Anything for Love
Chapter 14: The One Where Phoebe Meets Embarrassment
It was evening when Joey arrived at his hotel he was calling home for the next couple of weeks and found a package outside his door. It was a huge box and he had no idea what it could be. It had a photo studio address on the return address, so he was really confused. He supposed it was probably some free painting or whatever. Companies were always giving him free stuff in hopes that he would either shop their store, or advertise for them—maybe even both. He'd look at it at later, he decided. Right now, he had to prepare for the friends he had coming over.
He could hardly believe his luck, but when they were on their daily lunchbreak from filming, he had overheard Mel Gibson and George Clooney talking about loving to party, but hating how wherever they went they got surrounded by fans. They admitted that as much as they loved their fans, they wanted time to enjoy themselves without being bothered. Still, they never wanted to be rude, so they felt obligated to pose for photos and sign autographs whenever fans came up to them.
"I couldn't help but overhear. I know of a way you guys can party and not be bothered by fans," Joey had said to them.
"Oh yeah?" George had asked. "How?"
Joey grinned. "You can party at my place. I'll bring the beers and order a pizza. We can watch the game and chill without worrying about any outsiders coming up to us and bugging us."
Mel and George had looked at each other.
"Who can we bring?" Mel had asked.
Joey shrugged. "Anyone you'd like."
"How about we invite the producers and the director. It might be good to brownnose a little. We can all just hang out, party, and not have to be so serious like we do on set." George suggested.
Mel shrugged. "Sounds good to me."
Joey grinned big. "Great! What do you want on your pizza?"
"Get whatever you like. I'm not picky," George said, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Yeah, whatever man. Anything's cool. What time should we meet?" Mel asked.
Joey told them six. It would give him two hours after leaving work to get everything set up. He texted his hotel and room number to George and Mel, thrilled to have their cell numbers. He really was moving up the social elite ladder!
Joey ended up inviting the camera men as well, and gave them his hotel address and room number too.
The producers were all for it as well as the director. They all had his address so he had left as soon as he was done filming for the day.
Counting the producers and director, camera men, and him, George, and Mel, there would be a total of twelve people, all of which were men. Luckily, his apartment was big enough.
Anyway, he dropped the box off in his apartment and left it in a corner, and then he called and ordered five large meat lovers pizzas and five orders of breadsticks to be delivered at six.
He then went out to get the beers, so excited to be hosting his first Hollywood party, so to speak. He could hardly wait!
That night, the party was in full swing. George had brought along a bottle of vodka, and Mel had brought rum. They all had fun enjoying the vodka, rum, and beers, as well as some Cokes. Some of the men had all four of the beverage choices, others just had one, and then others had two or three. It depended on preference.
The game was on low volume, but it wasn't that great of a game, so they mainly talked and joked, only half watching it.
Joey appreciated that he could talk raunchy with the guys without being scolded by Phoebe, Monica, or Rachel for being a pervert. Not that he was talking all that raunchy himself. He talked the talk, but he wasn't nearly as dirty as some of the guys there. Still, he laughed along with them so he didn't look like a prude. A prude, Joey Tribbiani was not. He certainly didn't want the reputation of being one—especially not in Hollywood or in his line of work.
"Hey, Joe! What's that?" One of the camera men nodded toward the box in the corner.
Joey looked and his eyes lit up when he saw it. "Oh! It's a mysterious package I got in the mail from some photo studio in New York. I forgot to open it."
"What did you order?" Mel asked.
"I didn't. That's what makes it mysterious," Joey said, feeling like the smart one for once. He headed over to a kitchen drawer and pulled out a knife. He then proceeded to open the box. Inside was a card and a huge, brown, paper wrapped vertical rectangle.
He saw a card and read it. I hope you love it. -Phoebe
Joey smiled big. "It's from my fiancé!"
"Open it up!" George urged. All the men were curious as to what it was now.
Suddenly, Joey saw on his computer that he had a Skype notification from Phoebe. "Hold on a sec!" he said.
He turned the television to mute, and then went to his computer and accepted Phoebe's call.
He grinned when her beautiful face showed up on his monitor. "Phoebs! I miss you so much!"
She smiled. "I miss you too."
"It's funny, because I was just about to open your present!" Joey informed her.
