FORTY THREE

"How do you expect me to grow if you won't let me blow?"
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"Hey." Joey walked into Central Perk. "Hi, baby." He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. The only reason he did this was because Monica and Rachel were the only ones here.
"Well, look at you. Finally got that time machine working, huh?" Rachel sat down on the couch next to me.
"So you like it? This guy was selling them on Eighth Avenue, and I looked at them and thought, 'You know what I don't have?'" He sat down at the little table.
"A mirror?" Monica raised her eyebrows, making me chuckle.
"Fine. Make fun. I think it's jaunty. Besides, if Suparna thinks it looks good, then I'm fine." He smiled and winked at me.
"You look great, honey." replied.
"Wow. For a guy who's recently lost his job, you're in an awfully good mood." Monica crossed her arms over her chest. I nudged her shoulder for the comment.
"I'll be alright. I mean, it's not like I'm starting from square one. I was Dr. Drake Ramoray on Days of our Lives." He smiled proudly. "I mean, that's got to have some kind of cache."
"'Jaunty'? 'Cache'?" I raised an eyebrow at him.
"Chandler gave me word–of–the–day toilet paper." He chuckled. Rachel, Monica, and I just looked at each other funnily. "I'm going to get some coffee." Then, Phoebe walked in.
"So, so, so, did you read the book?" She sat down in the arm chair.
"Oh my God. It was incredible." Monica tossed the magazine onto the coffee table before turning to face her.
"Didn't it, like, totally speak to you?" She asked Mon.
"Woah, woah, what book is this?" Rachel and I looked between the two of them.
"Rachel, Suparna, you two have to read this book. It's called Be Your Own Wind–Keeper." Monica explained to us. "It's about how women need to become more empowered."
"And oh! And but there's wind...it can make us goddesses. But do you know who takes our wind?" Phoebe continued with the summary of the book. "Men. They just take it." Phoebe and Monica snapped their fingers.
"The...men just take our wind?" I crossed my arms over my chest and thought about it.
"Yuh–huh. All the time." Phoebe waved it off. "'Cause they are the lightning bearers."
"Wow. Well, that sounds kind of cool." Rachel looked over at me. "It's kind of like The Hobbit."
"It is nothing like The Hobbit." Monica scolded her. "God, it's like reading about every relationship I've ever had...except for Richard." She smiled to herself. She is so in love with him.
"No. Richard would never steal your wind." Phoebe shook her head. "'Cause he's yummy."
"Yes." Monica giggled. "But all the other ones..." Monica trailed off.
"And the part about how they're always drinking from our pool of inner power, but God forbid we should take a sip." Okay, we clearly need to read this book to understand all of this.
"Anybody want a cruller?" Joey sat back down at the table.
"See? This is a typical lightning–bearer thing." Phoebe pointed at him.
"Don't talk about my boyfriend like that." I glared at her, but my eyes widened as I covered my mouth with my hands when I realized what I just said.
"Y–Your what now?" She stuttered out, switching between gaping and pointing at us.
"Let's just tell the whole world." Joey whined.
"This was an accident." I pointed at him before turning to Phoebe. "Surprise?" I smiled and chuckled in a nervous way.
"Oh my God. Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" She screamed, making the other customers in the coffee shop look at her weirdly.
"Phoebe, it's not that big of a deal." I pat her shoulder.
"But it is. You...and you..." She looked between the two of us. "I can't believe this is finally happening!" She, Rachel, and Monica started squealing in excitement.
"Were all of you waiting for us to get together or something?" I inquired.
"Obviously. You two are so...everyone could see the feelings you had for each other except for you two." She explained. A little later the next day, I walked into Central Perk to overhear Rachel and Ross talking while Monica and Phoebe watched them.
"Excuse me, your...your–your wind?" Ross stuttered out in confusion. Looks like Rachel read the book Mon and Pheebs were talking about.
"Yes. My wind." Rachel emphasized. You know, to anyone else, this conversation would look quite disturbing and psychotic. "How do you expect me to grow if you won't let me blow?"
"You know I–I don't have a..." Ross cleared his throat. "...have a, a problem...with that."
"Do you think I could freak out Joey with this book?" I leaned down against the back of the couch and whispered to Monica and Phoebe.
"Definitely. 100% yes." The two of them nodded their heads in agreement.
"Okay. I just...I just really need to be with myself right now. I'm sorry." She motioned towards herself. "Uh, you're right. I don't need to apologize. Sorry." She apologized to Monica and Phoebe. "Damn it!" She replied before walking away. "Hold on. Suparna, read this like your life depends on it." She handed me the book and headed back to work. Later that day, Chandler came running into my apartment.
"Help me get rid of my roommate. Please, please, please!" He begged me.
