exhausted as he usually was. Maybe a little confused. And curious. But, in such days, he would gladly open the door for those feelings if it meant he would get rid of the others.
He just... He couldn't stop thinking about her. It was as if he was fifteen all over again. And though it seemed like he had gone through hell back then, battling with his self steem which was only aggravated by his school mates - including Rachel herself - it also began to seem not even half of what Carol was putting him through.
Or at least that's what he chose to believe.
Besides... He could still feel her eyes on him. The previous night had left him wondering. He stopped himself and frowned at his own thoughts. Maybe he wondering too much.
Well, whatever. Wondering wasn't a crime. There was nothing wrong with fantasying. It was not like anything would ever happen, anyway. After all... it was Rachel Green. Pardon, Green Farber now. She would never want anything with him, right? Only in his fantasies.
As he reached the glass walls of Central Perk, he stopped himself. Surprisingly, there she was. Sitting on the orange couch next to Monica, chatting, so lovely with her hair pulled up on an elegant pony tail. He felt himself being drawn to her perfect neck, as if he'd been born to cherish it. He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to control that unquiet warmth that was beginning to spread over his body. After a deep breath, he entered.
"Really? Oh my God, I can't believe you still see Josie, Katie and Julia!" Monica said with fake excitment.
Rachel laughed.
"That's OK, Mon, I know you hated them."
"Try they hated me..."
Rachel sighed.
"I'm sorry, but you know just how tiny our world was back then"
"So does that mean they've changed?"
Rachel took a moment to think.
"I'm sorry, but you know just how tiny their world is" she reprased and Monica laughed. "But, oh, hey, honey, I'm sure they would eat their words if they saw you right now! You look absolutely gorgeous!"
Monica blushed.
"Oh, come on. I didn't lose weight so I could rub it in other people's faces. I did it for me."
Rachel tilted her head, adoringly.
"I thought you did it to get back at that friend of Ross'"
Monica took a few seconds.
"You're right, we should make they eat their words!"
Rachel laughed. Ross got caught enchanted by that sound as he stood behind the girls, still unnoticed.
"Hey" he finally said. Monica and Rachel turned around.
"Oh, hey, Ross! Look who's here, it's Rachel Green, from high school."
Ross looked all weird at her, realising she hadn't told Monica they had run into each other the previous night.
"Hey, Ross. It's been a long time, huh?"
Ross couldn't help but chuckle at the sneaky smile she was flashing at him. He didn't know what, but it had to mean something.
"Yes. Yes, it has"
"She called me today and we went shopping."
"Sounds like fun" he said as he took a seat on the arm chair, having trouble moving around all the shopping bags.
"You're out early" Monica commented to her brother.
"I had the afternoon for classes today, but they got cancelled. I'm not about to complain."
"Sure. Oh, shoot." Monica said as she glanced at her watch. "Speaking of work, I gotta go get ready for mine. Are you gonna stay here?" She asked Rachel.
"Ah, yeah, yeah. I- I'll finish my coffee and head home."
"OK, then." The girls hugged. "I've had a great time today"
"Me too"
"I'll call you so we can set something up, OK?"
"Please." Monica stood up. "Have fun at work"
"Thanks. Bye, Ross"
"Bye"
Monica left.
Ross and Rachel looked at each other.
"I guess you were serious when you said you shopped for life" he joked, glancing at the shopping bags that were left.
Rachel chuckled.
"Yeah..." She said in almost a whisper.
Rachel crossed her legs to try and ease the tension. Even though it was a little disturbing, she liked it. It made her feel alive. It pulled her back from the numbness she usually drowned in. She looked up at him again and smiled.
Then her cellphone rang.
"Excuse me"
She saw Barry's name on the screen.
"Hello."
"Hey, I'm just calling to say I'm gonna be home really late tonight, OK? Don't expect me to dinner."
Funny, these days he didn't even bother to come up with a real excuse. Dinner with his mates, late appointments, bad traffic. Oh, just as well, he had run out of those anyway.
"OK" she answered, simply.
"OK, bye"
She didn't bother replying. She just closed her flip phone and looked at the man next to her.
That's it. Simple as that. She was gonna have an affair. And Ross Geller was the chosen prey.
No wonderings, no considerations. Wasn't that how Barry seemed to do it?
"Sorry" she told him.
As a response, he just shook his head, as if telling her it was nothing.
"How long more did you stay at the party last night?" Ross finally asked.
"About an hour and a half after you left"
"Did I miss anything important?" he joked.
She smiled at him.
"Oh, yes, you missed a very inspiring drunken speach about the benefits of alcohol to our society."
"No wonder these people are influent in this city"
Rachel laughed and Ross savoured it. About an hour went by like that. Talking, laughing, flirting. Long silences. Long stares. All new to Ross, who had never been good around girls. All very familiar to Rachel, who had missed it so much.
