chapter thirteen ~ the one with the other woman
Heather's POV
I was on cloud nine, that's what I was supposed to feel like, anyway. I was newly engaged which meant that I should be getting butterflies constantly and get nervous but excited about planning my wedding and I should be having mad sex with my fiancé as we constantly talk about our future together. But the truth was, I wasn't feeling any of those things. It was like the engagement hadn't even happened because Carl was back to working all the time and we hadn't spent any time together since he 'proposed', technically he didn't even propose, I just found the ring and he told me that it was an engagement ring. I wish that when people asked me about how he did it, there was more of a romantic story about it, not just that it happened by accident. I wish that he was actually showing an interest in our big day but to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it either.
This whole thing didn't make any sense. When you get engaged, you're supposed to be looking forward to spending the rest of your life with that person but right now, I didn't want to spend another day with him. Not when he was acting like this. Before the accidental engagement, I thought that we were making progress and that he actually cared about me like he did when we first met but now that he was back to ignoring me, I was realising that this wasn't working out the way that it was supposed to. It was like we weren't even in a relationship anymore, let alone, getting married. And I hated it, not only the fact that my fiancé didn't seem to want to be my fiancé but also that my Mom could possibly be right and that he could break my heart. I truly cared about him but I didn't know if that was enough for a marriage to work.
Whilst all these worrying thoughts were messing around in my head, I was also trying to help my friends with their problems and currently, it seemed like Joey was struggling the most. His Father was in town visiting and somehow Joey had found out that his Father was having an affair. He was disgusted that his Father would do something like that to his Mother and was trying to work out what the best way was to handle a situation like this. I didn't really know what to say because I hadn't been in a situation like this before, but knew that he needed support right now and I could happily be there to support him with whatever choice he decided to make about this mess.
"It's like if you woke up one day and found out your Dad was leading this double life. He's like, actually some spy working for the CIA. That would be cool. This just blows."
"I know, why can't parents just stay parents? Why do they have to become people?" Rachel agreed with him but then noticed that Chandler was staring at a particular part of her body. "Why can't you stop staring at my breasts?"
"What?"
I gasped, smacking his shoulder at his rude behaviour. He was an adult but still acting like a teenager when it came to things like this. "Chandler, totally inappropriate!"
"Did you not get a good enough look the other day?" Rachel questioned, stepping away from him and sitting on the couch besides Joey.
"Alright, we're all adults here. There's only one way to resolve this." Ross explained, making everyone think that he was going to say something serious but in reality, he was just as childish as his best friend. "Since you saw her boobies, I think you're going to have to show her your pee-pee."
"You know, I don't see that happening."
"Come on, he's right. Tit for tat."
Chandler shook his head. "Well, I'm not showing you my tat."
"I should get going, I need to get started on wedding prep." I announced as I stood up from my seat.
"You're starting wedding preparations already?"
The truth was that I was hoping to start preparing but had no idea if my fiancé was going to be at home; I didn't want to start making decisions without him around but if he was always working then I would have no choice. The other thing that I wasn't telling anyone was my doubts about the whole thing, usually when you're getting married, both people in the relationship are excited about getting married but it felt like I was in a couple by myself. Which isn't fun, especially when it comes to wedding planning, I wanted to marry Carl but right now it didn't even feel like I knew him. All I could hope for was a miracle that he would get involved in our relationship again but nothing could guarantee that would happen.
"Carl should be home from work right now and I want to get as much done before he has to go back."
~•~
The only reason I would ever go to the boy's apartment was if I needed something and today it was advice with wedding preparations. Carl hadn't showed up to help me and he wasn't answering his phone. I tried calling his office but his secretary just told me that he wasn't working today which made me more confused than ever before because if he wasn't working, then where could he be? So, I headed over, hoping that my brother might be in and that he could help me make some decisions that Carl was supposed to have helped me with. I knew that it wasn't going to be the same but I wanted to get married and this could be my only chance, I needed to take it; even if he broke my heart at some point. At least I would have experienced the married life for a little while first.
"Hey Heather, everything okay?" Joey asked as he opened the door and invited me into the apartment.
"Everything's good, just working on some wedding prep. Is Chandler here?"
"No, he's out. Is there anything I could help you with?"
I shook my head, placing my wedding folder on the counter. "It's okay, I know you're really busy with family stuff right now. How's that going, by the way?"
"Not great, I still can't believe that my Dad would do something like that to Ma?" He shook his head, worried about everything. "I mean, I would never do something like that to my wife."
"You want to get married?"
Joey lifted his head, slowly nodding at me. "Yeah, one day, I just want to make sure that it's with the right woman."
"Let me know when you think you've found her; I'll make sure that she's the right one for you."
He grinned and was about to say something when there was a loud knock at the door. "Ma! What are you doing here?"
"I came to give you this and this!" As she spoke, she handed him a brown bag of groceries and then smacked him over the head.
"Ouch! Big ring!"
"Why did you have to fill your Father's head with all that garbage about making things right? Things were fine the way they were. There's chicken in there, put it away."
As Joey went to the refrigerator, I grabbed my folder. "I should get going, I don't want to intrude."
"No, you can stay. Put some sense into my son's head, which one are you again?"
"This is Heather, Chandler's sister." He introduced me as I shook hands with the scary woman that I now knew as Mrs Tribbiani, Joey looked a lot like her and she seemed nice enough without all the hitting.
"Oh, so this is Heather? I've heard all about you, now, will you tell my son how stupid he's been?"
"I'm sure whatever Joey said, he was only trying to help. He loves you both very much and-"
She rolled her eyes, turning to face her son. "For God sake's Joey, you brainwashed her too!"
"Hold on, you knew?"
"Of course, I knew! What do you think? Your Father is no James Bond. You should have heard some of his cover stories."
"How would you-"
"Do you remember how your Father used to be?" She interrupted, hoping that he would understand. "Always yelling, nothing made him happy. Now, he's happy. It's nice, he has a hobby."
"Ma, I don't mean to be disrespectful but what the hell are you talking about? What about you?"
"Me? I'm fine. Ever since that poodle-stuffer came along, he's been so ashamed of himself that he's been more attentive. He's been more loving."
"I'm happy for you?"
"Well, don't be! Because now everything's screwed up. I just want it the way it was."
"Ma, I'm sorry. I just did what I thought you'd want." Joey explained, feeling bad for messing this up.
"I know you did. So, tell me, did you see her?"
"Yeah. You're ten times prettier than she is."
"That's sweet." His Mother smiled before it turned into a serious frown. "Could I take her?"
"With this ring, no contest."
"I should get going but it was nice to see you, nice to meet you Heather."
"And you Mrs Tribbiani." I smiled, waving to her as Joey escorted her to the front door.
"I like her, keep her around for a long time."
"That's the plan." He said quietly, smiling at me over his shoulder, unaware of the butterflies that erupted in my stomach when he did so.
a/n: my driving test is coming up & i'm terrified of doing it 😳 -lizzie ⭐️
date published: 27/10/20