Sunday
Standing in the doorway, Chandler turns, raises his eyebrows and flashes an impish smile at Monica. He gives her a soft "bye" as he exits her apartment, closing the door gently behind him.
Monica's smile slowly fades. She looks down pensively, bites her lip and feels her stomach tense up. She raises her gaze and a brief look of determination flashes across her face as she begins to walk briskly towards the door. A wave of self-doubt crashes down on her and she stops, inches away and pivots back to face the inside of her apartment. She stretches out her fingers, exhaling deeply in an attempt to quiet the anxiety she feels. As she resigns herself to ignore her instincts, she hears a rustling of the knob as the door opens behind her, the cold air generated by the sudden movement tickles her back. She spins around on her toes to see Chandler return.
He closes the door quickly behind him as his eyes dart around the floor. He takes in a deep breath while brushing a finger across the tip of his nose, finally working up the courage to bring his eyes up, meeting her gaze.
"I'm still on London time. Does that count?"
The tension in Monica's shoulders instantly subsides. She shakes her head in relief as the nervous energy is expelled from her entire being as she replaces it with hungry desire.
"Oh, that counts."
They passionately collide against each other, embracing as they begin to share a long fervid kiss. Chandler's hands move from her waist to the small of her back to the sides of Monica's face; tracing circles with his thumbs around her jawline just beneath her earlobes, while Monica runs her hands up to the base of his neck, extending her fingertips through the back of his hair.
They begin to move slowly out of the kitchen, never releasing each other, never opening their eyes, allowing no space between their lips. The two of them moving as if choreographed. They navigate through the apartment, around the couch, threading themselves between the over-sized chair and the coffee table, towards Monica's bedroom.
Monica slides her hand from Chandler's face, reaching down behind her back, grasping, then turning the knob as they push themselves through. Her hand returns to Chandler's face as he then reaches down and closes the door behind them.
A few hours pass before the bedroom door flies open again; Chandler and Monica, still completely wrapped around each other and kissing, walk together as one back into the living room. The only way to know they have been separated at all during this time is the fact that they are now each wearing one of Monica's terry cloth robes, her in black and Chandler in a deep red. Their hair is disheveled and a sheen of dried sweat beaded across their necklines.
"Hungry?" Monica says softly in between kisses.
"Yeah." Chandler replies breathlessly.
They resume sharing deep kisses, holding each other and walk as one towards the kitchen. They stop in front of the refrigerator.
"I think I have a frozen lasagna in here somewhere." Monica moans breathlessly. Chandler, eyes still closed, reaches over with one hand, opens the freezer door and pulls out a small square-shaped tin pan. Never once releasing Monica or breaking their kiss. "It's so cold" he notes softly.
They start to shuffle together, over to the oven. Monica reaches her arm across the range to the controls and turns the dial. Chandler lifts one of his legs up, revealing that he is wearing a pair of Monica's fuzzy pink socks, and hooks his foot through the handle of the oven door. He pulls it down, Monica squats slightly, reaches in and pulls out one of the embedded trays as Chandler carelessly drops the frozen lasagna and pushes the tray in as he closes the door back up. Kissing over and over again with their eyes closed the entire time.
"It will probably take a half hour to heat up." she says between kisses. They both moan approvingly as they start to walk, entwined, back to her bedroom.
"Wait. Timer." she whispers, eyes still closed, they stop and walk back towards the kitchen. Monica's hand flails about on the counter until she feels the plastic egg timer in her grasp. Chandler reaches over and turns the dial and their fingers interlock, as they both hold the timer and head back to Monica's bedroom.
Forty-five minutes later they emerge from her room, still kissing, still holding onto each other. They switched robes at some point, Monica is now in the red and Chandler in the black. They share intimate, gentle touches as they make their way back to the kitchen.
Monica blindly reaches out and turns the oven off. Chandler opens the door, starts to put his free hand in, but quickly pulls it back out. "Ow. Too hot." he mumbles and resumes kissing her. With eyes closed, Monica slides her hand into an oven mitt that was resting on the counter. "I've got it" she says, as she pulls the tin square of food out, dropping it onto the stovetop.
"We should wait for it to cool off," she whispers, "Maybe we should get cleaned up?"
As she resumes kissing him, Chandler nods in agreement, which makes both of them raise and drop their heads together at the same time. They shamble their way around the kitchen table and turn sharply, moving towards the bathroom. Monica lifts her hand, still wearing the oven mitt, and begins caressing the top of Chandler's head. They enter the bathroom and close the door. The sound of a shower being turned on can be heard throughout the quiet, empty apartment.
The front door opens up and Joey bounces into the apartment. "Mon! Hey, anybody home? Has anyone seen Chandler? He's been gone all day!" He walks into the kitchen and looks around. He doesn't see anyone and starts to turn back to the front door when he sees the tin square of food on the oven. He opens up a corner and smells the contents excitedly. "Oh man! Lasagna!" He grabs the tray and heads back out.
The shower turns off. Monica and Chandler exit the bathroom, and again, have switched robes. They are still stuck in an embrace, still kissing, and with their eyes closed, they make their way back to the kitchen. They both take one hand and begin to flail around, hunting for the tray of food that they had left out. They each open one eye to find that the tin pan is no longer there. They both shrug their shoulders, and make their way back to the refrigerator. Monica pulls out some packages that contain sliced cheese and meat. "Sandwiches." she murmurs. Chandler doesn't answer, but instead reaches over and grabs a loaf of bread, flinging it onto the kitchen table. They separate their bodies for the first time and look at each other lustfully.
Monica begins to speak, her voice low and sultry "Maybe we should go back to the bedroom one more time first."
Chandler looks up at the ceiling and mouths "Thank you", looks back at Monica and proclaims proudly, "This is the best day of my life! Ever!" Monica smiles and leans back into Chandler. They start to kiss again, arms wrapped tightly around each other, and slowly move back to her bedroom.
Just as the bedroom door closes behind them, the front door swings open again. Joey walks over to the kitchen, opening drawers as he rummages around clumsily, until he finds a large spoon. He holds it up triumphantly "Ah ha!"
Joey turns to leave and stops short, looking over at the kitchen table where Monica and Chandler left the meat, cheese and bread. He looks up at the ceiling and mouths "thank you", looks back at the food and proclaims proudly, "This is the best day of my life! Ever!" He scoops up all the sandwich making supplies and bounds happily out of the apartment.