Rated 'PG'

By: Jana~

*****~*****

-- Chandler walked through the door with a huff, slamming his briefcase down and looking obviously upset…

"What's wrong?" Monica asked, abruptly stopping the dinner she was making.

"Oh, nothing… it's just… I hate my job! I hate my job! I hate my job!"

"What happened?"

He sighed and sat at the kitchen table… "It's not just one thing. It's everything. The employees don't care about deadlines. And don't even get me started about Doug."

Monica wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek… "Can I do anything?"

He just shook his head.

"Are you hungry?"

He shrugged.

"Well, maybe by the time it's done…" She kissed him quick before moving back to the stove. She knew he hated his job… he'd even tried to quit it once. But they just kept throwing money at him. It was too much to turn down.

"I'm gonna take a shower before dinner." He told her, standing and heading for the bathroom…

"Ok…"

She watched him walk away, his shoulders slumped, his stance showing just how upset and frustrated he was. She wanted to do something to make him feel better, but she wasn't sure what that something would be.

*****~*****

--Chandler burst through the front door… "Monica? Monica?" he called out excitedly…

Monica ran out of the bedroom at the sound of his voice… "What?"

"I have… news!"

"Okaaaaay." She replied hesitantly… "Good news or bad?"

"Well, that depends on you…" He took her hand and gestured for her to join him on the couch… "Remember last month when I came home all upset about my job?"

"Yes."

"I got to thinking a lot that day. I'd always seen myself in a cool job… something I enjoyed doing." He took a deep breath before continuing… "Ok. I… I wrote a story."

"What? When?"

"I had started it a long time ago… but I finished it last month. In the days following the blow up at work."

"Well, what kind of story?"

"It's about a guy who hates his job…"

"Something you know a lot about…"

"Exactly!"

Monica smiled and gestured for him to continue…

"Ok… well, I sent it in."

"The story? Sent it to who? When?"

"I sent it in to Reader's Abridgment. A couple weeks ago…"

Monica squinted as she tried to follow the direction of the conversation… "And?"

"They liked it! They want to publish it!" he said excitedly.

She jumped up and hugged him… "That's great! How could that possibly be bad news?"

"Well, if this goes well. I mean, if it's well received… I might want to… pursue it."

"You mean, quit your job?"

"Well… yeah."

Her expression went from excited to concerned. He noticed and hurried on…

"Only if it goes well. I'm not going to just up and quit. But, if it goes well… I might be getting a contract with a publisher. If I can do this for a living… then, I'm pretty much gonna want to quit."

Monica sighed and stood, wiping her brow nervously… "Wow…"

"Only if you are ok with it…" he got off the couch and followed her… "That's why I said it was up to you."

"Well, you would wait until you were making at least some money… right?"

"Of course!"

"So, we would be ok financially?"

"Yes. I will make sure of that."

"Ok," she smiled… "Then I'm happy about this!" she assured him… "I just worry about our future…"

"I know. I want security for our future too. I'm not going to throw that away."

*****~*****

--"So, you just wrote up a story and sent it in?" Ross asked Chandler as the 6 friends sat sipping coffee at Central Perk…

"Yep!"

"And they're gonna print it in the magazine?" Joey asked…

"Yep!"

Joey looked confused… "Why?"

"Thanks man." Chandler replied sarcastically… "It's like a contest. They publish 50 stories and then people vote and critique them. The story with the most positive reviews wins."

"Win? What do you win?" Rachel asked, intrigued…

"A contract with a publisher and $5,000.00."

"Wow!" "Really?" "That's great!" were the overlapping responses…

Chandler smiled wide and nodded dramatically, excited…

"So…" Ross interjected… "How does this work?"

"Well, they print the story in the next issue along with 49 others. Then, people write in and review the stories. Some of the reviews will be printed in the following issue… and the winner will be announced in the issue following that."

"What happens if you win?" Phoebe asked… "Are you gonna quit your job?"

"Quite possibly."

"And how does Monica feel about that?" Rachel asked, looking to Monica…

"Monica is ok with it." Monica replied with a smile… "If he's happy, then I'm happy."

Chandler put his arm around Monica and pulled her lightly to him, kissing her temple… "Thank you." He whispered.

*****~*****

--Chandler sprinted into Central Perk, a stack of magazines in hand… "It's out! It's out!" he exclaimed to his friends…

"Is it gay?" Joey asked, chuckling to himself…

"Leave the jokes to Chandler." Ross told him, looking not at all amused before turning his attention to Chandler… "What's out?"

"My story!" he announced, handing magazines to everyone… "Page 82."

