Empowered women

"Alright, time to get out of bed", Sandra Green said, opening the curtains, "It's been two weeks, don't you think it's time to go back? At the very least to go to work?"

"But I don't want to go back", Rachel whined, turning away from the light and pulling her covers to her chin.

"Oh, bullshit. Rachel Karen Green, you are going back today. You can't let one break up define the rest of your future", she sat next to her daughter on her bed.

"You don't understand. It wasn't 'just' a breakup. It was Monica. I'll never find someone as wonderful as her."

"Alright. So, there are a little less than three billion women in the whole world. I know that there will be no second Monica, but you're not going to tell me that Monica is the only wonderful, great, amazing, beautiful woman in the whole world."

Rachel just shrugged. Her mom had a point. But still, she wanted Monica.

Her mom sighed. "Look, you're going to have to accept that it's not going to happen with Monica. Now, do you want to lose her altogether or do you still want her as a friend? Because you do still live with her."

"I guess that I'd rather have her as my best friend than as someone I used to date and now don't speak to anymore. After all, it's what we were before", Rachel relented.

"Well, maybe you should talk to her about this", her mom suggested.

"Yeah, maybe that would be a good idea."

"Good", she said standing up, "I'll let you get dressed and then I'll drop you off in the city."

"What do you mean, fired?"

"Well, you left for two weeks without telling anyone", Gunther shrugged. He didn't like it when Rachel was angry with him.

"Well, I'm back now. Why can't I just come back to work?"

"Look, the boss was going to fire you after two days already. I got him to wait for a week, but you didn't come back, neither did you call, so…", Gunther trailed off.

"Ugh, what am I gonna do? I need to pay my rent next week", she defeatedly sat down on one of the chairs at the bar.

"I'm sorry, there's really nothing I can do. But I did hear that they are searching for someone a couple of blocks from here to do the nightshifts at the bar", Gunther offered.

"Yeah", the idea of nightshifts was not really something that excited her, "I'll see, thanks anyway Gunther", she gathered her purse and stood up to leave.

"And?", Monica asked yawning while she entered the kitchen, "Anything good?"

Rachel was going through the new ads in the newspaper that got delivered a couple of minutes ago. "No, nothing. Ugh, I've been looking for one week and I still haven't found anything. God, I can't even pay my half of the rent", she let her head fall into her hands.

"No, no, I already told you not to worry about that", Monica said, wanting to take at least a bit of the burden off her shoulders.

"Mon, we're both unemployed. I'm really grateful that you can cover what I miss for the rent, but we need to have a solution, because if not, we're homeless in two months or so", Rachel said looking up.

"In two weeks, I'm going to cater a party for Dr Burke. I will make some money there and hopefully, there is someone at the party who wants me to cater their party too. But you are right. We need to find a solution for this", Monica said, sitting down at the table with her breakfast.

They ate in silence, Rachel reading the paper, and Monica couldn't help but think how extremely grateful she was to have her back in her life. They had had a good talk and they agreed that they wanted to stay friends and roommates. If she was being honest, she wasn't sure if Rachel was ever going to return to the apartment. She had hurt her pretty badly. But they were good now. She was glad.

Chandler put his briefcase on the counter of the girl's apartment. "Hey, guess what", Chandler said, heading towards the couch where all the rest of the gang was sitting.

"Oh, oh, uhm, you had matching socks with your boss today!", Phoebe guessed.

"No, but that is a good guess", Chandler said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Anyway, a guy at work today was talking about how we went sometimes to Central Perk and he always wanted to ask out the pretty waitress that worked there, but never had the nerve and now she doesn't work there anymore. So, I said that I knew you", he said looking at Rachel, "And he asked if I could ask you if you wanted to go on a date with him", Chandler finished while sitting down on the couch next to Ross.

"Ooh, Rachel got a secret admirer", Joey teased.

Rachel cleared her throat. "While that is very flattering", Rachel began, getting up from the smaller couch, straightening her skirt, "I would have to turn him down."

