Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here
Chapter 8 - The Journey - The Offer
The following week they signed the divorce papers. Chandler went in the morning and Monica in the afternoon accompanied by Richard.
That afternoon Chandler transferred to the account Monica had given Ross half the amount they both had saved.
Monica picked up the children twice a week and then returned them to Rachel or to her mother, and she spent Sundays with them, since on Saturdays she always had an appointment with Richard.
Chandler continued with the therapy and all the medical tests he had undergone had gone well, the pressure had stabilized but the doctor advised him to continue with the diet with little or no salt, and Chandler followed it to the letter.
On the last Sunday in April when Monica went to return the kids, she told Rachel that she wanted to talk to her and Phoebe and they agreed to meet at Central Perk on Wednesday afternoon, as Richard had a meeting.
The three of them hugged when they met and sat in the old chair as they had done thousands of times.
After asking each other how they were, and how the kids were, Monica began to talk
"Friends, I wanted to talk to you to tell you that Richard and I are going to live in Paris for at least two years, which is the duration of the course I want to do"
Rachel asked, "When are you leaving?"
"On May 15, first we go to Paris for three days and then we go to the Côte d'Azur for a week or more, we can't stay long because we have to go back to Paris to find an apartment to settle in"
Phoebe raised an eyebrow and commented, "Mon, but May 15th is the anniversary of your wedding to Chandler."
"Yes, and what you have," Monica said angrily and continued "it is no longer an important date for me, Richard got a flight for that date and it seemed fine to me"
"Mon, that's going to be a tough date for Chandler and if you go to Paris on that day, I don't know, it seems a bit strong to me"
"Look Phoebe, you have me tired with Chandler here and Chandler there, instead of being happy because I'm happy and I'm about to fulfill my dream, you're talking about him all the time, about what's going to bother him, I think he is clear about how things are, so he should start to get over it and stop moping and whining like he used to."
"Mon" this is Rachel "we're happy for you, but you can't be mad because we care about Chandler, I honestly believe that the date Richard chose to leave is like an affront not only to Chandler but also to your children, your parents and all of us, it seems out of place to me, but if you consider it correct we will not talk about it anymore "
"Ok," say Monica, "I hope so, … and another thing, yesterday I gave up Javu, I have to prepare many things before the trip and I want to try to see the children as much as possible, since when I leave I won't be able to see them until the summer"
"Rachel, tell Chandler that I'm probably taking the kids on vacation in August, I want to take them to Disney and then go to a beach in Florida. But I don't want them to tell the children, I want it to be a surprise. They had been asking us to go to Disney, and I don't want Chandler to take them right now."
And Monica added "I still don't think he'll do it, surely it will be more practical for him to take them to Mama's house on the beach"
Phoebe felt more and more annoyed by the way Monica referred to Chandler, with so much disdain and indifference, she was so strange, so changed, she would never have spoken of him like that even when they were just friends, she always protected him and defended, and as far as she knew he had never done anything to her for that change, she was really baffled.
They had been chatting about other topics for a while when Richard showed up at the cafe. The friends were surprised because it was a girls' evening and he was supposed to have a meeting.
"Hello everyone, how are you?"
Phoebe, who was already upset, replied, "We're fine, on a girls' afternoon, I didn't know you were a girl, but there's no problem, one more doesn't matter."
Richard looked at her and smirked, while Monica looked at her with ice eyes.
"Well, ladies, I don't want to bother you, I just finished my meeting and it seemed like a gentleman to pick up Monica"
"Thank you love, we were already finishing" said Monica
Monica, addressing her friends, told them "What do you think if we meet the week before the trip to say goodbye"
"Fantastic" said Rachel "we can go to lunch"
"What a good idea," Monica answered.
Richard asked, "and where do you plan to go?"
Phoebe immediately replied, "The place is going to be a surprise for our friend who is going to live in Paris."
Richard understood the meaning of Phoebe's answer and decided to shut up. The couple greeted their friends and left.
Meanwhile, when Monica got into Richard's car, she felt sad and embarrassed by the way she answered her friends and the way she referred to Chandler... he didn't deserve it, on the contrary, there was no pitfall for him for her to follow her dream, even if it destroyed him and, even if none of it would she admit to her friends, she had also been shocked by the date Richard had chosen to fly to Paris. May 15 for her brought happy and important memories in her life, she hoped she was not mistaken in believing that this May 15 would also do so.
"Phoebe, it seems to me that you were a little dry, Monica was upset by your comments"
"Rach, I don't care, Chandler doesn't deserve the way she refers to him, we've lived with them and he never treated her badly, on the contrary, he put up with all her neuroses without saying anything, always calming her down, who is this Monica? …. Also, the date they chose to travel, I honestly think he did it on purpose, I don't think it was the only date to fly to Paris. I don't like this Monica, I'm sorry"
Rach didn't say anything, but he knew Phoebe was right.
Before the trip, the friends went to have lunch to say goodbye, Monica went to say goodbye to the parents, and the day before the trip she went out with the children and explained to them that she had to travel and that they would not see each other for a couple of months, but for the vacation would come to spend the whole month with them.
The kids hugged her lovingly, and Monica let them into Ross's house with tears in her eyes. She took advantage of that moment to ask Rachel if she couldn't say goodbye to Ross, but her friend told her no, that Ross didn't want to see her.
Monica nodded her head and left. Neither her friends nor her parents went to see them off at the airport, only Richard's children and grandchildren were there.
It was May 15th, and it was a very hard day for Chandler, not only was it the wedding anniversary with the woman he had always loved, but it was the day she was going to Paris with Richard.
He was at his desk with his eyes lost in the window, his desk denoting that he hadn't even opened a folder.