"Ooh! Great. Open it. I want to see the expression on your face when you open it," she said to him. She applied Joey's favorite Chap-stick, and Joey licked his lips subconsciously. As much fun as he was having filming his movie and hanging out with the guys in LA, he really missed Phoebe and could hardly wait to get back home to her. "Okay. I'll open it right now."
He dragged the picture over to the computer. "The guys are all here. There eager to se what it is too," Joey informed her.
Phoebe instantly paled. "The guys?"
Joey nodded. "George, Mel, the director, producers, and camera men from the movie." Joey nodded toward the guys. "Come on guys! Come meet my girl."
The guys all headed over to the computer. "Hey, Phoebe!" they all said in unison.
"Hi!" Phoebe said with a nervous smile and a wave.
"All right, let's all see what you got me!" Joey said to her.
"Joey, no. Now is not a good time!" Phoebe said, panic in her eyes.
Joey smirked. "Come on! They all want to see what it is. It's the perfect time now that we're all together." He hadn't seen the panic in her eyes.
"Joey, no."
Joey didn't seem to hear Phoebe as he unwrapped the portrait.
"Joey stop!" Phoebe yelled.
But Joey thought she was just a little embarrassed because maybe it wasn't as nice of a gift as his new Hollywood friends' girlfriends and wives could afford.
"Baby, don't worry! It's already priceless because it comes from you!" It was a line from Love and Freedom, but he figured he could pretend like it was his own line and gain extra points from Phoebe. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't mean it.
To Phoebe's horror, he tore off the last of the paper, revealing a huge portrait of her completely naked except for her red heels. Absolutely nothing of her front half was left to the imagination.
Joey's mouth dropped open. He was rendered speechless.
"Woah," George said.
The camera men whistled.
"I don't think she meant for us to see that," one of the producers said.
"I'm glad we did!" the other producer said.
"Have some respect, man. Look away," Mel replied.
Still, none of them looked away, including Mel who had told everyone to look away. They couldn't help it. Phoebe had a smoking hot body to go with her hot face, and being men, they simply couldn't look away.
"Joey, hide the picture for gosh sake!" Phoebe yelled, snapping Joey back into reality.
Joey quickly took the picture and carried it to his bedroom before shutting the door behind him to ensure that the guys would no longer be able to see it.
Joey went back to apologize to Phoebe, but she had already logged off.
He sighed. "I'm sorry, Phoebs. I didn't know," he said quietly, even though she couldn't hear him.
He turned around. "I hate to break up the party, but I guess we better end it now. I have to call my fiancé."
The others nodded their understanding.
"Thanks for the party. It was nice to have a night without fans," George said, avoiding the elephant in the room.
Mel nodded. "Yes, thank you."
"Next time, I'll host. The wife is with her girlfriends every Thursday night for a girls' night out, so maybe we could have it on a Thursday night," the head producer said. "I'll let you all know."
They all agreed that would be nice.
After more thank yous, good byes, and promises to see each other on set the next day, Joey shut and locked the door behind them and then sighed and went back to his computer. He tried to Skype Phoebe again, but she wouldn't pick up. He tried calling her also to no avail. He then sent her a text.
Phoebs, I'm sorry. I didn't know. I love the picture. Thank you so much for it. I didn't know that was why you didn't want me to open it in front of the others. I thought you were just worried that your gift wouldn't be impressive enough for any of them to see. Please forgive me. –Joey
As he waited for her to text him back, he went to the box and found a large envelope. He took it out and realized that there were more pictures in it. He took them out and admired them. He moaned. "She sure knew how to make him weak in the knees. He seriously needed a cold shower after seeing those!
He looked at his phone. She still hadn't texted back.
With a sigh, he headed to shower and change for bed.
When he finished his shower and was dressed, a half hour later, she still hadn't texted him back.
He sighed. He'd give her some time to cool off, but he wouldn't stop trying to get a hold of her.
He sent her one more text before turning off his phone and going to sleep.
Goodnight, Phoebe. I love you. I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you.
He just hoped he still did have her after tonight.
Phoebe read Joey's text, but she was both too embarrassed to text him back, and too angry. If he was going to be her husband, then he was going to have to learn to listen to her! She had told him repeatedly not to open the gift in front of his friends and he still had.
