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 7
The following Saturday afternoon Monica's flight arrived, Ross and Emily picked her up at the airport and took her to apartment 20.
Monica was hoping to see Chandler at the airport and she asked about him. Ross explained to her that on Fridays and Saturdays he goes to the place to say his monologues, and in passing he told her that he is doing very well, it seems that the comments from those who attend make more people want to go see him.
"Well, I'll see about it tomorrow, before leaving Paris I'll invite everyone for brunch."
Monica was dying to see them, especially Chandler.
Phoebe and her mother arrived first, the friends merged into a tight hug.
Mon immediately asked her about her triplets, and Phoebe suggested taking her to her brother's house so she could meet them.
"When Chandler called me, when they were born, told me they were beautiful," said Monica.
"Yes, he accompanied mom and me until they were born, then, if you saw it, he stayed with us and did not leave Leslie until Frank and Alice arrived."
"He seems to like kids a lot," said Mom Phoebe.
"And they cope well with care, since they are three babies," Monica asked.
"Look, it's very stressful, so I hired a babysitter to help them as long as they need it, now they are more relaxed. I told them to buy a bigger house, I gave it to them, but Alice doesn't want to move so we are going to wait until the babies are older and we will do a renovation so that everyone has their rooms."
"And you, Phoebe, aren't you planning to move?" Monica asked.
"No, Mom and I really feel comfortable in the apartment and it is also only two blocks from the beauty salon. We are both going to work in the salon, so for now we are staying there."
"And when you open the room," Monica asked,
"We plan to open it in 15 days, why don't you come this week so you can get to know it?"
"Yes, of course, I'm looking forward to meeting it," Monica exclaimed.
Mom Phoebe told Monica "Chandler is a great friend, he helped us with the real estate agency to find the premises, he also made a connection with an architect to do the necessary works and with the lawyer to process the necessary permits."
"Mon, if you want to open a restaurant, ask him for help, he will facilitate all the procedures and he has his feet on the ground," Phoebe commented.
"Yes, I'm sure I'll ask him for help," Monica answered, and she thought it was a good way to approach him to see if he is on the same page as her.
Soon Emily and Ross arrived, Mon thought there was some tension between them, but she didn't give it any importance, after all, they were just getting to know each other.
Chandler finally arrived with a big smile, "Finally my best friend kept her promise and came back to the city" he said happily, except that the firmness with which he called her "my best friend" made Monica think that maybe he assumed fully the decision to be just friends.
"As the course went, are you still determined to open the restaurant?" Chandler asked.
"Of course, in the course, among other things, they told me the most important points to take into account when running a restaurant, so I hope to do it well," said Monica.
"Chandler, you should help Monica like you did with us, we already told her that you were very efficient in all the procedures," Phoebe commented.
"Of course, if Mon wants, I would love to help her with everything."
Monica says smiling, "Of course I want to, it will be fun."
"Well, but I will do it on one condition," Chandler told her, "you have to come to my new apartment, I need you to help me furnish it so that it looks like a home, now there is only the recliner and a television, the rest in a wasteland."
"Of course, I would love to," Monica said with a smile.
Phoebe asked Monica about Rachel, how she was doing, if she planned to stay and live there.
Monica couldn't talk much about Rachel's mood in front of Emily and Ross, since they were the reason for her sadness. She just said
"It's okay, she is hard working with the internship, although I don't know if she will stay, she hasn't decided anything yet, you think that now she is alone, while we were together she was accompanied, I don't know if she can stand being alone"
"And she didn't date anyone, she always has a candidate," Phoebe asked.
She only had a couple of dates, but they didn't work out, the guys there aren't like ours," Monica said with a smile, and as she did so she noticed Ross's serious face and a certain annoyance in Emily's gestures, obviously she didn't like the conversation about Rachel.
"And you," Phoebe asked again.
Chandler couldn't help but look at her to hear her answer.
"No, I didn't have any dates, I went to take the course, I didn't want to get involved with anyone, plus the French are presumptuous," Monica answered.
Chandler exhaled relaxed, during these months he had never asked Monica about her romantic life, and then about London even less so.
After talking about everything, everyone left for several hours.
Monica had thought that he would stay, they had so much to talk about, to find out how he felt, if his crazy nights had affected him, although from his behavior it seemed that not, that for him all that had happened.
That week Mon was dedicated to accompanying Phoebe to meet the triplets and then to the beauty salon, so she didn't go through Central Perk or see Chandler.
On Friday she asked Ross to come with her to see Chandler's show, but she asked Ross not to tell him anything, she wanted it to be a surprise.
