My Heart Won't Let Me

One Step Closer

Chapter 20

‘One Step Closer’

Ross could easily sense something was up from the way Rachel acted around him lately, but he couldn’t point his finger on it. Everything was good at home, wonderful even. The routine they had built together worked flawlessly for their current schedule. Emma had been an active toddler, loving all the new routine and undoubtedly happier now that her parents were living under the same roof. Ben had stayed with them twice every month to spend weekends there and even though it was a little bit cramped now at their current apartment, they somehow made it work. Moving out to find a bigger place for their family to live was certainly on their mind, but not anytime soon since they already had so much on their plates right now.

Rachel hadn’t heard back from Gucci even though it was a month after the interview, but Ross was still optimistic about it. She’d get the job - he had a strong feeling about it, unlike Rachel who recently began to lose hope as days went by.

She said she was okay if she didn’t get the job. She said she was fine working in Ralph Lauren like the way she did right now, but Ross didn’t buy it. She loved her current job - that much he knew, but he also knew that she was bored. She needed the kind of challenge the new job at Gucci would offer and she actually confessed to him one time that she felt like she had achieved everything she could possibly have in Ralph Lauren. So when the job hunter had given her an interview with Gucci, she had been so ecstatic, she spent the whole night trying on clothes to wear the next day at the interview.

He’d just watched her standing in front of their closets clad in only her underwear as she rummaged inside it, pulling and putting on clothes, asking for his opinions every now and then even when she ended up ignoring all his opinions. He knew how much the new job at Gucci meant to her and it killed Ross to watch her spirit down as she heard no news from them.

... and now his girlfriend was acting weird.

It was almost as if she was trying to avoid him or something as she cancelled their weekly date. It was the second time this week she had cancelled a plan with him and Ross would understand if she wasn't acting strange around him, but she did. She was hiding something and Ross was very determined to get to the bottom of it tonight.

Now, his girlfriend had just done with her nightly routine and as she slipped under the cover, Ross closed the book he was reading and put them away.

“Okay..What’s wrong?" Ross sighed, shifting slightly so that he could see right into her eyes. "You’ve been acting really weird lately, you refused to go on a date with me.."

“-because I’m dead tired.” She groaned. “I’ve told you that.”

“Then what about yesterday? We were supposed to go for dinner with Phoebe and Mike, you cancelled it. Look.. I’ve given you time and space, but it’s starting to worry me. What’s going on?”

She avoided his gaze, staring at her own hands as a frown formed in her forehead. Something was definitely bothering her and Ross needed to know what it was because the way she had acted around her was starting to worry him.

"Rach.." Ross sighed.

“They offered me the job..” She murmured softly.

“What?”

“Gucci..” Rachel sighed rather weakly, rubbing her throbbing temple. She really needed to do something with her headache that seemed to bother her a lot these past few days, maybe take an Advil or something.“-they offered me the job..”

“Okay.. I thought I heard that part wrong because why aren’t you happy about it?” Ross asked, furrowing his brows out of confusion. “Shouldn’t we be out and celebrate it? Maybe I can call my mom and ask if she can come to pick Emma for the night..”