Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here
Bruna, thanks for your reviews, I really have finished the story, I'm just checking and running the translation, since the translator often confuses the feminine and masculine articles. I'm going to upload two or three chapters so that the story advances faster. -
Chapter 4: The girls
Monica prepared coffee while she waited for her friends who soon arrived.
Rachel and Phoebe knocked on Monica's door. She opened them and as soon as she saw them her eyes filled with tears and they embraced.
They sat at the kitchen island with a coffee each.
Monica already knew that they knew the story, though she was surprised when Rachel told her that she and Ross had read her diary.
"Rachel, Chandler had no right to show you that diary!" Monica yelled angrily.
"Mon, I think it was the only way he had to make us believe him, although the face him wore showed his devastation, Ross and I freaked out thinking that an accident had happened to one of you."
"Okay, Rachel, anyway, that diary contains nothing but the truth about my feelings."
"Mon, are you really in love with Richard?" Phoebe asked.
"Yes of course, why do you doubt it!" Monica answered obviously annoyed with the question.
"Mon, don't be defensive, we just want to understand, we don't judge you in any way, we just want to understand…. I don't know, if you'd had a shitty marriage these last few years, we'd understand it more easily, and honestly, from what you two showed, it didn't seem like a shitty marriage, quite the opposite, unless you swept shit under the rug."
"We didn't hide anything, I admit that it was a good marriage, very good, but that doesn't stop me from falling in love with another person, with whom I was also very much in love before even thinking about Chandler romantically"
"Mon, how did you find out again that you were still in love with Richard?" Rachel asked.
"well if you read the diary you will know" said Monica angrily
"Yes, but I would like to hear it from your mouth" Rachel emphasized.
"We bumped into each other on the street one day and we went to have a coffee, a couple of days later he came to the restaurant and invited me for lunch the next day. We went and we were talking about the past of the time when we were dating and that we were so in love, and he commented that it was ironic that loving each other so much I would have left him because he did not want to have children and in the end it turned out that I could not have them. That maybe if we had stayed together I would have discovered my problem and all these times we would have spent together loving each other.
"From that moment on I started wondering "what if…" and we continue to see each other, and he is so mature, sweet, kind, gentleman that my old feelings began to surface again."
Phoebe looked at her and commented "the qualities of the man you describe are quite similar to Chandler's..."
"It could be" Monica replied with sufficiency and continued "but it's not Chandler, there are things that fascinate me, and I ended up giving in to mutual desires..."
"Mon, why didn't you talk to Chandler earlier to explain that your feelings about him had changed, that you didn't love him anymore, that you loved Richard now," Rachel commented.
"Rach, I never said that I stopped loving Chandler, I really love him and I care about him, I didn't want to hurt him, but now I'm not on the same page, something changed in me and I want to be with Richard and fulfill my dream"
"What exactly is your dream Mon" now asked Phoebe
"Living with him, going to live in Paris, getting into one of the most famous schools there and then trying to find a job in a great restaurant, just like we had planned the first time we went out"
"Mon, that is a dream you had at 26, now you had a marriage and children that were also your dreams throughout your life" say Rachel
"Enough Rach, I have the right to fulfill my dream, and I'm at the right age for it"
"Okay Mon, I just wanted to understand"
Phoebe was more inquisitive; "And Richard is better in bed than Chandler."
"What are you taking about !" exclaims Monica
"Well, we were always able to talk about everything, including sex, and when you started dating Chandler you said he was by far the best you've ever had, including Richard, I just wanted to know if he had improved."
Monica looked down, and she replied "Well they are different… Chandler is more passionate, light-hearted and witty, Richard is very sweet and more classic in that aspect, but he's good. In reality, a relationship is not only measured by sex, there are many other things that attract you and make you fall in love."
"Sure," Phoebe said, "like the power to fulfill dreams…"
Monica gave her an icy look, but Phoebe didn't flinch, she had already formed her opinion and her intuition had already given her all the answers.
Rachel and Phoebe left, arranging that they would come at noon the next day to help her move her things.
In reality, she told them that she would only take her clothes, some kitchen gadget that she knew Chandler wouldn't use, and some photos of the kids.
For now, she would not take any furniture since Richard's apartment was very well furnished and his things would not fit.
Once in the car, the comments between the friends began.
"Rach? …. I really think that she is totally confused, she feels in love because she is going to fulfill the dream that she had at the age of 26 with Richard, but I don't know if she is really in love with the man as she says "
"I don't know… ...she seems to love him…."
"Look Rach, the first time she went out with him, when did she go? 12 years ago, they only dated for 4 months, obviously they were on a honeymoon, and she suffered when they broke up since she had put a lot of expectations in that relationship, at that time her dream was to get married and have children, but you think that they didn't even came to live together…. they did not have a lasting story and now they have been dating for 3 months….and she already feels that he is the love of his life?
"Rach we know that sex is not everything in a couple, but it was always an important issue for her…. she is leaving "the best she has ever had" since she described them to us again, for someone "classic" in sex?
"Besides, he's 20 years older, ten years ago maybe she didn't have much influence, but how long will it take until he can't even be" classic "?
"Phoebe, please!..."
"Rach, it's true, besides, the qualities you described about Richard completely fit Chandler, it's true that when they started dating he was still immature, but Chandler changed, he grew a lot in these years, he loves his wife, he adores his kids, and he's great at sex, what more could she ask for" "in fact, in light of what Monica is doing, I think Chandler is much more mature than her"
"Likewise Phoebe, we can't tell her, let's not ask her or talk to her about her love for Richard, you know how stubborn she is and how competitive, she won't give in, she's going to continue with her decision until the end whatever it takes to avoid agreeing with those of us who think they are wrong"
"Yes, you're right, Rach and deep down I feel that it's better that she never realizes what she left behind, no matter how sorry she is, she won't get it back"
