Friends - The Ones With Ellie

The one before the first

"Are you sure, you packed all of Thea's stuff?" I asked frantically and ran through the apartment.

I bent down to look under the sofa again. There was nothing there, like in the last five checks.

I got up from the floor and went to the refrigerator to check if we had taken everything out, but on the way I tripped over one of the moving boxes that I had overlooked.

Before I could fall, two arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me back up.

Chris put his hands on my shoulders, stopping me from continuing on my way to the fridge.

"Hey darling," He said, as he pulled me in a hug and stroked my back. "Everything's fine. Just stay quiet for a moment."

"But this is the first time we move together. It's the first time for Thea to move. I don't want it to be a fail," I groaned lightly into his shoulder. "I don't want us to forget anything."

"We don't forget anything. You packed everything up days ago and checked everywhere several times. And Thea and I too. The move won't be a failure."

I leaned into the hug for a moment, then I let go of my husband. And I pulled a small piece of paper out of my denim skirt.

My moving checklist.

Pack all the stuff

Empty the freezer and the fridge

Clean everything

Call Thea's new kindergarden

Call Chandler

Oh crap.

"Chris? You called Chandler, right? Tell me you called Chandler!" It sounded like an order.

"No. Why? He's your best friend. Or was. Noone knows because if your fight."

"Oh no, no, no, no, no. I forgot. Oh no. How could I forget him?"

I frantically searched for the phone, but then I realized that I had put it in the box half an hour ago.

“Do you think it's weird, if I ask the Black's next door, if I can use their phone?“ I asked Chris sceptical.

“Why do you have to call him so bad? In four hours we're going to be in New York and you can meet up with him.“

I looked at my husband in slight shock.

“Becau-ause,“ I begin, a little bit exaggerating. “He is my best friend, like you just said and we haven't talked in a while and now we're moving literally to his neighbourhood and we can't do this without telling him about it first.“

“We?“

“Yeah, okay. I can't do this without telling him first.“

Chris was just shaking his head.

“Hey,“ I said, pointing towards him. “It's like you would move back to London without telling your sister and your brother.“

“Yeah, you're right, you should call him. But the Black's aren't home right now. They're on vacation in Greece.“

“Greece? Oh dammit, everyone is getting to Greece except for me.“

Chris and I wanted to have our honeymoon on Crete. But about six months before our wedding, I found out that I was unexpectedly pregnant, so the trip was canceled.

Not that I would complain, if it had not happened then we would not have our wonderful little Thea.

But I've wanted to go to Greece ever since I was seven and Chandler showed me a black and white picture of Greek sand.

“You can try Mrs. Hummingbird though.“ Chris suggested, I think as a joke.

Because once you were with her, you couldn't leave for the next two hours.

But it was probably my only option, so I put on my shoes and opened the apartment door.

“Be back in ten. If I'm not, then I was probably forced to eat cookies and spread my love life.

I ran across the hall and knocked on Mrs. Hummingbird's apartment door. After just a few seconds it opened.

“Emilia, what a joy this early morning. Please, come in.“ She said, and I entered without telling her again that she had gotten my name wrong again. She knew Chris's name every time.

“Good morning. I just wanted to stop by to say goodbye. Chris, Thea and I are leaving for New York soon. But I wanted to ask if I could use her phone for a moment.“

“Of course. I'm glad you stopped by again.“ She said and pointed towards the telephone.

“Thank you really much.“ I smiled and walked to the phone while Mrs. Hummingbird sat down.

I dialed the number and held the ringing phone to my ear.

“Hello?“ A male voice came from the other end of the line that definitely didn't belong to Chandler. Probably his roommate.

“Uhm, hi. Is Chandler here,“ I asked him. “I really need to talk to him.“

At first the man didn't answer, but then he said something to someone else in the room, which I still heard. “Hey, dude. There is this woman on the phone for you. She sounds totally hot.“

I chuckled.

A few moments later, a new person was on the phone.

“Hello?“ Chandler asked.

“Yes, hi Chandler. Here's Ellie.“ I said hesitantly. We haven't spoken in more than three years.

“Oh, Ellie. That is a surprise. How are you?“

“Uhm, pretty good. How are you?“

“Good. Great to hear you're good. How is your daughter? Thea, right? I've got the card.“

“Uhm, yes. She's fine. She's nearly four now.“

“Great.“

It was tense. We could feel it even over the phone. There was a brief silence between us until I couldn't stand it anymore and just blurted out why I was calling.

“We are moving to New York today“

“Oh, wow.“

“Yeah, and I'm sorry, but I totally forgot to call you, because I was packing so much. And I really wanted to tell you this. Because, you know. You live there, and I am going to live there. And we are best friends, so you should know. Or we aren't best friends, whatever you think,“ I stopped talking for a while. “This is awkward.“

“Yes, it is. See, Ellie. Maybe we can just forget what happened on Ross' wedding. If that's okay by you.“ Chandler suggested.

“That would be great.“

“So, you're moving here. That's great. I can't wait to see you again. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow. Let's say two p.m. at Central Perk. It's a cafe really close to were I live. Or not, whatever you like.“

“That sounds great, see you tomorrow.“