She'd tried everything in the book to get rid of this nuisance; a hiccup of all things! She'd tried every little thing suggested to her. Nothing worked. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

"Glub."

"Roz, do you have the hiccups?" She'd accidentally greeted Frasier with a hiccup. It wasn't her fault, she wanted to yell, but her words were swallowed whole once again.

"I've had *hick* it for hours *hick* now!"

"You know, there are some very effective-"

"I've tried it *hick* all!" She slumped down at her desk, exhausted and at her wit's end.

"You know, common belief says when you have the hiccups someone is thinking about you."

"Oh shut *hick* up!" Roz could tell that Frasier was smirking. There was another joke at her expense in his repertoire and she turned away from him, hoping he'd keep it to himself. Her pouting seemed less effective with the constant *hick*-sound breaking the silence again and again.

"What have you tried?" Frasier asked gently. He came closer to her so that she was more or less forced to look at him.

"Every*hick*thing!"

"Have you seen a doctor?" Roz just rolled her eyes at him.

"I take that as a no. Roz, are you sure you can do your job today? I mean…"

"I can *hick* do my *hick* job!" Frasier held up his hands as if in surrender. Had Roz looked into his eyes, she would have seen a plan slowly developing right there.

Roz took a big gulp of water and watched Frasier leave his booth. They still had ten minutes to go and she hadn't given up hope yet. The water trickled down her throat and for a moment she was convinced it had worked. She smiled and that's when another hiccup interrupted her.

Maybe some distraction. Roz rummaged through her drawers and didn't know what she was looking for. Her hiccup wasn't bothered at all. She didn't notice her door opening or the footsteps quickly approaching her. Her chair was suddenly tipped back and before she knew what was happening, two lips were on hers. Her eyes blurrily registered Frasier's face far too close to hers and only then did she realize what was happening: Frasier was kissing her! Roz didn't question why she didn't break the kiss. Rather, she kissed back. Later she would claim that it happened automatically. Like you shook someone's hand when they offered it to you.

As quickly as Frasier had started the kiss, he ended it. His lips left hers with and she immediately felt the loss.

"It worked." He grinned.

"Huh?" Roz asked in a daze. He must have had a cookie with his morning cookie, she thought. He had tasted unbelievably sweet.

"Your hiccup. It's gone." She only realized it then. She waited a moment; not quite believing it. When nothing happened, she breathed in relief.

"You're right." Roz stared at him when he stayed quiet after that. She prided herself on being a great judge of character. And she read other people's intentions like a favorite book. What she saw in Frasier's eyes was something she'd never seen before. Not in his eyes anyway.

"We have a show starting in a few minutes." His words didn't match his expression at all.

"We do." All Roz wanted was to taste that sweetness again. It didn't even matter that it was Frasier. A song popped into her head about how a taste of honey was worse than none of all. She didn't remember the name of the song and she couldn't think straight with Frasier looking at her like that anyway.

"It was just a way to help you get rid of that awful hiccup."

"Yeah. Of course."

"I should get to my- we should get ready." Except Frasier didn't move and Roz decided that he had made the first step – for whatever reason – and it was her turn to take the second one.

"Best of Crane?" She asked breathlessly.

"Oh yeah." And she got to taste that beautiful sweetness again.

THE END