Title: Strange Encouters
Part: Two - More Encounters
Author: Y2Raye
Rated: G
Email: meeko@maxim.net

AN: Not many author's notes right now. I figure nobody reades
them so why write them? I always write a lot on the first part
then it gets smaller and smaller and eventually becomes two
words: Just read. In this one, I'll be changing from Serena to
Darien, so wherever five stars are (*   *   *   *   *) it'll
be the next person. Like, say I'm on Serena's business, then
I'll switch to Darien's business with the stars. Got it? Okay.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, Serena woke up in a haze. She'd had the 
weirdest dream. She was fourteen again at the big end-of-the-
year dance. The girls had seperated to one side while the 
boys were packed on the other. There was one boy that stood
out, vaguely familiar, to her though. Serena was offered by
several guys to dance but she'd declined. She only wanted to
dance with that mysterious black-haired, blue-eyed male.
	Just as he had gotten out the words, "Would you like 
to--" her alarm clock sounded. 
	"Not today," Serena mumbled. She opened her eyes
slowly and waited for everything to take its proper shape.
Only then did she glance at the red, digital numbers next
to her. "Five?!"
	She threw back the covers and trudged out to the 
kitchen. Serena was faintly aware that in her hurry to get
some sleep the night before she hadn't changed out of her
jeans and shirt.
	Amy was already up. "Serena!" she exclaimed, startled.
"What're you doing up so early?"
	"My alarm clock," she replied groggily, "woke me up. I
don't care about going to work today. I'm calling in sick."
	A pleased grin spread across Amy's features as she 
sipped her sugar-and-cream "mud" coffee. That was another
running joke that Lita, Amy, and Serena shared. 
	"Go back to sleep Sere," Amy told her friend, getting
up from her position at the table. "I'll call in for you. 
You need sleep."
	"Thanks Ames," Serena yawned. "Oh, and one more thing.
Do you know anyone named Darien Hayes?"
	"Um..." Amy thought for a moment. Did a guy named 
Darien Hayes ever come into Central Perk (AN: I was watching
Friends...they can't sue me...hey, I'm not even outta high
school yet!)? Yes. He went there a lot. "Yes, he goes to 
Central Perk all the time. Why?"
	"When you go into work today and if you see him, tell
him Serena says thanks again," that was the last thing she
said before falling into a half-sleep daze into her bedroom.

*   *   *   *   *
Darien sat in the driver seat of his black Jaguar (AN: I 
don't know what kind of car the guy has but it -has- to 
be at least a Jag) and passed Central Perk for the fifth
time around the block. He was debating in his mind whether
or not he should stop for coffee. Then he checked his 
watch. *I'm off work today. Might as well stop in there,*
he finally pulled his car up to Central Perk.
	Going inside, he noticed the blue-haired woman in
her 20's that he always saw there. She always chattered 
away about a girl named Serena, who was her roommate, and
a girl named Lita, who was also her roommate.
	"Hello, welcome to Central Perk," she said brightly.
"Hi Darien!"
	"Hi Amy," he nodded slightly and sat at the counter 
on a stool.
	"What'll it be today?" she asked, still smiling.
	"Um...a cappuccino," Darien replied. 
	"Serena told me to tell you thanks again," Amy told
him, handing him his cappuccino. "You mind telling me -why-
she would ask me to do that?"
	"Oh, well," Darien laughed nervously. "This is a good
cappuccino!"
	"Don't change the subject," Amy scolded. 
	"Oh, alright. I helped her with her car last night. 
There."
	"Okay. You see, I heard her complaining in her sleep 
about some 'jerk' in a black Jaguar and -ahem-, I quote this,
ugly green jacket cutting her off. What's that about?"
	"Yesterday I accidentally cut her off on the freeway...
and then she made a big deal out of it."
	"She also said you called her 'baby' and 'Meatball 
Head.'"
	"Boy, Meatball Head sure talks a lot in her sleep, huh?"
	"Don't call her that."
	"Why not?"
