Chandler sat on the bar stool at Slim Pickin's and mindlessly watched the sports scores crawl across the bottom of the TV sets overhead.
Slim Pickin's ended up being a pretty good go-to place for him, especially on Saturdays when he was moored over a thousand miles away from New York. Though on this college football Saturday it was extra crowded - the Sooners were on TV.
The name of the restaurant ended up being a play on words. It was the one place he found where the menu had relatively healthy options on one side and was chock full of BBQ, burgers and wings on the other.
Today he'd chosen the latter side of the menu. Wings, a burger and beer. He need comfort food.
He'd been so relieved last night after talking to Monica. He hated when there was unresolved tension between them.
And this time it had lasted longer than he could ever remember.
The stress of his months in this stupid job in Tulsa had been slowly taking a toll on both of them, even if neither of them were willing to admit how much.
Then there was Thanksgiving, which he still hated - and Rachel's pain-in-the-ass sister to deal with, along with all the Emma-custody drama. Truth be told he was still smarting from that, even though in the end Ross and Rachel thought it'd be OK if he alone was fourth in line to raise his niece.
Breaking the dishes was a tipping point. It was an accident that put a capper on a crappy day, and he knew if Monica found out she would go through the roof.
And she did.
But instead of finding a way to try to calm her down and make everything OK again, he got mad. He was tired of feeling guilty, tired of feeling like he was incompetent.
Just plain tired of it all.
So he'd walked out.
And for a brief moment that night he thought he'd throw the box in the dumpster and keep on walking.
The fact that he even had that thought made him shutter now, just as it had on Thanksgiving.
He was angrier than he'd ever been, but there was no way he was going to leave Monica. He still couldn't believe he'd ever contemplated it before, on their wedding day of all days.
He'd sworn to himself then that no matter what happened, no matter how crazy she made him, he would always remember how fiercely she loved him - like no one in his life ever had.
Chandler sighed, knowing full well that he made her crazy too, but the crazy balanced itself out. She was his best, best friend - the undisputed love of his life.
The one person in the world who, despite everything, understood him the most and loved him anyway.
And that had always been enough. They hardly ever fought. They talked, they worked stuff out. Honestly, though, it was becoming harder and harder to do that.
All because he fell asleep in a meeting.
Well, not only because he fell asleep in a meeting.
The distance was becoming a big strain, and he knew it was going to be much worse until the new year rolled around, but he also knew it wasn't the only thing causing the tension between them to erupt so frequently.
He couldn't make her pregnant.
They'd been trying and trying for months and nothing.
She'd been stoic about it, but he knew every month she was overcome with disappointment.
The worst part was there was nothing he could do about it, and half the time when she realized she wasn't pregnant - again - he was half-way across the country.
Chandler knew giving her a baby wouldn't solve everything, but God, it would make things easier.
It would make him feel less guilty, less incompetent.
Less like he was letting her down in every phase of life at the moment.
And he'd promised to make her happy.
"Bang up job you're doing of that, Bing," he mumbled to himself.
Chandler's eyes were fixed on the TV, but glazed over in thought as the bubbly, blond, barely-out-of-college bartender named AnnieMay approached him.
"Want another?" she asked with a smile as he downed the last of his beer.
"Sure," he said, settling in.
"Comin' right up, honey," she said as she winked at him.
He gave her a downward smile in return, lowering his eyes and glancing at his watch. He took a deep breath, half-heartedly returning his eyes to the football game above. It was just now 4:30 p.m. and the only thing standing between him and another long, lonely night in the middle of nowhere was that one more beer.
He'd sent his staff home at 3, which he usually did on the Saturdays they had to work. But everyone was due back at Noon Sunday for another 6-hour shift of shuffling papers around and trying to make the numbers work.
It was going to be a long weekend - made longer by the fact that when he'd tried to call Monica this morning she wasn't home, and her cell was turned off.
He wondered if she'd picked up a shift at JaVu since he wasn't going to be home.
And that thought made him sad.
God, he missed her.
He folded his hands and tucked them under his chin, leaning his elbows on the bar, as a server came to clear his plates away.
Then the bartender walked back to him with what looked like a very dark, and very flat, amber ale in a beer mug.
"Ah…is this the same beverage?" he asked her, a little confused.
She let out a giggle.
"No…it's not even beer," she drawled in an Oklahoma twang. "It's compliments of the lady at the end of the bar."
She nodded in the direction the lady was sitting and Chandler's heart skipped a beat. He couldn't be accepting drinks from women.
"Wait," AnnieMay said, confused. "She was right there…"
"Listen, tell her thanks but I'm married I can't accept it," Chandler interrupted hurriedly.
