Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here

Sorry, I made a mistake when posting chapter 19 and I repeated chapter 18, it is already corrected and chapter 19 is correctly uploaded.

Chapter 21: The Journey - Together but Apart - The Inauguration with Aftermath

The last week of June Rachel made the move to Hawaii, the house was already finished, some details were missing, but they were more decoration.

Rachel was happy because the place and the scenery were beautiful.

Emma began to accompany her grandparents and her cousins to the country club and she found several girls her age with whom she began to practice hockey as she had at her school.

In mid-July Phoebe moved, at first they settled in the other cabin in Chandler's house until they refurbished the house that Mike had bought a couple of months before.

The house Mike and Phoebe bought was just a few blocks from Chandler's, so the gang was back together.

In turn, Mike was finishing the installation of the show bar, which he planned to open in mid-September.

A couple of days later Monica had finished her Physiotherapy sessions and she and Judy started moving to Honolulu.

Rachel helped Chandler find an apartment for Monica, near the children's school, so Monica could move in as soon as she arrived. She already had in her possession all the belongings that had been left in Paris, so she moved with all her luggage.

Rachel and Phoebe picked them both up at the airport, since at that time both Ross and Chandler were at work, they went first to drop Judy off, and that's how Monica got to know Rachel's house and Chandler's house, and the cabin that was temporarily occupying Phoebe and her family.

Judy introduced her to Manu, and then gave her a tour of the house, Judy's suite had a dream view, and just like the living room, it opened onto a terrace facing the sea. On the first floor, she went through her children's room, and saw in them framed photos of her with the children and another of Chandler with the children, she noticed that they were photos in which they were separated.

She also entered Chandler's suite, it also had an incredible view, and on one side was the desk and the library, it was a room for a single man. On the desk there were photos of her children and the gang, and she notice that she wasn't in those photos.

Also, she toured Rachel's house, which, with the renovations, had become much more comfortable and also had incredible views of the sea, and the cabin that Phoebe lived in. The tour was complete.

While Rachel was making coffee, Joey came in, who had arrived a couple of days ago to spend a week with the gang and check on his friend, it was there that he ran into Monica.

Joey was surprised to see her at Rachel's house, he didn't like being near his friend at all, he greeted her coldly, and almost immediately said that he was going to ask Manu for something to eat and he would go the guest room he occupied in Rachel's house.

Monica was overcome with a deep sadness, she loved Joey, he was like a loving child and without malice, but she understood that she had hurt him, and what was even worse in Joey's eyes is that she had devastated his brother, Monica knew of the deep fidelity that Joey felt for Chandler…. Evidently it was going to be very difficult for her to recover the friendship they had.

She realized something similar would happen with Ross, he was her brother, but she also considered Chandler his brother, and clearly she had taken sides. -

After coffee, Rachel took Monica to the apartment that had been rented to her. Monica was very impressed with the apartment, it had a huge window in the living room from which you could see the sea and part of the city, it had two bedrooms, and one of them had two beds so the children could sleep over.

"Rachel, thank you, you chose a beautiful apartment…. And it is very well equipped and furnished, and luckily it has a large kitchen, you thought of everything…"

Rachel looked at her smiling, "No Monica, I didn't choose it, it was Chandler, I searched with him, but he was the one who found this apartment and rented it immediately, he thought it was the most suitable for you, both for the view, the children's room and almost perfect kitchen. I saw it when he had already hired it."

Monica smiled, but inside her, her heart jumped, he had thought of her….

Given that ray of hope Monica decided to ask Rachel if Chandler was dating someone, in fact neither since Paris nor since she had arrived in NY had she dared to ask that for fear of the answer.

Rachel responded "he is not dating someone romantically, he assures us that this was not in his plans, but he did eventually go out with some surfer girl, whom he met at the bar where he meets his friend Willy, but just for fun physics" "He didn't tell us, but Willy told Ross that several girls are chasing him but he doesn't show interest in any of them, he just wants fun"

Monica felt a surge of jealousy at Rachel's response, even though she knew she had no right to demand anything of him.

Two days after moving in she went to Rachel's house and met Ross, he received her coldly, but as the days got closer and the relationship relaxed.