	Amy sighed and resigned to cleaning the counter, without
answering Darien. The door opened once more, to reveal a pretty
blond-haired girl who looks like she could be Serena. For a 
moment, Darien thought it -was- Serena.
	"Oh, hello! Welcome to Central Perk, Mina!" Amy waved.
	"Do you know all your customers?" Darien asked incredulously.
	"It's something I pride myself on," Amy told him with a 
proud smile. The bells on the door jingled again. "Hello! Welcome
to Central Perk!" then she smiled even wider. "You're a new face!"
With that, Darien heard someone giggle. Then Amy laughed herself.
"Didn't think you'd be up until noon, Serena."
	Amy had purposely said her roommate's name to get Darien's 
attention. 
	"Hey Ames!" Serena took a seat on the stool next to Darien.
"How's business?"
	"Busy as usual," Amy replied. "We make a -killer- lemonade.
Wanna try it?"
	"If it's on the house, sure," Serena grinned, giggling. Then
she noticed who she was sitting next to the same time Darien did.
	"You!" they both exclaimed again.
	"Hey Meatball Head, how's things goin'?" Darien asked, a 
teasing smile on his face.
	"Don't call me that!" Serena had had enough of the Meatball
Head name. Everyone who met her call her that. "I -hate- that 
name. I'd appreciate it if you called me Serena or Sere."
	 "Oh, now why would I want to do that?"
	Serena rolled her eyes and gave a disgusted sigh. Then she
turned to a curious Amy who'd been watching them with keen 
interest. "So, Ames, Lita said she'd be by with that coffee thing
and that cake recipe that Central Perk wanted but there was this
last minute--" she was cut off by a rather annoying, drawn out,
flat beep. She took a look at it. "Kyoto. I called in -sick- this
morning, people!" she yelled at her pager. 
	Then Serena glanced at Darien, a sickeningly sweet smile 
on her face. "You know about servers and stuff, don't you, Darien?
You work for Yahoo! after all..."
	Darien shook his head, he knew what was coming. "I'm not 
running your errands for you."
	"Oh, no, well, I was going to ask that," Serena said. "I 
need someone to tell them how to fix the problem over the phone.
You won't -actually- be going down there. Just calling them, or...
never mind. I just got an idea. Well, would you like my pager?"
	Darien laughed. "Good one," he looked at his watch. Ten 
minutes had passed.
	"Oh!" Amy exclaimed suddenly, almost dropping the tray of 
doughnuts she had. She hurriedly gave them to the table that had
ordered them and looked up at the clock above the cabinets. "Eleven.
My lunch hour." Then Amy turned to her three friends (remember, 
Mina's there!). "Would you three like to accompany me for lunch 
today? It's really lonely eating by myself. I usually eat with a
girl who works here, her name's Raye, but lately she's been sick..."
She sighed dramatically. "Please?"
	"Sure Amy!" All three exclaimed then broke into a fit of 
laughter. 

They soon arrived at a cute little restaurant called Le Buffet. It
was decorated like an old fifties diner but had rows and rows of 
steaming food. The desert row had many treats crammed onto the table.
	"Wow!" Serena exclaimed. Her stomach rumbled. "This reminds me
of -why- I'm so thin! I never get to eat lunch..."
	"Well, let's get a table and eat!" Mina exclaimed.
	"Yeah," Serena nodded enthusiastically. 
	"Okay, let's go," Amy sighed, giving in. They walked refinely
to a table then proceeded to decide who'd stay. "I'll stay," Amy 
offered, "it was my idea after all."
	"Oh no, Ames," Serena shook her head. "I'll stay you go."
	"Ladies first," Darien said. Well, certainly no one could 
argue with that.
	"Thanks Darien!" Serena smiled. 
	"Thank you!" Mina called over her shoulder, already to the 
tables.
	"Thank you," Amy nodded and smiled. 
	"No problem," Dairen shooed them away. "I'm not too hungry
anyway. At least, it's not life-threatening."
	Serena giggled at his joke and walked with Amy to a ravenous
Mina. "By the way," she said to Mina, "I'm Serena Davis."
	"I'm Mina Jones," the blond told Serena. "I'm also starving."

