The lottery
I hope you like the story, and that you tell me your opinions, through them I know if I'm on the right path.
Remember English is not my native language, I hope the translation is correct, check it, but sometimes I miss some incorrect personal pronouns for the phrase, sorry.
I reiterate, I do not own the characters of Friends I only rely on them for the pure pleasure of writing stories without any economic interest, and Monica and Chandler they inspire me.
Chapter 2
On Sunday at noon Ross went to the Department 20 for the brunch they used to prepare that day, but when he entered he found the entire house full of empty Champagne bottles, glasses everywhere, papers on the floor, cassettes on the table, he didn't understand what had happened there. He knocked on Chandler's bedroom door a couple of times until Chandler answered, "I'm coming."
Chandler came out of the bedroom in a mess, disheveled, haggard, evidently he had slept in yesterday's clothes.
"Chandler what happened…. Did you have a party? The house is a disaster."
Chandler looked at him with a mocking smile, "We won the lottery," he told him, laughing as he pointed his finger at him and jumped on his feet, "HAHAHA, how was that thing about statistics, about not dreaming of impossible things?"
"What are you talking about, what's the joke?" Ross said, somewhat annoyed by the mocking way Chandler spoke to him.
"Man, you're deaf, we won the lottery, all 300 million!"
"It's not time nor are you in a position to make jokes, obviously you drank a lot last night, you're still drunk and delirious" … I'm going to see Monica" Ross said annoyed and left.
In apartment 19 the silence was absolute, on the counter there were two empty Champagne bottles.
He knocks on Monica's door calling her name, he try three or four times, each time getting harder.
Rachel came out of the other room in terrible condition, also wearing the previous day's clothes, disheveled, her makeup smudged.
"What's wrong with you Ross, why are you making so much noise, my head hurts" Rachel told him, clearly upset.
Monica's door opened, and Ross saw that her sister was also in terrible condition.
"It was you who hit, we were sleeping"
"Monica is noon, you are a mess, Chandler too, there are bottles everywhere, you can tell what happened between you."
The girls looked at each other and smiled.
"You were with Chandler and he didn't tell you?" Rachel asked.
"Yes, he was saying drunken nonsense, you can tell me that it is passing" Ross asked again with his face already reddening and Geller's gaze.
"Ross, we won the lottery! The biggest prize…. 300 million…" Monica told him with a huge smile.
"You took drugs, what you took." Ross said.
"God, brother, you're stupid, we don't take drugs, we just celebrate having won the lottery, the jackpot, you realize, we are millionaires," Monica said emphatically.
"Yes, all of us except you who didn't want to violate your principles," Rachel told him with a mocking gesture.
Ross sat on the couch, now he was pale.
"Did you really win?" Ross said almost muttering and looking at the ground.
"Yes, as Chandler explained to us, with the commission and taxes we have 100 million left, 20 for each one," Rachel said with satisfaction.
"That's a lot of money…" Ross said in disbelief.
"Yes, we will have to think carefully about what each of us will do, but that will be another day, today I am exhausted, my head hurts, I am going to bed" Rachel answered.
Monica "yes, I'm going to sleep too, I think we go to bed at 8 in the morning"
Ross was left alone sitting on the couch, pale and distraught.
On Monday everyone had regained their composure, although most still didn't know what to do.
While they were having breakfast, Joey explained, "Guys, I already thought about it, I'm going to LA, there I have more job opportunities and since I won't be pressed for money, I'll be able to choose what to do."
"Dude, it's not a little early to decide what to do, give yourself a few days to think, we're still shocked," Chandler told him, trying to reason with him.
"I don't need to think anymore, I'm going to go to LA," Joey repeats.
"I still don't know, I have a thousand things on my mind," Rachel commented.
"I would like to open my own restaurant, not very big, cozy, in this area..., but first of all, tomorrow I will give up Alessandro's and forget about those idiots forever," Monica said with a dreamy face.
Chandler smiled, he was sure Monica would go that way."
"And you Chandler?" Rachel asked.
