Megan Counts

EDUC 572

PR2 – Friends Fanfiction

02-17-20

Rachel sat there looking at the letter she had received last night. By now, this had to be the tenth time she had read it, but she still couldn't figure out who it was from. "I am twenty-eight for crying out loud," she thought, "and yet here I am, receiving an anonymous love letter?" There were so many people she thought it could be – Ross, Paul, Joshua, Tag, hell it could even be Gunther. Lord knows he's had that crazy, obsessive crush on her from a distance for years. Gunther's always been super sweet about it though, and never straight forward. He's never made a move on her or tried to ask her out even; it's highly unlikely that he'd send a love letter this intense to her apartment. Rachel looked over at the clock. 7:23. She had to leave for work now or she'd be late for the second time this week and honestly, a love letter was not worth the fight with Mr. Zellner again.

After what seemed like the longest morning at Ralph Lauren ever, Rachel rushed over to meet Monica and Phoebe at Central Perk. She couldn't wait to tell them about the letter and see if they had any idea who the author could be. It was unusual for her not to tell them about it right away, but she had hoped that she would at least figure out something more about it before sharing it. Then at least the story would have a little more of a dramatic build to it.

When she walked in, Monica and Phoebe were already sitting in their usual spot, but to Rachel's surprise, Ross and Joey were there too. Usually during this time in the day, it was just the girls; this was their time to gossip and talk about things they didn't want to discuss in front of the guys just yet. "Crap!" She didn't realize she had actually yelled it out loud until everyone in the coffee shop turned around to look at her. Her face turned a bright shade of pink and she smiled timidly as she walked over to the couch.

"Everything good, Rach?" Joey asked and he moved over to let her sit down.

"Yeah I just uh – I forgot about this – I was supposed to send a fax out before coming on my break and it completely slipped my mind." Rachel said as she laughed nervously.

"Well here, I'll buy you a coffee and then we can walk over together and take care of it. You shouldn't have to spend your entire break alone." Joey said as he winked at her.

All of a sudden, everything clicked. Rachel had noticed that Joey had been extremely flirty lately, but she just assumed that was his personality coming out more. He had always sweet-talked the girls in their group so honestly, she didn't think anything of it.

As her and Joey started walking out of the coffee shop, Rachel reached into her back pocket and pulled out the anonymous love letter she had received. Joey looked down at her hand and his face went blank as she dangled it in front of his face. They both froze on the sidewalk outside of the coffee shop, waiting to see who would speak first.

"So, Joe, is there something you've been wanting to talk to me about?" Rachel asked with a mix of nervousness and worry plastered across her face.

From inside the coffee shop, Monica, Phoebe, and Ross watched as the exchange between their two other friends went down outside.

"What do you think that could be about?" Monica asked the group.

"I know." Phoebe started, as if she had been in on the mystery all along. "She's his lobster."

As soon as she said it, Ross's heart sank to the ground and he looked out the window with a face full of despair as he saw his best friend and the love of his life share a passionate, life-altering kiss.