For the several days that Chandler was gone, Monica kept calling his cell phone and leaving messages. Besides being worried, she was annoyed that he'd taken the Porsche and that she had to keep calling in sick for him at his work.

"Come on, Chandler, you need to come home. We can hire a private detective to find Joey, if you want, but you can't jeopardize your new career like this. Especially not when we're having a baby."

Reminded of her pregnancy, Chandler gave in and called Monica back. "All right, I'll come home." He hung up and drove back to New York, chain-smoking all the while.

Why did Monica have to get pregnant now, of all times? They were already starting to look into adoption because of their infertility, and then suddenly Monica got pregnant naturally. She and her mother must have that miracle-child-at-the-last-moment thing in common.

Chandler wanted to be happy for Monica; he really did. He ought to be happy for both of them, for their marriage, for everything. But he didn't feel strong enough to handle having a family right now, with this black hole in his life.

It wasn't fair. It had been bad enough avoiding Joey while he had been dating Rachel, but to lose him now, forever, was too much. He needed Joey to be around. Just to be near.

Monica was waiting up for Chandler that night, and when she saw him come in, she was relieved. She rushed forward to embrace her husband at the door, but stepped back when she noticed the stink on him. "Have you been smoking?"

Yeah, for two months. Why bother hiding it now? Chandler shrugged and wordlessly went into the living room, slumping onto the couch.

Monica followed him. "I know you're upset, but you shouldn't--"

Chandler picked up the phone book and began looking through the listings for private detectives.

"Chandler, you haven't said one word to me yet."

"Sorry," he said, still staring at the phone book. "I have to find Joey. Somebody--somebody has to know how to find him."

"Sure, but it's the middle of the night," she tried to take the phone book from him. "And you should get some rest after all that driving."

Chandler wouldn't let go. "I can't sleep."

"Chandler!"

"It's this, or smoking!"

She sighed grudgingly and released the book. "Fine. But don't blame me if there's no detective agency with office hours at this time of night. Just come to bed soon and get some rest." She kissed his cheek and went to their bedroom.

Chandler kept reading through the entries in the phone book, trying to decide which detective to call. Maybe he should use his computer to look up information on these various agencies. But after a while Chandler began to yawn, and he realized how exhausted he was. He turned out the lights in the living room, then went into the guest room to sleep.

Monica wondered why he didn't come to their room, but maybe he was trying not to disturb her with the stink of his cigarette smoke. She would have to make him quit in the morning, and get rid of the smell on those sheets.

Unfortunately, Chandler refused to give up his cigarettes and remained single-minded about finding a detective that could locate missing persons.

When Chandler finally hired a guy, the detective came over to interview the whole gang to learn about Joey's routine behavior, and any friends or relatives that he could hide out with. Phoebe also mentioned that Joey sometimes used the names "Hans Ramoray" and "Ken Adams."

"You mean because he doesn't want to be recognized as a soap star in public?"

"No, just on dates."

"O-kay." The detective said that a trip to Los Angeles looked likely, since Joey was an actor, but his agency would also check out the Vermont lead, just in case. Then he left to get started on the investigation.

Even though the search had been handed over to a professional, Chandler worried constantly and got very little sleep as the days and weeks passed. Phoebe offered him a massage to relax, but he refused, and Monica even offered him any kind of sex that he wanted. Chandler only responded by withdrawing from her and spending more time at his office. He still slept in the guest room and constantly smoked cigarettes, no matter how much the gang protested.

Monica was really starting to have her doubts about her husband. She asked Ross, "Is this normal? Him worrying himself sick about Joey?"

Ross wasn't sure. "I hope this is just him freaking out like he did over his parents' divorce, or my first breakup with Rachel. But if it's... you know, something else, I don't know what you're gonna do, Mon."

Monica shrugged and joked weakly, "Phoebe predicted that we'd divorce in seven years. Maybe we're getting a head start." She decided to give Chandler the benefit of the doubt, since they were having a baby, and Chandler had been known to freak out before and recover later.

After about a month, the detective located Joey and made his report. Joey was living in a hotel in L.A. under the name of Gunther Central Perk, and he had grown a beard. He kept looking for affordable apartments to rent in the area, but had no luck so far, and he had not gone out to any acting auditions lately. Much of his time was spent having food delivered to his room from the local pizzeria and sandwich shop.

Monica sighed in relief. "So now we know he's safe and sound, at least. You wanna call him, Chandler?"

"What if he hangs up? Or moves someplace else, and changes his name again?"

"That could happen, depending on how determined he is not to be found," the detective responded. "Perhaps if one of you were to fly out there and visit him--"

"I'll go," Chandler interrupted and grabbed the address from him.

Monica frowned and watched Chandler hurry to pack his bags and book a flight to Los Angeles. Clearly there was no point in arguing with her husband right now, so she just paid the detective's fee and watched him go.