Anything for Love
Chapter 12: The One with Phoebe's Chapstick
Phoebe and Rachel decided to surprise Monica at Chez Monica one day for lunch. They couldn't get over how fancy Monica's restaurant was. They had to wear dresses and everything.
They had ordered, and were now nursing their drinks as they waited for their food to arrive.
"So, Joey and I agreed to set a date for our wedding tonight when he gets out of work. Would you and Monica be interested in being in it?" Phoebe asked.
The color drained from Rachel's face a little. "Honey, we still don't approve of you and Joey getting married so soon. You know that, right?"
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "Duh! But can't you please still be in it?"
"Monica and I talked it over and we feel that by being in it, it would show that we approve, which we do not," Rachel said gently.
"That is ridiculous!" Phoebe stated, crossing her arms over her chest.
"We're still going to go! We just can't be in in," Rachel said simply.
Phoebe sighed. "You can be, you just don't want to be."
Rachel smiled. "Exactly!" She placed a hand over Phoebe's arm. "I'm so glad you understand."
Phoebe looked at her as if she had just sprouted a third eye. She honestly could no believe her friends.
"You know, I was going to ask you to be my maid of honor this time since Monica was the last time, and I was your maid of honor when you got married," Phoebe said to her, hoping to change her mind. "Maybe you'll be better luck for my marriage than Monica was."
Rachel grinned. "We both know I would be. But honey, it's not you, it's Joey. I still don't trust him as husband material."
"Then why were you so intent on us getting together in the first place?" Phoebe snapped.
"Because I figured you can get him to grow up a little. You haven't had enough time to help him grow up and get used to being in an adult relationship," Rachel said simply.
"He's already grown up. I swear, you all act like Joey is five-years-old!" Phoebe whined.
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Well, he acts like it sometimes. Or a horny teenager at the very least. I've seen him act like both." She smirked. "You might say Joey is like a box of chocolates. You never know which one you're going to get!" She said, putting on her best Forrest Gump impersonation and then laughing at her own joke.
Phoebe was unimpressed.
"Oh come on! You gotta admit, that was funny!" Rachel said.
Phoebe remained stone-faced.
"Just a little?" Rachel asked.
Phoebe continued to stare blankly at her.
Rachel put her hands up. "All right, all right. Excuse me for having a sense of humor!"
"You and the others don't see Joey when it's just him and I. He is so romantic and sweet. He treats me like a queen. Heck, he was even sweet to Prince Harry when we had him neutered. He bought him a can of tuna and was petting him on the couch and talking so sweetly to him. I took pictures!" Phoebe went to bring the pictures up on her cell phone, but Rachel stopped her.
"I'm good," Rachel said. She was never huge on cats, though she supposed Prince Harry was cute enough. Still, she had no desire to see a cat's private parts scar.
Their food came then, and Phoebe decided to just forget her stupid friends. She knew that Joey had grown and that was all that mattered. She didn't want to fight with her friends again. She did, however, want to have a little fun.
Phoebe gave Rachel a mischievous look. "Wanna have some fun with Monica?" she asked.
Rachel grinned. "What did you have in mind?"
"Watch this!" Phoebe said. She took a bite of her egg salad sandwich, and then spit it out. "Yuck! This tastes spoiled!"
Rachel caught on quickly. "What do you mean, the food here is always…" She took a bite of her turkey and cheese sandwich and spit it out. "Yuck! Absolutely awful!"
The manager quickly rushed over to their table. "Is something wrong, ladies?"
"This food is horrible!" Phoebe said to him.
"Would you like something else, on the house?" the manager asked them.
Phoebe gagged. "No thank you. I don't trust the food here any more."
"The cook must be terrible!" Rachel chimed in.
"I assure you, she is the best cook in the city. She is the owner of this place. She's the Monica in Chez Monica," the manager said gently. He wanted to shut them up quickly so that they didn't ruin any business for them.
Rachel sighed. "May we speak to the cook please?"
"We don't usually—" the manager started to say.
"We want to see the cook right now!" Phoebe said loudly.
The manager looked flustered. "Right away, Madame." He took off in a rush.
Rachel and Phoebe both burst out laughing then.
"Monica's going to be so ticked!" Rachel said.
Phoebe smirked. "It will serve her right for not being in my wedding."
Before Rachel could respond to that, they saw Monica heading over to their table.
"Quick! Let's make her really angry and blow bubbles in our drinks!" Rachel said.
"Good idea!" Phoebe said.
They began blowing in their iced teas, causing a bubbly mess all over the table.
"It's you guys!" Monica said, her eyes burning with fire as she arrived at their table.
Phoebe and Rachel both stopped blowing bubbles, and grinned up at her with a collective, "Hello!"
