CHAPTER 4

"Hey," Chandler greeted as Joey walked through the door half an hour later.

"Hey. So who was on the phone?" Joey asked as he opened their fridge and grabbed a couple of beers. He opened them then handed one to Chandler before taking a swig of his own.

"Oh…uh…just someone trying to us sell insurance for the…uh…duck but I told him he wasn't interested," he lied and took a long drink of his beer before going to sit on his lounger.

"Man, people are always trying to sell you something," commented Joey in disgust as he flopped onto his own lounger.

Chandler gave him a disbelieving look, then shook his head and took another drink. Even after all these years, there were still times when his roommate's apparent lack of any sense amazed him. Still, at this particular moment, he was thankful . No awkward explanations as to why he left so abruptly.

There was a knock at their door and they looked at each other a moment before Chandler got up and answered it.

"Oh my God! Dude! Come in. What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting up tonight?" Chandler cried and briefly hugged the tall, handsome, blond haired man that stood in the doorway.

"Well, I wanted to see what the old place looked like now and naturally, I couldn't wait to see my best bud again," the man replied with a grin. He glanced around the apartment quickly then turned as if to leave, "Ok, place looks the same and I've seen you, so now I can go," he joked.

Chandler grinned and put his arm around the man, turning him to face a bemused Joey.

"Joe, this is Mike Ganderson better known as 'Gandalf the Party Wizard'!" he introduced excitedly.

"Oh, it's great to finally meet you man," said Joey and shook hands.

"Likewise. Chandler here, has told me a lot about you and I just got one question for you…are you ready to party?"

"Yeah, I am!" Joey exclaimed. All the men high-five and grinned at each other.

"OK, you want a beer?" asked Chandler as he retrieved one from the fridge and held it out to him.

"You bet," Mike replied gratefully, "Let's start this party early."

The door to the apartment opened again and Monica entered, "Oh! Sorry, I didn't realise you had company," she apologised and turned to go, "I'll talk to you later, Chandler."

"No, wait a minute, Mon," Chandler called out. She turned back at looked at him expectantly, "This is Mike 'Gandalf' Ganderson," he told her, gesturing to the man standing quietly next to him, "Mike, this is Monica, she lives across the hall."

"Pleased to meet you," greeted Monica as she held out her hand with a smile.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine, I assure you," Mike replied as he shook her hand slowly.

Monica giggled and Chandler's smiled faded as the seed of jealousy was sown, "She's also Ross' little sister," he told Mike with a hint of warning.

"Really?" Mike looked at her in surprise, "Wow! You sure look different than in your photo's. Ross didn't tell me you'd lost all the weight. Good for you, you look stunning."

"Oh, thank you," she replied, a blushing at the compliment. She tugged slightly on her hand that was still in Mike's firm grip.

"Oh, sorry," he chuckled and released her hand.

"Well, I'd better go," she said backing out of the door, "Maybe I'll see you later."

"Count on it," Mike replied and she giggled again. He watched her leave the apartment then turned to Chandler and Joey with a huge grin on his face, "Whew! She is hot!"

Joey winked and nodded, "Yeah baby!"

Chandler scowled at Joey, then turned to Mike, "No, all right?! Absolutely not! Ross would kill you. She's his little sister."

"What did I say?" he retorted, all innocence.

"It's not what you said, it's the way you looked and acted," Chandler told him with a frown, "I know how you work and I'm warning you...stay away or Ross won't be happy." With a final hard stare at his friend he left the apartment.

Mike looked at Joey and pursed his lips thoughtfully, "You know, somehow I think that Ross wouldn't be the only one who wouldn't be happy."

Joey grinned and nodded in agreement, then suddenly frowned, "You mean her parents, right?"

Mike stared at him incredulously, "Yeah, that's who I meant."

Monica looked up from her seat on the couch as Chandler entered her apartment, slamming the door behind him.

"I take it you're not here because you admit it's your turn?" she commented wryly as he stood with his hands on his hips glaring at her.

"What the hell was that?" he demanded angrily.

"What the hell was what?" she countered, her own anger firing as she stood up to face him.

"All that giggling and 'maybe I'll see you later' stuff with Mike," he mimicked sardonically.

"I was just being friendly," she defended.

"Oh really?" he cried furiously, walking towards her, "Well, for your information, he thinks you're really hot and trust me, he wants to be more than just friendly with you!"

She couldn't help the smile that broke out on her face, "He thinks I'm hot?"

"Monica!" Chandler exclaimed coming to a halt in front of the couch.

"What? He's gorgeous, I'm flattered," she goaded, enjoying his display of jealousy, "Who knows, maybe I'll drop by later and see just how friendly he wants to get," she added in a suggestive tone.

The anger suddenly seemed to drain from Chandler and he visibly sagged, "Well, you obviously like him back so I guess that's it then," he said quietly and turned to go.

"What?" questioned Monica in disbelief. Seeing that he was actually leaving, she hurriedly walked around the couch to stop him. She blocked his path and grabbed his arms in concern, "Come on Chandler, I was just mucking around. I'm not interested in him at all. I could see that you were jealous and I was just trying to get a reaction from you," she explained contritely, "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."

"Oh, Mon, please. I saw the way you looked at him in there. You like him and I could never compete against Gandalf…I mean…God, his reputation with the ladies surpasses even Joey's!" He shook his head despondently and moved to go passed her.

"Chandler, wait!" She took hold of his left hand and placed her right against his cheek, "Look, I don't care who's turn it is, all right?" she said softly, "I can't stop thinking about that night in London and I want to know if you will you go out with me?"

He silently stared deep into her eyes, then slowly leaned forward and claimed her lips with his own. The hand on his cheek moved around to cling to the back of his neck. Her other hand then slid up him his arm and across his shoulder to join it. His arms wrapped around her body and pulled her close as the kiss deepened.

They slowly pulled apart and Monica smiled, "I take it that was a yes?"

"Yes," he whispered and kissed her again.

This time when they drew back, it was his turn to smile…and it was smug, "See, I told you I'd win."

Monica's mouth dropped open as his words sunk in and her expression turned angry, "Why you…"

Chandler cut off her tirade by quickly kissing her again. He tightened his hold on her waist with one hand and pushed the other up into her hair. Her muffled attempts at talking soon became moans as she passionately returned his kiss. There would be plenty of time for talking later.

THE END.