"Alright, alright." I laughed. "What do you need me to do?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"C–Could you let me sleep here for the night until I find a way to get rid of Eddie? He's out to get me." Chandler put his hands on my shoulders and shook me quite a bit. "He watches me sleep, he put mystery ingredients in the cookies."
"Fine, okay. I'll get some more blankets and pillows, and you can sleep in the other room." I reassured him. "He watches you sleep?" And Chandler went on to explain the other crazy things his insane roommate does. The next day, Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, and I were in their apartment taking a quiz from the wind–keeper book.
"Question number 28: 'Have you ever allowed a lightning bearer to take your wind?'" Phoebe read from the book. "I would have to say no." She wrote it down in her notebook.
"And I would have to say pa–ha!" Monica exclaimed.
"Do you not remember the puppet guy, Pheebs?" I looked over at her.
"You, like, totally let him wash his feet in the pool of your inner power." Rachel scoffed.
"And his puppet, too." Monica and I added at the same time.
"Yeah, okay, well, at least I didn't let some guy into the forest of my righteous truth on the first date." Phoebe pointed her pencil at Monica.
"Who?" Monica looked at me and Rachel, but we all knew who.
"Paul!" Phoebe yelled back.
"Oh!" Monica shouted in defeat, but it was no use.
"Okay, okay, okay, moving on, moving on." Rachel took the book from Phoebe. "Next question is...number 29: 'Have you ever betrayed another goddess...for a lightning bearer?' Okay, next question. Number 30—" Rachel flipped to the next page.
"Woah, woah, let's go back to 29." Monica interrupted her.
"Not, uh...not to...my recollection." Rachel cleared her throat.
"Alright. Danny Arshack, ninth grade. Come on, Rachel, you know the bottle was totally pointing at me. You saw that, right, Suparna?" Monica turned to me.
"Well, you did take up half the circle." I replied in a sing–song voice. "Besides, Nathan Jackson, college. You took him from me!" I stood up.
"Listen to you three. Oh! It's so sad." Phoebe pouted and put a hand on her chest. "Looks like I'm going to be going to the goddess meetings alone." She stood up.
"Not when they find out you slept with Jason Hurley an hour after he broke up with Monica." Rachel glanced back at her.
"One hour?" Monica exclaimed, standing up as well.
"You are such a leaf blower!" Phoebe pointed at Rachel accusingly.
"At least she didn't go out with a guy with a puppet!" I yelled back, getting up from the couch. Monica ran into her room and slammed the door, and Rachel did the same thing. I ran out of the apartment and closed the door behind me. Later that night, the four of us were at Central Perk.
"Here are your cakes." Rachel placed down three plates of chocolate cake on the coffee table.
"We didn't order cake." Monica replied.
"No, I know." Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. "They're from me." She scratched her nose a little. "Look, you guys, this is not good. We have enough trouble with guys stealing our wind without taking it from each other."
"You're right." Monica let out a sigh.
"We should be empowering each other." I looked up from my lap.
"I love you, goddesses." The four of us stood up and hugged each other tightly. "I don't ever want to suck your wind again." Phoebe looked at us.
"So are we good?" Rachel kept her arms around us.
"We're good. Definitely good." Monica and I responded.
"Good. Let me take these cakes back 'cause they're going to take that out of my paycheck." She grabbed the plates before coming back. Chandler came running in.
"Ding–dong, the psycho's gone." He looked at us.
"Are you sure this time? You snore, and I really wish I didn't have thin walls." I stuck my tongue out at my brother.
"Yes. Yes, I actually saw him leave this time. That guy is standing in the window holding a human head. He is standing in the window holding a human head!" We looked back to see him.
"Check it out, man. I tore it off some mannequin in the alley behind Macy's." Eddie came running in with the head.
"There is no alley behind Macy's." Monica spoke up.
"So I got it in the junior miss department. Big dif." He glanced back at us. "It's going to make a hell of a conversation piece at our next cocktail party, huh, pal?"
"Our neck cocktail party?" Chandler's right eye was twitching.
"Yeah, you known? Put chips in it. We'll make it like a chip chick." He rolled the mannequin head around in his hands.
"Eddie, do you remember yesterday?" My brother was trying hard none to lash out.
"Uh, yes, I think I vaguely recall." Eddie smiled back at us and laughed maniacally.
"Do you remember talking to me yesterday?" Chandler tried to jog Eddie's memory.
"Yes." Eddie continued to laugh, and it was really starting to freak me out. The next day, Joey came over to my apartment.
"Joey, I swear if you're lying, I'm going to kill you." I made him stand back a little. "Did you really move back in with my brother?"
"My stuff's in there and everything." He nodded his head. I squealed in excitement and jumped on top of him.
"I love you so, so, so, so much." I wrapped my arms around his neck and my leg around his waist.
"And I love you so, so, so, so much, too." He chuckled and took us to my room. Obviously we needed to celebrate this, and what better way than doing it?
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