The comfort she received from Mrs. Richman in the elevator was not enough.
After hearing the news that Dr. Crane and Mel had unexpectedly gotten married, nothing would ever be enough.
Nothing at all.
When the elevator doors opened, Mrs. Richman gave Daphne one last squeeze. "Are you going to be okay, hon?"
Daphne nodded silently as new tears spilled down her cheeks. She wanted to thank her kind neighbor, but the words were shrouded by her pain. Her chest was burning with a pain that would never fully diminish, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of guilt. She shouldn't be feeling this way about another man, not when she was due to be married in less than three days.
What was wrong with her?
And why, oh why had she given the elder Dr. Crane that bloody massage?
Her chest feeling as though it would explode, she exited the elevator and walked into the lobby, expecting to see Morrie, the doorman waving at her in greeting. But the reminder that she had attended his funeral just days before and would never see or hear him again made her cry even harder. He'd died so unexpectedly and he was so young; much too young. His family must be devastated. And the thought only increased her tears; as selfish as they were. At least their tears were for the man they had lost so suddenly. Her own were for a man she could not have; and up until five months ago, didn't even know she wanted.
Driving was difficult as she headed down the street, blindly making her way toward her destination. The biggest problem was that she had no idea where she was going, no idea at all. The statement she'd made to Frasier about going to the caterers had essentially been a lie. The catering company wasn't closing early and in fact, weren't even open at all. She could mail the check easily and she had plenty of time to do so. The caterer seemed to trust her, so there was no rush in getting the payment to them. She hated to lie to the man who had given her so much, but she simply couldn't stay at home any longer, knowing that Niles was there with his new wife.
He was married.
Married…
The words made her chest hurt so badly that she could hardly breathe and the tears clogged her throat, pushing their way down her cheeks. She'd lost her chance at happiness and had lost the man she loved so deeply. How ironic that it took falling in love with another man to make her realize that her soul mate had been right in front of her all along. She'd just been too stupid to see it.
In the days since Frasier had unknowingly told her that Niles was in love with her, she hadn't been able to get the younger Dr. Crane out of her mind. She replayed every moment between them in her mind over and over again; putting together the pieces of what was the picture of a man who had tried in every possible way to let her know that he felt more for her than friendship. And all the while, she passed it off as being silly or pretentious.
If she could take back every comment, every insult, and every dismissal and apologize profusely for being so blind for the past six years, she would have done so in a heartbeat. But no words would ever be enough to tell him how sorry she was, even if she spent the rest of her life trying.
What must Niles have thought, being forced to sit on Frasier's beloved sofa and watch as Donny pledged his love to her, offering her the stars, when it was Niles who was in love with her? Oh, why hadn't she seen it before? If she had, she wouldn't be feeling this way now.
A sob escaped and she pulled her car into a grocery store parking lot, parking as far away as she could from the entrance. Her trembling hand turned off the ignition and she leaned against the driver's seat, crying as though she would never stop.