"I was so worried there was going to be a scene!" Monica said. "You guys could have cost me some business," she said in a quieter tone. She then turned to face the rest of the restaurant, where inevitably, all eyes were on her. "False alarm, everyone! Nothing to see here. My friends were just playing a little prank on me! The food here is actually delicious!"
Rachel and Phoebe both grinned, and waved at those who were staring.
"The best you'll ever have!" Phoebe insisted.
"So good!" Rachel added.
Everyone went back to minding their own business.
"Sorry. We couldn't resist!" Rachel said.
"It was all Rachel's idea. I told her it was a bad idea!" Phoebe said.
Rachel gasped. "So not true! Okay, maybe the bubble blowing was, but not the bad food reviews!"
Monica narrowed her eyes at them. "Whosever idea it was, the other went along with it, so neither one of you is off the hook."
"Well, now we're even! Rachel told me you two will not be in my wedding. Do your husbands feel the same way? I'm assuming they do?" Phoebe asked.
Monica sighed. "Phoebe, we're all just trying to save you from future heartache."
"There's going to be no heartache, Monica, and even if there is, it's up to me to make my own decisions!" Phoebe said to her.
"Yeah, well, you clearly aren't any good at making decisions, and neither is Joey come to think of it. He's the dufus that found Mike for you by calling out a random name, and you're the dufus who married him!" Monica instantly covered her mouth when it came out. "I'm sorry! I'm the dufus for saying that. I can't control my mouth sometimes."
Phoebe put her sandwich down. "You know what? It's fine. I'd rather you tell me what you really think than for you to keep it all inside. At least now I know that you're no longer the friend to me that you used to be." She turned to Rachel. "That goes for you too, Missy!"
"What did I do?" Rachel asked.
"You won't be in my wedding even thought it would be the world to me for you to be in it!" Phoebe told her.
"I'm sorry, Phoebs, but I feel like I'd be a worse friend if I acted like I support this marriage when deep down I know it's only going to hurt you!" Rachel said.
"You don't know anything!" Phoebe snapped. She got up to leave. "I'm not hungry any more." She left the restaurant without a goodbye.
"Great!" Rachel said. "Now I'm stuck with her bill."
Monica sighed. "It's on the house."
"Mine too?" Rachel asked hopefully.
Monica rolled her eyes at her. "Fine, whatever." She sighed.
"Good cuz I'm not hungry either anymore. I hate when Phoebe is mad at us," Rachel said.
Monica sighed. "Don't worry. She'll come around. Joey will mess up eventually, and then she'll see that we were right."
Rachel sighed too. "I hope so. I should get back to work."
"Me too. Let's just give Phoebe some time to cool off," Monica said.
Rachel stood up and put her jacket on. "All right. Call me later?"
"Sure," Monica then headed back into the kitchen, hoping that she was right, and that Phoebe would come around. She didn't want to lose Phoebe as a friend, but at the same time, she just couldn't support a marriage that she was sure would end up hurting her friend again. Phoebe didn't deserve that.
That night, Joey and Phoebe sat on their couch, eating Chinese food for dinner and trying to plan a wedding date.
"I really want a spring wedding. It can be a small wedding, but something pretty with lots of flowers. They can represent my new beginning." Phoebe placed her hand over the hand Joey was using to hold his Chinese food box. "Our new beginning."
He grinned, a mouthful of Lo-Mein hanging out of his mouth.
"Gross!" Phoebe said, but she couldn't help but smile anyway. He was so adorable. So what if he wasn't as manly as most men? Honestly, whether Monica and Rachel wanted to admit it or not, Chandler and Ross weren't exactly the manliest men either. She found Joey's childlike innocence adorable. And he definitely could act like the man he is when he needed to. She smiled even bigger at the thought. He was also so sweet, and more romantic than she ever would have dreamed he'd be.
"What are you smiling at so big?" Joey asked after he had finished gulping down his Lo-Mein.
"How lucky I am to be marrying you," she said simply.
Joey leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm the lucky one!"
"So, does a spring wedding sound good to you too?" Phoebe asked him.
"That's only a month or two away. Do we have time to plan a wedding in two months? I'm not sure how to even go about planning a wedding. I was kind of hoping you could just do it and I'd show up!" Joey said with a grin.
"Well, I want you to like the things I choose too," Phoebe said, setting her fork back down in the box.
Joey squeezed her hand. "Phoebs, as long as I'm marrying you, I already have everything I want."
Phoebe gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I don't need the wedding to be huge. Monica and Rachel aren't even going to be in it anyway. I was thinking we could just elope, actually."
"If that's what you want. Are you sure they won't be in it?" Joey asked.
Phoebe nodded. "They told me today at lunch. They will come to our wedding, but they think it would show their support by being in it, so they won't be in it because they don't support us getting married so soon."
"What kind of friends are they anyway? How about their support for you, their friend, even if they don't approve of me?" Joey was annoyed at them now.