Everyone responded as they took a magazine and flipped through the pages. They all read in silence as Chandler watched them nervously.

"Hey guys!" Monica greeted everyone, only to be ignored. "Why is everyone ignoring me?" she asked playfully…

"They're reading my story." Chandler informed, embracing her… "Did you finish it?"

She nodded… "Yep."

"Well?"

"It was really good!"

He smiled… "Really?"

"Yep!"

"Good enough to win?"

"Well, I think so…" she told him… "But, I'm a bit prejudiced."

--Monica and Chandler got coffee and joined their friends, waiting for them to finish Chandler's story. When everyone was done, Joey finishing last, Chandler asked for their opinions…

"It was really good." Ross started… "It had a good plot. It had funny spots, but was serious too. The characters were interesting… and lovable. I liked it."

"Thanks man!" Chandler then turned to Phoebe… "Phoebe?"

"I liked Melissa." She replied… "She was really supportive of Charlie's decision to leave his job. And you really loved to hate Charlie's boss… Dan."

"I liked how Dan reacted to Charlie quitting…" Rachel interjected… "And then when Charlie slapped his butt and made HIM uncomfortable for a change! Very funny!"

"Am I crazy? Or does this sound just like Chandler's situation?" Joey asked, confusion on his face…

"Probably," he quipped… "And yes… it sounds like my situation cause I based it on my life. I just changed the names…" Chandler told him…

"That's what was different! The names!" Joey exclaimed… "I knew something was weird!"

"Besides you?" Monica joked, everyone chuckling in response except for Joey…

"Joey, what did you think of the story?" Chandler asked, interrupting the snickering…

"It was good. But… the friend… Jeremy? He seemed a bit… well, like a mooch."

Everyone shared looks and Chandler shifted uncomfortably… "Yeah, but he's Charlie's best friend. He was happy to help. He didn't consider it mooching."

"Yeah, well, if I had a friend like that…" Joey trailed off… "I'm lucky to have you as a friend!" he hugged Chandler… "I think the story is great! I sure hope you win!"

"Thanks Joe."

When Joey walked off, Chandler turned to Monica… "I didn't mean it to be a slam to Joey…" he told her, feeling remorse… "Do you think the character is that bad? Do you think I exaggerated 'Jeremy' cause I am on some level upset with Joey?"

"No!" Monica assured him… "You took basics and worked with it. I didn't take offense when 'Melissa' had to clean Charlie's office after he quit. Don't think I didn't catch that!" she playfully scolded him… "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Joey won't even catch it."

He nodded, letting out a sigh of relief and kissing her softly… "So, you really liked it?"

"I really did." She touched his face… "And I bet you win."

*****~*****

--Chandler came bounding through the door, surprised to see all his friends in his apartment…

"They're in!" he shouted excitedly…

"As opposed to out?" Ross asked…

Chandler just gave him a sarcastic look and moved on… "The reviews are in!" he started handing out the magazines to his friends amongst the sounds of understanding. "Ok… my story was number 38… so, look for the reviews for it…" he told them as he flipped through one of the magazines…

"Got it!" Phoebe announced… "Page 31."

They all flipped to the page as Phoebe started to read one of the reviews out loud… "The story was ok, but it got too mushy towards the end. Over-all, it was kinda disappointing."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Chandler…

"Ok, well, that's just one review… right?" Chandler reasoned… "What else was said?"

Ross cleared his throat… "This story was pretty good, but the main characters were too cutesy. The plot line was tired and predictable, and the character's names lacked originality." He looked at his friend sadly… "I'm sorry…"

"Ok, my turn!" Joey interjected, reading the next review… "This story was too repetitive. The main character seemed like an insensitive jerk… and a cry baby. It was ok, I guess."

"Aren't there any good reviews?" Chandler asked, looking somewhat disappointed…

"Here's one!" Monica offered… "Wow! This was a great story! Cute and dramatic, with a nice happy ending! You should definitely win!"

"There you go!" Rachel said as she patted him on the back… "Maybe they just print more of the negative reviews than the positive ones?"

"Ok… here's another positive one…" Joey added… "Very good. Dealt with real issues but wasn't too mellow dramatic."

"Ok, good… what else?" Chandler asked, the smile returning to his face…

"Good story. Believable characters. Decent plot." Phoebe's smile had been wide, but it dropped… "It's not good enough to win though."

Chandler shook his head and dropped the magazine on the kitchen table… "Did you guys really think it was good?"

"Yeah!" they all assured him in unison…

"You weren't just saying that to spare my feelings?"

"No! It's a good story! It really is!" Rachel said as she too tossed her magazine on the table...

