i'll be there - chandler bing (on hold)

the one with ross' new girlfriend

"this is amazing. i mean, how, how did this happen?" monica stammers, stepping closer to rachel. 

"well, ross and i were in grad school together." 

"but we haven't seen each other since then. well, i land in china, guess who's in charge of the dig!" ross smiles, pointing down to julie beside him. 

"julie! julie, isn't that great? i mean, isn't that just kick-you-in-the-crotch, spit-on-your-neck fantastic?" gianna's eyes widen slightly as she watches rachel. 

"it's just an expression." she adds quickly, swallowing hard. 

"well, we just wanted to say a quick hi, and then we're gonna go see the baby." ross explains. 

"and then we've gotta get some sleep." 

"yeah, it's really 6:00 tomorrow night our time." 

"well, listen," chandler begins, standing beside gianna, "don't tell us what's gonna happen, 'cause i like to be surprised." he jokes, gianna quickly slapping the back of her hand against his arm. ross and julie bid goodnight, shutting the door quietly behind them. the rest of the group turn to rachel slowly, watching her expression soften, her lips turning down into a frown. 

*

the next morning, gianna sat flicking through a magazine at the counter of the coffee house, letting rachel fill her cup when it was empty. behind her, the door swings open, ross and chandler wandering to the counter. 

"hey, rach, can i get some coffee?" 

"yeah, sure." rachel smiles sweetly at ross, gianna continuing to read her magazine. 

"thank you." 

"hey, rach, can i get-" chandler begins to ask, his hands sitting on top of gianna's shoulders softly. 

"did you talk to him?" 

"not yet." 

"then, no." rachel's expression was blank as she stared at chandler, his hands curling into gianna's shoulders with fear. 

"uh, ow." gianna murmurs, turning back to raise an eyebrow at chandler. 

"oh! sorry, i'll just-" he leaves to talk to ross without finishing his sentence. gianna keeps her eyes on the boys seated on the couch, watching chandler talk to ross about julie. 

"here's your lemonade." rachel smiles, handing ross the glass. 

"i didn't order lemonade." 

"oh. well then, you better go take that back because they're gonna charge you for that." rachel rambles, ushering ross to get up. 

"but-" 

"go, go, go, go, come on! well, what did you find out?" rachel takes the seat ross was sitting in, begging chandler to tell her what ross said.  gianna sat quietly at the counter, magazine held open by her fingers as ross reordered his drink beside her. 

*

"pheebs, you know what i'm thinking?" monica wandered from her room and towards the kitchen table where phoebe and gianna sat together. 

"oh, ok! how, it's been so long since you've had sex, you're wondering if they've changed it?" phoebe asks, and gianna's features twist in discomfort. 

"no, although now that's what i'm thinking." she mutters, standing from her chair to get a drink from the fridge. 

"all right, so what were you thinking?"