"Why? You've never even met the guy", Chandler asked.

"Uhm", she began, standing in front of the tv, "I think it's time that I tell you guys something", her eyes flickered to Monica, who gave her an encouraging smile, "I don't want to date him, because I don't want to date men", she looked at her confused friends, "I want to date women", she clarified.

"You're gay?", Ross exclaimed.

"Yeah", she said. Ross just sat there, mouth slightly open from the shock and his eyes staring ahead of him.

"Alright", Chandler said calmly, the total opposite of Ross, "I'll just let Garick now that you won't be picking him up on his offer", he smiled at her.

"Thanks."

"So, have you been with women already?", Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, with one woman", she looked Monica in the eyes, but didn't linger too long as to not draw suspicion to them, "It was amazing, but we broke up."

"How come we never met her?", Joey asked.

"Well, she was a bit shy and we didn't date long enough for her to get comfortable to tell her and my friends", Rachel shrugged.

"And do you want to go on dates with women?", Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, I would love to. The problem is that it's hard to figure out whether she likes girls or not."

"Yeah, I can see that. But, anyway, we love you, Rach. Thanks for telling us", Phoebe stood up and started to hug Rachel. Soon, the rest got up too and they made a group hug.

"That's great! They are going to pay you, though, right?", Rachel asked. Monica had just joined Phoebe and Rachel in the coffee house. She had just gotten off of the phone with her mom, who had asked her to cater a party for her and her dad after the success of Richard's party last week.

"Yep", Monica said with a smile. It was getting tight with both of them unemployed, so any money that they made was more than welcome.

"Hello, children", Chandler came in with a spring in his step, "Guess what?"

"Oh, uhm, you saw a pig walking across the street", Phoebe guessed enthusiastically.

"Man, I need to find another opener", Chandler deadpanned, "Anyway, Rach, I found you a date", he said with a proud smile.

"You did?", she asked.

"Yep, it's a woman, obviously, and she works as the supervisor of our floor. She's really pretty and she overheard me talking to Garick that it was not going to happen since you like women and she said that she would be interested to have a date with you. So, what do you say?"

"Uhm", she contemplated. She really wanted to go on a date with a woman, but it wasn't that long since she had broken up with Monica. On the other hand, though, Monica was also already dating the guy she catered for last week. And if Monica can move on, why shouldn't she? "Alright, why not?", she said, throwing up her hands, "Where and when do I meet this supervisor woman?"

Charlotte was her name. She was really pretty. And she was easy to talk with. Going on first dates is so much more fun with women. Why did I waste so much time dating men?

"Alright, so, you're unemployed, but, if you had the choice, what would you do as a job?", Charlotte asked. They were waiting for their main dishes to be served.

"Wow, well, I don't know if it's ever going to happen, but it's always been my dream to work in fashion. You know, to design clothes, to have people walking on catwalks wearing my designs, things like that. And, while were fantasizing, it would be cool to do it in Europe. Like, in Paris or Milan or something. Realistically, though, it would be great to have a job as a personal shopper or something like that. Or, actually, at the moment, it would be great to just have a job", Rachel said.

Charlotte laughed, "I can imagine. So, you like the fashion field, then?"

"Yeah, I love it."

"You know, my sister-in-law, she works at Louis Vuitton. If you want, I can ask if she can see if there are any job opportunities where you would be able to work?", she proposed.

"You're kidding", Rachel couldn't believe her ears, "That would be incredible!"

"I'll call her tomorrow", Charlotte smiled, "I can't promise anything, but who knows."

"Thank you so much! I really appreciate it", Rachel said.

"The grilled vegetables?", the waiter stood suddenly next to them, holding two steaming plates of delicious food.

Spread out like a sea star, Rachel lay in her bed, the phone lying on her chest. I'm going to be a stylist apprentice. I'm no longer unemployed and I have my dream job. Charlotte had called her back two days after their date. Her sister-in-law had gotten her an interview and she had needed to prepare a portfolio with design and styles and she had had a very good feeling after the interview, but she had tried not to get her hopes up. Next Monday, however, she was going to start an apprenticeship at Louis Vuitton as a stylist.