"Yes, you can," said a female voice.
Chandler whipped around in his bar stool and came face-to-face with his wife, who was holding an empty bottle of YooHoo.
And they both smiled bigger than they had in days.
###
"Hello, Darlin'," she said with a grin.
"Monica!"
Chandler jumped off the stool and grabbed her around the waist, oblivious to the stares around them - and boos from a few complaining that they were blocking the game.
"Wha…what are you doing here?!"
"Looking for a handsome, blue-eyed man at the bar," she teased, as she handed the empty bottle to the smiling bartender and ran her hands up his arms, clasping them at the nape of his neck.
"Humm," he hummed, kissing her quickly on the lips. "Did ya find him?"
"Still looking…" she smiled and he playfully slapped her butt through her winter coat.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"You're blocking the game, son," said an older farmer who had occupied the bar stool next to him most of the afternoon. Chandler quickly glanced at the annoyed table behind them.
"Ah…"
"Sit right here, little lady," the farmer said, tipping his very worn baseball cap to Monica. "Mine's gonna 'spect me home 'fore too long."
"Thank you," she said, as she took off her coat and placed it over the seat of the stool. Monica couldn't get over how nice everyone was - she was sure each person she'd talked to since she landed in Oklahoma a few hours ago was smiling.
Chandler sat back down on his bar stool.
"What can I get ya, honey?" the bartender asked.
"Are you hungry?" Chandler said, not taking his eyes off her. He just couldn't believe she was really with him at Slim Pickin's!
"Yeah," she said, halfheartedly looking at the menu the bartender had handed her. Chandler flipped it over.
"See," he said. "'Slim' Pickin's.' Unless you want a burger and fries.."
"Ah," she said, appreciatively. "I'll take the grilled chicken salad with house dressing."
"Sure thing," AnnieMay said. She took the menu and walked away.
Monica smiled at the bartender then turned to smile widely at her husband, who had a look of pure joy on his face.
She'd spotted him across the bar almost as soon as she walked in, but the look on his face then had made her stop in her tracks. He was staring at the TVs, but she knew he wasn't watching anything. He was done eating and once in a while he'd take a sip of his beer, but he kept running his fingers through his hair and sighing - then clasping and unclasping his hands under his chin.
And he didn't smile or laugh, not once, and it had broken her heart.
She knew he was as aggravated as she was with the current job situation, but until that moment it had never hit her how utterly alone he was in Oklahoma.
She didn't have him in New York, but she had everyone else.
He had no one.
And Monica always hated to think of him alone. He'd been alone so much in his life and it pained her to think how lonely he must feel every time he was here - no matter how friendly the people seemed to be.
She'd brought a pack of YooHoos from the airport as a little gift and decided it would be a fun way to announce her presence.
It ended up being a sure-fire way to make him smile.
Her co-conspirator AnnieMay winked at her as she came back quickly and set down the salad in front of her.
"I…I can't believe you're here," he breathed, as he searched her face. "You are here, right? I haven't had that much to drink…"
"Yes, I am," she giggled, leaning up to give him another kiss.
He smiled, feeling practically giddy with happiness to have her sitting next to him..
"Why?" he asked, as a thought suddenly struck him. He lowered his voice. "Are you…are you ovulating?"
Monica's face fell as she looked at him.
He was looking at her innocently, genuinely wondering if that was the reason she'd come…and it made her feel horrible.
Had she really been treating him like a sperm donor? So much so that this was his first thought?
She cringed a little then cleared her throat.
"No," she said, attempting a small smile again as she picked up her fork.
"I was…I was just tired of missing you," she said quietly, shrugging and looking back at her salad, trying to fight the tears that were threatening. "I guess I thought if you couldn't come home I'd come here…"
He took her hand in his as she looked at him again. He could see the tears in her eyes. She set down her fork and faced him, both hands now firmly clasped in his own.
"I'm glad you came, no matter what the reason," he said, smiling softly at her. "I'm just kinda shocked. Happy…very happy, though…Mon…I didn't mean…ahh..."
"I know," she interrupted, stroking his cheek.
He ducked his head a little in that shy-boy way that melted her heart. Then his eyes looked up as he grinned.
"Better eat that salad before it gets cold," he said with a smirk.
She rolled her eyes at his lame joke, but couldn't stifle the giggle that came from the tickle that started from deep within her as she sat next to her husband.
And so she laughed - the first real laugh she'd had in what felt like forever.
NOTE: Yeah, so, the title of this chapter has nothing to do with the very old country song "Livin' on Tulsa Time," I just thought it made sense since we've moved the action to the American west. :) Might update a little faster…got on a roll, again…