Kyle & Whitney
They walked hand in hand out of Central Perk. They had just left Ross and Phoebe, who were both acting really weird.
"I'm so glad we agreed to try this again," Kyle smiled, kissing Whitney's hand. She smiled back.
"Yes. I really am going to work on some of those things we talked about," she promised.
"You know, Phoebe was a little too eccentric for me," Kyle said.
"I really don't want to talk about your tryst," Whitney cut him off. Kyle stopped walking.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't the only one who had a 'tryst' as you call it," he said.
"Kyle, come on. Let's just forget about Ross and Phoebe."
"You know, Phoebe taught me some interesting things," Kyle said, waggling his brow. Whitney surveyed him for a moment, wondering if she should start a fight or just go with it. If she started a fight, she was just proving to him his theory that she was mean. If she went with it, she could show that she was trying. As hard as it was to let it go, she decided to.
"Really?" she asked. He took her hand again and ran a finger up her arm.
"Yea. I can show you," he winked.
"All right," she smiled. "I really missed you in that department. Ross needs a lot of encouragement."
"I can tell."
"I mean a LOT of encouragement. It got to the point where I almost told him to go away and let me do it myself," she giggled.
"Oohh ouch," Kyle snorted.
They both laughed even harder together as they hurried back to his place. Ross and Phoebe were very far from their minds now.
Erin
It wasn't that there was something wrong with Joey per say. She just didn't want to be in a committed relationship. All she had been looking for was a fling, and she had been so sure that Joey was the right guy for that. When he started getting all chatty about the future, she got freaked out. She wasn't the type to settle down. She didn't want the marriage with the house and kids. It wasn't her thing. Maybe it was for other girls, but not her. She hoped Rachel and Phoebe let him down easy. She'd have done it herself, but why bother when some other sucker can do it for you?
"Hey, girlfriends," she grinned as she joined the three women at the bar they'd agreed to meet at.
"Hey," they replied. Erin smiled at them. They were great girls. Tiffany was in journalism, Sandra was a nurse, and Janine was a dancer.
"So? Did you break up with him?" Sandra asked, leaning in. They all knew Erin was seeing someone.
"I did," she nodded. "Well, I got his friends to do it for me."
"Oh, so cold!" Tiffany exclaimed. These women had been burned by men in their lifetime, so whenever one of them got the chance to burn a guy, they celebrated.
"Yea," Erin shrugged.
"Was he cute? Should I have a go?" Janine asked, eyes twinkling.
"He was definitely nice to look at," Erin answered. "And not bad in the bedroom."
"Maybe I'll date him and dump him too," Janine laughed.
"Sure. His name is Joey."
"Wait," Sandra interrupted. "Janine, didn't you live with a guy named Joey?"
"Oh my God," Erin said, covering her mouth. "Joey Tribbiani?!"
"You slept with Joey?!" Janine cried. She felt outraged and didn't know why.
"Uh, yea," Erin nodded.
"Wow," Tiffany laughed. "You two were with the same guy. Except Erin got to dump him."
"You know what? Shut up," Janine growled. She crossed her arms. Of all the guys Erin had to go out with it had to be Joey.
"I'm sorry," Erin winced at her.
"It's fine. How could you have known?"
"You just...you never said his name when you talked about him," Erin pointed out. "I wouldn't have if you did."
"It's okay. Can we drop this now?" Janine asked.
"Sure," Erin nodded. "So, Tif, got any good news for us?"
They started chatting about work and things, but Erin noticed that Janine was looking bothered still and trying to hide it. Erin would make it up to her later.
David
Getting into the cab was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. No, it was the second hardest thing. The first time he left Phoebe was the first hardest thing he'd ever done. Why he was doing it again, he couldn't understand. Why did he go back? Why didn't he just quit? Wasn't true love worth fighting for? He leaned forward to stop the cab when he paused. If he stayed, what would happen? They'd date, sure, but what if it didn't work out? What if she decided she didn't want to be with him? He'd have lost her and his job. His job was a guarantee. He looked back to see Joey hugging her as she cried, and he felt his heart break. What if he decided he couldn't be with her? What if they dated for a while and he learned things about her that he didn't like? This whole thing made his stomach hurt. He felt so torn. In the end, work won. It always won. It was stable, and it would never change. He had this new memory of Phoebe, and he would hold onto it forever. That way, she would stay perfect. There were no flaws. If he ever saw her again and he was finished in Minsk, then he'd see what happened. For now, she was the woman he loved who would remain simply wonderful in his mind.
Tag
Who knew that someone's birthday would make them go crazy? Tag was still feeling shocked as he made his way down to the coffee shop. Rachel had broken up with him because she turned thirty. How ridiculous was that?! On the other hand, he did admit that he wasn't ready to think about marriage and kids. Those thoughts terrified him. He still just wanted to have fun. He wished that Rachel just wanted to have fun with him still. He answered his ringing phone.