Mon was surprised by how charismatic he was on stage, people laughed and applauded his comical or sarcastic comments, he moved with grace, he looked confident, he gestured to accentuate his story at the right moment, taking small pauses to create expectation. It was the same Chandler as always, the one from her living room, only more professional. At one point she heard some girls say that he was so cute, a good catch. -
Monica felt jealous, her friend, insecure, shy, the one she now wanted to be more than her friend, her man, had become a good prey within the reach of any beautiful girl.
When the show ended Chandler was surprised and very happy to see Mon, she hugged him to congratulate him, he just wanted to kiss her, eat her mouth, but she didn't give clear signs, just as she had said in London for Monica it was only a couple of crazy nights
The next day everyone met at Central Perk, and as they always talked about everything, Chandler told the news he had about Joey's life, apparently he had had several auditions and was waiting for the results, and they also laughed at Chandler's jokes and Phoebe's jokes.
At one point in the meeting Chandler stood up,
"Guys, I have to go to the show. If you like, tomorrow we'll meet for lunch and watch a movie."
Everyone agreed.
After Chandler left, Emily commented, "Chandler is such a handsome and nice guy, he deserves to find a good girl, but he's obviously difficult, a couple of weeks ago he went on a date, we met her at the show, she was a beautiful blonde, but he only went out once and it ended."
"I already told you, Emily, it's normal for him, none of them suits him, actually because he's afraid of commitment," Ross said.
"I'm not so sure about the commitment thing," Phoebe said. "He was totally up for commitment with Katy, it's just that she acted like a witch." and she continued,
"Joey told me that he disappeared two nights in London, he was with a girl, and during the flight he told Joey that he had been with the perfect girl, Joey asked him why he didn't stay, he didn't have to go back to work, and Chandler told that she was going to another country, and he was also sure that for her it was just sex."
Monica's heart skipped a beat, color rose to her face, obviously if he said that to Joey, those nights had not been indifferent to him, but she knew Chandler, obviously he was insecure, withdrawn, always lacking self-confidence, that's why he seemed indifferent, maybe she would have to give some sign.
The next day, during lunch, Monica asked Chandler if he could help her find a suitable location that week, and he totally agreed.
"But first you come to my house to give me ideas, it's an exchange of services," he told her, laughing.
That week they spent a lot of time together, contacting real estate agencies to find suitable place for a restaurant, premises, looking at furniture for Chandler, he wanted to hug her so badly, but he was afraid of ruining everything.
Monica was dying to be with him, she had to find a way to force him to talk.
One of those days they stopped for lunch and Chandler told her about Ross's problem, which Monica didn't know,
"But if she's so jealous, how are they going to stay together?" said Monica.
"I don't know, don't tell him that I told you, he probably will, he just finds it difficult to get out of it without her," he explained.
"Well, but I'm his sister, she can't be jealous of me," Monica said annoyed,
The fact that Emily had decided to marry her brother so hastily had put a shadow of doubt in Monica about Emily's maturity, obviously discounting her brother's immaturity, but she should have been more cautious, and now she was behaving appropriately, clearly wrong. This worried her a lot, Ross had such a desire to find a woman, get married, and start a family that Monica feared that he would submit to Emily's whims in order to go ahead with his marriage.
On Friday night Monica was alone in the apartment, Phoebe was completing the final preparations for the inauguration that would be the following Thursday, Chandler had a performance, while Ross and Emily had plans to go to the theater.
She was reading some recipes from a food book when only the phone.
"Hello Mon."
"Hello Rachel, what a surprise, what time is it there?"
"At dawn, I called you to let you know that this morning, well for you is tomorrow, I'm returning to the city, I already have the ticket, I'll arrive at JFK at 7:00 p.m., you can go pick me up."
"Yes, of course I'll wait for you, come for a few days" Monica asked.
"No, I'm coming home, I'm alone and very sad, I can't get over Ross, I need you, my friends," Rachel said crying.
"Of course, we will all be there for you, I'll wait for you tomorrow"
Something in Monica's stomach told her that a storm was coming.
In the morning she called Chandler "Last night Rachel phoned me, she's coming back, today she arrives at JFK, I'm going to look for her, she's very depressed" Monica told him.
"I'm going with you…" Chandler said quickly.
"She arrive at 7 p.m., and you have a function, don't worry, I'll bring her home, if you like, come on Sunday, so we can distract her, I'll tell Phoebe. "Chandler, she needs us," Monica said.
"If I know, we will be there"