Frasier Returns: The Boss and Her Friend
Summary:
A dejected Frasier Crane returns to Seattle five years after the episode "Goodnight, Seattle" and reunites with his best friend, Roz Doyle. His return stirs both familiar and new feelings in both of them.
Author's notes:
I do not own the TV show Frasier. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only. I get no compensation from it. Reviews are welcome.
I've been a fan of Frasier for many years, and I enjoyed the episode "Goodnight, Seattle." The ending was great, but it didn't tie up all the loose ends. This story is a "what-if" that takes a different direction from what the last few episodes of the series implied. The setting is five years after the end of the series. Roz Doyle tell us the story.
*****Working in a radio station*****
My name is Roz Doyle, and let me tell you that being a boss is no piece of cake.
My day at the radio station KACL had left me drained, like so many others had. This week had been especially tough. I had to fire someone, a task that still tore me up inside. To top it off, the guy was someone I had hired. He was my decision, my stake, my bet.
Upon becoming station manager, my first new hire had been a political commentator, Gerald McKay. He brought controversy from day one - and ratings. The problem was that his ratings proved to be a flash in the pan, and his drinking had affected his work. I'd sent him to rehab twice. Both times he came back "a changed man" - yeah, right. I'd heard that same line from more than one of my boyfriends that I had recycled over the years.
That was another problem. Between my daughter Alice and the station, I didn't have time for anything else. Men to be exact. I'd gone from, shall we say, an active social life to none at all. Of course Bulldog was always hitting on me. What female between 18 and 97 didn't he hit on? But it was easy to put him in his place. I'd made him an on-air personality again two years ago, and Bulldog didn't let me down. He'd proved to be a winner, just like in the heyday of his first stint on-air at KACL.
After our brief affair years ago (what was I thinking?), I lost interest in Bulldog. He knew it, I knew it, and we kept our relationship on a professional level. Besides, I'd laid down the law to everyone at the station in a meeting early on in my tenure as boss - no office romances. (Eventually I had rescended that rule when we hired a husband-and-wife financial planning team to host a show.)
Of course Gil had to pull me aside later and remind me of my own less than stellar record around the station. He saw through my threat to fire him and just smiled. Gil did have a point.
Gil wasn't not talking about Noel - the puppy that always wagged his tail before I became his boss. Since I became Noel's boss whatever allure I had in his mind had vanished. Gil wasn't talking about Bulldog either.
In his less than direct way, Gil was mentioning Frasier. My old boss and I had lost ourselves with each other one night long ago. Everything about it felt wrong. Frasier was my friend, he'd been like family to me. I woke up scared and couldn't leave fast enough.
It turned out we were both scared. Neither of us wanted to hurt our relationship. He once told me I was his closest female friend. Then still later he told me I was his closest friend period. I gathered from what he said that in some ways Frasier was closer to me than he was even to his brother Niles. I took pride in that. Now I missed him terribly.
I was so excited for Frasier when he met Charlotte, but like everyone else his abrupt departure from Seattle shocked me. He'd even shocked his new employer in San Francisco - he turned around and went to Chicago to be with the "love of his life."
At first, Frasier and I talked all the time, at least twice a week by email or phone. That proved such a blessing in my first days as station manager. Not only was Frasier a good counselor when he put his mind to it, he knew KACL and all the people I was dealing with.
Things went well for Frasier and Charlotte too. At first, Frasier worked as part of another shrink's practice. Then he opened his own practice. I asked him once if he missed being on the radio, and that semi-pompous throat clearing tipped me off that the words that followed wouldn't necessarily match his feelings.
"No, not a bit, Roz. I find fulfillment now working with my patients one-on-one."
"No one in Chicago has responded to your demo tapes, have they?" The silence on the other end gave away that I'd nailed him.
"I don't have to be on the radio, Roz. Regular practice has its own charms."
"Yeah, right."
As it turned out, Frasier soon quit trying to get on the radio again. He told me in a later conversation that he never wanted to leave private practice again. I believed him that time. Besides, Charlotte fulfilled his life in a way he'd never dreamed possible before. My friend made me more than a tad envious. He'd walked away from a home and career to a new place and career, and he'd made his way through it all. I wished I could find happiness like that.
That's the way our conversations went. Until they stopped, anyway. It seemed with our jobs that we'd lost time for talk. But out of sight didn't mean out of mind for me. Many times since I'd taken the corner office at KACL I wished Frasier was in ear shot so I could hash out with him how to handle some problem. That was the way it was back when Frasier was here in Seattle. He'd been a sounding board, a confidant, and a mentor all wrapped into one blustery package.