"Hey," he said, seeing it was his sister. She was his best friend. He even had a photo of her on his desk from when she was younger wearing braces. It had made Rachel jealous until she found out it was his sister. He had been relieved she hadn't asked why he had an older photo of her in the first place. The reason was, his sister had lost a bet with him, and he won the opportunity to show off her nerdiness for everyone to see.
"Hey, you. How's it going?" she asked. Tag loved his sister. They were both still single, and she used him as a wingman sometimes.
"It sucks. I just got dumped," he answered.
"No way!" she cried. "Aw, I'm so sorry."
"She wasn't into having fun," Tag sighed.
"Don't you hate that?"
"I do."
"Okay, so get your scrawny butt over here, and we are gonna have some fun!" she exclaimed. "I have some girls who would date you in a second. Actually, I have the perfect girl for you. Erin. She just wants to have fun too."
"All right, but she better not be someone who is gonna cry when it's over," Tag warned.
"It will most likely be you crying, but that is not important," his sister said impatiently. "You know, I wonder if Rachel will get with Joey."
"Why do you say that?" Tag asked. "And how do you know Joey?"
"Everyone knows Joey," she dismissed, "and I heard he wants to commit. Well, both he and Rachel want serious relationships right? She's his roommate now. I bet you anything that steams up eventually."
"You're on. Ten bucks."
"Ten?! More like a hundred, baby."
"Fine, but can you spot me a fifty?" Tag asked. She laughed.
"Come on, you. Meet you in ten minutes."
"All right. Thanks Sandra," Tag smiled. He hung up and laughed to himself. His sister was another one who wasn't looking for a serious relationship. She was like a guy almost, breaking men's hearts. He pitied the person who ever got dumped by her.
Cecilia
Joey had been a different sort of guy she had been with. He was sweet but also a bit stupid. Cecilia normally didn't date guys like that, but somehow it worked with Joey. She felt really bad for taking the other job and leaving him behind. She hated how sad he looked. It had been fun spending time with him and teaching him about her character even though he butchered it most times. In the end, he had pulled it off, which amazed her. Maybe she wasn't giving him enough credit after all. After seeing him come alive from his coma and into her character, she met with him and mentioned he could come to Mexico to see her. She hoped he would. Then, after a wonderful, final make out session, she left. She ran into Monica on the way out, though.
"Oh! Fancy meeting you here," Monica said.
"No," Cecilia said, knowing what she wanted.
"Please! Just once. Once!"
"I can't," Cecilia said, exasperated. Didn't the girl understand? Her lawyer said no.
"Just one good one right here," Monica said, showing her cheek. "I won't tell anyone it was you!" Cecilia couldn't believe how much this woman wanted to be slapped. She looked around, seeing no one. What really was the harm? She was asking for it. Monica was consenting to it.
"All right. Once," she said. Monica braced herself, barely containing her excitement. She pulled back and swung, hard. Monica's head snapped back, and her eyes widened.
"Oh," she whimpered, clutching her face.
"Are you happy now?" Cecilia asked. Monica only nodded.
"Hey, what is going on out here?" a security guard asked, coming into view.
"Goodbye," Cecilia said, hurrying away.
"I just got slapped by the best actress in the world!" Monica shouted happily in the distance. True to her word, she didn't say Cecilia's name. Cecilia smirked. She still had it.
Kristen
Ross and Joey hurling blatantly obvious history about each other was enough to make her get up and walk away. The thing was, she didn't think they even noticed. They were too busy hating on each other. She felt embarrassed for them. She also felt a little flattered that both of them wanted to date her that much. It was always hard moving to a new place and not knowing anyone. If they wanted to date her, then it meant other guys would want to date her too. This was good news. She went back to her new apartment and opened a bottle of wine. She relaxed on the couch, looking at all her boxes she still had to unpack. It was too bad Joey and Ross were fighting over her. They could have helped her unpack too. She picked up the phone to call her mom.
"Hey, Mom," she said. "You'll never guess what happened to me as soon as I got here..."
Melissa
Oh it was so embarrassing. She buried her face in her hands as the cab pulled away. Rachel didn't love her. She had mistook her constant prodding about the past for something else. She could never face Rachel again. And her boyfriend...oh, man. What was she going to do? She felt so confused. Did this make her a lesbian? Did she just learn something about herself? The whole dinner she had spent obsessing about everything Rachel did or said. She hadn't thought about her boyfriend at all. She swallowed hard. Perhaps she should contact a professional when she got home to talk about this. Maybe she was a lesbian after all. Or maybe she was bisexual? It was all so confusing. She hugged herself tightly. Once she talked to someone, she'd figure it out. Things would be okay. She just wished she could stop thinking about Rachel.
It's funny how much the dating has slowed the later the seasons are. Anyway, thanks for your continued interest in this story. We are almost at the end, though! Stay tuned...