Phoebe shrugged. "They feel that by not supporting our marriage, they are doing me a favor. They are sure you're just going to end up hurting me like Mike did."
Joey set his food down on the coffee table. Not many things depressed him enough to make him stop eating, but this was one of them. "I'm sorry. I feel like I'm ruining our perfect wedding. It's because of my past history that they aren't supporting us. It has nothing to do with you. They may think I'm going to hurt you, but I promise I won't. I'll admit I'm still flirty. It's the Italian in me. It's what I do. But Phoebs, you got to know that there is a difference between flirting and actually following through with it. I've had a lot of women in the past, sure, but that's not enough for me anymore. I want to be married. I want to be a one woman man. I never settled down before because I couldn't find a woman special enough to be my one and only. I have now and it's you. It's always been you, Phoebe. It just took me a while to realize it. I know it sounds like a line, but it's true."
Phoebe set her own food down and took his hands in her own. "I know that. Joey. I know you better than they do. They do care about you too, they're just a little skeptical. Can you really blame them after your past?"
Joey shook his head. "I guess not."
"But they should still know you and your heart, and know that you would never cheat on me." Phoebe was annoyed at them too. "You know what? Forget them! I don't even want them at our wedding. We'll just go to a judge and bring my brother to both be a witness and to give me away. A wedding doesn't make a marriage anyway."
"Well, my family might want to be there since it is going to be my first wedding," Joey said.
It dawned on Phoebe then. "Oh, Joey, I didn't think about that! We can have a real wedding then. Heck, Maybe I'll even invite Ursula. She's not my favorite person in the world, but at least I'd have someone to be my maid of honor. My brother could still give me away. The triplets and my brother's wife can come as well. Oh, and my birth mom! Maybe she can actually come to this one."
"Whatever you want. I just want you to be happy," Joey said to her.
"I want an outdoor wedding surrounded by flowers. Maybe in May? I could be a June bride, but it seems like everyone wants to be a June bride and I wat to be different," Phoebe said. She grabbed her nearby purse to grab her pen and notepad to write things down. She found her cotton candy chapstick she had just gotten and put it on first.
Joey could smell it in the air. "What flavor is that?" Joey asked.
"Cotton candy. Wanna taste?" Phoebe teased.
"Heck yeah, I do," Joey said, pulling her in for a kiss. He kissed her more passionately once he tasted the chapstick. "Man that's really good."
Phoebe grinned. "The kiss wasn't half bad either."
Joey grinned too, and they kissed some more.
"Mm, you act like you're trying to devour me whole!" Phoebe said, gently pushing him away. She had noticed he was using even more tongue than usual.
"I'm sorry. I just really love that chapstick. It being on you makes it all the more delicious," he murmured. He went to kiss her again, but Phoebe stopped him.
"Wait." Phoebe grabbed her chapstick again and reapplied it. "All right, now you can kiss me," she said.
"With pleasure!" Joey said with a grin, and he kissed her even more passionately this time. Things soon started heating up between them, and he picked her up to carry her to the bedroom. "Bring the chapstick," murmured between kisses.
Phoebe giggled. "I have it right here." She held it up for him to see, and he quickly carried her to the bedroom.
The next morning, Phoebe woke up to Joey putting her chapstick on her.
"What the heck?" she asked sleepily.
Joey blushed upon being caught. "I'm sorry. I just really like that chapstick."
She took the chapstick from him and recapped it. She set it aside. "You weirdo."
He looked ashamed. "I know. I'm sorry."
She pulled him closed and kissed him passionately. "All you had to do was ask me to put it on, and I would have."
Their kisses intensified, and soon his lips were all over her body. "Wait," she said as he hungrily kissed her neck.
She took her chapstick and put some on him, then recapped it and set it aside before devouring his lips. "It tastes even better on you," she purred.
"I prefer it on you," he replied before kissing her lips and passionately making love to her.
She moaned, suddenly really glad she had decided to buy that chapstick….
They couldn't get themselves out of bed for an hour, and then they showered together, and made love again in the shower.
"Come to see me on my lunch break?" Joey asked her, his forehead resting against hers.
Phoebe smiled. "And bring my chapstick?"
Joey grinned. "You guessed it!" He kissed down the side of her neck. "Don't worry. All the dressing rooms are sound proof and have locks on them.
"And you do have that big, comfortable couch…" Phoebe murmured.
"Exactly," Joey said, running his hands down her body and wishing they had time for another round.
They finished showering, and then dried and dressed.
"So when should our wedding be?" Phoebe asked.
"You pick the date. I don't care when it is as long as you marry me," Joey said to her.
She smiled. "How about the last Saturday in May? Just something simple that we can plan in that short of time?"
"Sounds good to me," Joey agreed.
They finished dressing and he kissed her. "So I'll see you at lunchtime then?"