Now on his desk there was a photo of him with his children and a photo of the gang, the rest had disappeared. -
When his phone rang, he jumped, it was his assistant to tell him that Steve was waiting for him in his office, it really wasn't a day where he wanted to talk to his boss, he really wanted to be in hell.
Steve and Harry, the heads of the Agency, were waiting for him in the office. After the usual comments, Steve went on to develop the subject for which he had summoned Chandler.
"Look, we've been thinking about opening an extension of this Agency for some time, from the first moment we thought you were our man, but we didn't tell you anything because the bet involved a transfer, and you would have a family to move and Monica had a Chef position at one of the best restaurants in Manhattan, so we thought the transfer would be inconvenient for you."
"We delayed the decision in the search for the right man, who until now has not appeared, but now that your family situation has changed, we resume the idea of opening an extension of the agency in Honolulu"
Chandler's eyes widened in disbelief saying "You're talking about Honolulu Hawaii..."
"Yes, the idea is to open an agency there that takes all the accounts of the Islands, some of them we already have but we manage them from Los Angeles or from here, but the distance is not convenient, and it is also a little exploited market, where there is much to achieve in the area of tourism and real estate"
"You would go as president and you would be our partner in equal parts in the accounts that operate in the Agency. You would keep your salary for now until the agency starts making a profit. You would take three executives from here, and the rest would have to be hired there, young people wanting to grow"
Chandler was surprise "Steve, I don't know what to say, the offer is huge, but it grabs me at a time when my mind is a bit fuzzy. I have to think about it. How much time do I have?
"Look, Chandler, the idea is to open it in September of this year, which gives you some time to think, obviously the sooner you decide, the sooner we can organize the agency there, we have to find offices for example"
"Yes, I understand, give me until the end of June, I would be changing my children's lives,…." explain Chandler
"Chandler think about it, you have that time, but keep in mind that the proposal is big and it would be a real shame if you lost it, and we want you with us. Here in this envelope the terms of the proposal are detailed, if you accept you would have to be settling in the first days of September."
"Okay, thanks to both of you for trusting me, I'll get back to you as soon as possible"
Chandler returned to his office with a dazed head, it was a great opportunity, but he would have to think about how this would affect his children and his family, grandparents, uncles, cousins, and himself.
With this in mind he decided that he had to talk to the family, he needs opinions and support.
He calls Rachel to ask if everyone could meet at her house on Saturday, including Judy and Jack.
After the barbecue and while all the cousins were playing in the garden, Chandler told them that he had to talk to them.
Phoebe had noticed that the most noticeable thing about him today was not that he was sad, but that he was serious and worried.
Chandler began to recount the proposal.
"At the agency they offered me to associate in a new agency that wants to open in September and that it would be in my charge"
They all smiled at the news and nodded. "That's good" they exclaimed almost in unison.
"Well family, it's not so good, the proposal involves a transfer…..to Honolulu…"
This time no one smiled, they opened their mouths and remained serious and silent.
Then Ross asked him "and what are you going to do..."
"Dude, I have no idea …"
"Tried to make a list of pros and cons, and smiled for the first time "me and my famous lists""
And continue "Well, the truth is that the labor and economic offer, although it is enormous, is not what will support my decision"
"On one side are my children, I don't want to force them to make a change that may not be appropriate at this time"
"In addition, there are you, my family, we would have to travel 11 hours away, and you have always been here for me, your lack would be enormous and above all things I love each one of you."
At this moment Chandler began to falter, his eyes filled with tears and some of it began to slide down his cheek, which made Judy and Rachel begin to tear up as well.
"On the pros side, that is my selfish part, since what happened I find myself overwhelmed everywhere, at work, on the streets of Manhattan, on the train, and what to say when I get home, and I think that maybe a change of environment would help me, I know that the pain will follow me wherever I go, but in another city it might start to heal, … I really don't know"
"On Thursday I talked about it with the therapist, and he told me that whatever I decided I had to be at peace with myself, and not look back if the decision was good or bad"
He smiled through the tears
"It really didn't help me much..."
Judy came over and took her hands "Chandler, I know that any decision you make will be difficult, but you have to know whether you leave or not, we love you, we always will, we will never stop being your family, and even if it's 11 hours of I'm going to visit you… son, I just want the smile to return to your face, I want the shine in your beautiful eyes to return, I want to hear your jokes, and if you have to leave to achieve it, we will support you, and if to achieve it If you decide to stay, we will do everything possible for you to find that peace, my heart needs joy to return to your life, but I am realistic, it may be more difficult to achieve peace here"
Chandler hugged Judy, they all teared up, they knew that Judy was probably right, maybe the change would be a relief.
At that moment, Erica ran in and she stopped short when she saw that her father is crying "Dad, why are you crying, and everyone is crying….?"
"Daughter, we were just remembering a sad story from the past"
"Well daddy, if it's sad, forget it, don't remember it"
"I think you're right, Erica," Phoebe said.
Erica ran to hug her dad, and Chandler managed to swallow her sorrow with a sigh.
When Erica returned with the kids and things had calmed down a bit, Chandler commented.
"Among many things and alternatives, I was thinking that maybe I should go with the kids on vacation there, see if they like it, if I like it, see if there are good schools and where we could live, I don't know, while we walk around, do some research, but more nothing to see how the kids would feel living there"
"Chandi" said Jack with a smile "it seems like a very good idea to me, before making a decision, get to know the place with the kids, surely that will clear up your doubts"
"Yes Jack, I think I'm going to do that, when the kids finish school, in mid-June we can go away for three or four weeks and see what happens, and be back in mid-July, since Monica will come looking for them. at the end of July"
"Of course" they all agreed, although deep down in everyone's hearts there was enormous sadness at the possibility of seeing the friend and the children leave..."
