F.R.I.E.N.D.S. -- Season One

The One With the Thumb (3)

Kat sat at Central Perk. By the third time she'd been brought there, she'd realized it was their hang-out place. Kat was sitting on the armchair of the couch, leaving a spot open for Phoebe who she knew was coming. Next to the empty spot was Chandler who sat next to Monica. Ross sat in the armchair, Rachel was working and Joey sat in a cafe chair backwards closest to the counter.

"Hi guys!" Phoebe entered the cafe and walked up to where Rachel was.

"Hey, Pheebs! Hi!" Everyone responded. 

"Hey," Ross greeted "Oh, oh, how'd it go?"

"Um, not so good." Phoebe responded, looking at him. "He walked me to the subway and said 'We should do this again!'"

"Ooh. Ouch." Everyone but Rachel said. Kat winced.

"What?" Rachel asked, "He said 'we should do it again', that's good, right?" Kat shook her head.

"Uh, no." Monica responded. "Loosely translated 'We should do this again' means 'You will never see me naked'."

"Since when?" Rachel seemed perplexed as she walked over to the couch arm where Kat sat.

"Since always." Joey responded, Kat nodded and sipped her tea. "It's like dating language. Y'know, like 'It's not you' means 'It is you'."

"Or 'You're such a nice guy' means 'I'm gonna be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you'." That was Chandler.

"Or, or, y'know, um, 'I think we should see other people' means 'Ha, ha, I already am'." Phoebe added.

"Or, my personal favorite," Kat spoke, "'I'm not ready for a serious relationship' means 'I know we just got married, but the whole time we were dating I was sleeping with your best friend'."

Chandler, Phoebe, Joey, Monica and Ross looked at her.

"And everybody knows this?" Rachel asked. She was evidently the only one who didn't know this.

"Oh yeah." Joey responded. "Cushions the blow."

"Yeah," Chandler added. "It's like when you're a kid, and your parents put your dog to sleep, and they tell you it went off to live on some farm."

"That's funny," Ross pointed and Monica smiled at him. "That, no, because, uh, our parents actually did, uh, send our dog off to live on a farm." Kat prayed silently.

"Uh, Ross." Monica looked pointedly at her brother.

"What? Wh- hello? The Millners' farm in Connecticut? The Millners, they had this unbelievable farm, they had horses, and, and rabbits that he could chase and it was- it w--" he cut off as he realized that they were all looking at him. "...Oh my God, Chi Chi!"

Kat stood up. "Okay. As fun as this is, I have a low-paying, good for nothing, part-time job that I have to get to because I'm poor and have no life outside of you guys." Kat placed her empty teacup on the coffee table in front of her. "Farewell and so long."

***

After Kat finished her shift and changed, she headed over to Central Perk. Joey and Chandler had left a note saying they were there and if she wanted to she was allowed to join them. When she walked in, the boys were holding out their hands.

"Rach," The girl turned around and looked at Kat, "Jasmine tea." Rachel nodded and Kat sat down on the cushion next to Ross.

Rachel walked up to the group, balancing five drinks on her tray. "Alright, don't tell me, don't tell me!" She began handing them out. "Decaf cappucino for Joey..." She handed the cup to Ross who handed it to Joey. "Coffee black..." She handed the black coffee to Ross. "Latte... " That one went to Kat. "Jasmine tea..." Chandler got it. "And an iced tea. I'm getting pretty good at this!"