CHAPTER SIX

The girls spent countless hours in Rachel's bedroom, crying at the outstanding beauty of the dress. It hung over her wardrobe, obsessively kept in pristine condition by Monica. 'It's just so beautiful!' she wept. 'This dress was made for you, Rachel!'

This behaviour was unfathomable to the guys, of course. Sure, Ross's suit was nice, but they didn't feel the need to sit and stare at it for hours.

Soon, Rachel decided it was time to buy Monica and Phoebe their dresses. She knew they'd be ecstatic about it, so she braced herself for a massive reaction as she made her way down to the coffee shop. Luckily when she arrived, she found it was just the two of them sitting gossiping over cups of coffee. 'Pheebs? Mon?' she said, to announce her presence.

'What is it?' said Monica, putting down her coffee. No doubt she was aware that it would have something to do with the wedding.

'I think it's about time we went and bought your dresses!' said Rachel.

'Yay! Wow!' squealed Phoebe. 'I've been waiting for this since you got engaged!'

They practically skipped over to the dress store. None of them spoke as they whizzed past hundreds of busy people, watching yellow cabs speed by in a blur and hear a brief millisecond of a street performer as they zoomed past, dodging in and out of other people.

Finally they reached Ashwell Wedding Store. It was quite small but immaculately spotless and covered, wall to wall, in dresses and suits. They had the longest dress to the shortest; sparkling jewels to shining silk; sequin encrusted to glitter sprinkled and every shade of every colour; in fact, there were so many dresses in so many varieties that it made them feel depressed that they couldn't just buy them all and wear them all. Of course, the girls immediately split up to try and navigate the rainbow of dresses.

'Remember, we want light purple or blue to go with the theme!' Monica called back at the other two.

They milled around to gaze at the gorgeous dresses for a long while, before all three laid eyes on the same one at once.

'That one,' said Rachel firmly.

It was light blue but faded to lavender at the bottom, with silver jewels scattered at the top. It was knee length with straps.

That was when an assistant appeared out of the shadows and said, as if on cue, 'Can I help you?'

'Could those two,' Rachel pointed at her friends, 'try on those dresses?' she asked, pointing at the dresses.

'Of course,' the assistant said sweetly. 'Come this way, please.'

She led them into the dressing room. Phoebe gave Rachel a thumbs-up on the way in.

Fifteen minutes later, they re-emerged looking excellent. Rachel gasped as she saw them. She could just envisage them already, walking down the aisle behind her. 'They fit perfectly!' exclaimed Monica.

'These dresses are meant to be, Rachel!' said Phoebe, as if warning her. 'Don't just ignore this sign!'

Rachel had just opened her mouth to reply when a noise came that sounded like a death sentence in the eyes of the girls.

'OH. MY. GOD!'

All three seriously considered running out of the shop there and then, but they decided there was nothing they could do. They had to stay.

'Well, what are you three doing here?' asked Janice, sounding excited and almost euphoric.

'What did Chandler ever see in her?' muttered Phoebe.

'We're just trying on dresses – we were just about to leave –' began Rachel.

'Who's getting married?' interrupted Janice, sounding ever more delighted, and annoying the girls more than ever. 'Is it you?' she asked, jabbing a finger at Rachel.

'Yes, actually,' said Rachel quickly, before turning to the others and saying, 'Well, let's be off, so much to do -!'

'Oh! Why didn't you tell me!' said Janice, before breaking into a laugh that caused them and a few other shoppers to clap their hands over their ears. 'We haven't caught up in ages! What have I missed? Anybody had any kids?' she asked, laughing again. A few shoppers looked round to see what the awful noise was. 'How about going down to that coffee house you're always at, eh?'

'No, sorry, Janice. We're busy,' said Monica firmly.

Janice seemed undeterred. She didn't even seem to guess what they were trying to do. 'Well, I can join in!' she said happily. 'If you're getting married, Janice knows best!' she added, wagging her finger at them.

'No, Ross does,' snapped Phoebe.

'And I can be a bridesmaid too!' continued Janice ecstatically. 'Don't you think that dress would look lovely on me?'

There was an unpleasant silence.

Then Rachel decided that enough was enough. If Janice was suggesting that she be a bridesmaid, things had gone too far. 'Well, I'm paying up. Come on, Monica, Phoebe. Bye, Janice, we'll catch up some other time.'

'Where are you off to?' asked Janice.

'Home,' said Rachel, turning to the assistant and asking to pay for the dresses. She nodded, with an almost sympathetic look. After all, she too had now had the experience of being in the same room as Janice.

'Well, call me about the wedding!' said Janice happily, before whizzing out of the shop.

'Phew!' said Phoebe loudly.

'What was she even here for?' asked Monica. 'She didn't buy anything!'

Rachel glared at the door Janice had just left through. 'Come on, anyway. Let's just buy these and go,' she said.

Another fifteen minutes later, they finally left. However, they were still on guard in case Janice should show up again.

'Wow, Janice annoys the hell out of me,' shivered Monica. 'I'd forgotten how annoying she is.'

'She's a nightmare,' concluded Phoebe, as they gladly took their places on the sofa and began to tell the story of their encounter to Chandler, Joey and Ross.