soulmates. ― chandler bing

― 29 | LIKE YOUR EYES

❝EVERYONE! IT'S TIME! We're making our way to the recording hall. You have a seating area number on your ticket. Please follow the crew member with your area number to your seat." The door opened and around ten men and women in flashy jackets spread out. "This is so exciting, Eve. Thank you for being here with me." I didn't even realize what he was saying, until he grabbed my hand for a second and squeezed it. "I am the one who should be thanking you, Chandler!", I smiled. And so we followed a lady, who directed us to our seats.

          "And here we are. Row two, seats fourteen and fifteen. Enjoy the show!" We thanked the lady and sat down, next to two girls, who eyed Chandler suspiciously. "I should have never dressed this way. I should have chosen an easier way to impress you." I snorted, "To impress me? You thought that tie would work?" That was all I managed to get out. My heart was racing. Impress me. Did he actually want to impress me? But why would he? I cannot believe him. He makes so many jokes about this today. He will end up with my heart exploding.

         "Oi, I saw your eyes brightening up, you cannot deny you weren't a little impressed!", he replied jokingly mad. We're going all in. I'll play, if he wants to play. "Yeah, sorry. I was unable to breathe the moment I saw you. That is how impressed is was, by your natural beauty." I set the impressed under quotation marks. It was difficult not to break into laughter. It was also difficult not to tear up, because partly these things were true. And it hurt. I should just tell hi– NO. Are you insane. You cannot just tell him that you love him. Evelyn, breathe. Everything has its time.

          "That's what I thought. Because I am overall super impressive." He nodded in disbelief. "M–maybe you can impress me with the choice of dinner later, right?", I smiled shyly. "Right!" He smiled as well. It got crowded around us. "Everyone, the show starts in five. Please return to your seats. For the ultimate viewing experience, we ask you to stay rather quiet, unless one of those signs saying 'applause' is lightning up–" The guy with the megaphone kept talking, but Chandler turned to me and whispered, "Lightning up. Like your eyes." Before he could even notice my blushing, he had already turned around again, to face the megaphone guy. I kind of drifted away for a few minutes. Chandler was acting sweeter than normally. It's not easy to progress that. "We are recording in FIVE–" I snapped out of my trance. "THREE, TWO, ONE AND–" He pointed at the cameras, which were pointing at a door, that now opened.

✥

❝AND WHEN CARLA HALL just performed magic and created that chocolate pudding within seconds–", Chandler was still fanboying about every detail of the past two hours. "And the camera only came close to us like three or four times!" He seemed so happy about that. "Chandler, I don't want to ruin this for you, but there were two more cameras. One of them pretty much opposite us. I am very excited, how much you will see us in the edited show. Or if they just blurred you out for one hour." I laughed, when I saw the shocked look on his face. "There was a second camera?" Which made me laugh even more. He smiled again. "I am just so hungry now, it's unbelievably–", I said after holding my stomach laughing at him.

         "So, what food could you be impressed by..?", Chandler thought out loud, which made me smile already. "Maybe I will be impressed by Italian food." He looked down to me. "I thought about Italian as well. If we are thinking about the same restaurant now I might scream." I raised my eyebrows, whereupon he rose only one. "I hate that I cannot raise a single eyebrow. How do you do that?", I fake whined. "One day", he said, "I will show you. But for now Evelyn, it is way more important to find out if we are actual foodmates." I stopped walking and waited till he also stopped after a few metres, turned and looked an me. "Foodmates?", I asked while he walked up to me again. "You know, like soulmates but with taste in food." I shook my head, "That sounds like something Joey would teach you." He pulled a grimace, "Guilty."

          I smiled. It was crazy how it felt like we had known each other or years. Like we could make jokes about each other, knowing that it wouldn't have any consequences. Like we fully trusted each other. Like I didn't have this secret. This indescribable amount of affection. My smile got weaker. I noticed that Chandler got even closer than before. He must have noticed, the look on my face. We were as close, as we were the day I asked him to accompany me to The Chew. And now this day has come. This day was today. This was all happening so fast, although it originally started years ago. "Eve? Are you okay?" I looked up to see his blue eyes right in front of me. "I Sodi", I whispered. "You what?", Chandler asked me in a very quiet voice, which made me smile again.

❝NO CHANDLER, I SODI!❞

And that is when he started smiling. "No way. The one on Christopher Street?" Which caused me to laugh out loud a little. "You really had that place in mind?", I laughed out loud. "Yeah, it's like two minutes from our apartment and it has amazing lasagna. How do you know the place? We've never been, nor ordered there since you've moved in." I found it fascinating that he could keep record of stuff like that. I could not tell you a single restaurant, we've ordered from. "One or two years back I visited Ross and Mon here and since mum didn't want to eat at Monica's, she choose one of the closest restaurants. I remember how I loved the flair of the place, I thought it was kind of romantic. And the food, oh my god, it was so delicious." It was only now that I noticed, how close Chandler had actually come. Did I imagine that or did his impression just change, when I mentioned the romantic part?