Caffeinated Therapy with an Angel

Summary: After being promoted to supervisor, a nervous Monica receives counseling in a café from Seattle talk show host Dr. Frasier Crane.

A/N: This is only going to be a two-shot, three-shot at most, and consists entirely of Monica and Frasier talking at Cafe Nervosa. It was originally intended to be a one-shot, but extended after I began working on it. Now, mind you, I haven't seen Frasier in a while, and only thought of writing this when thinking of another show that also takes place in Seattle.

Part 1

Signaling the café's server, Monica pushed over her empty coffee cup with a shaky hand. "I'll have another one."

The waiter raised an eyebrow at the angel's condition. "Lady, if this was a bar and that was liquor, I wouldn't let you drive home. Even now I'm a little anxious about that jittery foot of yours on the gas pedal. Face it – I'm gonna have to cut you off."

"What? You're not serious!" Monica exclaimed. But just by the way her voice cracked the angel knew that he spoke the truth. Sighing, she nodded and paid him for the last latte she'd gulped down. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just not myself lately."

The man shrugged. "Eh, it's okay. We all have our moments. Part of being human."

"Yes, well…" Monica trailed off, letting the waiter walk off thinking he'd given her reassuring advice.

Turning around on the bar stool, Monica noted that the café was empty save for one other man. He too had been sitting around at a small table since the last rush filed out about an hour ago. The man had to be at least in his late-fifties with a receded hair line (so much that it looked like he had a particularly large forehead) and average build. He looked to be at least upper middle class, wearing dress slacks and shoes matched with a button-down shirt and black jacket.

I've seen him somewhere before, Monica thought. No, she hadn't met him, but that face seemed familiar. When he noticed her staring and glanced over, she gave him a small smile of acknowledgement and went back to staring down at the bar counter. Normally, her angelic nature would take over and she'd go ask what had him so apparently saddened, but at the moment she was consumed with her own problems.

Not to mention that she didn't think she could do much to help in her caffeinated state. As it was, she'd need to calm down a wee bit before she trusted herself behind what she still thought of as Tess' "baby."

"So, how many lattes have you had?" the man asked.

Monica almost jumped out of her skin when she looked up to see him standing next to her. "O-oh, I…"

"Too many, I gather," he chuckled, taking a seat next to her. "Don't worry, I've had a few myself. Otherwise I would already be home, listening to some Mozart while downing a Bordeaux."

"I see you have refined tastes," Monica remarked.

Taking the observation as a compliment, the man grinned. "Yes, yes I do. Don't you appreciate a good wine?"

"Can't say I do. Though I do appreciate good coffee…obviously," Monica replied, giving an embarrassed shrug.

Chuckling, he said, "As we both seem to be downing our sorrows in coffee bean product, I see it appropriate that we make introductions. I'm Dr. Frasier Crane."

"I'm Monica," she offered. "So, a doctor, huh?"

"Psychiatrist. I'm actually the host of my own talk show on KACL. Perhaps you've heard it?" Frasier asked.

Monica shook her head. "No, sorry, I haven't."

"Oh," Frasier replied, a slightly disappointed tone in his voice.

"However, I did see your ad on the side of a bus on the way," Monica quickly added, realizing where she'd seen his face before. "And I don't live around here. You see, I've just been promoted at my job. Since I have some time before it starts, I thought I'd take a road trip with my…co-worker, Gloria. She had to return to work sooner than I do, so here I am, alone in a coffee shop at night."

"Taking off on a road trip after you've been promoted? I take it you have a very understanding boss," Frasier remarked.

Monica held back a chuckle. "Yes, I do."

"Hey, doc!" the waiter interrupted. Both Monica and Frasier glanced up to see their waiter heading into a back room. "I gotta get some stuff straightened up back here before I lock up, it'll take maybe an hour. Ya mind keeping an eye on the place?" With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he added, "And keep an eye on this one? She looks like a trouble maker."

While Monica laughed, Frasier replied, "Well, I don't know if I trust your character judgment now, but sure."

"Thanks. Holler if you leave," the waiter called. Then he disappeared behind a door and closed it tight behind him.

Surprised at the displayed trust, Monica asked, "I take it you're a regular here, Dr. Crane?"

"Please, call me Frasier," Frasier replied. "And, yes, my family and I are daily customers. He and I aren't close friends in any sense of the words, but he's seen me around enough that he knows I have no need to rob the place."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what has you sitting alone in a café at night?" Monica asked. While she asked the question, a proverbial alarm was going off in her head that maybe her first assignment had come sooner than she thought.

Hesitating at her question, Frasier replied, "I believe I could ask you the same question."

"Well, you could, but I asked you first," Monica said, giving him a warm smile. This is an odd situation, she thought. I…I think he wants to help me as much as I want to help him.

"Touché," Frasier remarked dryly. "But after I spill my life story to you…you have to tell me yours. And I promise I won't charge you a dime."

Chuckling, Monica agreed, "Alright, you have a deal."