Even before she opened her closet door and removed the beautiful long red dress (the one with the plunging square neckline and the long draping sleeves) Daphne could feel her heart rate increase with each breath. The dress was Frasier's doing, albeit in a roundabout sort of way. It was he who had showed her the invitation and had told her all about Niles' "fabulous" Halloween party, the one that his younger brother was throwing on Halloween night at his home at The Montana. The only requirement to attend was to come dressed as your favorite literary character.
It seemed silly at first, but it was a Halloween party after all and the more she thought about it, the more the idea of attending such a lavish party (as only Niles Crane could throw) seemed wonderful. But once more, the familiar reluctance (and ache) to see her friend began to resurface. When, at his persistence, she expressed her feelings to Frasier, he shook his head.
"Daphne, that's ridiculous! Of course Niles wants you there! Why would you think otherwise?"
She inhaled deeply, surprised at how much her chest hurt. "Because I…"
"Oh Daphne, you can't think that he's still angry! That's all in the past! Even I'd forgotten about it until just this very moment!"
"I-I can't forget about it." She said, doing her best to keep her voice from breaking. She said the words so softly that she wasn't sure if he'd even heard her. And quite honestly, she didn't even care. She felt his hand on her shoulder and she was suddenly aware of the tears that had fallen onto her cheeks.
"Here." He said, handing her a dishcloth to dry her eyes.
Dutifully she took it and began to wipe her eyes. "Thank you, Dr. Crane. I'm sorry for being so daft about this." When she returned her attention to him, he was staring at her in that familiar way, his fingers on his chin.
"You know, Daphne… I think-."
"No one cares what you think, Fras!" Martin said from the kitchen table. "If she doesn't want to go to the damn party, she doesn't want to go! You can't make her do it!"
"I know that, Dad!" Frasier snapped. "I just thought, well, I'd hate for Daphne to miss the best Halloween party of the season for the wrong reason!"
"What about for the right reason, like she just flat out doesn't want to go?" Martin retorted.
Daphne nodded and tried to the Crane men. Bless them for trying to help her, even if their opinions differed greatly. "I know, and it sounds lovely, but-."
"Listen, I know Niles better than anyone and he's not one to let something like this ruin your friendship. If you really don't want to go, I'm sure he'll understand but I know that he would be disappointed. Just think about it, all right?"
She smiled and hugged her boss. The hug was more for her own comfort than for gratitude, but she hoped that he knew how much she loved him. He'd done so much for her and going to Niles' party was the least that she could do.
"What costume will you be wearing, Dr. Crane?"
His eyes lit up. "Oh, well, since you asked, I'm coming as Geoffrey Chauncer from The Canterbury Tales."
"Oh, I see. Well, I'll have to start thinking of what kind of costume I want to wear."
"Why don't you come as my wife?"
His words startled her and her head shot up. "What?"
"My wife. Oh, or rather, Geoffrey Chaunceor's wife, the wife of Bath!"
She had no idea who he was talking about, but she found herself nodding. "Oh, well, all right. Where do I get this costume?"
"Don't worry about a thing, Daphne. I'll take care of it."
"I don't know…"
"Come on, it will be fun! I'll swing by Champion Party Supply on Elliott Avenue and pick it up. I know they'll have the perfect costumes!"
"Oh… All right."
He reached for her hand. "Don't worry, Daphne. Everything will be fine, I promise."
When he went to answer the phone, Daphne quickly retreated into her room and sank onto the bed. Frasier's words echoed in her head.
Don't worry, everything will be fine.
But Daphne wasn't so sure.