"Joey, can you please take your feet off my table?" says Monica, already nervous.

"Come on, Mon. In my dressing room of the main actor on Days of Our Lives I can put my feet wherever I want "says Joey stretching his legs even more and leaning against the sofa, taking advantage of any opportunity to talk about his promotion in the soap opera.

"Yes, but this is not your soap opera and I, thankfully," Monica pushes Joey's legs to the floor "I'm not your room maid".

Joey, Ross and Phoebe were all in Monica and Chandler's apartment, who were hosting a dinner, since the responsibilities no longer let them hang out as much as they used to.

Erica and Jack were seven years old and had recently started school. Monica loved helping them with their homework, except for geography, where Chandler was much better, which she hated to admit "Let's let daddy help you guys now. I need to finish cleaning the dinner table" That's what she always said.

Monica continued to work at the Javu restaurant and Chandler as an advertiser, and together they earned relatively well. Well enough to move into a larger apartment, but they chose to remain in their usual residence because of their history with the place.

Phoebe also had a son, Albert, named after her grandfather. He was about to turn five years old and came as a surprise to her, though not to the others. Phoebe only discovered the pregnancy itself when she was almost four months pregnant. She insisted that the increase in her belly and the cessation of her period were due to fluid retention "and other tragedies" resulting from menopause.

"Pheebs, no one goes into menopause at 39" Monica and Mike tried to explain to her, encouraging her to go to the doctor but she always refused, insisting that her body "does not work according to the medicine taught by the media".

Joey moved to Los Angeles for two years looking for bigger roles. He starred in some productions but returned to New York when he was given the opportunity to sign a long contract with Days of Our Lives as one of the main stars, which was a good opportunity, he thought, since the show was in its prime of public and criticism, Monica being living proof, since she didn't used to miss a single episode and got angry when Joey refused to give her spoilers.

"BUT JOEY!"

"I already said Mon, if the director finds out that I'm spreading the next chapters, I can get fired"

"But only I will know" says Monica sitting next to him on the couch

"Right, you surely will not go gossiping to your girl friends"

"Of course not, Phoebe doesn't even watch it and in the restaurant the girls aren't fans of soap operas, they only like movies" At that moment Monica stops talking and looks down with a sad look on her face.

"Are you ok, honey?" asks Chandler, who was sitting in the armchair but wasn't paying much attention to their conversation because Sandra Bullock's movie "The Proposal" was playing on television.

"Yeah ... It's just that sometimes I miss talking to someone about soap operas"

The three were silent. Both Joey and Chandler knew that there was only one person as crazy as Monica about this type of show. Joey, awkwardly, hands the script to Monica and tries to ease the situation "So... Sandra is naked in this movie huh?"

Ross and Phoebe did not hear the conversation because they were repeating dessert at the dinner table. Maybe it was for the best. The four don't talk much about her, especially when Ross is around. He had just come out of a relationship of about a year and a half, the longest and most serious since it all happened. He really seemed happy with his ex-girlfriend. They broke up thanks to personality differences that arise over time, but still in a friendly way. With that, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe believed that Ross had finally started moving on. Still, they avoided touching her name near him, especially after the phone incident.

FLASHBACK

"You said that we weren't like the others, but maybe all the obstacles that came our way were actually showing us how we weren't meant to be... If we were, why would that happen?"

"That's it. She gave up on us. She never asked how I was feeling, she never thought that maybe I was also suffering and that together we... maybe... no... she thought only of herself, as always".

He had anger and disappointment in his voice and could barely express what he was feeling in that moment. It was already late at night when he knocked on Monica's door and with swollen eyes showed her the letter. When she finished reading, not knowing what to do or say, without time to digest or to understand the situation, she just hugged him.

In the days that followed, all of them, except Ross, tried to find Rachel. Ross refused to, still angry that she left him without even having the courage, or the respect, to justify herself. Monica, Joey, Chandler and Phoebe were also hurt because they receive no explanation, not even a letter, for more insensitive that a letter may be after so many years of friendship. Monica was visibly the most affected, but they all understood that their pain would only make the situation worse. They were supposed to find Rachel and bring her back to Ross so that together they could fight and rise after the loss. But it didn't happen.

They tried to speak to her parents, but they said they didn't know where she was. The four knew it was a lie, since Rachel would never run away without contacting her parents at some point. They tried to contact her company, Ralph Lauren, but her boss Mr. Zelner said she had quit the company about two weeks earlier with no solid explanation. When she received this information, Monica was surprised to realize that this farewell was something planned and that Rachel didn't look for her at any time. "After all these years, does she just leave me like this? It's not just fa... No. It's not the time, Monica. You need to think about Ross" she came to. Monica was always the mother of the group, she was the one who solved most situations or who gave the most rational advice. However, at times, she would like to be just one more of the six, to be able to make futile mistakes and hope that someone else would solve them for her, and at this point, she would like to be able to cry and be comforted at having lost her best friend. But that was not her role, she was the foundation of the crew and, if it were to see them happy again, it was better that it remained that way, however difficult it was sometimes.