"The first thing, go to present my resignation and do the happy dance in front of my boss" Everyone laughed "then I'll see, I always thought about doing something different, I like to write, at boarding school I wrote short stories in a comedic tone… maybe I'll go out there, my mother always urged me to do it, she thought it was good, but I never wanted to give her the pleasure or the reason" Chandler said smiling
"And you Phoebe?"
"First I have to give birth to the triplets, then I'll see, moving to the west coast excites me"
"That's great Phoebe, we could be close," Joey said happily.
Chandler was happy because his friends would achieve his dreams, it just hurt him that the gang was separated, it was his only family, he didn't want to lose them. It was a relief for him not to have to go to that stupid job, but in a part of his heart he felt that, if he had been given the option to choose between quitting or losing his friends, he would continue working.
Ross listened to his friends in silence. He didn't envy them, on the contrary, he was happy especially for Monica that she could have her own restaurant and not have to put up with Alessandro's idiots, but he also felt that things would change.
That afternoon when Ross came home from work Monica told him she wanted to talk, and they sat on the couch.
"Ross, I want to share the prize with you, ten million for each one, it's fair."
"No Mon, that money, all that money is yours, I don't want anything, I will never accept a coin of that money, you took the risk, you won, instead I cling to my principles and I swear I don't regret it. Look, I already enjoy my professional dreams with my job, which I love, my publications in scientific journals, I don't need more, and the dream of getting married and having a family does not depend on money."
"Ross, please agree to share, I will feel horribly selfish if you don't," Monica told him worriedly.
"Look, let's do one thing, put a small percentage of that money, and when I say small it means small, in a trust sufficient for Ben's education, that is the best gift you can give me, knowing that Ben will have a good education" said Ross taking Monica's hands and looking into her eyes
The brothers hugged each other.
At that moment Rachel came in "what's wrong with you?" asked
"Nothing, brotherly hug…"
"Guys, I was talking to the head of the sales department, Donald Farrell, I told him that I was thinking of going to Paris and he told me that he has a friend who works at Ralph Lauren's in Paris, and if I want he will give me a letter of recommendation to get started as an intern, and if I try hard, I could get a permanent position, gain knowledge, and maybe have my own clothing line," Rachel said excitedly.
"Oh! "Rachel, that's wonderful," Monica exclaimed, and Ross's face turned white.
"And how long would you be gone?" Ross asked with a serious face.
"I don't know, the internship is for a year, but if I get a position in the company, I don't know how long I will stay, maybe definitely" Rachel answered.
"Oh sure…. and when would you leave?" Ross asked quietly.
"As he explained, I would have to be there by March 5th. Well, I'm going to change, I haven't decided yet, I have a lot to think about."
Monica realized that this news had deeply affected her brother, but they were no longer dating, the separation seemed to be final, at least on Rachel's side.
That week everyone continued making plans.
On Thursday Chandler went to the Department 19 to talk to Monica.
"Mon, Joey is going to LA at the end of the month, and I think Rachel is too, apartment 20 is yours, I want to give it back to you, I don't know if you plan to move to a better place, but until that happens I want to give the apartment back to you. If you agree, we will move over the weekend."
"And you will stay in apartment 19…" Monica asked.
"I don't know yet, the truth is that I would like to move to a building in this area but one that has an elevator," Chandler smiled, "and a little brighter, but I haven't decided anything yet, the only thing I want is to give you your apartment back."
"Thank you, the truth is that I love that apartment, honestly at no time did I think about living somewhere else, and if I get it back now I don't think I'll change it for now, the only thing I'm seriously thinking about is opening my own restaurant" Monica told him.
"Yes, I know" … "well on Saturday we will move"
"Thank you, Chandler." Monica approached him and kissed him on the cheek. "There's a reason you're my best friend."
On Saturday they all made the move, both Joey and Rachel took the opportunity to anticipate some of their future luggage for the transfer.
When they finished, the boys helped Monica leave everything spotless, as if she had never left that place.
