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"Alright! It still works."
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"Joey, would you slow down?" We tried to keep up with his pace, but it wasn't working. "They're not going to be sold out of papers at 1:00 in the morning." Rachel said to him.
"I'm excited. I mean, I've never been reviewed before." We finally got to the newsstand, and he grabbed the first newspaper he saw.
"You were so amazing as the king. I'm really impressed. I was." Monica pat his shoulder.
"Although, you know what? You might want to consider wearing underwear next time." Phoebe spoke up. "'Cause when you sat down on your throne, you could just kind of see your...royal subjects." She explained. The others were grabbing different papers.
"Well, I enjoyed seeing you with so much...power." I winked at him subtlety. He blushed and opened up the paper, looking for his review.
"Here it is! Here it is!" He pointed at it. "'The only thing worse than the mindless, adolescent direction is Joseph Tribbiani's disturbingly unskilled portrayal of the king'." He read out loud.
"Okay, look, that is just one guy's opinion. Alright? Pheebs, read yours." Chandler turned to her.
"'The only thing worse than the mindless, adolescent direction'—" She read the same exact review Joey looked at.
"Does anybody have one from a different paper?" Chandler interrupted her. "Ross, read yours."
"I don't want to." Ross looked up from the paper sadly. Joey let out an unhappy sigh and sat down on the curb.
"Honey, they don't know what they're talking about." I sat down on the ground next to him.
"Maybe they do. I've been doing this for ten years, and I haven't gotten anywhere. There's got to be a reason." Joey put himself down.
"Come on, man, you're just paying your dues." Ross reassured his friend.
"No, no. It's too hard. It–It's not worth it." Joey shook his head. "I quit." The rest of us tried to cheer him up.
"Wait, wait, wait one minute. Wait a minute." Monica stopped us. "I believe this will change your mind." She sat down on his other side. "'In a mediocre play, Joseph Tribbiani was able to achieve brilliant new levels of...sucking." She finished when she flipped to the full article. The next morning, I had my arms around Joey's neck, rubbing his forehead.
"When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian. But then I found out you have to put your hands into cows and stuff." Joey grimaced.
"Poor baby." I rested my chin on the top of his head. He leaned back against me, his hands wrapped around my arms.
"Hi." Ross walked into the apartment all depressed.
"Are–Are you okay?" Phoebe stuttered out and inquire in concern.
