The One Where Chandler and Monica Meet

"Chandler?"

"What Rob?" Chandler shouted back to his half brother.

"Can you do something for me?"

"Do what?" Chandler replied wearily.

"Well... you see, I'm going on a date with Jess again tonight, and she's bringing a friend."

"So you need me to go, right?"

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind."

"Rob, I hate blind dates, you know that. Remember Janice? You set me up with her."

"Oh... yeah... but Jess said her friend's really nice."

"Then why can't her friend find her own date?"

"Oh come on Chandler. Just this one night. I'll never set you up again."

"Really?" Chandler replied excitedly. Rob was always setting him up. To now have to go on more blind dates sounded like a blessing.

"So you'll do it then?" Rob replied.

"Yeah, but this is the last time, got it?"

"Okay."

"Oh come on Mon, I already told Rob that I was going to bring a friend, and he's bringing a friend!" Jess begged her roommate.

"I... DON'T... WANT... TO... GO! Got it?" Monica replied.

"But Mon..."

"Don't but Mon me, remember the last time you set me up? It was a disaster. And not only was he disgusting, he was UGLY!"

"But this one is cute."

"How do you know? Have you met him before?"

"Well, no... but Rob said he was cute."

"Do you think he was going to tell you that he was ugly?"

"How about we do it this way: You come and stay near the entrance. If you think the guy's cute, you come to the table. If not, you can leave and I'll make up an excuse."

"Fine," Mon replied, knowing she was not going to win. "When and Where?"

"Tonight, seven o'clock, St. Huberts. Bye." Jess left before Mon could reply.

Later that evening, Monica and Jess arrived at the restaurant. They entered, and Monica watched from the entrance as Jess moved ahead to find the table where Rob was already sitting with his friend. As she waited for Jess to find the table, she debated about leaving, because even if the guy was cute, who said he was going to be nice.

After a couple of minutes, she watched as Jess sat down next to Rob. The only problem, was that Rob and Jess were facing her, and her 'date' wasn't!

She saw the back of a guy stand up and shake Jess's hand. But she still couldn't tell if the guy was cute or not. After another short debate in her head, she headed over to the table.

"Monica!" Jess exclaimed, happily, but Mon could see a look of relief pass over her friends face.

"Hi Jess," Mon replied, trying to sound happy.

"Mon, this is Rob," Jess introduced her two friends.

"Nice to meet you Monica, Jess had told me lots about you." Rob stood up and shook Monica's hand. "This is my friend and half-brother Chandler."

Chandler then followed suit, and stood up and shook her hand. As Monica sat down beside him, he whispered to her: "How'd you get roped into it?"

'Let's just say I got tired of arguing," Mon replied equally softly. "What about you?"

"He promised me that he would never set me up again if I went on this one. I think he really likes Jess."

"Same goes for Jess. She's really into Rob. It's always Rob this and Rob that."

"I know what you meant."

"What are you two whispering about?" Rob asked the two.

"Um..." Mon stuttered. She looked over at Chandler.

"We were discussing how good this restaurant is." Chandler replied quickly.

"Oh," Rob gave the two a weird look.

As the dinner progressed, Monica found that she was having a better time then expected. Jess and Rob were so caught up in each other, that she and Chandler had gotten a chance to actually talk, without the other two butting in. It was weird, Mon had decided, she felt like she'd known Chandler forever and found it easy to talk to him. She'd never felt like that with a guy on the first date.

Chandler didn't what was going on. It seemed like Mon actually liked him. She laughed at his jokes and had told him about her brother Ross and her parents who didn't seem to appreciate her. In return he'd told her about his own messed up family. Unlike other women he'd dated, she seemed to understand him, and didn't seem weired out.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he knew he was falling for her.

"I need to go to the bathroom, Mon?" Jess stood up.

"Coming," Mon replied, rolling her eyes to Chandler. He laughed softly.

"So what do you think of him?" Jess asked as soon as they were out of ear shot.

"He's pretty nice, I guess," Mon replied.

"Only nice? It looked like you two were hitting it off!"

"Like I said, he seems pretty nice... and cute!" Even though Mon had whispered the last two words, Jess caught them.

"See, Rob was right, he is cute. Do you think you'll go out with him again?"

"Maybe, if he asks," Mon replied.

"So?" Rob said eagerly after Monica and Jess had left the table.