Shortly after settling in the department, Monica began looking for work and found a café-bar that needed a pastry chef, she had taken a couple of pastry courses in Paris which allowed her to get the job, which had the advantage that they were only 6 hours a day and during the morning, so she had the afternoons to be with Erica and Jack.

She also went to see Phoebe's house with Rachel, which was very close to Chandler's, the renovations were not yet finished, but it was beautiful.

Then they returned to Rachel's house and sat on the terrace to talk, Monica told them that she was happy to be around the children, and about her little hope…

The children immediately got used to seeing their mother every day. Since they were on school break two nights a week they stayed to sleep at her house.

Monica and Chandler also grew closer, but in general the meetings were few and the talks were related to the children.

When Monica came to drop off Erica and Jack began to come into the house to talk to her mother, and sometimes she was there when Chandler came home from work, the occasional night she stayed for dinner with them, and Chandler's treatment, although cordial, was somewhat distant.

The days flew by, Monica had recovered physically and emotionally, and she was happy with her children, with the place, and especially with Chandler's closeness, even though he kept his distance.

A couple of Saturdays after her move she went with Rachel, Ross, Phoebe and Mikel and the children of both couples to the beach where Martin, Miky and Mike were learning to surf. Neither Emma nor Sophie wanted to try it, they were afraid of the force of the waves.

When the friends arrived, Erika, Jack and Chandler had already been at the beach for a while, they liked to make the most of it so they always arrived early.

Jack was surfing with his group of kids his age.

Erika was sitting on a deck chair on the beach, Erika wasn't that fond of surfing.

And Chandler couldn't be seen, he was surely on the surfboard far from the shore looking for a wave.

When Miky and Martin arrived they ran to get their surfboards to join Jack's group.

Mike went looking for his group of beginners led by instructor Willy.

Emma, Erica and Ross, who had no intention of playing the sport, went to buy some refreshments.

Rachel, Phoebe and Monica relaxed on the lounge chairs talking and looking out at the sea.

Half an hour later Monica saw Chandler coming out of the water with his surfboard, and walked over to them.

"God!" ... Monica thought ... "how handsome and sexy he looks ..."

Chandler greets all three of them and asks about the kids and Ross. Phoebe explained the whereabouts of each one.

Chandler rested his surfboard on the sand and just as he was about to sit down, a beautiful blonde woman in her thirties with a muscular body ran up to him, grabbed his shoulders and hugged him.

"Hello Ani" Chandler said with surprise and a little blush on his face "when you came back…. what a joy to see you"

"I came back on Thursday." Ani said

"And how was your brother's wedding?" asked Chandler

"Marvelous. It was all very romantic, they went on their honeymoon to Australia"

"Oh, that's great," Chandler said.

Ani looked over at the women Chandler was talking to and he realized that he hadn't made the introductions.

"Ani, these are my friends who moved from NY, I think you've already met Rachel before you left... and they are Phoebe and Monica" Chandler said.

And addressing his "friends" he told them "She is Ani, Jack, Erica and Martin's surf instructor and surely now she will incorporate Miky into her group"

They all exchanged greetings.

Monica was uncomfortable and quite jealous by the closeness and familiarity with which this "Ani" interacted with Chandler. -

Ani told some more details about her brother's wedding, and then, turning to Chandler, she said:

"You didn't go to the bar yesterday…"

"No," Chandler replied, "I haven't been there for a couple of weeks, I'm helping my friend Mike with the installation of his show bar."

"Oh, I see" said Ani "I'm sure that from now on you're going to leave our modest bar for your friend's Show Bar" she laughed and continued, "Susy is the one who's going to feel it the most, last night she was asking for you, you know well that she really wants you…" and he laughed again now out loud.

Chandler's face turned red. And the three friends were silent, Phoebe and Rachel with barely a smile, they knew that this comment was killing Monica.

At that moment there was a cry of joy that said "ANI, YOU ARE HERE..." It was Erica who ran towards her instructor and gave her a big hug. -

Ani also hugged her affectionately and said, "well girl, your vacations are over, it's time for you to come to the water a bit, bring your surfboard" and addressing everyone, she greeted them and said to Chandler, see you later.

Monica was quiet, looking at her hands.

Chandler sat on the sand near the girls and began to look at the sea, Ross sat next to him and gave him a questioning look that Chandler returned with a small "I'll tell you later" gesture.