They ate until they couldn't eat anymore and then paid the cheap 
price for delicious food. Then Darien asked what they were all doing
later.
	"I'm going to see if I can get a new pager number," Serena 
said with a grin.
	"I have a modelling shoot in about two hours," Mina yawned.
	"How can you be a model and eat like you do?" Amy joked.
	Mina shrugged. "But I am, aren't I?"
	"I have to get back to work or my boss will kill me," Amy 
sighed. "I wish I could take the rest of the day off but I have 
all day shift today."
	Just then, Lita green-and-pink Jeep skidded into the 
parking lot of Le Buffet. She jumped out of the car, a flurry of
brown, pale yellow, and dark blue. She wrapped her arms around
Serena's shoulders and began crying like the world would be 
coming to end in about three seconds.
	Serena swung around on her left heel (Mina steadied her) and
patted Lita's back. Her shoulder was soaked already but something 
was (AN: obviously...^_^) bothering Lita to no ends.
	"Lita," Serena said quietly. "What's wrong?"
	"Me...Jeff...hurt..." Lita managed to choke out. Serena 
understood perfectly, her heart instantly broke for her friend's
uncomfortable position. She'd gone through the same thing before.
	"Oh," Serena's face was drowned in sympathy. "I can't 
-believe- him! C'mon, let's go back to the apartment." She caught
Mina's eye. Mina had ridden along with Serena in her car since 
Mina had been dropped off by a friend. Serena mouthed "take my 
car" and tossed her the keys. "Leave it at Central Perk."
	Mina nodded and proceeded to unlock the door to her friend's
car. 
	"Lita, give me your keys," Serena commanded softly. Lita 
complied, dropping them in her friend's hand. 

They spent the next three hours conversing. Eventually, Lita's speech
returned to normal. It was around four o'clock by that time. 
	"I hate Jeffrey Neldon!" Lita slammed her fist into her palm. 
"What business does he have with me?"
	"Yeah!" Serena cheered her, smiling. Then the phone rang. "I'll
be right back," she stood and scampered to her room from the living 
room. "Hello, Baker, Davis, and Green residence! Serena speaking."
	"Hi Rena," said a deep, familiar voice from the other end.
	"Hi Nicky," Serena replied. "What's up?"
	"I didn't get to see you last night," Nick Redmondt sounded
a bit disappointed. 
	"Yeah, I hope Molly called you," Serena blushed, slightly 
embarrassed of her friend since kindergarten. "I asked her."
	"She called me," Nick reassured. "I'm just not happy about
the news she gave me. Serena," that was the first time he'd used
her full name since they started going out, "I don't think this 
is going to work out. You're always being called in for work and
coming home late and breaking dates."
	"Yeah, well," Serena was angry now, "if you can't handle it,
I guess we shouldn't be going out, huh?!"
	"Um...yeah..."
	"I can't -believe- you, Nicholas Redmondt! I thought you 
cared about me! You're such a jerk! And don't even -think- 
about apologizing because you're right, -WE'RE- -THROUGH-!" 
	She slammed the phone down, tears springing to her eyes.
"Lita...?" she cried pitiously. Lita was there in an instant.
	"Let me guess, you and him broke up too, huh?" Lita asked
quietly.
	Serena made a sound like "uh-huh" without opening her
mouth and broke down into tears.

*   *   *   *   *
Darien was actually whistling when he entered the door of his 
apartment. He felt so proud of himself for being able to afford
half the rent. The other half was paid by his best friend, Andrew
Tovrea (AN: prounounced "Toe-vree"). 
	"Andy!" he called. Andrew had been his best friend for as
long as he could remember. "Andy!" no answer. "Well, guess I won't
let some me-time go to waste."
	Darien walked into the kitchen and checked the refrigerator
for a note or anything but found none. Then he checked the answering
machine. "10 messages?!" Darien exclaimed. "I didn't know we were 
-that- popular!"
	He pushed the play button. "Hey Darien, it's Samantha Daye.
