chapter fifteen ~ the one with unagi
Heather's POV

The day that I had just had was thrilling; Phoebe, Rachel and I had agreed that recently we hadn't been spending much time together as we had all been really busy. Phoebe and Rachel were roommates and were focusing on the careers more than ever before, then there was me, who had just returned from my honeymoon and was getting used to my new position in work. We had wanted Monica to come along as well but she was tied down with work responsibilities, so she couldn't attend the self-defence class that we had thoroughly enjoyed. It became apparent after the mishap at Melissa's wedding, that I needed to know how to take care of myself because even though I had managed to avoid a fight with Nick, I didn't want to feel vulnerable like that or feel like I was in an uncomfortable situation which I had no control over. Which was why I was so excited to attend this class with the girls and we were certain that we were experts after one class. It had been very interesting and we seemed to know all of the correct moves that would save us from an attacker, which I pictured as Nick because even though he was married to my friend, didn't mean that I liked him.

We headed to Central Perk after the lesson because we were really tired and wanted somewhere to relax for the afternoon; this Coffee House was our safe place and was the perfect spot to relax with a cup of coffee. On top of that, Joey was still working here for some extra cash which meant that I got to see him. I wasn't thrilled that my husband thought that he had to work here just to earn more money, but I wasn't complaining about the extra dates that he was planning and the restaurants that he had treated me to over the last couple of weeks. It was nice to spend time with him alone, where we could relish in our relationship, without our friends judging us because as happy as I was for my brother to be in a stable relationship; I didn't want to spend all of my time with him on double dates. The three of us relaxed onto the couch as Ross looked up from where he was reading his book in the armchair.

"Hey, what have you guys been up to?"

Phoebe was the person who decided to explain what we had been doing as Rachel and I caught out breaths. "Oh, we went to a self-defence class today."

"Yeah, kicking a guy in the crotch all morning, really takes it out of you." Rachel added, pulling her hair behind her ears as she made herself comfortable.

That made Joey widen his eyes at Ross. "Takes it out of you?"

"Don't worry, honey, if you don't like it then I won't use any of the moves on you." I said, patting his arm as he grabbed the cloth off the table and was ready to leave; but my comment stopped him, making him lean down to whisper against my ear and making me giggle at his actions.

"Who said I didn't like it?"

"Gross, can't you guys go one afternoon without making innuendos out of everything?" Rachel hissed, slapping my arm as I ignored her and waved goodbye to Joey because he had to get back to serving before Gunther told him off again.

Phoebe brought the attention back to the self-defence lesson as she was sure that she was an expert at hurting people in a skilled way. "No, now we can kick anybody's ass."

"After one class?" Ross closed his book, with a smug look on his face. "I don't think so."

"What? You want to see me self-defend myself?" Rachel pointed across the Coffee House and raised her voice. "Go over there and pretend you're a sexual predator. Go on, I dare you!"

"Well, of course you can defend yourself from an attack you know is coming. That's not enough. Look, I studied karate, for a long time, and there's a concept you should really be familiar with." He raised a finger to his temple. "It's what the Japanese call, Unagi."

Rachel furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't that a kind of Sushi?"

"I do recognise the name..." I trailed off, trying to think of why I recognised it.

"No, it's a concept."

Phoebe was the first to put the name to the sushi and ignored Ross' pleas of this Unagi being just a concept. "It is sushi, it's freshwater eel."

"Alright, maybe it means that too."

Rachel ignored Ross as well, moaning as she leaned her head back on the couch. "Oh, I would kill for a salmon skin roll right now."

"Fine, get attacked, I don't even care." He snapped, obviously irritated that none of us had been listening to his interesting theory of Unagi but we didn't want to upset him and spared a glance at each other before Phoebe spoke monotonously.

"Come on, Ross, we're sorry. Please tell us what it is."

I didn't think it would work but obviously Ross was desperate to tell us about his concept and immediately began to tell his story again. "Unagi is a state of total awareness, okay? Only by achieving true Unagi can you be prepared, for any danger that may befall you."

"You mean, in case someone's trying to steal your bamboo sleeping mat or your kettle of fish?"