But in reality Chandler was thinking, and the Chandler in his head, the one he didn't forget, told him that it was ridiculous that he felt guilty about the encounter with Ani or his comments, he was a free man, he could talk and be with whoever he wanted, he and Monica were nothing, at most she was the mother of his children, a not very close friend, he had nothing to reproach himself and hide.

But the other Chandler knew that he felt uncomfortable, that she had probably been bothered by the situation, and even though she had hurt him in the past, he didn't want to do the same to her, especially now that she was recovering her health.

The day continued calmly, without any comment regarding Ani, Monica relaxed and smiled again at Chandler's jokes with Ross, they ate something in a beach bar and they each returned to her house at sunset.

Joey came back again in mid-August to spend a 15-day vacation with the gang.

When he met Monica, he greeted her coldly, she had deeply hurt his brother and he couldn't forgive thas. He understood that Chandler maintained a cordial relationship with her for the sake of his children, but he had no obligation to be his friend again.

Monica felt very sad to have lost Joey's friendship and affection, since she loved him like a brother, but she understood that his heart was on Chandler's side.

During Joey's stay, Monica felt insecure and worried all the time. She knew Joey had a good heart, but she had hurt his friend and it was evident that Joey was still mad at her as he seemed distant and uncomfortable in Monica's presence.

Monica feared that he might advise Chandler that she didn't deserve to be forgiven.

She also knew from Rachel that Joey went out almost every night, along with Chandler and sometimes Ross accompanied them, and as was Joey's custom, with the aim of meeting girls. Monica was afraid that just because of Joey's influence, and remembering what Rachel had told her about multiple women being interested in Chandler, which matched Ani's comment, Chandler might meet someone he liked more than he would a night of pleasure

For the first time in her life, the departure of Joey, her old and dear friend, filled her with peace of mind.

The inauguration of Mike and Phoebe's show bar finally arrived, the place had been fantastic, it was bigger than the one Mike had in NY and it was very well decorated since it was aimed at both the local public and tourism.

Jack and Judy preferred to stay home with all the kids who had a great sleepover. Chandler went with Rachel and Ross, and Monica went on her own.

Chandler was at the bar when he saw her walk in, she was gorgeous in a blue dress that brought out her eyes and hugged her body, and she sat at the table with Rachel and Ross.

Willy, who was at the bar next to Chandler, noticed how he got nervous, evidently his friend couldn't stop his heart and body from shaking at the sight of her exwife

Suddenly Chandler asked the bartender for a beer, Willy was surprised, "Chandler are you going to drink alcohol"

"Yes, why not, it's a special night..."

After a couple of beers, having been a teetotaler for almost two years, he began to relax, and ordered a bourbon.

"Friend don't exaggerate..."

"Willy, I'm fine, don't worry.

When the show started Chandler went to sit at the table with Ross, Rachel and Monica, the girls were also quite relaxed and happy after several Daiquiri's. The show was a success and the opening promised a good future, since the place was full.

Ross and Rachel decided to leave, mostly because Ross noticed Rachel was too relaxed. Monica said that she would stay a while longer and then she would take a cab. Chandler also stayed for another drink.

By now Monica was relaxed and Chandler was a bit drunk. When Monica said she was leaving, he offered to take her in a cab, since he didn't feel up to driving.

When they got to Monica's building, she tripped getting out of the cab in the driveway, so Chandler decided to walk her to her apartment.

When Monica managed to find the key in her bag, she opened the door and almost fell when she tripped on the carpet, it was then when to avoid her fall that Chandler hugged her, their bodies united with their faces face to face with.

There were no questions, they began to kiss desperately, full of an embracing desire, as they approached the bedroom, without stopping kissing, they were losing some of their clothes, until they fell on the bed.

They made love three times until they were exhausted, sated, and fell asleep.

The next morning Chandler felt the reflection of the sun in his eyes, he opened them slowly and heavily, his head ached, he didn't know where he was, but he realized that he was hugging someone, when he finished opening his eyes he saw that it was Monica, and the memories of the night crowded in his aching head.

He got up slowly, Monica was still sleeping, he sat on the bed and said to himself "STUPID, STUPID, you're stupid, a stupid drunk", hitting his head with the palm of his hand, and without making a sound he raised his clothes, dressed in the living room and left the apartment closed the door gently.