Listen, I know you have the day off and everything but...well, 
Jimmy's sick and I need someone to take the graveyard shift for
me. If you won't do it, I have other people. Thanks, bye." 
	"Message Two," the mechanical voice announced. 
	"Darien, it's Samantha Daye. You don't have to work the
graveyard shift. I got Larry to work it for me. So don't go 
worrying your handsome head off, okay? (*giggles*) See ya 
tomorrow, okay? Bye!" 
	"Message Three."
	"Andy, it's me, Michelle Woo. Um...we're having an 
almost-National Crisis down here and we need you -now-! Please
get here as fast as you can! Thanks!"
	"Message Four."
	"This is for Mr. Andrew Tovraya. It seems your credit 
card is low. Please make a deposit in your credit account at
Best Western."
	"Message Five."
	"Darien, Andy, hello! It's me, Sunny Ray! I haven't heard
from you guys in a while and well, I just wanted to say hi. I'm
kinda sorry you guys aren't home. Well, give me a call sometime,
okay? My phone number's still the same, never hesitate to give
me a ring. It's boring out here! I've gotta go. Bye!"
	"Message Six."
	"Darien, it's Andy. About that National Crisis thing...I
know you're listening, or at least screening, the calls right
now. Well, looks like I won't be home until about eight or nine
tonight. Um...page me if you need anything. Like, you know, if
you need to know where the mail is...? Haha. Anyway, I'm on my
way to Kobe. See ya when I see ya, alright?"
	"Message Seven."
	"It's Andy again. Scratch that time before. I won't be 
back 'til around eleven. Sorry Dar. Don't wait up for me, okay?"
	"Message Eight."
	"Um, Darien? This is Amy Green, from Central Perk? I know
you're probably wondering where I got your phone number from. I'll
answer that another time. But you left your jacket here. I'll 
hold it for as long as I'm here, which is until six, but not any 
longer. I'll have to take it home then. Come get it tomorrow in
that case."
	"Message Nine."
	"Darien, I'm warning you. It's almost five. I'll be leaving
in about an hour. Come pick up your jacket!"
	"Message Ten."
	"Andrew Tovrea! How come you never call your little sister?
I bet you even forgot my name. It's Raye, in case you forgot. I'm
mad at you. I can't believe that you never call me! Or even stop
by Central Perk! Jeez. Call me sometime, please."
      So that's where Amy had gotten his phone number. Raye Tovrea,
Andrew's little sister, had loaned it to her. "I better go get my
jacket. It's almost six," Darien was almost to the door when the
phone rang. 
	It rang three times before he got to it. "Hello, Hayes-Tovrea
residence. Darien speaking."
	"Darien! I finally got a hold of you," it was Amy. "I'm 
leaving Central Perk now. I'm sorry. You'll have to get your jacket
tomorrow. I'll keep a good hold on it, okay? I'll even wash it for
you, if you want."
	"No, that's okay," Darien declined. "Just hold it for me 
until tomorrow please."
	"Certainly. Bye!"
	"Bye."
	Darien heard his stomach growl. He was quite shocked at the
thought of being hungry so early after eating that monumental buffet
at the restaurant. He sighed and rumaged in the refrigerator for 
something, -anything- worth eating that was cold. Any leftovers...
Taco Bell...McDonalds...anything worth eating by itself. 
	Mustard...Miracle Whip...Caesar salad dressing...Kiwi-Lemon-
Mango juice (*Where'd that come from?*)...empty McDonald's bag (*Lazy
Andy.*)...moldy, stale, half-eaten BigMac (*What's Andy's problem?*)...
Clausen pickles...orange juice...milk that expired last June (*When was
the last time Andy threw away his old stuff?*)...and, a-ha! A container
of leftover pasta salad from the night before. He also found a flat 
bottle of Coke which he was content with. 
	"Now, for the finishing touches," he muttered. He'd found a 
cupcake, chocolate, with chocolate icing and sprinkles. It was probably
from Sunny's birthday last month but it didn't matter to Darien.
	He quickly ate the horrible food, hoping, no, -praying- that he
wouldn't get food posioning.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*
So? Did you like? I hope so. To be continued!!!