Now, she was just lying there, a grin permanently on her face from happiness.

"Congratulations, honey, I'm so happy for you!", Monica exclaimed, giving her a hug when Rachel told her the news. Monica just got back from her date with Richard. Rachel didn't really understand what Monica saw in him. He was more than twenty years older than her and he had children who were five years younger than her. To be honest, he crept her out a bit, but she didn't tell Monica. She didn't want her to think she was jealous or anything.

"Are you going to go out again with Charlotte?", Monica asked, putting her purse on the table.

"No, I don't think so. She is great and pretty and everything, but I didn't feel anything, you know? There was no spark", Rachel opened the fridge, searching for a snack that she was craving. It would be a lot easier though if she actually knew what it was that she was craving. Not finding anything that matched her craving, she closed the fridge again.

"Yeah, I understand. Oh, before I forget, I'm going to go to the supermarket quickly to get some tampons. You want me to bring pads too? Or do you still have enough?", Monica asked, taking her wallet from her purse.

"Oh, if you could bring some, that would be great. I wanted to buy some today, but totally forgot."

"Alright, one more thing. Do you by any chance still have condoms? I finished my package last year and never got any new ones since we didn't need any, but it's going well with Richard and I want to be prepared when the day comes, you know. And I was planning to buy some, but I wanted to ask you first if you still have any."

"Oh, I think I still have two or three, let me check", Rachel went to her bedroom and returned with the condoms.

"There you go", she handed them to Monica.

"Thanks! You don't mind, right?"

"It's not like I'm ever going to use them anyway", Rachel shrugged.

Monica snorted. Shaking her head, smiling, she gathered her purse, her shopping list and her bag for groceries. "I'll be back in half an hour", she headed to the door and grabbed her keys off the counter, "See you."

Central Perk was calm. It was a Thursday morning and Monica and Rachel were both sipping their coffee. Rachel didn't have to go to work for another hour. They were just talking about how things were going at work, when Joey came in, wearing an obnoxious hat.

"Hey", he greeted, sitting down on the chair next to the couch.

"Hey", Monica and Rachel said, "Whe-ell, look at you, finally got that time machine workin' huh?", Rachel teased.

"Seriously, you like it? This guy was sellin' them on 8th avenue and I looked at 'em and I thought, you know what I don't have?"

"A mirror?", Monica asked sarcastically.

"Fine, make fun. I think it's jaunty", Joey said.

"Wow, for a guy who's recently lost his job, you're in an awfully good mood", Monica remarked.

"Hey, I'll be alright. I mean it's not like I'm starting from square one. I was Dr. Drake Remoray on Days of Our Lives. Heh? I mean that's gotta have some kind of cache."

"Cache? Jaunty?", Monica asked, questioning where the fancy words came from.

"Chandler gave me word of the day toilet paper", Joey explained, "I'm gonna get some coffee."

Joey had left his hat unattended and Rachel saw Monica looking at it. "Go ahead, you know you want to", she said, knowing Monica too well by now.

Monica put on the hat and looked at Rachel who immediately let her know it didn't look good at all. When Monica put the hat back, Phoebe came in. "Hey", she said, carrying a book.

"Hey", the two girls greeted her.

"Oooh, so so so, did you read the book?", she asked Monica.

"Oh my God, it was incredible."

"Didn't it like totally speak to you?"

"Woah, woah, woah, what book is this?", Rachel asked, having no idea what they were talking about.

"Rachel you have to read this book. It's called Be Your Own Windkeeper. It's about how women need to become more empowered", Monica explained.

"Yeah and oh, and but there's, there's wind and the wind can make us Goddesses. But you know who takes out wind? Men, they just take it", Phoebe said.

"Men just take out wind?", Rachel asked, a bit confused with the metaphors.

"Ya-huh, all the time, 'cause they are the lightning bearers", Phoebe said, like it was all self-explanatory.