I still saw his family on a regular basis. His brother Niles and his sister-in-law Daphne filled some of the void his absence created. I went with them to charity events on occasion, and we'd see each other at Cafe Nervosa almost every day. We'd settled into our own routine of conversation over the years, and most often we were talking about my Alice or their children David and Sarah. Mention of Frasier only came up in the occasional snippet of news, but then even that silenced after a couple of years. I heard more about Martin Crane and his wife Ronee than about Frasier and Charlotte.
Thinking of Cafe Nervosa stirred my longing for another cup of cappacino. Firing McKay had been rough, ordering Bulldog fill McKay's slot had drained more energy out of me, and I was going home to an empty house. Alice had left to spend time with my mother in Wisconsin.
I turned off the light in my office and headed for Nervosa.
*****I could write a book *****
Hardly anyone was at Cafe Nervosa when I got there at 8 PM, but over near the counter sat Niles and Daphne with Martin. Martin's wife Ronee was at the counter getting their order so I sidled up beside her.
"Hey, kiddo, how's the airwaves?"
"Don't ask. What are you all doing here this late? I haven't seen you and Martin in ages." The elder Cranes had gotten a house in the suburbs and very rarely came into the city at night.
"Martin and Daphne and I came here to meet Niles. He had some late sessions with patients."
"You came downtown just to see your step-son?"
"It's about the other one."
My heart skipped a beat. What was wrong with Frasier? My mind immediately latched onto all the bad things you could think of.
"Frasier? What's wrong? Has something happened to him?"
"Come on over to the table and we'll fill you in."
With as impatient a motion as I could muster, I waved for the clerk to hurry up my drink. Then I walked over to the Crane table.
We all quickly exchanged hellos, and Daphne broke the ice for me.
"We're on our way to pick up Frasier at the airport."
"He's coming for a visit?" I asked.
"He's taking a month off from his practice." Niles spoke before his wife could.
"This is spur of the moment."
"Niles saw Frasier last week and convinced him to come to Seattle." Daphne said.
"I demanded it." Niles said. Usually Daphne was the more decisive of the two, but Niles had steel in his voice.
"So he and Charlotte will be spending some time back here. That's great news." I said.
"It's just Frasier." Martin said. I guess you never quit being a parent no matter how old your kids get because Martin's voice carried that same hint of concern I heard in my mother's from time to time.
"What happened? I thought the two of them were doing great."
"Charlotte and her former husband got back together. Apparently Frasier was the last to know." Martin said.
"When did this happen?" I asked.
"Over a year ago." Niles said.
"A year? When did you find out about it?"
"Last week. We haven't talked much recently." You could see the look of guilt on Niles' face as he admitted that.
"Roz, do you remember that Niles went to that psychiatric conference?" Daphne asked.
I remembered. Niles went to a psychiatric convention in Minneapolis. Daphne and I had a girls-night-out, something we hadn't done in ages. The two of us went to dinner, shopping, and a movie. It was the closest I'd come to a social life outside my responsibilities to Alice and KACL in ages.
"I saw Frasier in Minneapolis. He hadn't expected me to be there, what with my allergies to certain types of moss that grow only in the upper tier of..." Niles said.
"Niles, Roz doesn't want to hear about what makes you sneeze." Daphne said as she slapped his arm. Just as quickly as she slapped him though she patted him and laced the fingers of her right hand around his left hand. Niles responded by squeezing her hand. And of course he did what his wife said.
"Be that as it may, I saw my brother there. He's been drowning his sorrows in research presentations. Dry, dull, academic research papers 24/7."
"I can't believe this."
"Nor could I. He's had a rough go of things. Charlotte humiliated him."
"He couldn't face any of us. That's why we never heard from him." Daphne said.
"I knew. For about six months." All eyes turned to Martin. He hung his head.
"You knew, Dad?" Niles asked.
"We talked. He made me promise not to tell anyone."
Niles' face got wide. Daphne began to nod her head.
"That's why you were pushing for Niles to go to Minneapolis."
"I wondered how you knew so much about my professional associations."
"Your brother had me worried, but I couldn't tell you directly."
"It worked. Now we're all concerned."
Daphne turned her attention to me again.
"Care to come along with us to the airport?"
"I'm there, Daph."
*****Flight of the stumble-bee *****
All five of us piled into Martin's car and headed for the airport. Ronee had laid down the law to Martin - the Winnebago had to go. Who would have thought that Niles would be the one to buy it? He told me once that it meant a lot to him and Daphne. Stranger things have happened I guess but what I don't know.
Road construction slowed us down considerably so we got to the airport about ten minutes after the scheduled arrival of Frasier's plane. We made a beeline to the baggage claim area to find huge crowd of people searching for their luggage. One-by-one they moved off until only two or three stragglers were left.
"Did he miss the flight?" Daphne asked.