"Ugh! I can't believe George Clooney and Mel Gibson both saw me naked!" she said with a groan to her empty bedroom. She didn't think she'd ever live it down. "What a dumb idea anyway," she grumbled. She had figured Joey could just keep the portrait in his bedroom and that no one would ever see it. Then when he came home, they'd keep it in their bedroom. She thought it might be fun to get one done of him too to hang up on their bedroom wall. Now she just wanted to burn the naked pictures of herself and forget they ever happened. As if she could now. She would never forget that feeling of horror, or the look on all of Joey's co-workers' faces when they saw the naked picture of her. She sure hoped Joey hadn't shown them the envelope pictures as well.
She went to bed wishing she had never met that lady who talked her into getting those embarrassing pictures. They had done nothing but cause embarrassment for her.
The weeks passed and soon it was a couple days before Easter. Phoebe had texted Joey that she forgave him, but she needed some time to get over the embarrassment and would call him when she felt ready to talk to him again. She hadn't meant for two weeks to go by, but she had gotten new clients, and recently, her current clients seemed needier, needing massages more than usual.
Phoebe was nearly scared out of her skin Friday night when she woke to the sound of the front door knob being turned. She wondered if she had forgotten to lock it. Living in New York City, she always made a habit of locking the door, even during the day, but she had been distracted lately, still upset over the whole nude photo situation. Had she been so upset she forgot to lock the door? She wished her apartment had a chain instead of a deadbolt, although, she knew chains could be easily broken.
She heard the door locks unlock and then the door close, followed by footsteps. She frantically searched her room for a weapon, but all she could find was the lamp.
"Phoebs."
Phoebe screamed at the sound of a voice in the silence.
"Phoebe, relax, it's me! It's Joey!" Joey quickly said. He flipped on the lights.
"Joey?" Phoebe relaxed, so relieved to see it was Joey and not someone ready to possibly harm her or rob her.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I guess I should have texted you first, but I was worried you might have blocked my number or something," Joey said, setting down his bag, and then sitting down next to her on the bed.
Phoebe placed a hand over her heart. "Don't worry. My heart started beating again."
Joey grinned. "I missed you."
"I missed you too. What are you doing home?"
Joey gently stroked some hair out of her eyes for her. "I'm here for a few days while the movie is on break for Easter. I needed to make sure you and I are still okay. I could barely concentrate on filming the movie not knowing if you and I were okay or not."
"Of course we're okay. I'm sorry. I guess I should have called you back earlier. I've just been swamped with work," Phoebe apologized. "I was also embarrassed after that whole picture fiasco." She looked down to the bed, still too embarrassed to look him in the eyes when talking about it.
"Hey." Joey gently tilted her chin up so that she was forced to look him in the eyes. "There is absolutely no reason for you to be embarrassed, all right? You looked smokin' hot in those pictures!"
"All of them?" Phoebe asked.
Joey nodded. "Heck yeah all of them! I especially loved the big one." He moved closer to her and pushed some hair away from her neck. "I had to take a cold shower after seeing those photos." He kissed her neck.
She let him for a moment, and then pushed him away. "I'm still embarrassed that all your famous friends saw the picture! And I had to see them seeing it! I was completely mortified!" She swatted his arm. "What part of don't open it now did you not understand?"
Joey held up his hands to shield off her blow. "I'm sorry! I'm a little slow sometimes. I thought you were just feeling self-conscious thinking that you couldn't afford to give me a gift as nice as what George or Mel's significant others could give them."
"Gee, thanks!" Phoebe said bitterly.
Joey shook his head. "No! You misunderstand me. Just because I thought that is what you thought it doesn't mean it's what I thought." He paused and scrunched his eyebrows together as if thinking really hard. "Wait. I think I just confused myself."
Phoebe rolled her eyes. "So you're saying that even though you thought I'd be worried the gift wouldn't be good enough, you thought it was."
Joey nodded. "Yes! That's it!" He smiled. "That was the best gift you could have given me, Phoebes. Do you know how much I miss you while I'm gone? The pictures won't be as good as actually having you there with me, but they will help me get through the nights when I'm missing you so much, which is every night. Though, I would have liked a picture with your clothes on just as much as the ones with them off."
Phoebe smirked. "No you wouldn't have."
Joey nodded. "Okay, of course I prefer the naked ones, but I'd love a picture of you no matter what! Heck, it could be a picture of you in a trash bag, and it would still be the hottest picture ever."