"Well..." she began. "I guess I better go take these home" she gestured towards her shopping bags.
"Sure, sure..."
She stood up and he stood up too, just to be a gentleman.
"Thanks for the coffee" she said, refering to him picking up her bill.
"My pleasure"
They looked at each other longingly, yet again.
"Do you need help taking the bags to a cab?"
"Actually, I drove here. But, yeah, I could use an extra pair of hands."
He smiled and took the biggest bags. They exited the coffe house and walked silently to her Mercedes, parked in a not so scary yet very reserved alley. She opened the trunk and both dropped her bags in it. She closed it and they turned to look at each other.
"Thanks, again"
"My pleasure, again"
After their gazes got dangerously locked, she couldn't tell who leaned in first. Next thing she knew, she felt his lips on hers, on a quiet and very soft kiss. And then it was over. Both naturally pulled away. Eyes on each other's, she picked up her keys, opened her door and got into the car. Ross watched her drive away.
As if it was the most natural thing in the world.
---
Ross opened the door to his apartment. Carol was in the livingroom, clearily marking some papers, while Ben was coloring on the coffee table nearby.
"Daddy!" Ben got up and hugged his father.
"Hey, Ben. How was school today?"
"Fine"
"Good. Did you learn anything?"
"Yeah, I learned that Ms. Fish does not like to be called Flumber."
Ross couldn't help but chuckle at that, earning a dirty look from Carol. He imediately turned serious at his son.
"That's not nice, Ben."
"I know, I'm sorry..."
"That's OK."
Ben went back to his activity and Ross looked at Carol. She had her face practicly glued to those papers again. He noticed the pile, it was huge. She would be at it all night. He remembered what had just happened with Rachel at the alley and honestly didn't know what to feel about it.
"You're home early." Carol commented, disinterest, however, clear in her voice.
"Yeah, no classes today." He merely said as he walked out of the room.
Ross entered the bedroom, threw his briefcase on the bed and paced around a bit. He stopped, picked up his cellphone and entered the bathroom, locking the door after himself. He punched a few numbers and waited.
"Mon, hey, sorry to bother you, but I gotta ask something. I need Rachel's number, she left one of her shopping bags at Central Perk this afternoon and I gotta give it back to her." he paused. "No, don't worry, I'll do it. I've got nothing to do right now and it might be something important to her" he paused again. "OK, thanks"
He smiled to himself.
-
Rachel opened the door to her bedroom and for a while allowed herself some time to just stand by the doorway. She threw all of her bags on the floor and finally switched on the lights. Hm, it was one of those nights.
Without further hesitation, she approached her nightstand and opened her drawer. It took her a couple of minutes to decide on what she should take that particular night. After she was done, she left the room holding the two chosen pills.
She entered the kitchen and opened the fridge, getting a diet coke. She used it to wash down the pills, hoping the slightly corrosive liquid would help digesting the drugs faster.
"What should I make for dinner, Mrs. Farber?"
"Jesus, Dalva, you scared me."
"Pardon, ma'am."
"Hm, actually, I'm not gonna have dinner. Listen, I'm gonna lie down now. If anyone calls, just say I'm not home. And Barry's not gonna come home to dinner either."
"OK, ma'am"
Rachel entered her room just in time to catch her cellphone ringing. She raised her eyebrows with surprise when she saw the name which flashed on the screen.
"Hey" she tried to pull out her most casual tone.
"I wanna see you." he said in almost a whisper.
She smiled to herself.
"OK" she paused. "Where?"
"Could you meet me outside Central Perk in one hour?"
She was silent for a few seconds.
"I'll be there."
After she hung up the phone, Rachel quickly took a glance at her watch. She raced to the bathroom and kneeled down in front of the toiled, forcing herself to throw up untill the two tiny pills slided to the botton of the blow.
Tah-dah. Sorry it's taken "so long" to post, but I've had problems with my stupid computer. This chapter has been written for two days, but my computer refused to work, so...! Anyway, let's just hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon, 'cause I'm enjoying this a lot :) OK, now... wow. I am surprised with the atention this story is getting. I am truly amazed and honored you guys have taken the time to read, review and stuff. And such good reviews too :D I hope the rest of it lives up to your expectations...! I know it's complicated and etc, but just bear with me, I do have a plan. So it's OK they are rushing to it and not thinking much. Again, bear with me. One more thing... aw, thanks about commenting on how my English has gotten better, hehe. I just came back from two months and a half living and working at the USA. I guess it had to do something for my English, eh? I'm not gonna run a spell check on this though. Why? I'm afraid my computer is gonna freak out again any time now, so I better post it ASAP. Hope you guys keep on reviewing! You're awesome, I'm so happy ;)