She smiled and nodded. "I'll be there. I'll bring sandwiches and sodas."
"And the chapstick too?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes, but grinned. "And the chapstick too."
He kissed her hungrily one more time, and then left for work.
Phoebe sighed happily. She was glad she had no clients today. Spending time in bed with Joey (or in the shower or on the couch) was much more fun than giving people she barely knew massages.
"You must really like that chapstick when you chose to make love to me first before eating," Phoebe said as they lay naked on his couch together, lazily kissing. They had just spent half his lunch hour making love. She had made sure to come in wearing an extra thick layer of the cotton candy chapstick, and he had noticed.
He kissed her again, but the last ruminants had long since been kissed off. "You do that to me—chapstick or no chapstick," he murmured. "But especially with the chapstick." They kissed again, and then they both got up and redressed. They then sat at the small table in his room so they could have the sandwiches and sodas that Phoebe had brought for their lunch. She had also brought chips and cookies.
"I called Ursula before I came here and asked her if she'd be in the wedding," Phoebe stated.
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What did she say?" He found it a little weird that she'd be in the wedding since he and she used to date, but he'd agreed to it to make Phoebe happy.
"She said if she has nothing better to do on that date, she will. Typical Ursula," Phoebe said, shaking her head. "But I also called my mom and brother and they all can come. I asked if Frank Jr. Jr. could be the ring bearer even though he's a little old, and my brother said yes. Leslie and Chandler will be flower girls. Again, they're a little old for it, but whatever."
"Is your brother going to give you away?" Joey asked.
Phoebe smiled. "Yes! And my mom is even going to be there. Though, she said she can't say for the reception, but whatever. At least she is showing up for the wedding this time. Oh and Alice says she'll be my maid of honor if Ursula backs out," Phoebe then added.
Joey wanted to tell her that she would have been better off just asking Alice to begin with, but he held his tongue. Who knew? Maybe Ursula would surprise them and actually act like a good sister for once in her life. He highly doubted it, but it was possible. "Maybe my sisters could be your bridesmaids."
Phoebe smiled. "That would be nice."
"I'll ask them," Joey said, though he felt terrible. He knew she wanted Emma and Erica to be flower girls and Jack to be the ring bearer. He also knew she wanted Rachel as her maid of honor and Monica as her bridesmaid. He was really disappointed in his friends, and honestly, if they hadn't been friends for so long, he'd consider ditching them. But whatever. The best he could do was prove them wrong about him, which was exactly what he intended to do.
They finished their lunch, and Joey stood up. "Well, I hate to say it, but I have to get back on set."
"All right," Phoebe stood up as well. "I love you."
Joey kissed her. "I love you too. I'll see you tonight."
Phoebe then grabbed her chapstick out of her purse and reapplied it. She then pulled him close and kissed him long and passionate.
He was gasping for air when she broke the kiss. He licked his lips. "How you doin'?"
Phoebe grinned. "Think of me when you're kissing that trashy coworker of yours."
Joey knew she meant Daniella, the actress who played Tommy's current lover Tiffany. She was hot, and Phoebe hated knowing he had to kiss her every day.
"I always do!" Joey said, blowing her a kiss before he left his dressing room.
Honestly, in his opinion, Daniella had nothing on Phoebe. Besides, she didn't have cotton candy chapstick.
Joey was in his dressing room, and had just changed back into his street clothes when he got the call. It was his agent and he had a movie deal for him. It was a movie deal of Joey's dreams and could really set him on the map. It was a big name movie including Mel Gibson, and George Clooney. It was an action movie. His agent had had the script delivered to his apartment. Joey said he'd read the script and get back to him by the following night. This part was being given to him. It was the first role he didn't have to audition for. They casting director actually had him in mind for the part!
Joey headed home as quickly as he could, and he was happy to see that Phoebe was still out when he got home. He knew she had wanted to do some shopping today to get more oils and supplies for her massages.
Sure enough, the script was waiting for him in the mail box. He took it out, brought it up to the apartment, and then sat on the couch reading the script for the next hour. He couldn't put it down! He had to have this part. It would be amazing for his career, and from what his agent told him about the pay, well, it would make him and Phoebe start their marriage off extremely financially stable.
There was only one problem. The movie filmed in Los Angeles and Las Vegas and would require him to be gone for six months. It would put a major damper on his and Phoebe's wedding in May.
He sighed. He was of course going to have to talk to Phoebe about it first. He would hate being away from her, but this movie would be so good for his career! Also, the money would be good for both of them.
Prince Harry jumped up on the couch, and brushed against him.
Joey looked down at the cat and pet him, causing him to purr. "How would you like the best cat food on the market if I take this job?"
The cat purred even louder and nuzzled against him again in response.
Joey smirked. "Now if only Phoebe would have that same response when I tell her about the movie, I'll be all set!" Somehow though, he wasn't holding his breath.