At one point while they were preparing the table for dinner, they would eat pizza, Monica approached Chandler to thank him again, "you are a wonderful friend" she told him.
"Actually, I've been thinking for a while that Joey and I should have given you back the apartment, but so many things have happened in the last two months that I've been putting it off for later, and now the time has come." Chandler held her hand while he spoke with a smile.
On Monday morning Chandler went to his office, the previous week he had asked for sick leave, when he arrived he went to talk to his boss to tell him that he was resigning, he didn't tell him the real reason, just that he had plans for the future.
The boss asked him to work until the end of February so he could train the person who would replace him. He would have wanted to leave immediately, but he understood that they needed a replacement, and his boss had always been very good to him; he did not want to harm him by disappearing from one day to the next.
That same morning Monica was vacuuming when there was a knock on the door, it was her parents.
"Hello, what a surprise! "I didn't know you were coming," Monica said with a smile.
"We have to talk seriously to you," Judy said in her commanding voice.
"What's happening?
"You are selfish, you have earned all that money and you are unable to share it with your brother." Judy Sentence
"Did you talk to Ross?"
"Yes, but he's not thinking carefully about what he's doing, and you should give him half of that money, even if he doesn't want it," Judy said again.
"Why? Monica said, "why do I have to force him to receive something he doesn't want?"
"It's not true that he doesn't want it, it's just that he is proud, he has the crazy idea that he doesn't deserve it, when in truth he has always deserved everything... much more..." Judy interrupted the sentence
"You're going to say that he deserves it more than me, I don't care if you say it out loud, I'm clear about it" …. "Look, the first thing I did the day after the drawing was tell him that I would share the prize with him and he flatly refused, the only thing he asked me was to make a trust in favor of Ben so that he can have a good education, that was already done, make arrangements with Carol and Ross, this week we will sign the papers"
"And what are we talking about," Judy asked defiantly, "I guess half the prize?"
"I'm not going to tell you how much the trust is, but it's certainly not half of the prize, it's enough money for his education, it's the amount that Ross and Carol considered sufficient," Monica answered firmly and decided to explain.
"Look, when we decided to buy the lottery tickets Ross strictly refused to participate with us, I offered him to contribute his part and he said no, that it was a matter of principles that Dad instilled in him, only the money earned through work is worth it, and there was no way to convince him, in fact he treated us like fools for throwing 50 dollars in the trash." … "then when we won I offered to share it and he refused, he said again that he would never accept it as a matter of principle, that the only thing he would accept would be a sum for Ben's education in a trust and that is what we have done"
"That's not enough, since you want so much money, what are you going to do with it, waste it on nonsense with your stupid friends" Judy said clearly angry.
"Mom, I know what you think about me, that I am selfish, a bad sister, a bad daughter, that my ears are big, that I don't do my hair properly, that I have a shitty profession, that my job is rubbish, that I'm not doctor, that I'm a nuisance, that my house doesn't look clean and, lastly, that I'm never going to get married because no man is going to want the mess of a woman that you raised."
"And you know Mom, it's been a long time since I stopped caring about your opinion of me, even if Ross had accepted the money, you still thought I didn't deserve anything, I've already gotten over your lack of affection for me."
Through all this, Jack remained silent, his face was red, he didn't look Monica in the eyes, he seemed embarrassed, only Monica didn't know if he was ashamed of Judy or her, he had never taken a risk for her in front of Judy, and he was also evident that he was only proud of his son "the Doctor".
Monica wanted them to leave, she wanted to cry, but she would never give them the pleasure of seeing her do it, her head hurt, her stomach hurt, she felt so outside of that family, she just wanted a hug from Chandler or Rachel, she needs to feel that her friends loved her.
Judy and Jack got up, Judy didn't say another word, she didn't even greet Monica, Jack just said "see you soon" and they left.
Thank you for reading this new story, I have several chapters in advance, since I'm going on a trip today I decided to upload the second one, then I will try to upload updates at least once a week. Upon my return I will continue with my habit of uploading two chapters per week.