"No, Frasier told me he'd make the flight. He won't go back on his word." Again Martin's voice betrayed a concern his words didn't.
"Just how often have you been talking to Frasier?" Niles asked.
"Enough to know he needed to spend time with his family." Martin said.
"Guys, let's fan out and see if we can track him down." Leave it to Ronee to take a practical approach to things.
We started walking around the baggage claim area. Niles and Martin walked to one end, and Daphne and Ronee went the other way. I decided to make myself useful and check at the car rental desks just in case he'd decided he wanted his own car.
"Where've you been? We've been looking all over for you." Martin's voice boomed across the deserted terminal area. From the corner of my eye I saw Daphne and Ronee scurry over to the men. All four of them had surrounded a solitary figure.
There he was. The mysterious Frasier Crane. His family quickly enveloped him in hugs and kisses. Martin took his hand to shake and didn't let go. It was like the father wasn't going to let the son turn tail and run away again.
I sized up Frasier. On the outside he looked the same, except a little more hair had taken permanent flight from his head. And he'd lost a pound or two, something yours truly could stand to do as well. He looked good other than the hunched over shoulders that had raised ever so slightly when his family surrounded him.
"We're so glad you're home, Frasier." I still had to get used to Daphne calling her ex-boss "Frasier" instead of "Dr. Crane."
"I'm glad to be here, Daph." He sounded like a prisoner given a reprieve.
"Hey, we've brought someone else who wants to see ya." Frasier jerked his head around to Martin when he heard his father's words.
"Who?"
"Hey, Roz. Where are ya?"
I moved toward the group. Daphne spotted me first. Frasier noticed his sister-in-law's gaze and followed her line of vision to me. His back straightened up fully.
"Roz!"
I quit walking and started running. Frasier broke away from his family and grabbed me. Then he swung me around in his arms. His grip squeezed all the air out of me but I didn't care. My friend was home.
"Hey, guy. Long-time-no-talk-to."
"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault."
"Shut-up. We'll have plenty of time to catch up."
"I've missed my best friend - more than you can ever know."
I took what strength I had left and held Frasier tighter.
Six of us crammed into Martin's car on the way back from the airport. Martin, Ronee, and Daphne sat up front while Niles and I flanked Frasier in the back seat.
"Aren't you the slightest bit uncomfortable sitting in the middle? I'm sure Niles would have been happy to let you have a window seat." Of course I mentioned nothing about surrendering my own window seat. Niles shot me a glare which Frasier intercepted.
"I'm happy where I am, seated between my dear brother and my dear friend...At least now you can't kill each other."
Everyone laughed, especially Niles and me. We'd become friends long ago, and Daphne's marriage to Niles had deepened our friendship. Not that we didn't make the occasional jab at each other.
"But Frasier, sitting in the middle would kill Niles. What with that inner ear problem and all."
Daphne turned to send a look my way that I'd just reached the limits of healthy jesting and was bordering on ridicule. I took the cue and shut up.
We made good time to Martin and Ronee's house. When we got there, the three men plus Daphne unloaded Frasier's bags. Then Daphne motioned for me to head back to downtown Seattle with her and Niles. Frasier saw the signal and came over beside me.
"When are we going to get to talk? Just us."
"How about tomorrow at lunch time? I've got meetings and other business all morning, but they all end by noon. Let's say we meet at Cafe Nervosa.
"I'm already looking forward to it. It'll be like old times."
"I can't wait." On impulse, I kissed Frasier on the cheek then settled into the back of Daphne's car.
It being the three of us - Daphne, Niles, and me, as soon as we pulled onto the road the conversation about the prodigal Crane began.
"He looks better than when I saw him in Minneapolis." Niles said.
"Frasier didn't look too good when we first came up. He was slouched over like my Grammy Moon after too much cooking sherry." Daphne said.
"I can only conjure an image of your grandmother, but I'll agree in principle."
Daphne turned to me.
"Married to me all these years now, and he still talks like that."
"Daph, he's changed. You don't see it cause you're too close but I do. Did you know Niles never wipes off his seat at Nervosa now?"
"No. I'm surprised you noticed."
"I did because that's the first thing I remembered about him."
"Be that as it may, ladies. Frasier rallied by the time we left the terminal."
"You know why he did, don't you?" Daphne said.
"Roz. When he saw her, he could care less about his own family."
"I wouldn't say that, Niles. But he did have a strong reaction when he saw her."
"I don't think he was any different with me than he was with you guys." I said. Truth be told though, Niles and Daphne's conversation had gotten me to wondering. A pleasant wondering in a way.
"Regardless, I'm glad you were along this evening."
"I'm glad I came too, Niles." It seemed like the first fun thing I'd done in months.