Author's Note: Thanks to Andrea (iloveromance) for helping me w/ the idea for this. Also thanks to Leigh Ann (leighann415) for reading drafts as I wrote.
Daphne was so angry she could barely see to drive. Dr. Crane was on a date right now, seeing an opera with a woman he called "the one." And his father was spending the evening with some of his fellow ex-cops, watching some sporting event. But rather than enjoying her night as they were, Daphne was stuck running an errand on her night off. Dr. Crane needed her to pick up a bottle of wine from his favorite wine shop. He'd even written down the name of the wine to avoid confusion. As if Daphne were incapable of remembering his instructions.
Luckily, she was almost at the shop now. She turned into the parking lot. Surprisingly, the shopping center seemed almost deserted. Well, at least there wouldn't be a crowd. Daphne was grateful, because she wanted to get this chore over with so she could go home and curl up with a movie. She quickly slammed her car into park after finding a space. She took a moment to retrieve Dr. Crane's precious instructions from her purse, reading them over one more time. The last thing she wanted was to mess this up, and endure a lecture from her boss on why he needed this particular wine, and not one which was merely similar. With a sigh, she exited the vehicle, slamming the door shut behind her. A feeling of unease began to set in as she walked towards the store. It didn't look like any lights were on inside. Bloody hell, I hope it's not closed, she thought.
When Daphne finally reached the door, her fears were confirmed. A sign was taped to the window explaining the new hours. It had closed about thirty minutes ago. Well, this was certainly her lucky day! Now she wouldn't be able to get Dr. Crane's precious wine; he'd told her several times that no other store in Seattle had it. A frustrated sigh escaped from her. At least now she could go home and watch that movie. She tried not to think about the lecture she would get tomorrow, even though she'd had no way of knowing the store's hours had changed.
Panic set in as Daphne returned to her car. She reached into her purse for her keys, but she couldn't find them. She always put them in her purse. How could this be? She'd had them not five minutes ago when she'd shut off the engine. Her heart began to pound. The keys were not on the ground near the car. She saw that immediately. Next she pressed her face to the car window to look inside. Sure enough, the keys sat right on the driver's seat. She must've missed when she threw them into her purse. Instinctively she reached for the door handle. Then she remembered: her car doors locked automatically.
For a long time, Daphne stood there, just staring at her car, in hopes that the door might magically unlock. But of course nothing happened. The temperature began to dip. Before long, Daphne was cold. She took out her cellphone. She knew the older Dr. Crane would have his phone off during the opera. He was adamant about that. Roz was spending the week with relatives in Wisconsin. This left Daphne with only one option. She scrolled through her contact list till she found his name.
Her fingers could barely feel the buttons. She waited while the phone rang. "Niles Crane."
"Dr. Crane, it's Daphne. Your brother sent me out to get a bottle of wine. But the shop's closed, and I've locked me keys in the car. It's awfully cold out here."
Niles did not hesitate. "I'll be right there." Daphne gave him her location, and hung up the phone. There was nothing more to do but wait.