The Good Doctor
By Dulcey
Dr. Niles Crane sat in his office, making a few last notes when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. Niles sighed, put aside his notepad, and got up to answer the door. Most likely it was his secretary, wanting to tell him that she was leaving for the day, and was there anything he needed before she left?
To his surprise, Daphne was at the door! "Hello, Dr. Crane," she said in an American accent. But wait, Daphne was English! The only thing she could say like an American was "sure." Niles looked again. This time he saw that it wasn't Daphne, but another woman who bore a striking resemblance.
She smiled and introduced herself. "I'm Dr. Jennifer North. I just moved into the office next door, and I wanted to come over and say hi."
"Well, hello, Dr. North," Niles stuttered, still shaken up by her resemblance to Daphne. "I'm Dr. Niles Crane, but I guess you already know that. Are you new to Seattle? I don't recall ever seeing you at any psychiatric conferences before."
"Oh, that's because I'm just a psychologist. I wanted to be a psychiatrist, but I realized in college that I would be much happier sticking with psychology," she replied. "And in response to your question, yes, I'm new to Seattle. I've been living in New York for the past ten years or so, but I decided I needed a change, so I hopped on a plane a few weeks ago, and here I am."
Niles nodded. "You should meet my brother Frasier. He's originally from here, but he lived in Boston for a long time. Then he got divorced, and here he is back in Seattle." He paused, considering what to say next. Daphne and Donny had only been engaged for a few weeks, and Niles wasn't sure if he wanted to get involved with anyone so soon after losing the woman of his dreams. But this Dr. North was young and intelligent, and looking like Daphne was a plus.
He decided to go for it. "Frasier and I were planning on going to dinner tonight. Would you like to join us, Dr. North?"
Her eyes lit up. "I'd love to! I've been in Seattle for almost a month, and haven't made any friends yet. And you can call me Jennifer."
"Well, Jennifer, I'm Niles. We're meeting over at Frasier's tonight. He lives in the Elliot Bay Towers. Do you know how to get there, or do you need directions?"
"Maybe you'd better draw me a map. I'm not too familiar with Seattle yet."
Niles reached for his notepad and began to draw, wondering what Frasier would think when he saw this Daphne look-alike he had invited to dinner.
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Jennifer arrived at Frasier's apartment ten minutes early. Daphne was out with Donny that night, so Frasier was the one who opened the door. A startled look passed over his face before he realized that this must be the girl Niles had invited to dinner.
"Er, come on in," he stuttered. "You must be Jennifer. Niles will be here in a few minutes. Can I take your coat?"
"Oh, thanks," Jennifer replied. "Are you Frasier? Niles didn't tell me he had such a handsome brother."
Frasier laughed. "Guilty as charged. I'm Frasier, and this is my father, Martin."
Martin waved from his chair. "Hi, Jennifer, glad to meet you."
Eddie came in from the hallway and ran over to see who the stranger was. Jennifer knelt down to pet him.
"What a nice dog!" she exclaimed. "What's his name?"
"Oh, that's Eddie," Martin replied. "Boy, he's really taken to you. He's not usually so excited about guests, but he sure seems to like you."
Eddie flopped over on his back. Jennifer laughed. "I love dogs. I had a golden retriever when I was growing up, and he was the sweetest thing. A huge dog, but a real teddy bear. It broke my heart to leave him when I went away to college."
Frasier watched as Jennifer knelt on the floor and began playing with Eddie. She was certainly beautiful, but seemed completely different than any woman he'd imagined for Niles. A complete opposite from Maris. Jennifer reminded him of someone…. and then he realized it. She looked like Daphne, acted like Daphne, and in general was the American version.
Frasier felt a surge of indignation. Jennifer was a lovely girl, and he was sure Niles was only interested in her as a substitute for Daphne. He hated the thought of his brother breaking Jennifer's heart. She deserved someone who loved her for who she was someone like….
The doorbell interrupted his thoughts. He opened the door and let Niles in.
"Hello, Frasier. Hello, Jennifer. I see you've met everyone already. Is everyone ready to leave?" Niles asked. "We'll have to be there in twenty minutes or we'll lose our table."
"Just a minute," Frasier replied. "Niles, can I see you in the kitchen for a moment?"
Niles knew from the tone of his brother's voice that Frasier was unhappy about something. Reluctantly, he followed Frasier into the kitchen.
"What do you think you're doing?" Frasier demanded. "Don't think everyone can't see how much she resembles Daphne? I'm glad you feel up to dating again, but God, Niles, you're dating Jennifer for all the wrong reasons!"
"For your information," Niles replied indignantly, "Jennifer and I are not dating. We're merely business acquaintances, and I invited her to dinner tonight because she seemed lonely and I thought she might enjoy an evening out with some friends."
Frasier thought this over. "Well, in that case, I suppose it's all right. But whatever you do, don't lead her on. I'd hate to see a lovely woman like Jennifer get her heart broken."
"Frasier, you worry too much," Niles told his brother. "There's nothing going on between Jennifer and me. Now are we going to dinner or not?"
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Over the next few weeks, Niles and Jennifer settled into a relationship that wasn't an official romance but went a little beyond friendship. They met at Café Nervosa for coffee after work, caught an opera once in awhile, and had dinner together a few times. Occasionally Niles would kiss her on the cheek after an evening out, but never anything more.
By this time, Jennifer was wondering why Niles seemed so hesitant to enter a relationship. He had told her about his divorce from Maris, but there seemed to be more than that. Once or twice she had caught him looking at her longingly, and then shaking his head as if he realized she wasn't the one he wanted.