However, in the coming months the search continued in vain, until they understood that she didn't want to be found, at least not by them. Thus, the four convinced Ross that he was the only one able to contact her.

"You must go. Things can't be badly settled like this. She left because she was in pain, just like you are. You two need to talk" they used to advise him.

Ross accepted because with time he had developed a more rational view of the situation and wasn't angry at her as much as before. That was her way of reacting to the pain. And he wanted her back.

And that's how it happened. Ross sought and insisted over and over for Sandra Green's help, but she refused to say. He wasn't surprised. Stubbornness has always been a characteristic of both mother and daughter, although Rachel didn't like to be compared to her mother.

He had no choice but to look for Leonard.

Since the day of the accident, Ross had never looked for his ex-future father-in-law again. Rachel was the one who went to the hospital to visit him until he was discharged. It was complicated to explain, Ross knew that it wasn't Leonard's fault but at the same time he wanted to blame someone. "He is a doctor, he should have known that heart attack, cigarettes and malaise could result in a sudden illness. He shouldn't have put his little princess at risk." It was Leonard who used to say that Ross had no responsibility to Rachel or Emma, but in the end it was him who killed one and destroyed the other one.

But in the moments when those thoughts came back to surround him, he tried to remember the day when everything happened, with Leonard in the observation bed of the hospital. That man was crying as Ross never saw another man crying. Leonard blamed himself for the accident and said non stop he would never forgive himself. He tried to hold Rachel's hands at one moment and apologize but she was leaning against the wall looking at nothing with an empty and expressionless look, but that would cross the soul of anyone who looked directly at her eyes. Ross felt bad for Rachel's non-feedback and sincerely consoled Leonard. It was not his fault and it would be cruel to blame him for the wickedness of fate.

However, he didn't return to the hospital. Although it was an accident, looking at him brought back memories of Emma and now he was still not sure if he would like to see him again... but he should do it to find his bride again.

At Leonard's door, Ross hesitated for a few moments to knock on it.

"Hello, Mr. Green". Ross said automatically, with no expression in his voice.

Leonard said nothing. The man just looked at Ross with a mixture of guilt, surprise and confusion.

"I would like to speak to Rachel" Leonard lowered his eyes for a few seconds and entered the apartment, returning a few seconds later with a note containing a phone number. Ross took the piece of paper and the two looked at each other. That was the moment when they both patched things up. Leonard realized how much Ross loved his daughter and, more than that, that he didn't blame him for what happened. Ross noticed Leonard's apologetic look, for everything. Both embraced with just a look, without touch or words. It was not needed.

Ross arrived at his apartment with his lightest soul. It was comforting for him to resolve things with Mr. Green, and perhaps that was the sign of a new start. Maybe after these months he and Rachel could move on one way or another, but together, as they always have been.

He dialed her number.

With each ringtone, he felt his throat constrict. He didn't know what he was going to say. The words would come when she answered.

But he called again. And again. She didn't answer. So were the next few days. He had even memorized the number thanks to so many times he had called her, until one day the secretary machine answered.

"This number does not exist".

Ross never spoke about her again. She changed her number because she didn't want to contact him anymore. He understood that. She wanted to bury their story as if it never existed. So he buried it too.

END OF FLASHBACK

The phone rang and Phoebe went to answer it.

"Hello?...Oh sure. Mon, it's for you " she says extending the phone to her friend

"Hello?" she answers still with discouragement for the conversation she had just had with Joey and Chandler "Oh…wow. Really?...No, yeah, sure, absolutely!...Ok, thank you Mr. Sid. See you tomorrow " Monica hangs up and turns to her friends with an excited look, not even remembering the previous sadness.

"What happened?" Ross asks.

"It was my boss. It looks like there will be a meeting between some branches of Javu to discuss bureaucratic issues, I still don't get it right. What matters is that they need representatives from each of these branches and I was summoned" She says almost screaming at excitement.

"And what's the big deal?" Phoebe asks.

"Well, the big deal is that the meeting will be at the Italian branch in Milan".

"Wow. Cool "Joey and Chandler said at the same time.

"Fancy" says Phoebe.

"A congress of restaurants? That's new" Ross mocks her sister.

"Chandler, you must go!" Monica turns to her husband ignoring her brother.

"I would love to, honey, but you know that I need to work and, also, who would stay with the kids?"

"You never missed a day of work, just ask for your accumulated days and the kids can stay with Joey".

"Me?" Joey asks

"Well...Ross has the university, Phoebe already has Albert and I think that at 43 you can have the responsibility to take care of two seven-year-olds".

Joey looked shocked at her: "42 years and 10 months"

Monica rolls her eyes "Besides, Lindsay will be happy to see you taking care of them" Lindsay was Joey's girlfriend. They had been together for over a year and he became a much more responsible person because of this relationship.

"Fine" He says at last. Everyone knew that Lindsay was his weakness.

"When are you going?" Phoebe asks

"In two weeks. We will be there for five days." She replies and looks smirkly at Chandler.

"I'm going to call the office." Chandler says, getting up immediately from the armchair. Since Erica and Jack were born he and Monica have had rare moments just by themselves.