"Wow", Rachel said.

"Yeah."

"Well that sounds kinda cool, kinda like The Hobbit", Rachel said, looking at Phoebe.

"It is nothing like the Hobbit. It's like reading about every relationship I've ever had with a man, except for Richard", Monica elaborated.

"Oh yes, no, Richard would never steal your wind", Phoebe agreed.

"No."

"No, 'cause he's yummy", Phoebe said.

"Yes. But all the other ones", Monica shook her head.

"Oh yes. Oh and, the part about how they're always like drinking from out of the pool of inner power, but God forbid we should take a sip", Phoebe said.

Joey came back to the couch, "Anybody want a cruller?", he asked.

"Okay, this is a typical lightning-bearer thing. Right there, it's like, um, 'Hello, who wants one of my phallic-shaped man cakes?'", she scoffed.

During her breaks at work, Rachel had read the whole time in the book. She just couldn't put it down. When she got off work and went back to Central Perk, she had only twenty more pages to go. By the time she finished it, Monica and Rachel were both looking at her expectantly from the couch.

"Oh, God, oh, God, I mean it's just so", Rachel couldn't put it into words.

"Isn't it", Monica asked, knowing exactly what Rachel meant.

"Uhuh, I mean this is like reading about my own life. I mean this book could have been called 'Be Your Own Windkeeper Rachel'."

"I don't think it would have sold a million copies but it would have made a nice gift for you", Phoebe remarked.

"Hey you guys", Ross said, coming into Central Perk, "Uh, Rach, we've gotta go", he said.

"No!", Rachel exclaimed.

"No?", Ross asked, not understanding.

"No, why do we always have to do everything according to your timetable?"

"Actually it's the movie theatre that has the time schedule. So you don't miss the beginning", Ross said teasingly.

"No, see this isn't about the movie theatre, this is about you stealing my wind."

"You go girl", Monica said, snapping her fingers, "I can't pull that off can I?", she asked Phoebe who shook her head. She got a wink from Rachel though.

"Excuse me, your, your, your wind?"

"Yes, my wind. How do you expect me to grow if you won't let me blow?", she asked.

"You, you're gay, Rach", Ross said, nothing making sense in his head of what he was hearing now.

"Ok, I just, I just really need to be with myself right now. I'm sorry."

Phoebe cleared her throat and Rachel immediately knew what she meant. "You're right, I don't have to apologize", she said to Ross. She turned to Phoebe, "Sorry", realising she had just apologized again, she cursed, "Damnit!"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Oh, great, she had forgotten to put a glass of water next to her bed yesterday evening. Now she had to get up in the middle of the night to get one in the kitchen. Monica kicked the covers from her and began to walk towards the kitchen, but stopped halfway, when she saw Chandler sleeping. He had asked to sleep on their couch, because Eddie was still at his place and he didn't feel safe anymore knowing that he had watched him sleep multiple times without Chandler being aware of it.

He looked so peaceful. And, actually, he was quite handsome. He was quirky and sarcastic and sometimes a bit immature, but he was a really great guy. He was her best male friend. She could talk to Chandler. When she had just moved in and they both didn't have roommates yet, they had nights where they hung out till three or four in the morning talking about silly stuff, but also sometimes deep and serious conversations. She knew some things about him that not a lot of people knew.

Monica put her hands on the back of the couch and laid her chin on top of them. She watched Chandler's face. She couldn't watch for very long, though, because Chandler almost immediately woke up, screaming at her.

"Daaahhhh!"

Monica, surprised by his sudden, big reaction from Chandler, began to scream too. "Aaahhhhhhh! Aaahhhh!"

"Why must everybody watch me sleep? There'll be no more watching me sleep, no more watching."

"I wa-", Monica began to protest, but was cut off by Chandler's pointed look.

"Uuuh", he watched her walking backwards. He didn't go back to sleep until he was sure that Monica was back in her room.

S2E19 tow Eddie won't go