She told herself to be fair, that she didn't know how she felt about him either. She had come from New York after breaking up with her boyfriend of five years, and she wasn't sure if she was ready for another relationship. Niles was so different from Joey, maybe she liked him only for those reasons. Sometimes he seemed like such a snob, so concerned with fine wine and high society, and she'd always thought of herself as a cheeseburger and fries kind of girl. But sometimes Niles would compliment her on her dress or tell her she was beautiful, and nothing else seemed to matter.
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Daphne came home from her evening with Donny in tears. They had had a huge fight over their wedding date, and it ended with Donny threatening to call off the entire thing. Fortunately Frasier was out to dinner with Niles, and Martin was spending the evening watching the big game over at Duke's, so she had some time to herself to get her thoughts together.
She flung herself on her bed and sobbed. Eddie jumped up on the bed and began licking her face, and after awhile she stopped crying. He was such a silly dog, but he could always make her laugh.
Then the vision came. It was the wedding scene again, only this time another woman stood up and announced that she was the one meant to be with Donny. Daphne couldn't see her face, or anything noticeable about her except the blue blouse the woman wore.
The vision was over as quickly as it began, and Daphne was left wondering what it meant. The previous ones were more than likely reactions to her fear of commitment, or so she had been told, but what could have possible have caused this one?
When Frasier came home later that night, Daphne told him about her latest vision.
"Daphne, this 'vision' of yours is nothing more than insecurity. You don't feel that you're good enough for Donny, so you start to think that someone else deserves him more than you do," Frasier told her. "You need to remember that you're a beautiful, intelligent woman who Donny adores."
She felt somewhat relieved by this explanation, but Daphne couldn't bring herself to completely write off her vision like that. That night, she dreamed that she was at Café Nervosa, waiting for her coffee. At another table was the mysterious man who'd shown up at her wedding. He was having coffee with another woman, and when Daphne looked closer, she saw that the woman looked exactly like her!
Daphne awoke with a start. The phone was ringing, and she accidentally knocked the receiver to the floor before picking it up and answering "Crane residence."
It was Donny. "Hey, Daphne, it's me. I'm sorry to be calling so late, but I've been wandering around Seattle all night and I really need to talk to you. I'm sorry about everything I said tonight."
"I'm sorry too," Daphne answered. "I've been having second thoughts about our engagement, which is rather silly, really, but I suppose that's why I want to go slowly with this."
"To be honest, I've been having second thoughts as well. You're a wonderful girl, but I don't know if you're right for me."
Daphne had considered the possibility of Donny breaking up with her several times after they'd fought. She'd expected to feel devastated, or anything but the relief that was washing over her now.
She and Donny talked for twenty minutes more, and hung up as friends, with no hard feelings. She took off her engagement ring, placed it on her nightstand, and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
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When Niles heard the news about Daphne and Donny, it took all his self-control to keep from rushing over to Frasier's. He realized that he'd been using Jennifer as a substitute for Daphne all along. He asked her to Café Nervosa after work with the intention of breaking things off with her.
But before he could say a word, Jennifer began telling him how she didn't feel he was the right one for her.
"To tell the truth, I never knew if you wanted to be friends or something more. At first I thought something might work out with us, but then I realized that we're too different for that. I'd still like to be friends, and go out for coffee once in awhile, but if that would be too awkward for you, I'd understand."
"No, no, that sounds great," Niles stuttered, happier than he'd been in a long time. Daphne was available, and Jennifer was happy to just be friends. He asked the waitress for his usual, and Jennifer began telling him about living in New York.
It was then that Daphne walked into the café. The first thing she saw was Roz and Donny together at a table, laughing and clearly having a wonderful time. Roz was wearing the blue blouse Daphne had given her for Christmas, and the glow in her eyes whenever she looked at Donny made her seem more beautiful than she ever had before.
Daphne smiled and sat down at an empty table. She looked around for a waitress, and that's when she saw him.
He was sitting with a woman who looked a lot like her, and Daphne realized that this must be the Jennifer she'd heard about from Frasier and Martin. Suddenly Daphne saw Niles look straight at her, and a huge grin lit up his face.
He was coming over to her table. She stood up, and the next thing she knew she was in his arms being kissed. She kissed him back, and she knew that she would never want another man ever again.
"But what about--" Daphne was interrupted mid-question by Jennifer.
"Oh, we're just friends," Jennifer assured her. "Besides, my dinner date will be here any minute. He asked me yesterday. I hope you don't mind, Niles?"
"Mind?" Niles repeated. "Why should I mind?" He had his true love in his arms, and his dream of six years had come true. He's never been happier.
"Oh, here you are." Niles turned around at Jennifer's voice to see his brother enter the café and take Jennifer in his arms.
"My, my," Frasier remarked. "Lots of people look happier than usual today."
Niles rested his cheek in Daphne's hair. It smelled like peaches today, and he was so stunned by his luck and full of love for Daphne that he grinned at all the other café customers and uttered a shout of victory:
"Lattes for everyone!"
Disclaimer:
I do not own Niles, Daphne, Frasier, Martin, Roz, Donny, Eddie, the Café Nervosa, or anything else Frasier-related. All that belongs to Paramount, Grub Street, and NBC. Please don't sue me, because I'm rather attached to my $20 worth of worldly goods, and would hate to lose them.
I do, however, own the character of Dr. Jennifer North. I own a major character in this story!!!! *laughs evilly*
Did you like it? Please give me some feedback at dulcineah1@hotmail.com