We laugh at Phoebe's joke but Ross doesn't think that it's funny as he mocks our laughter and jumps across from the armchair, onto the couch; almost landing on top of Rachel as I huffed because Phoebe moved closer to me, taking me by surprise. "All I'm saying is, it's one thing being prepared for an attack against each other. Whole other story being prepared for an attack, I don't know, like, surprise!" He tries to scare us with his shouting but it didn't work and all it did was leave spit on Rachel's face, which she wiped off slowly. I was suddenly glad that I was dealing with Phoebe on top of me instead of Ross spitting at me. "Alright, you knew that was coming but that doesn't mean you have Unagi."

"Oh, you know what? If we make reservations, we could have Unagi in about a half hour."

Ross glares at Rachel, not happy with her remark as he moves back to his armchair and the three of us move back to where we had been sat originally on the couch. Which meant that I could breathe again because I didn't have the weight of a grown woman on top of me. What none of us were expecting was to see Chandler frantically run into the Coffee House, his eyes darting around the room as if he was looking for someone. "Hey, is Monica here?" Everyone shook their heads because Monica was still in work and wouldn't be home for at least another hour. "No." My brother stopped looking around the room, once he knew that she wasn't here and turned to face us as we waited to find out why he was so frantic. He stopped just next to the stools and seemed to be really desperate. "Look, I need your help. I don't know what to get her for Valentine's Day." He explained which made us all confused.

Rachel spoke on behalf of our confusion. "Well, Valentine's Day was two weeks ago so I wouldn't get her a calendar."

"She was working on Valentine's Day, so we're celebrating tonight."

Joey appeared behind my brother, wiping his hands on a cloth and joining the conversation. "Hey, why don't you book a day for both of you at one of those romantic spas?"

For once I was actually proud of my husband and the idea that he presented to the group; because it was a really sweet idea but then I remembered what he had got me for our first Valentine's Day as a married couple and I ended up being more frustrated with him than I was on the day. Why couldn't he have booked us in for a romantic spa day? Because the present that I received wouldn't even have counted as a present, even if he did wrap it up in recycled Christmas paper. My friends seemed to think the idea was cute as well because they all sent me heartfelt looks but if they knew how my Valentine's Day had worked out then they wouldn't be looking at me like that. Phoebe was the one to praise him. "Joey, that's actually a really good idea."

"And of course, crotchless panties." He added, which turned the smiles into frowns and I tried not to laugh as I heard the expected answer from my husband.

"Well, as appealing as that does sound to her boyfriend and her brother, I can't do that." Chandler gestured to the glare that Ross was sending him from the armchair, before asking the girls for more help. "We promised we'd make each other gifts this year."

"Oh, I love that!" Rachel clapped her hands together.

"You can't make crotchless panties? You take a pair of scissors and just cut the..."

"Okay, I'm not asking you what you got my sister for Valentine's Day." Chandler interrupted him.

I shook my head. "If you think crotchless panties are bad, then you really don't want to know."

"Hey, you weren't complaining at the time, baby." Joey winks at me, making me blush but then Rachel changed the subject back to the real conversation of making Valentine's Day presents. "Making things sounds like so much fun."

Chandler frowned; I knew that he had hated artsy things ever since we were little because he wasn't a creative person. "Yeah, I thought so too, until I Papier-Mache'd one of my eyes shut."

"I love Papier-Mache! What did you make?"

"I made a..." He trailed off speaking gibberish to describe the thing that he made.

This caused Phoebe to narrow her eyes at him because she didn't understand. "What is that?"

"Nothing!"

"What are you going to do?" Ross questioned, not offering any help to his friend.

"Well, have you guys made anything that maybe I could take credit for?"

"Oh, I have!" She takes out something from her purse. "I started making these little sock bunnies."

Rachel's eyes widened as she saw the sock. "Wait a minute, that is my sock!"

"Now, it's your little bunny friend." Phoebe smiles, playing with the little sock bunny.

a/n: wow, thank u so much for 1k! ❤️ it means so much that you're continuing to follow this story & i hope you're enjoying 🥰 -lizzie ⭐️

date published: 20/01/21