He was grateful for the peacefulness as he rose from his bed and pulled on his robe. It was a rare day; one without the likes of his father or Daphne. And it was truly wonderful. He loved them of course, but he relished the chance to be totally and completely alone.
His father (and that annoying little dog) were off on a fishing trip with his father's friends, all of whom were almost as annoying as Eddie. And Daphne was off on a "girl's weekend." As she referred to it. He had no idea what it meant, but quite frankly he didn't care. The fact remained that for the first time since he could remember he was alone; completely, utterly and entirely alone.
The sun was shining and his heart was singing as he made his way through the living room, eager to prepare his own breakfast; a healthy breakfast made to his specifications and not some concoction that Daphne whipped up and claimed to have healthful benefits. While his breakfast was cooking, he went to the front door and opened it. He smiled at the sight of the morning paper placed neatly in front of his doorstep, just the way he liked it.
A heavenly aroma filled the living room and he breathed in the scent. His stomach grumbled, reminding him of just how hungry he was. He quickly crossed the room and went to the kitchen, scooping the cinnamon oatmeal into a bowl, garnishing it with a dash of nutmeg and then used his hand to fan the scent to his nose.
"Perfect…"
Next came the toast which was perfectly browned and he placed the pieces carefully on the plate. The strawberry jam and a glass of orange juice in hand and he was ready to enjoy his meal.
He ate eagerly, devouring his breakfast. The morning paper sat beside his plate, beckoning to be read and he did so with enthusiasm, anxiously awaiting his arrival at his favorite section; the Arts and Entertainment section. Normally he went straight for the section since his father would never touch it in a million years. But today he was a man of leisure, determined to go through each and every section, no matter how long it took.
One by one he glanced through each second, starting with the front page. He shook his head in sadness and disbelief at the stories of shootings, car-jackings, missing persons and other tragedies. The thought that so many horrible things could happen in a wonderful and relatively safe city like Seattle bothered him. It bothered him a lot.
After taking a moment to compose himself, he continued his journey through the Seattle Time. He skimmed through each and every section, even pausing to read the sports pages, perhaps as a tribute to his absent father. The words on the page made little sense to him, but he did his best to try and understand. The Mariners were in something called a slump, having lost ten of their last twelve games and the Seahawks were hoping to get a first round draft pick; a cornerback from Stanford. While Stanford was an excellent school, Frasier was clueless as to what a cornerback was.
Finally after he'd read each and every section (and in some cases, events that were questionable as to whether or not they deserved to be in the paper), he came to the Arts and Entertainment section. He smiled as he poured over the front page, which, to his delight, had a large colorful article about the opening of La Traviata. He could hardly wait to call Niles and tell him about this discovery. They simply must get tickets; front and center, the only way to see such a production.
He read the lengthy article a second time and set it aside, vowing to call Niles as soon as he could. Even though he'd determined that this day was his to do as he wished, there was no harm in calling Niles to give him the good news. It would only take a few minutes and chances were that Niles had plans of his own. He made a mental note to call his brother as soon as he finished with his breakfast. Niles was sure to be as excited as he.