Phoebe kissed him. "I forgive you."
Joey grinned. "Great! Thank you." He kissed her too. "And don't worry about the guys. They all admitted to being jealous I got a hot fiancé willing to give me such a hot picture of herself. They only saw the main picture; not the others."
Phoebe felt better about that. She grinned. "They really think I'm hot, and they're jealous of you?" She primped her hair, instantly feeling sexier upon finding this out.
Joey nodded. "Trust me, I didn't want them seeing you naked any more than you wanted them to! As far as I'm concerned your body is for my eyes only!"
Phoebe grinned mischievously. "Well, you're the only one allowed to touch it." She scooted closer to him. "Or play with it," she whispered in his ear. She kissed the side of his neck.
Joey moaned. He had been waiting for weeks ever since he had seen the naked pictures of her to ravish her.
He slowly pushed her back onto the bed, thinking of the main picture he had given her. Then it reminded him. "Do you still have some of that Chap-stick left?" he asked.
Phoebe rolled her eyes and laughed. "Yes!" She pulled it out of her nightstand drawer and generously slathered it on, before putting it away and letting Joey have his wish. Somethings never changed, she thought. In this case, she wouldn't have it any other way.
The friends all enjoyed a wonderful Easter dinner together catered by Monica. She had made them an Easter brunch at her grandmother's apartment before going to her restaurant, and later that night they all enjoyed Easter dinner at her restaurant. She was working, and couldn't sit with them during dinner, but they had at least been able to have Easter brunch together.
Easter night was Joey's last night in town before he had to head back to LA, and both Joey and Phoebe were sad when Monday arrived all too soon.
"Don't worry. I'm a month in. Only five more months to go, and then I'll be home with you where I belong," Joey informed her.
"And it's less than two months until we're married, Phoebe reminded him with a grin. They were getting married the last Saturday in May, and she could hardly wait to become Mrs. Joey Tribbiani.
Joey kissed her. "I can hardly wait!" He said, his grin matching her own.
Suddenly, his phone alerted him that he had a text. He looked at it and smiled. "So cool!" he said out loud.
"What is it?" Phoebe asked, looking over his shoulder.
"I have just been informed of who my new love interest is going to be in the movie," Joey answered her.
Phoebe instantly felt the jealousy bubble up in the pit of her stomach. "Love interest? I didn't know they were giving your character a love interest."
Joey nodded. "They've been looking for the right actress."
"Who did they pick?" Phoebe asked, silently praying she would be unattractive. Or at least, not as pretty as she herself was.
Joey looked at her. "Summer Anderson."
Phoebe's heart dropped right into her stomach. "Summer Anderson? The supermodel?"
Joey nodded. "Heck yeah, the supermodel!"
"She's unbelievably beautiful!" Phoebe said.
"She was voted the sexist woman alive in Maxim magazine," Joey informed her.
Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "You read that magazine?" It was full of beautiful scantily clad women. Already she felt self-conscious.
Joey blushed. "Someone on set does. He's always showing it to the rest of us guys." That someone was him, but Phoebe didn't need to know that. Anyway, it didn't hurt to just look.
Phoebe didn't like this one bit. Summer Anderson had double Ds, long dark and shiny hair, and eyes as green as emeralds. Not to mention all her features were symmetrical and perfect. Her legs went on for days. Her stomach was flat, her abs were toned, and her skin looked like it had never been marred by a single pimple in all her life.
Phoebe crossed her arms over her chest. "Well I don't like this. Some beautiful woman all over you. I assumed your character was going to be single!"
Joey smiled. He loved when women got jealous over him—especially Phoebe. It was cute. He pulled her close and held her tight as he stroked her hair. "There's no need to worry, Phoebes." He smiled while looking into her eyes. "You know you're the only woman for me."
Phoebe let him hold her. His words were nice, but she couldn't help but worry anyway. Sometimes it was easier said than done. She worried that Joey would change his mind once he started working with Summer and kissing her.
"Hey, it's just going to be me in character. I'm not the one dating her. Don't look at it as me dating her, but as David Parker dating her," he assured her.
Phoebe nodded, knowing that sometimes with actors, there was a thin line between the character and the actor. She guessed she just had to have faith in their relationship, and in Joey's faithfulness to her. Again, she thought, easier said than done.