"You gotta just ignore this stuff…" Joey stated… "I get bad reviews all the time! Doesn't stop me from being an actor!"

"Yeah, but the reviews of your performances doesn't stand between you and a job!" Chandler replied, frustrated…

"It kinda does! If people read the reviews… and they believe them… maybe they won't hire me!"

Chandler waved, half acknowledging, half dismissing… "I guess I just thought I really had a chance. I figured, if people liked it, they would write in. But if they didn't like it, they wouldn't bother saying anything."

"You can't let this bother you…" Monica consoled him, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling into him… "So what if some people you don't know doesn't like your story! I liked it! Your friends liked it!"

"Yeah, I know… I just thought, maybe this was something I was good at. That others would like my stories and want to read them. I put a lot of work into that, and if people don't like it, why bother writing?"

"Does writing make you happy?" Monica asked softly…

"Yeah… it does…"

"Then, write for you!"

"I do! But part of what I like about writing is other people's enjoyment of my work!"

"Chandler…" Phoebe stepped into the conversation… "Some people will like your work and some won't. Write for the ones who do like it."

"Yeah!" "Exactly" came the responses, and Chandler smiled at his friends…

"You guys are the best." He told them as they all engaged in a group hug… "Ok, so, I didn't win this contest…" he admitted… "I will just keep writing and… who knows… maybe the next contest I enter… I WILL win!"

"There you go!" Joey exclaimed, patting him on the back… "Now, let's eat! I'm starving!"

*****~*****

--Monica entered the bedroom to see Chandler sprawled out, looking through the magazine with all the reviews of his story…

"Whatcha doin?"

Chandler looked up abruptly and smiled at her for turning his attention back to the pages in front of him… "Nothing. Just reading these reviews…"

"You're not still upset, are you?"

"Nah… I guess not. I was just… really proud of the work I did on that…"

"And you should be!"

"I guess…"

"You know what would make you feel better?" Monica asked suggestively…

Chandler arched an eyebrow and smirked… "What?"

"ME!" she shouted, jumping on the bed with him.

*****~*****

--"Hey children!" Chandler greeted everyone as he strolled into Central Perk, Monica on his arm…

"Hey Chandler!" Ross greeted him… "We were just talking about you."

Chandler squinted at him and questioned him… "Good or bad?"

"Ross was just saying that the story contest thing was a bummer…" Joey informed, a touch of regret in his voice…

Chandler just shook his head as he and Monica joined the group… "It's ok. Really. I mean, some of the reviews were negative, and it bothered me… but I'm not gonna stop writing cause of it. I may not ever make a living at it, but I'll still do it for me…"

Everyone nodded agreeably and then Joey abruptly snapped his fingers…

"You know what sells good! You know what you should write!" he announced excitedly… "Porn!"

They all looked at him with expressions of disbelief…

"Joey, porn sells cause of the pictures…" Chandler reasoned…

He smiled wide and nodded… "I know!"

"Joey… I WRITE stories, I don't do photography."

"Oh, well, you should! That would sell!"

"Thanks, but no thanks…"

"Ok. Your loss!"

Chandler shook his head and stood to get coffee… "Mon, coffee?"

She smiled and nodded… "Yeah. Thanks."

When he walked away, Rachel leaned in… "Is he doin ok?" she asked in reference to Chandler…

"Yeah…" Monica assured her… "He's ok. He was upset about the criticism, but I made him feel MUCH better!" she smiled and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Ummm… please…" Ross sighed… "I AM in the room and within ear shot here!"

Monica just chuckled… "So you are!"

"What's going on?" Chandler asked as he rejoined Monica and the others…

"Oh, nothing. Ross doesn't want to hear about what we DID last night…"

Chandler blushed and looked away, avoiding eye contact with Ross… "Monica!" he whispered, embarrassed…

"Awww…" Monica cooed… "Look who's shy all of the sudden." She taunted him, running her hand up his thigh and getting a response…

"Ok, I'm outa here…" Ross stood abruptly and headed for the door…

"Right behind you…" Phoebe fell in behind Ross…

Rachel stood and grabbed her coat… "I think I'm gonna be sick…" she quipped, smiling… "Wait up Pheebs!"

Joey just sat and smiled, making no attempt to leave.

Monica looked over at Joey, a slight scowl on her face… "Joey?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you leaving?"

"Not if you're puttin on a show!"

Chandler glared at him and stood, helping Monica to her feet… "Let's continue this upstairs…"

And with that they left… leaving a disappointed Joey to sip his coffee alone.

This story was not written with the intent to offend ANYONE. The idea entered my mind, so I ran with it.