"So what?" Chandler replied.

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I guess so. She's nice, smart and beautiful."

"You going to ask her out on another date?"

"I don't know. I mean, I think she likes me too, but I"m not sure."

"Oh come on. Of course she likes you. Did you not see the look on her face. She totally likes you." Rob paused. "I'll tell you what. Why not after dinner, we go for a walk in Central Park. You can talk to her there and then walk her home."

"Sounds good."

"What sounds good?" Monica asked as she sat down.

"We were just talking about how we should take a walk in the park." Chandler replied quickly. "What do you think?"

After dinner, the four walked outside towards Central Park. Jess and Rob walked hand in hand in front, and Mon and Chandler followed behind, a little nervous. As comfortable as they found it with each other, they still were a little uncomfortable, as they weren't sure how the other felt.

"So," Chandler finally broke the silence that had hung over them.

"So what?" Monica replied.

"So... what do you do? Like for a job and stuff?"

"I'm a lawyer, you?"

"Data processor. It was suppose to be a temp job, but it kinda became more then that."

"How long have you been working there?"

"Oh, five years."

"Why haven't you left?" Monica questioned.

"Cos I haven't found a job that I would rather do. How about you, do you like your job?"

"Well... as much fun as suing people can be, no, not really."

"Well then, how come you haven't left?

"Same as you. Can't find a job I'd rather do."

"But you said you liked cooking, and Jess said you're an awesome cook. Why don't you become a chef or something."

"I don't know. Jess is the only one who's ever said I was a good cook."

"Mon."

Monica looked up, Jess was waving at her.

"What?"

"Rob and I are going to head back to his place. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Okay, bye," Monica waved to the two. The rest said goodbye, and then she and Chandler watched as they left.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Chandler asked.

"Um, do youmind if we call it a night? I've got a big presentation tomorrow." Monica asked.

"Sure, no problem," Chandler hid the hurt in his voice. If that wasn't a brushoff then what was. "Bye." Chandler added.

"Bye." This time it was Mon's turn to hide her hurt. The two turned their separate ways.

"Hey Mon," Jess shouted happily as she entered the apartment the next morning.

"No need to shout, I'm right here," Monica replied from the couch in front of the tv.

"Something wrong Mon?" Jess asked. "You seem upset. Didn't the date go well? I thought the two of you were really hitting it off!"

"So did I!" Monica exclaimed. "That was until you guys left."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, he asked what I wanted to do, and I told him that actually, if he didn't mind, would it be okay if I went home. You know how exhausted I've been from that last case. I was tired. Chandler became all weird. He just said okay bye and left!"

"Ohh," Jess replied, a look of understanding crossing her face.

"Ohh what?" Monica asked eagerly.

"Oh nothing," Jess replied quickly. She wanted to talk to Rob about her thoughts first, before she told Mon. "I've got to go Mon, but I'll see you later this night, Rob's picking me up from work."

"Okay."

"How did it go?" Rob asked eagerly as he walked into Chandler's office the next morning.

"Not good," Chandler replied shortly.

"Not good? But everything looked like it was going great!"

"That's what I thought, until after you and Jess left. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to go home."

"Ouch," Rob nodded. "That sucks. I'm going out with Jess again tonight, I'll ask her about it."

"Why doesn't Mon like Chandler?" Rob asked as soon as Jess stepped off the elevator.

"Mon really likes Chandler," Jess replied.

"No she doesn't, didn't Mon tell you about what happened after we left?" Rob asked.

"Let me explain first. I think what the main problem is, is communication," Jess replied as the left the building. "As you know, after we left, Chandler asked Mon what she wanted to do. Now what you don't know, is Mon's a lawyer and has just finished working on a big case. She's exhausted from that, was really tired last night, so she admitted that she really just wanted to go home. It was Chandler who took it the wrong way. He must have thought she was brushing him off, when she really wasn't. She doesn't realize what's going on, I didn't tell her. I wanted to check with you first, to make sure that Chandler actually likes Monica."

"He does, believe me. I've never seen him be so open on a first date. He's normally really nervous around girls. Can you get Mon to phone Chandler?"

"I'll try, but she'll probably be to embarrassed to do it. Do you think Chandler would phone her?"

"I don't know, I don't think so. He's got his pride."

"Well, then we'll just have to set them up again, 'kay?"

TO BE CONTINUED ...